These Eyes

Oh those eyes.....  My little man has eyes that I know will break hearts later.  He looks at me with them and I give him what ever he wants and needs.  They look right into his perfect little soul and I know that all is right with the world.

How can things be much more perfect than this?

* On another note, the picture was taken on my little camera, but on the black and white setting.  I have always been drawn to black and white, feeling it tells the same story in a whole different way.  A more simple and artistic way.  I am not too sure if I would be as captivated by this same photo if it was in colour.  What do you think?

Simple Moments

Sometimes looking at the simple things in life are what help us to realize that maybe they are not simple.  It is the simple moments that together create your day.  If we take them and enjoy them what can we see?  What are we missing or even what are we not?  We always focus on what we are missing but what if we aren't missing anything? 

FOR TODAY

May 11/12, 2010...  {I started writing yesterday evening and then mamahood took over and I never made it back to the computer to finish.}

Outside my window the wind is blowing as it has been for the last week.  What has made Mother Nature for upset?

I am thinking of the fabric that lays on the table waiting for me to turn into the long awaited dress. 

I am thankful for his love!  

From the kitchen homemade soup warms on the stove for dinner.  I am getting the broth tasting closer to Paul's Mom's.  He adds suggestions each time I make a new batch.  

I am wearing PJ's still.  I am really not a morning person.  I need coffee, time and food before being able to function in the morning.  You would think that after all our time together my little babes would know this, still they do not.  

I am creating LOTS of pottery for the Summer Shows. Check out the website for a list of where I will be this summer and fall. 

I am going to a felting workshop this weekend and I am SO EXCITED!!  A whole day with fiber!

I am reading Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffennegger.  I LOVED the Time Traveller's Wife and have read it twice and loved it more the second time.  

I am hoping to let go of her energy that is sucking up so much of me.  It is an old pattern so it will take time to create new patterns but it needs to happen for me to move forward.

I am hearing the voices inside encouraging me to do what's best for me.  

Around the house it smells clean and fresh.  We had Molly Maids come as a birthday present from my sisters in law.  It was so amazing to leave and come home to a beautiful clean home and it all happened while I sipped lattes!  

One of my favorite things to see is Sam and Lily finally playing together.  What a magical moment (sometimes it doesn't last long before one of them is crying but the moments get longer and longer)

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Sleep, teach, learn, take Sam to meet this Kindergarden teacher. Be ok. with all these things.  

Here is picture for thought I am sharing:  

Check out what other simple things people are noticing in their lives at The Simple Woman's Day Book. 

Motherhood

Motherhood is not for Sissies.

Motherhood is not for women with weak stomachs, strict routines, or wall-to-wall white carpeting. 

Motherhood is not for women unable to juggle three things at once, read between the lines, or face fear on a regular basis. 

Motherhood is not for woman who refuse to believe in miracles, or tomorrows, or themselves. 

Motherhood is not for women too quick to use the word "impossible," or to hesitant to say "yes, you can."

Motherhood is for the caring and courageous women who make a difference in the lives they touch.  

Happy Mother's Day to all of us believing in ourselves and our children!

{this moment}

A single moment from our week that I want to cherish and remember.  

This House is a Home

Moving seems to be an event that reoccurs in our lives.  We realized the other day that since Paul and I meet we have not lived in one dwelling for more than a year and a half.  We have been moving to make a change or our situation changes and a new residence is needed.
While all the moves have been a step in the direction we needed to go, the constant moving can sometimes give us the sense of temporary all the time.  The idea that we are only "here for now".  We never really make anything our own and so it never really feels like our home.
We decided that this is not a way we want to be living and feeling, that this may be our "for now" house for the next 5 years, so we need to stop thinking of it that way and make it our home.

As my Mother's Day gift as well as completing one of the things on my list of 73 things in 730 Days we are redoing the gardens.  I love the look of colorful and beautiful flowers in gardens.  It makes the homes looked loved and lived in.  To drive or walk up to our house with the gardens beautiful is like a giant WELCOME HOME sign in the front.

