He's back

Oh yeah, Luke slept for 12 hours on Friday night (even as C'dale put a beatdown on M'boro!) and woke up Saturday a happy, excited and very mobile fella. The picture above is of him thwarting my progress with a super cute grin on his face as I tried to get all of his bedding and bed buddies to the laundry room. I am a bleiever and washing the fever out of a room/bed, etc...

Daddy took him the the freshman football game while mom cooked all morning. I made Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon which turned out really delicious :)

The weekend was beautiful, and we enjoyed family time. We went to the fair and saw some cows and tractors up close. Does life get better than cows and tractors up close?

Listening to one of his favorites read by gpa Nick. This is Fri. night when he was still feverish and not quite himself. Books were still a hit, though! So was a visit from Gma and Gpa. They brought homemade pizza, and we enjoyed dinner together.

The large Suburban in the window is being driven by its owner, Frank. He is 90 and lives across the street, and Luke loves him. We wave good morning and good night to his truck as it leaves and gets home most days.

Sunday morning we went to Kinkaid since Daddy hasn't been there in a while. Luke practiced rolling down hills and going the opposite way that his mom and dad are going. We didn't take a stroller with us b/c he is walking so much of the visit now, but strollers are still definitely handy to have when you JUST WANT TO WALK...we all had fun and it was glorious outside.
Eyeing a hill to walk down...

I mean roll down...

back up with Daddy. Thanks, Dad!


This morning, Vanessa and H came over to watch Luke while I went to a new yoga class. When I got home, Vanessa told me that Luke is super sweet and was impressed that a 1 yr. old shares :) and that he is such a happy boy! I loved getting a good report. She also loved the ball pit and said that they all spent some time in there this morning - I guess is it kind of a novelty to have a ball pit of one's own.

Last night, it got really chilly and I had all of the windows open so at about 4 I head Luke cry a little and I took his cool little body with me to the futon, got under a couple of heavy blankets (is it really August?) and knocked out until 7. He is still a bed hog, and I still love it!

and...he wakes up hungry, does the 'eat' sign and heads to the kitchen

Switching gears for a bit, I have been thinking lately about why we are here, as in, what is the meaning of life. The answers that go through my head all seem to have a theme in common which is to find joy/contentment in simple tasks/things. So, I am working to try and find more joy (can't you always find a little more joy) in daily living and here is my first recorded attempt. This part of the post has nothing to do with Luke so feel free to just move along, no offense taken!

I took our kitchen curtains down a few months ago and put some shelves up so that I could house some violets and herbs in the corner window. The herbs met a quick death, but I am pretty fortunate with the violets in my life. I added a few more recently and now I have this amazing and beautiful corner of purple blossoms that makes me smile every time I am in the kitchen (which is a LOT) There is one picture included of a plant with buds coming on strong. That one is for my dear friend Lesley. She gave me that plant 4 years ago and it has NEVER bloomed. Finally, I have found a spot that makes it happy, and, in return, I will enjoy its blossoms when they arrive. This is such a happy corner of the house.









Life is good and there is joy all around. LOOK FOR IT!