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Jiminy Peak

While Maja and Lars were stateside, we spent an afternoon at our local ski resort. I hadn’t been skiing since I was pregnant with Courtland (3 years ago!), and was so happy to get back on the mountain. I grew up skiing, and then served as ski patrol for this very mountain, Jiminy Peak, while in college. While parenting young children has cut into our ability to go with more frequency, I’m looking forward to next winter when we’ll teach both girls the fun of alpine skiing.

I’m grateful that it is truly like riding a bike, and within one run down I was feeling like no time had passed since the last time my feet were holstered in the torture chambers known as ski boots. Despite the discomfort in my feet and my chilled extremities, I was so energized by that cold, fresh air. By the way it filled my lungs and breathed happiness and excitement and fun and gratitude into my body. So rarely as adults do we get that kind of physical exertion and carefree physical play. Time at the gym or even a walk, run, or exercise class just isn’t the same kind of rejuvenation.

It was a good good day.

^^Playing hooky from parenting and work in the name of selfies and skiing sure does a marriage good.^^

^^And, my favorite, Après-ski! Hot chocolate and burgers and beer and sweaty, crazy hair.^^

Apologies for the iPhone pix, but there was no way that the dSLR was hitting the slopes!

Best Buds

These two love each other so very much. And it warms my heart beyond belief. Sunny is an extremely sensitive child. Very in tune to other people’s emotions. I feel as though Gladdy senses that about her. She gravitates to Addison, seeking her lap, her snuggles, her affection more than anyone else’s.

Sunny has been asking to learn to ride horses, no doubt a product of our country surroundings and the horse farm down the road. Maja, who is a longtime rider, commented that one must be rather sensitive in order to ride horses well. One must be aware that it is an animal that they are riding, an animal with emotions and feelings. Hearing Maja say this made me think that perhaps there is no better sport for my firstborn. We’ll give it a try this spring and see how she takes to it. I would not mind in the least if I had a horseback rider in the family. We even have room for horses on our property and in our barn if she comes to be really committed. But she’s got to spend at least a year working in someone else’s stable, manure scooping and all, before that’s even up for discussion. Lord knows I barely hold up my end of the chicken poop scoop duty, I can’t be responsible for the excrement of an animal 1,000 times that size.

Proper Vermonters

I think that we can finally (finally!) start calling ourselves Vermonters.

The wood stove is in.

And glorious.

Granted, it broke our downstairs heating system, but details! Who knew that by running the stove ’round the clock, we’d cause the pipes for our heating system to freeze? The stove is really getting put to the test until those pipes thaw out on our next warm day, oh in, probably, April.

hashtaghomeimprovementlessons

^^It was so nice to break in the stove with our Swedish guests! After our days skiing and sledding and playing in the snow, it could not have been more perfect to cozy up by the fire. Pardon the array of melting coats and snow pants strewn about the image above. Though it is quite representative of our home mid-winter. Adding roller blinds from roller blinds Melbourne to our cozy space enhances the comfort, providing a touch of privacy while letting in the soft winter light.^^

^^The kids and dogs are equally thrilled by the addition. Sunny spent the majority of the weekend curled up in burrito baby fashion, dozing by the stove.^^

^^And how rad is that whale humidifier? So very rad. Thanks, Doda! James and I thrilled to finally put it to good use!^^

Saturday afternoon we installed the (hideous albeit necessary) safety gate around the stove so all dependents are out of harms way. At least in relation to the stove. We are so very pleased to have finally (how many time can I use that word to describe this occasion?) completed this project that’s been over a year in the making!

Currently Gawking

On Thursday, I had the pleasure of experiencing spoken word poet Joshua Bennett live. His poem about his little brother Levi laid me bare.

We have seen what happens when a mind goes unchained
We have built entire industries around keeping our modern day Michelangelo’s in check.
How many Children?
How many masterfully written lives must we have dashed into the ground before we call this a genocide on creativity?

I spent my Saturday night binge-watching every Youtube video I could find with his performances. His Penn graduation speech was similarly moving. And talk about skill as a public speaker! Listening to him read prose was almost as powerful as when he performs his poetry. I recommend you give him a listen. He is truly an inspiration (and was as thoughtful and open and affirming in person as you might expect of such an artist).

6/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Sunny: Concentrating, and thus chewing her tongue much like her Doda.
Kaki: My Vermont elf.

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here.

Valentine’s Prep

The girls’ school closed early on Wednesday due to the piles of snow. So they spent their afternoon at home prepping Valentine’s for their friends at school. I’ve been feeling tapped out creatively and didn’t have the energy to do my usual slew of Valentine’s crafts (be sure to check out this, this, this and this for ideas past), so I phoned it in with some adorable cards from Minted. I’m a huge fan of the brand (and it doesn’t hurt that the founder is a completely inspiring Williams alum and all around kind human being), and was smitten with their itty bitty card line for classroom Valentine’s. Sunny naturally chose a fox card (the kid is obsessed with all things fox, long before What Does the Fox Say? made them so popular) and Kaki chose a whale card because they are abundant in her bedroom and I assume that she’s now been conditioned to gravitate to all things Whale.

^^They wore their Valentine’s best (per Mama’s request (pattern for those circle skirts that I made as their Valentine’s gifts last year here)) and we’ve been enjoying that gorgeous paper heart mobile that Justine gifted Sunny this Christmas to get in the spirit of the month. Justine claims it was easy to make – use a heart paper punch to make the hearts, then run through a sewing machine in various strands, then use embroidery hoops to hang – but time is valuable and I’m impressed by the effort and beauty of the gift.^^

Shop more Minted Classroom Valentine’s here. And if you’re feeling more eneregtic than I am these days, make this adorable Valentine Mail Bag on Minted’s blog, Julep.

