the glass is half full?

it can be a struggle to focus on the positive, especially with a busy life & four children. at the end of the day, i am often overwhelmed by the plethora of dirty dishes, piles of laundry (clean & dirty both), the remnants of food that coco tossed on the floor, the clods of dirt trailed in by baseball cleats and the various complaints & tantrums.  yet, there were many lovely moments today too..

clementines, lemons & daffodils

first spring bike ride with the girls.

first spring eggs (after a long break)

working on my t-shirt rug project

sweet afternoon slumber

ethan’s kanji practice

a few moments to sew

reading wildwood with aidan

hey girl

frankie.

in the garden

my days have been so busy as of late. it was lovely this morning to spend an hour in the garden. frankie & coco had a great time getting dirty and being imaginative among the spring flowers.

joyful

frankie + bear cowl = joy

thanks to jen (creating bits of envy) for knitting the cutest bear cowl EVER.

branch + crane

my kids attend the amazing japanese immersion program in portland and every year i enjoy helping with their auction. we found a great inspiration piece on pinterest and helped all four 3rd grade classes fold their own personal origami crane. the cranes were artfully glued to a beautiful, majestic willow branch (4′ x 8′).

dude night!

father/son night at the blazer game.  aidan ate 2 hot dogs, nachos, red vines, ice cream and a soda…and lived to tell about it!

little miss austen

hellebores, tea and a pride & prejudice board book.  lovely afternoon tea time for coco and i.  tomorrow is little miss bronte and french press.

coco turns one

coco arrived 3 weeks early last year.  i’ve come to learn that she likes things her way.  happy birthday beautiful girl!

ballerina

frankie at ballet class