“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015.”
Sunny: She becomes a six year old on Monday. I will forever associate the scent of lilac and its purple blossoms with her arrival into the world.
Kaki: Sunny styled her hair. And she was surprisingly pleased with the result.
More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here.
Life lately has been blissfully spent outdoors. Grass under bare feet. Coloring en plein aire. Swinging high as the sky. Flower picking. Sand between fingers. Grass stained. Giggle-saturated. Life is good-ness.
James and I have been steeped in yard work, and while during said clean up I often find myself grumbling and wondering why on earth I spend my time in this way, the satisfaction I feel afterward? The way I lounge in the kitchen gazing out on our property? Or drive backward up our road to leisurely survey last years plantings (hooray for perennial flowers bursting to life, and blueberries and strawberries and raspberries and ASPARAGUS! that survived their first hard winter)? Or spend my morning walk with the dogs breathing in the tranquility and beauty and budding life? Or sway in the hammock under flower petal flurries? Well, it makes all the sweat and mess well worth the effort.
I do so love our little piece of the world.
^^Penelope pig turning our garden clean up efforts into a cozy bed.^^
^^Frisbee and smoothies and swinging, oh my! And bologna tongues. Lots of pink bologna tongues.^^
^^Inspired by a recent heat wave, all of the flowering trees blossomed en masse. It has definitely been the most beautiful spring in recent memory. This weekend, it was literally raining flower petals all Sunday and I couldn’t get over how surreal and dream-like our lives felt on account of the scenery.^^
^^And lots of napping in the sunshine. Penny is an expert.^^
More images from my birthday excursion to Hancock Shaker Village, because so much cute! So much floral! So much love!
“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015.”
Sunny: The trees are killing it this week (I don’t think our apple, cherry and plum trees have ever been in bloom simultaneously and it is outrageously magical); and so, we enjoyed a sunny Mother’s Day of flower petal showers.
Kaki: Climbing trees, looking and acting like a kid about to turn four. She’s grown up so much this year. Fewer tantrums. So much more language. Still as spirited as ever, but much more reasonable and even-keeled than a year ago.
More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here.
“Moms come in all shapes & sizes, but they’re pretty easy to recognize because they’re the ones who teach you stuff all the time about how to be in the world & sometimes that sounds a lot like: chew with your mouth closed, sit still. stand up straight, be polite, Look them in the eye. & sometimes it seems like that sort of thing doesn’t add up to a whole lot. Until the day you feel the soft ache of love in your heart that makes you take care with a friend who hurts or when you look in a stranger’s tired eyes & you stop & smile. Or when you listen to the ABC song for the thousandth time & you laugh & say ‘again’ & suddenly you understand that is the real thing moms do & it adds up to the whole world.”
P.S. Thanks, Mom. 143.
Sweet baby Graham turns one this month! To mark the occasion I knit up a beloved pattern from Kaki’s babyhood with my favorite sweater yarn. Details in my Ravelry projects. And I’ve been knitting away for the Cart household’s May baby as well. Pictures soon. I can hardly believe that she’ll be turning SIX!
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the blossoming friendship between our potbelly pig, Penelope, and our flat coated retriever, Gladden. The two are inseparable. Now that the snow has melted, Penny lets herself into our yard in the morning and squeals and grunts for us to let Gladdy outside to play.
They romp, and chew, and run, and rollick together like the best of friends. Penny has learned how to play like a dog. Pigs are such smart creatures. And we are all delighting in the never ending entertainment of such a wonderful, unexpected friendship. Follow along @blogalacart #pennyandgladdy #BFFs
I heard someone describe their children this way today, and it seemed like a poetic (albeit cheesy) capture of how I feel about my own brood.
I’ve been solo parenting since Sunday morning while James is away at a conference, and it’s been exhausting and humbling and strangely fulfilling. My life has had to be so carefully scheduled and orchestrated to survive coordination of all of our activities and demands, all during my craziest work season, that I haven’t had time for the superfluous stuff. And that superfluous stuff is so often so unfulfilling that it’s been unexpectedly pleasant to only have room for the necessities. I’ve had intimate one-on-one time with my girls, in my home, in a way that is empowering (I can do this!) while also serving as a reminder of how grateful I am to have a supportive partner so that I don’t have to do this alone regularly. (Let’s not pretend like I haven’t had some seriously ungraceful, ugly moments over the course of the past three days).
Single parents are motherfucking super heroes.
I do so love these bits of sparkling humanity.
“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015.”
Sunny: Inspired by Kate Bosworth (a high school classmate and contemporary trendsetter) at Coachella. Such fun with this kid’s epic mane.
Kaki: She’s insisted on growing out her bangs to be like mama and sister, so every morning we braid them back like so. It’s such a pain to grow them out, but it’s fun that she’s willing to let me braid and play with her hair like big sister.
More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here.