It is pouring, and Queen’s “Somebody to Love” is blasting through my house.  All the cousins are rocking out . . . and so am I.  How can you refrain when listening to that song?

In between breaks of rain the cousins race out for some four square.  In this house–it’s all about the four-square.

Even little Ollie has learned the rules (which are still a mystery to me) as he yells out “BUS STOP!!!”  Which means all must run to touch the ball and the last one there is out.

Sophie celebrated her 9th on the ice with all her friends.

How can my baby be so big?  Nothing but smiles, ever appreciative of what she is given, the best sister.  She can now add Student Council to her list of activities–that was a big one for her!

Christmas came and went.  Scaled back, simple, lovely.

Live nativity with the cousins, gingerbread houses, decorating the home, viewing the temple lights, corny PJ’s:)

The only part missing–my family which I didn’t get to see this year.

My favorite gift?  A couple days away in Napa Valley sans kiddos.  Beautiful country, a natural springs spa, and AMAZING food at the famous Bouchon.

Swindles made their annual January trek.  We squeezed in a couple trips to the city (wowed by the new California Academy of Science), enjoyed parks in record-breaking warm weather and whipped up these skirts for the little ladies–(seriously Becs, you are a genius)

We are enjoying sunny days and cozy nights–complete with firelight storytelling (how about that full-moon?)

If you are up for a mean game of four-square, do stop by.

A week in Missouri to see my baby brother and his sweetheart wed . . . aren’t they just beautiful?  Her dress circa 1950’s, hat-circa 1930’s.

Friends abound carving pumpkins the afternoon of the reception.  The end result–lovely!

A weekend in beautiful Yosemite.  On our way, we happen upon a real Native American Powwow.  The children were simply enchanted (photos via Sophie for a photography competition).

Hike to the falls, big Alph had Ollie on his shoulders the whole way.  The next morning as the children stir I hear “Oh, my bum . . . it hurts!”  It was a pretty steep hike:)

Family and friends visiting.  A quick weekend with Tasha and Dave in Monterey (ask her how we ambushed a Michael’s and set up camp in a craft room) and one with the ever-welcome B. Wises.  My favorite days are these “cousinfest” days.  Serious play from sunup to sundown.  (We are crossing our fingers they will get their dream house right down the road.)

Indian summer days full of soccer practice, piano lessons and homework.  Feeling a bit too busy, and trying to find ways to slow down and enjoy them while they are young.

Found Sam hiding behind his pillow this morning in tears, “you are mad at me mom.”  We were late this morning and I was rushed and impatient.  Not their fault, but mine.  Slow down, Amy, get organized, don’t forget to hug them and tell them how much you love them.

Happy Autumn!

I celebrated with a cup of Mayan Hot Chocolate from the ever delicious Moonstruck Cafe.  A big cheers to me!

Been trying to get organized and have hit my house and closets with a vengence–it feels so good!  I’ve also been feeling a little crafty.

I’ve been wanting to wallpaper the inside of my vintage built-ins, but haven’t wanted to cough up the money.  So I was thrilled when I walked down an aisle of Target and found the cutest contact paper/shelf liner!  Two hours and five buck later–Viola!

My other little project serves a purpose.  I’ve been struggling with finding time to read scriptures with the kids.  The morning is too hectic and at bedtime I’m too exhausted to deal with it.  So I came up with this cute idea (if I may say so myself).  I covered an empty can with pieced favorite fabrics of mine.  I then wrote the scripture mastery verses on popsicle sticks and placed them inside.  I’ve placed it on my buffet in the dining room so each night one of the children chooses a stick and we read that scripture.  It is simple, stylish and effective . . . just how I like things!

Now I am off to tackle my closet!

Many tears were shed, both from my school-goers and non-schoolgoer. The transition from Kindergarten to first grade may be a little tough for my Sam Man. The extra two and half hours is a haul and he is quick to tell me, “But it is so loooong . . . I have to stay the whole time?”

And Mr. Oliver, who is 3 but thinks he is 7, cannot understand why HE is not attending elementary school as well. Everyday he dones his backpack and lunchbox hoping it will be the day the rules change and he can hop out of the van with his brother and sister. It is EVER so sad . . . I can hardly stand it:(

Feeling so grateful for my brood this week.

The story of a lovely mother in the blog world has filled my thoughts this week. She and her husband were involved in a serious plane crash in which they were severely burned. They have 4 children under the age of 6 who are under the care of her sister. Many sites are holding silent auctions to help fund the costs of the long recovery for these parents. Check out DesignMom who lists all the amazing things up for auction. Happy bidding!

**Do you not adore these pics? They were taken by Jonathan Canlas and just make my heart melt every time I look at them.

My favorite city, right behind San Francisco, would have to be New York. A few local gals and I headed to the Big Apple celebrate Miss Gwen’s 40th birthday.

Yes, I know, she looks AMAZING!

