weekending

Posted in weekending by ElaineMarie

^^^ catching “flierflies.” please, universe, let her mispronounce this word for as long as possible ^^^

^^^ so, this is a thing in our house now ^^^

^^^ butttttter ^^^

^^^ remnants from cheerio math ^^^

^^^ making up over a bowl of grapes after fighting over literally the smallest toy in the world: a lego piece. ^^^

^^^ a short venture to comfest ^^^

^^^ love ^^^

well, that just looks like a picturesque weekend, huh? my parents came over for a visit and were once again such a huge support and help to my little family. i am so lucky to be their daughter and to have been born into a family that shows such support and love.

i’m slowing way, way down. i was on the go until the last-minute with my pregnancy with darla and i’m surprised at how much i can’t hang with this time around. there is a big difference between pregnancy at 25 and pregnancy at 31. it has some thoughts and feels forming for me for a later post that i think will all come together once i’ve had this next birthing experience.

for now i’m trying to stay focused on what I can do and not lament what i cannot. these pics are a nice reminder of that. even if all i do in these last few days/weeks of pregnancy is sit out back and watch darla chase fireflies then that’s enough. it’s abundantly enough.

28Jun2014

raspberry picking

Posted in advantageous adventures, it's cool to school, pregnancy, yum yum eat good by ElaineMarie

when i was a young girl it was my job to pick the berry bushes outside the back of our house. i find it rather funny that i pay people now to let me do it at their house, when i acted like it was SUCH A HARD CHORE back in my youth. but still, it does take me back to that time in my life and i hope darla will look back fondly at going to the berry fields with me since we don’t own our yard to plant berry bushes and give her the chore of berry picking.

well, she didn’t look on it very fondly today, that’s for sure. last year it was a novelty. this year it was one of those things her ol’ pregnant mom dragged her along for. so, i eventually just handed her my phone and told her she could just take pictures if she wasn’t interested in picking and i’m glad i did because she had a few good ones in there amongst the hundred or so she snapped away. it’s nice to have some pics of the big bump amongst the berries. i especially love the second photo, which isn’t that flattering of an angle for me or facial expression but it accurately depicts how it was out there: hot, sticky and pretty uncomfortable but incredibly gorgeous and so worth it.

worth it because i got my first taste of black raspberries. i’m 100% telling the truth when i say that i’ve been having anxiety that this baby will come during black raspberry season and i’ll miss out entirely. this was still pretty early for my black beauties but we got enough to wet my whistle for the taste and leave me satisfied should this human come before we can get back to the ripe patches next week. i will type it in all caps again because i’m serious that BLACK RASPBERRIES ARE MY CHILDHOOD ENCAPSULATED IN FOOD FORM AND I LOVE THEM.

{ people of central ohio, if i could send you anywhere for your raspberry needs it would mitchell’s berries. they are simply lovely, affordable and delicious. tell them we sent you on your next visit! }

27Jun2014

our week

Posted in familyness, love and happiness by ElaineMarie

small

collection

of moments

from our week…

^^^ early morning uno games ^^^

^^^ sore loser ^^^

^^^ but she won at go fish so don’t feel too bad for her ^^^

^^^ if only i had a dollar for every time this kid painted herself blue ^^^

^^^ craft time with dad ^^^

^^^ she ate most of an entire watermelon herself ^^^

i don’t have words or stories from the week to share at this point. that’s kinda what summer does to us, huh? it steals our words and demands we just live it until we head back to school in the fall and write out those “what i did this summer” essays. i look forward to that first crisp day when it will all seem so clear as to what these hazy, lazy days of summer are all about. until then we’ll take slow mornings. we’ll take these long daylight hours by the pool. we’ll take these watermelon afternoons. we’ll take all that we can get.

*wishing you a watermelon afternoon {or two} of your own this weekend*

hi all, please give us your vote for the week by clicking the vote for us icon below. thanks for your help!

