Weekend Recap:

Thursday: Great Grandma came to town and wanted to go shopping. We found Scarlet some ballet slippers and some white tights so that she can start her new dance class each week. She talks about it everyday…

Then we played on all the things that take mama’s quarters while the others shopped. I have to say, taking kids to the mall is not my favorite thing to do. I figure there is no actual way to shop with them, so we should just play…

Friday night/Saturday morning: had the most amazing privilege to see a beautiful and perfect baby girl come into the world. This is truly becoming one of those things I feel like I was put on the planet to do. Really, more on this later… 🙂

Saturday: much needed night “to act like a kid again”: (we have to have those every so often to keep ourselves sane in the adult world…)

First stop: spend the gift cards that are burning a hole in my pocket…  OR watch Joseph put on silly hats and do random accents…

Second stop: Grocery store to grab snacks and drinks to go hang out with super awesome friends and play lots of mindless video games…. just what we needed. OR watch people stare at Joseph while he hums to himself like it’s completely normal for a grown man to dance through the isles while hunched over a cart that is 2 feet tall….

As you can tell, life with Mr. Suo is never dull. 🙂

Sunday: afternoon snack with the hubby:

My two favorite things: Throwback Mountain Dew (actually the Dr. Pepper is my fav but they don’t sell it around here… sad. So, we settle for Mountain Dew instead.) And Seneca Apple Chips… oh.my.gosh. these are amazing… seriously the best snack food around!

Hope you had a good weekend!

xoxo

{this moment}

“{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.” Adopted from Soulemama

Christmas Disaster

A few days before Christmas I was driving to the gas station (about 4 miles from our house) and my car was making this horrible sound. It was dark and I had left my phone at the house. I was not about to stop on the side of the road, in the dark, all by myself. So I was determined to make it to the gas station and there I would call Joseph to come and figure out what was wrong. Well, I coasted into a parking space at the gas station. My engine seized up. Come to find out, there was not a drop of oil in the car. Note to self: vehicles take oil to run. 1998 Rodeos need the oil changed triple the amount of most other cars. I guess we live and learn, shedding lots of tears along the way. Talk about an amazing Christmas present…. NOT!!!

That left us currently without a car that all four of us can fit in and not one car that I can drive. (We’ll leave my “learning to drive a stick shift” stories for another day…)

It’s been fun. haha… just kidding! Not fun at all. We are close to getting another car. Most likely a four door Honda or Toyota… still looking for the right car for the right price.

Anyways, I said all that to tell you that I found my dream car! And really, it’s only a dream. Because in reality, it’s not the type of maintenance we need, or the easiest car to find. But isn’t it cute!?

It’s a VW station wagon. They only made these models from 1970 to 1974 because no one liked them. Crazy hippies! This is the best body style of any of the VWs!! At least I think so. 🙂

Okay. Okay. Enough with the dreaming and on with realistically getting a car with four seats that practically drives itself so that I don’t have to shift… ready…..go!

My Drummer Boy

Joseph had practice last night, preparing for his show tonight! He had some help on the drums….

Adelai played drums for the entire practice. We set up chairs around him and he pretended they were drums and went to town. After last night, I am certain that he needs a baby drum set for his birthday in the spring. I am now on the hunt for the best one I can find! The question is… should we get a classic acoustic (another word for LOUD), or should we get an electric set that would be accompanied by some mini headphones? Hmmm…. I’m just not sure.

The rest of this week is full of music, good weather, some much needed outside play, and hopefully some craftiness.

xoxo

Confession…

I am the worst pancake maker ever. I love to bake and cook (as long as I have a detailed recipe, haha). But I have never been able to flip a pancake without making a mess. I should have gotten a pick of the kids faces after the had gobbled them down. The good thing is, my kids love my imperfect (more like unrecognizable) pancakes. 🙂

I just had to confess to someone…

 

Happy Tuesday!

Happy List:

Thought I might start doing a list of lovely things I find that are inspiring, something I wish for, or just plain pretty. Hope you enjoy!

1. Came across these moccasins at Darlingtonia Moccosin Company. Sooo cute!

2. I am totally in love with the look of vintage lace right now. I have dreams of using all the bits of lace and doilies that I have collected over the years on everything from sweaters to pillows for my couch…

3. Dreaming about having hair long enough to play and have fun with. My hair grows sooo slow. No matter what I put in it or don’t put in it. No matter how much veggies I eat, my hair grows at the same pace, slow. So, for now, I’m just dreaming.

4. Having fun keeping up with Elsie’s Project Restyle Flickr Page! Lots of amazing ideas and creativity going on!

5. Love following the Blog World of Bleubird and her sweet little family. Her New Years Pics make me giggle. Her hubby reminds me of the guy in The Hangover in this one….

6. Blog Lovin’ is the best and most efficient way that I have seen to keep up with blog reading. It really helped me to be able to clean out all of my toolbar files that I’d been keeping full of blogs, projects, and recipes.

7. I’ve been listening to Frou Frou again. I haven’t heard her in a good while. As soon as I heard “Let Go” it reminded me of my first year being married, being pregnant, and becoming a mama. This video is actually Imogen Heap singing it, but the photography in it is super pretty too.

8. SNOW! I know, I know. I’m probably the only person in NC that wants it to continue to be cold. BUT I have sooo missed REAL winters. I hate how it normally gets up to 70 degrees right before Christmas here and then it “ices” (no actual snow) sometime February and that’s it. Nope! Not this year! This year it’s actually cold enough to wear a coat and has snowed REAL snow several times! Too bad I lost my favorite coat. I found a great replacement at Goodwill tonight, but they wanted 20 bucks. 20 bucks!!! Can you believe that!? For a thrifted coat. I think it’s time to broaden my thrift store horizons and venture out.

