Jonquils and Narsisses

or Daffodils and PaperWhites...



The next ones were taken with my fisheye lens... *love* the distortion.



At this time every year, my mother's yard becomes laced with these little lovelies... Very William.Blake.ish... Hundreds, if not thousands stud the grounds around the house I grew up in.

They top my list of favorite flowers... and their smell is second to none.

The narcisses didn't make the cut. They are on my windowsill and I need to get a few pictures of them... but take my word for it. They are beautiful. :)

***I took all of these with my LensBaby... just playing around... trying to find my sweet.spot.

Off to finish the laundry. I think we will be spending our weekend day.tripping... and trying our best to usher in SpringTime.

Peace, love, and yellow.
xo
lmkw

*yawn*

Oh, sweet blog!

Where have I been? My goodness... The past week.and.a.half has been a blur! And I'm not complaining, since Blur is my new thing. But I have been busy.

Houston was super.fun and restful.
TheHotness courted me for 4 straight days.
I'd put him up to any guy out there...
theDuckling got this random fever virus.
He's fine.
He slept in my arms which made me feel guilty
bc I like it so much.
I bought some delish new bedding and things for the room.renny.
I ate chipotle twice in four days.
Carnitas.soft.tacos.
mmmMMmm
I didn't buy new shoes like I needed,
but I did buy a new pair of jeans that I didn't need.
We accumulated a lot of dirty laundry.
I had to request 4 'dirty laundry' bags from the concierge.
I walked into a West Elm for the first time ever.
There was singing, and a nice lady named Nicole.
I walked out with a bag on my arm that I could barely carry.
theHotness was on the other arm.
I secretly made a mental tally.stroke on how generous he is.
I decided that counting the tally.marks weren't important... bc they pointed to: Very.
My mind wandered off about the issues of Cloning while we walked to the car
then he interupted my thought process.
What would you like for dinner?
A Sangria.
You mean Italian?
Yes, please.

Then...

We drove home and James Neal talked/sang/asked questions the entire 5 hours.
The entire.five.hours. (repetition creates emphasis) :)
By the time we reached the Mississippi River Bridge we reverted to old strategies.
Vintage ones our parents use to say that we swore we never would.
IF YOU DON'T HUSH YOUR MOUTH RIGHT NOW I'M GOING TO PULL THIS CAR OVER!
To our surprise, it worked.
And he doesn't seem scarred by it yet.;)
We had exactly 17 minutes chatter.free to ride in peace.
I started the laundry.
I had a bebe... well, I was given a bebe. A Lens Baby.
Oh my.
It was love at first shutter.drop.
I rolled around in all the Blur.

Tivoed episodes of Lost were on as I downloaded my first set of images.
I thought:
He notices everything, doesn't he?
He should get a chocolate pie.
Noted.
theDuckling went to the doctor.
My mother.super.slooth.instincts were right: ear.infection.
I secretly made another mental tally.stroke... two down, one more to go... for Tubes.
Yes, I said it.
My mom had a birthday.
We threw her a party.
Or more appropriately: a Party.
It wasn't practical at all, and it certainly didn't help the laundry issue, or the sick bebe thing: I let James do most of the work.
I watched, facilitated, and kept myself from jumping in when he dipped 60 strawberries in chocolate, made custom place mats, frosted cupcakes, and clumsily handle the beautifully fragile raspberries.
My mom enjoyed it.
And raved over this and that.
But then again, she's my momma.
She's suppose to.
You know?




I discovered the easiest, most delicious homemade chocolate icing recipe.
Thanks, Ree Drummond.
The laundry is still undone, but on it's way...
I still can't believe I have my very own Lens Baby...
and a rad.fish.eye.optic.

And it doesn't wake me up at night,
nor does it require for me to wear a nursing bra.
Oh, and I'm an adult Lady now.
I've started using nice face wash.
Like.
For the face.
and not bar soap.
The sales guy had the prettiest skin and tiniest.are.you.kidding.me pores.
Not to mention incredibly tweased brows.
Picture.perfect arch.
Sold.
Ring it up.
It's about time I take care of this face.
Not like I'm getting any younger...

:)

I have client edits to do here this week... and a big weekend ahead.

So, that's its!

