hi again

photo of me, 

on a long road trip,

(yes, illegally out of my seatbelt to regulate on my munchkins in the backseat), 

taken by monrovia!

that girl is an artist in the making, i tell you.

i think i begin every blog post of the last few months with "wow, i haven't posted on here lately. i miss it. now i'm going to post a lot." and then? radio silence.

in a nutshell update, the last 6 or so months:

birthdays (me, little m, ruby, & matt, for instance)

m's hearing birthday party

graduation from preschool

45th anniversary/vow renewal for matt's parents

wedding (my cousin- so a trip for me back to philly)

swim classes

dance class

camping trips (two! one in a heat wave and tents, one was glamping in perfect weather)

some good meals, some not so great ones

a lot of mundane living sprinkled in with magical moments

some life ups and downs for both matt & i 

a week of vacation in tahoe

lots of eggs from our chickens

time in the studio

up to the last season watching friday night lights (savoring it over a long time...)

snuggles with my girls

too many pictures on my phone

has instagram killed my blog?

sometimes it sure feels like that. 

and yet this morning i was talking to my friend hannah about how we still both have tons of half-written posts that we just haven't published yet. 

is anyone still reading this?

if so, hi.

say hello so i know you are still out there.

today i drove the hour commute from our house to m's old school for summer camp. back when we first started, of course m was only months old and couldn't even hear us yet. today as we drove it was just the two of us, so that ruby could go to the carnival at preschool today.

we had an entire conversation about what we saw outside, the traffic, my bedroom growing up, the water sparkling in the bay, how m missed talking to ruby in the backseat, donut preferences, friends, drawing, and on and on.

it was this sacred space in the midst of life- 

this little snippet of time that we will both probably forget, but that is woven into both of us now.

there is an article popping up on facebook the last few months about how people outside of the insanity of having young children tend to glamorize it, telling harried parents to savor it because it passes so quickly, when really you are just slogging through, trying to survive. that's true, of course, but i also want to remember that these times when my daughter is sitting in the backseat talking to me is somehow a treasure that won't last forever. even though the realities of being a parent of young children is far from glamorous (i swear i want to start a tumblr or blog called "being a mom is sexy" with outtakes from my day wiping, cleaning, washing, etc etc), it is also a gift.

happy wednesday,

and say hello!