Uncommon Grace

Easing back in...

...with a picture of my feet. Heading out for an evening with friends on Friday night. In my new shoes that I am breaking in for my upcoming trip to New York.

And with the first tiny, unfolding flower of spring, in a crack in the cement. My computer sabbatical was refreshing, and I think I should have taken it a little sooner. Now I feel a little bit like this flower, slowly opening back up.

I have some projects, as well as just some life, to share with you this week. And I'm having fun checking back in with so many of my favorite blogs ... it's amazing to see what all of you have been up to these two weeks! And now I'm going to get off the computer. Because it's fantastic. But so is everything else that's going on here. And I need to remember to keep that in balance.

Be Back Monday

These last 10 days have been really what I needed. And I'm going to take the rest of the weekend away from the computer and start afresh in this space on Monday!

Letting the Art Back In

Dear Friends,

I am feeling a bit tapped out and overwhelmed -- emotionally, creatively, and just with life in general. I think between having a bad season with regard to colds (the one from last week still hanging on...), stress about looking for a place to move to (still no good prospects on that, by the way), and just a feeling of having found myself behind -- one step behind my now more mischievous two-year-old and my almost six-year-old who leaves me feeling at a loss many days, behind in my work around the home, and so on -- I have allowed myself to let the "art" of living step right on out of my life.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to take about a week or ten days away from the computer. For all the amazing inspiration and motivation that can be found in the online world -- and the blogging "neighborhood" in particular -- there are times (I'm sure for everyone, not just me), when computer time seems to take over more than it should. And so a short break seems in order for me.

I am hoping that I'll return here late next week feeling refreshed, with maybe a few projects to share, and a feeling of having let a little bit more balance -- and art -- back into my days. Be well -- I'll see you soon!

xo, Grace

PS: I will be checking my email once a day out of pure logistical necessity, so don't hesitate to leave a comment or drop me a line. I may need to keep responses quick, but I'll be able to "hear" you.

52 weeks ~ 4, 5, 6

I have not been very good about keeping up on my 52 Weeks, My kids and me challenge. I have three pictures (all taken today, and none containing all three of us...) today to "catch myself up." Because I think that doing a 52 weeks thing over something like 60 weeks would be kind of lame. ;)

Anyway, here we are this morning before getting cleaned up or dressed or anything. Just hanging out in the morning.

This one is taken by Elisabeth. :)

Two years old!

My baby is two today.

I think, for me, anyway, that these days always sneak up and take us by surprise. We knew his birthday was coming, definitely. Despite getting a little bit behind, and having colds all weekend, we had gifts prepared for him, including handmade gifts from Mama and from Elisabeth. And I've been thinking about the fact that he's been with us for two whole years now quite a bit lately. He's actually been saying he's two for a couple of months now.

But, I still find that the real significance of the birthday is just not that apparent until the day actually arrives. Not until the birthday child awakens. Sometimes they know that it's their birthday right away, and sometimes they have to be reminded.

And then, there are the Birthday Traditions. The candles in the ring to be blown out, a crown to be worn all day (except he doesn't like to wear it, but that's OK, too), the birthday poem to be said, the gifts to be opened right after breakfast.

So, now I'm looking at my little one, in all his striking "two-ness." When did he become so capable? Where did all these certainties and opinions come from? When did he start playing like such a big kid with his sister?

He's full of joy, this one. Full of laughter, and jokes, and music. I have never known anyone who could make me so happy just by his presence. He can drive me completely crazy, making mischief, but then he'll just make me laugh and forget the whole thing.

Happy birthday, little one. I love you just as you are today. And I am so excited to see what you'll become over this next year.

Final bit o' green

It was my intention to add one last submission for Green Week on Friday, but we had a long and busy day, followed by me, and then James, being hit with the worst cold I may have ever had. The entire weekend was spent in bed, resting, nursing, and watching two movies multiple times (this one three times, this one just twice). An aside to you P&P fans -- I'm beginning to fear that I might be Mrs Bennet. I had to get my husband to drag the television and DVD player into our bedroom (for the first time in 6 years!) since we don't normally have one in there. I also resorted to fever reducers, which I (at least theoretically) try to avoid in all but the most dire of circumstances. So you can see that we've been quite sick.

We're a little bit better today, which is good, because there's a big birthday on Wednesday and gifts still remain to be made. I have been finding myself thinking a lot, in these past few days of laying in bed, of that snowy Sunday morning two years ago when this little boy (taken on his first birthday) joined our lives, and the days following his birth when he and I lay in my bed, looked out the window, nursed, and fell in love.

