a cluster of good times

there is, of course, a perfectly great explanation for my lack of posting these past four days or so...we were having too much fun! we had a weekend full of places to be. it was all wonderful...but it surely put a funk in our rhythm...something that only a few days and nights of doing absolutely NOTHING but staying at home and "being", could remedy. when our days are really full...it seems to throw us out of whack just a bit...our minds become cluttered, we are a bit disjointed and somewhere along the way, our bed reflects the clutter in our lives by being responsible for holding all FOUR of us during the sleeping hours. but now that we are getting back in the groove of things and are able to maintain some type of equilibrium throughout our days...it is about time i share a few of the things that occupied our lives this past weekend. Saturday was a treasure in that Journey and I got to experience our first ever tea-party for our dear friend Abigail, who was so gracious to ask us to join her celebration. It was such a sweet event...lots of gadgets to look at, delicious finger foods, homemade tea, and vibrant women abounding! We chased this lovely afternoon with an evening celebrating cousin Jeremy's 30th birthday! What a radiant celebration it was...the love we have for him and his 30 years of life are certainly in good company with the hundreds of others who feel the same way! And then sunday afternoon brought this.... Matt and Josh had the fun idea to enter a pizza eating contest at Flancers in Gilbert. The winner was whoever could down the most slices of pizza in 15 minutes and would walk away with $500. So...why not? Josh and Matt did their best...but didn't place. There was some animals out there...I'm telling you...I have never seen people eat like that before. Jamie and I were quite amused, and it was a new experience. Something I don't think we will be a part of anytime soon...unless it has anything to do with garlic stuffed green olives, right Jamie? Here are "our" champs...with some of the leftovers that didn't make it down the chute... Sunday was also earth day...and although I had every great intention to do something in celebration of this...my intentions never really materialized into anything besides helping Asher color a picture of a river, some trees, a fish and the sun...and having a short conversation about honoring the earth...in which I was mostly just amusing myself and not really doing anything for Asher. In accordance with the truth that "every day is earth day", we DID end up planting some seeds and a sweet broom plant on monday. we watered our plants together... and got our hands in the earth to plant some seeds... and that will do just fine for me! And what have been the most joyous moments of the past four days? i am sure that some slip by me without much notice, but a few that rest in my mind, bringing slight smiles to my face throughout my days are simple, really:

the moments in the mornings where asher discovers journey all over again and climbs over me to get to her in our cluttered bed...pouring love and beauty into her life and showing me exactly what it means to start fresh every day.

our early morning walks down the canals around our house...witnessing the promise of spring by the families of ducks floating by with handfuls of new chicks.

the few minutes just following asher's naps (he's been napping!) where he walks out of his room so quietly, sleepily scouts the room to find me and trying to hide a smile, climbs into my lap and sits in silence with me...nesting his head into my neck...both of us feeling so safe and loved.

these are the moments that bring us back to our natural rhythm and our own sense of "being"...these are the moments that make the most sense to me.