Our lives are hectic. It's a constant flow of coming and going, bringing and picking up, and then making sure dinner's done at six and everyone's bathed and ready for bed by 7.30pm. Sometimes this goes rather effortlessly, and sometimes (most of the time, actually), it requires effort, concentration, and patience.
Another day done, another day gone. Looking back at the pictures, I wish then I hadn't been so concerned with getting everything done right, or in time, but instead enjoyed the moment and been a little more relaxed. Good enough will do, it doesn't need to be perfect. I think Anna Quindlen articulated these feelings beautifully in her article "On Being a Mom," and this sentence stands out to me (though the whole thing is pretty darn good and worthy of reading!):

"I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less"


Gorgeous, right? I'm going to convert this sentence to present time and then hang it somewhere on a wall in our house as a daily reminder. Do you have any favorite motherhood quotes?

I know I'm a bit late on this, but I'm still looking for a year calendar. I know, we're three months into 2011 already and honestly, I thought I'd skip this year, calendar wise, but I can't do it. I miss having one around just about every day. The last couple of years we made photo calendars in iPhoto, and though they are lovely, I wanted a change this year. Hence, the delay. Because whatever it is has to top all those lovely family pics we've gotten used to looking at.
Here's two ideas I really love. The first is from Gabrielle a.k.a. Design Mom, who managed to find time to DIY a lovely pastel colored monthly calendar. Here's what that looks like (photo courtesy of Design Mom):

Hi there. I apologize for the mess. Here, on my blog. I've been switching templates (or attempting to, anyway) this past week, and finding out how to as I go. I'm not so tech-savvy after all. In the process, I lost all of my widgets and fonts. Sigh. I'll get it fixed. In the meantime, bear with me please, and here's one last pic of winter (as far as I'm concerned), 'cause this girl is ready for spring!
Have a good weekend!

our August 2008 wedding

Husband R. and I have been married two-and-a-half years now, and we've been together for eight. I sometimes find this hard to believe; our courtship feels like it was only yesterday. There's about a thousand ways you can meet your future husband and fall in love. This is our story.

It was the summer of 2002 and I was celebrating being single again (that's what you do in college, you celebrate). I had just turned 22 and had that joyful feeling of the world being at my feet. One morning, I awoke from a dream about my high school years. It was a happy dream, but left me puzzled all the same. In it I saw future husband R. walking down the hall of our school. --Here I need to provide you with some background information. Husband R. and I attended the same high school. He is five years older than me and so we had very little to do with each other. I thought he was wildly attractive and had a crush. In all those years, we only had one conversation, which lasted exactly one minute. It is etched in my mind. Back to my dream now.-- So, I was thoroughly confused when I woke up. It had been at least six years since I'd seen him and hadn't really thought about him after high school anymore. The dream stayed with me all day, as did a feeling of excitement about having seen him (well, in the dream at least). Finally, I decided that Google was my friend and looked him up (sounds stalkerish, no?). My heart beating fast as I found his name, photo, and e-mail address on a student association website. He was in college, too (not mine), studying civil engineering.

As these things go, I phoned a girlfriend to relate the story. "Why don't you e-mail him?" she said. I didn't dare. Then, one day later, I was feeling particularly brave, and without thinking twice, wrote the e-mail and hit send. Immediately I regretted this and frantically searched for a way to unsend it. Within 24 hours, he replied. The e-mail was empty. I replied once again and so did he. We re-introduced ourselves and told our stories of the past six years. E-mailing then turned to talking on the phone, which led to our first dinner date. That first meeting was surreal. Sparks flying everywhere as we shook hands. We hit it off. Six months after that, we became an item, and four years later, with the birth of our son Abe, became a family.

So, you could say we met online, or you could say I married my high school crush. I prefer the latter. What's your story?

I love receiving my kids' little artworks, whether they be drawings, paintings or clay figures. There's something so endearing about those proud faces when they hand over their day's work. Thus far, I've kept all most of them in drawers and cupboards scattered around the house. There's not any sort of system there. With our youngest now in daycare twice a week, I received his very first Valentine's card last month (photo above). That triggered something in my brain. All the lovely little art projects we have been receiving from our eldest (Abe), would now have to be multiplied by two. And neither of them is even in kindergarten yet (at which time I assume they will be making still more of those lovely things)...

Hello mom! It's time for a system!
Well, yes it is. So, what to do? Keep everything? Throw everything away (after a respectable amount of time of course)?
Keep everything: I wish I could, but we're pretty sure we want to add to our brood somewhere down the line and space is limited.
Throw everything out? There's no way I could do that, my heart breaks just thinking about it.
So, what then? After brief consideration, I decided on a dual approach: I photograph every piece of art that they make, preferably with them holding it, so I'm sure to also capture those proud little faces. I then keep them around for a couple of weeks, after which I throw them away. And yes, this is pretty hard to do... The photographs I collect in a special kids' art book. I do make exceptions for the really special pieces, like our youngest's first Valentine's card, which was also his first experience with paint. Way too precious to toss out!
What's your take on this? Do you have a system when it comes to your kids' art? I'd love to hear.