A perfect morning to bask in the sunlight and do some yoga together! ha! are they not THE cutest??!!

If you live in the Dover NH area, I highly recommend Childlight Yoga. I had no idea how much Addie would LOVE yoga class– she practices her poses seemingly all day long! Her favorite is “dinosaur stomp,” downdog, and tree pose.  Now she even brings her hands to heart center for a little calming Namaste. Addison L is particularly keen on singing the welcome song and passing the “chime” to her friends, family, and stuffed animals alike. She’s also a big fan of “hop along yogi.” Ah-dorable. Go check out Childlight if you haven’t already!

(However add “two toddlers doing yoga” to my list of photographic challenges not yet mastered… I seem to have mostly captured downdog today, and a wobbly attempt at tree pose by Addie. )

oh. my. gosh.

So I had big plans for making Addison a cute little sandbox for the back patio. To keep things simple, as I’m wont to do lately, I decided to forgo the classic plastic turtle or enlisting hubs to build a giant DIY play box. My intention was a plastic tub, some play sand, and some toys.

Thank goodness I had just read Young House Love’s blogpost on sandboxes, or else I never would have thought to look for warnings of chemicals that cause cancer in some sandbox sand. Even I, ever ever skeptical label reader and chemical phobe, never thought of checking children’s sand for this junk. Turns out every single option of sand at our local big box store, even the ones labeled “Play Sand” with photos of kids on it, had some sort of cancer warning. My favorite said to always wear a mask when using this product.

Are you serious?!

For a while Addie and I walked around the store, brainstorming what else might fill her sandbox. We could have done small rocks, as YHL did, or search all over town for river or beach sand, or borrow sand from the beach. But she still sometimes slips little rocks into her mouth, and ehhh, rocks are everywhere for her to find, and I didn’t want to have to make one more stop, or steal anything just to make a sandbox. Then it hit me: BIRDSEED!

Yep, this summer A will be enjoying a seedbox. Bonus: the overflow (turns out she likes to splash in the seed and it does not stay contained in the box) will be taken care of by our feathered friends. (Also it feels sooo good to play with!)

I really really really love being her mama.

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother’s Day!

Occasionally, I take a chance and do something totally different with my photography: such was the case this weekend. I met up with Michelle Goldman, founder of Sea Change Cooking School, to take photos of her teaching a cooking class! I happen to know ZERO about cooking (ok I am exaggerating: I can scramble a mean egg, and even make an egg sandwich), so I was floored by the beauty and ease of Michelle’s class. It even inspired me to perhaps put some effort into some new culinary pursuits. (Michelle– could I have the recipe for the feta tomato app that you made? YUM!) I had such a great time observing the class, learning a lot myself, and helping Michelle with a portfolio of images to help her marketing of her new venture. Check her out on facebook and stay tuned for her new website, featuring said photos!

At the risk of sounding like Ty on Extreme Makeover Home Edition… Welcome home, Nas family, Welcome home! It’s been a long stretch for my girl Angela and her family, looking for the perfect place to call home. They found it just in the nick of time… as baby Julie entered the picture a few weeks early.

There is just too much that I need and want to say about Angela, my dear dear friend, and I am feeling a little emotional today… so I’m going to leave the photos to do the talking, lest I end up a blubbering mess at my keyboard