it's been a while...

so many things have happened since i last posted--some great, some interesting, and some not so great. i'll skip the details of the not so great things. for me, they are the things that make me want to draw into my shell and not communicate with the world. they make me feel worn out, antisocial, not really up to giving anything to anyone. and i guess that would include putting myself "out there" here in this space.

i will say that part of my issue i think was that in the past 4 weeks i have had 5 (or maybe 6) jobs on my plate, all of which were due on almost exactly the same day. i have always thought i did well under pressure (at one point i even had that as a summary point about myself at the top of my resume), but the more i freelance the more i realize that i do NOT like to juggle multiple projects at once. i am good at it, actually. it's just that i don't sleep at night, don't function very well during the day. i hate that feeling that i have unfinished business hanging over my head, and i can't relax until ALL the projects are done.

that said, i finally finished my final project (for now anyway) last night. hooray! it was a 900-page book about...teamwork. i know, right? how much can really be said about teamwork? apparently a lot. don't even ask me what the heck was said--it all ran together. i'm just glad it is over.

so now to the fun reporting. remember i said i was waiting on a mother's day present to arrive? well it finally did, and now that i have a break i can finally dig in and devour all 400 pages of it:

i have gotten her magazine ever since my friend amy introduced me to her about 4 years ago. i was sad when i thought her magazine had gone away forever, and then not long ago rick came home with the latest issue. it rekindled my fondness for this woman and all the passion she stirs in me to connect myself with the earth. i haven't gotten far yet in the book, but i am already psyched to try out her sourdough starter and bread and mix up a homemade batch of her bakeover dough.

while i was working so hard, my husband kept up with all things house and kid related, which was such a huge help because i couldn't do what i do without him. rhys has kept us especially busy these days. take a look at what he's been up to:

here, complete with carrots on his face and spiky hair (it only seems to grow right on top), he's trying to get into the bath with his big sister, who is egging him on like crazy to jump on it. (glad i intervened in that one...)

he loves to get into the things he's not supposed to be touching (rubbing alcohol, the hair dryer--don't worry, nothing is open or plugged in). i had forgotten how much mess a baby can make in such a short amount of time. by the way, this funny face he's making is because he's cutting his SIXTH tooth. this little one's body just will not let him rest on the teething. i hope once this one comes through he'll be done for a while--for both our sakes. :)

now to the explanation of the picture that begins this post: yesterday i went blueberry picking with my friend krystal and my older 2 kids. they really wanted to go, and rick really didn't want to go, so he graciously volunteered to stay home with rhys. oh the sacrifices--he got to stay home in the A/C while we were out in 90-plus degree temps in the blazing sun searching high and low for blueberries. at one point i swear the kids were going to actually melt--they were certainly having major meltdowns. simultaneously declaring, "i'm thirsty. i have to pee. now i don't have to pee. i'm hot. i'm REALLY hot. i'm so hot. can you carry me? can i ride on your back? how much farther do we have to walk? i don't want any more blueberries. can we just go to the car?"

up to the meltdown point, though, they had a great time. they both put a lot of effort into filling the buckets with blueberries (even if it was mostly motivated by competition to see who could find the most first--oh yes, my children can find competition in ANYTHING...).

despite the heat, we had a great time. thanks to krystal, we finished off the day with pizza and ice cream, which i think made it all worth it for gillian and aedan. :)


this is obviously at the start of the day--look at those innocent, happy faces.krystal and gillian finding some berries to pick.

this is where the meltdown began...

and i just really really liked these sprinklers.

hopefully in the next day or two i will be able to post about a crafting project i'm working on, but i won't jinx myself by telling you what it is until i see if i will have the follow through to actually do it.

have a great week!