treading water

Ever have a week where you just try to maintain? That was us this week. As soon as one person was on the mend the next victim fell prey to the fall sickys. Happily we all seem to be fine and dandy now and we were able to have quite a fantastic weekend. All's well that ends well. Cheers to a fresh week!

for fun

Who remembers the MySpace days? You know where you drained a million hours filling out ridiculous surveys? Those were fun!

I am...

making : big messes in my studio.

cooking : lots of chicken based dishes and soups.

drinking : coffee, cider with a splash of spiced rum, and the occasional diet coke

reading : I just finished this book- yeah I admit it. 

wanting : to get to a yoga class. 

looking : through my scratched lenses, lord do I need new glasses. 

playing : beauty shop with Lucy tonight. 

wasting : time on tumblr. 

sowing : seeds for next spring in my head. 

wishing : for some peace and closure surrounding a difficult situation. 

enjoying : seeing my kids play together. 

waiting : for a snow day! 

liking : my new boots. 

wondering : how old Gray will be when he passes up Lucy in size. She's dreading it. 

loving : fires in the fireplace. 

hoping : Lucy feels better tomorrow. It's so hard seeing your little under the weather. 

marvelling : at Gray's growing vocabulary. He's really taking off with his communication. 

needing : another kitchen timer The kids sent ours flying down the slide over the summer and it's dearly missed. 

smelling : this candle. 

wearing : lots of layers. 

following : the weather this week as I'm hoping to get some work done. 

noticing : that I am writing a lot of lists - lists of things to write, supplies to buy, clothes to pack. 

knowing : it will all be OK. 

thinking : If it weren't for Day Light Savings it would be 11:30pm right now not 10:30 and I'm tired. 

bookmarking : good children's book ideas on amazon for Christmas gifts. I love my little book worms. 

opening : a fresh bottle of wine. 

giggling : at the things Lucy says. 

feeling : happy, hopeful, loved and lucky. 

Happy Sunday night- I hope you have a great week!

first snow

Guess what? We got our first glimpse of snow overnight! To some it may sound horrifying- snow in mid October but to this Michigan native it's a welcome blast of cold air that I'm hoping will kill off the fruit flies and calm mine and Lucy's allergies. In honor of the cold and cozy weather I've got this recipe going in the crockpot right now for dinner tonight.

Last Friday on a whim I decided to surprise the kids with a chalkboard wall. Now that Gray is getting bigger and wanting to do more things with his sister the little one we had just wasn't cutting it anymore. The kids were thrilled and it's been keeping them busy at crucial times like when I'm trying to make dinner- the reason I chose a spot just off the kitchen. It's also fun to see what Lucy decides to draw. My favorite so far is the one she made of our family walking our dog, Trixie. I sat one night after dinner and had some coffee while she drew it. She was saying things like "Does daddy have a big head?" and "everybody gets a smile and a yeesh (leash)" I love that kid to pieces.

hello there: checking in

Hi guys! I swear I'm still around, I just haven't felt much like blogging lately and I always swore to myself this was a fun only zone not a chore. All that said though life has been crazy busy. We went to Southern California back in July and I had always meant to do a post about it.

We had so much on the first part of our trip visiting Disneyland and California Adventure with Nick's family. Lucy and Gray were in absolute heaven. Lucy still talks about it every.single.day.

The second leg of our trip we headed north to Santa Monica. Nick did some research and found the Channel Road Inn via an article in the New York Times travel section. It was perfect for us and I highly recommend them. They were very accommodating for our young family and perfectly located near all the fun spots. 

Gray loved digging in the sand. The scenery wasn't too shabby either. 

At the outdoor mall the street was lined with these really cute dinosaur fountains. 

A friend had given me some insider tips on where to visit in Santa Monica and one of them was this great little neighborhood splash park. This family loves a good splash park!

It was such a fun trip!

We were also hanging out with some pretty sweet Alpaca's a couple of weeks ago a few miles from our house. Lucy and I both are now obsessed with owning one (or two). They could live in the barn in the backyard right? 

I've also been working on Elizabeth Gray. The fact that it's so hard to keep up with and busy is a great problem I'm thankful to have. 

You can find me on INSTAGRAM at sarah_arkanoff posting often.

36/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Lucy: made a new friend at the zoo. We were all amazed at how close this beautiful creature was to us. 

Gray: celebrated Labor Day at his favorite place- the splash park. As usual he made quite a scene when it was time to go. We hate to see summer fade away but cozy fall days are just around the corner!