Listening to Winter Song, World on Fire and Song For a Winter’s Night.

Hands cupped around mugs of tea for literal warmth.

Finally getting some undershirts for my kids, even if they insist on stripping and never wearing socks.

Days of strange spurts of warmer weather keeping us from the harshness of unending cold.

Eyes always searching for color outside in bits and pieces wherever I can find it.

Slightly longer days and watching the way the light changes and moves inside the house through the day.

Re-visiting are so happy’s lovely warmth posts from last year.

Facebook/blog reading less, actual books in front of my face and reading a lot more.

Catching up on the winter edition of Rhythm of the Home.

If there’s one thing that picking up my camera more and having kids has taught me over the past few years, it’s how to slow down and pay attention to the changing seasons. I know I’m in the minority, but winter amazes me. I love the cold, the quiet, the slower pace.  I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’ve already ordered seeds and started spring garden planning and chicken planning and that this art isn’t making me want a warm summer night to take the kids camping.

But, I’m good with winter and more than happy to curl up under a blanket with a mug in one hand and a book in the other for now. I definitely have a few more snowstorms and days of getting coats and hats and mittens on and off left in me for the season.

Watching movies on the phone.

Finally getting over sickness.

Cousins in town.

A busy week at work.

Sara Haze on Pandora.

A very chilly trip to the park.

Two too many errands today that stretched little ones past their limits.

Stew for dinner (rosemary skillet chicken last night from here via here last night was incredible. If you make it, add more mushrooms and thank me later!)

Two year old screeching tantrums that are driving us to the very edge.

Nothing got done on the list – not the laundry, not the picking up my bedrooms, not the cleaning the bathroom. We did, however manage to remember to get new toothpaste and new hair ties, so that’s a win.

Ecstatic that a roll of film actually turned out how I wanted (these are all Fuji 400h insanely overexposed for anyone who cares about that stuff.)

From the library: On Writing, Ansel Adams 400 Photographs, Snow Sounds, Brave Irene, The Search for Spring, This Year’s Garden

Links I’ve been Saving: {You can also check some out here. I started a Great Blog Posts Pinterest board to keep track when I find stuff that isn’t in my Google Reader.}

• 30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself
• Unstyled Life – about your “stuff,” from the perspective of after you’re gone.
• The 4 Minute Marriage Habit
• Getting Rid of Just in Case: 20 Dollars, 20 Minutes
• 12 “Other” Life Resolutions/Habits to Consider
• STAY – Incredible, realistic writing and (the recipe is right up my alley.)
• snuggling on the couch – Love these photos from here phone and the words on changing perspective for a different picture.
• The Food of 2011 - please don’t lick your screen:)
• Also, the spice rack book shelves? On Apartment Therapy Family now as one of the design trends of the year for children – ridiculous! I figured I might include a picture of what’s on the shelves today – it rotates regularly. Go check out the rest of the trends, too!

How’s your week??

Snow last weekend managed to kill almost everything left in the garden. Almost.  When I went out to take some last pictures before we start putting it to bed, I realized that we still had carrots left that I had forgotten – yay! We also still have tons of herbs that I didn’t even realize were still alive. I planted them all individually since I didn’t have room for them at the beginning of the season, so they’re still all in pots that I think I will just bring inside to try to keep them going. They got lost amongst the nasturtium that took off like wildfire in the past month – a sweet surprise as everything else was one their last leg(and you can see a lot of their remnants in these pictures after the snow squashed them flat.)

Honestly, the garden was a bust this year. Between my work schedule and some major busts in planting and the learning curve of it only being my second ear gardening at all and a ton of rain and crazy heat at different points…it just never felt like it was in full swing. Certain things did well (beets, lettuces, peppers, carrots) and others just never quite got off the ground(the tomatoes were awful, beans, corn, melons, cucumbers, potatoes, strawberries, onions.)

The beauty of the garden – there’s always next year! A fresh clean slate to plan and order and be excited to grow again. I have big plans for a lot more flowers next year along with a few less attempts at lots of thing. More fine tuning of the things we really eat and more pretty to enjoy.

