Thoughtfully irrelevant

And so.

It's been a while.

And I'm just here, popping in to say that I'm elsewhere for now....

Maegan of Life Set to Words and I have partnered up to write weekly at our new site thoughtfully irrelevant. We're both more than excited to work together, and this project is already close to our hearts.

Please check it out. And while I might be having trouble writing here, I'll be there once a week, Monday mornings. The first post is up... and already the connections are inevitable...

Start at the home page to read about the project, the about the artist section to find out a bit more... and then click over to the first post that went live this morning. Let us know what you think!

{thoughtfully irrelevant...}

Holiday Adventures

This year we're adding to our Christmas decorations almost daily with handmade loveliness. Yarn and button trees surrounded by twinkle lights warm my heart, and make me oh so happy. The kids too. And even though he rolls his eyes, it makes Lucas happy too.

The kids and I are leaving on our first lengthy road trip tomorrow. 7 hours to dear, dear friends for a relatively last minute visit. I've done the drive, but the kids... well... lets just say I'd love it if you'd keep us all in your prayers! I have a feeling we'll be Jingle Bell'ing it via the Barenaked Ladies quite a few times {their Christmas CD really is the best!} and whipping out the Scrabble Cheeze-It's like there's no tomorrow!

It will be an adventure... one that we're all so excited for, and honestly, this is what life is about. Friends. Visiting. Togetherness. Not only during the holidays, but all year. But I'll take any excuse for a visit, even if it's delivering Christmas presents in person!

Prelude 2011

I wish I had words to describe the magic of Prelude in Kennebunkport... but year after year words elude me. It's simply beautiful, organic, Christmas spirit.

And every year it gets more fun with the kids. From walking the streets lined with people wearing Santa hats, to caroling at the monastery, to a chilly morning beach walk, it symbolizes the beginning of the Christmas season for us.

And now we decorate, and visit, and sing and eat cookies like it's nobody's business!

Snapshots of simplicity and togetherness

Earlier today I was looking through the pictures on my phone... snapshots of everyday goodies... moments captured...

Like this one. I'm not one for graffiti, but this one is okay in my book:

And my brother {a self proclaimed tea snob...} , shortly after surgery on his arm, holding a mug that his lovely sister brought him :)

And my bestie... sigh. I'm hoping to see her again very, very soon. Some relationships are just a gift. Plain and simple. And should be treated as such.

Some pictures hold so much emotion - like Paige wearing a sweater made for Lucas by his great Aunt Nan. She was the matriarch of his family for so long, a beautiful, sweet soul who is shining down warmth and light in this photo:

And some pictures... they speak so deeply to my soul. My daughter enjoying the quiet at our favorite place. Our favorite. I like that.

{and just so he doesn't feel left out...} Fynn on his birthday. This might be the only picture I took of his day this year... he's not as willing as Paige is to have his photo taken these days.

Of course, sometimes I take pictures of what we make... when we get all crafty in this house. This driftwood Christmas tree was inspired by one on Pinterest. So simple, so perfect.

And some moments just beg to be recorded, to be made permanent. Paige fell asleep in the car this afternoon snuggling a bag of Trader Joe's cheese puffs...

These pictures speak lengths about our days. Spent simply and together. I think those two things are what I'm growing to appreciate the most. Togetherness. Simplicity. Gearing up for winter and hibernation, it's honestly not making me that sad this year thinking about being stuck at home. Cheese puffs, my littles, a warm home, and good friends to chat with through the day {thank goodness for phones...} and a stockpile of tea... I think we're ready for the whatever the next few months will bring.

The kids and I are driving around in my father in laws car for the next few days. White and boat like, the Buick is treating us well. When we step out our clothes smell a bit like pipe tobacco. It reminds me of neighbors back when I was Paige's height. Harold smoked a pipe, and I can still remember their living room. It might be one of my earliest memories.

With temperatures in the 60's {last week the lows were in the 20's...} the beach called our names this afternoon. We went. Picked up pieces of driftwood for a Christmas decoration that is in the making. We pulled into the beach parkinglot as Brenda Lee rocked around the Christmas tree on the radio. 'Tis the season!

