Last August, my mother-in-law and father-in-law took our entire family (including all of my husband’s siblings and their partners and children) on a grand Hawaiian adventure. During the days before we left, I made a travel journal to give to them as a thank-you for the spectacular gift. As we creep towards the summer season…
Home
On Friday night, we arrived home from a week at the ocean. Considering how frightening and worrisome the past month and a half has been for my family, I was sure we were ready for a happy adventure. A visit to the sea seemed like just the thing to recharge our spirits. Looking back, I…
An update
Thank you for all of the love and support these past weeks. I’m thrilled to report that my father is slowly recovering from his heart attack. He has a long road ahead of him, but he is a determined guy with three grandchildren who need him back on the beach, digging in the sand. Your…
right now
Dear friends, I will be missing from this place in the days ahead due to a very sad and difficult situation in my family. Please send my father love and light. Any bits of strength and love for me and my family are most welcome too. Love, Emily
not indoors
The left handed painting is going to have to wait until next week. We spent almost the entire day outside – at the park, in our yard, in the outdoor produce section at our local market (where they are selling local pussy willow branches and mangoes from Peru). The kids collected birch bark and rediscovered…
A March Day
Mouse paints. Chick shows us the maple tree that her classroom has tapped for sap. A damp, chilly, after school playground romp. And, while the day felt ordinary and regular, it really wasn’t. The tragic loss and devastation in Japan weighs heavy on my mind and in my heart. xo e
gettin’ crafty
Kel is wonderful. She is one of my oldest, dearest friends, and the above box of garden yarn is hers. She loves bread and perogies and sheep, and she remembers all of the random stuff – like how ten years ago, when we went to a Greg Brown concert, the guys at the table next…
a royal birthday
Chick turned six, and she wanted to have a royal celebration where a few of her friends came dressed as queens, kings, princesses or princes (or anything royal-ish). One of her friends came dressed as a woodland messenger of sorts. The children made crowns, listened while I read from some royal story books, and then…
* treasured * Each Wednesday I post about some sort of treasure I found during the past week. It might be thrifted or found on a walk or whispered in my ear or discovered on a dark shelf in the basement. Something. Anything that makes me feel lucky and thankful. It doesn’t necessarily have to…
conversation Love Rocks!
Love rocks! Just in time for Valentine’s day. These conversation Love Rocks! have a heart on the front and a witty (or just plain sweet) message stamped on the back. Make your hearts skinny or bubbly or teeny tiny or really big – each rock ends up with its own little personality. I used both…
* treasured * Each Wednesday I post about some sort of treasure I found during the past week. It might be thrifted or found on a walk or whispered in my ear or discovered on a dark shelf in the basement. Something. Anything that makes me feel lucky and thankful. It doesn’t necessarily have to…
rings and things :: a valentine’s day tutorial
We are making rings and things for Valentine’s Day this year: heart button rings, wool felt heart rings, heart button hair ties, and some bracelets too. A pile of little wooden hearts with a fresh coat of paint. Chick is partial to the wooden button heart ring. Mouse loves the soft, wool felt ring. This…
r e d
I’ve been enamored by the colors in our backyard. Our biggest maple tree was rusty red on Thursday, and by Saturday it turned fiery red, and by Sunday, when the wind and rain had cleared, almost all of the leaves had fallen off of the tree. Towards the end of Sunday afternoon the light was…
f a i r y
Chick and I made fairy houses or as she likes to call it, “the big fairy hotel.” She spent lots of time loading up their abodes with crab apples just in case they happen to find themselves a little snacky. This kind of outdoor play makes me think of The Girl From the North‘s recent…
