Wednesday, Sept. 30: Under the Sea

[I know, I know. I should have called this post "Back in the Saddle Again" or something like that. I have failed terribly in my attempt to post once a day...but I am back again. And I am going to try to be better...really, I am.]

Do ya think she is ready to start ballet class????

Flip!

Wednesday, Sept. 16 & Thursday: Sept. 17 : Just what I needed

{daddy's home!}

Well, folks, I have faltered already in my once-a-day posting quest. But I am still going to write about each day, so this post is a two-in-one.

On Wednesday, I took a sick day from work. Not actually sick (I was honest with my employer), but more of a mental health day. I have been working SO much, and the kids have been SO needy (cute, but needy) that I just needed a day with no kids and no work. It was actually really, really good for me. Not that it made me go into some zen-like blissful state. But it did help me re-set my brain a little. Every time I thought, "I should be doing this or that" I told myself no, there is nothing you need to do today. It was a hard concept for my poor overworked brain to grasp, but after I practiced the concept a few times I settled in to a pretty nice day of doing not much of anything. I did clean up around the house (setting a timer for 30 minutes, as my mom always suggests) but that was about it.

On Thursday, I kept Lucy home from school and took the girls to the DeCordova Museum to roam the sculpture park...we met my friend Ellenor and her kids Max & Anna there. L & P had a ton of fun and it was great to see their cheeks get rosy as they rain around in the crisp air. Lucy is so receptive to learning about art, which gives me great joy. There are two giant heart sculptures there and they have all sorts of objects embedded in them...we stood for a while playing "find the..." as in "find the screwdriver" and "find the flashlight." I also taught Lucy a bit about perspective -- how you see more when you stand back, but in less detail. It would have been a great place for photos, but I deliberately left my camera at home. I hope to go back there soon with the kids and Jeff to do an official fall photo shoot :)

When we came home, both girls napped for THREE HOURS!!!! Woo-hoo. Phoebe made up for the fact that she had woken me up at 5:00, screaming unless I played This Little Piggy over and over and over again. At dinnertime, Jeff arrived home from his business trip to L.A. and was greeted by girls squeeling in delight. We went out for pizza and called it a night fairly early.

Wednesday and Thursday...just what I needed.

Wednesday, Sept. 15: What a difference a day makes

{lulu the storyteller, in an outfit of her own design}

Today, I was really productive around the house. It was a school day for Lucy and a home day for Phoebe. I decided to get out an do a few errands despite the horror-show of taking Phoebs into stores. First, I went to the local True Value hardware store, where I could literally shop ALL DAY. I mean, seriously, just so many cool things. I know I am a dork, but I would actually find it fun to look at all the little parts that go into a toilet. But anyway, with Phoebe in tow I needed to get in, get what I needed, and get out. And what I needed was spray paint to finish up a project. You see, I am obsessed with rescuing stray furniture from places like the side of the road and the dump. If I pass by furniture while driving that has a "free" sign on it, you can probably hear the sound of my brakes squeeling from a mile away as I whip my car around to inspect the object in question. My poor kids have ridden home with so much old crap wedged between their car seats...you don't even want to know. Jeff dreads each new arrival...each dirt-infested piece of old wood furniture or baby-crust-infused toy. He has learned to stop asking, "Did you clean that?" because he knows it throws me into a blind rage and result in answers like, "No, Jeff. I decided to give a toy to our kid straight from the dump." Nice, huh?

When I came home, I got to work on the project...a mid-century valet chair from a company called Pearl Wick. I got it at, yes, the dump. It was all brass and brown metal and naugahyde...but I saw its potential. My favorite part was the remnants of a sticker on it, which told me that clearly someone had tried to sell it at a yard sale and there were no takers. Until me. So with a bit of scrubbing (yes, Jeff, I cleaned it!), some paint, new fabric, and my trusty glue gun, it went from this:



To this:

VIVA LA DIFFERENCE!

At the dump, I also picked up a few books. One of them was called "365 tv-free activities to do with your kids" or something like that. Lucy was interested in this, so after she came home from school I picked out a little activity for her. It involved giving her a magazine and her finding a picture to tell a story about. She found a photo of a kitchen (a really nice kithchen!) with a head of lettuce sitting on a cutting board. And here was her story:

Once upon a time, there was a princess named Ariel and she was making a salad.

