120- Have you ever been on a date accompanied by 7 wheels?

Dan takes the girls out on regular dates. I would love to take them out more, but they usually spend all day with me, and by the time their dad gets home they don't want much to do with me. They can't seem to get enough of him though. Even Claire-- she won't let go of him once he's picked her up. I must be so... so... boring. Zzzzzzzzz

Anyway, Dan and Jane took their wheels with them on their date tonight, and that's how they rolled.

Jane simply cannot leave the house without her scooter (awesome!). She's had it a week, and she could pretty much go pro with all her skills, except for the one where she makes you pull her when she gets too tired. I'm willing to give the three-year old a break, though.

What I love most about daddy/daughter date night (DDDN, I'll call it :) is how it makes the girls feel. They get so animated when they come home and tell me all about what they did/saw/ate/bought/found. It's like I was there, but I might have to coerce one of them into going out with me one of these days ;)

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119 Days Grateful- wall, nail and masterpiece painting

There was a lot of painting going on in our home today. The one that made the biggest difference in my life, however, was the painting that happened in a sad and dreary little hall, or maybe it's more like a passageway.
Did you know paint makes walls look better? I must have forgotten. This job was put off for way too long.
I love me a fresh, clean set of walls to look at.

~•~

117 Days Grateful- when Hannah gets a playdate

She doesn't get the chance to play with many kids outside of when she's at school. She is one of those kids that just loves other kids, and she misses all of her friends that have moved away. We were happy to have an old friend visit us today.

We'll come visit you soon!

~•~

114 Days Grateful - a new baby to celebrate!

My brother and his wife had their first baby!
It's a girl. I love girls :)

I can't wait to meet her!
Soon...

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112 Days Grateful- the Earth

Isn't it beautiful?

Happy Earth Day.

~•~

Looking for that place...

Not this place in particular, although it looks like a nice place to be right now.

I have been struggling for the past few days, trying to find something in that area of my brain where creative ideas used to live.
I can't even find words to express these thoughts I have, and so I sit here...

I can't tell you how much creating means to me and how directly it relates to my overall satisfaction with life. When I don't feel creative, I feel less... less... me, I guess.

It's a rut. I know it happens, and maybe it's supposed to happen so I can look at where I've been, what I've learned and what to do with it. That is growth. I feel like I am not growing. I have too much going on in my brain every day to let inspiration happen and to let it help me create. I think that is why I chose the image above. It looks like a quiet place where the distractions in my head can dissipate leaving it fresh and open to new ideas.
Time to get out of the city???

I'll probably regret posting this. It seems so psychoanalytical.
I just had to get something out. My husband is not here :)

~•~

110 Days Grateful- Happy baby, here again

My happy baby is back!
After a week of teething, fever and cold (and insatiable neediness), Claire is her happy baby self again. Yay!
Today, she made me just so giddy to be her mama.
~•~

109 Days Grateful- impromptu flower shower

We spent hours outside today. We walked around town while attending to errands and doctor appointments. We took a break or two in between to play.

The trees are all shedding their beautiful blossoms, leaving a blanket of petals everywhere. The girls spent a half hour or more in one spot, just showering themselves with flowers. They thought they were in heaven.

~•~

105 Days Grateful- Running in the rain

Sorry, no photo for this one yet. I don't normally take my DSLR on my runs, but I'll have to come up with something...

*****

Before I get to the good stuff, I need to gripe.

Today started off rough, getting up from a sleepless night (no news there).
Then there was,
a home showing I had to clean for before 10AM,
Kindergarten registration with all three kids (not fun),
pre-k,
laundry (but at least the house was spotless),
several allergy attacks,
and a baby that is obSESSED with me right now. I'm hoping it's only because she's sick and that it will end soon.

Then, when Dan got home from work, I went on a run. Here comes the best part of my day.
I ran to Forest Park. It is so lovely and green there now, unlike the barren forest it was the first day of Spring.

I was halfway into my run when it started sprinkling. Ahhh.
It was so invigorating, smelled so fresh and everything looked so beautiful in the twilight. I could have run into the night. The rain didn't last, but it turned my day around.

Then, when I came in, walked down our hall and saw Claire at our door with her little arms opened wide for me to hold her, I was ready. Sweaty but ready.

~•~

104 Days Grateful- I'm glad I held on to that stuff, and a surprise

(Still waiting for a headliner photo for this post)

A while back I gave myself what I called a closet challenge. I had to go through everything in my closet and wear at least one thing a day. If the article of clothing didn't make it through the day, whether it didn't fit or just didn't look good, I had to toss it.
I have a big bag of give-aways so far, so I've made some progress.

