My mom and I agree that neither of us has much of a talent in painting. I might enjoy reading, writing letters, teaching young children and adults, but I do not have a talent in shading or color mixing.However, I enjoy the opportunity of stepping into that space of tension. Where my brain understands the instructor and I watch intently, yet my hands can’t seem to coordinate the same way. Afterwards (the class was 3 hours) my back aches, it feels like work, and I know this is NOT my talent.Yet, my sister paints for a living. She finds joy and peace in this process. Just as Joe can sit for hours practicing calligraphy or Paul can sit for hours building legos. I am reminded of how diverse God’s kingdom is and how varied the skills of those around me are. I am in awe of other people’s talents.

I am on the side of advocating (if available and willing) any and all opportunities to celebrate babies. That includes each one, breaking the tradition of one baby shower for the first baby. I love the welcoming of each of these blessings.
I was delighted to help plan and set up a sprinkle for my cousins: Jessica and Mike.
They are preparing their lives and hearts for a second baby girl. One who will look up to and learn from her big sister Fiona.
The theme was butterflies:No name yet for baby but I did expand on the butterfly theme and create a garden of treats.
Besides having a baby, these two have just bought their first house and are gardening a bit. I decided in the decor we could toss in some books, useful items to use in their backyard, some plants, and their favorite candies.I will confess this was a ton of fun to do. Maybe when I retire from teaching (a few more decades) I could professionally plan parties. Beyond the food and games, the kids were enthralled with the latest improvements to the backyard. Namely a cement path for riding this hot rod
and a swing set attached to a play house. I can already see sisters spending hours playing there.

The pool was a hit for cooling off in and having endless amounts of fun. Paul’s first time off a diving board.
My favorite part was time set aside to speak words of encouragement to Jessica. We stood in a circle, held hands, and as cheesy as it sounds; every lady spoke from their heart.

While Joe’s highlight was this “double baby” pose he struck. These two have very similar senses of humor. Their faces say it all.

This is a game Olivine likes. She dials on the bottom of her foot and says “beep, beep, boop” (whose phone sounds like this?) Then she likes to put her foot to her ear and say “Hello Grammy!” or “Hello Daren!” This girl is goofy.

In our neighborhood the crowds flock to the ocean and the park for all day and night partying. The older I get the more I avoid the crowds. So this year, rather than stay home and walk our babies to see the show among all the craziness, we opted for the day before.
Our friend Stella convinced me that low-key and a day early might be best for these little ones and she was right.We sat near the docks and enjoyed a twenty minute show without the screaming teenagers, wobbly beach cruisers, hand held firecrackers, and police presence. I love the reflections in the water. I also loved putting them to bed early on the fourth. I think we found our new spot for this holiday.

We made it to the bay on Wednesdaywhere the boys fell in love with Mikayla’s kayak.Watching them work together was entertaining, until they would paddle out too far and I would jump up nervous and afraid.

These two showed up later.

We are loving the sunshine right now.

Hope you are having a great day.

Although I enjoy the ponytails and pig tails of recent with Olivine, they had also become my “go to” hairstyle as more and more baby hair fell out. Similar to the potty training, I find myself overcome with feeling sentimental rather than rational.I snapped out of this trance on Thursday afternoon. I gave her a final ponytail and chopped it off (a souvenir for papa).Her face says it all, I think this little girl could care less as long as she gets a laugh out of you. She looks cute, don’t you think?

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Today there was plenty to do with friends: feeding India’s pet guinea piggoing to the park for bike riding
hiding in bushes, running while holding hands, and digging holes.Meanwhile the four of us adults can do a ton of talkingBut the highlight of the day was meeting our newest baby friend- Leila.
I caught her with her eyes open here, looking at her brother.
Then there was lunch break followed by fort building and slip and slide fun.
I loved watching each of them take a turn
and give their slide it’s own stylebut it was hard to not also be nervous about someone getting hurt in the chaos.
I was relieved when Olivine was sitting in the kiddie pool away from the sliding.
She dried off first, because eventually the entire crew migrated to the mini pool. When it was time to dry off, these two whispered about getting married. Oh how I remember the days of laying on warm cement with heavy breathing from playing until legs ache.  I wish I could bottle up this sunshine and these days, to carry me through the rest of the year. It’s why I keep this blog. I need the visual reminders of these days, when I am in the middle of hard working school days or feeling like a subpar parent. I want to capture the scene of driving home today and Henry asking if today is summer. When I ask back “why, do you like it?” He nods with two thumbs up and my heart is grateful that he notices a change in the season because the mood has shifted. We are slowing down a bit, having more time together, and lightyears away from the stress of the school year.

empty glasses with umbrellas (left over from book club), a little summer fun.a kale salad that is easy, basic, yummy, and my kids will eat it by the bowl full.a new recipe of feta and chive biscuits/scones. Who doesn’t like cheese and bread?no trace of the pupusas we had for dinner (three dollars each at the farmer’s market-made to order)but you might find some jars of lemonade and cherums. I love hybrid fruits. These are a combination of cherry + plum = cherum. I love the name and that they fit in tiny hands.

A new month means a new calendar page. Since school is over he doesn’t have the cool crafty calendar page from class, just an internet printout (but it gets the job done). He likes filling it in, talking about holidays that are upcoming. He drew balloons on my birthday (thirty-five) and is slowly understanding a concept that I know is abstract and challenging for kids.I am excited to fill up the days and leave a few blank. We are digging the concept of staying in pajamas all day and having movie marathons (E.T., Indiana Jones, Splash,…you know..the classics).