me and sea and the earth and beyond

i like this series of photos more than any words in my head...hope to be back posting more regularly in may...

olive tree part 3

hmm...my talented artist friend and neighbor julie invited me to to join a photography collaboration where participants took photos of a tree in the summer (week of august 23), fall (week of november 8) and then the third and final photo in the spring (week of april 4...woops...i appear to be a couple weeks late on this final contribution)...you can see her instructions for the collaboration as well as her final photo which i just realized was taken down the street from us at a nearby park.

i really enjoyed taking this series of photos. i will quickly summarize my angle or analysis of the previous two photo shoots:

olive tree part 1
photos from when we first walked through our house (story is only 6 months old in the foreground)...same view taken again last summer...looking out of our living room window at the tree...trunk shot...late afternoon shadows with dark skies...story swinging in the tree (he's too big to do this now!) along with a close-up of green unripe olives...

olive tree part 2
sunset shot with the tree as a silhouette light through the hummingbird feeder, traffic in the background...close up of "fall" leaves changing color...and "fruit" (olives) on the tree...the tree's branches casting shadows in the late day...sea and story posing in low light...more dramatic sunsets...sea posing...

and now for the photos from olive tree part 3 taken this week just before earth day...i'd hoped to post them ON earth day but, well, i'd hoped to do this a couple weeks ago, too...

it had just rained...as sunny and blue as the skies look, i took these shots right in between rain...here is the wet trunk...it started raining again within 20 minutes or so...
little buds getting ready to grow into olives...
sea posing...
ok, close-up posing...
a few more...story was napping while i took these (sorry he didn't make the last photo shoot!)
full view...
sea dancing around...
and i'll leave you with a couple yoga moves...


thanks for following our family living in and around this lovely olive tree! special thanks to julie for the challenge...looking forward to the next one! now go check out her blog and sign up for an online class or just be inspired by her work!

the irony didn't escape me

if i start every post with a disclaimer about how busy i've been and how i regret not posting more, well, i'll always be writing about that and never move on...so i'm going to start with small stories like this one and when i have more time i'll fill you in on reunion planning, kindergarten searching, general life in our home, hanging out at the beach, coop preschools, gardening, sea's much more detailed drawings, vacation planning, to do lists, dreams...so many things...reading is also one of the things i haven't had time for that i really miss. this book, shown here in its soaked state (story to follow) is one that i love going back to and still haven't quite read cover to cover...i've analyzed all sorts of sections like "how clutter affects you" and "so why do people keep clutter" and "letting go" and even tried strategies in sections like "how to clear your clutter" and "staying clutter free" (she even breaks it down to clearing your body, mental clutter, emotional clutter and spiritual clutter...all things i can relate with)...so i know the theories and the strategies but somehow i am not LIVING them...

so here is the story...funny, it is about my son, NAMED story...

i was taking a very non-relaxing bath, home alone with my two children...sea was busy drawing or reading or entertaining herself somewhere and story was hanging out with me in the bathroom while i tried to soak for just a second...that second got too long and next thing i know, story is up on a step stool running the sink water full blast on this book...

and i freaked out. got crazy, screamed at him...like he had ruined some secret solution i had to living clutter free or drowned a symbol of relaxation or something very self-absorbed and ridiculous...

and as i was watching myself scream at him in the mirror, i was also staring down at the title of this book and remembering what the book is about...literally there is a section on letting go of everything in your life "hold on to nothing" is the book she refers to how if something is stolen from you or you pass it on, it makes space for something else you need in your life...so clearly it was time to pass this book on and LIVE these ideas

but i just had to share a story that later i can chuckle about but in the moment i realized i need to be more present with my children and myself and deal with emotional baggage that they don't deserve to have thrown at them...

i am particularly aware of these ideas knowing my daughter, sea is off to kindergarten in the fall...just about 4 months away. so i'm really hoping to blog more regularly if nothing more than to get all the little moments down...but if i'm not on here often it is hopefully because i'm filling my time with my children and trying to be less self-absorbed.

exceeding easter ideals

this first egg was created by sea using holes she punched and too much glue...yesterday i posted a blog about easter ideals and i'm happy to say that our actual easter experience EXCEEDED my expectations...manuel is right that sometimes it is better to just do something low key with family...this first early morning photo was taken when sea rolled over in bed (we all sleep together) and realized the easter bunny was supposed to come and jumped out to find her and her brother's baskets filled with a bunny, candy and a fairy water bottle...
she quickly woke up her brother and took him his basket and dad video taped their glee...story peering in to see what he has...
very happy to find candy...
i tried to dress story in the bunny costume sea wore two years ago but he was just too big so this is him squeezed into it for just a quick unhappy moment...
ok, two moments...sea worked to put on his "paws"...
i made us brunch...didn't quite get to omelettes but did do roasted red potatoes with rosemary from our garden, scrambled eggs and these bunny shaped pancakes with chocolate chips, butter, maple syrup, bananas, strawberries and walnuts...
this sweet sparkling wine is d'asti something or other...about $5 at trader joes and YUMMY!
they each enjoyed a "lolly" after breakfast...
story licking his lips...or "yips" (he says "L's" like "Y's")...
they opened cards from my mom "mimi" and my sister "angee" (auntie)...then called namenee and poppy and their cousins...
opened a gift from aunt florelei...
a wonderful story entitled "the empty pot" by demi...about an emperor who is looking for a successor and passes out seeds to all the children in his land saying the child who presents the best will become emperor...only one child is honest and returns with an empty pot (he had cooked all the seeds)...
next wek colored eggs...it was a gorgeous sunny san diego day...
daddy asking what they want to create...
sea dipping an egg...
examining her colors...
going for another color...
dancing around to random folksy songs as daddy chooses another on itunes...
next we hid our colored eggs and went to find them...
story found one in his little truck...
sea found one in a plant...
running all over the yard...
sea showing off her "princess fairy" skirt...
posing with their baskets filled...
this was right before story broke his egg open...apparently my online "boiling the perfect egg" instructions were for a very runny egg...i didn't photograph the mess...
showing off other eggs before i snatched them to avoid breakage...
looking for candy...
finally looking up...
then sharing lollies...
sea's eggs...
we had a really nice time together...hope your easter was memorable!

