Looking Up

Things have been looking up around here... at least I've been looking up.  How could I not, with skies like this??

I see a sky-diving bunny, what do you see?

 I don't know what weather patterns (besides insane heat) have contributed to such gorgeous clouds in the sky lately, but the skies have been incredible to look at every day!

The clouds have been massive, voluminous, fluffy, pure white entities you wish you could jump into.

...it's the stuff that daydreams are made of...

My kids call them Toy Story clouds (like the ones on the wall in Andy's room).  And speaking of kids, they are keeping me worn, I tell you!  If you are a work at home mom and juggling motherhood and keeping on target with running your own business, while maintaining sanity, please share your secrets.  I'd love to feel like I'm doing things right at least one day a week.  Xp (that is me looking pooped)

But I feel positive.  Being a mom is the toughest job, ever.  Ever ever.  But it's one I wouldn't trade for the world, and would probably do all over again if I could (don't ask me that on a bad day though).  And I can't help but think that..

...if parenting didn't feel like the toughest job in the world, then I must not be doing it right.

So I am celebrating today!  I'm celebrating the fact that my back is in knots, my hair is a mess, and I'm still in my pajamas on a Friday afternoon, still trying to enjoy my morning coffee (one sip at a time).  It is Friday, right?

And I'm celebrating my kids..and motherhood... stressful moments and all!  All the craziness just makes the calm moments that much sweeter. 

 I hope you'll find something to celebrate today too.  *cheers!*  :)  Here's to a lovely weekend!

PS.  These sky photos were taken with my phone camera and posted via Instagram. If you instagram, you can see more of my daily photos at "envedesigns"...please come and say hi! :)

She is the reason...

 ...why I've been missing the past few months.

Lexington was born April 20th (I know, I'm a smidge late on this post).  I can't believe she's nearly 3 months old now!  For those of you who follow me on facebook, twitter, or my new instagram addiction account (@eNVeDesigns), you've had many glimpses of this little lady already.  She, along with her big brother and big sister, are keeping me beyond busy.  My energy is zapped and with whatever free time I feel like I have, all I want to do is close my eyes for a micro nap.  But life has never been fuller and I hardly remember what it was like before Lexi came along.  It's like she's always been around.  Needless to say, I have to dust off this blog of mine... and update you on some things... like the fact that my Warm Hearts Necklace is gone!... I've been waiting for it to turn up in the mail somewhere, but it's been many months now and nothing.  Anyway, that will be another post.

So for now, I'll leave you with this smiling face.  In the meantime, follow me on instagram if you're there!  It's the quickest way for me to connect now.  I'll be posting jewelry works in progress (as soon as I get more than a minute to work on jewelry again), my "photo a day" pics, and random snapshots of my daily life.  And I'll be back here with more notable happenings.. like a giveaway.  I think it's time for one, don't you?  'Til then, my friends! 

P.S.  I'm having a huge summer sale in my Etsy shop right now.. 30% OFF everything!  See the coupon code in my shop announcement!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Lunar New Year (if you celebrate it)!  We spent the weekend in my hometown with family, and had a great Tết (Vietnamese new year) celebration. 

We played traditional games, ate delicious food, and took the kids to see the Dragon dance.  This year was the first year they weren't crying and terrified of it, so that was a nice bonus!  It's considered good luck to feed the dragon "lì xì" (red envelopes containing lucky money) and we attempted to get the kids to feed them, but again, it was a no go.  Maybe next year.  Jax gave me his money to feed to the dragon (that's my blurred hand in the pic below).

My parents had a Hoa Mai tree (a tree with yellow blossoms that's native to Vietnam, traditional decoration for the new year) with fluttering red lì xì envelopes with different amounts of money in them.  We each took turns cutting down a lucky red envelope.  True to my luck, I picked one with only a dollar in it.  :)  But hey, it's a lucky dollar!

Chúc mừng năm mới (Happy New Year) and cung chúc tân xuân (gracious wishes of the new spring)!  I hope the year of the Dragon brings you much prosperity and happiness.  I know we're looking forward to meeting our little luck dragon, scheduled to arrive in April.  ;)  


What are you looking forward to this year?

 

Finding Extra (in the) Ordinary :: Fun with Bubbles!

One of my favorite things to do when the weather warms up in the springtime is play with bubbles.  They're just so much fun and the kids love it too.  :)  I always try to take pictures, but bubbles are so hard to photograph!  This time around, I think I got a few good ones.  I love how colorful they are against the sunset!  Completely serendipitous.  And have I mentioned how much I love my camera's auto setting?  I'll say it again!  I love this camera and its auto mode!  All I did was point and click.  No skills required on my part.

The kids had such a great time chasing the little elusive orbs around the deck.  Jax was trying to pop them with his head and his mouth.. so entertaining, that little dude!  And of course Kaili followed suit and did what big brother was doing.  Gotta love this age.  They're just so much fun to watch.  :)

Love this shot because it looks like Jax is juggling the bubbles!

