Those tiny hands

Sometimes I wonder how I will survive 20 years from now. That these times I'm in right now might simply be the highlight of my life. Those tiny fingers, chubby cheeks, the little ones following me everywhere ( and I mean absolutely everywhere). How they want to be with me. What if this is it? How can I live with a quiet house and no tiny legs pitter pattering everywhere. The day will come when they leave... when they think someone else is their "BEST", then what.

Oh it hurts my heart to think of them all grown up, distant - perhaps in body and in heart.

So what do I do?

I leave the house's messes, the phone calls for appointments, the way overdue thank you cards and I nuzzle my nose in that soft little neck. I listen and delight in the tickling squeels and I savour, sovour, savour every moment....

Until tomorrow when the tantrums and 4 year old attitude drive me bonkers and I imagine the day they'll play by themselves for more than five minutes.

Missing solitude

As the holiday season is upon me I feel the crunch, the rush, the sugar high, the excess, the too much already!


And all I want is the quiet, the hush, the solitude, the paintbrush in my hand, the hum drum of daily living, the slow down and just sit and be feeling to return.


So with that I remember this day back in the fall, such a quiet day and I breathe deep and know that this amazing...glorious...magical Christmas season...will also pass... and I will sit yet again to enjoy the quieter seasons of the year.

May you find a moment of peace and quiet today

Sick day

A sick day turning out to be a fantastic - cozy - homey day.

Staying in pajamies all day

Enjoying a nap from both kids at the same time ( did hell just freeze over?)

Playing old fashioned classic games

Poor Johnny wishing and hoping someone will take him for a walk ... sorry bud

And Etian... well Etian was finally not sick... and I got to enjoy a happy baby who managed to creep into my heart just a little bit more

What a blessed day!

Special guest of honour

At our house we are so blessed to be visited by not one, but many special guests at any given moment. These royal members of society will appear and change character in a flash with mom always ready to greet them, serve them and provide the appropriate music for their never ending ball dances.





That's right, Princesses, Fairies and the occasional Pirate has taken the place of our sweet little girl. So it is no surprise that this Halloween we will be taking a princess trick and treating







Her only request was that the dress touches the floor - just like the real princesses.





I hope she never outgrows this stage

Happy Halloween everyone!

There's a kind of hush....

This morning we were greeted with a beautiful surprise. A soft fluffy white blanket covering these weary stressed out souls. Hush is all I heard. Quiet... Rest. And this is so true in our current life. Stephen finished his last exam this weekend, Everyone kicked the flu and Etian stopped crying and started to sleep.

A new season in our lives on the inside reflected on the outside.






A hush... well for a brief moment at least until the excited squeels came from Semay when she saw the fresh snow. So we hurried outside and made our first snowballs, tasted it and marveled at one of God's best creations Have a wonderful cozy day everyone

So blessed

Today I'm 31...Oih!

I feel so old, even though I know I'm not.

It is just that I had all these dreams I thought I'd accomplish by 30, and they never happened - not yet anyways....

And so this morning I woke up feeling a bit down, a bit sorry for myself and oh so old when a huge surprise landed on my doorstep. In my bathrobe I opened the door and there they were.

My dad and beautiful step mom... Flowers in hand they surprised me, embracing me in hugs and love. They took the time to drive all the way out to the country (before heading to work) to wish me a happy birthday. The feeling of old quickly disappeared and I totally felt blessed.

So what! I didn't publish a book yet, I'm not living by the ocean, I don't have the perfect healthy body but I do have what matters. LOVE, CUDDLES, HUGS, KISSES, SMILES and so many kind hearted souls in my life. Never did I put "have loving people in my life"on my to do list, but God knew what I needed. He always does.

So I enter this day with a full heart and a giant smile that just doesn't want to go away. Thank you Lord!

Footnotes

Tiny feet in our house makes for tiny (miniscule) steps on the art front. I mean the progress is so slow it is hardly noticable. I've been wanting to paint a series of shoes. Beautiful evening shoes and tiny girly shoes but all that got done today was painting the canvases white...then staring at the examples of the shoes for the rest of the day while hopping around on my own big feet, trying to soothe an unsoothable colicky child. It truly sucks! I miss painting so much but for now he needs me more than I need painting. So I'll keep on hopping hoping and praying for a better day.

Chasing Fall

Don't you just love a seasonal change. Nature becomes alive with new smells, colours and textures. Me and my girl went on a much needed mommy and daughter date. A slow walk looking for signs of fall. Me focusing in on her stories about princesses and explorers. Her stopping every minute to look at the map (an old piece of paper she found along the way) to lead us to our next treasure. I just love her age, her imagination, her passion for everything we do. On our return we felt refreshed. Being completely inspired by fall's colours we just had to make some serious art.







"Fall circus clowns" she calls it.

So sweet