Month: March 2013

I was recently invited to be part of a blog circle with some wonderful photographers.  Our theme is “For the Love.”  After looking at my post, be sure to go on to Veronica Armstrong’s post and then around the full circle. 

This month, I’m focusing on what my kids are in love with these days.  And in turn, how their loves shape my days.

Augusta ~ almost 2

See that little purple box in her hands?  She calls it her “Dee Doh” box.  It’s an mp3 player for babies.  Nine years back when my oldest was a baby, I wouldn’t have imagined buying an mp3 player for my one year old.  First, I would have had no idea what an mp3 player was in the first place.  Once I found out it was technology I would have said, “No, thanks.  We’ll sing together.”  

This year at Christmas, when thinking about what this little girl loved, I thought: music and dancing (often on the kitchen counter). She was always chasing my ipod so she could listen to her favorite song, Dynamite by Taio Cruz – aka – Dee Doh.  I saw this player on Amazon and knew it was a home run.  (I was right.)

Atticus ~ almost 5

My boy is fascinated by contruction and demolition.  As luck would have it, a school nearby is being demolished.  We saw it on while driving Trader Joe’s and stopped on our way home to watch.  It was cold and windy.  I stood on one side of Atticus, and had Augusta bundled in a stroller on the other side.  We watched for a half an hour.  I felt like a super hero mom: blocking the wind and letting him watch the cinder blocks crash down.  He came home and did some work of his own.  (It was much colder than the photo makes it look.)

Avery ~ 7

This girl is loves a good book.  Right now her favorites are the Magic Tree House series.  She reads voraciously so she is always up for a trip to our beloved library.  We share this love.  When she asks to go to the library, I feel like Brer Rabbit, “Don’t throw me in the briar patch!”

(Avery is reading Augusta’s long favorite book,  Moo, Baa, LA LA LA to her.)

Savanna ~ 10

March is Irish dance month around here.  It’s busy.  This past weekend was full of performances around town.  Sunday morning, we were at Claddaugh, an Irish pub on the South Side of Pittsburgh.Sunday evening, she was in full costume at the 20th Century Club in Oakland.

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Now, follow the circle to Veronica Armstrong’s blog and her post For the Love of.

This is a part of the poem, Song for a Fifth Child by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton.

One of my mother’s friends made this for my mom when she was pregnant with her fifth child, my sister, Maureen. 

It is framed and hung to the right of the front door at my parents’ house. I always loved the embroidery and it certainly sounded true.  What I didn’t know before I had children of my own is how hard it is to quiet the cobwebs and let the dust sleep.

I need to make it clear that I do not have an exceptionally clean or neat house.  We joke about the monster that eats socks while we rifle through the pile of clothes on the floor trying to find two that are the same size.  (Color is a bonus.)  I asked a friend who stopped over recently if she was shocked by the mess.  She said lovingly, “I’ve been here before.”  

I still hear the cobwebs scolding me and the dusty mantle taunting me while I sit on the couch playing This Little Piggy with Augusta.  

Shhhhhh…

Tonight, when he started to button his own jammies, I went downstairs for my camera.  I knew he’d still be working on the buttons when I got back upstairs.  He was calm and determined.  It’s something I do without thinking – buttoning up a shirt.  It takes patience when you are four years old.

f/1.8 ~ 1/200 sec ~ ISO 200 ~ 50mm ~ Canon 5DI have been away from Familiar Light for over two weeks.  In that time we have celebrated two birthdays and an anniversary.  An unexpected benefit of doing this Pogo Project is that it helps me see what knocks me off balance.  So far, it looks Christmas and birthdays.  Hmmmm.

But, I didn’t put my camera down in that time so I have lots in the bank to share every day. 

More tomorrow…

Thanks to readers who checked in with me while I was off my pogo stick. So nice to hear from you.