And here's Kaili balancing a bubble on her little finger!

 

And this last one is a picture I took a couple years ago when we were still living in Boston.  I just love it for so many reasons.  :)

What's your favorite springtime activity?

Hope you're all enjoying spring!

Finding Extra (in the) Ordinary :: Dragons and Igloos and Dresses, OH MY!

I've been having a lot of fun with my "Finding Extra (in the) Ordinary" project and have been snapping pictures left and right.  But finding the time to upload them and blog is another task in itself.  And that is why I am sitting here at 3 AM, reliving my college days of burning the midnight oil.  So I hope you will stick with me on this photo project, despite it not being the daily post that I had originally hoped for.   :)

Last weekend, we celebrated the Lunar New Year in my hometown.  One of our traditions is watching the dragon dance, which is one of my favorite highlights of the celebration.  I tried to get a good shot, but they moved so much and the lighting wasn't great so these were the best of the bunch.  Photography is so challenging!

It's considered good luck to feed the dragons "lucky money" so they were dancing through the audience and people were feeding them the lucky red envelopes.  We tried to get Jax and Kaili to feed the dragons...

...but they were terrified!  Just look at the grip Kaili has on daddy's arm.  I guess they do look a little menacing, with those crazy hypno-eyes.

Then my brother-in-law tried to offer the dragon his first born child, which I'm pretty sure is not considered good luck.  :)

We also got to spend some time during the weekend playing in the snow.  With all the crazy snow we've been getting, we had to put it to good use.  And by we, I mean my cousins and my husband.  And by good use, I mean they built an igloo.. or a "snow fortress" as my husband called it.

Almost big enough for the four of us!

And yes, I did mention dresses earlier.  (who needs segues anyway? not me.. not at 4:30 in the AM..holy cow, it's 4:30??)  I'm definitely cutting this post short.  I was going to tell you about an AH-MAZING giveaway I have lined up for you, but this is the short version.  Keep your eyes peeled for my next giveaway!  You won't want to miss it!  Hint: you could win a fabulous dress!

Until then.  Happy dreams!  I'm off to la la land.

Finding Extra (in the) Ordinary :: Tiny Toes

It's hardly ever quiet when the kids are awake, but when "quiet" happens spontaneously, it is heaven.  Especially when it's our little firecracker, Kaili, who rarely sits long enough for me to read an entire story at a normal pace.  I'm happy to know that she does like books after all.

I hope you can find a little quiet too, exactly when you need it.

View all photos in Finding Extra (in the) Ordinary series.

Finding Extra (in the) Ordinary :: Day 1

After finding a spark of inspiration, I decided to go forward with my personal photography challenge -- capturing something extraordinary in my otherwise ordinary day.  I'd like to do this as a photo-a-day, but admittedly it's a bit ambitious.  But what's a challenge without it being challenging, right?  So here are a few from Day 1.  It was unusually warm yesterday so Jax and I were outside playing with the melting snow and ice.  Pretty ordinary, but certainly not through the eyes of a 3-year-old!  He found a sheet of ice in the back of his yellow toy dump truck and we both examined and admired each tiny detail. 

I love how the sunlight played with the cracking surface of the ice... and the gentle gradation of colors shining through is so beautiful to me.  I'm happy I snapped these photos before I (fumble fingers) dropped the ice and shattered it.

We then built a tiny snowman.  One arm was three times longer than the other, but he was a happy little guy.  I say "was" because by the end of the afternoon, all the snow on our deck was gone, and all that was left of our little friend was a tiny pile of twigs.

Here he is with Jax.  :)  So what's the moral of the story?  Enjoy the little things before they're gone.  ;)

Have a beautiful Saturday, everyone!

Oh my... How quickly a year goes by!

I can't believe it's already been over a year since we welcomed our little baby Kaili into the world.  And just as we did during Jax's first year, we also did for Kaili.  Here is her 1 to 12-month collage.  I'm still in awe of how much change happens during that first year, not just physically, but developmentally! And just what did she get for her first birthday??  Her two front teeth..finally!  : B

No matter how much I try to take mental pictures and notes of those "priceless" moments, if it weren't for the miracle of video and photography, I really would see it all as one big blur.  And thank heavens for digital photos!  I had to take about a thousand frames to get these.  And thank heavens for photoshop because she outgrew that pink blanket I used for a backdrop.  They grow so fast!  So enjoy your little ones while they still are. :)

Where are we?

We packed up the kids and went on our first family road trip (well, excluding for the cross-country move).  Can you guess where we went?  It should be pretty easy.  Here are some more snapshots.

I'm trying to be a little artsy fartsy and mysterious with these pictures.  I really love that this sculpture looks like a giant dew drop in the middle of the city.

It was a fantastic little 4th of July vacation and we all needed it.  The kids had a blast.  Hope everyone had a relaxing break!  Sorry I fell off the earth for a bit.  I'm back now and I hope *fingers crossed* I'll have time to do a shop update soon.  Until then, check out the Christmas in July sale going on in my shops!  ;)