She burned her finger and it hurt and then she burned her other finger but it didn't hurt.

She wasn't a very good cook. But then she was a very good cook.

She and the prince lived happily ever after.

And then they had dinner.

Indeed.

Monday, Sept. 14: She's like the wind

After many days of asking Daddy, Lucy and Jeff went on a run together tonight. She was super into it and Jeff said she did an amazing job. He said she kept exclaiming, "I still have energy!" She came home red and flushed and ready for a glass of water. Bravo, kid. That's the way to be. Jeff and I are really going to try to commit ourselves to more fitness because oh boy, what a gift we can give our kids if we teach them to have active, healthy lives. My mother taught me such good eating skills (raw tofu is one of my comfort foods from childhood!) and I can't thank her enough for doing that because it has helped me so much in my adult life. I am so happy to pass that on to my kids. Of course, cupcakes are always welcome in my house as well :)

In other news, so sad about Patrick Swayze's passing. What a model of courage, strength and dignity...and what a beautiful marriage he had with his wife Lisa. I am reminded of his song "She's Like the Wind." I never really liked the song very much and actually have a funny memory of it playing on a coach bus that I took back to a hotel after an out-of-town wedding (the bride & groom hired the bus to shuttle guests). Me and my date were thinking about how cheesy the song was, but then I looked over and saw this newly-in-love couple gazing at each other and signing the song. Yuck, I thought. But you know what, that couple went on the get married and have babies, while I was with a guy whose tux rental I had to pay for myself (I'm no gold digger, but I don't want to be with one either). So anyway maybe that couple had it right, like Patrick and Lisa. He wrote that song for her, you know. Rest in peace, Johnny Castle.

P.S. Of course, I got my happy ending...ditched the gold digger and hitched my star to my fabulous husband, who does things like taking his daughter out for a run on a warm late summer evening.

Sunday, Sept 13: Girls on film

My hand hurts. I had three photo sessions today, with a total of 8 children (6 of them girls). And I still need to finish my evaluations from the law school course I taught this summer. And instead of "finish" I just accidentally typed "edit." It's a bit tough to switch between my worlds as a lawyer and a photographer sometimes. Anyway I had great shoots and it will be fun to edit the photos...I'm just going to take a little while to do them because I need a tiny break.

Oh and in family news, Phoebe saw a heart on an icon on my computer today, pointed at it, and said "heart." Pretty cool.

No photos today. Sorry folks...more tomorrow!

Saturday, Sept. 12: Working for the weekend

It rained today...a lot. A lot more than the "spotty showers" called for in the forecast. Today, I was most definitely not grateful for the storm!

I had two really nice meetings today with potential wedding clients, plus one shoot that was easy-breezy. Two little boys -- and the younger one was born the exact same day as Phoebe, at the exact same hospital! What are the chances of that? I probably shouldn't have asked them if they heard a woman yelling obscenities in the hallway as she was rushed in for a quick-o delivery (that was, ahem, me). Thankfully, no, they had not.

In between all my work stuff, I managed to do a little art project with the girls involving some cool marbelized construction paper and glitter glue pens. And they actually didn't kill each over fighting for who got which pens! I discovered that Phoebe knows what blue is, because she asked for the blue pen by name. Time to start some official color identification training I think.

Well I am all photoed out right now, so instead of uploading anything new today, I am posting the above silhouette...kinda cute I think. Plus, here are two photos from the other day:

{playing on mommy & daddy's bed, trying to look cute & avoid night-night time}

{on the wall in front of our house}

Friday, Sept. 11: Down came the rain

First, the obvious. Today was another Sept. 11. And I really hate Sept. 11. Last year on this day, we were in Deruta, Italy getting swindled by a guy at a pottery shop (lesson learned: DO NOT buy pottery in Italy that will be "shipped home" to you!!!). We went into a little coffee shop and at the bar, the man serving our espresso saw that we were Americans. He started to make gestures, like flying and then said "boom!" and smacked his hands. And then he kept holding up seven fingers. It took me a little while to realize that he was trying to say something like, "Hey, Americans, today is the 7th anniversary of 9/11." But I was so blissfully wrapped up in la dolce vita that I honestly hadn't thought about it until that moment. This year, it was a grey and rainy day, spent closer to home. I was so grateful for the clouds, because 9/11 was just such a picture-perfect day...any morning that is clear and sunny with just a touch of crispness in the air reminds me of that morning. So today I was just glad it wasn't like that at all. Today, I was happy for the storm.