As a synesthete, I have strong and very concrete color associations for letters, numbers, months, days of the week, and people in my life. James was and is green to me, so I think that having a week of Green up to his birthday was so very fitting, although I felt that my green submissions were less inspired than I would have hoped. It was my "first week", though, so I'll cut myself a bit of slack. I think part of my lack of inspiration was that I was not really in the same place (geographically, seasonally, etc.) as many of the others playing -- as Emily described in her final green post, she wanted to honor the end of the last long month of winter (February) and the beginning of spring. Of course, where I live (at a very high altitude), spring hits in mid-April, and March is actually the last month of winter. So in about one month, I should be ready for a full-on green week, I think. ;)

So, about my two greens shared today -- James's Sigg water bottle, which is green, for James, and also "green", for the environment. Reducing consumption, waste, and the use of plastics are very important to me. Maybe not in that order. Use of plastics might be number one for me. There is something about plastic that makes me cringe a little bit. But that's another post altogether. The other green in this post -- we've had a few great family play nights recently. I've been thinking so very much about the importance of play in our lives and the lives of our children, what its rightful place ought to be, and so on. I'm working a post up on those thoughts. But I thought I'd share this photo now with its greens.

OK, back to bed for me now. I don't expect to post tomorrow, as I need to save all energy for getting well and making birthday gifts, but I do expect to post in honor of my big boy's second birthday on Wednesday. See you then, dear friends!

Green Week ~ 4

Yesterday we went swimming at our local rec center, and we had quite an adventure. The fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the building, sopping wet, on a 30-degree day. The fire department came and hauled out some kind of tank. It was all quite exciting.

More about swimming next week.

Green Week ~ 3

It's hard to tell in this photo, but it was snowing out when I took this. A light snow, but snow nonetheless. More winter here. I do so well with winter all through February. But once March hits, I do begin to lose my patience.

Don't get me wrong. I love snow. It's one of my favorite things. And I love winter. I love words like "spare" and "bleak" and I love a gray color palette. (Gray week, anyone?) But there is a certain point, when the signs are pointing toward spring, where wintertime can feel a bit like drudgery. I'm ready for spring this year. Very ready.

Oh, and I just got done watching this film. All I can say is, wow. We so rarely have the opportunity of witnessing the birth of a child. It's amazing to see. Amazing. The issues addressed in the film weren't new to me, as a woman who had a very disappointing birth experience with my firstborn, and later found the "closure" I needed with the birth of my second. My mother-in-law had at least one of her children with twilight sleep (which she describes as even more shocking an experience than is usually reported), and my own mother was a natural birth "pioneer" of the 70's, working to establish the first birth center in her city all the way up to her due date with me. So, yes, I'd heard and even personally experienced some/much of what they talked about, from both sides of the issue. But it was still pretty powerful and awe-inspiring to watch the film. (It does show childbirth and cesarean section incisions, as well as a little bit of non-PG language, so don't watch it if you don't want to see that stuff, though!)

Green Week ~ 2

I actually took this picture almost 2 weeks ago, but it fit the green theme, and also something else I've been thinking about recently.

Namely, birthday season around here. (The photo relates to that because after 10 months of being 5, I finally remembered to take a picture of her holding up her 5 fingers.) James's second birthday is in 8 days now. Eight?! How am I so unprepared? I think it's that February has thrown me off with its shortness once again. I know, I know. It's short every year. And we even had an extra day this year. But a birthday on March 12 sounds so mid-month, you know? So far away when you're just at the end of February...

Anyway, I have no idea what to make for him. None whatsoever.

And Elisabeth's sixth (I know, how can she be six already? don't start me on that...) birthday follows less than a month later (a regular month, at least), on April 10. And I know what I'm going to make for her. But it's kind of a complicated project. So here I am, thinking, "Can I pull off another birthday season?" The answer, of course, is "yes." But it does leave the question of how much sleep mama will get during this month. (Oh, yeah, Easter falls in there, too.)

Do I have a tidy way of summarizing this post? (I like tidily summarized posts.) Is there a lesson learned that can be quickly and patly condensed from this scattered post? I guess not. Maybe just a tiny bit of begging ... cross your fingers for me, OK?

Green Week ~ 1

Emily is hosting a "Green Week" this week. I agreed to participate. I've never done any sort of color challenge before this, so I'm calling it my "first week"! ;)

Since it's still winter here (we had a "blizzard" yesterday), I'm extra challenged, because I don't have any little green buds to share. But I do have a wee one who stayed up way too late last night, and slept in this morning. A wee one who was still very sleepy as he sat on his changing table in his green pajamas this morning. (Yes, that's a seam ripper in his hands. Just ignore that.) All that brightness behind him is the sun reflecting off the massive amount of white outside the window.

In the same windowsill, I have this empty Bag Balm tin. I used to use this stuff on diaper rash with Elisabeth, before I got all weird about petroleum products. So, now I don't use it on anyone's skin, but I still like the green tin. I think I should wipe the last, gunky bit of it out and use the tin for sewing notions. Yeah, I'll do that. One of these days...

Happy Green Week! (I am in a very weird mood today, and I feel like saying things like "yo" and "for shiz." I am trying to restrain myself. It's the cabin fever setting in. I can tell.)