Fynn's teaching Paige how to write her letters. Paige writes cards everywhere she goes. I've made the executive decision to forgo Christmas cards this year in order to keep my sanity. It might be the first year that I haven't sent a card out in 14 years. Seriously. Next year I'll put the kids to work, we'll make our cards by hand, they'll sign their names. This year though, I want to keep it simple.

I got brave last night and cut my own bangs. I've never really had them before. At least I've never had bangs that worked. I like them. They frame my face a little and it kept me from chopping all of my hair off. Sometimes a girl needs a change.

{eventually I'll use photos from my big camera... but I'm having trouble uploading them due to my slow'ish internet connection... until them... retro camera on the droid it is!!}

It's been a while

It's been a while since I've felt the longing and need to spill words from my day onto this blank space.

I miss this space right now.

But the time away made me realize that this space has worth in my family's life. My kids paged through printed copies of the blog from when they were babies... seeing the pictures all in one place {my photo printing is hardly up to date...} and they giggled as I remembered treasures of bits from years gone by that don't sit at the forefront of my memory.

And as much as I tell myself that I will write with pen and paper, I don't. Aside from my gratitude journal, and a few hand written notes, I did not write over the last month, or take photos. Because I would pick up my camera and it would not do what I wanted it to do.

I was out of practice. Use it or loose it. It really is true.

And so I'm picking this up again, at least this moment. I've tried a few times, and the tug is still here, I'm going to just ride the wave as it comes. Because this space holds importance. Where else can I share photos of prayer flags lit by freshly hung Christmas lights on our porch?

Beach Love

The big 3-0 came and went... and with it came a tattoo and a sense of maturity. I feel different. It might sound crazy, but I do. One thing that came with this year, this change, this move, this inner growth... is a renewed passion and love for the beach. It's always been there, but this past year it grew. And so with a needle and wave, I cemented the simplicity and curve of the ocean into my heart, and around my wrist.

The kids long for the beach too, and so even when we are sick {as the kids are this week} we still manage to go a few times a week. Earlier in the week it was sunny and the autumn sunshine bore down on us while we collected treasures. It was heavenly.

And then today, amid sniffles and rain drops we dawned rain boots and slickers and went a little north to find a rocky beach that holds memories and surfers and time. Paige gathered so many rocks in her bag that she was as unsteady as her previous newly walking self who toddled across this same rock walk with a hand outstretched for balance. Today it was outstretched to show a palm full of rocks. Her cheeks puffed as they get with the sniffles, reminded me again of a younger version of her.

The outing today was largely due to Fynn. His recent spurt in creativity has my head spinning. Yesterday and today he took apart the easel to use it for spare parts of another vision. Seriously. Unscrewed and used limbs of the easel. Lord help me. Between his excitement over taking things apart, and Paige's new found love for Bernita the imaginary lion who happens to be a fabric cutting board... my mind needed the sea today.

My mom sent me Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea, and I'm reading it very very slowly and highlighting nearly entire pages. While parts are dated {it was written in the 1950's} the majority of the book is timeless. A women's struggle to find balance and creativity and solitude while taking part in raising children and a home and being a part of community. One section that I've been thinking about since I read it talks about the importance of getting time alone:

"When the noise stops there is no inner music to take its place. We must re-learn to be alone.
It is a difficult lesson to learn today - to leave one's friends and family and deliberately practice the art of solitude for an hour or a day or a week. For me, the break is the most difficult. Parting is inevitably painful, even for a short time. It is like an amputation, I feel. A limb is being torn off, without which I shall be unable to function. And yet, once it is done, I find there is a quality to being alone that is incredibly precious. Life rushes back into the void, richer, more vivid, fuller than before. It is as if in parting one did actually lose an arm. And then, like the star-fish, one grows it anew; one is whole again, complete and round - more whole, even, than before, when the other people had pieces of one."

And while I understand what she's saying, and agree completely, I also understand that taking that break is not always a choice one has. And so today, when I needed it, when a rock was shoved in the dustbuster opening hard enough to have it possibly never come out... I knew what we needed. What I needed. And there, at the ocean I can find solitude while with the children. Lindbergh also wrote: ""No man is an island," said John Donne. I feel we are all islands - in a common sea." I adore that sentiment.

My common sea is vast and welcoming.

And when it beckons, I can't help but run to it wildly.