23Jun2014

weekending

Posted in familyness, weekending by ElaineMarie

i didn’t get a weekend post written out last night, as some lower back pain sent me to bed early and drained. to be honest, i was wondering if it was going to progress to some early labor but i woke up this morning still full-bellied, if not fully rested.

for midsummer’s weekend we:

took in a show downtown while darla played in the fountains,

walked down the street for a family breakfast date

and i got to gaze at my handsome husband over diner coffee.

darla, the bump and i attended the pride festivities.

and darla was given a rainbow hair extension, which rocked her world.

we made balloon animals

and picked up a local themed onesie for bebe

and other than that we just hung around our house and darla stalked the neighbors…

solstice comes around every year and i always tell myself i’m going to have something appropriate planned for the next one. i love summer solstice. it really does feel like there is something special in the air on the first eve of summer. but it came and went again this year without anything special going on for our crew.

maybe next year i will have more energy. maybe next year i will have more time. maybe next year i will have been able to have spent more time fostering relationships and friendships so as to have friends that might actually want to spend summer solstice with us. what do you think? do you think these are realistic goals for a woman about to have a baby?

*anyway, i hope you spent your solstice out under the stars. good luck with your first full week of summer*

20Jun2014

our week

Posted in familyness, love and happiness, parenting apparently? by ElaineMarie

a
small
collection
of moments
from our week

someone sent around an article from the internet about ctfo parenting for the summer time and it has greatly eased my mind this week. i’ve been feeling guilty about not having our days filled to the brim with activities and unschooling field trips this year. but my feeling for this week is that we’re doing all right. if we accomplish nothing else but getting to the fruit fields, cooking up something delicious with our friends in the kitchen, playing with lincoln logs, or hosing ourselves down in the yard then we’re just fine. it might even be the best summer yet.

don’t get me wrong, we’re always busy but we’re just not on the go as much. and we certainly won’t be picking up any speed in the coming weeks. i’m ok with slowing it down for a bit. do you ever have those moments when you realize life has been a beautiful, whirlwind mess for the past couple of years? we deserve a bit of a familymoon, a babymoon if you will, here this summer.

so darla has predicted we’ll have a summer solstice baby. i wouldn’t be opposed to that. however, i’m happy to have a few more days with just my one girl before breaking this open for two little ones in my life. we’ve had some really good days as of late.

and…strawberry picking was hilarious. darla managed to get herself on camera for a local news crew. they cut the piece, i think. probably because of the big ol’ sweaty pregnant lady in the background but it was fun to see D have that experience. or maybe they cut it after she took her shirt off in the field and flipped “my body, my choice” at me when i asked her if it was necessary. and that second photo is of her showing me that she’s a strawberry blonde. she’s a great daily companion.

* i hope you had a wonderful week. wishing you all a magical solstice this weekend.*

hi all, please give us your vote for the week by clicking the vote for us icon below. thanks for your help!

16Jun2014

weekending

Posted in familyness, weekending by ElaineMarie

you know there was a time in my life when i went full steam ahead from one activity to the next. i thought life was to be measured by the number of places i could visit, or concerts i attended. i thought i had to be “doing” something to make my life notable.

becoming a mother slowed me down and made me take time to focus on things other than what new restaurant i went to or what band i saw. although those things are still a part of my world, they no longer have the emphasis they once did. i’ve sharpened the skill of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. this skill has given me the gift of being happy in the moment and i believe another name for that feeling is contentment.

these are my extraordinary ordinary moments. these are my moments of simplicity that i hope to look back on when i’m older and be reminded that my life was bursting with wonderful experiences and i was at my best when i could see the magic in the everyday.

like….

the enthusiasm and excitement on darla’s face when she saw her new bed. she said “i have a whole new view on the world from up here!” and she told me she might not even need her dreamcatcher anymore since “bad dreams probably can’t reach all the way up here.” she seems to really love spending time in her own space now and that was what we were hoping for her. with all the new changes about to come, it’s nice to know she’ll have a special space of her own to retreat to and *fingers-crossed* cultivate some more independence.

like…

watching her show off her new hula hoop and practice her hooping skills.

like…

pulling up some of the first of the harvest from our own garden and slicing up a bowl of crunchy radishes for darla as a snack at her request.

like…

preparing a special corner. i spent time gazing into this corner wondering just what my future holds in these next few weeks.

like…

celebrating husbeau’s radness and dadness.

like…

laughing at the absurd number of pillows required to provide a good night’s rest at this point in pregnancy.

i also want to remember the wonderful simplicity of baby shower brunch with friends and the generosity of yet another visit from my parents. i want to remember that i couldn’t stop talking about the weather all weekend because it was simply gorgeous. i want to remember how good it tastes to make muffins with cream instead of milk.

these are good, ordinary days.

