sundays (36/52-39/52)

35/52

36/52

37/52

38/52

38/52

sunday, september the 1st: last barbecue of the summer.

sunday, september the 8th: comic book-making, b-ball handling.

sunday, september the 15th: details (port townsend, washington).

sunday, september the 22nd: the beginning of the rain.

sunday, september 29th: always an astronomy book in her lap, always.

(sundays sundays sundays) 

sundays (32/52-34/52)

32/52

33/52

34/52

sunday, august the 11th: another sunday shift at lodekka and my girl just before church.

sunday, august the 18th: that sweet boy of mine, straw flowers from that awesome girl shana, lemonade stand shenanigans at lodekka, legos promptly purchased from the profits of said lemonade stand shenanigans (plus saved allowance), that sweet girl of mine.

sunday, august the 25th: that time we spent the night in the giant fort we built in the backyard with a hundred old bed sheets and a thousand old clothes pins and every chair we could find plus some rope I bought from the dollar tree.

(every sunday in 2013 and before the year is over, I will catch up, I will)

sundays (51/52)

sunday, december the 22nd: neon candies, ward's little gingerbread house, christmas records on repeat, string lights in great abundance, ava's tiny gingerbread castle, the way I will remember the decorations, minecraft in full effect, ezra's military gingerbread fort (cherry sours= ammunition), a beloved childhood ornament along with sweet drawings from the kids, more happy-making, my gingerbread house, the little forest that comes out once a year to live on the mantle.

it's been three years since we've been in our own home for christmas. three years. as much as we miss family, it feels good to slow down for a second, feels good to be quiet. feels good to bake in my own kitchen, wake up in my own bed on christmas eve. didn't even know how much I missed it all until now.

(sundays sundays sundays) (wrapping up the project this week)

because, christmas

am currently steeped in that lovely thing they call christmas. am back to pinching the ends off christmas tree branches for the smell of the sap, falling asleep with all the christmas lights on. am sneaking bites of leftover red velvet birthday cake in the middle of the night, waking up with teeth tinged pink. am realizing just how much I love the smell of scotch tape. scotch tape= wrapped presents.

am teaching my kids the carols I grew up singing, the ones that celebrate the birth of jesus. the ones I used to sing so loud I thought my ears would pop off, thought my cheeks would burst from the happy. am remembering my big part in the church pageant, my one big line and how I tripped over the hem of my floor-length ivory dress on the way to the microphone stand. am remembering the way I popped right back up, how the adults in the audience struggled to stifle their laughter while tears burned my eyes. I delivered that line anyway. LIKE A CHAMP. nothing could destroy my christmas spirit, I tell you. nothing.

am not suppressing the sadness. but I'm not swimming in it either. am setting out her little trees, baking her cookies, singing her songs. am remembering just how special she made each christmas, how much of a gift that was. am doing everything I can to keep that part of her alive. am celebrating even when I feel like crying because, christmas. christmas.

five years!

(la maison rose, le vélo, clés, paris)

well, folks. my little etsy shop is officially five years-old. which is sort of funny, since I hemmed and hawed like a crazy person about even opening it in the first place. exactly six hundred sales later, here I am. and I have no one but you all to thank. no better way to celebrate than with a good ole super happy 2-for-1 anniversary sale (with newly listed parisian prints in le shoppe, to boot). five day sale, friends-- five days for five years-- five is the magic number.

if you're new to this, here's how it works: buy one print, get one free. buy two, get two. three, four, five and so on and so forth (of equal or lesser value, of course yadda yadda yadda). order the print (or prints) you'd like and then, in that super duper handy dandy 'message to the seller' box, state which print (or prints) you'd like to receive gratis. voila. sale runs thursday, december 5th through monday, december 9th, midnight PST. 

(all the super happy 2-for-1 anniversary sale fun can be found here and again, I thank you, friends-- I thank you from the bottom of my super happy, super swollen love-filled heart)

december, december

over at habit this month, sharing photographs and a few words daily. hop on over, if you like.

done

nablopomo, done. for the first time ever, done. I am maybe not cut out for this daily posting thing but I love how it pushes me. maybe I'll ride this habit a lil longer. maybe I'll see what comes of it.

december is calling, friends. 2014 is not far behind.