week of yellow {day 4}*

it's thursday.  we're four days into erin's week of yellow.  three days into the fever - which appears to be gone as of this morning - good news for the girl who already missed the 100th day of school and (hopefully) now won't have to miss her class field trip to see charlotte's web tomorrow.  

it seemed that i saw yellow everywhere i went today - a stunning local shop where they often arrange their wares by color (and where i really think they ought to sell martha's stunning creations), the market where the grapefruit and lemons and golden delicious apples were calling my name, driving down the street where there seemed to be so many yellow taxis - i felt like yellow was following me and cheering me and lifting me all day.  

these are some of the yellows that have been cheering me all week.  (click on the mosaic for credits.)

also, there are a few bits that i wanted to capture from this day.  moments and feelings that i wanted to catch with a net and lock in a box so that i'd be able to remember them one day when i can't remember them anymore.  and even though they're not yellow, these little bits feel bound up in this week of yellow for me.  and i kind of like that.  so here goes.

* l. got dressed this morning in her pink striped tights, red velvet skirt, and purple striped dress.  beyond adorable.  but she traded the purple striped dress for an orange t-shirt before we left on our errands.  oh well.

* she and i spent the morning taking photographs around the house.  i climbed on the chair to photograph the breakfast table, and when i got down, she climbed up and did the same.  she learned how to use the self-timer, too.  i heard her playing photographer in the living room while i was uploading my photos in the kitchen.  my heart went pitter-patter.

* we went to the market together like we used to before she started school.  even though she was running and leaping through the store while pushing the little cart, it was so much fun to have her company.  and when we came home, we sat on her bedroom floor playing with her dollhouse.  i realized then how much i miss our quiet daytimes together - afternoons and weekends are not the same.  and even though i'm glad she's getting big and capable, and i'm enjoying her six year old self so much, i was glad, too, for the peek into the way it used to be.

* today was the 3rd grade play at school.  a play about rubbish.  b. was a soup can, but when i arrived in the auditorium, he came running to me dressed as a houseplant.  somebody was absent so he was playing two parts.  he knew everybody else's lines already.  of course.

* my boy the soup can/house plant stood on the stage in front of the whole elementary school and all of the 3rd grade parents and actually acted.  he didn't just recite lines.  he had stage presence and emotion and intonation and he looked confident and so grown up and he was actually funny and everybody laughed at his funny lines.  i was so proud.  not because he was funny, but because he was confident.  and poised.

* and while i was watching him there, among his classmates, singing and dancing and acting away, i suddenly saw him as this independent being with a whole universe of his own.  as someone who teachers and classmates see as capable and flexible and able to do so many different things.  and he is.  he's not just my little boy anymore.  and i was so proud.

* this afternoon, when we were all at home together after the play and the kids were sharing hershey's kisses on the living room floor, i had the unexplainable and unstoppable need to sew ten little beanbags for l.'s counting project at school.  the note from her teacher said to send ten counters - they suggested tongue depressors or dominoes, but i had to make her mini-beanbags.  i knew the urge to sew something was coming - it's been brewing for a bit, so i'm not entirely surprised.  though it did push dinner back.  

i think that's all of it, then.  except that i ate a whole lot of kale for dinner.  i've been enjoying kale lately - sauteed with onion or garlic and olive oil, with some lemon juice and sea salt thrown in at the end.  but i hadn't made any for a week or so - and then heather reminded me that kale is an excellent "restoring-balance" food.  and i needed some restoring of balance today.  it was good.  so good.

now, that's really all.  

see you back here tomorrow for the final day of yellow week.  i'm sad to see it end so soon.  

*alternately titled, "a mosaic of favorites and a whole lot of sentimental thoughts about my children."

(don't forget to see more yellow here.  and here.  and here, too.)

Comments

[molly]

WHAT a good day! i can't wait to meet l and b.

[heather smith jones]

you had an amazing day.
i hope someday i get to meet your children, and well, you too of course!

i got so tickled again, thinking about l. on top of that chair!

[Sarah Jackson]

my goodness woman! no words, just pictures, pictures, few words, then Bam! So so great.

That feeling of seeing your child through the eyes of others is so powerful and disconcerting at the same time. And as they get older, it gets even stranger. Amazing. Also, the seeing the past - I feel like I've recaptured that with Annika and I'm treasuring it.

Kale is a favorite food around here right now. Sauteed with olive oil, tossed with lemon zest and kosher salt, served with italian sausages. mmmm.....

[cloth.paper.string]

"catch in a net and lock in a box"
i love this phrase, the image it conjurs,
and too the things you're safekeeping.

and kale, it's a favorite here. straight up, sauteed, in soups, with pasta and sundried tomatoes. it's extra yummy with garlic and cumin and paprika and parsley and cilantro and lemon all together.

[Tracy]

I love your mosaic. Those images all just seem to breathe together. And I love your thoughts. I can see each of them in my mind, being who they are, and who you see them to be. I love it. I miss you. :)

[heather]

gosh your thoughts and words are shared so beautifully. loved reading this today.

yay for kale!

[rachel]

What a beautiful treasure you had in that day emily. I almost let Olivia miss school today just because I wanted to hang out with her. Hopefully one day our kids will get to play together :)

[Amy]

i know i have already expressed how much i love your blog, but i must say it again! today's yellow pics are such a ray of sunshine on a cold, cold day...

have a fabulous weekend!
amy

[ani]

so happy for you, proud mama.

kale's on the shopping list tomorrow for ribollita soup.

[erin]

my heart is singing for you and l and b. what a day!

and then i think, in two weeks, i'll be right there with all of you. eeeeeeeeee!

[leslie]

oh, those precious mornings with our young children. and it is all about the morning. i LOVED those days.
and now that they are older....and we don't get those unless they are sick, i give them 1 mental health day. only one can take it on that day. and we hang out. and do whatever they want. (kind of sad that it is only 1 day out of 365!!!) but always a day to treasure.

loved reading this, emily.

[amisha]

i loved reading this so much, emily. the way you describe your babes and how they grow and the moments you have with them... it just makes me smile ear to ear. and makes me look forward to having kids one day too :)
i think it's fitting that all this goodness is tied into yellow week... fresh + new + bright + happy. it seems right.
xox