p.s. i'm still looking for feedback on our high school reunion (20 year) website and events/info you would want included...click here to go to the site...

high school reunion updates and easter ideals

yes, as you can tell by story crawling, this photo was taken LAST easter (co-op preschool) and as you can tell by the fact that i haven't blogged in almost a month (i blogged every day in february if that makes it better), i have no updated easter crafty or cutesy photos to share...we've been sick and recovering from being out of town over 10 days (amazing how behind i can get on daily tasks being gone this long) and i've also done a lot working on the high school reunion committee...

please check out the website we created on my events and give me your feedback...especially if you attended your reunion...what info would you want on there? oh and of course i opted to update the BLOG on there...looking forward to sharing all my psycho-analysis and self-absorbed angles on my experience in high school, memories, researching kindergarten for sea now, my value, hopes, etc. for our family and somehow weaving classmates and comments and THEIR expectations in there somehow...advice on how to balance this and make it an interesting read are encouraged...but check it out here:

http://llaclass1990.myevent.com/

here is what i wrote in my first blog entry on the site:

" i have spent too long on this site and am now too tired to blog but just wanted to let you know that this used to say "cool peeps" and it is my goal to get several blog postings from various committee members but until then, i, denise, will be posting here often. i have my own personal blog "mommy's journey" about my life as a mommy and my journey finding myself...i majored in psychology and those who know me know i love to analyze and over-think and ramble and free associate often so look for lots of that...this may end up being too personal and dramatic for many readers but hopefully that will bring others back for more...hope to include my own high school memories and those classmates share with me...should be interesting if nothing else...my goal is to lure you in to this blog, this site and eventually to the reunion...i want to have as many people there as possible and will work hard to make it an inclusive event that meets the needs and desires of as many classmates as possible."

oh, so if you don't go to the website, we put a poll out for the class and the majority chose to have it at the beach...so we are having the event at the westin in south coast plaza about 15 minutes inland from newport beach (where we will have beach vespers friday night and most likely a picnic saturday morning)...check out the photos of the "lido room" and the adjoining "waterfall terrace" to get a feel for what the venue will be like:

http://www.westinsouthcoastplaza.com/

(click on "photos")

ok so on to the second half of this post..."easter ideals"...my parents never really "did" this holiday...maybe a "happy easter" and possibly a hallmark card or piece of candy but it wasn't important to them and they didn't get into it. possibly because i call both of my children "bunny" and because i always felt like i missed out on the fun of easter baskets and bunnies and eggs and candy, i have idealized this as a fun childhood holiday that i want to be memorable for my children...

a little more history on this holiday for me...i used to wait tables...for almost half of my life in fact (age 18 until giving birth to sea...16 years)...so i spent way too many easters serving grumpy families brunch while they tried to fulfill their own ideals amidst the chaos of this holiday in a restaurant...and swore i would never go to restaurants on this holiday when i was out of the business...yet somehow we have spent several easters with my in-laws and they like to go to marie calendars which has a pretty manageable easter brunch and i find myself looking forward to this (have i mentioned how food-oriented i am)...plus the joy of all the little cousins (manuel's sister michelle's daughters are 7 and 4.5) playing, searching for eggs, carrying around their baskets and eating too much candy together...so i was really sad we will miss out on that this year since we are sick...manuel's other sister, missy's new baby daughter meadow would have been there to join in (or at least watch) and story is old enough to really make himself part of the mix...(i'm temporarily distracted by story with his nose inches from a rolly polly bug saying "HI-ya")...

we have spent a couple of easters here in san diego...usually we are invited over to our friend lisa's mom's house right on ocean blvd in coronado and we enjoy yummy appetizers and wine and eventually sit down to a meal and then hunt for eggs...

then the third thing i will miss is the co-op preschool gang is getting together at one of the member's homes for a potluck brunch and egg hunt...

SO i have been idealizing this holiday and trying to figure out what we will do tomorrow...here is the plan:

sleep in as long as possible
wake up and have the children "find" the easter baskets the easter bunny left for them
make brunch together (probably pancakes with maple (not corn) syrup, fresh strawberries, powdered sugar, a fruit salad of sorts, some egg or omelette dish, roasted red potatoes, french press coffee with real cream and sugar, and a d'asti sweet sparkling wine)
color easter eggs
hide easter eggs
find easter eggs
(one more distraction...story is "drawing" squiggly lines coming up from a circle saying "HOT" like it is smoke...i remember sea going through this fascination with all things hot, particularly fire)
dress children in cute easter clothes and try to take way too many photos of them with said eggs, baskets, bunnies, candy...but instead chase them and tell them not to eat all the candy at once (manuel and i differ on this one...i would either have very little candy in there or only healthier versions without hydrogenated oils and food coloring...but he has fond memories of these things from his childhood and it does bring the children a lot of joy so i try not to be so rigid about these things on holidays)...

well i'm neglecting the moment of today and story keeps saying "mommy!" and trying to show me things...off to see if it is warm enough to go to the beach today (we went saturday and sunday of last weekend)...look forward to updating with photos tomorrow...and i plan to blog every 2 or 3 days for april...let's see how that goes...thanks for staying tune despite my long absence and i look forward to catching up with you!