in the moment

mo-ment  n.   1. a very brief portion of time   2. at any time, very soon   3. now   4. importance

in. the. moment  has even more meaning these days.   to be respectful of time.   to slow down.   to stop.   to observe.   to recognize the bits and pieces.    to savor them.      to enjoy the big, the little and everything in between...        to be present.

master chef

 

it's official, we have a master chef in the house. 

for my birthday dessert craig made a flourless chocolate cake. now i know this first image may not look like 'master chef' material?  it's looking like a very interesting wrinkly, flat cake.  but this dessert was complicated, it had several steps, it required a 'steam bath' in the oven.  i'm really not sure how you do that? but boy, oh boy that 'steam bath' does create the smoothest texture evah- like buuddah.

and check out the plate i was served... it had fresh, homemade raspberry puree. he even strained the seeds!  

and what can i say about the swirl around the plate-- masterful indeed!

yep, it's official we have a master chef in our house and i'm incredibly lucky. 

this dessert was the best present for a gluten free girl.  it was absolutely devine.  

and i have the best husband evah.

 

 

 

eye of the tiger

well it's soccer season and the davidson's are in full swing... craig coaches alex's team, The Navigators, and helps out with ally's team, The Mustangs.  so we have soccer practice three times a week between the kids and games on the weekend.  and both kids had season openers on september 7th but we had to divide- so i was at ally's game.

these two photos were taken by a parent on ally's team but i could not resist them.   this is the first year the girls play full field which has been an adjustment for endurance.  but the kids just keep at it. during this game ally was 'hungry' for a goal and had several attempts.  

it wasn't until this moment that she broke away from midfield to drive the ball all the way to the goal....

to shoot and score!

her skills are impressive and she is quite fun to watch.  

just look at her face above-- she definitely has the eye of the tiger.

 

week 37 :: in the kitchen

 

last year i was working on a lil' photography project -- taking one photograph each week to represent a theme.  the hope was that, given a word as a focus,  i would be pushed creatively to reflect and stretch myself in capturing an image.  have to say i really enjoyed working on the project and did well up to week 19 then there after it was just a few photos here or there, it's hard to carve out time.  you can read more about this project here or click on the link-  

<<<over in the sidebar under categories. 

but, since i've had some time away, thought i'd like to pick up my camera again in a very laid back manner.  so when a previous theme inspires me (and life allows some time)  i will post an image from time to time.  

so here is my recent photo for the theme  ::  in the kitchen

 

 i couldn't pass by this theme and it's timeliness because now that school has started my mornings are spent "in the kitchen" right at this spot making lunches.  our family is a believer of homemade lunches and i've been happily making them since alex entered kindergarten.  the kids have never had a driving desire to eat the school lunches which works out well for us.  

through the years i've made turkey sandwiches, ham sandwiches, tuna fish sandwiches, cheese sandwiches too. but the all time favorite-- is peanut butter and jelly with some years only being able to eat these on weekends because of classmate's allergies.

our lunches always contain fruit (apple slices, purple grapes, pears or raspberries) a cheese stick or yogurt and something crunchy like organic chips or crackers and we can't forget the pirate booty years.

and get this, i've calculated the total amount of lunches i've made through Alex's 7 years of school along with Ally's 5 years of school   (i'm not including this new calendar year yet)  Do you have a guess?  Any thoughts?

Well the school year is 180 days so I've made approximately 2,160 school lunches and still going!

Hmmm, do they make a medal for that?

first day of school - 2013

here we are once again... the first day of school, another year of learning and another year of growing.  just look at these sunkissed faces all scrubbed, dressed and ready for the day. they were both very happy to start classes once again and spend time with their friends.  Especially miss ally since this was also her birthday, a double digit 10 year old - a very exciting day indeed.

now with all the excitement, i did ask the kids the night before if i could take their photos before school.  this has been a tradition ever since alex started kindergarten. although there really wasn't an option but it was polite to ask!?!?  and here they are...

before alex left as a now, 7th grader, we did manage a quick portrait. isn't his face changing?  who do you think he looks like? we just had few clicks of the shutter and he was out the door.

as for ally, here she is in all her giggling, scrunchy eye goodness-- this is a face we see often.  but boy was she excited to be on her way. now as a mom with my last child in her last year of elementary school, i could not let this day go by undocumented.  so of course, i hopped in the car with camera in hand to capture a few more images...

boarding the school bus with her best friend...

and a quick shot inside the bus-- did you notice which seat she chose?

her desk at school...

and with her teacher.... can't say enough about this lovely lady. we are so very lucky!

and one final photo to make you laugh.    yep, it's going to be a fun year!

 

 

tween

*sigh* can't get over this face.

the other night we had this conversation at bedtime...

you see, i still get to tuck him into bed.  i'm sure if he was reading this or thought any of his buddy's read this he would be horribly embarrassed-  although it's truly hard to tell with this kiddo, he is pretty comfortable in his skin.  

so the other night as i hugged him good night i said, "love you to the moon and back."  (this is a quote from a popular children's book that we read  many, many times together.)  he replied, "i love you to the moon and back five times."  which prompted me to ask, "oh, just five times?"  because we've had this lil' ritual off n' on thru time and he usually replies with "love you to the moon and back , round the universe to infinity" or some variation there of so i wondered why tonight i only rated 'five times?'

he said very matter of factly, "well mom, you only said love you to the moon and back to me once."   

well there you go.  a very good point.

this is so him right now- definitely a tweener.

and mr. a if you do read this... my love will always be with you, a part of you and will follow you anywhere- to the ocean, to the sky, to the moon and beyond.

 

she's ten!

oh dear... my last post was in November-ack!  

well that is telling as to how these past 10 months have been moving-  exponentially fast!  

and it is also telling as to the amount of photos I've been taking.   the photography definitely ebbs and flows.  (and i've been in the ebbing cycle)  but how could i resist this image and this smiling face.... just look at this lil' gal- not so little any more.  And now in double digits- 10!!     *deep sigh*

we celebrated miss a's birthday yesterday along with the first day of school-- a bIg day indeed! she is now a fifth grader-  the last year of elementary school, another  *deep sigh*  i think this might be a year with a lot of *deep sighs* from me as this gal is growing before my eyes.  but i digress...

in miss a's classroom there is a special tradition, the birthday student sits in front of the class on the teacher's stool to receive compliments from the other students.  craig and i were at school to share in this gem of a moment.  the other students said to ally.... "you are fun to play with."  "you are kind." "you are nice." "you are a good listener."  "you are funny."  "you are respectful." "you are a good friend."   

and miss a. i would add.... you have a shining spirit, you make our family laugh, your giggle is infectious! i love the freckles on your nose.  you are smart, smart, smart especially with math.  you are strong inside and out.  you love sports and have natural ability but i love that you also still just want to play. and when your brother was really sick - you were a kind, loving n' caring little sister.  i'm so proud of you!  

you are a gift to our family... we love you so!   

happy birthday to our now ten year old miss ally!

 

gratitude

written by Alex during the month of november, hanging from our family 'grateful tree'.

so many reasons to be thankful this holiday season.