What a child doesn’t receive he can seldom later give. – P.D James.
This was Juju on Friday playing with some leaves at the park…
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I need this!


Mar
04
In my book club meeting this week we talked about “needs” and “wants” with your children and it got me thinking to what my own “needs” are in general. I get that we only truly need food, water, shelter and love. But I want more, should I be ashamed to say it? If you ask a monk he would say yes but since I’m no Monk here are my needs:

1. I need to have peace in all relationships. Don’t always have it but want it! Anger and fighting takes so much energy.
2. I need gum.
3. A pretty home. Not a big house with a gym, sauna and movie theater but I feel that I am at peace at home when the dinner table is set beautifully or I have a nice smelling candle burning.
4. Comfy sweats…How comforting is an old pair of super soft and comfy sweats when you’re bloated, sad or just feeling yucky?
5. Conversation…. I talk to my mother every single morning and we chat about everything and nothing. But I also love when Brian and I talk at the kitchen table about our goals for the year. (Mine are always travel related and his work)
6. Super chic flats.
7. Self control. No one likes to feel like they can’t control their emotions, thoughts and feelings.
8. Coffee! I swear my main motivation for waking up is for my hazelnut coffee, vanilla creamer, 2 Splenda addiction…
9. A sunny day in Winter to remind you of what you have to look forward to.
10. A gloomy, rainy storm in Summer to remind you of what’s to come.
11. Anything French to remind me that life’s small pleasures are simply a continent away!
12. A good giggle with Juju before bed.
13. Connecting with a good friend
14. HEALTH!!!
15. Writing a list like this to remind me that all I really need is food, water, shelter, love. DUH!

Images taken from theloveshop.

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21 Memos


Mar
04

I found this hanging up in a doctors office and just loved it…
This is a good reminder to all those who lovingly parent their children in the best way possible….

21 Memos From Your Child:

1. Don’t spoil me. I know quite well that I ought not have all I ask for. I am only testing you.
2. Don’t be afraid to be firm with me. I prefer it, it makes me feel secure.
3. Don’t let me form bad habits. I have to rely on you to detect them in the early stages.
4. Don’t make me feel smaller than I am. It only makes me behave stupidly big.

5. Don’t correct me in front of people if you can help it. I’ll take much more notice if you talk quietly with me in private.
6. Don’t make me feel all of my mistakes are sins. It upsets my sense of values.
7. Don’t protect me from consequences. I need to learn the painful way, sometimes.
8. Don’t be upset when I say “I hate you”. It isn’t you I hate, but your power to thwart me.
9. Don’t take too much notice of my small ailments. Sometimes they get me the attention I need.
10. Don’t nag. If you do, I shall have to protect myself by appearing deaf.
11. Don’t forget that I can’t explain myself as well as I should like. This is why I’m not always very accurate.
12. Don’t make rash promises. Remember that I feel badly let down when promises are broken.
13. Don’t tax my honesty too much. I am easily frightened into telling lies.
14. Don’t be inconsistent. That completely confuses me and makes me lose faith in you.
15. Don’t tell me my fears are silly. They are terribly real to me and you can do much to reassure me if you try to understand.
16. Don’t put me off when I ask questions. If you do, you will find that I stop asking and seek my information elsewhere.
17. Don’t ever suggest that you are perfect or infallible. It gives me too great a shock when I discover that you are neither.
18. Don’t ever think it is beneath your dignity to apologize to me. An honest apology makes me feel surprisingly warm toward you.
19. Don’t forget how quickly I am growing up. It must be very difficult to keep pace with me, but please try.
20. Don’t  forget I love experimenting. I couldn’t do without it, so please be patient with it.
21. Don’t forget that I can’t thrive without lots of understanding and unconditional love, but I don’t need to tell you that, do I?

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My little boy got me these flowers for hearts day :)
His daddy took him and apparently he picked these out (wink, wink!)
The picture above was taken today. We took him to ride the train which he is crazy about!
I am crazy about him!

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Is it normal to be so crazy about a little man like I am? I bet it is, being his mom is too good to be true. I find myself thinking about him all day long! Luckily Brian is just as kooky for him as I!
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Seven


Nov
14

How has it been seven years since I married the BEST (I’m biased) guy ever???

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Quote this…


Nov
09

I just love reading Jora’s Domestic Reflections blog… It always puts a smile on my face. 
In May, while I was visiting my cousin Sarah in San Francisco, we were walking one evening and struck up a conversation on the street with a gorgeous couple and their baby. We kept walking and talking making light conversation and then we each went our separate ways. The very next day, the woman which happened to be Jora messaged me via my blog. Turns out she had read my blog a few times in the past and after meeting me on the street she later put it all together… Small, small world or what? Anyways, I saw this quote on her blog and just loved it and had to share…

“your children are not your children,
they are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
they come through you but are not from you,
and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
you may give them your love but not your thoughts,
for they have their own thoughts.
you may house their bodies but not their souls,
for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
you may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
for life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.”
-kahlil gibran

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October 2008 at the Pumpkin Patch.
 
October 2009 at home getting ready for Halloween.
 October 2010 at the Pumpkin Patch.
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On Sunday this little baby,
Will be two years old! I’m so proud!
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For our Micho~

My dearest aunt passed away this morning from breast cancer. This is a poem that a friend sent me.

I thought I saw her face today
In the sparkle of the morning sun.
And then I heard the angel say Her work on earth is done.
I thought I heard her voice today
Then laugh her hearty laugh.
And then I heard the angel say? There’s peace little one at last.
I thought I felt her touch today
In the breeze that rustled by.
And then I heard the angel say The spirit never dies.
I thought that she had left me
For the stars so far above.
And then I heard the angel say She left you with her love.
I thought that I would miss her
And never find my way.
And then I heard the angel say She’s with you every day.
By Megan Stokes
My earliest memory of Micho was when I was 6 years old in Lebanon. We were driving home one summer evening and the sunset was orange and red. She asked me if I knew what it meant when the sky was that color. Of course I didn’t. She went on to explain that when the sunset is that bright hue, it meant it would be sunny the next day. From that day on, flame colored sunsets reminded me of her. The night before she passed, the sunset was so beautiful that Brian stopped me to take a photo. Have you ever seen such a gorgeous sunset in January?

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