Sunday, March 31, 2013

Eastery goodness 2013.

...
Easter took a different speed this weekend. In Austin coming off two night shifts, we set the pace slow and steady and infused chocolate in the sleepy moments.

But if you were Lucy May, you just bypassed all of that and started with the chocolate.



only to sugar-crash, naked in wagon out back.



The Easter bunny arrived in Austin and brought all sorts of treasures along the way. Turns out the Mr. Bunny's love of carrots is the same in Austin and Dallas.





It has been such a weekend of hunts. We are technically, still down one egg somewhere in the living room... the Easter bunny forgot to leave a map for sleepy parents. If only it weren't a real egg. Alas, I guess in some form or another--- the egg will find us. Eeeek.

Our kids sure do clean up nicely...which is quite incredible because after a quasi-naked jaunt thorough the backyard and roll in the grass for good measure, they were really dirty. Can't even tell can you?








Brunch with our neighbors was a blast and yet another reminder of the great blessings of friendship in our lives. Lucy was extra thankful for the added chocolate intake at brunch.

The rain held out and made way for a killer, cloudy-sky, afternoon nap. I won't clue you in to the exact amount of pillow drool I produced but let's suffice to say it was quite a lot.

Mass was attempted with our crew at the cathedral downtown. It was beautiful. Killer acoustics in there. Lucy honed in on those pretty quickly which landed me and her vocals out in the hallway. In case you were wondering... it is a pretty hallway too.


We learned that shoe stomping acoustics in the hall of the cathedral are almost as awesome as the echo that comes from chirping in the sanctuary. 
Molly picked our restaurant for dinner which pretty much guarantees you a visit to Hula Hut. She is in love with their bathrooms. In fact, this is a determining factor for most of her restaurant choices. I don't see a career a food critic in her future... that's okay though... their food was great too! Win!

Hope your holiday was eggcellent too!

Friday, March 29, 2013

Fantastical Friday!

 ...
Two times. That makes something a tradition right? I need to consult the hubs--- after all, he did go to Texas A&M for a bit.

Nevertheless, go me.

Friday's fantastical actually met us at the park today. Ominous rain clouds that delayed rain and made way for whimsy magical spring breezes. Our quiet kid was the FIRST one to find a playground friend...who is actually in the first grade too. Everyone independent, everyone trying new things. It was beautiful.

Monkey bars have sort of been Molly's nemesis these past few years. She so wants to do them and yet, she so doesn't. Hey, I get it----it's scary up there. Now, sitting on TOP of the monkey bars. Oh, no. Never.

And yet...

on a Friday... when the weather is pretty amazing...

you might find with some good company that bravery comes in GREAT quantities.

After playing for 30 minutes with this little boy, Gabriel finally asked him what his name was (that is one of my favorite things about kids, btw!). Guess what it was? Gabriel. It really tickled my Gabe's funny bone.


And Lucy scaled the highest rock wall independently which didn't land her a broken arm. Not pictured for Nonnie's sake. 

Brave. AWESOME. Magical fun... pretty stinking fantastical if you ask me.


And just so you can laugh... this is fantastical too.
Enjoy the start to a holiday weekend!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Happy Heiny.

...
I don't know about you but my kids are OBSESSED with potty talk. I mean, look for any opportunity to throw the word poop into the mix, just so they can have a giggle. They had trained Lucy for about a solid week to introduce herself to people as Lucy Poop May. The bigger the sibling reaction the larger the claim of her new identity. It was ridiculous.

Now. If potty talk can sneak its way to the dinner table, then you know S@!* just got real. Ain't nothing more scandalous then sneaking in a little tootie word at the table. It's like the 5-yr-old version of the penis game. 

We have a pretty solid plan of attack on this as parents. Our kids can say whatever potty word they want to say, but it has to be said in the bathroom at a level that NOBODY else can here. It's pretty standard to see Gabriel most meals, get up, walk off to the bathroom, whisper something and come back giggling. Maybe not the best practice but it works and I feel pretty content with his increased autonomy over it all. 

Now the getting up from their chair...almost in my chair... to practically on my lap while eating transition that has happened of recent has welcomed the arrival of some new dinnertime routines.

Meet my newest "idea" (p.s. marry someone that can roll with it)



The happy heiny. 

At the start of dinner, we take notice of who has a happy heiny. You can even yell it out "I have a happy heiny" if you feel. Little duct tape, lots o' fun. Annnnnd they get to say heiny at the dinner table which is basically poop's baby cousin once removed. It's funny, they laugh, I get to eat without a Gabriel sharing my chair. 

Everyone wins.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Love snack!