* i hope you enjoyed some good, good days of your own this weekend *

14Jun2014

thrift love

Posted in Shopping by ElaineMarie

a friend once sent me a piece of writing that advised treating yourself to whatever items you see out in the world and love. the gist of the work was that our lives are short and a good deal of our short lives are spent in our homes so we might as well bring the things we love into our everyday presence. in theory, i agree wholeheartedly with this concept. but, practically speaking, a little barrier called finite funds comes in to play. one can’t simply buy all the things one loves. unless….one is in the thrift store.

my shopping posts have been about new items thus far but my heart lies in buying used, thrifted items. my first place of employment was the goodwill and i applied there so i could get an employee discount…at the goodwill…on 99 cent shirts. this resulted in a lot of polyester jumpsuits in my wardrobe and a lifelong love for digging through racks to find the quirky items that speak to my equally quirky soul.

i got back to the thrift stores this week since D was away and found many treasures that have been put to use in the home. mostly functional things like cheap baskets and pots for my growing houseplant collection but below are some of my favorites:

^^^ i could not pass this up. funky from the doorstep people. ^^^

^^^ it is a damn crime how little i paid for this gorgeous chair ^^^

^^^ and these! imma putta baby in ’em! ^^^

*please don’t get excited thinking these look like boy clothes and spiral into scenarios where we secretly know the sex of this human. we don’t. as a reminder: no one owns the colors. i love these and will love them even more on our little person.

13Jun2014

our week

Posted in familyness, pregnancy, Run Da House by ElaineMarie

small

collection

of moments

from our week.

i was going to label this my week again, but seeing as how this little person is days away from being considered full term i think it’s safe to say that i’m truly and definitely a We.

miss darla spent the week in indiana again. i spent the week in a nesting frenzy. y’all first i painted all the things that needed painting. and then i painted all the things that didn’t need painting. i even made a baby bunting. i don’t know why!! this girl can’t help it.

since becoming pregnant almost all of the rooms in our house have had a major overhaul. it usually takes me a long time to get the house in order but this pregnancy really helped me have the drive to get things taken care of. it’s important to me to enjoy spending time in my home space, knowing that we’re going to be spending a lot of time bunked down very soon.

but in turn, this just leaves me feeling very boring these days. i can’t really seem to focus on much besides organizing our house and just waiting for this baby to be here. i feel like i’m on pause. i can’t remember if i felt this way with darla. i feel like i can’t make any plans or even think ahead into the future until this babe comes earthside. it’s like i have no memory…but in the future…

i’m also too tired to do much. so i lay my body down early at night and then just flop around…not sleeping.

late pregnancy is a bit of a roller coaster. i am trying desperately not to wish away these last few weeks. this is more than likely my last baby. i feel like i should be focusing on how special this time of my life is. i feel like i should be journaling and wearing flower crowns or something. ok, maybe not. but i definitely feel like SOMEONE should be giving me an essential oils foot rub. i think i really want to get all my to-do’s done so i can get down to some sacred work of ENJOYING this.

is that maybe what this blog is for?

i guess i get to determine that since this is my space. i want to state that my desires are for this to be a place to put down the positive, lovely things about pregnancy that i will dearly miss in all the remaining years of my lady life. i will try to refrain from complaining here.

just let me get two last words of complaint out there. that’s all i need. and then it will be all focused on the magical happenings of these last few weeks. just two last words:

vagina lightning.

ladies, you know what i’m talking about. gents, you don’t wanna. we’ll leave it at that.

aaaaand when i wasn’t doing ridiculous crafts or freezer meals i just took poorly lit selfies of We.

you know. the usual.

