The kitchen help!

Our first Mother's Day!

Today we spent a lovely afternoon walking and napping in the gardens at the Franciscan monastery, and visiting the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (dedicated to Mary). What a blessing to be wrapped in the warm sun and glorious spring colors with my loving family. I continue to grow in admiration for my own mothers and I celebrate your gifts of gentle and generous love.

New skills: eating and sitting!

I'm sorry it has been so long since I've posted! I'll just have to catch up a little at a time. We started Julia on rice cereal this week for her 6-month birthday and she loves it. We give her a spoon to play with while she eats and she lost it during one meal - see the photo for where it was hiding. She can sit so well by herself now and even play for a little while before toppling over. Hooray for back muscles!

Happy Halloweekend!

Jason carved the family pumpkin at YM last week. A squash with a geometric soul. Julia made her Halloween debut as a Formula 1 racer with her pit crew in tow. We flew to Chicago in time to catch Magnus in his skeleton suit - what a cutie! We celebrated Magnus' blessing and Jenni and Reid's Chicagoland tour and enjoyed spending a few precious days with our family.

Smiles!

Denise found a spunky new friend for Julia in the toy bin at Old Navy. We named the pig Olivia Dora. And here's a shot of Jason reading to Julia before the plane took off from Chicago. The man next to us said that he was grateful to see that parents are reading the same books he read to his kids 20 years ago. I read "Where's Spot" at least 100 times to Tristan...and now I'm making the rounds again with Julia, who is also quite fond of Sally's hunt. Unlike the flight to Chicago, which had a serious crying spell (Jason heard a passenger behind us say to his neighbor, "You're just going to have to get used to it, man"), the trip home was a dream, thank heavens.

With Denise at Matisse

Last week Julia and I went with Denise Doolan to see the Matisse cutouts at the National Gallery. The security guard told us that he wasn't supposed to voice any opinions about the art but he took great pride in showing off the cutouts and discussing their history. He said that he takes notes when the curators come through. I love the faces that Matisse painted in the middle of these cutouts - they convey a unique grace with such spare brushstrokes.