L’Artiste

Yesterday, our wood stove was (finally) installed. It’s been over a year in the making (i.e. we went to install it December 2012 only to learn that we needed to first reinforce our foundation and here we are, 14 months later, with a solid floor beneath us and a roaring fire in the middle of what was formerly the girls’ playroom). As it would not be wise to have an ignited piece of furniture in the midst of a child’s play space, James and I spent today completely rearranging our downstairs living rooms.

I am fucking exhausted.

Kindly excuse my language, as hauling couches and tables and stacks of books and sorting through piles of legos and play mobiles and Polly Pockets (all the TINY things!) has left me with no reserves for censorship.

But it’s done. And what a way to spend a snow day (yes, we are buried in snow and it is gorgeous and fluffy and will make tomorrow’s ski adventure even more epic than we’d imagined). The house is now settled, Maja and Lars arrive shortly, and we can bask in the warmth of the fire, eat Swedish fish (ever a request when Maja heads to the states) and crack ourselves down (a Maja-ism from when she was an exchange student at our high school).

So for today, enjoy our hallway that has been transformed into Sunny’s art gallery. The girl brings home a stack of paintings daily from school, so we’ve created a space where she can curate her favorite six paintings each week. How very much do I want to live in the rainbow explosion that is Sunny’s world? So much so.

Everlane

It has finally warmed up enough for me to step outside and shoot images of my new wardrobe staples (and just in time as we’re about to be pounded with snow, for which I’m grateful as Maja and Lars are visiting and we’ve got two days of skiing planned, but better for the camera without all that white stuff raining down).

I’ve been living in a version of this outfit all season. Grey is very clearly its mascot. James gifted me the Design House Stockholm hat and I positively don’t know how I survived previous winters without it. I wear it constantly. My mother gifted me the insane Frye riding boots for Christmas, and I still can’t believe they’re mine. They are positively gorgeous, and so versatile. That black and brown leather combo is perfection. And the subtle curve of the cuff? So sexy. SWOON! I also have my mother to thank for the colorful wool scarf. I’ve had it for years and alas, don’t know its origins though I receive compliments on it constantly. The pants are Not Your Daughter’s Jeans, my go to jean brand these days. I’m fortunate to have an outlet within driving distance.

And the sweater! Oh the sweater! Cashmere, and long waisted, and divine! Let’s not pretend like I didn’t wear that very sweater over men’s long underwear to a Superbowl gathering. The length hid the questionable crotch area of the long undies and I was cozy as ever. (I promise I only venture out in public like that when among dear friends. Most of the time, anyway.) I have Everlane to thank for this sweater staple, and they’re now my go-to for all my wardrobe basics (t-shirts, blouses, sweatshirts, bags, sweaters – they’ve got it all). They’re prices are affordable (that’s their thing, “radical transparency” – they work hard to keep their prices affordable without compromising on quality). I’m a huge huge fan of the brand and recommend you head on over and invest in some basics for your own closets –  www.everlane.com

Also, that wooden bangle James gifted me for our 5 year wedding anniversary (the traditional gift is, yes, wood). It’s engraved with the latitude and longitude of our wedding ceremony – appropriately nerdy from my CARTographer husband.

Katy

A month ago today I helped welcome sweet baby Katy into the world. Her arrival was unexpected, two weeks ahead of schedule due to her Mama’s rising blood pressure. We were only days into the new year, during our first blizzard and deep freeze of the season. Her name is so wonderfully appropriate (see photo above – and if you don’t know that children’s story, I highly recommend it!)

This birth was my fourth in one year. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been present for the welcoming of four new lives into the world. To see all the amazing and powerful ways that birth is so deeply personal and individual for each mother and child, and yet, simultaneously, how truly universal and transcendent the experience is.

I was explaining to someone last week that one of the primary reasons that I so enjoy birth photography (beyond the gift it gives the family of that experience) is the opportunity to capture people at their most authentic, their most bare, their most vulnerable. A woman in labor does not notice or care about the presence of my camera. She is unaffected by the lens, and I am privy to some of the most incredible and profound human moments. The deepest pain juxtaposed against the deepest joy. The love between partners as they navigate that pain and anticipation and then experience that joy for the first time together in meeting their baby. Words could never do it justice. Pictures come close. But nothing compares to the act of bearing witness to that kind of energy. I am humbled and grateful for it every time. And I especially love experiencing all the laughter (punctuated by the pain and work) that is central to birth. There are always so many beautiful images of mothers smiling even while in the throes of one of the hardest things they’ll ever do.

Looking back at these images, I am most moved by the love between Laura and her husband – the way he held her in that pain and the two of them worked together to bring their daughter into the world. I knew Laura was one of the most physically and mentally strong human beings I know thanks to training and running a half marathon with her last spring. But watching her in labor was positively inspiring. She never once uttered words of doubt. She never once cried for help. She trusted herself and her body and baby, and I could not have been more proud or inspired by that kind of mental will. I wish that for all mothers, and I can only hope that some of these images capture the heart of that strength.

5/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Sunny: A Saturday morning with pony beads. Not a bad way to kick off the weekend with the kids. 
Kaki: It helped Courtland practice her colors and counting and hand eye coordination. But mostly it gave Mama 15 minutes to sip her coffee in peace.

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here.