Five Senses Friday

Five Senses Friday was started years ago by friend Shari Altman and resurrected by Abby. It's a fun way to reflect on the week past - feel free to play along if you like.

Hearing: kitten play all. the. time. (thunderous running, scratching, batting...you get the idea.)

Seeing: the first buds of the year; almost giddy at the sight of green.

Tasting: citrus of every variety: blood oranges, grapefruit, clementines

Feeling: rainboots on my feet all week. sea glass and shells.

Smelling: the salty air at low tide. sweaty boys after hockey.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

thursday

Hello! After waking up to a thick fog yesterday, the sun came out and I left the house in a too-thin coat. January is still cold, even on a gloriously sunny day.

I just saw someone mention their 'cookie of the week'. Doesn't that sound divine? I think the Phinney family needs to start having a cookie of the week.

Today is my day to be in the school library in the morning and spend the afternoon running errands. My weeks have felt so much better since I've consolidated the majority of my to-do list outside the house to one day.

What are you up to today?

to relax

"To relax, I clear my mind and focus on Halloween." - Abbott (age 7), last night as he prepared to practice the piano.

Now you go: "To relax, I...."

Happy Wednesday!

January at the beach

We spent a good amount of time at the beach Saturday (warm day) and Sunday (cold, very wet day), and last night at bedtime Abbott asked if we could go again today after school. He's a boy driven to collect sea glass - he counted 67 pieces he'd found on Sunday. Remember that? The collecting impulse? It seems inherent to childhood. We've started to think about what we might do with it all; we have vases full. I like the idea of using it in some stepping stones for the path in our garden. Anyway, I've loved taking in the beach in this winter month. Getting out in the cold and wind somehow makes me feel more alive.

inspiration

Good morning! Blogging friend and web designer extraordinaire Lyndsay, over at Lyndsay and the Johnsons, interviewed me today for her Supermom Series. The interview, and more photos, can be found here. Thanks Lyndsay!

Five Senses Friday

Seeing: the moon through our new telescope. More light every day. Late afternoon sunshine. Flowers in the house at all times.

Hearing: Little House on the Prarie. I'm loving the series as much now, reading it with the boys, as I did when I was growing up.

Tasting: pizza with a movie - our Friday night constant. Tonight we're watching The Absent-Minded Professor.

Feeling: warm for the first time in months. Tired - up too late too many nights this week.

Smelling: homemade bread every morning (I got this breadmaker for Christmas). Daphne in bloom (it seems early, but I've smelled it the past couple of days on the walk into school).

Happy Friday!

here comes the sun

Hello there! Yesterday the sun was out and at one point I noticed the thermometer said 60. Everywhere I looked, everything seemed beautiful - know what I mean? I saw people out in shorts and tshirts and wondered why I hadn't followed suit.

I'd love to hear what you're up to today. I'm volunteering in the school library this morning (as I do every Thursday), and I'm going to try to get through an impressive list of errands in the afternoon. Happy Thursday and thanks for stopping by!

at this point in January

It was 56 degrees and sunny on the way to school yesterday; an unusual January morning. Getting the boys out of bed and out the door was a challenge. I'm always surprised at how much a holiday or day off from school can throw off our routine.

At dinner, I got the sense that it been a long day. Abbott told me his teacher found a note in which one kid asked another whether or not they liked a particular person, and stated that they did not like the person in question. It sounds as if his teacher managed the situation well, using it as an example for her second step (conflict resolution) lesson. Abbott was quite indignant and it was hard to redirect his focus from speculating about the author of the note. Cal asked me if I had ever pretended to be sick when I was a kid so that I could stay home from school.

I made vanilla almond rice pudding for dessert - I highly recommend it for a January evening. And these thoughts about absolute and perfect happiness are also excellent for a January day.

playing his heart out

Much of our weekend was spent watching Abbott play in a hockey tournament; Sunday he played in THREE games. I felt tremendous pride in seeing him work so hard. Over the past week or so many things have started to 'click' for him with hockey, and he's starting to see that hard work pays off. Some of my most valuable life lessons have been learned via playing sports and working with a team.

I hope your week is off to a great start.

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

enjoying

This weekend I'm enjoying what I have. Food. A home. A safe and healthy family. My heart remains heavy for the people of Haiti. Take a moment to look at all the beautiful handmade donations in the Craft Hope shop. All profits are going to Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.

Have a wonderful weekend!

We Shall Overcome

What are your plans for the long weekend? Alexi's father is coming to town today; we can hardly wait! Abbott will be playing in a hockey tournament.

Cal's prekindergarten class will be singing We Shall Overcome at an all school meeting this afternoon, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday. Here is a fabulous performance of this song; take a minute and watch and listen.

If you haven't already, please consider making a donation to support the earthquake victims in Haiti. We support Doctors Without Borders.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. xoxo

thoughts on reading

Good morning. How's your New Year going so far? One of my goals for the year is cutting back on the time I spend online. I have done this to an extent, though I would do better with a more concrete plan for my days. I'm working on creating a schedule for my time while the kids are in school. Being offline more in the evenings has meant that I've been reading a book a week; usually I read more like a book a month. Today while culling through my bookshelf I felt disappointed at owning so many books that I've spent so much money on, most of them unsentimental to me now, and I'm forced to either pass them on or resell them, or purchase more storage to keep them. I do use the library but not nearly as much as I'd like to, due to the wait times for many of the books I want to read. I'm considering buying a Kindle to do some of my reading in electronic format. Do you use an electronic book reader? If so, how do you like it?

Happy Wednesday to you! xoxo

dreaming

Yesterday I read a blog post that mentioned journaling about dreams, and it occurred to me I don't usually remember my dreams these days. I think I'll try writing mine down as soon as I wake up; interesting stuff, what goes on while we sleep. Do you tend to remember your dreams?

Happy Tuesday!

weekend happenings

We had enough play time, togetherness and rest to fill us up for the week ahead. Our big news from the weekend is that Cal lost his second tooth then lost the lost tooth much to everyone's dismay; many tears were shed. You may remember he still hasn't parted with his first lost tooth. After composing a note to the tooth fairy, we were finally able to get him to sleep.

I wish you a happy start to your week! We're counting the days until Alexi's father comes to town (four). What are you most looking forward to this week?

it's the weekend!

What are you up to this weekend? We've got hockey practices and games on our calendar, and are planning on lots of play time at home with the kittens. Abbott got a new game for Christmas he's obsessed with playing; there should be plenty of time for that too.

Thank you all for your reading and for such nice comments this past week. I wish you a lovely weekend and I'll see you Monday! xoxo

picking up where we left off

Yesterday morning felt as if the incredible sunset from the night before woke up and started again. Winter is so much more manageable for me when we have at least occasional days that aren't gray; this winter we've had a surprising amount of sun and blue sky.

I, for one, am so glad it's Friday! It's our family movie night; we order pizza and cozy up. What are your plans? xoxo