Today was a work day for me and a school day for the kiddos. After school, the rain held off a bit and Lucy took a bike ride on her new two-wheeler with her friend Maya from down the street. I had Phoebe in the stroller but she fussed, wanting to get out and walk on her own. And then she wanted to go home. And then she wanted a bottle (which we have been trying to get her off of). And then she pulled on my shirt and wanted to NURSE (no way...she gets it before bed and that is IT). But that's life with Phoebe these days...the bitter with the sweet.

Lucy was invited to Maya's house after the bike ride to share in a movie and pancake night. Jeff and I had planned to go to the mall, so we dropped Lucy off (brave girl!) and took Phoebe to the mall with us. Everyone was well behaved and had fun (including Jeff). I did a bit of damage at J. Crew, though. I've decided it is my new favorite store and although it is a bit pricey, I need to grow up already and stop shopping at the Gap and Old Navy all the time. So I am going to build up my wardrobe with a few nicer pieces that will hopefully fit well and last.

This is going to be a busy weekend...I have four photo shoots and two potential wedding (wedding! my nerves!) client meetings. Wish me luck!

{lucy at breakfast...before school, before 7am}

{big, huge, grown girl}

{she bumped her noggin at school}

{little sister wanted the big girk bike, natch}

{lucy and maya, crusing down the street}

Thursday, Sept. 10: Another woman's treasure

Today was a school day for Lucy (she goes M-F) and a home day for Phoebe. I had thought I would enjoy Phoebe's home days...days when it is just her and me...but I must admit that they try my nerves lately. It's just not like the good ole days when she was a newborn, I was on maternity leave, and Lucy was at school. Back then, we'd spend our days just hanging out, taking walks, doing not much of anything but enjoying our time together. But these days, well, these days Phoebe is a very, very active 18-month-old. And she fusses...a lot. And gets into trouble...a lot (case in point, dragging the chair over to the counter, climbing up, and retrieving a bottle that she is not supposed to have anymore -- and doing it multiple time). I know that it is just the age -- Lucy was the same way -- still, it makes things a bit tough around here. But heck, I am not really going to complain too much. I have a happy, healthy, smart and curious (ok, and stubborn, strong-willed) girl on my hands and I wouldn't trade her in for anything. So, without further ado, here was our day:

{bought little ceramic sign thingy at Home Goods for $2 to write little notes for my kids on. also bought letter "c" to hold photos and drawings...not sure i love it but i think it will come in handy.}

{went to the dump and got some hideous old stuff that i will make shiny & pretty...in all my spare time. jackson seems to like the mirror the way it is, but i haven't introduced him to spray paint yet...he'll change his mind once he sees what it can do to a piece of crummy old junk.}

{looked for poor jackson under the bed.}

{climbed the stairs when mommy wasn't looking.}
{apologies for the hideous use of flash but i am trying to stick to my goal of posting over perfection.}

One a day

I have been a pretty bad blogger this summer...dreadful, I think. Sure, my postings have been pretty. Lovely photos, all of them. And therein lies the problem. You see, I started this little photography business that is, thankfully, starting to really take off. As in, I have FIVE shoots this weekend. But the work that this entails, plus my "real" job as a lawyer, plus my really real job as a mom has left me little time to blog. And when I do blog, it has been tempered by my pursuit of photo perfection. I have tended to post a few pretty pictures but not much else. So, for the following month, I am going to try to be a better blogger. To write about what's going on around here rather than just posting pretty photos. I am going to commit myself to one post a day, with no more than one photo from the day. I guarantee that in ten years, this may be my favorite month to look back on. And if you don't see a post from me on a particular day, feel free to send me an electronic kick in the pants, ok?

At the farm

September

There's a slight chill in the morning air...the girls have new fall clothing...life is starting to calm down...ahhhh, autumn approaches.