Archive for the 'Daily Life' Category

There is a little coffee shop within walking distance of our house. It’s the kind of place where they take cash only and if you don’t have enough, they say “just pay next time”!

There is a little nook full of toys for the girls. Inspirational quotes hang on doorways…written on index cards. Postcards from exotic destinations decorate the bathroom walls.

Quiet conversations happening at each table. Actual face to face dialogue…because this place doesn’t have wi-fi.

I settle in with my egg croissant and latte…and take in my surroundings. The velvet couch. The green plants. Giggling girls and a slamming screen door.

And I realize that I love my life.

I’ve never considered myself a collector of small things. But over the past couple of years, I’ve come to realize that there is great beauty in the tiniest of treasures. I needed a place to keep all of these bits of inspiration in plain view…not stored away in a box. So I roamed about my house with my tape measure…seeking the perfect opening to place my desk. Low and behold, it fit like a glove right in between my pantry and my fridge.

I have friends  and family who give me the most beautiful and meaningful of trinkets. The windowsill above my desk is an altar of sorts…holding these loved items. My grandma who passed away a week before Lucy was born loved rocks. And she had an impressive collection of crystals and gemstones. This is one of them. Every time I see it, I remember her. The seashells were a gift from sweet Sarah.

She gave them to me during our Santa Cruz mama weekend and I just adore them. Adore. They remind me of crashing waves and redwoods and moss and dancing. The “you are beautiful” sticker is from Catina Jane and the wine cork from a fun night I had recently with good friends.

A few yummy books, my favorite Bible, and Kinfolk. Oh Kinfolk. And Story People. I could read those all day long!

A knitted mat from Khrista and my green plant. Reminding me to have deep roots and seek wisdom and grow.

Smooth rocks from the Pacific Ocean…reminding me to seek BALANCE, and a piece of art from Rebecca.

Aspens from a recent trip up the mountain and a few elephants. They are fascinating to me on so many levels.

A rainbow star hangs in the window above my desk. It was a gift from Olya and it reminds me of how all of life intersects and how we’re all connected.

It feels good to sit at my desk. Surrounded by truth and good things. I read here. I learn about Jesus here. I nurse here. I sing here. The sun shines in on me here. All because of a few small things.

…and this is why I’ve been a bit absent! My days have been so filled with awesome…visits from friends and family, trips to Iowa and California, hooping like crazy, new activities for fall…it’s all been so good. I will definitely be back soon with the “Summer of Awesome” recap. Sending you all so much love!

*this quote is on the wall in our new fifth wheel…photos of that coming some day. along with a birth story. some day. I’m so glad y’all are patient with me.

Hammocks, sunshine, and flags.

Camping in the mountains with friends.

Standing in awe of God’s creation :: Steamboat Springs, CO

Incense burning and prayers floating up.

This smile!

A book that made me laugh out loud and cry too. Read it. You will be changed.

Cooling off at the lake two amazing littles.

I finally took the plunge and ordered the newest copy of Kinfolk magazine after seeing so many of you gush over it. Can’t wait to sit with it and turn the pages ever so slowly as I sip a soy latte.

Happy baskets! I use baskets around our home for everything. These are my new diaper/travel “bags”. Love.

Support, laughter, and play.

These are some of the happy + lovely things bringing joy to my life lately…

What happy things are in your life today?

 

 

“Life is made up of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of gray cement. It would be wonderful if they came to us unsummoned, but particularly in lives as busy as the ones most of us lead now, that won’t happen. We have to teach ourselves how to make room for them, to love them, and to live, really live.”

* Anna Quindlen, A Short Guide to a Happy Life

* * * * * * * *
I’ve been thinking so much lately about “moments” and what moments I will remember when our children are all grown. I am so thankful for my iPhone…an amazing tool to capture and organize all of those moments into one place. In 50 years, I will look through these with my grandchildren and smile as I remember all of these good things. It’s not the chaos or the dirty floors that I will remember. It will be the magic. The glittering moments.

My sweet Lucy turned THREE yesterday! Her spunk…her style…her passion for life…I love her so. It’s been so fun to see her personality develop over this last year. She wants so badly to be just like her big sister, and yet she has her very own way of doing things. Every day with her is a joy. Often challenging, but still pure joy.

We’ve been enjoying our Wednesday afternoons spent with our unschooling group. Such freedom and acceptance. It’s a beautiful group of families and I am recharged by our time together. Play is so important!

Little Miss Emma is 6 weeks old already! Her arms and legs are getting rolls and she is changing every day. She loves her sisters. And nursing.  But not the car.   My sister and brother-in-law and Matt’s mom are all flying out next week (along with my parents as well!)…and they get to meet her for the first time. Can’t wait to introduce them to  this little pumpkin.

A delightful day on Pearl in Boulder with Natalie. Sushi to die for. Coffee. Thrifting. People watching. Reading greeting cards and laughing until we cried. I savored every moment.

My morning yerba mate ritual makes me SO happy. I look forward to it every morning. My new mug makes it even happier.

