a lovely little day. (=

in pictures.

'green' smoothie.  

yum.  (=

whole wheat blueberry pancakes with yogurt and raspberry jam.  

yum.

                                                          a sweet gift from sweet A.

a few of our dearest friends.  (=

my happy little 'trio.

[this is one of my favorite pictures]

a little dinner prep...

and voila.  

yum!  (=

we are young

it was probably around january[-ish] that A2 comes into the living room with his laptop and this:



yes.  you have heard it.
and it may be overplayed [i wouldn't know, we only hear of these things via A2 and his ever-indulgent search for the eclectic]

anyway, it is BEAUTIFUL.
i think the 'trio and i played and replayed it possibly [42?] a lot.

is this something only i do or are you the same:
when i hear them singing 'so if by the time, the bar closes, and you feel like falling down.
i'll carry, you home,
toniiiiiiiiiight'

[and this is about as explicit as we get, so don't become concerned.  95.2% of the time we are listening to worship music.  well-rounded right?]

so not so much the words, but the fact that they are singing it in perfect pitch.
with all the right pauses.
and then beautifully blaring the chorus with or without janelle monae,

this or any song equally as passionate about either youth specifically,
or that somehow transports you back to 6-12th grade and dancing and screaming your current must-have happy/angst song

i don't know about you but i lose it.
every time.
tears.

and at times like a few sundays ago when our [awesome] worship band at church opened services playing this:



and my 'trio goes crazy b/c they have been singing it w/daddy for weeks/months, and they are into it.
right there in the lobby.
full on.  [always full on and i LOVE it]

music is so incredibly moving.
and while A2 is super-cautious about 'over listening' to a song, my lovelies and i run with reckless abandon, and we listen to something like this:


or this:


or this:


over and over and OVER again.
cry.
laugh.
dance.

and they will never forget it.
or the moments spent learning it.

and neither will i.

(=

new favorites [a.k.a. we haven't done much more this glorious summer than read and snuggle]

i've not made my way to writing much lately.
mainly b/c i was spending this school-year trying to figure out HOW in the world to balance being a [part-time] teacher's asst.
while remaining a good mama to my sweet, sweet 'trio.

i didn't figure it out.

and now that summer has [FINALLY!!!!!] arrived
i have been hoarding every single moment, reveling in my 'babes--and doing a LOT of reading!  (=

'B is reading avidly now, and is racing through her reading logs already.  [library, barnes and noble]
L is able to read, but opts to be read to.
unless he is either reading over 'B's shoulder or listening to her read a story that i have already read to him; in which case he insists on filling in any pauses with the next word on the page.
and A is NEVER without harry potter.
i know she has read over 300 pages in the last 2 days.  and she is still going.  [book 5]

and when they are taking a break from that i am begging to read to them.
and delightfully,
they have spent the week obliging me.  (=

so if you have read any of my older posts you may remember me stating that
'i am a complete nut when it comes to the books our children read'.                                               '
and you may have read lists of some of our favorites.

well there are ALWAYS more books to be written, which means there are ALWAYS new treasures to discover.....so i am going to spend a few posts here and there, sharing them with you.

of no surprise whatsoever, this one has absolutely captivated me:

it is a BEAUTIFULly simple story of one sister, virginia, who wakes up feeling a little 'wolfish'.
and of the plight of the other sister to have ''the whole house lifted", and for "down to become up".
it portrays love and devotion and patience in such a way that sort-of takes your breath.
the story paints a picture of compassion and empathy far-surpassing what, i feel, our adult minds can rarely wrap our minds around.

love the beauty of a child.  (=

and isabelle arsenault's artwork is truly something i would plaster the walls of our house with.
[were it not already plastered w/our in-house artists' work]
seriously though, could you not just LIVE in that water-colored world?

i think i do.  (=

even aside from the literary innuendoes and real life word-plays, virginia wolf [by kyo maclear] speaks volumes.

i am TRULY obsessed with finding these fantastic books.
i love it that none of my 'trio feels [and i assume, given my pure ELATION over them, never will feel] too 'old' for these so-named 'children's books'.

“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.”
— C.S. Lewis
[my new disclaimer.]


more to come.

enjoy!
(=