Luscious Fibers, Food and Family

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Joining with SouleMama.

mama's work space

I'm fortunate to work from home one or two days a week. This allows me some extra time in the morning with my family and I can also do a few things around the house during the day to catch up a bit. For example, yesterday while working from home, I was also able to make some sweet potato cubes, get couscous ready for Maeve's dinner (a new food to try) and put away some various toys, clothes and other stuff that had been lying around.

I work at the table when I'm home and as you can see it's generally covered with various things. This is the life of a growing family living in a one-bedroom apartment in DC. We are quickly running out of space, but we do the best we can. The table surface goes through cycles of projects, deadlines, mail, lunches, reads, games, pictures and it's always changing. I thought I'd give you a look into what's happening on our table surface today.

spray bottle - we recently got our maine coon cat, kuba, shaved for the summer. He seems to be happy having some of the weight off and is definitely happier on DC's hot days. However our other cat, Kati, either doesn't believe it's still Kuba, or thinks he smells bad, I'm not sure, but Kati is picking on Kuba and not being very nice to him. This will last for about 3 days and so the spray bottle is handy for when Kati starts to get a little too mean.

strong coffee - I'm a working mother of an 11 month old.

pears and avocados - and lots of them. These are two of Maeve's favorite foods and as you'll see in my next description. Having favorite foods around is important.

baby eating reads - maeve's eating habits have changed. She used to eat everything. Now she's being discerning. Foods are more often than not, coming right back out, but thankfully she's learned to give them back to me (or dada) rather than throw them on the floor. So, I'm re-reading some helpful books to see what options there might be for helping her continue to eat healthy whole foods.

bird craft project - maeve loves birds and for her 1st birthday party we're decorating with birds. I've also made her a few cardboard birds that make her very happy play with.

 

So that's my work space today... as an employee, a mama and pet caregiver.

the waking process

One of my favorite times of the day is waking up with Maeve. She quickly pops up her head and her wild hair moves in every direction. Then she buries her head back down on me realizing that maybe that initial movement occurred too quickly. She then rolls around a bit, sitting up and falling back, I believe in an effort to wake herself up. This is where she is clearly more like daddy...needing some preparation and forethought before actually facing the day. But eventually she's awake and ready to either stand at the top of the bed, hold onto the headboard and fall back, then repeat fun acrobatics multiple times, or she'll read books. Since I'm generally still sleepy, I encourage the latter and grab her a handful of books to read while I try to wake myself up for the day. I listen to Maeve read her stories and make out words like "baa" and "quack" but I'm mostly fascinated by the inflection in her voice and her determination to share a good story...it's truly special.

my maine round-up

My long weekend in Maine was wonderful. I was able to visit with family, work by the water, watch the birds, help my father with his puzzle and relax. I appreciate James and my parents inviting me to stay with them during their vacation. This house on the lake is a sweet spot and it’s always lovely hanging out by the water in Maine during the summer. Here are some of my favorite shots.

tut's garden tour

I'm in Maine for the weekend and was happy to go on my father's garden tour. He has an amazing green thumb and great eye for picking beautiful flowers and plants for his garden. He's been building and changing the green spaces around their house for a number of years and there's always something new to see when I visit.

The pictures below are from our tour and one of my favorite plants this trip were the curly cucumbers. Not sure how they taste but their appearance is definitely interesting.  My father also loves his edible flowers. He eats a salad garnished with flower petals every day and the last picture shows my dad trying to get my brother to eat one of his tasty treats.

life at record speed

So I've been a little too busy to post each day...traveling, surprise parties, long hours at work...but I have tried to take a picture every day. So here's my catch up post.

Last week I headed to NY for a couple days for work. It was a quick trip and I didn't have any time to explore, but I managed to take this photo while crossing the street (thus blurry) on my way to dinner.

Grant's surprise party was a great success thanks to everyone that pitched in (including Sarah and Alyssa, pictured), fibbed and help keep Grant completely in the dark.  I will do a separate post for the party once I get some pictures from people. I do have a great video of Grant entering the apartment, which I can't wait to share.

Finally we see the sun and some warmer weather. It had been gloomy for a number of days. It was so lovely to be outside and feel the warmth.

Mum won't like this but it was the only one I had from this day. Mum and I went shopping and she found some great deals - as usual!

This day was crazy! Because I had been out of town I had just a few hours to pack up my stuff and get moved to my new office. So here it is, new carpet, new paint and thankfully I still have a window. Perhaps I'll take another photo when I'm more settled.

It's NIH day. This picture pretty much sums up what treatment days are like. Lot's of coffee, mum in her pink shirt with a smile and me using a hospital tray as my office.

Grant's Mother and sister are back from a great trip to Quebec with a stopover in DC. Last night we had a nice dinner of caramelized tofu and kale. Later it got a little crazy with some wii dancing. Good times.

happy birthday mum

Today is my mother's birthday. I'm out in California and she's in Maine so we won't be celebrating together, but I hope she has a great day and I look forward to doing something fun when she's back in DC. Love you Mum!

happy anniversary

Today is my parent's 49th wedding anniversary. I have always admired their relationship and want to wish them much happiness today and for many years to come.

pizza to go

Well not really to go, but it was our last dinner before Grant's mother leaves early tomorrow morning. Tonight we walked over to Columbia Heights and enjoyed some pizza and beer (the beer was ok...a little too hoppy for me) at Pete's Pizza. We like this place because it's casual, shared seating, New Haven style pizza, beer specials and best of all vegan cheese! It was a tasty meal.

dueling violins

Ok, perhaps not so much dueling as trying to hit correct notes. Grant and his mother are both learning to play the violin and while they are doing pretty good, there are some notes that make the cats cry. They are both very musically inclined so I'm sure they'll be playing beautifully together very soon.