late night mcnuggets

I'm slipping them in right under the wire, but it's still HUMP day, so these are still...

hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week.  Encouraged to steal this idea from Dig This Chick because she is awesome blossom. 

 Yup cutting it soo close and eyes sliding shut every time I pause to put a  thought together.  It's not that I have so much to say tonight or that the little I have to say is so mind blowing it can't wait.  But the the baby is asleep, the tweenager's homework is done and the teenager doesn't have any.  It's rare I have a moment like this at 9:45pm, no one tugging at my arm needing something.   

This precious free hour or two has many "have tos" competing for priority.   I could do a couple loads of laundry. Or clean the slobbery Calvin faces off my glass front doors.  I could pack for our trip this weekend or clip the dog's nails.  Or finally put away the clean clothes laying around my bedroom.

As it is, the only other thing I almost did, was go over to the couch to cuddle with Annika while she watches one of my favorites...Big Fish.  If you've not seen this movie, please try to.  If you have parents, or loved the stories your grandparents told you, or love the story of your own life...love this movie.  It's one of my favorites.

In the last 12 months, in the midst of life changing loss and oh so many moments to reflect on what I was supposed to learn from it, I made the very deliberate decision to stop doing tasks when life gave surprise "free time".  I have stopped killing those fleeting moments with pointless chores, focusing instead on filling those bits of time with life.  Sweet, peaceful, lovely life.

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late night mcnuggets

I got behind camera this weekend to spend a few hours with the most beautiful little family on their farm. I jumped at the chance to put on some boots and meander around their homestead at sunset. I felt a little rusty as I have not done a shoot in months, but inspired by the familiar sites and sounds of the country and the easy way this little family's love came through my camera.








I even got to take a bit of the farm home with me:)



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Hump day nuggets is losing the battle for this precious free time. My favorite scene is coming up...the one where everyone from the fantastical stories come to his funeral and his son suddenly knows his father. 


My husband is reading in bed, I'd be crazy not to snuggle in next to him and fall asleep listening to his deep voice tell me about what he is reading. I love my time here with words and photos. I could stay, and try, but...I'd rather go snuggle.


And...these are meant to simply be "nuggets":)


Good night.


XOXOXOXOXOXO

hump day nuggets...SD style

hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week.  Encouraged to steal this idea from Dig This Chick because she is awesome blossom. 

I loooov "Hump Day Nuggets" over at Dig This Chick (grab more morning beverage and head over there...I'll wait) and was pretty thrilled when she tossed out the challenge to do our own nuggets.  Who doesn't love borrowing a great idea?  I would never...ever have done it had she not given the green light, it's too good an idea to attempt to float as my own.  

Plus, I'm a terrible thief.  Remember the shoplifting phase girls (some) go through in junior high?  I could never do it, instead I played the role of "look out" or the "distractor", but really I was playing the role of scaredy cat, chichen shit.  I'm okay with that:P

So, no stealing here, just using an awesome idea to break up the week and pop in without the need for a long post.  

Just some hump day huggets.

Remember before the move, when I was waxing poetic about change and Christmas present houses and walks with my mom?  And how the photos here would surely change and shape shift into...what?  I didn't know yet then.  Well I do now:)

Photo Nuggets:

A lot has changed since we moved.  Some good.  Like lots of safe neighborhood space and yard to run in.

Lots of reasons to wear Woody and Bullseye cowboy boots.



A large prairie style lawn for B to putz around in. So much better than the small, terraced city yard that requires cleets to scale the steep inclines.



Yep....a guy can sure stretch his legs out here.



And apparently a dog can too. This is an example of "bad change"...very bad change. Suddenly Baby Cal thinks he can sneak on our bed in the middle of the night. I totally busted him.



Bitter sweet change. It is no bueno that this picture is in the minority for the first time since The Nerd Herd blog was born:( It does make those less frequent redevous the most special trips ever, but now when Liam is in the car for more than a few blocks, he asks "Cecece?" It breaks my heart every time I have to tell him "not this trip baby".



There is family here though and we are all over the moon about getting to know them and mixing and mingling our families. There are no expectations of how our families should mix or that they need to embrace our craziness. No attempt to recreate the chemistry of our Minneapolis family, rather the thrill of growing new relationships organically and not knowing where our hearts will connect.  There is just palpable joy and the promise of whatever the future brings to all of us.


And for me, the constant reassurance that this move was the right thing to do.


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Liam is star struck by his new football heroes.

And my mom can't turn around without a grandbaby waiting to tuck in for a hug.



And we are taking those walks I dreamed of while packing up our city house in the stifling heat. Though in the interest of telling it like it is...recent walks haven't been the stuff of happy rainbow blogs.


Lots of sour faces from Lum. At 2, he is definately NOT a good walker. He only wants to run, or crash is trike into cars. Walks have become stressful.



Which equals sour faces from my baby girls.



But he thinks his new "pack pack" is the bomb baby.



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We are all loving the massive intake of football. Last weekend - 4 football games in less than 24 hours. Suddenly our wardrobes have changed as well.



