Rain

February 12, 2011 By Kelle

In the sun, I move quickly. Energized by its warmth and promise of outdoor activities, I sense the needle of my capability monitor creeping upward, and I often misjudge where it stops, convincing myself that an extra dose of Vitamin D means Do More. On a hot day we change our clothes once, twice, maybe three times, trading t-shirts for tank tops, tank tops for bathing suits, bathing suits for t-shirts. My mind reels erratically–as it has instinctively done since I was young–thinking of all the things we can do. We can run in the sprinkler. We can walk to the lake. We can trace our bodies with sidewalk chalk. And maybe we can do them all at the same time, like one of those one-man bands, blowing a harmonica, beating his drum and banging his cymbals all at once. I like that the sun is a good friend where we live–that it motivates and empowers me.

But–yes, but–the see-saw must shift its balance from time to time and, for this reason, I crave the calm that a good snow day brings. I miss the way my mind and body settled when, waking up to the swirl and whirl of a good blizzard, I knew there was nothing I could do but relax. Lainey loves to play storm. “Let’s pretend a storm is coming,” she says, and we run under the coffee table, covering ourselves with blankets, mimicking the sound of whistling wind and crowding our bodies closer. Her eyes get big and I, in turn, pretend to get excited. And there’s something…I don’t know…cozy about it all.

I say this not to complain about our bare feet and hatless heads in February, but to preface the good welcome of yesterday’s rain. An entire day of gray skies, slick reflective pavement and the calming hum of steady rain, whispering Do Less.

We did less. And it was good.

Rain accumulation on our screen.

A quick escape for first year well visit and thankful to have just that…a well baby.

Busy bee tries to swipe everything from Dr. Foley.

She does “So Big” about a 100 times a day, her “baby shows off” weapon of choice for new friends.

…perhaps my favorite picture of her ever:

And returning home for more rain…

…and our only Do Less disclaimer was that we baked. A tiny kid-sized cherry pie. We left the dirty dishes though…to abide by the whole Do Less rules, of course.

My mom always used the leftover pie crust to roll out, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake 15 minutes for cinnamon crust…divinity with a cold glass of milk, I must say.

And, in keeping with the coziness of a good rain post, our new sponsor, Blanket My Baby, has an incredible collection of baby blankets and bedding to choose from. Lainey has always had her favorite puppy blanket, and I’ve been looking for a small one to become Nella’s favorite. We may have it here with her new Lovey Blanket. (look under handmade blankets for super cute prints for boys too!) Use Coupon Code “ENJOY10” for 10% off your entire order.