the Meditation Rocking my Mommy World

This Canadian mom of six posted a beautiful reflection to help a stressed out mommy through the tougher moments of motherhood. It is so evocative, I hope to keep it at the forefront of my thoughts and actions with my husband and children every hour of every day.

Straw Hats, Mashed Carrots, Peaches & Safety Goggles

1/2 of a Year?!

Today is Seth's .5 birthday. I know to most this seems silly,
and don't get me wrong, there was no cake or gifts or
anything. It just made me reflective of the fact that this little
guy has been in my care, in our family for half of a year already. How amazing. What a gift, we love you Safety Goggle Seth.

First Solids

I love breast-feeding, however, I have been adequately convinced by a combination of reading and several pediatricians that Seth deserves some solid food in order to avoid an iron deficiency. I reluctantly bought one box of rice cereal today and Daddy was excited to feed it to Seth. As shown, he is rather ambivalent at this stage. Tomorrow is carrots, maybe he will prefer that.

Female SEAL in the family

So Vivian just finished two weeks of swim lessons, this time as a "seal," one level up from the "otters" of June fame. She was the youngest one in her class by a couple years, it was impressive to see her step up to challenges like going off diving boards (she was lowered in by the arms after two substantial freakouts) and going down the tube water slide (several times in a teacher's lap and then finally solo). Nonetheless, her instructor recommends that she stick with seals until she masters a few more skills that will help her in dolphins. I am just relieved to no longer have to have her and her brother at the pool across town by 0800 M-Th! Good job , Seal.

Crawling?

If you can call it that... This boy gets the mission accomplished, it just might not look pretty in the process.

Asturias in our Hearts

This is a shout out to Seth's fabulous godparents.
Thank you for the shirts, we cannot wait to show Viv and Seth your beautiful hometown sometime in the next two years.

Daddy Cut my Hair!

Truck for Sale

Anyone interested in a 2002 Chevy Silverado Truck? FOR SALE (fine print = all in photo is included in the sale price of $10500, hope you know how to feed a three-year old.) Happy bidding.

Seth's 1st Splashtime

One of our favorite activities here, in Arizona, is toddler "splash time" at our indoor community pool on weekend mornings.

Usually Seth sits on the sidelines, but at just 5.5-months-old he is ready to rock and roll. We took him in today and he absolutely loved it. Even when big sister "accidentally" got too close or too aggressive with her splashing.

Balsawood at 3

I love Lowes. I wish I had some type of major home-remodeling project underway just so that I could give them my business.

You see, they run a kid craft project every other Saturday from 10-noon and these things are legit. Vivian and her father built this "dune buggy" today. I am talking hammer, nails, her own apron that she gets to keep. It was way cute. Seth and I mostly watched, while Daddy summoned his dormant-Eagle Scout to get the job done.

Rain brings froads

We found a green, hoppy friend alongside our house this morning. There is some contention in the family as to whether it was a frog or a toad. Nonetheless, Viv was convinced that he needed water. Daddy opines that the creature was, in fact, a toad, and, therefore, not pleased to be splashed repeatedly with water.

*addendum* Animals may have been harmed in the making of this movie

Summer Rain

As soon as I finished complaining about how hot it is here in AZ... we have entered the lovely monsoon period of July. The sky opens up and dumps on us every afternoon/evening. It is not only beautiful and refreshing, but also means that pilot Daddy just might be sent home early. We are loving it!

Independence Day

We celebrated the blessing of living in our great nation in tie-dye style together with my folks in patriotic Coronado,CA. It was a blast.

Playtime

As Mommy preps for a long road trip today, I was grateful for having two children

We Have Entered the Bike Age

This is Viv on Fuschiabike, yes, that is a proper noun and all one word. I love not having to wait for her to walk, nor pushing a massive stroller. Thank goodness for entering the bike age!!