Any other November gardens out there still? How was yours this year? Any big plans for next year?

{All shot on my phone, so cut me some slack;) – I forgot my camera and there was just too much pumpkin goodness to miss!}

So I never really got to freeze anything major. And somehow it’s September. And I stoppedone day this week at a favorite\ produce stand to get some mums for our front porch and happened to see bushels of tomato seconds -  that she said were mostly just because they were so small – for $3 for the bushel. So I got two bushels and decided to make some sauce to freeze during nap time that afternoon while the rain poured outside(and the basement flooded, unbeknownst to me at the time.)

I used Barbara Kingsolver’s Family Secret Tomato Sauce recipe from Animal Vegetable Miracle and subbed fresh garlic for powdered since I was freezing, skipped the nutmeg because I didn’t have any in the house, sauteed the onions in olive oil and also added a dollop of butter after googling around for some favorite tomato sauce recipes.

The rain pelted the windows and my favorite  Pandora station was on and I got to work chopping onions and garlic and pureed tomatoes galore then threw it all in the pot with the seasonings and let it simmer away.  Easy and delicious and now we have at least a few meals worth of pasta sauce or pizza sauce ready and waiting.

BLTs for dinner with the few ripe tomatoes from our garden.

Fried green tomatoes while we wait for more to ripen.

A late night run for milk and milkshakes that resulted in driving through cornfields, windows open and perfect music on the radio – Ice Ice Baby, Whoomp There It Is and Hypnotize.

Swimming.

Deciding what to squeeze into this last month before school starts.

Wiping off dirty feet and sweat and dirt streaked cheeks at bedtime.

Ice cream and popsicles.

Playing in the backyard in the still-lit hour before bedtime, but noticing the softening light as it ever-so-slowly gets darker earlier.

Water play dates.

The joy of finding just the things I tried to grow in our garden that fizzled before even starting – there they were waiting for me at my favorite stand at the Farmer’s Market.

Finding new spots to play inside.

Rearranging furniture and spending an entire afternoon during naps of cleaning, organizing bookshelves, clearing and organizing the  coat closet, sorting too small clothes, making piles for Salvation Army, throwing out way too much junk, clearing piles of paperwork that’s been waiting…it felt good. Very good.  I need to do more of this.

If you’re  looking for a small bit of daily focus/meditation/thoughtfulness, check this out. I’ve been loving the daily emails so much.

I spend so much time looking to the next season that it often feels that halfway through one season I’m ready for the next. I’ve started noticing the earlier fading light and a few changing leaves and felt myself getting excited for that crisp fall air, but I’m trying really hard to focus only on this beautiful summertime that we have. So much goodness left that I don’t want to waste it by not being present.

How are you squeezing out the bits of summer around your world?

Days are full and the kids are such a sweet age – still little, but big enough that this summer is turning into something so simple and amazing.  I’ve been feeling introspective lately as I breathe a sigh of relief. Beautiful weather and fresh air daily.  A new job that makes my husband so much happier and relieves a bit more financial stress for us – bit by bit watching this change feels so good.  One less day of work for me each week that means one extra day entirely with my family. Sitting back and observing so much, especially the graceful way the world around me moves through the seasons.  I cannot get enough of the colors and textures and freshness of this season.

What are you loving this summer??

Laying around watching movies. Windows open and not unbearably hot and humid. Playing in the temporary “sandbox.” Peppers and herbs and peas from the garden.  Warm black raspberry and blueberry crisp with vanilla ice cream.  Eating meals outside. Driving 30 mins for Chipotle for Daddy’s favorite meal.  Staying up late to catch lightning bug.  9pm mad dashes to try to catch pictures of lightning bugs in fields(I was 10 minutes too late.)  Slip ‘N’ Slide. Little guys so sweet in big boy undies at home now.  Impromptu film practice photo shoots where she actually let me take her picture.  Blooming plants in the backyard.  Just what we’ve been needing.

Mud and more mud. Market shopping. Gallons of fruit consumed.  Tomato sandwiches for lunch and dinner.  Almost all of the seeds and plants officially in the garden.  It’s beginning to feel like SUMMER!