There were some items in my closet, however, that I have hung on to for years. When I say years, I mean at least a decade, but I always come back to them because they can, but don't always, work with the current trends. I have nearly thrown them out several times because I wasn't wearing them, but recently, I found that some things can just be worn a little differently and suddenly they're fashionable again (at least I think they are).
There is a bit of nostalgia associated with these clothes I have kept, especially old favorites. I'm glad I have at least a few to remind me of other lifetimes. And now, I feel like I have nearly a whole new wardrobe.

In addition, I have gone through my old jewelry, jewelry that I forgot I had. I found earrings that someone(?) gave to me in my early twenties but I never wore them. I think I can wear them with several things now, even though I'm kind of over the whole flower craze, but they are subtle enough.



I also found these little skater earrings which I wore back in my skater obsession days in the 80's (do you remember these, Julie?). I don't know if I'll be wearing them any time soon, but I'm glad I kept them, just cuz...

Sooo, after going through all my jewelry, Dan came home from a work trip today with a new pair of "bling" for my ear lobes. Not expensive bling, just sparkly bling. He has only ever bought me jewelry once before (aside from my engagement and wedding rings) and never as a random gift (not that I mind. I'd rather have other things) so it was so funny/strange that he got me these on a day when I was playing with jewelry. We are so MFEO ;)

Anyway, even though I'm all about dejunking anything and everything, I do hold value in keeping some things, especially when those things give me a few new outfits without spending a dime.

(Sorry this was so long)

Another one of Hannah from yesterday

One thing I love about this photo is that it doesn't seem like it was taken in Queens. I love the three mismatched fences/gates and the mossy step stone path. It makes it all look so "country", and there's just something about "country" when all you see every day is city.

~•~

101 Days Grateful- Our civic duty: weeding and litter patrol

We had such a nice walk this afternoon. If our empty bellies and other matters (ahem) hadn't called us home, we would have stayed out into the night.

While we cruised the neighborhood streets, we took it upon ourselves to tidy things up. First, Hannah and Jane pulled dandelion after dandelion after dandelion and cleaned up that strip of grass along the sidewalk in the process (what's that called? Alex?). To the girls, they were just acquiring a new bouquet to prance around with. When they tried to pick tulips or tree blossoms from private properties, we had to draw the line, of course.

Then, we started to pick up trash, which I didn't photograph-- not as pretty as little yellow "flowers", obviously. That got a little gross, especially since we weren't prepared to pick up cigarette packs and beer cans. We plan on bringing bags for trash on our future walks. It might not make a huge difference, I mean what single person can make a dent in NYC litter, but it can make our walks a little nicer.

FYI: It is actually pretty clean where we live, compared to many places in the five boroughs.

~•~

99 Days Grateful- date night

I know I'm not supposed to say things like this, but I apologize for the image below. It is not great, and it's a strange PP, especially with so much of my husband out of focus in the foreground, but it's the best one I got. I know, why even post it, right?
Anyway, now that I've completely discredited my photograph...



Every time we go out on a date, we wonder why we don't try to make it happen more often. It's the best therapy for our marriage (not that we need therapy :)
We get to focus on nothing but each other and we are so, so relaxed.

Last night, we frolicked around Manhattan. Our plan was to restaurant hop, but we ended up going to only one restaurant, which had the best sea scallops I've ever had. It was an old turn-of-the-century bank (hence the vault) turned restaurant in downtown's financial district. Thanks for the suggestion, Reagan.

So, we ate, shopped and explored streets of Manhattan that I'm pretty sure we've never explored before, or maybe they just look different at night. It was all so fun and romantic, and I felt young and lively.
I am SO grateful for date night. Hopefully, we'll get to do it again soon.


(Thanks to Marci for watching our kids!)

~•~

98 Days Grateful- Claire loves someone almost as much as she loves me

It wasn't easy for Hannah to gain Claire's trust and affections, but Hannah is naturally nurturing and never took rejections personally. She never gave up on trying to take care of her and be her friend. Now they have such a good relationship.

~•~

94 Days Grateful - Easter and the hunt

Man, I am really behind on photos and posts. At least I can say it's because I've been busy. I like to be busy.

From yesterday...

It was fun to see my two older girls get so excited over finding eggs. Even though most of the eggs weren't hidden enough to be found, they were spotted, they still had a great time.
Easter Sunday and breakfast and dinner with friends was nice too, especially when family is so far away.
AND it was an awesome day for weather, and I absolutely adored my kids so much last night that I had a hard time leaving them alone so they could go to sleep...

Lots to be grateful for.

~•~

Small town shoot

Turns out that lil' ol' dowtown Danville, VA has a lot to offer in terms of settings for a photo shoot.

Here are a few of my cousin's great family...

We had such a good time with all of you. Thanks for letting us come out!

~•~

Gone and back again

I'm back from a week in Virginia, spent with my cousin and his family.
And now I have pictures to go through...

~•~