Are you watching High Maintenance? If not, you should be. It's SO GOOD and it's the first show launched on Vimeo.com. There are several free epidsodes you can watch to get yourself hooked.
The main guy reminds us so much of our old friend Josh. It's uncanny. Don't worry he wasn't/isn't a pot dealer. Teehee.
Can't decide what he likes best, his new cardigan or fresh corn. Silly child of mine.
These two silly guys. Naturally. (Didn't notice the display of Bud Light in the backgound of this photo until just now. Now that is a beer I don't dig. Yuck).
My Clairisonic. Cleeeeeaaaan skin makes me so happy.
This wonderful relationship advice
Keeping a gratitude journal. Excellent tips for doing it well. (via Cup of Jo)
Apothcary Prime lotion stick from SkinFare is saving my irritated skin during these dry winter months. Bonus for me: it's made locally in Asheville, North Carolina.
This sweet print. I adore playing the "I love you more than..." game with Felix.
This guide to becoming a birdwatcher.
Hosting a semi-regular craft night again. The last one was just the ticket to getting several sets of cloth napkins made. My old cloth napkins had seen much better days!
Cute organic cotton tees for my baby boy.
This Emergency Baking Substitution guide. Super helpful.
Felix's new science kit. Everything in it is really sturdy and easy to use. Great for budding scientists!
More soon, friends!
L.
It finally happened. Felix got his snow day.
Such a sweet thing to witness.
Our advent calendar includes little daily items (stickers, tattoos, matchbox cars, etc) or activities. Some of the activities are for us and others involve doing something for other people or animals. Yesterday's advent surprise was to make a gingerbread house together. It was a huge hit and a great thing to do on a cold and rainy Sunday. I got a pretty big kick out of watching Felix as he tried to sneak candy, but like most three year olds I know, he's not very good at being sneaky, so there was lots of, "Mama, I'm being sneaky right now" as he chomped away on some crunchy, sugary confection. He was quite proud of the completed project. Just like his mama, he LOVES a good project.
Hope you're having a sweet December so far.
Cheers!
L.
We tried to have some family photos taken recently and it was pretty much a disaster which should have been expected, I guess. Felix wasn't in the mood and the rest of us were only pretending. I think we managed to get two or three decent shots. Maybe. Family photos are hard-- no wonder we haven't had many taken...
It is definitely soup and drop biscuit season at our house. I love a good biscuit (and so does the rest of my family) and drop biscuits are sooooo easy. Making curried sweet potato soup with coconut milk for dinner tonight, actually. We have some guests dropping by so it's the least I can do. Looking forward to serving up something warm since it is supposed to be a chilly one outside. Hello winter, is that you?
Have you heard of Sparkle Stories? They are a hit over here. Such a nice thing for F to do while dinner is being prepared. I love to peek in and see his little frame snuggled in the big blue chair totally immersed in listening. It's pretty sweet and a good reminder to me how important developing one's listening skills is. I want to be a better listener.
We made a gratitude tree the other day. Felix told me several heart-warming things he is grateful for. All of it was music to my ears. I look forward to adding to our little "tree" throughout the month of November. Roman is starting to chat a lot as well. Too bad, outside of a handful of words, I can't quite be sure what he's saying. Whatever it is, he's very excited about it and that's enough for me.
That's all for now.
Until next time, be well.
L.
The slugs have found our pumpkins. It isn't pretty and Felix is stunned by the whole situation. Nature can certainly stop us in our tracks sometimes. I love that, actually. More pumpkins have been purchased, as I'm the type of person who 1. loves pumpkins as decoration and 2. keeps pumpkins as long as possible. Like, through the winter and beyond. What can I say, pumpkins make me happy.
The days are getting shorter. Currently there is just an hour or so of light after Dustin gets home from work. The sky turns dark during dinner. This time of year always takes some getting used to -- I welcome the cooler temps and the amazing fall foilage, but the lack of sun and shortness of our days makes me feel a bit hand-wringy until I get used to it. Sweaters and scarves and big cups of tea help a lot.
We've all been strugging to get over a nasty cold. The cough that came with this cold is one that lingers and sounds terrible. Luckily, Romy has had all the symptoms we've had but never had the cough. So thankful for that.
The bluejays are paying us several daily visits out back. They are such enormous birds when you compare them to the tufted titmice and even the cardinals. They can also be such bullies. I still enjoy their presence, but I do feel for the smaller birdies out there. My mama heart can be so sensitive.
Halloween is coming. We're kicking around several ideas. I think Felix has landed on his idea, but who knows for the rest of us. We managed to decorate our front porch with webs and a ghost made from an old sheet and an upside down tomato cage. Looks pretty festive out there. And spooky. Definitely spooky.
That's it for now. Hope you have a lovely day.
More soon,
L.
We had the pleasure of hosting one of our favorite people last week. What a treat it was! It had been way too long since Heather and I had crossed paths, so upon hearing she was coming to town to learn how to make movies (she did a workshop at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies) I was over the moon to put her up in our guest room.
If you don't already know, Heather is one of my very best bloggie friends. We met here on the world wide web (hee hee!) several years ago and became fast friends. We finally met for real last summer at her place outside Asheville. Our families dig each other a whole lot. If fact, we're looking forward to seeing her crew again later this summer. Can't wait.
I miss you, Heather!
Have you ever met up with any of your blog friends? I highly recommend it!
Well hello there. Long time, no blog.
Life has certainly gotten in the way of my being able to say hello in this space lately, that's for sure. I'll spare you every detail; here are the highlights from the last few weeks.
Felix was super sick for nine days with the most wretched norovirus ever. It involved a trip to the pediatrician and then the ER before everything was said and done. Luckily, he's back to his spunky self and the virus didn't sweep through the entire family. I suppose if Felix getting sick needed to happen it did so at just the right time because Dustin left for consecutive trips to Seattle and Switzerland right about the time Felix started feeling better. I dodged a major bullet there, let me tell ya.
While Dustin was away, I (THANKFULLY) had some much needed assistance from both my mom and then D's mom. They both flew in from out of state to save the day(s). Not sure how single parents do it. My admiration for people raising kids all by themself has always been pretty huge, and it has grown even bigger now.
Dustin returned from Europe yesterday (Yay!) and we're all healthy and happy, so onward we go!
Oh, and I turned 37 on April 8th. Yes indeedy. We had ice cream sundaes to celebrate. Boy, the 8th seems like ages ago...
One last thing. To get the blog juices flowing again (and to get my poor DSLR dusted off. shame on you, iphone and instagram) I'm joining the wonderful folks over at Habit for the month of May. It will be my third time participating. Can't wait.