Oct 8, 2020
In March, I drove my kiddos home from school, excited for a whole week off for Spring Break. And here we are 7 months later, still on that Spring Break. Covid edition style. Then the Home School edition started. Then the Summer edition. And back to the Home School edition. Right? What day is it? What time are we supposed to log on where? And I’m pretty sure we all just had another snack. So if you would have told me that on that afternoon in March that we’d still be home in October, I would have not even slightly understood what that meant. I would have been so confused if someone told me that we wouldn’t live somewhere else for a month over the summer, or travel to California to see our family. No school field trips or soccer games. A cancelled New York work trip for me. My amazing husband lost his job. Definitely not what we planned on. But we have had fun, we have been in nature daily, and the four of us have spent almost all our time together. I realize that we have so much to be happy about. Others have not been as lucky, and I am rooting for everyone who has it harder than we do.
Sooooooo before I can admit it’s truly Fall, I need to acknowledge all the good that made up our summer and beyond. Here’s a big look back through my camera roll and a bunch of memories…
Hiking. Onsies. BMX biking. Watercolors. Italian ice. Poke bowls. Polka dancing. Open invitations to neighbors’ pools. Flexible schedules. Charades. Coffee. Bare feet running on hot asphalt. Then finding a shady spot. The ice cream truck. Mailing letters. Colored pencils. A new dog. A new parakeet. Which my kid named Margarita. So I can also add that name to the list of good things. Kickball in our backyard. Rocking chairs. Ice baths. Mo Willems. Yoga for my Homies. Our late dog, Blue. Walking. Birthday banners. Space to run outside. Bikes to ride. Sand to dig into. Pine needles and leaves. Lots of kid snuggles. I still get so many. A week adventuring on Lake Austin thanks to generous friends. Sharing funny Instagram videos with our kids. Reading comic books in a hammock. Chalk blasts. So good. Google them. Blanket forts. Bunk beds. Family workouts by Daddy. Looking through our old photos together. Skateboarding. Kayaking. Birthday cakes. Legos. Baking. Fishing. Wearing my pink wig. Googly eyes on hand soap. A beach road trip in my rainbow Hot Wheels car. Mountain biking. Rope swings. Homemade ice cream. Ice dying t-shirts. My parents’ house. Lightning bolts shaved in haircuts. Trampolines. Balloons. Watermelon wonder. Cake. Sand. Sun. Tents. Naps. Books. Wine. Stories. Giggles. Jokes. Wit. Creativity. Family. Friends. Love. And loads of simply playing at home. I’m so dang happy for our time together, and I love this little family of mine so very much.
Most photos are from my iPhone, but there are a few really lovely ones from Aelish Lascoe, Brooke Schwab and Tim of Adventures & Weddings.
Mar 5, 2020
These buttons were designed as a small take-away gift for a job I did last year. The team was looking for something fun, not breakable and not too expensive that each guest who visited the space could take home to keep. I placed hundreds of these buttons in a clear bin with a decal on the wall above that said ‘take one’. They worked beautifully and added such a happy little extra to the whole experience.
Bonus of the gig is that my kids thought they were pretty cool too. They’ve put them on their backpacks and their jackets, and we’ve given some as gifts too.
Button art designed by me and the lovely Angie Coussirat of Noted. And ordered from Shutterfly.
Clear plastic Looker Bin (not pictured) from the Container Store. I used the largest one.
Photography by Rebecca Sanabria, who I would definitely give the “you rock” button to!
Feb 23, 2020
“I really regret playing,” said no one ever. Here is where I will share a photo that could make me happy forever. If you’d like to see all of the photos in my PLAY, PLAY, PLAY series, click here.
{ Nothing but heart eyes for these two shaggy dudes. }
Feliz lunes everyone!
Photograph by Brooke Schwab.
Jan 30, 2018
In the very early morning, I normally wake up with a soft, little face directly in my face saying something like, “MOMMY! Did you know that baby bats are the size of a grapes?” Or MOMMY! I need some paint.” Or I might just wake to the sound of Imagine Dragons blaring from their record player.
While a “Good morning” at the crack of dawn would be nice, I gotta admit it might be kind of boring too. There is never a dull moment when you hit the ground going full speed every. single. morning. Which I love. But I do have adult-y things that need to get done each morning as well. So I created this art project, set it out on our living room floor and told them the concept. It has given me ample time to feed our dogs and feed our fish and get breakfast started. Yet on other mornings, I decide to ditch my grown up duties and create with them… so everyone gets a banana for breakfast (well everyone except the dogs and fish!).
I told the kiddos that they could make color-FULL people. They could make themselves, they could make people or characters they know. They could make rainbow people. Or polka-dot people. All the people! Any kind of people their creative brains could imagine. They have had so much fun with this project. Clever details such as bow-ties, sunglasses and hats were quickly added. And the different hairstyles they came up with were: crew cuts, curly hair, bobs, bowl cuts and “lego hair”. I truly adore what they have made.
A few tips:
I pre-cut the heads and necks. It gave them a great starting point.
I put all of the supplies in trays and little buckets, which made it feel special.
I kept it simple. No paint, no pompoms, no glitter. (Simple is NOT bad! And I didn’t have to clean up unnecessary messes afterwards.)
I left this project out on our living room floor for multiple days, leaving them the option to meander over and make whenever they felt like it.
Supplies needed:
Construction paper
Scissors
Glue sticks
Markers
I am a huge fan of art projects where your kids do most of the work themselves, and you don’t spend 7 hours prepping and buying supplies. See Simple Summer Drawing and Big Paintings.
Photography by Rebecca Sanabria who loves art projects. And tacos.