*wishing you and yours a wonderful full moon friday the 13th weekend!*

hi all, please give us your vote for the week by clicking the vote for us icon below. thanks for your help!

10Jun2014

invoking the goddess

Posted in Momma Needs a minute... by ElaineMarie

true life story from my quirkiness files: i carry two of these headbands in my purse and one in my tote bag at all times. i have several more stashed in my room. these are my goddess headbands.

this practice started over a year ago with the life(dot)next desert directive retreat. i pull one out and put it on whenever i recognize that i’m just not keeping up with the demands of my day. and then i pull the second one out and hand it to darla because she will inevitably asks to don one once i do. this grown-up version of dress up helps me invoke the properties i’m not doing a good job of naturally possessing in any given moment.

my usual goddess go-to is demeter because she is the mother archetype. i find myself to not be a natural mother-woman. i will make a great girl scout troop leader; full of adventure, ideals and advice but it is the softer elements of motherhood that i frequently need to invoke. patience, understanding, sympathy and serenity are things i have to work on daily.

another favorite goddess of mine to invoke is hestia, the goddess of hearth and home. she helps me find joy and satisfaction in my daily chores and has been especially helpful to me during this nesty phase of my life. if i’m on the way to an interview i invoke artemis, the goddess of the hunt. she helps me feel confident in my capabilities to serve families.

i know this is silly, but i like silly. the ritual of this helps me focus my energy and get centered again. some people sit down to meditation. some people open up their spiritual texts. some light a candle. i put on a shiny headband.

to each her own.

{if you are interested in learning more about goddess archetypes i recommend Goddesses in Everywoman. it’s a book that has a permanent resting spot by my bed.}

8Jun2014

this girl and our week

Posted in familyness, love and happiness, parenting apparently? by ElaineMarie

before i jump into the goodness from this week i want to take a minute to put some words down about this girl above. these weeks have been very challenging for me. i wanted to give darla the best of me for these last few weeks of her only-child existence. i wanted to give her an amazing last summer together. i feel i’m falling way short on these expectations. i feel so stretched, in every figurative and literal way. i am not giving her the best of myself. i’m trying but we get to the middle of the day and i’m completely used up. she has so many qualities that are going to be huge assets when she is older but they thoroughly exhaust and aggravate me to the core during our everyday life. i need some reminders for myself:

stop. these are her last few weeks of onliness. put the to do list down. make your time with her count.

breathe. don’t wish away these last few weeks of pregnancy. by your designs, this is your last pregnancy. i know you’re tired and uncomfortable but very soon it will be over and you may never feel this body transformation again.

relax. in the end it will be ok. it always is.

there, i have those down there now. only future me knows if i will do a good job following my own advice.

now,

small

collection

of moments

from our week…

we joined the world in strawberry picking this week. seriously, did everyone quit their jobs and head off into the fields? last year we were amongst a handful of people in the fields and this year it was a mob scene. granted, it was the very tail end of the strawberry season when we made it out last year but i think it’s safe to say U-pick is having it’s time in the sun {pun! produce pun!} at this time and i for one, couldn’t be happier. it was nice to see so many people investing in local produce, many with their own reusable containers. zero waste wins! {ps. we used one of our leftover bulk peanut butter buckets for this year. last year i cut the top off an old milk carton. take a look around at what you have at home before heading off to U-pick this year.} we found a little slug buddy whom darla carried around for a while and had a hard time understanding why he couldn’t come home as a pet.

our local library branch had a farm pets day which made for a perfect pit stop during a rainy afternoon.

we also ventured to the rose garden for our annual park of roses visit. D had chosen to wear her rose garden dress for the outing and was pretty tickled when butterflies mistook her garments for the real thing. i really should have taken the photo of her face instead of the butterfly but it was too late. the look on her face is what i really want to remember from that moment though.

*that’s a wrap on our week. i hope you had a wonderful week and weekend as well*

hi all, please give us your vote for the week by clicking the vote for us icon below. thanks for your help!

momjeanz

Tag Archives: columbus ohio

weekending

raspberry picking

our week

weekending

our week

weekending

thrift love

our week

invoking the goddess

this girl and our week