“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.
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.
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…
so…. regardless if my kids have a friend-birthday-party or a family birthday party, we always have a family birthday morning.
and, birthday mornings are a big deal at our house. from the minute our kiddos wake up, we celebrate…
peek behind the cake: see that blue blob? kj requested blue crepes and bacon for breakfast!
we called them smurf crepes.
sela woke up early and tip-toed in to our room. she whispered to me
mom, don’t feel bad. i’m not going to snuggle with you this morning because i’m going to wake up kj with birthday snuggles…
right then. my heart melted just a bit.
we spoiled our handsome ten year old with ten gifts.
the first eight were fun, small, practical things – and then the last two were the big surprises:
new baseball catcher’s gear and a new bike! he’s been begging for a bike with gears! look at the shock on his face, it was so fun!!!
today was good. so good i get all weepy when i look at these pictures. kj called the shots all day – we went to his sisters soccer game {and played catch while there}, had lunch at his restaurant of choice, played games with him throughout the afternoon, he went to the baseball park with husband in his new catcher’s gear for practice, at 8pm he requested ice cream at a local ice cream shop, so we obliged. and now he’s still on is computer playing games. it’s been all about him today.
i don’t have the words to describe how good my sons heart is. it may even drive his daddy a little crazy he’s so sensitive and sweet. but boy oh boy, it melts his momma’s heart. he kisses me, all the time. he tells me, you are so cute mom! you are looking fyne today mom! the sweetest words, all the time. he still leaves the dug-out in the middle of a baseball game to come over and kiss his little sister on the top of her head. he gets all choked up every time he talks to us about anything that affects him emotionally. he is a gentleman. he loves scouts. he loves sports. he likes all games, but especially chess. he’s an avid video-gamer. he will defend what he believes in. he’s ridiculously good with technology and fixes things around the house for me. he’s a very good friend. he adapts easily without complaint to almost every situation. the kid has been in three elementary schools and makes friends instantly. sorry for the ramble – my boy has a heart of gold. and i love every bit of it.
dude. in a nutshell, birthday mornings rock. and my son is ten.
{photos by me, Jane Rhodes}
“a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.”
kiana: enjoys cooking. she made two {low-carb} family dinners this week – chicken peanut-curry, and spicy chicken basil stir-fry! {they were both phenomenal!}
myla: takes Chinese at school and gives herself character-pen-tats
KJ: just a small patch of freckles on that nose.
sela: overheard me call kiana “bug” this week, and replied, “mom! you can’t call her bug, i’m your only bug… you can call her {paused… thinking… thinking.. thinking…} worm.”
plan a food truck party!
build mini sandcastles!
time to barbecue!
homemade fun!
© 2013 jane rhodes.
