santa fe
we're happy to be in santa fe these days. we usually make our annual trek later in the year, but chose to come early this time since our son will be arriving this summer. it's such a different scene here - we lived here for 4 years so you think it wouldn't seem that foreign to us, but santa fe is a world of its own. the pace, the accents, the architecture - the whole culture is noticeably different. and today it is COLD and SNOWING. fortunately, most of our days here have been drenched in glorious mountain sunshine. we celebrated spring's renewal this weekend with koruna's first egg hunt. i got hold of a natural egg dying recipe (thanks, belmer) and we tried it out. we used turmeric, orange peels, beets, purple cabbage, chile powder, and more.
a lot of the eggs turned out brown, but we did get some lovely greens and yellows as well. i'll do some tweaking next year.
the old santa fe casa had all sorts of cool places to hide eggs. we definitely had more fun hiding than koruna did finding. she found maybe 3 and then was done.
it's nice being on the other end - the parent end - of traditions. we get to do with them as we please. we incorporated one of ian's family traditions this year: we left a trail of pebbles outside of koruna's door that led to a secret hiding place for her basket of goodies. (it was a trail of candy in ian's day, but koruna doesn't even know what candy is.)
it was the first time koruna has really participated in a holiday. until now, the rituals and celebrations have really been for us. i gotta admit that i didn't even have a party for koruna's 1st birthday - we just had a simple family breakfast. i figured she didn't care and would just be overwhelmed by any hoopla. this year will be different, though. i guess she still won't remember her 2nd birthday party, but she'll feel special on that day just like she did with her own pebble trail this weekend. i reckon that feeling gets tucked away somewhere deep inside her whether she has a mental recollection of the day or not.
boy, oh boy....
****we've got a BOY on the way****
we peered deep into his cave last week and caught our first glimpse. as we saw those beautiful black and white images on the screen, my mind emptied and my heart filled. for just a minute, all i could hear - all i could feel - was my heartbeat. i swear it felt like the whole world's heartbeat.
getting to SEE our bebechild, our son, changed things for me. just the image of him was captivating. only 19 weeks to go until we get to lay our eyes, our skin, our breath on him. oh, boy.....
it's a charcoal life
i am married to a charcoal artist. ian leaves me little reminders of that everywhere. there are black hand prints all over the house - around all doorknobs, on cabinets and the refrigerator, and covering the banister.
there is a garden of charcoal pencils growing outside the studios. koruna's first drawings were on the bricks surrounding that little garden.
who'd have thought a black dust could make life so colorful?
sunscreen or unscreen?
summer is just around the corner here in austin so we're already slathering on the sunscreen when we go outside. i have to admit that i douse koruna in it and then just kind of wipe the leftovers on my face and my tattoo. we use california baby on her and i sometimes get annoyed that when i spread it on thick, it makes us look purplish white. then i read this information from the environmental working group and was reminded why i chose it.
it says that both UV radiation and many common sunscreen ingredients generate free radicals that damage DNA and skin cells, accelerate skin aging and cause skin cancer.
i love the sun. i don't bask in it as much as i used to, but i take such pleasure in the warmth on my skin, the red blanket of sun on closed eyelids, the breeze that momentarily interrupts the heat. i plan on seeing a lot of sun and water this summer, so i'm gonna need some sunscreen.
the environmental working group has a list of the best sunscreens and you can find your own sunscreen here to see how it's rated.
see y'all out in the sun. i'll be the big pregnant one with sunglasses, a hat, and purplish sunscreen....
vegetable sticker art
one of ian's pet peeves is finding those little sticker labels on the fruits and vegetables in the compost heap. i usually try to make an effort to avoid annoying those i love, but for some reason i have a ridiculously hard time remembering to take those damn stickers off. these pictures are of the inside of our kitchen cabinets. it's ian's creative attempt to motivate me to REMEMBER THE STICKERS. and it works. sometimes.