The kids helped with the digging up and replanting. (Lily ate more dirt than her total weight I am sure, while Sam accidently pulled out flowers we wanted to keep).   We enjoyed working in the earth together as a family with Uncle Jon directing with his landscaping background.  All in all I think the result is beautiful. We have a few more shrubs to buy this weekend and more chip to lay, but I can see it all coming together and I almost feel the house thanking us for loving it while we are here, no matter what the length of time.

Results of Leaving Fear Behind

This is the results of the Pillow Case Dress.  It seems to be a little big on our little one.  But she will grow into it.  I am thinking of making a small seam on the side to make it a little smaller.  I will keep you posted on results.

73 Things in 730 Days

Recently there have been many things flowing around our lives.  Lily turned one marking a milestone in our lives.  She celebrated a birthday I celebrating surviving.  I recently turned 29 which means that next year is 30.  These two things seems to be rocking my thoughts and therefore my world.  
Recently a good friend asked why it was that I was having such a difficult time with 30.  I didn't really have an answer.  I don't want to say that I haven't done anything with my life as I have a wonderful Husband, two beautiful Children and a business that I am passionate about.  I have great friends a sense of community and connections in my life.  So why am I so freaked out and worried about 30?
After some thought I think what I realized is that I really have no idea WHO I am and it is this aspect that I find difficult.  Don't you think that by 30 I should have some idea of who I am.  I was recently introduced to the Happiness Project, in which the author keeps reminder herself to "Be Gretchen".  So I too thought that I should remind myself to "Be Jamie".  What I realized was that I had no idea what that meant.
So inspired by Lindsey Alyce I decided to make a list of things that JAMIE wanted to do/try/experience.  So I make a list of 73 things to do in the next 730 days.  This will bring me up to the end of my 30th year.   I am hoping that by then maybe I will have a clearer picture or idea of what Be Jamie means.

73 in 730 Days

1. Learn to slow down

2. Plant a beautiful Flower garden

3. Celebrate our 5 year anniversary with a special trip

4. Go on a big family trip

5. establish a yoga practice

6. learn to meditate

7. have a booth at one of a kind

8. bake bread from scratch

9. have another baby

10. plant tulips 

11. see the northern lights

12. lay beneath a night sky full of stars, holds Paul’s hand and know true love

13. learn to listen

14. have breakfast in bed

15. cleanse my body

16. run a 1/2 marathon

17. learn a new art form

18. learn to bake pastry from my grandmother (no secret recipe it is the one on the tenderflake box)

19. pass on my craft to someone

20. go to a spa for the weekend

21. learn to juice

22. learn to wet felt.

23. make clothes for Sam and Lily

24. go to the French River 

25. help a friend give birth

26. enjoy running (I've come to the conclusion no one likes running while they are doing it, it is only after when you feel great! )

27. teach sam to ride a bike

28. learn to make cake stands

29. paint

30. create a sacred space in our room

31. learn to dance

32. learn to spin 

33. knit something for everyone I love

34. make sourdough bread

35. have a 30th birthday bash (edit Mar. 2011 ~ or at least have a great night with the boys)

36. learn to love my body by 30. ( lose that last 15 pounds)

37. write

38. watch Sam’s first hockey game

39. grow LOTS of vegetables.

40. walk Sam to his first day of school.  Let go and trust. 

41 make Sam and Lily quilts for their beds.

42. Find a recipe book I love

43. Have a pool party and invite everyone we know!

44. Learn to accept relationships

45. watch t.v less (it is my vice, I am learning to accept that! )

46. get a really amazing haircut

47. create family traditions 

48. show someone compassion

49. try to be more eco and earth friendly

50. use cloth mama pads

51. eat more healthy foods.

52. do the tree walking

53. take sam sledding

54. pay off the last of silly debt

55. watch Gone with the Wind

56. read a classic

57. play at the beach

58. take the kids to centre island

59. see whales

60. sprout some grains

61. publish something

62. make a rag rug

63. make home made ravioli

64. make pasta sauce

65. make soap

66. expand vegetable garden

67. buy a great piece of art

68. take a photo of an unforgettable moment

69. blow up a picture of mine and put it on the wall

70. teach Paul to dive

71. buy a new car

72. Redo the garden, make this feel like our home

73. capture all of this