Garden Surprise.

{image via we heart it}

                                                                                                                                 

This afternoon, I watched as AB flitted around the backyard like a woodland sprite, gathering flower blossoms, pebbles, pine cones, leaves, and blades of grass into her basket. These were the ingredients for her famous dessert, "Garden Surprise". Every so often she would pause, step away from her "work", and twirl as fast as her little feet could manage until she collapsed onto the grass, giggling uncontrollably in the hazy sunshine.

I marvel at her ability to find such joy by simply combining nature with the limitless possibilities of imagination.

Oh, to be six years old again.

Happy Solstice.

(image via tumblr)

Pause. Reflect. Release.

Glance at the sun.

See the moon and the starts.

Gaze at the beauty of the earth's greenings.

Now,

Think.

-Hildegard of Bingen

AB's 6th Birthday.

Oh, happy day.

Time with children runs through our fingers like water as we lift our hands, try to hold, to capture, to fix moments in a lens, a magic circle of images or word. We snap photos, videotape, memorialize while we experience a fast-forward in which there is no replay of even a single instant. - Louise Erdrich

Gifts for the Urban Mama.

1.essie nail polish in power clutch

2. essie nail polish in master plan

3. Working Mom Survival Guide

by Susan Riss & Teresa Palagano

4. NOOK Color from Barnes & Noble

5. Design*Sponge at Home

by Grace Bonney

6. Monocle magazine

7. Envirosax in Bloom

Thus far the mighty mystery of motherhood is this: How is it that doing it all feels like nothing is ever getting done.   
-Rebecca Woolf

Gifts for the Creative Girl.

1. On the Go Coloring Wallet from Spotted Stone Studios

2. Charley Harper Coloring Book

3. Natural Beeswax Crayons from Anthropologie

4. The Coloring Book by Herve Tullet

5. Woodland Branch Colored Pencils from LEIF

6. My Wonderful World of Fashion: A Book for Creating, Drawing and Dreaming by Nina Chakrabarti

When you learn, teach. When you get, give. -Maya Angelou

Just A Pen.

{image via flickr}

At breakfast this morning, AB angled a pen on a thick wicker placemat. The following exchange occurred:

"Hey Mom, the pen looks like a slide!"

"You're right! And you know, that's what is called an 'incline'."

"Or a pen."

Well, alrighty then.

There is so much that I want for her to learn. There are teachable moments all the time. However, in my earnest quest to expose her to as many cool and wonderful things as possible, I sometimes forget that she's only five. I don't need to take every single opportunity to introduce a concept or emphasize an idea.

Sometimes a pen is just a pen (that looks like a slide).

Inspiration Roundup.

(image via pinterest)

Things that inspired me this week:

• Kimberly's gratitude - tranquility du jour
• Kelly Rae's musings on being brave in sadness, brave in love - Taking Flight Into Art, Life and Love
• Danielle on respecting your natural abilities - white hot truth
• Roseline's Monday greetings - {this is glamorous}
• Bella's Wish List - J. Crew
• The New York Time 100 Notable Books of 2011 - The New York Times