This Week: In Real Life

We are going to start sharing some real life pictures and commentary on Fridays. A "series" if you will. We take pictures on our phone all week of every last thing we do, and Fridays will be time to share them. If you follow me on instagram, I'm sure some of these will be familiar. Here goes:

1. We have a shared backyard and we never really take advantage of it like we should. Really, the times we've spent back there have been me holding M to avoid her crawling on cement and eating every leaf or rock she sees... yesterday we went back there for the first time in ages and it was blissful. S climbed trees and M collected apples that had fallen. They're both old enough to enjoy it, and I don't have to break my back holding a wiggly baby anymore (kind of makes me sad too, because my wiggly baby is becoming such a big girl now, too)! 

2. I took this picture from a car with my phone and I could not be happier with the way {instagram helped} it turned out. It epitomizes what I love about mornings in San Francisco... the quiet, calm rumblings of cable cars (and the charming dings), deep fog wrapped around beautiful buildings, and the ups and downs, ahhh.

3. I ate a Bob's donut this week. And once again, I wondered why we didn't move closer to Bob's donuts because they may not look like much, but the way they melt in your mouth, ohhh, so good. They may have made me a donut critic actually, because other donuts don't compare since my first from Bob's. Donuts are a serious weakness of mine. Turning them down is ... well actually, it doesn't happen. I don't turn down a donut. See? I told you Fridays are for real life.

4. This is one of those shots I took that didn't work at all-- blurry, face covered etc-- but then I looked at it and it really worked perfectly. I can't stop going through my phone pictures and looking at this one. It's one of the good ones that captures a really joyful moment in life. She thought she was hilarious when she put the oversized glasses on, and she couldn't keep them on and couldn't stop laughing. It's a keeper.

5. Here's a picture of Brian and me. I have green wings (didn't you know?) and Brian walks on one orange leg. LOVE the art of a child. Can't get enough. I need to get really focused and actually make a book of their drawings... one of those things I say like a broken record and may one day do (doubtful!)...

6. The last thing that happened this week is that Maggie turned 15. No but seriously, doesn't she look so grown-up? Like she's actually impatiently waiting for a tardy bus to take her somewhere important? Good news is that those jeggings she's wearing say 6-9 months and she's not getting more than about 10 steps without little tumbles. She's still my baby.


So there you have it. A week in the life of Kate.

Here are some links to things I've loved online this week:

1. Sweet Fine Day created the most gorgeous NYC calendar to sell and raise funds for hurricane relief. Beautiful in more ways than one.

2. Speaking of donuts, Rachel from Elephantine shared with Joanna from A Cup of Jo how to make lemon ricotta donuts. They look amazing. Anyone who is the baking type should definitely try.

3. You Are My Fave had a guest post by Barbara Rucci that is A Color Study craft. This one is for kids or adults and yields beautiful results. My little artists would love this one, and I would love to hang their colorful pictures in their room!

Happy Weekend!

Love,
Kate

Giving Back

We wrote a post for The Honest Company yesterday, and I would love if you'd visit their blog and read it today, if you haven't already. Even before having children, I knew I would want my kids to be truly aware that not everyone in the world has so much as they do. I wanted to be sure to make it priority to help others in need however we can, including the impoverished and the sick.

I'm so proud of my little girl for her perception and desire to help people. There are so many families out there doing far more than we have for others, but this is a start, so simple that anyone with very young children can participate.

Head over and read more at the Honest Company. You can also buy their adorable, eco friendly diapers there. :)

Organized Traveler

I went a little OCD today.

I confess: I'm an organized traveler. I don't want to go anywhere and have clothing all over the floor because we were searching for pj's and didn't have time to be deliberate about it. I want to really have a plan so that whether it's me opening that suitcase, or a family member who hasn't the faintest idea what belongs to whom, it's all very clear...

So this is what I did. I used index cards to label everything. I even post-it noted what shoes go with the church clothes on the other side of the card. I went crazy OCD...

In my defense, my mom took my girls for a nice walk today, so I had spare time on my hands. So this is what would happen if I didn't have children or a job. Thank goodness I have children rather than spare time.

When it's all said and done, I'm perfectly happy being the crazy girl with the meticulous packing habits. I'm also perfectly content with the fact that I don't generally have time to have any semblance of my former organized self, because it means my time is being filled instead with noise and laughter and happy MESS.

XO.

Busy

Little kids are very busy.

There's a lot of thinking to do, a lot of imagination to use, a lot of pretend baking, dancing, shows, running... And I thought that I had a lot on my plate! They're like little adults.

Maggie has the vast responsibility of emptying every box, basket, container, and cabinet in the house, then getting inside every one that could possibly fit her little feet, and then refilling each container with the things that were in the other. Then repeat. It's a LOT of work.

Sophie generally spends her days putting her babies to bed, having one or the other cry, reading books to them, and doing shows with them, and changing her own clothes about five times per day. When we're outside she needs to run everywhere, or hop like a bunny, and climb on every stoop she sees.

Makes what I do seem pretty relaxing.

THIRTY

Yes, it's true. I've officially graduated from the decade of beautiful 20-somethings and today I am 30. I thought it would feel much more painful to leave my youth behind (HA!), but instead I'm overwhelmingly grateful, happy, secure, and excited about my 30's. I'm looking forward to the new experiences, joys & challenges (ideally fewer of those than the others...) coming my way. At 30, I'm hoping I will learn what it means to:

Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.

-Micah 6:8

LOVE,
Kate

Sentimental Monday

Sometimes I kiss little Maggie and start to get sappy.

Before she came on the scene I was so apprehensive about it. Another little girl? How could I ever love another child the way I love my firstborn? Impossible.

Then she was born. And I did. I loved another little teeny tiny face just as much as her sister's. I was flooded with guilty feelings for Sophie... My attention for her was cut so drastically now that I had a newborn. Sophie was suddenly a big girl. How could I possibly show them both how dearly they are loved?

Today, I remembered those days... I remembered the vulnerable mother of two I was. I was so emotionally delicate and chemically imbalanced and every little thing in life just looked so BIG.

Then I smiled with such sweet relief to be where I am today. Maggie turned one in August and the girls are really starting to become best friends. They adore one another, they tackle each other, they swat and push and sometimes cry, but they LOVE. And I get to watch, and be a part, and feel no more guilt. I just get to enjoy it. It's a beautiful gift to have a sibling and I'm just so grateful about it today.