oh, for the love.

this girl is fabulous…and not just because she’s beautiful. she’s effervescent and happy and her eyes smile every second of the live long day. she’s young and so is her sweet little voice. and she and her mama and i laughed until we cried last night taking these pictures.

…and i was so consumed with these incredible shots i was getting that i, in my own little camera world, walked into the street looking at my screen and almost got run over by a car, but that’s another story.

…it’s amazing how much beauty seeps out of these young girls when they’re just themselves. …happy. and confident. oh youth…with all the insecurities young women deal with these days…i wish i could take every one of them out…take their pictures…and tell them: dude. you’re fabulous. just the way you are. and don’t you ever forget it.

i had so much fun! kaity, you are crazy beautiful, baby!
…and i took the liberty of choosing this as your theme song, k? xoxo

see kaity’s slideshow here.

it’s saturday…and i’m happy for…

~sesame bagels…double toasted.

~a new carton of sidewalk chalk…just these chubby little sticks of vibrant, edible color. yum.

~my finished nook.

happy saturday.

not to rub it in, but….

it’s been just beautiful these past few days…warm sunshine and afternoon breezes. air that smells new and fresh…like a michigan spring. and the constant sound of lawn mowers and happy little birds. just this blessed culmination evocative of nothing but goodness. it’s drinkable, really.
so, we’ve set out to enjoy it as much as possible with morning walks where she points at everything and i answer her uh? uh? uh? ‘s with as many enthusiastic responses as i think her little brain can handle. with afternoon picnic-snacks on a blanket sprawled out on our side lawn. with welcoming our mornings by sliding all the glass doors in the house open to invite the goodness in…and, although we might have to slip on a sweatshirt or slipper up our feet for those first sips of coffee, it’s worth it…to greet the morning as everyone should be so lucky. with fresh, sweet february air.

i love living in florida in february. i love the thick woodsy barbecue smoke that curls its way around the neighborhood in the afternoons. the barefoot kids that land in our driveway on the weekends for a riotous game of manhunt. the backyard bonfires we’ve been enjoying and the way brett gets all excited about the bonfire possibly mastering the level of “coolness” needed to get all the neighborhood kids to choose our house for the saturday night hangout. he called me last weekend while i was out and all little-boyishly said…”i think we’re gunna have a lot of kids. get three bags of marshmallows and a ton of hot dogs.” and as the embers heated up and more lawn chairs were added to the ever-growing fire perimeter, i saw him get happier and happier. we did it. we’re cool enough.

…and then watching lainey get completely soaked with attention from all the boys’ friends…just sittin’ there in her brother’s lap, enjoying the marshmallows they all eagerly made her…and her smile. as happy as i was, i couldn’t help but be more happy for brett because i knew he had to be beaming.

i love the fact that, after bemoaning the fact that our neighborhood is so blessed with a slew of little boys, i wasn’t sure lainey would ever find a little girl to play with…a new family moves in four houses down from us just weeks ago. and, on our walk to introduce ourselves, we see four kids playing in the driveway. and, as we get closer and closer, we notice a blond head about lainey’s height. and closer…we notice curly pigtails. and, upon introduction to this sweet family, we learn she is only a month older than lainey. and i love that two nights ago, we all stood in our driveway with a cooler of beer, a box of sidewalk chalk, and a trail of wagons and trikes and talked for two hours while our kids played in the moonlight. that’s outside. in february.

i love afternoon hose fun and the sound her little painted toes make when they squelch and squerch in the puddly mud.

i love getting dinner started and then escaping with her to practice some trike-riding in the driveway in the afternoon light.

oh, and i really, really love these pictures we took today.

i love little bare shoulders and thin cotton straps. in february.

i love…sunshine and sea breezes. warm pavement on bare feet when i run to get the mail. vivid blue skies. saying ‘yes’ everytime she points to go outside. trikes and bikes that don’t hibernate to hanging garage pegs for half the year. going coatless. polishing my toenails because it does matter and people will see them.

i love february florida.

and i love…her.

…but you kinda already knew that, no?

…enjoying the sunshiney things. ~k