...
The all too knowing voice in my head has been screaming at me to STEP.AWAY.FROM.THE.COMPUTER for the past 20 minutes and yet, I just can't. I want so badly to take pause and live just a minute more in my day before succumbing to sleep.  I worked hard the past two nights and it suffices to say that I am feeling that fatigue. 

So, how about just a love snack perhaps? 

Today was one of those little picture window days where I gaze in to a space of time and see that little body I grew and yet feel as if I am gazing upon her in a whole new light, almost as if from further away in time and realize that wow, my little is so quickly becoming big. She is learning all sorts of new things these days.


To see our gal so awestruck of all the amazing ways of the "bigger girls" makes me excited for what's to come in our small lives as she continues to grow.

More on that to come later. For now, I'll just soak up the moment and smile contently.
 Sleep sweet!

Friday, March 22, 2013

Fantastical Friday

...
I was driving home with the kids today when I look out the window to this:



Ok, not really. But sort of. 

*You know minus us not living in New York and there was in fact, no seahorse involved. The rest... totally legit and completely magical.*

This mom in my neighborhood rides a 5 ft unicycle to and from school drop off with her kids. Coolest.Mom.Ever. I'm a little bummed this fun lady can't be my mom. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, today I happened to look up at her just magically gliding along and noticed not only was she leading her crew through the 'hood like a parade but that she was also carrying a world's cutest dogs 2013 calendar in her right hand. If the coverpage was any sort of homage to the rest of the calendar, it was indeed filled with the world's cutest dogs. 

My jaw dropped and Gabe quietly whispered... "Wow, that's fantastical." 

Yep, Son. It sure is.

So it hit me, as I turned my less magical mini-van, Olive, around the corner to home that there is a lot of fantastical in this world and I am going to make note of it right here on the ole' bloggity blog for a weekly weekend kick off. Lucky you.

A new series--- Fantastical Fridays. Lots of fantastic, a whole heap of magic and a bit of ole' whimsy.  Stay tuned!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

A Seal.


There’s a quietness in my home these days.  Welcoming the return of a travelling daddy on a week that was met with the unexpected takedown of a stomach virus, we are gradually sinking in to familiar routines around here all the while a little more aware of our surroundings, each other and the quietness that exists in that space.

The late night tummy woes I would have gladly tossed back to the universe on any given notice but the opportunity for individual moments within the world of each of my children that resulted from the illness has in many ways, felt like a gift.

The light of a welcoming spring shone softly this week.

It hasn’t been loud, we didn’t feel completely dreadful, there was warmth in the moments between.  



It seems that collectively, we utilized the quiet peacefulness to fill in the gaps where key people and good healthy energy were missing.

There’s a hymn I grew up listening to as a child blended together from scriptures found in Song of Solomons and Psalms.  It is a song that seems to find its way into my head at random times. It is beautiful and I love the imagery of love the words weave together… “Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your soul.” I think of it as a love that is with you all the time, even when you physically can’t see it and don’t even know you need to. It is loving someone with a soft, quiet presence.

Outside today, we were all in a collective space but each doing our own thing. Gabriel was chalking the sidewalk, Lucy was driving cars and Molly was reading on the blanket. At some point, Gabriel had finished writing on the sidewalk and returned to cars, Lucy had moved to playing with stuffed animals and Molly was writing in her journal. Continuous individualized play with seamless, quiet transitions. But as I looked to the sidewalk I had seen that at some point, Gabriel had written “I love you Molly” to which in some passing transition of time, she without any outward vocalization had read it, internalized it and responded  on the driveway art with “I love you too.”

Loving someone with a soft, quiet presence.  A seal on my heart, shining softly on my littles in our return to health. A gentle and warming start to Spring.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Green love.

...
Weeks that I am on working late nights can often lead to a week worth of overlooked fun. In many ways, it's there waiting to be discovered, I'm just far too tired to seek it out. For as crazy as this past week of working was, I am so ever thankful that in this Spring break week of goodness, the fun sought us.

Holey Pajamas. We packed a lot in.

And while I'm realistically tired from the working last week... the time spent playing outside, visiting our families and laughing with friends was like a vacation for my soul. In this case, the doing more had a direct correlation to the feeling more alive. Don't even get me started on the sunshine. Spring forward for my family is the BEST.GIFT.EVER. Especially when it lines up ever so perfectly with spring break. The mornings spent sleeping until 8:30 were a tiny little taste of the summer to come. Don't get me wrong, education is great and all... but this whole living life out of the schedule of an elementary school student? It's beautiful. I'd like more of that, please.

I'm stalling.

Can you tell?

It's just there's so much. I don't want to miss getting it down but at the same time... I don't want to rush through it. Where to start? I guess in the truest of Julie May fashion... I'll cruise by it all backwards. Afterall, the entire week did in fact start off backwards.

