THESE DAYS

These past few Mondays have been particularly harsh.

It's cold.

If you know me, you know that this statement alone carries the depths of despair for me.

The cold, and the very hectic work days, and my baby-weaning body is making me feel pretty fragile. I wake up on Monday morning, and it's a tiger swipe to my face. Everything feels raw. There are least 15 things that need to get done before I even head out the door and even the smallest things feel hard.

This past Monday was like that. On the way to work, I listened to a song about relinquishing control and I teared up. Then I listened to a song with a great drum beat, and I don't even know what the words were, but the bass reverberated through my body and gave me a massage. Throughout the day, I had a couple of interactions that made me feel hopeful. I had a couple of conversations that totally bummed me out. And then we were done, my girls tumbled into my arms, I tumbled into Ken's arms, and Monday was over.

Last weekend, I was alone with the girls and although we missed Ken very much, there is a peace that comes from relaxed expectations. I know that not as much will get done without him around and that things might take a little longer, so we take things slow and there is an ease and comfort to that.

My favorite moments during that weekend were the mornings when we took our time getting ready and out the door, and the hours we got to spend outdoors.  The girls are content to play together in their pajamas, they are content with the simple experience of the wind on their face and the freedom to run around and the discovery of a special acorn or leaf. I am content with the slower pace.

In the spirit of sharing the small days, I'm putting a batch of photos up here starting with these photos from almost a month ago.  On the left is from when we went to go see the Richmond symphony and experienced the instrument petting-zoo beforehand. Sloane got to try all the instruments and this is the one photo I got of her, while she was trying the cello. On the right is her first watercolor that she did on her own (with her new haircut!) that I love so much. I framed it this past weekend and it's hanging on our dining room wall now.

I probably have a hundred photos now in my phone of these munchkins bundled up wandering around the yard.  Logan is usually carrying a stuffed animal.

This is officially both Ken and my favorite cocktail these days: the Danville Rattlesnake (lemon, mezal, bourbon, simple syrup).  It was our favorite drink at our favorite restaurant here, and then our friend figured out how to make it and showed us how and we never looked back. We went on sort of a bender the first week, exclaiming to each other how much money we were saving by making these at home, until we realized we were overdoing it and probably not saving any money at all.  We've toned it down to return it to its once-in-a-while special cocktail status, and really, it tastes better that way anyways.

During the first few days of fall (when it wasn't so cold), we spent a lot of time outdoors in our hats...

...and we made a lot of fires.  Sloane got really good at gathering the perfect sticks for fire stroking and marshmallow roasting. Here she is showing Logan the art of the perfect stick.

One weekend morning Sloane asked to put put into Logan's crib, and they lay here like this, trying to make each other laugh, and giggling together.

We put Logan in the Robin costume (remember Sloane in it?!?!!) and she stayed in it all day.

This past weekend, some friends came over for party preparations and all the kids brought their bikes so that they could ride around. It was pretty epic to see all these kids (all of whom I held as newborns!!) zoom around on their bikes.

That's 10 sets of wheels there ! including logan in the little car.

They are incredible. 

This situation works out pretty well: Logan loves being chased and Sloane loves chasing. 

Have a good weekend, all! Slow or fast, may you find peace in the small moments.