Peace, love, and modal fabric.
xo
lmkw

The lovelies

We made it to Texas! Now, time to relax... :)

The boys have started off their Valentine week off with a bang! This morning, I was greeted with the sweetest little necklace from one of my favorite sterling artisons. Months ago I showed theHotness a picture of a precious little faux.Boise tree stump pendant with a little heart carved with custom initials... Truly adorable. Somehow he remembered and had the artist make me one with our initials. I was honestly shocked when he woke me up with it! Such a lover, that one. :)






The boys followed suit abundantly... A new bottle of perfume and my new absolute obsession- my very own LensBaby... *be still my heart*. Oh! It's a Lucious new lens that pretty much rocks my world. I can't wait to master the art of blur...

James feels just as indulged! He has his very own box of chocolate to eat as he wishes... And that's a HUGE treat for him.

I love these quick little cell phone pics.












So we had a nice trip over- and now we are snuggled in to our little home.away.from.home.

Happy Valentines, dears. Love is everywhere...






Peace, LOVE, and paper.whites,
Xo
Lmkw

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sneaux Day {picture post}

We woke up to a little treat this morning...


















It's crazy that way down here in South Louisiana we could ever have snow... much less in February- but it thrills us to death when we do have it!

Life is in the details, friends. Take time to notice... :)

Peace, love, and robins.
xo
lmkw

Love Notes...

Love notes are particularly nice when written in crayon...

... by four year olds who have something to say.

James is particularly fond of holidays. Birthdays, too, for that matter. He gets excited about all the festivities that surround special days. Weeks before, months even- he starts asking about this holiday or that... What will we eat? What will we wear? What will we do? Who will be with us? And it's important to note that he wants specific answers to these questions. Not the vague variety that easily come when I'm unloading the dishwasher with one hand and trying to keep Jax from grabbing the knives from the cutlery basket with the other. He wants hard and fast answers.

I've never made Valentines fireside, while preparing for a sneaux.day before... but it couldn't have been any more fun. You'd think it was still Christmas...

After Jax went down for his nap, we broke out the art supplies... First up, who do we need to make valentines for? I let him populate his own list... I'm always surprised by who does and doesn't make the cut. :)

Then one by one, James made thoughtful little notes for each VIP in his life.

You know, I just typed two paragraphs about how I am very particular about crafts, baking- etc... I've always been deeeeply wounded by a perfectionist gene that honest to goodness runs in my DNA. But reading it back to myself... well, it was just annoying. So here is the short of it: I don't do a lot of things right when it comes to parenting. Honestly. Sometimes I just screw it up. BUT sometimes I nail it--- and when James gets his craft on, well... I nail it. And seeing how I screw up on a daily basis, it's nice to note the occasions when I get it right. :)

Maybe it's the teacher in me- but when I want James to do something creative, I let HIM do it. I provide the stuff and the support- but all in all, it's his rodeo. I don't decorate his gingerbread house for him- even though I rock at it. I don't tell him what to draw- even though I have a killer idea for it. I don't overshadow his fun. Period. When I was teaching, there was nothing that got me steamed more than a kid bringing a project from home that his PARENT did for him... I mean, really? I'm sooo not that parent. I'm not worried about messes. In fact, I prepare for them... and welcome them. This is a learning experience dadgummit! So back.away.from.the.kid.and.let.them.work! ;)

Anywho, I know he is mine... and that makes me completely bias- but Geeze.Louise I love what he comes up with. And as it turns out, his ideas and ultimate finished product ALWAYS trump mine every time! :)

I mean, who would have thought that this adorable Caterpillar would be the perfect way to say, "I love you." ??? I secretly hope he makes one for me...

And no, "Valentine's" isn't spelled correctly (if you look closely, he added an extra 'n')- but I was blown over that he phonetically spelled the whole thing out! I screamed out loud and almost woke the bebe. And it sent James giggling. I love it when his little eyes turn down into little half.moons when he smiles.

. No matter what my day brings, or how tending home.and.hearth seems to be a never.ending.process- I'm so grateful to have days where we just play, paint, and create. We may not get out of our night.nights that day- but it's okay, because in that moment, we are living it!

Now, I must go mobilize the elves- because after he goes to sleep tonight, I will start plan on baking the most beautiful little treats for my boys. I can't let this holiday slip by without surprising them with a little *momma*magic* that I've got up my own sleeve. :)

Peace, love, and crooked.letters,
xo
lmkw

Valentines is for Lovers

Oh and it can't come soon enough!

