Day 2

Yesterday started with a hike to the waterfalls. Reminded me of PA but a bit more tropical. The smell was incredible.

At times I need to remind myself to just look up.

 

Day 2 of the cleanse. No solid food. Lots of wheatgrass :) Learned lots about food. Food and disease. Essential oils. Posture and alignment. Very peaceful place to learn. 

Arrive

After 55 hours we finally arrived. This is Savusavu Bay where we will be spending the next 11 days. 

These are special for you dad. I'm not sure if you can see, but they take a coconut shell and attach it to the tree stumps and harvest these amazing orchids. They are everywhere.

Glad to finally be here. Happy that the travel is over for awhile. Now the real journey begins. This place is not fancy by any means but extremely beautiful. We started our cleanse today. Raw lunch. Dinner was an avocado, almond & ginger smoothie followed by Udo's oil and wheat grass shots. Dessert was a carrot celery juice followed by another shot of Udo's oil. Tomorrow we meet at 7am to hike to the waterfalls. Right now I am gazing longingly at the bed. And dying to take off these clothes that I've been wearing for 30+ hours. 

Los Angeles

Farmers Market in Los Angeles.  If one must be stuck in California for the day, a stroll through this beautiful market and then a walk on the beach was a perfect way to spend the day. When you are traveling to the other side of the world, I figure one must be patient, go with the flow and make the best of all mishaps and delays. Trip will take us 55 hours total but hey, I got to take a picture of those amazing carrots right? 

Diary of a Saturday

   
          View of autumn from our new deck.

          Duncan playing alone (which he does so well).  He actually made fake blood with those berries and
          came inside pretending to have cut himself.

          Off to my parents to watch the boys build a new fence for the orchard.

          My favorite brother.

          Seany hard at work.

          Break time.

           Us.

          Tia had a porcupine quill in her tongue that we tried repeatedly to remove.  Suffice to say, she was not
          crazy about our attempts.  In the end we all held her down and Natalie pulled out the quill.    

          Butchie digging the holes for the fence posts.

          Pears in the orchard.  Now safe from deer.

          My father lovingt his new fence.

   
          Duncan in motion.  Love this.

          Cooper and Duncan at my mom's kitchen counter.  It's blury. I don't mind.  This is a famous spot in
          my mother's kitchen.  I have sat there hundreds of times...nice to now see my children sit there.

     

          My mother's hands.  Strawberries and apples from the garden.

          After a long day, curled up in front of the bonfire.

          Light.

          Butchie and Mathew hosing down the fire.

Annual Trip

Every year we take a trip to Pittsburgh.  My father has family in Pittsburgh and went to Pitt Dental School. He also happens to be a  HUGE Pittsburgh sports fan.  And so it's no surprise that the boys and I have have become rather fond of the Three River teams as well.  First and foremost would undoubtedly be the Pirates. We have always loved the Pirates (even when they sucked), so the past two years have been rather exciting for us.  And as you can see, has made my dad pretty happy!

Mom and dad at the game.

 Love love love PNC Park.

This year we splurged and stayed right across the bridge (walking distance) from the game at The iconic Renaissance Hotel.  It was SO nice to leave the game and not have to fight traffic!

Die hard fans.

Every year we head down to the Strip District and hit Penzeys and stock up on our spices for the year.  This year we hit one of the Pittsburgh memorabilia shops so that Coop could get his Just Cutch It shirt and Mom got her Abso Buck'n Lutely shirt.  I'm really wishing I had got the Bucktober shirt... And it seems to have become a new tradition (2nd year) to stop and get Bloody Mary's for brunch!!   

Repeat

Yesterday was so much fun...he decided he wanted to do the exact same thing again today.  No arguments here :)  Love you Duncan ~ Mom

Special Day with Mom

Today was Cooper's first day at his new school and since Duncan doesn't start until next week, that meant special time for Dunc to hang with Mom.  He got to choose what he wanted to do (my only stipulation was that it had to be something outdoors since it was such a beautiful day).  He chose going downtown, stopping at my office, going to the bookstore and then the Brickyard for lunch...

We both love wandering around our local bookstore.  And I LOVE when I turn a corner and find this...

Duncan: book on Minecraft

Mom: Williams-Sonoma cookbook

    Wonderful afternoon.

   Next we learned what the line is like at pick up time.
   Make note: must arrive 15 minutes early.

Perfectly Lovely

My it's been awhile hasn't it?  I see the blog needs some work.  Things are a bit different here at blogger.com.  I've taken the weekend to reacquaint myself.  I need to fix the header, I need to fix spacing, I need to update the links and information on the side.  I'll get to all that.  Maybe.  But for now I need to say hello.  I'm still here - WE are still here.  Growing up, learning, experiencing, laughing, crying, playing and living.

So much going on, so much has happened and so much to come. Cooper starts 5th grade today. PUBLIC school for the first time.  25 kids in his class vs. in the entire school (slight exaggeration but not by much). Duncan starts 4th grade but not until after Labor Day.  We head to Pittsburgh this weekend for our annual trip and Pirates game.

My plan is to get to know my blog again.  If for no one else but my boys.  This was the place that I documented their lives.  Our lives.  I want them to know (through my words and my photographs) how we lived.  They will have their own memories, but I want them to also have mine.  I want them to know what we ate for dinner, what we talked about, what we struggled with and what made us laugh so hard we fell off our chairs.

So that is my goal.  My goal for tomorrow and next week.  Maybe even my goal for later today.

My goal right this very second is to go snuggle Duncan (who just got dropped off) and kiss him way too many times.  That, I believe is a perfectly lovely way to start a day...

