A Little Deer

We are back!

St Lucia was great....

I'm finding it SO hard to get back to real life. Hopefully I will pull myself together over the weekend!

Belly update!

almost 6 months!

oh sweet heat...

***Apparently I never hit publish on this last post. I wrote it about a week ago***

I love summer! OK it's not quite here yet and I may be singing a different tune come the 3rd trimester but I sure am loving it now!

We went to the beach yesterday for a impromtu picnic  and Gabe ended up going swimming! It wasn't even that cold. This weather is crazy! 90 degrees in April?! I'm not complaining! We even slept with the windows open. 

The windows will be all open again today and we'll prepare for the 90 degree day we have in store for us tomorrow with homemade ice cold lemonade and chunks of watermelon. Life is so good.

Oh spring....you make me weak in the knees

How can you NOT love triplet baby goats. Gabe and I really wanted to take them all home. Eek! They were so soft!

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Show and tell

I'm missing my little show and tell show here. 

I want so badly to reconnect with all my Internet buds,I feel like I have been away to long and everyone has moved on and I'm so out of the loop. I'm having such a hard time getting back to posting regularly. Ok, I swear I'm not changing my name to Debbie Downer. 

I'm actually doing wonderful these days, loving my growing baby belly and feeling baby kicks. I have so much energy now and I'm feeling all sorts of nesty and enjoying these wonderful spring days.

So I thought I would do a simple post about what is inspiring me lately....I can't believe what a "hippie" I have become! I LOVE it!! =)

-long ankle length flowy skirts with that handy elastic waistband. You know the kind everyone wore in the 90's ? 

-Looking forward to meeting this little person...

-Flowering cherry and magnolia trees

-Dreaming of additions to my new GIANT garden for flowers and veggies we put in last weekend

-Adding spring color around the house

-flowery headbands like this

-This blog, what a fantastic artist and mum!

-Looking at baby stuff to buy here, here and here. OK and here too!

-Strawberry & Rhubarb pie, ok not really inspiring but really, really good! Would it be bad if I said this was the second pie I have bought in as many days? Nahhh, I didn't think so either! =)

taking our time

Sorry I have ben so quiet. 

Trying to get back into the swing of things around here. Potsticker has been signed up for a couple of fun classes and today we start with yoga for kids. I'm excited for this class! We are also doing a "Music Together" class. I figure those two classes combined with all our outdoor play, story time at the library, visits to the zoo and children's museum we are covered until December. Whew! With that out of the way and planning for a few weekend trips I am slowly able to ease myself back into the studio. It's a huge mess (been that way since ETA 4 wrapped) and I have to go through everything and I have some book keeping I'm way behind on. Darn paperwork!

The Enormous Tiny art Show was amazing and it was so great to see all the "girls" again. I'll spare you from looking at another group photo of all of us that has been floating around blogland. My lovely husband was the taker of many of them, we just kept handing him cameras!

I am excited to start creating new work for another upcoming show as well as work on the Etsy store update, (I still haven't decided on a date).

Well off to yoga and then the gym...

It's a banana bread kinda day....

you know the kind. Where nothing seems to get done (unpacking, sorting through mail, making beds), but at least you did something...like bake a banana bread (or two)

So yeah, Hello! (smile) I have missed you all. Boy this summer has gone by fast, but it has been great. One of the best ones in my adult life I would have to say. We just got back from a fantastic trip to Virginia to stay with my brother, sister-in-law and their two boys. We were SO busy but it was worth it. There was a trip to Busch Gardens, campfires, a hike up Crabtree Falls, flashlight tag (my personal favorite!), a fancy adult dinner out, target practice with the air rifle (I'm a horrible shot), a lovely trip to Monticello (made all the better after having just finished up the John Adams series), and lots of laughs and memories made. So glad we made the drive down. 

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things around here and I'm looking forward to attending the Tiny Art show and seeing my bloggie friends and planning for some fall activities and destinations.  I'm also hoping for a shop update sometime in late september, where I can unveil some new work to you all.

It has been a busy past few weeks and if you are waiting to hear from me through e-mail or Flickr, I am planning on working through that list starting tonight. Thanks so much for your patience! Well I must be off as I have to ready for the arrival of our house guest for a few day. David's sister is visiting all the way from Australia, it's been over a year since we have seen her and we are all excited!

So I uh must have left my head in Maine because I haven't been really "present" for awhile. Summer is just too much fun! And wouldn't yah know we are going back on Fri! Yipee! 

In other new David and I have started to look at houses again after a horrifying start a few months back. We seem to have found a realtor that's really nice and wants to see us in the right house.  We also know what we want in a house and what we can afford so, here's hoping. Not much else to say and I'm pretty sure I'll be scarce around these parts for a few weeks as I gear up for a show this fall and enjoy our fleeting New England summer.

spontaneous

this picture has nothing to do with this post, just thought I would share a WIP.

I have a hard time being that - spontaneous. I like to research and plan and make lists. Last night I just wanted to get out of the house so we headed for Newport with no real plans of what we were going to do. It turned out fantastic that way.

 It's been pretty steamy in the city and I have been hankering to get back to that town for awhile now (I lived there for 2 years almost 10 years ago). We ate at one of my favorite restaurants there (Salvation Cafe) and then played in the waves at the beach. Gabe was thrilled by the the waves. It was surprisingly warm for new england waters, next time we'll be bringing our suits! We then headed back home stopping for ice-cream on the way, actually I got a root beer float. SO good, talk about a perfect ending.

 I have been obsessed with root beer for a few weeks now. David and I have been root-beer connoisseurs, picking out fancy brands from Whole Foods. Ok I have been picking out the root beer and letting David sample some of it with me. I think I may be needing to pick of fancy vanilla ice cream to go with them now. 

Mmmm, summer. 

breathing s p a c e

 

Yup I'm back, It felt good to take a break and reestablish what is important to me. I have really been thinking hard about a lot of things and have decided to stay in this little space of mine. I really enjoy the sharing and the community I feel with all of you and I feel like it's important to make time for that in my life. You might notice a subtle change around here, the way I write and how and what I share. Kinda hard to explain but you'll see. =) I have been cutting a lot out of my life lately, no not carbs (sacrilege!) more like heavy stresses, unnecessary clutter and a work ethic I can live with. 

One of my biggest struggles right now it my yearning to be more present and engaged with my son without feeling that pull toward "work" which in my head translates to guilt and then  "not working enough", "not producing enough", "go , go, go, sell, sell, sell", "make money". All of which are NOT conducive to happiness and inspiration. I have decided to take a break from my art business for a bit and concentrate on child rearing. Gabe will only be this age once, and I refuse to be ashamed for "only" being a stay at home parent. I'm proud and lucky to be able to stay home with my little guy. He is at such a fun age right now (minus the crazed tantrums) and I really want to create an environment and home life that he can flourish in. Everyday I am coming closer to the realization that simple is good. It's better...for me and my family.

 I'm not really going to stop being an artist ( I don't thinks that's possible), but I'll be cutting back and only taking jobs and projects that are really exciting to me (and trust me I have a few in the works), my Etsy store will be bare for a bit.  I will be stock piling work over the summer to share in the fall, I have SO many ideas I want to work slowly on. I don't want to rush anymore. Thank you all for being here and contributing even if it's not through comments but just through reading. I'm happy to be back.