“a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.”
kiana: sleeps more than any other human i know. she is a teenager. but she’s been this way since she was an infant!
myla: collects russian matryoshka dolls and cool eyeglasses/sunglasses.
kj: practicing piano as fast as he can, so he can get back to riding his bike.
sela: likes to wear a red bow to match her backpack.
many things are happening around here. many good and exciting things.
there is the obvious, it’s finally feeling warm in new england!!! the sun shines past the clouds and rain about four days out of seven! wahoooo! the Red Sox have had the most exciting start to their season this year, and we hope the goodness continues. there have also been some unexpected changes in our life lately. because of all the snow days we had this winter, our kids will be in school till june twenty-SIXTH and shortly after that it looks like this family of six will be setting out on a new adventure. there’s been a change of plans, instead of staying here in boston and continue to indefinitely settle down, we are packing up and relocating out west again. we have heavily considered southern california {specifically laguna beach where my husband has family} and utah. as of today it looks like utah is pulling in the lead! the best word to describe this move: bittersweet. we will miss so many amazing people here in massachusetts, but we also know we are returning to what feels like home to us. yes, there are many good things to come…
i am planning to share more of these things with you as they draw closer and utah, we are excited to call you home. again. ahhh… i just said that out loud!
*picture: the organizing and packing is underway. we have just over seven weeks till we leave.
this sunday is mother’s day and in honor of mother’s this week, bridget from tales of me and the husband {a local Massachusetts blogger}, is sharing guest posts from some mothers she admires including a few words–wisdom or otherwise–and a picture of them and their brood (or, however many they could wrangle for a semi-decent picture!)
i was sweetly touched to be included and you can read what i had to say here. i recommend reading the entire “mother’s day” posts because i’ve found them to be inspiring and uplifting.
and, a very happy mother’s day to every beautiful soul who has ever loved a momma, held a child, had a dream, and hoped for happiness. xo.
{photos by me.}
“a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.”
kiana: rarely wears sweatshirts, but has picked up on the trend from the teen scene where we live.
myla: currently likes: archery in our backyard.
kj: enjoys doing his homework in husbands home office.
sela: always waiting to go somewhere, with someone… the baby of the family gets dragged everywhere.
i am on my way home from an epic girls trip. husband surprised me about two weeks ago – he shared the news that he’d been planning a trip to maui with six of my girlfriends. the main purpose of the trip was to give me some relaxation after one of my craziest years so far plus celebrate that i am almost-cancer-free. many of you possibly followed along via instagram, and you will see a few of those pictures again in this post. the pictures speak for themselves – we enjoyed everything that maui has to offer, adventure was our theme. my friend jenn has a home in maui and she was our tour guide, and host. we all agree, it could not have been a better week. the most gorgeous weather too! so hot and perfect.
what seeps out of these pictures is a deeply rooted friendship amongst seven women who cherish one another. all differences aside. bonds that are unbreakable. we have twenty-seven children between the seven of us, and we’ve survived years of challenges and happiness no matter the space that separates us. we’ve accumulated endless hours of laughter – we can be ridiculous in the best of ways.
during this trip, we had a theme song for this stage of our lives – brave by sara bareilles. i am going to continue this post with the words of the song…
You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do
And they settle ‘neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
Everybody’s been there, everybody’s been stared down
By the enemy
Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing
Bow down to the mighty
Don’t run, stop holding your tongue
Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
Innocence, your history of silence
Won’t do you any good
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don’t you tell them the truth?
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
***
crank up the song, here. collect good friends, and be brave. xo.
{photo credits: moi, becky kimball, and jenn granum.}
when i was a child, my mom and i lived with my grandparents in the rainy northwest. when i was about eight years old, my *grandpa was eighty-something and he had a notorious flower garden. i first learned about may day from this grandpa. each may first, he would slowly and carefully roll paper into cones, and take me out to pick flowers from his garden. then, we would go for a walk in our neighborhood and choose homes to leave the flowers at as a surprise. he would stand back, let me go to the door, leave the flowers, knock, and run…
one year, i was caught in the act and our local paper wrote an article about my grandpa and i keeping the may day tradition alive… and this week, almost thirty years later i am doing the same thing with my kids in honor of grandpa.
only, we are using glassware in place of paper cones because i like the idea that after the flowers die, there is a little treasure to keep.
have you ever prepared and delivered may day flowers? have you ever received may day flowers? i am so excited for sunshine, warm weather, and spring this year that there was no way we could skip this delightful may first tradition. i really enjoy making people happy, even more, i like to see them smile. surprising someone with flowers is sure to do both if only for a fleeting moment, right?
download the “hello sunshine” printable here and spread some flower love! xo.
*i shared another story about my grandpa here, and why i am fond of red poppy’s.
{photos and styling by me, Jane Rhodes. hello sunshine tags designed by lovely lindsay for seejaneblog}
“a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.”
kiana: has a closet full of incredible clothes, but still prefers to wear mine.
myla: extremely diligent with doing her homework.
kj: finished spring-cleaning his room this week. i had to stay in his room with him almost the entire time and remind him about every two minutes to stay focused. my easily distracted boy – there may have been some bribing involved too.
sela: stole brothers hat and the stripe obsession continues…
plan a food truck party!
build mini sandcastles!
time to barbecue!
homemade fun!
© 2013 jane rhodes.
