Goodbye Spring

I love seasonal changes, especially now that I have a kid. Spring and Fall are probably my favorite seasons since they have the best weather here in the southeast but they always feel too short. This spring was no different. The weather was great....until it got too hot. This spring however, was not too short, I couldn't wait to see it go actually.

All spring I wanted to write a blog post about happy spring-y new life budding happiness. But you know what? This spring has been rough. Instead of symbols of rebirth and new growth we've had far far too many deaths and illnesses in our small bubble of family and friends. We've spent way too much time in hospitals in this spring, and consoling loved ones and crying our own tears. I just want to scoop up my loved ones and make their lives okay again.

It hasn't all been awful, there have been some beautiful little moments and it's hard not to smile at my silly boy(s). Focusing so much on the pain of others has made it easy to ignore the one budding life that has persisted through these rough months. I woke up yesterday morning and realized I could deny it no longer...

Qais will be a big brother in December :)

Attack Of The Pollen

yellow pine pollen has taken over our world lately. we've all been sneezing and rubbing our eyes and amazed at how much and how quickly it has taken over. EVERYthing is yellow. It looks foggy driving down my street and it looks like dust is kicking up behind you when you drive. Damn pollen.

Easter Eggs! Pt. 2

...and now for the pretty eggs.

I always forget how quickly egg dying goes and wish that I was dying 6 dozen eggs since there are just so many possibilities for colors and combos and designs. After they are dyed you get so many more ideas and want to do it over again!

There were so many amazing posts out there in the blogosphere this year about natural dyes or making your own dyes, but you know what? when it came down to it, I was in the grocery store thinking about the mountain of laundry and tasks that were waiting at home for me, staring down at the Paas easter egg dying kit that was half off and went with it. I had grandiose ideas about making my own beet and blueberry dyes.... oh well. Maybe next year.

Here's what we came up with


I think this one on the end is my favorite

Easter Eggs! Pt. 1

My easter egg blowing and dying supplies have been sitting on the kitchen table this week, and in true procrastinator style I didn't do them until the last days before Easter.

First, here's a little guide to our egg blowing process. I have this great tool that we got when I was a kid for blowing easter eggs. It made it so easy to blow the eggs!

first you drill a little hole in the bottom

and then you insert the blower tool

pumping air into the egg makes the guts squish out

once they are all out you add water to the egg, swish it around and empty it to clean it out.

and now we have our eggs ready for dying... and unlike hard boiled eggs, we can keep these as long as we want. Maybe until next year...

A Weekend At Home

is a beautiful thing!

We had a visitor for the weekend, my two and a half year old niece. She certainly gave little Q a run for his money and vice versa

It was such a treat to have little hands in the garden as we started working on the driveway full of compost that came on Friday. We worked on carving out little spaces for summer barbecues and toddler safe summer fun. In the process we made big messes, small discoveries, leaf soup and mud pies. We watered plants, watered each other, broke out the bike trailer and the wheelbarrow and shovel.

Spring Garden

Spring is soooooo here and it feels good! Here's a look at everything popping up in our garden right now. I took these pictures first thing in the morning, just after the sun came up and the dew was still on everything, by the end of the day everything was already different. It changes so quickly just as new life often does.

Welcome Spring!

I cannot describe just how grateful I am to see the beginning of Spring. It has been a tumultuous winter - losing my Grandpa, moving, and lots of illness and travel in our family as well. Just typing that I want to take a sigh of relief.

There is just something about warm days, budding leaves and sweet daffodils poking through the ground that makes my heart so so happy. I don't remember much of this time last year. Well I do but my world was very very small and sacred and I don't remember doing anything besides looking into my newborns eyes and nursing and changing endless diapers. This year though, I am ready to celebrate spring!

I love all of the symbolism that spring has, new growth/fertility (inshallah!), rebirth and optimism. I'm trying to bring some of those symbols into my house along with the fresh air and sunshine so here's a peak at a few things around our house right now.

Flowers on the kitchen table

wet felted easter eggs (I'll show more of these later)

garden planning (more on this later as well)

and I gave our nature table a springtime makeover

Playsilks made by momma

sweet little bunnies by mamaroots

art by Ruth Elsasser

chick by zooloonaturals

momma and baby fairy by Rjabinnik