For a typical May Spring Break... we start the week off with some R&R, welcome the sunshine of spring forward, supplement with some friend adventures, followed immediately by WAY too overzealous spring cleaning projects and tap it all off with a visit to Dallas to celebrate a personal favorite holiday with all my Irish loving lot. Except this year, St. Patty's was the SUNDAY on the last day of break. With Molly's potential back to school meltdown looming on the horizon and Kelly's business trip this week, it was too much to tackle on. So we reversed our trip plans and tried a whole new approach.

I mean, what's one to do with all that GREEN wearing, Irish love to give and no nearby Grandma's house to hit up?








You listen to the French Guy.



Who *kindly* tells you to get your head out of your booty, stop feeling sorry for yourself, look around and start enjoying all these people you love so much right here.

He's a smart man, that French Guy. Especially because he knows to claim only IRISH come March 17th.

Our Irish happy hour was a blast. Great friends, green food/beer and a PURPLE bouncy house... what's not to love? And while, I am consistently reminded about the community we have in this town, it still manages to take me by surprise with a flood of happy-teared eyes every single time.








p.s. who is this long legged, tall kid and where is my baby?

My favorite little greens are soooo loved. That goes way beyond lucky.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Morning Chatter

...
These two are SUCH a mess.



I am reaffirmed everyday that while at times a bit neurotic, having a Molly in the mix is a nice balancing combination for May home life. Because Gabriel and Lucy??? They are nothing short of crazypants. This year Lucy and Gabriel have enjoyed special time for them 3 days a week at home.  They are quite possibly the silliest people I have ever met and together a force of chaos to be reckoned with. I find it funny that for some time I was sad that Gabriel couldn't go in to kinder right behind Molly and now, I am so thankful that my younger two have had this year to really grow as silly siblings. Lucy is going to miss Gabriel's company so much.

Quite honestly, we both will.

I think my most favorite daily doings with Gabriel is our car chats. Aside from his millions of questions about this world, his mind additionally wanders to topics that just don't come up in typical every day chatter. Case in point.

This morning on the way to pick up dry cleaning:

Gabriel: "When am I going to live to 196 years old?"
Mom: "Well buddy, people don't live that long yet. You can maybe be 100, though."

pauuuuuse for processing.

Gabriel: "Well Vampires live that long. So, I just have to be a vampire. In fact, I hope that Mommy, Daddy, Lucy, Molly, Rosie George and Milo all turn into Vampires and we can be old together."

Mom: "That's nice, Gabe but I don't want to be a Vampire."
Gabriel: "Why not? Blood tastes awesome! You really should try it."

pauuuuuuse for processing.

Mom: "Nope. Don't think I want to try blood. I think I'll stick with orange juice"
Gabriel: "Well, since Molly knows how to make magic potions, I bet she can make your blood taste like orange juice."

Mom: "Well, that would work then."

I'm excited for his kindergarten teacher. They have no idea what is in store for them.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Hello, March

...
Coming off a weekend of evening shifts, I am amazed at how easy it felt tonight to glide in to the natural rhythm of everyday living. For all the boogery, allergy-goodness living in my face right now, it did little to throw off my balance in reclaiming the weekend.

Glancing over mid-chew at my chameleon compadre on a night that could have been any Sunday dinner scene...


I was suddenly met with an acute awareness of just how incredible this weekend was. For all the obligatory locked away time with weekend working, there sure was a lot of living in the squished between spots. Pockets of greatness? I'll take it.

March joined us this weekend and opened the windows of the season with beautiful torrents of bustled breezes. Gusting and cool, we all rocked the wind blown look.

We joined up pink-faced and chapped skin, taking claim of a glorious Texas blue sky. A perfect backdrop for celebrating Texas Independence with some really great company.

Let's be honest. Is there really any better way to welcome March then with an afternoon spent flying kites? The 85th annual kite festival, our most favorite Austin festival, did not disappoint. A festival three years ago that punctuated our decesion to move to Austin as a family still greets us with the same joy and excitement year after year.


This festival welcomed the newness of great company and better kites




which paired quite nicely with my children's mad kite flying skills. Seriously, Gabe very likely reached inner zen out there. Independent and strong, Lightening McQueen soared!




Molly maintained cautiously excited the entire time, keeping her kite at a nice safe level below Gabriel's, still clutching tightly to the memory of the great tangle of 2012.


Even Lucy flew her own kite!

Sunshine and cool breezes, I like you. 

Now for our mad rush to soak up as much spring before she melts away in to the arrival of summer. I see a lot of this in our very near future...


No complaining here.