We bought a 1995 Palomino pop-up camper! We’re looking forward to taking it out this weekend for our first “real” camping trip in a long time. We won’t be remodeling…except for maybe a new floor and a little more color. Can’t wait to get out around the campfire!

We spent an afternoon and evening with our friends Jen and Jarod, along with their 3 kiddos. They are the family who bought our last Class A motorhome. Super fun to connect again and swap stories from the road!

Life with littles. I never want to forget these days.

Our family of five! Still hard to believe…

I hope you’re all having a great week…remember to CAPTURE THE MOMENTS!

I’m still here! I have so much I want to write about and share with you…if only there were more hours in the day. We are slowly acclimating to a new schedule and our new normal…it usually takes us a few months after a birth to find our flow. We’ve had really good days and really challenging days. But I feel the inspiration flowing again, so stick around! Lots of fun to be had this summer.

All my love…
Sara

When I was young, my mom was always so amazing at celebrating the seasons of life. We had green food for breakfast on St. Patty’s Day, pink everything on Valentine’s Day and birthdays were certainly a day to be remembered forever. Another holiday (often forgotten!) is MAY DAY! Mom would help us make little baskets full of popcorn and candy to take to our friends houses. As she left yesterday, she reminded me of May Day…so today we celebrated in honor of Nana!

The girls each created a little basket out of paper and we filled them with warm popcorn, suckers, tea, and bubble gum. For more fun May basket ideas…check out Pinterest!

“I added the exclamation points because IT’S SO EXCITING!”

Running out the door to give their baskets…

…to our neighbor April! April and the girls have developed a special friendship since we’ve moved in. They spend lots of time chatting and pulling dandelions.

She loved their creations!

*Traditionally, you’re supposed to leave it on the doorstep, ring the bell, and run away. If the receiver catches you, you had to give them a kiss

Happy May Day everyone!

Are you doing anything special today?

 

We ventured to Boulder on Saturday morning to meet our family at the farmer’s market. We enjoyed the HOT sun and some ginger lemonade…and then walked to Pearl Street for more people watching and play.

While we were there, Emma found her thumb. We’ve never had a thumb sucker…but she seems to like it. She usually just swings her hand around with frustration, trying to find her mouth…and once in awhile, she gets it there. It’s all quite cute.

Lucy Mae…my little sassy pants. Oh how I love her. It’s been a definite time of transition as she adjusts to sharing mommy and daddy. She is also changing so much developmentally right now…speech, motor skills, etc…she keeps us on our toes She is SO excited about every little thing all day long. It’s such a wonderful reminder to stand in awe of every day beauty and appreciate the little things.

Bella is back in Raccoon Clan this spring and loving every minute. This is from last week as she waited for her friends to pick her up.

Freshly picked eggs…a wonderful baby gift from my friend Michelle!

A lovely letter from Rachel paired with a big bowl of watermelon made for the perfect nursing session. Thank you friend! My mama heart needed it.

At one week old, Emma enjoyed her first adjustment from our chiropractor.

My little sweeties.

…and a smile. Nana and Papa left for home today…we miss them already!

 

We’re five days into our life as a family of five. Crazy. The days are all blending together…but we’re blissed out and loving life. And while I don’t have a birth story written or photos edited, I thought I would share some of my favorite captures from this last week.

This is the view I see for much of the day…the view from my nursing chair

…and when I’m in that chair nursing, I send texts to Matt like this one. He has been so amazing. So, so amazing. He is the best husband and daddy. And on his third time around…he’s pretty much an expert at all things baby

I made my first yerba mate latte in 9 months and it was sooooooo good. Well, at least the first 1/3 of the cup was…and then I couldn’t drink any more because the caffeine was a little too much for my caffeine-free body. Darn. I will just have to ease into it.

Seeing Bella and Lucy interact with Emma is quite possibly my favorite thing so far…they are incredibly sweet to her and their eyes just light up when they see her. I am SO excited to have three girls!

Babywearing a newborn = happiness.

Speaking of happiness…it’s a way of life around here! My mama brought me this awesome sign when they arrived. I adore it.

Lots of time has been spent hanging out on the porch, pogo sticking, bike riding, rollerblading, and walking Odie the dog.

It’s been such a blessing having my mom and dad here during this transition…they’ve been taking Lucy and Bella to the park and out and about every day. There have been endless hours of puzzle construction and make believe princess play. My daddy brings me sushi and watermelon. In fact, today when I ran out of watermelon, he brought me FOUR home within 30 minutes. He’s awesome. And lastly…I feel so blessed that they have been able to be with us for the births of all three of the girls…such sweet memories.

My friend Jen brought the most fantastic meal to us yesterday. Not only was it packaged beautifully inside and out, it was sooooo delish. Homemade hummus (2 kinds) with all the fixins to stuff whole wheat pita bread, sweet potato and pineapple salad and nourishing lentil soup. She spoils me.

And now…I will end this post so we can do more of this. Life is speeding by…but we’ll try our best to slow it down. Just for a bit