as an adult i have pretty much lost my ability to swing without feeling sick, but these kids just can't get enough. the higher the better--they rate parks on how high the swings fly and how dangerous the slides are--little daredevils! happy weekend!
 
well i suppose i dropped the ball on posting tucker's 10 month photo in a timely manner. the good news is he's pretty forgiving. eleven months and this photo project is drawing to an end. it's for the best--keeping this crawler in the chair today to snap a few photos was nearly impossible. he's climbing up and down anything in his path, and our lovely blue chair was no exception. 

hard to believe that in less than a month this little guy will have a birthday. even harder to believe that last year he was still a (big) bump in the belly. now he's babbling and signing and eating steak and potatoes. really. 

will he be walking? only time will tell, but i'd be very surprised if he takes his first steps before the big day. of course, lucy and hudson both did, so if he's anything like big brother and sister, i'm in trouble... 
 
biking in to the playground at point pinole park. happy weekend!
 
these days are busy. not so much rush-rush-rush, though of course getting three kids out the door theres always a fair bit of that. these days are just... full. 
we're making the most of this spring. farmer's market thursdays, followed by a trip to the pool, and then a trip to the creek that runs behind the pool, are a favorite. it's funny, little places you never know exist, until you find them. this place is a hidden gem--shallow water, shade trees. little waterfalls and pathways. 
our garden will be small this year. with everything going on with our house renovations and moving, i'm okay with that. we've got strawberries, we've got tomatoes. we've got tiny garden beds and new, good dirt. we've got lavender and basil and tons of mint growing near the house. now i just have to remember to keep watering. 
lucy turned five last week. five. if anyone that still reads here remembers the start of this blog, you're probably just as shocked as i. after all, it was her little cloth diapered bottom that appeared first, so many posts ago. 

her birthday was a wonderful celebration full of good friends new and old, plus lots of loving family. that girl is loved. the kids were entertained with messy art projects--think spraybottles  full of watercolor on old sheets, mix-your-own paint, baking soda and vinegar. the mess was large and totally worth it. 
all the little guests in attendance got to take home a handmade ribbon wand. fabric scraps and sticks, so very easy. so easy i kept putting it off, and ended up doing them at ten o'clock the night before. jeremy helped. it's not often we craft together. the things daddies do for their daughters. 

perhaps one of the best gifts given to lucy was also a gift to me--the completion of the sandbox at our new property. a converted pickup bed, a load of sand, a smattering of sand toys. i have happy kids these days. 
party-goers also got a handmade smock to take home. i might have been crazy to make these, but truth be told it was fun to be sewing again. i had five on hand from earlier days, and only had to make ten more. the thrift store linen section was an excellent resource for cute, cheap fabric. my only regret is not snapping a picture when all of the smocks were hung up together. the clothesline was full, and they were adorable. 
somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 feet of scrap fabric bunting. a simple, though somewhat monotonous project. i'll add to it over the years. expect it at every celebration to come. ;)
did i mention that lucy is five?
my baby is in that nearing his first birthday. soon he'll be edging out of babyhood and into toddlerhood. i'm clinging to the scraps over here. crawling, teething, slobbery kisses, baby toes--i'm not ready to say goodbye to you yet. 
the older two keep themselves pretty busy. it's creativity working at high speed, nearly 100 percent of the time. this is often a messy process. just yesterday they got busy painting both glass doors leading out to the backyard, with blue paint, as high as they could reach. part of me was going crazy because of the mess. the other part protested that they were foot-deep (literally) in creativity, and to let them be. 

it worked for a little while. 
if you follow me on instagram, you already know that hudson is pedal-biking. we got him a teeny tiny bike (to fit his teeny tiny self), from a wonderful bike thrift store in san rafael. he popped right on it and took off. my only concern now is figuring out how to keep this 3.5 year old somewhat in sight. we actively seek parks that have circular paths!
this kid is incredible. 
so is this one. 
this one, too. 

thanks for checking in.