We were lucky to see two fabulous shows that exceeded my expectations–Wicked and Mary Poppins. Wicked’s music and storyline brought me to tears, while Mary Poppins played out like an old school, grandiose musical. The stage sets knocked my socks off. Each play was la-lovely in it’s own right!

We shopped SoHo,

strolled through Central Park,

navigated our way through the subway maze,

met up with my baby brother Josh and his cute girlfriend Jessica for a late night dinner,

basked in the glory of the Museum of Modern Art,

and relished each other’s company.

Not a bad way to spend your 40th, eh Gwen?

How fortunate for me to have friends that encourage intelligent and caring conversation, a love for arts in all forms of expression and just plain wicked fun. In one of the endearing little shops we visited in my lovely San Francisco, Miss Becky found a book which Miss Tasha then informed me we all must buy. I followed orders (I’m no dummy), hardly glancing at the book.

This morning while unpacking my weekend goodies and reflecting on my sweet memories, I came upon this unknown book and it fell open to this page with this amazing quote.

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I loved just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” Diane Ackerman

I stopped breathing for a few seconds and savored those few moments when time is suspended. YES, we all think this, but few say it as well.

I have my varying views on blogging. My lack of it lately confirms it. What are the motivations? Narcissism, reflection, journaling, keeping touch with distant family and friends or portrayal of an image or life that is inaccurate? I have not figured out the answer . . . but perhaps it doesn’t matter. It can be whatever it needs to be for the author.

For myself, I’m choosing it to keep a record of my life, the life where I want to fully live it’s width–to share my passions, my dreams, my memories, my movie of life.

It won’t be too personal, nor too frequent–I’m more comfortable with that. But it will be me.

So . . . hello! And if your curious what amazing shops and restaurants we discovered in San Francisco this weekend–stay tuned!

But I couldn’t–they were having too much fun!

That is, until their delightful plan took a turn for the worse.

I DO, however, just need to buck it up and get over it.  There are lovely events and fun resources I want to share–but time, as well, has not permitted. Visitors, playdates and warm weather have distracted me

Some of you lovelies have e-mailed me requesting some of those links I posted in the past couple January blogs that have not yet been reposted. Hopefully that will happen soon (Brig is being a dear and reposting them so I can eventually have them ready to print out for a blog book). So keep checking!

Happy note–Our trees our in blossom and the daffodil bulbs which my kiddos planted in the fall are blooming!!!

Brigham has found some of the blog that has been cached by Google and I have spent MANY hours on a search and recovering mission throughout the web. I probably have now found about two-thirds of my entries and hope to find more.

We are now taking steps to save all of our blog entries to our hard drive. In addition we have now backed up our hardrive to an off-site holder. This covers us in case we were to have a fire in our home or were our hard drive to crash and lose everything on the computer–including our precious photos where they are stored.

Having almost lost everything, I realize how very priceless and irreplaceable both this blog and my pictures are. I would encourage you all to look into doing a similar thing. My blog won’t be running at full capacity for a little while (I’m not sure if you can even leave comments-try so I can see if it works).

On a bright note, I just had a glorious week with friends and family. I feel so lucky to have my wonderful mom and sister and then my beloved Swindles visit us. This made for two very hard goodbyes at the airport:) Thank you, thank you for coming!

We headed to Ocean Beach–because there is no other place I’d rather
be than near water. This beach is right in the city so it a little more
gritty–but it has it’s own special flair.

The children enjoyed the sand and running from the cold tide. I enjoyed watching them.

The sound of waves can relax me like nothing else–it gives Percocet
a run for the money. The light was amazing . . . golden, diffused rays.

A drive through beautiful Pacific Heights and a quick stop at the Palace of Fine Arts–built in 1912 for the World’s Fair.

It was going to be torn down but the city felt it was just too beautiful. Having read Devil in the White City last year, I understand a little more what went into creating these amazing fairs (I highly recommend this book).

We ended the day with Clam Chowder and Ice Cream at the Wharf.

It’s raining again today–but it’s all good. With yesterday’s
adventure under our belts–we’re happy to snuggle by the fire and dream
about our next clear day.

***********

At the request of Miss Melissa, a girlfriend who recently moved out
east (we miss you!), I want to share with you some of my design
resources. There are many great design blogs out there, by far my
favorite blog is decor8. The blog’s author Holly has amazing taste and is a WEALTH of resources about furniture, wallpaper, homes and Etsy artists. Other blogs I enjoy are Style Court and Absolutely Beautiful Things.

Magazines that I draw inspiration from are Domino and House Beautiful.
I’ve been loving House Beautiful lately because each issue they have a
section on paint colors–which I think is one of the toughest parts in
design.

Blueprint, a more youthful and modern mag from Martha Stewart is also really fun. It has lots of funky DIY projects.

And don’t forget that almost all the decor magazines have fantastic
websites with loads of photo galleries you can go through for
inspiration. In addition to the magazines listed above, check out HOME,
ELLE Decor and Cottage Living on-line.