october

october has brought with her doors and windows flung wide open

jason isbell, lord huron and iron and wine on repeat 

 and the night my baby boy found his thumb 

Solly goes to school and turns FIVE!!

Sweet Solly. So many BIG things have happened in your world recently -- you started pre-school this year (and are totally rocking it out) AND you turned five! 

We've loved celebrating you for the past couple of weeks. You took Power Ranger cake pops to your friends at school and jumped at Big Air with some of our best buds. You loved the puzzle I scooped up in Louisville for you (100 pieces!) and the airplanes daddy and your brothers picked out. 

Sollah-Roo, you are so special. You're perceptive and emotional. You love Power Rangers and (still) Sleepy Dog. This past year you spent time at the lake, the farm and beach. You gained another little brother. You learned to swim. 

You're growing big and strong. I love watching you with your brothers - you flow seamlessly between them (most of the time) and truly love being with them. You are so special to me and I am so thankful that you're mine. 

louisville, ky

louisville, in my mind forever marked as the city i walked miles upon miles, baby on my chest (at home), sweaty from the end of summer heat, blisters from last years birthday shoes, no agenda but to wonder in and out of shops, ever in search of an iced chai. 

morning coffee on the go. a brief pass through of the world fest that led me to the sprawling Ohio River. a bus ride east, just me and the littlest boy, in search of just what there was to see. 
a belly full of empanadas, cochinita pibil, and black bean cakes encored with piping hot churros, my favorite meal in a very long time. my biggest boy working late, laying his head on the pillow beside mine at odd morning hours, but there. 

a trip for reminding and remembering and just being.

martin band of brothers | july 2019

july 2019

...and now there are five 

Amos [6.5], Solly [closer to 5 than 4], Ez [3], Oscar [20 mths], Maverick [3 days] 

Sweet Baby Maverick

July 20, 2019

2:33AM

7# 12oz

22" long

...perfect

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" 

Psalm 27: 1  

[the whole chapter is our prayer over his life]

martin band of brothers | june 2019

june 2019 

[probably the last pic "just the four of them" before baby boy M5 joins this motley crew]

from the day you turned 32

a thought: two more birthdays together and we'll have moved into the second chunk of our lives together - the chunk where we've been together longer than we've been apart ... isn't that something?

you declared this your most favorite birthday yet. spent with your special people over brunch at a local dive, homemade chocolate cake at their place (8 kids, soon to be 9) running around at our feet, a 16 mile run, a new book + a new duffle + and something that's still on the way (oops) ...

celebrating you is one of my greatest joys in life. you're my best boy, mikey! cheers to another year - may it be a year of growth, challenge, pursuit, dreams chased, sleep and doing the things you love the most! 

thoughts post coffee date with a dear friend the other day

these thoughts are neither here, nor there...merely thoughts to remind myself one day of how sweet this season of life truly is.

coffee out with a friend is something of a luxury these days. sure, i scoop one up here and there at starbucks with a drive-through with all of my people in the car occasionally, but driving to a neighborhood shop to sit and chat over fresh morning buns and a very big chai latte...what a treat. 

it's easy to look at other peoples' lives and to want all the things that are not yours. people look at my life (our lives) and think that we are crazy. i know, because they have said as much in more or less words. my middle finger works really well, in case you didn't know. and while our lives may be counter cultural or counter-whatever, i would tell anyone, anytime that we are so rich. 

i cleaned up dinner tonight, something that's pretty routine, and sighed over the fact that mikey and i were really the only ones who ate anything that amounted to anything. and then i reminded myself that one day my problem isn't going to be figuring out how to feed 5 middle + high school aged boys meals that nourish their little bodies...it's going to be figuring out where all of the food has gone after what seems like i've just gone to the store. 

one day we're going to wake up to an empty, very quiet house (well, empty besides each other) and our little people won't be little any more. they'll be out, changing the world, and we'll miss the chaos that once was. of this, i am very, very sure. 

my capacity for chaos is high. my capacity for disorder may be even higher. my capacity for lack of sleep is also high (although the older i get, the more i really like sleep). bless mikey for putting up with my high capacity in all of these areas. it's still exhausting, shepherding and growing these five little dudes. and that's ok. it's a season that'll be gone before we know it and it's a seasons that i'm sure will seem easy compared to others as they come.  

i feel full and thankful. thankful for a life that is better than i could've ever dreamed up on my own... thankful for our little white house with ivy that climbs all the way up and over one side, for boys who clammer to sit in my lap or pull at my pants leg with arms stretched high for me to scoop up, for my biggest boy who calls me his best girl and snuggles me close a night until a little boy makes his sleepy way down to our bed for one of a hundred different reasons. a prayer of thank you, offered, daily, hourly. 

32

changed plans and a full day with my boys

a typed card from my mikey with overnight plans, put on hold for sick babies 

cake pops to go 'round 

one candle, one wish 

this is 32 

taking stock 19 | 001

making: travel plans for the year 

eating: most recently burgers and Mexican (not together, duh)

drinking: TJ's Margarita wine cocktail (not at this moment, but what I'm currently loving)

reading: The Road Back to You (again)

listening: to Mumford and little feet pitter patter circles around our kitchen island
texting: Alexa

watching: Call the Midwife 

bookmarking: ski trips 
wanting: a personal chef (too much to ask?)

looking: at the Stewart's house from my bedroom window 

enjoying: fresh tulips 
waiting: on packages from Turkey 

wondering: if I can get my kids to call me "Queen" (if you know, you know) 

loving: listening to Amos read 
hoping: the groundhog was right 

marveling: at how Ez is almost THREE(!!!)

needing: a tan 

wearing: my trusty Duck Boots that are now almost 15 years old 

smelling: laundry drying 
noticing: the lingering daylight in the evenings (hallelujah) 

knowing: what a treat it is to get a whole weekend with Honey 

laughing: at how loud Oscar is (all.the.time)

thinking: that we need to get a weekend on the calendar for our annual girls weekend(!) 

daydreaming: about the beach this summer with all of my boys 

wishing: this warm weather is here to last 

feeling: at home 

learning: more about running a business from our home 
celebrating: a night at the beach with Mikey in a couple of weeks (sans kiddos)  

welcome twenty nineteen

there is nothing like stealing away to the mountains for a few days. even better when it's to ring in the new year! coffee on tap (as it always is with these friends), homemade enchiladas, from-scratch sticky buns, an afternoon of shop-hopping with the babies & a trip to the river for the big boys, a family style breaky to send us home ...

welcome twenty nineteen