Phee & Santa

So glad that Phee's school has Santa pictures one day in November. No fighting the crowds for us. At least until next year when she's in Kindergarten.

Happy Thanksgiving

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Wishing you a holiday full of fun, laughter, friends, and family.

Enjoy those delicious meals and have a great time relaxing and enjoying the holiday!

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Saw this over the weekend while we were out writing and working on projects at Mozart's.

Sums up my life pretty well!

Linked up at Enjoying this Life, Coffee Jitters, My Bizarre Family, Feed Me Dearly, The Jenny Evolution, A Star in My Own Universe.

October, you're gorgeous

Linked up at The Jenny Evolution, Parent Club, Carrie with Children, Feed Me Dearly, Random Mommy.

Fall in New England

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The Axis of Ineptitude is at it again this month with a great list of blog prompts.

Today, we're talking Fall.

Fiery fall

My mom sent me this gorgeous photo over the weekend. Looks like Ohio has some spectacular fall color this year! Doug and Phee are getting to see the end of the color in New Hampshire this week. Me? I'm in Texas, waiting for a bit of color change, but thoroughly enjoying the cooler temps.

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The Axis of Ineptitude is back at it this month. Today's prompt is change. If you have a post that fits with that today, wordless or not, feel free to link it up.



Linked up at A Star in My Own Universe, Home of OHM, Seasonal Family Fun, The Jenny Evolution, Raising My Boys, Enjoying this Life.

Cloudy morning sunrise

Rain's End

While driving a couple weeks ago, the rain let up and the sun popped out. And this gorgeous rainbow followed us all the way to our destination. As we drove, we could actually see the end of the rainbow, in a field, in front of a house, through a tree... it was the most amazing thing.

Linked up at The Jenny Evolution, Mary Denman, A Star in My Own Universe.

Be awesome!

What awesome things are you doing today? I'd love to hear what's on the horizon for you, what you're making happen, or a great thing you've got going on.

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Come find Life in Random Bits on Facebook and Pinterest for more fun! 

Linked up at A Star in My Own Universe, Mama to 5 Blessings, Feed Me Dearly, My Bizarre Family, The Jenny Evolution.

Early morning

Linked up at Gay NYC Dad, Mrs. Tee, A Star in My Own Universe, Carrie with Children, Fresh Mommy Blog, Dagmar's Home.
 

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Come find Life in Random Bits on Facebook and Pinterest for more fun!

Beautiful Ohio

Beautiful Lake Erie. I've always loved this spot by a park in Huron.

I passed this field outside of town so many times as a child. Always looking for the sheep.

Rolling fields of hay, corn, and beans dotted with trees and farms. Gorgeous Ohio.

 Winter wheat fields, green before everything else in the spring, swaying in the breeze.

“The fruition of the year had come and the night should have been fine with a moon in the sky and the crisp sharp promise of frost in the air, but it wasn't that way. It rained and little puddles of water shone under the street lamps on Main Street. In the woods in the darkness beyond the Fair Ground water dripped from the black trees.”                                           Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio

Linked up at Texifornia.

Do you know?

"Do you know how much I love you."

"How much, baby?"

"Very far and very close."

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was lovely this year. Our whole weekend was quite nice actually. We had art night Friday, following an afternoon of gelato. Saturday we did our regular shopping, but then we hit the West Austin Studio Tour and had a picnic lunch. Saturday night was Parents' Night Out so Phee had fun while Doug and I went to dinner with some friends. And Sunday was mostly lazy, though Doug had to work. Phee and I went to a play in the afternoon and then had a pizza and movie dinner. Quite lovely and relaxing all around. Plus, I got this sweet Love artwork and a cute little purse card.

I hope your Mother's Day was full of family, friends, and lots of extra hugs.

Linked up at A Star in My Own Universe, The Jenny Evolution, Such A Mama, Baby Baby Lemon, Mrs. Tee.

Create Something Beautiful

Today we are creating something beautiful. I have two collages I made featuring the same quote.