9. Amelie and Alice Photography is one of my favorite places to get inspiration for taking pictures of the kiddos. She has some amazing shots! The one above reminds me of a picture I have of myself when I was a little girl. My mom would was dishes and I would stand on a stool ( I was probably 3 or 4), with my apron on, and dry them while we starred out the window and talked. Someone took a picture from behind us. It is one of my favorite things I have from childhood. Check out Amelie’s blog!

10. And lastly, I am totally inspired by all of the women around me who have either had the experience of giving their babies a gentle birthing process, those around me that I have had the privilege of assisting in their amazing journey, and the amazing women that are the “brains” and the experienced that I can call on at any moment to get inspiration, understanding, and encouragement on my own journey to becoming a Doula. I am so excited for every opportunity I have to be a part of the process of a gentle birth. (more on this later….)

Hope you have a great week ahead!

xoxo

Heartbeat

1294891168652.jpg, originally uploaded by RootsnWings.

This is a picture of maybe the only rhythm of my current days. Since there have been so many changes going on, these kiddos have been in need of a little extra affection.

Adelai crawls in my lap for every bedtime and naptime and we sing the same little song, over and over. Eventually he falls asleep just like the picture above. I am soooo excited that he has begun this little routine. I got concerned for a minute that I had no baby to hold. He is almost two and he was getting quite independent. I know that this little phase probably won’t last very long. So, I am going to soak up every minute of cuddle time that I am given.

I never want to be that mom that is so quick to “get them to sleep” so that I can breathe. (Although, those days do happen….) I want to be the mama that takes every moment and lives in it, sucks every bit of love out of every squishy little hug or kiss I get from these kids.

Sometimes I have to sit back and remind myself that when I was a little girl, this is the life I dreamed of…. to be a wife and a mama. I had no idea it would come with so many challenges, but I am determined to live in every minute of my childhood dream…. not many girls can say that everything they wished for came true.

This little family of mine are in every heartbeat. I want to be that 80 year old woman that has family surrounding her, honoring her, loving her, laughing with her…. I want to say, when I am old and going to heaven, that I left a legacy…. my family. It all starts here… giving this sweet boy comfort when he needs it most.

Saturday Morning Fun

If you can’t tell, this new picture application on my phone is my favorite. I would love to have a real polaroid camera… but for now. This one is super amazing!

Aren’t these kiddos cute!!??

Just thought you might want to see why I’m smiling today.

 

Have a great weekend!

Five Years

5 years, originally uploaded by RootsnWings.

Yesterday Joseph and I closed out our fifth year of marriage and today is the start of year number six.

We have been through ups and downs, as any marriage has. One of my favorite things about my life is that I married my childhood best friend. We grew up together, watched each other deal with many different things and never did it cross our minds that we would one day join our lives together. This deep relationship that we created from childhood has really been one of those things that we have held onto when it seems there is little else.

I am so very thankful for his integrity, his character, and his personality. I love that we are two TOTALLY different minds who think completely different. It creates this amazing balance in both of us. I appreciate the dream he is chasing and fulfilling so relentlessly. Because he gives place to his dream, it creates a place for me to fit, and safely and peacefully fulfill my dreams as well.

We are learning so much as we go. Most everything we’ve done, we’ve done wrong and had to go back and take the time to rewrite our story, if you will. But honestly, that is what creates growth. One of the things we’ve gotten pretty good at is learning to hit the reset button. No matter what happens, we have a mental and emotional reset button where everything is snow white, a new start.

As we go into this sixth year, we already know it is going to be full of hard work. This will be one of those years that will be spent building something beautiful, as a couple, and as a family.

I am so thankful for a new year for us!

Lost and Found

If I look back at 2010 and maybe even since I have been a mother, the only words I can think of are, “lost and found.” Sometimes it seems to be this persistent rhythm on the inside of me. I see or find a glimpse of who I truly am and in an instant, it is swept away in the large mixture of who everyone expects me to be. I don’t know that anyone else experiences this constant back and forth of “lost and found” like I do. I’m sure part of it is normal but most of it is….. me. My past, and as much as I wish it wasn’t, my present. I know exactly who I am and who I feel I was born to be, BUT, most of the time, I run in another direction, thinking that I am responsible to be somewhere that I have no business being. I can only be completely honest (maybe too honest) and say that many times I take on other people’s purposes as my own, thinking their purpose must be the only true, right way to live. When, in reality, my true purpose on this earth looks like one of those splatter paintings that they call “abstract.” It looks like something you have never seen before, but something that people are attracted to because it looks like nothing else they’ve seen.

Change seems to be the only constant around here. Not just little changes, but major ones. I am seeking out this sweet spot in life that I am sure is there. I’ve gotten so close in the past. So I’m on the path to being “found” again. This time, I may be a tad head strong… just to be sure I make it.

I needed to revisit and breath new life into this space. It is always a good companion to remind me of anything and everything beautiful in my life. I use this place to remind myself of all the amazing things in my world, when it feels like my world is spinning. So, if you’re reading, welcome back, to this constantly dizzy world…

I don’t know what else to do but be honest about my journey. I figure everyone’s on one, so maybe mine will give you a small bit of laughter, inspiration, and insight.

Happy New Year.