And... speaking of wardrobes, an old high school friend held good on a FB promise to send a handmade gift to the first 5 posters to respond, but we had to promise to do the same.  And look what I got in the mail this week:



The high today is supposed to be 54 degrees. 54 DEGREES!!!!! Oh yeah, I will be debuting this beauty for sure!  And if you were one of my first 5...I promise my hand made gifts are in the works:) 


Happy Hump Day:)

I'm Ron Burgandy?

For someone as tech savvy and gadget nerdy as I am, until very very recently, I knew very little about blogs and blogging.  Shockingly little as it turns out.  Clearly, I'd heard of blogging but my exposure to "blogs" was restricted to political commentary.  I had no clue there were legions of regular shmoes like me, firing up Blogger or Word press templates every day and sending pieces of themselves out in to the universe.  I enjoyed my smart political blogs and gave the medium absolutely no thought.  Until one day...


I ran across a link in a Babycenter  post that transported me to Florida, into a hospital, into a delivery room to be specific.  I sat at my desk at work, sobbing as I read the most poetic, heart wrenching, inspiring birth story ever.  And as moving as her words were, her photos were nothing short of a gift.  Thus began my love affair with this mommy and her lovely lovely family.  I have fallen as madly and deeply in love with her photos and stories as one can on the inter webs, without ever having actually met the person.  Her blog was and still is what I wait for every 3 days or so...coffee in hand...bated breathe...will there be a new post?!@?!??!!?!??!


Fast forward to today.  The blogosphere is overwhelming.  It is massive.  It is intimidating.  It is full of talented individuals, smart individuals, competitive individuals.  I'm totally lost in it, in the lingo:

mommy blogger

photoblog

product reviews

blog awards

BlogHer

buttons

Ad Sense

And I'm lost in the stories and in the strength of these "mommy bloggers"... the strength to tell their stories.  Stories of domestic abuse, the loss of a child, infertility, faith in their God, addiction, special needs children...survival.  But not just survival.  In their writing, there are always inspiring tales of renewal and optimism.  I am humbled by my sisters' strength.  

I am coming out of a bit of a blog identity crisis.  I think I overloaded on blog stalking and started to fear that what I do hear isn't edgy enough, too vanilla.  Not enough brutal honesty and swears.  I'm playing it safe, I need to let out my pain and anger and invite the world to be part of my healing.  I need to take risks and throw myself "out there."  These other women bloggers are changing the world one post at a time!  They are shining a light on important issues, telling important stories, helping people heal.  What am I doing?  


I came here innocently enough, just to tell the stories behind my photos.  Silly daily life stories of my vanilla, regular old family who I find quite inspiring. But what about my pain and anger?  Get it out there man.


Except...I don't have a great deal of pain or anger.  And what tragedy has struck in the last year has indeed found it's way here in ways that feel very honest and natural to me.  I haven't soft peddled my sadness or grief, it's all right there.  When I sit down to write and share photos, I typically come from a  peaceful place, a safe and content place I want to share with the universe.


I'm not edgy:(  I'm happy:)  So be it.  Identity crisis over (for now.)  


Is there a blog award for "most cheesy, happy, rainbows and butterflies" blog?


I'm back to cooking.  My junk food run was epic though and I will always look back on it with fond, fond memories.  Wanna know pain?  Breaking up with Five Guys and The Wreck from Pot Belly...that is pain my friend.





I hoard Food and Wine Magazines. Since 2002. At one time it was to save the recipies. I have been making a puttanesca base from June 2006 F & W for 5 years now. It has become "my" puttanesca over the years, but full disclosure...it belongs to Food and Wine.





But now they send out one hard back book full of the recipes from the entire year at the end of each year. This is a sexy book to be sure, but there is something about the actual issues that I cannot let go of. I love having then.  Someday my kids may be cleaning hundreds of F & W magazines out of my bathroom...hoarder style.


I love books. I love my bookshelf in the morning light. I'm a dork.





The family is also back to going outside.  Thank the Gods!  Liam thinks his garage sale Wellies are the coolest thing ever.  He walks around the house with them in hand looking for a kind adult to help him put on his "boots?"  He also is kind enough to bring yours so that you can go outside and stomp around in the dog poop mud.  Thanks Aunt TT:)

Last year at this time, Lumski couldn't walk!  These first "walking around outside" adventures are the bomb!

Trying to make himself HUGE in his new big world.

Baby Calvin is also thrilled with the arrival of spring and the disappearance  of infrequent, hurried walks.  

My girls are so in love with their brother.  The three of them are thick as thieves, disappearing together in the morning, sneaking in the room to grab him and go.  They devour him and he is starry eyed, smitten with both of them.  I didn't know this would happen.  When deciding to ad another child to our family 10 years after my "baby" was born, I thought about alot of things that could go wrong.  Clearly I hoped, actually assumed the girls would love a new sibling.  But this...I had no idea.  Often times I have to demand they leave so I can have his attention.  He calls all three of us "Momma" and that is just fine.


My cup runneth over.











Sick baby is not amused...



People are often confused by what my husband does for a living. What exactly does a 3D artist do? This...

Who says men can't multitask?  

Tonight was bath night...always a good time.  But the real fun was Liam practicing his "angry baby" face in the mirror for 10 minutes.  I can't wait to see when he pulls this one out.


I'm off to build a little nest next to my hubby, snuggle in and pass out.  It was a good night.  


Yours in peace, love and contentment:) 


Fricka