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else." Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Please excuse my crooked pictures. If I could hold a camera or phone still and straight, I'd be a great photographer!)

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Link up to see some more creative and artistic endeavors today.

Fairy Houses

Linked up at The Jenny Evolution, Dominique's Desk, A Star in My Own Universe, Mary Denman, A Mama's Corner of the World.

Old photos and worn cookbooks

I've been working on a project about my grandmother. So far, I've amassed a great deal of stories and pictures. It's been hard to get started on the actual writing and compiling because reading and re-reading is so much fun.

I grew up next door to my Grandma Helen. I was named after her. When I went away to college, she sent me notes and her family famous Valentine cookies. Every return home saw me running across the driveway to see her before I'd even think of unpacking the car.

Grandma Helen died at the end of my senior year of college. She didn't see me graduate from college. She met my husband, but didn't see our wedding. She never met Phee or shared stories of her six pregnancies.

I learned a lot and shared so many experiences growing up next to Grandma. I was the only kid I knew with family next door and, even then, I knew how special that was and how lucky I was. There's so much more I wish I'd been able to find out, though. As I grew up, got married, got pregnant, I know she would have had so many more stories of her younger years to share. With all I did have, it's hard to say that I missed out. But I did. And I do every day.

She is on my mind so often. When I'm in the kitchen especially. The kitchen is the center of so many homes, and none more so than Grandma Helen's. When you walked into her house, you walked right in to the heart of her home and our family. The side door led into the long kitchen, scene of weekly family dinners, all day baking marathons, and too many childhoods to count.

Phee isn't growing up in that kitchen. She hears stories, but even then, I can only remember so much at one time. Some things are just better for having been experienced. And so I'm working on this project. It's a considerable undertaking, compiling memories and stories from relatives. Already I have learned so much, seen many old photos for the first time, and cried over Grandma's handwriting in well-worn cookbooks.

A grand project full of so many facets of my Grandmother and her life. A trip down memory lane; memories old and new. More than anything this labor of love is a way to find my place in a family full of strong women, led for so long by our beloved Grandma Helen. 

April showers

Another month from the hand print calendar Phee make for us at Christmas.

Linked up at The Jenny Evolution, Enjoying this Life, Simple Sojourns, Nanahood, Mary Denman.

Silly girls

Phee and I had a really great night last Thursday when we went to the Starry Night event at Girlstart. We learned about moon phases and did some fun projects. 

We went to dinner beforehand. I asked her questions about her day, we talked about lots of things, then she turned to me and said, "How was your day mom?" Such a sweetie. 

We also were totally goofy. The first time we went to this event, we took a cute picture of the two of us and sent it to Doug. This time, Phee was in a really silly, funny mood so we laughed and made faces.

I love these nights and getting to learn with her, instead of just teaching and showing. I also love that she is totally into space and science and exploring. Her little mind is always going full speed and she comes up with some amazing ideas, and insightful connections. 

Children are fascinating. I feel so lucky to watch this sweet girl grow up.


Linked up at The Jenny Evolution, How to Survive Life in the Suburbs, My Organized Chaos, Feed Me Dearly, Curious as a Cathy, A Star in My Own Universe.

Bluebonnet Laughs

Phee wanted to take bluebonnet pictures at work this morning. She she ran over and plopped down on the hill of the little drainage ditch on the lawn at work. Weird spot- pretty flowers.

She was making goofy faces and so I started being silly and telling jokes to get a real smile out of her. I got that, but I also got more silly.

Not a bad start to the day at all.

Wildflower Morning

We spent a gorgeous morning at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center yesterday. There weren't as many plants and trees in bloom as I'd imagined there would be, but the grounds were still lovely and green. My mom's in town for the week and it was snowing again in Ohio when she left, so she was just happy to be able to see the ground and not have to wear a winter coat!

Phee had a lovely time running around exploring, following paths, and smelling tiny flowers. If you're in or around Austin, it's definitely worth the trip and should be absolutely gorgeous in two or three weeks!