cherie was here

The real deal

Yesterday I felt blessed. Oh, I know I'm blessed everyday but Mother's Day is always a good reminder of the gift it is to be a mother. During a conversation, Ella asked me if when I was little I wanted to grow up to be a photographer. I smiled and said, no. Of course, her follow up question was, "Well, what did you want to be when you were a little girl?"

I thought for a split second and replied, "You know, all I ever wanted to be when I was little was a mom." She gave me a squeeze hug and that was a good enough answer for her.

Not long after that conversation, I asked everyone if they would just oblige me with one quick picture for mother's day. Dallin hesitated and said yes. Ella was okay with it as long as she could wear her zebra apron. Christian was not so willing as I chased him around and Lincoln flat out said, no way!

We cajoled, begged, and chased for about 10 minutes. You can guess that no one was really thrilled after all of that. And so this is what I got.

But after looking at it, I only could laugh. This is us. The real us. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I love them.

A little later, Lincoln did agree to one picture as long as he could have apple juice after. Bribery got me this.

And I'm happy as any mama could be. 

Orange you glad

Lunch can get boring so we gave it a little splash of color last week. I let Lincoln go through the pantry and fridge and find all things orange. This is what he came up with. Fun, no?

He was pretty proud of his creation and I was pretty proud that he actually ate it.

Win. Win.

I think I'll let him "design" lunch more often!

This.

This. This is what makes me happy.

Our Harry Potter Bruhaha

You probably didn't know that it was International Harry Potter Day a few days ago, right? That's okay. Me either. Until I saw an Instagram post from my sister-in-law, Rhonna. I casually mentioned to Dallin while we were waiting for the bus on Wednesday that it was Harry Potter day. His eyes lit up. Of course they did! This boy LOVES Harry Potter. He can always be found carrying a book, sneaking in a little reading time wherever he goes. He's already halfway through the series for the second time. Surely he can't be my boy.  But I love his passion for it.

He asked me if we were going to do anything to celebrate. Ummmm, maybe. I hesitated. But as the day went on that maybe became a no. That night before he went to bed, he begged that we could do a little something the next day. I kissed him good night and assured him I'd do something.

After perusing some lovely ideas here, I went to my stash to see what I could figure out at 9:00pm. I didn't have any of the right stuff but with some creativity, I improvised. I dug up some old Halloween candy eyeballs, printed out a menu and slapped some potion labels on mason jars.

When he came downstairs the next morning, his eyes were as big as Christmas. Ah, mission accomplished.

The broomsticks were super easy to make. I grabbed some jute, gathered it together, and glued it to a wooden dowel following Heather's tutorial.

A little side note, this photo at breakfast was not staged at all. What did I tell you? He carries a Harry Potter book with him everywhere! The menu included PolyJuice Potion: smoothies, Golden Snitch cakes: mini pancakes, and Jelly slugs: scrambled eggs.

They really wanted a continuation of the festivities after school, so when they got home I had some wizarding hats ready. I coated the sugar cones in melted chocolate chips, dipped the bottom in cookies & cream sprinkles and placed them on top of donuts. Nothing healthy about this after-school snack, but oh well!

For drinks, I put different colors of food coloring in the bottom of cups and then poured in Sprite. They loved finding out what color they got.

I'd say from their faces, the day was a hit! Ella is already planning for next year. Good thing I've got 363 days until then.  

I'm on the phone

You know Tom, Dick, and Harry Jr. are taking pictures with their phones...and I have been too. It's so much quicker to catch life with a camera that fits in my back pocket.

Here's what it's been looking like around our place. The only thing missing here is the chaos. I think there is a lot more of that than all of this. But I'm sure glad I get a little bit of both.  

She brings light

She brings imagination. She brings independence. She brings determination. She brings laughter. She brings surprise. She brings softness. She brings stories. She brings whimsy. She brings happiness.

She brings light.

I'm so grateful all of those things and more have come into my life because she is in it.

More children I want for my own

I love these boys. And I love their mom. 

It's safe to say that I would happily add them to my household if I could. Then we'd have a whole gaggle of boys over here. That would be fun now wouldn't it!

I loved spending an afternoon with these cuties. They make me smile and laugh and want to jump on the bed all day.  

Joy. Recorded.

This is my cousin and her beautiful little family of four...way back in December. (I'm just a little behind, that's all.)

I can't get over how much I want to steal her children and claim them as my own.

I love them. All of them.

And I love the joy I feel every time I look at these.

Gah. Love.

 

Perfectly Parisian

I don't really have a lot of words for this post. It's just me doing what I love...camera in hand, seeing the world around me.

This next image though, might be one of my favorites from the whole trip. We were walking down the street when I saw this couple. I stopped while Jeff kept walking. He turned to look back at me. I looked at him as if to say, Do you see this? This is it! A boy. A girl. A conversation. Her dress. His hair. So perfectly Parisian! Their body language and dusty sunset light enthralled me. I didn't want to stare so I stood behind a tree and just captured something amazing. Jeff just smiled and let me do my thing.

So long, beautiful city. Until next time...I hope.

Paris in a day

I'm still kind of pinching myself that this actually happened. It's one of those things on my bucket list that I figured would probably kick the bucket instead of ending up in it. What a dream it turned out to be.

After a lot cajoling, I finally convinced Jeff that this would be a good idea. I knew it had to be a good idea. I mean, when could Paris not ever be a good idea? At least that's what I kept telling him. He bought it. Oh, good man that he is.

It was definitely tricky trying to make it all happen in one day. Our day began at 3:00 am with a cab ride into London to catch a train from there to the heart of Paris. We arrived bleary eyed but with a spring in our step. Just the two of us. On an adventure of a lifetime.

With not too much time before our train left that evening, we hit all the biggies...the Eiffel tower being the real biggie, of course. A trip to the top with butterflies in my stomach was the highlight.

I can see why it's a city for artists, for lovers, for designers, for adventurers and for Sabrina movie quoters. You know I love me some Sabrina.

Even she said it herself, Paris is always a good idea. Yes. Yes, it is.