I love Valentines day... I love how it's one holiday that I can generally sit back and relax. Most of the Valentining is done for me. :)

I suppose it's extra.special in my little nest- since I have three boys who know exactly how to make their special.girl feel... well, special.

This year, we are getting the heck.out.of.dodge. TheHotness will be working in Houston for the week, so we get to tag along and live.it.up while he is earnin' a livin'. For my readers who follow me, you know we LOVE when Daddy has a good business trip! And when you are a stay.at.home.momma, well, it's like a built in vacation.

So this year we will be traveling on Vday itself- which is perfect, if you ask me. We can have 5 hours of chit.chatting and hand.holding. We will check into our cozy home.away.from.home and prolly order take out that night... and a movie after the boys go down. Because we will spend the day mostly in transit- and we are away from the daily.grind, we plan on Valentining all week long. The inlaws will take the kids and we will spend time in our favorite city eating our favorite foods with our favorite friends. :)

And there is a bit of a mission at hand: I'm ready to put the finishing touches on our bedroom remodel--- so that means I have a list of things to pick up from here

here

and here.

I also have a little mustard.seed.photography lovin that will be happening... SO excited about that! This one is a mommy.et.bebe shoot. My most favorite subjects to shoot are mommas and their bebies... It's so inspiring to be around that kind of Love.

And all my in.between.time will be spent with my Moon and her boys.




No laundry. No dirty dishes. No house.work.at.all!

Black out curtains. Beds made and turned down. Dinners out.

Date.nights. Shopping. Alone time. Lots of spoiling.

I'm super ready! Bring.it.Valentines.Day!

Peace, love, and KSBJ,
xo
lmkw

What a weekend!

I went into this weekend like any other. Looking forward to having theHotness home to play house with us... me wrapping up another session at Trinity... and a photoshoot. Nothing in particular planned by me... just ready to roll with it.

But I wasn't expecting all the extra.fun we had.

So Friday night, my favorite collection of husbands (mine and my friend's) treated us to a double.date.night at Ninfa's. We had the best dinner and dinner conversation then made our way downtown for the Krewe Of Artemis mardi gras parade. This was prolly the first Mardi Gras parade that James could remember. We had the best time. We drove right up and parked, walked up two blocks and caught the parade... no crowds. No crazies. Just fun. We caught plenty of beads then headed back to the car to catch it a second time. The theme was children's literature. Yes, you read that right. So, I was extra.happy. I reeeeally wanted to see a David Shannon float or something... Who doesn't like a little 'No, David!' ??? And James wanted to see a Jane Yoland 'Dinasaur' series float... BUT we were happy with the Three Little Pigs, Peter Pan, etc.

On the way home, James called his PawPaw and told him all about the 'big trucks wiff lights on dem. They frow things at me like BEADS and TAMBOURINES and sumfing call a moonpie.' :) It made me wish my Texans were here to experience the joie.de.vive we've got going on down here in South Louisiana.

Sweet little iphone pic.

Then Saturday, after teaching, we headed out to do a little spring shopping for the boy.joys. Matching plaid outfits. Green everything. Hello, happiness. Now, if we can only get some warm weather... Since we were out late, we grabbed some Lebanese.Lovin. I'm sorry. Seafood and Lebanese food are my most favorite things to eat... period.

Which brings me to Sunday... SUPER BOWL Sunday. :)
I started my day with a photoshoot. OH MY GOODNESS! Train tracks... Shooting with my super.wide.angle.love... my long lens racked out at 200... THEN topped it off with a little wide.open.portrait love. *a.photographer's.trifecta* Loved every single second. I'm sitting on a heap of great images to post. Makes me feel like Christmas Morning. :)




Then I rushed home to grab them Manlies to head out to a Super.Bowl.Date with our Favorites. Usually the parties take place at our house- but I had too much going on to get it all together. So, it was a dream.come.true to go somewhere else! A real treat for me... and the food and fellowship couldn't have been better! PLUS our boys WON! Who Dat!?!?! Holy Cow! How can it get any better than that?

So that's how my weekend rocked my socks.
You got to love it when that happens.

Peace, Love, fast lenses and super.cute.kids.
xo
lmkw