Happy 2012!

From all of us!

{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.

Amanda Soule

{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.

Amanda Soule

{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.

Amanda Soule

Making for a Birthday

Our littlest one recently turned two.  We had a small family celebration for him with a peach crumble pie and two little handmade gifts.

This third child of ours is so naturally balanced, so sure, and yet so open.  It was a wonder to watch him on this special day of his.  I imagine he feels himself a part of and inextricable from our larger whole and is comfortable with his place in the family.  I pray that the balance remains with him as he gets older.

Our eldest daughter made her littlest sibling a books about his very favorite thing in the whole wide world--TRUCKS.  And his Mama sewed up a little birthday crown that he absolutely refuses to wear so it had to be modeled by his older brother!

{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.

Amanda Soule

The Summer Rains

On this very rainy Monday, we~

~biked around the block to move our muscles and our minds

~played a whole lot together

~puzzled, painted and drew

How about your Monday?  What it rainy too?

{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.

Amanda Soule

{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.

Amanda Soule

Camping with Kids

I have always wanted to, but found some excuse as to why it could happen.  Too hot.  Too cold. Too tired.  Too much.  Enough with these excuses, I say!

We took the plunge into the kid camping waters over the weekend, and it was... just perfect.  Not perfect in the perfect sense.  There were some unexpected elements like a (blaring) outdoor movie after dark and more blaring music following that.  Not exactly the camping experience that I remember from yesteryear.  Oh, and then there were the portable satellite dishes for campfire t.v. viewing.  

But perfect in every other sense.  Clear night skies, a babbling brook, s'mores, and fresh water swimming, fire sticks, and fire chats, and time together outside without the pull of the garden, or the house, or a myriad of other things. 

This camping thing, we can do it.  We really can.

{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.

Amanda Soule

{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.

Amanda Soule

I started early,

Took my dog,
And visited the sea;
The mermaids in the basement
Came out to look at me...

But no man moved me 'til the tide
Went past my simple shoe,
And past my apron and my belt,
And past my bodice too

Until we met the solid town,
No man he seemed to know;
And bowing with a mighty look
At me, the sea withdrew.

Emily Dickinson

Happy 4th of July!

 Happiest of thoughts and warmest of wishes for a sun-and-water-filled holiday.

Returning Home

: from a visit with some of the ones I hold dearest :
: from great Tex-Mex fajitas, margaritas, queso, and hot sauce :
: from my alma mater :
: from bats and caves and much that makes our four year old wide-eyed :
: from the hot, hot, hot :

: to a garden that is overgrown and growing still more each day :
: to sugar snap and shelling peas that saved some very tasty (last) morsels before they are gone for the year :
: to hens that looked more like chicks when we left them :
: to a half-finished quilt and sweater in waiting :
: to friends coming in and leaving out of town :
: and mostly to a sweet (and sick) husband in need of love :

Family Stick Puppets

There are times when I welcome the rain this time of year I think because it gives me a guilt-free excuse to stay inside and enjoy indoor time.  I have been summer quilting and crafting with the kids this spring which has kept us moderate lately.  The frenzy of early spring has passed and with most of our vegetables in the ground, I don't feel like I am losing time in the garden if weather keeps us inside.

Last week my daughter wanted to make puppets.  We didn't have any popsicle sticks on hand so our Lincoln Logs became the sticks.  Each family member got a puppet and a signature t-shirt (or dress), each 'puppet' was taped to a lincoln log, and much family entertainment followed.

They have provided for some much needed comic relief during tense dinnertime moments.  Now they are perched on the windowsill over the kitchen sink, reminding me during some reflective moments not to take it all too seriously.

{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.

Amanda Soule

Mother's Day at Stone Barns

Along with some very dear friends, we took a trip to Stone Barns in Westchester County this weekend.  The weather was absolutely perfect for the jaunt to New York State and the farm appeared in all of its glory.  There were mama pigs and their piglets, Rhode Island Reds (like our very own Monster), lots of veggies in and out of the greenhouses, buttercups and dandelions, and so so much more.  Crisp, clear blue skies, good good friends, farm animals, and most of all my own little piggies, each one so different and so loveable~ all of this made for one very happy day.

{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.

Amanda Soule

{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.

Amanda Soule