Little Moment in the Manic Rush

We just had a crazy, wild, we're-certifiably-insane kind of high speed visit to Michigan over the weekend. Baby arriving in the middle of the year will mean that we would have had a rather long time between visits with our parents this year. Not quite winter to winter but close. SO, we decided to do the ridiculous and improbable and drive madly back over the course of a weekend, across 14 hours of roads with the boosting of a four day weekend and have a quick hello.

Grandpa, helping zip up Dee's coat before we leave.

A little glance at Mom.

And a little smack for Grandpa. A well-loved man.

Sometimes you have to do crazy things. And sometimes you don't have to but it sure can be fun! I had to share my favorite photographic moment of the weekend, to share a little of the spontaneous fun. Family is a good deal.

A Weekend In Pictures

Here's a little photo-tour taste of weekend fun at our house:

Packing Jars and Suitcases

I don't exactly recommend canning peaches and making a pie right before hurriedly packing your bags, on the day you're planning to leave for the weekend....but, then, there are certain things in life that we just do. I really feel like I must have homemade canned peaches in the midst of winter and as the rest of the month of August we'll either be hosting company or frantically packing and unpacking at our new house....it was now or never. So, we picked and they ripened and then of course they ripened slowly enough that they weren't ready until the day we were leaving for a weekend at the Jersey Shore. Urgh. What can't be cured must be endured, Ma Ingalls always said and truly, there's a fact. So, we canned and I made a pie and then we packed our heads off.....

Peeling blanched and scored peaches

Empty jars, waiting to be packed...

This is what Nib did to help.

And the big boys, packed jars for me.

The nice thing about being two is that nobody cares if you can peaches in your underwear.

Mmmm.....the "fruits of our labors"

And then I ran out of jars and there were leftovers that had to be used up....

So we put a  peach pie in the freezer for when we came home again.

The Shore was really lovely but, it was great to come home too. Back to our rows of shining jars and that freezer pie all ready for us. Such yummy proof of effort!

Weekend Re-cap

Great weekend....lots of good stuff in it:

Long awaited tacos and one torta at the taco truck in our new city where we'll live in just a couple weeks!

Mmmmmm.....

Some kissing....

Some simple....

....everyday beauty.

A "Dali Sky"

Some elfin cuteness.

Tinker flowers!

Cheese and honey....Thank you Drake! (La Tur with honeycomb for those who wonder)

And a little catapulting giraffes off of garbage cans.

Life is just chock full of great things!

Spa Night and A Favorite Site

Well, Friday is here and with it, a cozy weekend. We have small plans, things like "make a loaf of bread" and "walk through the flowers" and nothing terribly ambitious. Its a good time of year to not be very ambitious. So yummy and lazy out.

We're starting off the weekend in fine style with a wonderful night of couple spa time. Foot soaks, massages and languid sitting around together. I am ready.

While we soak our tooties...why don't you take in one of my very favorite sites that makes me extremely happy. Young Me, Now Me. Such genius. Some of the photos are amazing. I plan to do one of my own (not for the site persay but, maybe just for you folks here)...someday.

I hope your weekend is wonderful, your children hug you, and that whether you have rain or sun, you take a moment to breath deeply and really smell it coming down around you.

 

And Then He Was Four

 Well, it was a positively gorgeous weekend, blazing sunshine, honest-to-goodness hot weather at points and bright blue skies. Not a bad way to celebrate turning four!

We went into the city and strolled around, enjoying the cheery feeling of New York in the spring, took in the circus, bought sidewalk churros and "smelled the flowers." (just like Ferdinand)

Then on our way home we stopped at the local skate shop and A won Coolest Dad of the Year by buying Ru a genuine skateboard, deep desire of his heart for a year or so now. He was a pretty happy boy.

We rolled into our own parking lot in front of our unit and found birthday packages on the stoop to carry indoors with us...and then on to birthday cake, music, present opening and jolly well-wishing birthday phone calls. He slept pretty deeply that night.

And now he's four! Four! I can't believe it! For his birthday he got a camera, a skateboard, a pair of sunglasses and some gardening tools (among other things).

I have suddenly reached the point at which my children start accumulating their own "stuff." We've largely been free of that until now. There are assorted toys and books but nothing of any great quantity belongs to either child, just their special animals they sleep with pretty much. I am going to have to figure out where individual kids special belongings can live. I am not prepared for this...time to mentally and physically re-arrange for the kid stage instead of baby/toddler world.

Come Hell or High Water

Dear Readers....
Last night and the night before I got 5 hours of sleep combined...and then there was a minor flooding emergency in our house today (thankfully now remedied and all mopped up) but, all that to say...I'm beyond exhausted and tonight the right thing to do is hit the hay, thinking of you all as I drift off.

Much love and many warm weekend wishes,

Time for a Weekend, Right About Now....

Have been looking at real estate listings so long that all the MLS numbers drift together and I can't remember whether a colonial or a cape cod traditionally has dormers or if Zillow or Bing has better aerial shots of neighborhoods. Am quite dizzy with it all.

I am hormonal. I hate it but, folks, its the honest truth. I am crying about silly things (twice this morning!), panicking constantly about how messy and disorganized the house feels and freaking the hey out about feeling generally unsettled. I am normally quite happy to be a rolling stone, play up my spontaneity and make lemonade with whatever life is handing up at the moment. No plan? No problem. We'll figure something out.

*looking slightly nervously* Don't tell anybody but, I really want a secure, stable plan for the future, and I want it somewhat desperately at the moment. There is this ticking, buzzing little guy with a twitch at the control center in the back of my brain lately who keeps shrieking "WHAT ARE WE DOING???? ARGH!!!!!! RUN AWAY!!!! MUST HAVE SECURITY!!!!" He's terribly helpful.

But, yes...I'm trying to be good-natured about the fact that we currently don't know what we're doing about:

• A's work situation
• Buying a house
• Buying a car
• Staying in the area
• Where in the world we'll put the baby's things

Etc. etc. I know that in real life there is always this real element of uncertainty....even if we think we know our plans...its an illusion...random change happens to all of us, however secure we think we are. That said, my pregnant, hormone riddled brain wants to at least attempt stability for the next few months. This is a stressful time for me to be trying to wing it.

But, honestly...even though I'm bursting into tears every few minutes and feeling basically always on the edge of minor panic...things are pretty okay. Spring is coming. The baby is healthy. I'm feeling pretty good. We are all healthy. And there aren't any big bad things on the horizon that we can see at the moment. Must be a good time for a weekend, eh? Happy R n' R to all of you.....