Best Shot Monday ~ Urban Shores

My eldest and my youngest talking a stroll along Austin's auditorium shores on a nice summer day last week. She preferred this over the cool, new interactive fountains they had down the hill. Go figure. She was in one of those moods. So what does Domi do? He picks her up and says, "Mom, I'm talking her for a walk". Moments later, I see then at the top of hill and she's clearly enjoying the view.

For more inspiration, hop on over to Slurping Life.

Reminiscing

While going through photos, I came across this one that my mom took of my Papa (far left) and my uncles when they were all young men. I love being able to look back at photos to see how young and beautiful they all were. Especially since my Papa and my Uncle Edimo are no longer with us.

Thursday, June 27th, 1974

For the first time in YEARS, I had a birthday celebration thrown for me in honor of my special day. My pachanga was Tanya's idea (I puffy heart her!) and Yvonne helped her organize it. Several of my dearest friends joined me in an ambiant dinner at Cool River, followed by some groovin' on their dance floor. It was a nice change of pace and I was giddy at seeing my friends dolled up in makeup and heels. We're usually slumping kids around with stains on our frumpy clothes. Last night, I felt surrounded by much happiness and love. Have I mentioned before I have THE MOST amazing women as friends?



Me Newborn


Year One Birthday




Year Three


Fast forward to 2008






Donning my new apron. There's an inside joke to this and I LOVE it!

Love Thursday: A Second Look

While shooting pictures of Jay last weekend, I noticed how he was holding the ball and so I snapped the shutter quickly. This image captures perfectly what his love and passion is, which is baseball. And it's very true--my eye through the viewfinder does remind me that love is all around me, even if he's not here all the time.

Magic of Creative Play

Instead of buying playsilks from a Waldorf or Montesorri store (or another expensive online shop), we decided to make them in playgroup yesterday. And they came out beautiful. What I love about playsilks is they're opened-ended and great for creative play. So far, Sophia has used them for blankets to tuck in her puppy and to be a fairy. Tomorrow, who knows where our imaginations will take us...

¡Feliz Cumpleaños!

On Sunday, my entire brood headed over to my dear friend Bonnie's house, for a small gathering in honor of her birthday. Tanya was responsible for this fun and relaxed family shin-dig and she made this delish strawberry shortcake. The kiddies decided to have impromtu mud and water play. And as usual, the Mamarazza was present, in full force, armed with their digiSLRs. For some amazing shots, hop on over to Bonnie's Blog.

Happy Birthday Bonnie!















This is my favorite shot. Something about it just makes me smile. I think it embraces childhood ever so perfectly.

Best Shot Monday ~ Diligence

I always enjoy summer, because I can spend more time with my boys. I'm savoring every minute I have with them and it amazes me how my they are now young men. They both tower over me now.

Their faces have facial stubble. Lots of it.
Their legs are long and hairy. Very hairy.
Their hands are big and manly. Especially Jay's.

Athletic, strong, and diligent hands.





For more summer fun shots, visit Mother May I.

A Coming Home

Today, a wonderful thing happened. Sophia met her cousins for the first time.
And they were enamored. I was pleasantly surprised to see that little Serena is a pelirroja (red head), just like my mom. Alana is just as sweet and loving as she was when I last saw her as a young toddler. And we met baby Don, who was born last summer, and named after my Papa.

Here's to new beginnings.

A MidSummer Workshop

Today we had a chance of pace at Casa T. L's mama had a workshop so she got to come over to play and brought her big sister! It's amazing what we got done with an older one around and I was diggin' this multi age thing with a 4 year old. We went on a nature walk, make suncatchers, created art with watercolors and acrylic, swung in the hammock, had water fun, assembled puzzles (that had 24+ pieces) read tons of books, and acted out a fairy tale. It was great because I had a little assistant help me fill the trays with water for watercoloring, help gather botanicals on our nature walk, help push Sophia in the hammock swing, and help me clean up. It was a fun filled day and makes me happy knowing that what I do brings much joy to little ones hearts.

This is what summer is about!

Best Shot Monday ~ Life Is Good

Today, for Father's Day, my honey wanted to go to the lake for his special day. So I rearranged our schedule and we were out at Lake Travis by 10:00. So, here's Sophia with her daddy walking down toward our jet-skis (that we're supposed to be selling). Even though she didn't get on the skis, she loved being in the water with him. It's time for father-daughter swim lessons.





And this simple saying that came from a water bottle, made me realize, that Life is Good, even with all the bumps and temporary hardships.



Our Life is Good.
Hope you all enjoyed this Father's Day.