my favorite part of the day

it was a wonderful day, from start to finish, really. i was up before the sun with sienna and olivia, feeding the one, and watching the other watch her favorite noggin cartoon 'little bill'. after a little coffee and the news, the whole family spent the morning and a good part of the afternoon outside pulling up weeds, cleaning out plant beds, preping the garden, cleaning the hot tub, listening to music and enjoying the sun.

sienna spent the whole day in her 'big girl' underwear : ) so all of this weeding was accompanied by the 'do you need to go' question every 15 minutes and the 'lets just try' trip up the stairs every 30. by naptime at 2:30, we were without accident and also without as much as a drip into the toilet (she was holding it, the poor girl).

when i came back from my run around 4:30, i was intercepted at the back door by this little muffin grinning ear to ear. i knew. before i could open the slider she rang out 'i peeped in the potty mom!' so great that after all the hype and encouragement and coaxing, it all worked out for her. she was clearly proud of herself.

but not more than me.

after the singing and dancing celebration, it was a quick shower for me in order to enjoy the last waning moments of sunshine painting in the grass with this little love.

sure, all of it - the fresh air, our team keigwin effort in the yard, the lovely run, and the exciting realization that our little girl is going to get out of those diapers afterall, made for a beautifully simple, and happy day.

but trading brush strokes with sienna during this brief magic hour was just, well, magic.

5.8

miles in 55 minutes. that was today's run. if you can call it that. it was more like a trot. but i wasn't trying to break any land speed records. just get off of my street, out of my head, and into that amazing sunshine. done, done, and done. : )

keigwinlove

feeling the love on this valentine's day.



it started last night, when adam helped an over excited sienna fill out valentines for her class. it brought me right back. i remember how big a deal valentines day was in elementary school. figuring out who you would give your cards to and from whom you'd receive them. all so funny looking back on it now. these little Dora valentines were so cute (thanks for the tip Gran!). i'm sure she'll have a great time handing them out to all of her friends.



after settling olivia down, i finally came to bed to find these beautiful tulips, card and present (coolwater perfume) waiting for me. it was a perfect ending to the day, and a lovely greeting this morning.



for adam, i wanted to give him something special from his girls that he could wear and think of them. a charm necklace or bracelet were out of the question, so i found these really cool cuff links and had them engraved with their initials. and, since the man didn't own a french cuff shirt (which i absolute love) i got him one of those too : )

it was such a nice morning as we sat in our pajamas and all opened our cards and gifts to each other. adam did the shopping for the girls. sienna got cinderella chocolate, a koosh ball (remember those?) and a toolbox that looks just like her dad's : ) olivia got two new pacifiers (i swear she eats them) and a little toy bug that you pull and it buzzes : )

i'm looking forward to tonight too! we're going out to dinner with some of my favorite people. javier and his girlfriend rachael are stopping in on their way from LA to tahoe.

happy valentines day!
xoxo

joy in small packages

maybe it's because i got 5 hours sleep last night...but for some reason i've felt particularly alive and happy this morning. i've stumbled upon so many little moments of joy.

here are a few i'll share:

clean mirrors



the first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem. i do. the fact that i had to take pictures of these clean mirrors should give you a clue as to the extent of my neurosis. they were so disgustingly filthy before, and i clean them so infrequently, i felt the need to capture this moment for posterity.

you see, i don't like to clean. well, actually, that's not true. (the second step in recovery is always telling the truth, even if you're halfway through the lie already) i actually enjoy cleaning on those sun filled mornings, when there's no one in the house (or no one is awake) and i can play my music, sing at the top of my lungs and chase the dirt all around the house. such a feeling of accomplishment! but those perfect, quiet, sunfilled mornings don't come around very often anymore.

until today...

i scrubbed and sang my way around the house, and it filled me with joy. really.

my sunspot calling me



i came down stairs to find the clearest blue sky outside the kitchen window (its been rainy and gray for what seems like a week), and this chaise blanketed in sunshine. calling. my. name.


grand central freeze



i came across this funny little video today on a blog i've started to read called Superhero Designs(http://superherodesigns.com/). the post included a link to this improv group in NY called Improv Everywhere. I love their motto: "we cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places" : )

watching this video made me smile and reminded me how fun life can be when we stop sleepwalking through our daily routines and take ourselves a little less seriously. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo

see more "missions" at http://improveverywhere.com/

and of course...the peanut



















if olivia were a drug, i'd be addicted to this girl. i mean hooked. bad. no matter how much she screams, how much she keeps me awake, i keep coming back to those eyes and, it's over.