Food

Sometimes I want a personal chef.

Sometimes I just want more hours in the day to cook myself.

I want kids that have adult pallets who will eat things like Watercress, Pistachio and Orange Blossom Salad.

But I'm glad that I have kids that eat broccolini, zucchini, green beans and asparagus.

I now understand how my mother could sit down and "read a cookbook".

I love that the cookbooks of today have amazing photographs vs. the cookbooks my mom read.

Swiss Chard has got to be one of the most beautiful and yummy foods.

Swiss Chard is one of those adult foods my kids do not have a taste for as of yet.

Swiss Chard is easily disguisable in lasagna, soups and even hamburgers.

Did my mother do this?  Disguise food?

I never imagined owing vegan cookbooks.

But I'm glad I do.

If you ever EVER get a chance to go to a True Food Restaurant I highly recommend it.



Mycology

So in my spare time I was thinking I should take up Mycology.  My landscaping seems to be overrun with these this year.  And not just these pretty beauties, but tens of other varieties.  I'm thinking about mushroom pizza, a nice mushroom quiche, maybe omelets or sauteed with wine and butter?  They could go on a pizza with caramelized onions.  Ok, I'll stop.  I have about as much time for Mycology as I do for caramelized onions.   

iWorld

iPhone

iPad

 

Playing each other via wifi.

  Remember when atari was cool?

Who's fault?

After my last post I tried repeatedly to post again.  And again.  I swear.  However it would not upload my pictures.  ...yes, IT would not upload my pictures.  I don't know who.  Blogger?  My computer?  Me? (always a possibility). 

I took a chance again tonight and whalaa!  "It" seems to be working again.  When I logged in to the Blogger site there where banners galore saying it was "new and improved".  So for the record, I'm thinking "it" was totally Blogger and certainly not ME! 

PS.  I didn't think they could get cuter than they were at ages 3 and 4.  But 7 and 8 are actually pretty darn cute too!

Today

How do I start again?  What do I say?  What's my excuse? How can I possibly catch up?  

These are just a few of the many questions that run through my head when I contemplate a post.  I know the answers.  I'm okay with the answers.  Or so I tell myself. 

How do I start again?  Just do it.

What do I say?  What ever I want.

What's my excuse?  I don't need one.

How can I possibly catch up?  Who says I have to?

Just start.  Just write.  Just add a photograph.  Talk about today.  Or talk about 3 months ago.  Just do it.  Let go of should, could, would. 

So I start again.  With no promise of tomorrow or next week.  But a need for today. 

Cooper:

Has a face so beautiful it makes me melt

Came up behind me last week when I was washing dishes and randomly hugged me

Sent me a text and told me he loved me

Has consistently been getting 100's on his spelling tests

Has started baseball practice and STILL loves the game after all these years

Is listening better than he used to

Loves his iPod, the iPad and my iPhone

Has started spiking his own hair

Loves everything Under Armor

Still likes to sit on my lap, sit near me, sleep next to me, snuggle and know that I'm close by

Has almost no separation anxiety anymore

Has matured and become so grown up in the last year

Likes a tubby better than a shower

Is a morning person like me. Wakes up happy and never cranky

Is helpful

Loves tomato and fresh mozzarella salad

Is an absolute joy to have as a son

 

Duncan

Has a precious toothless smile at the moment

Slurs his speech a little because of his new expander

Balances on the edge of counters, chairs, stools, the tub and tables instead of sitting in chairs

Loves Top 40 music

Loves acting and performing

Is doing much better with his reading

Sleeps sideways, upside down, on top of me and on top of his brother

Has been know to fall out of bed

Is not a morning kid

Is the first to fall asleep (with me following close behind)

Loves all things creative

Loves art, crafts and decorating for the holidays

Loves legos, erector sets and anything he can build

Loves playing alone

Loves yogurt parfaits

Still wants me to carry him

Makes me cards, bookmarks, books, games and pictures

Is an absolute joy to have as a son

Today

I am pretty darn happy

I'm thrilled Spring is here

I'm looking forward to exciting new growth and ideas at work

I am totally loving my new tea pot

I'm really enjoying the story of HeLa cells

It makes me want to read The Warmth of Other Suns

But this and this look so good too...

I'm awaiting the arrival of my juicer in the mail so I can start my week long juice fast

I'm looking forward to taking the boys camping in a yurt with some friends in a couple weeks

I'm looking forward to a trip to Orlando and a trip to Dallas in April

I'm looking forward to picking the boys up tomorrow and kissing their sweet faces

I'm glad my mom and dad are home from the islands

My house is clean, my bed is made but I have a suitcase that still sits unpacked

DKL

1.) Wore his shirt backwards this day because he wanted the print on the back to be on the front.
2.) Is totally digging sunglasses this summer...he just bought his third pair.
3.) Can entertain himself for hours and hours and doesn't need toys to do it.
4.) Is extremely creative.
5.) Always writes an apology when he gets in trouble.
6.) Would rather be outside than in (even in winter).
7.) Loves to snuggle, be held, be carried, suck his thumb and play with my hair.
8.) Falls asleep pretty much anywhere...in the car, on a chair, on the floor...when he gets tired he just puts his head down and he's fast asleep:) (sound familiar?)
9.) Doesn't like cheese.  But loves asparagus, mangos, Ezekiel muffins and bacon.
10.) Loves green, blue and silver.
11.) Prefers sleeping with me over his own bed.
12.) Loves to sing and dance and act.
13.) Has a momma who is breathtakingly in love with him.  She loves his face, his smell, his touch, his thoughts, his moves, his life.