{this moment}

Technically, {this moment} is supposed to be one image, but this is still a moment I want to pause, savor and remember, even though it is a short series of images. So I'm cheating just a little, but you will see why...






Happy Friday, everyone!

{this moment}

joining SouleMama for this Friday tradition. Please leave a link to your moment below, if you wish!

Delilah the Guard Dog

I have noticed a curious thing over the past few weeks: Delilah has been guarding Felix. She never used to do this when he was laying on his playmat or a blanket on the floor as an infant, but now that he can sit up, she often will lay down next to him when I put him down and go attend to something/someone else. This is what I found one day last week when I came down the stairs from putting Jude down for his nap:






(Sorry for the blurry photos. Obviously I still haven't found my camera. We are starting to wonder whether Jude maybe threw it away. That's how I lost my car keys when Henry was that age.)

Stories in Art: Everyday Life

Whew! We had quite a week. There is so much I want to share, as we've still been doing a lot lately; I just haven't had time to stop and report on it here. Let's begin catching up with last Sunday's trip to the National Gallery, shall we?

{waiting for the doors to open at 11 am}

I'd been looking forward to this particular session all summer because the book was one of my current favorites:

The theme was "Everyday Life," so the children looked at a painting of a village fair, read this book, and then were asked to draw an ordinary day of their own.

It was Henry's first experience with oil pastels. He loved them.

We stopped off at the cafe to get some gelato before going home.

{the view of the fountain from where we were sitting}

Since we had attended three of the sessions in the summer series, Henry received a "prize" - a sketchbook, stickers, and a set of colored pencils - in a canvas drawstring bag. (Your tax dollars at work, folks!)

what's going on...

For the past few weeks, I've been...

dealing with an abominable landlord situation. highlights include a visit from the illegal construction division that resulted in a florescent orange "stop work order" on our door, no hot water for two days as a result (long story), a housing code violations inspection attended by our landlord which she failed for the 5th time, and finally spending hours at free legal aid clinics preparing for the trial against her in September.

working a lot, overseeing a summer camp this week and preparing for another at the end of August

getting ready for my brother's wedding next weekend

trying to get a birth certificate for Felix - no small feat when you have an "unassisted" (i.e. my midwide isn't licensed yet so I can't say she was there) home birth

attempting to renew our medical insurance

obsessing over where and when to move, scouring padmapper and craigslist for an inordinate amount of time each day, and being frustrated at myself for not being more at peace with our housing situation

...and I've also lost my camera. I distinctly remember putting it back in my desk drawer one day, and haven't seen it since.

Since I've been completely swamped with the above, all leisure pursuits (gardening, knitting, sewing, blogging, etc.) have been temporarily put on hold.

Of course, sprinkled throughout all of this are wonderful moments with my boys (big and small!), and I'm looking forward to making a few things this weekend for Jude's birthday on Wednesday.

More soon, I hope...

Sunday at the National Gallery

We attended the Stories in Art program at the National Gallery this morning.
It was wonderful, as usual.

This time, Henry learned what "still life" paintings are. He got to make one with stickers and crayons at the gallery, but was very eager to go home and paint his own still life using produce from our garden like Rosa in the book we read, Still Life Stew. He and his Aunt Karen painted side by side.



One of these days I'm going to do a whole post about Henry's art. It truly is amazing.

ten years

On July 14, 2001, I was married to Daniel Wade McClain. Our first decade together has been full of life's joys & sorrows, triumphs & challenges. I am so thankful to have had this man by my side for all of it, and I look forward to many more years together. Happy Anniversary, love!