Sushi Grass & Fireflies

In search of simple joys amidst the mess and the love

Skip to content

Home
About us
Contact
Categories
- Family Fun
- Home
- Moving
- Renovations
- Projects
- Parenting
- Holidays

Search

Search for:

Relaxing on the deck

August 1, 2016 / davamarie

Kristin took all of the kids to her parents’ house overnight. I’m sure that should feel delightfully relaxing, but I miss them like crazy. So just because, here’s a picture of the twins relaxing on the deck yesterday.

Share this:

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Post navigation

← First full day in Kalamazoo

Change and grief →

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Enter your comment here...

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Email (required) (Address never made public)

Name (required)

Website

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Notify me of new comments via email.

Notify me of new posts via email.

Search for:

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Parenting and gender norms: part two

Northern Michigan Vacation: 2017

On expectations, potential, and the people we become

Instagram

Harry Potter and s’mores by the fire tonight before bed. The best way to wrap up a chilly weekend.

On our walk home from school today he joyfully jumped in every puddle in his teal glitter rain boots, and then we stopped for a long game of “sail tiny leaves down the river in the gutter” at our neighbors’ driveway. I love it when I’m totally aware in a slow moment that THIS is what it’s all about. ❤️

We made spooky Harry-Potter-style potions yesterday, thanks to inspiration from @violetsouffle. The kids were SO into it. And OK, maybe I was too 🧪💀

I dream up so many things with the intention of making memories and magic with the kids, and sometimes it’s beautiful and other times I can’t seem to let go quite enough. This was one of those days, full of fantastic ideas like using the mica powder I got for Harry-Potter-style potions to paint faces once we realized how brilliant the colors were. And it was epic, until Jude spilled an entire bottle of dark red mica everywhere and I totally lost it. • • Sometimes I feel like I’m on the verge of being the mom I want to be, but a lot of the time I’m astounded by how bad I am at this job, my favorite job ever. As an overachiever it’s an experience that is shockingly unfamiliar (although I guess after nearly seven years it’s becoming pretty familiar). I’m fairly accustomed to knowing how to get good at things, and this is by far the toughest thing I’ve ever wrestled with. • • A colleague told me once that you never know how selfish you are until you get married, or how angry you are until you have children. That resonates. Anyone else?

We’re big art lovers, probably due to my parents loving art and taking us to galleries in Chicago time and time again when my sister and I were kids, but also because of my sister who introduced me to @robertlangestudios (the best gallery in the world). We have some paintings we absolutely love, but we didn’t have anything abstract and wanted to shake it up a little. We didn’t plan to hang this piece in Vivi‘s room, but it just looked so perfect on her peach walls that it had to stay.

“If I were thread I would be really dizzy.” 🧵

Mornings when the kids get up on time and we aren’t rushed give me some of the most beautiful opportunities for gratitude. We’ve had perfect September weather this week, and for the past couple of weeks Jonah and I have been biking to school together, taking the long way when we have a little extra time. This morning as we drove home to get our bikes after dropping the twins off at preschool, I watched him in the rearview mirror as he danced and lip synced in his car seat to his song request: Taio Cruz, Dynamite. He can be a pretty serious, pensive kid a lot of the time so moments like that make me beam with joy. When we pulled in the driveway he asked if I could bring my phone along on our bike ride and listen to the Spiderman soundtrack on our way to school (of course we did). He told me the other day that he really likes first grade, and I’m loving our morning rides to school together. When I look at this picture it’s clear how quickly he’s growing; already too tall for those camo pants and that flip-sequin butterfly sweater. But I want to remember him just like this and mornings like this forever.

Yesterday was a day full of big big feelings. And admittedly I’m sure some of it had to do with where I am in my cycle, but a few things seemed to converge in ways that were tough for me emotionally. • I’ve been trying to do some garage clean out in preparation for putting cars in again this winter, so last week I sold our double stroller, and yesterday I sold the single one. Neither K nor I anticipated how emotional it would feel to part with those baby items. And it isn’t so much that I miss having a baby or wish for another one, it’s simply that it’s one more reminder of how quickly the kids are growing up. • Then, just to twist the knife, we used some of the cash from having sold the strollers to take Vivi to get her ears pierced. We were all fine with the idea, and then suddenly as the appointment time approached I started to panic about the fact that her ears would never be the same as they were when she was first born. I took a photo of each ear just before so that I could remember. • Viv had been looking forward to it for days. And all day on Sunday she kept asking, “Is it time for me to get my ears pierced yet?” She was so brave. Totally in charge. And when they paused to let Vivi decide when she was ready, she was silent for a long time and both Kristin and I thought that she might back out. Then finally she took a deep breath and said, “OK, I’m ready.” • For the record, the place that we went was amazing. They’re firm on bodily autonomy and consent, and won’t pierce anyone who isn’t able to say that they want the piercing done themselves. They laughed with her when she talked to them about the ear piercing scene in The Parent Trap (both sharing with her that they love the movie), and assured her that it wouldn’t be like that. • V loves her earrings; she’s so happy, and couldn’t wait to show all of her friends. And me? I’m just doing my best to stay in the moment, not let my sadness over how quickly they grow overwhelm me for too long, and to remind myself that there is lots more beauty to come, and more memories to be made.

Archives

Archives

RSS - Posts

Archive

Navigation

Home
About us
Contact
Categories
- Family Fun
- Home
- Moving
- Renovations
- Projects
- Parenting
- Holidays

Search for:

Blog at WordPress.com.

Post to

Cancel

Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address

Cancel

Post was not sent - check your email addresses!

Email check failed, please try again

Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.

%d bloggers like this: