…please, oh, please don’t go away.
 

this was the view from my front door on saturday.  here in the desert, this is heaven on earth.  we wait all year long for one or two of these days.  when it finally comes, we barely know what to do with ourselves. instead of calling in sick on a nice warm spring day…this is the day us desert dwellers stay home for. 

like so many others, reading and coffee tops my list of rainy day activities. Harry Potter, to be exact. to me, nothing says “rainy day” better than Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

my kids, without a trace of hesitation, ran right through the doorway and out into the glorious rain.  they cheered, laughed, splashed, just soaked it all up. claudia even did a jig…as in an actual irish jig, in fact, i think this was what’s known as a slip jig.  (yes, she’s wearing shorts but their dance shorts so her long shirt, soaked with rain, covered them.)

gabe did what gabe does best…his own thing. he has fun no matter what, when or where.

they even enjoyed some rainy plasma car races. of course, natty has to get in on the action and harrison’s never too busy to cater to her every whim…as he should.

she was dubbed the “inchworm” on her own little car. 
i have a feeling that these images, will have to carry me through many dry days until we see another gloriously rainy day.

…when you’re terribly precious and home sick from school,
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i’m not sure of the exact cause…but i do have a hint, as to why i’ve been so bad at blogging as of late.  it could be the hot, coma-inducing weather here in the valley, it could be that i’ve added the job title of “chauffeur” to my resume,  now that school is back in session and i have three kids at two different schools that are just about at total opposite ends of the city,  it could be  the ever-growing mountain of laundry that seems to be taking over my home (no, i’m simply avoiding that so that can’t be it), maybe it’s that we’re right smack in the middle of birthday season in our family (we have a birthday a month for six consecutive months) or well, maybe, just possibly, it could be my wonderfully sweet and seriously sassy toddler monster that’s hindering my blogging ways.  my husband says i blame everything on her, just because she happens to be at the scene of the crime most times, so, i think i’ll pin this one on her too.  the thing is, with the three older kiddos all being in school now…i’m home ALONE with miss natty all day long.  no big brothers to play “choo choo nains” with and no big sister to have “tory time” with, just one boring mommy who spends way too much time on her computer.  as i sat down to catch up on a little blogging i ran across these images i got a couple of months ago, before my days were turned upside down.  they jumped out at me and screamed to be blogged, not only because they depict a much more “productive” time but also because they immediately make me think of one very special little one in need of lots of thought, love and prayer currently.  Little Maximus Evan Griffin, who happens to be the King of All Wild Things, is fighting a battle bigger than most of us will ever face right now…and he’s just over two weeks old.  You might remember his gorgeous mommy and his daddy from our maternity session a little while ago, take a look here.  To learn all about Max’s story, check out his very own blog here. Go Max Go!

(my two favorite things here…claudia’s hands, natty’s mouth)

a little slice of super special sisterly sweetness.

 to the wildly popular novel turned musical, Wicked.  natalie adores her big sister’s ruby slippers as well as donning her birthday suit. put the two together and this is what you get.
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…in self-portraiture.  me and some sleepy sunday afternoon light.

 …can’t seem get here fast enough for me.  it’s fortunate i live in the desert.  every morning i start the day with the same goal:  work until i feel comfortable enough with what i’ve accomplished to justify picking up whatever book happens to be screaming my name.  i accomplish this work only with the constant inspiration of  all of my closest rock-star friends singing words of love & heartache (because all songs are in some way about either or both, right?) in my iPod.

unfortunately, with four children to care for, working until i’m comfortable usually continues to well after they’ve all gone to bed. this puts me picking up that book around the time most sane people are going to bed. I then read into the wee hours of the morning.  of course, once the sun begins to show it’s bright and shiny face in my bedroom windows, children beginning to pile in and out asking positively politely for this and that. at that point i do tend to question my own judgment concerning my late nights adventures.  be that as it may, the heart wants what the heart wants and mine wants the written word orchestrated intricately into entrancing worlds in which i can make my escape.

what in the world does any of this have to do with summer?  when the heat of the summer begins to take hold and as a result the daylight hours seem to slow,  it suddenly becomes perfectly reasonable to read books all day long.  it’s just too hot for anything else.  good thing our community pool provides lots of palm tree shade to read in.

and no, i’m not a literary snob, refusing to read anything written in this century. i simply have a hankering to revisit some characters i haven’t hung out with since college. I wonder if maybe they look different to me now.