Dinner for two, on the porch

The other day was wonderful. It was about 70 degrees out, very light breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. I originally wanted to have a picnic outside in the yard but realized the ground was still a little wet, so I settled with dinner for two on the porch. It was lovely; myself, Mar, bubbly (water), and chickpea patties. It couldn't have been better. Well, maybe having Damien and Andrew join us would have made it better, but both were unavailable at the time, so it was just Amar'e and I. Soon, weather pending, I will be able to clean the porch from the mess it became over the winter. I have plans to spend a lot of time out there this summer. So that means more dinners and lunches on the porch coming soon.

P.S.-We want to wish Brad a Happy Birthday today!!!! 

Things I've been up to /// Not to be confused with a lately.

I will be the first to admit I've been a bit absent on the blog lately. Once a week posts are all I can accomplish lately....all for a pretty good reason. It has been a while since I've had the urge to sit down and make something, but with the nicer weather coming I've actually started a few projects in which I am excited about. Back in February I had a friend who had a baby, who wasn't suppose to arrive until early April, but he couldn't wait and decided to come at the end of February. This was a tiny problem because he was quite a bit early and I didn't have a gift ready. Well, I started to make him a gift the same day he decided to show up. With a lot of hard work the gift would have been done in time for his baby shower that weekend. Even with having to learn a new crochet stitch for what I was making him, it was totally worth it because I ended up loving this stitch and have big plans for it. Anyway, I started and finished this lovely blanket in about 2 weeks, and just recently finished another one. For what reason, I don't know, maybe to try and use up the left over yarn I had? I just had the urge to make something. So that turned into a project or two. This extreme amount of work my hands are doing crocheting is killing my carpal tunnel riddled wrists, making my fingers numb, and really doing a number on my rotater cuff injured shoulder. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I won't let it stop me. I love the feeling of starting and finishing a project. It's so gratifying. I'm even thinking of taking this love of my mine a step further, but that wont be now, maybe soon though. Here is what I've been creating:

I've also been working on my photography. I've been learning about shooting on Manual mode and feeling my way around Lightroom 4. I'm having so much fun with it. The only problem is my model is only interested for about 10 minutes at a time. I'll take what I can get though.

(I really wanted to remove that shadow on the right side of her face, but I am just learning Lightroom and wasn't sure how. Until I can get reflectors I'll have to change the time and position of my photo sessions for optimum natural light.)

 I've also been busy hanging out with my two favorite people.

What have you guys been up to?

Spring....Finally Here

This was one of the longest winters ever! Im sure I've said this in the past, but this one really felt extended. I know. Sometimes I feel like it's the only thing I have to say, but with nothing to take our minds off being cooped up in the house, there is really  no other way to feel about it (in my opinion). I hate to be that person that complains about the season/weather but I am that person who is highly sensitive to these things. The weather, sunlight exposure, and seasons affect my mood, motivation, and my overall frame of mind, more than the average person. I tend to get depressed during the winter months, and quiet frankly, I dont think I can take many more of these 6 month long stretch of feeling down, depressed, and not being interested in doing much more than nothing. I am so much more productive, present, pleasant, and happy during sunny warm days. Even cloudy warm days, as long as it's not freezing or snowing. I got a comment on one of my previous posts from someone I highly respect that made me feel a bit better about this issue. She stated she had to move away from the North East because her seasonal depression was ruining her life. This truly made me feel so much better about what I go through every winter. I thought it was a character flaw for the longest time and now I know this is the direct result of my environment.  The worst part of these long winters in watching the kids, especially Damien, sit in the house with nothing to do. I can't help but feel responsible for this and I am at a lost of activities (that don't cost money) for them to do. With Amar'e we can draw, play, pretend, jump, run etc. But with Damien......maybe a board game? Cards?  So to pass the time he plays his Xbox. This kills me because I know if it were warmer and sunny he would be outside shooting hoops and playing with the neighborhood kids. I feel helpless to change this situation. As it gets nicer out he is outside more and playing basketball and other outdoor activities. This brings a smile to my face. The temperature was pretty reasonable lately and we all ventured outside to play, check out the garden area, and look around the house. It almost felt like rediscovering our surroundings all over again.

I couldn't help but throw this one in the mix because of it's cuteness.

Has spring arrived where you are?

Lately

Haven't done a lately post in a while, so here it goes.....

Visiting little girl and big girl friends.  

Amar'e is obsessed with being a little momma lately.  

 What do you do with garlic that is doing this? Anyone?

 She has been requesting to wear her coat in the house at all times. I am not about to argue with that.

Time to give this mirror a wash. 

Wearing mama's eyes.

Someone thought that this fuzzy creature was hungry and needed some cat food for dinner. Every time I turned around I found this little guy here. The cats weren't impressed. 

All the snow in the front of the house is GONE! I'm beyond happy about this. Although, it wouldn't hurt  my feelings if it were warmer out. We are having a hard time hitting mid 50's and I'd really like to see some 60's, but the air still has a chill to it. I know it's coming though, and this is where I have to work on being patience.  

Opposite Schedules

It has been some time now that Andrew and I have been living on opposite schedules. It has been since July that Andrew started working nights. This allows Andrew to go to school full-time and work (almost) full time. For anyone who has lived opposites schedules with their spouse, you know that it is hard to get use to. I know it won't be forever, but it will be for at least another year. The whole opposites schedule things works for our situations, but it is still hard to live with. I work during the day (out at noon), your normal Monday through Friday. Andrew works nights, which means he sleeps after I get home from work, when he isn't in class. We are lucky to get an hour of catching up time in every couple of days. Yes, he is mostly off on weekends, which will be nice with the upcoming spring and summer because we will be able to do some family things together. As for now, weekends are reserved for big plans that never seem to manifest. Not much more than sitting around gets accomplished. We are both exhausted and still in hibernation mode with the cold days and bitter nights. For some people (us) spring is not here yet. I just stumbled across a video I made of Amar'e and I playing outside in mid April last year. I do mention that it is unseasonably warm out, and you can see that because Amar'e is only wearing a onesie. I guess we expected it to be the same thing as last year. How fast we forget that we have seen snow storms in April drop three feet of snow. And last June it was cold enough out that we had to run the heat. So I guess we are just ready to not be in hibernations mode anymore. Andrew will be done school in December. Oh, did I mention he will be a licensed Massage Therapist? We are pretty excited about it. He eventually wants to get into Athletic training but he needs more schooling for that, and they don't offer the program anywhere near by. It doesn't hurt my feelings that we will be getting a change in scenery if he decides to pursue further education.....in fact this family needs that, but it won't be as easy as I would like it be (more on that later).

Another obstacle of opposite schedules in parenting in shifts. He has the morning shift and I have the rest of the day, which includes Damien arriving home from school mid-afternoon and dinner. This, at times, gets challenging. It is much easier to parent together, but once again the opposite schedule doesn't allow for this to happen. Andrew already pulls off being up for 30 hours or so straight at the beginning of the each week, so sacrificing any more time to being up over sleeping is out of the question. For now, we are going to keep on going on the track we are on. It's working for us besides that fact that we miss each other.  One of our goals for the summer is to go on one childless date. The last date we had was the night before our wedding so we are long overdue.  We know that this life transition is something we must do to get to the next step in life. I know it's going to be worth it.

Her version of dogsledding? (no dogs were injured in the making of this mess)