Plantscapes

 What exotic plant is this, you ask? The glorious boxwood (more commonly known as hedges). The other day, while clipping our mountainous hedges - I decided to make use of the clippings and decorate. Double duty yard work!

A Sneak Peek (Look! Bowties and Tutus!)

 Only a few more weeks until showtime... costumes have been prepped, pictures have been taken and many a Saturday morning has been spent tap, tap, tapping away. I am sure there will be glorious videos and photos taken at Ayla and Jackson's dance recital in June, but I thought I should release a "teaser"!

 Ayla's blue eyeshadow, I have to admit, is very exciting and what more can I say about Jackson than: BOWTIE? I could have used a top hat and cane.... but perhaps they reserve props until the boys are older. OR until they audition for So You Think You Can Dance! One can dream...

This is Jackson's severe "cheese" face... perhaps he'd had enough by this point.

Out of Hibernation

 After a ridiculously mild winter, the spring came and went and I think, has finally arrived. Our gardening adventures have begun and more importantly, the exploration of Buffalo continues. This is a beautiful time of year: it is exciting to see flowers again and our house is so much easier to clean up at the end of the night when the kids play outside all day!

 We are officially out of hibernation.

 On Gregory's birthday, we rushed to our favorite waterfall park. We also recently took advantage of First Friday's at the Albright-Knox gallery, which is perfect for us: free admission to the art museum means we don't feel so guilty leaving after 15 minutes because the kids are touching everything. (They weren't that bad though... I think we lasted about a half an hour.) And last weekend, we took a walk in Delaware Park starting at the Japanese Gardens.

 Happy Spring and Happy Mother's Day!

"Appreciating" fine art.

I thought this one was really cool. An intricate ink drawing on steel, but you can hang out and imagine you are part of the conversation.

What sculpture is complete without a cute baby face?

Ridiculously serene....

....Then add some crazy kids!

At Delaware Park

Crazy faces!

Marriage License, Schmarriage License

 Are we STILL talking about this?

 I have to just take a moment to write about the recent vote in North Carolina over Amendment One. It is baffling that these kinds of personal legal issues generate so much uproar and backlash from religious groups. It is sad. While I think their feelings about homosexuality and gay marriage are terribly misguided, I understand that these are doctrinal lessons delivered in personal churches. THAT aspect of their rationale is understandable. We all believe different things when it comes to God and spirituality, regardless of proof or logic. (I say that in a good way, too, because not all religious thinking is illogical.) Although I encourage anyone who states that homosexuality is wrong should watch the documentary, For the Bible Tells Me So.

 The nonsensical aspect is when people try to control our legal system and government directly because of these religious sentiments. These Constitution-quoters are obsessed with using laws to control groups they don't understand and literally push their beliefs onto others. SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. C'mon now!

 As an owner of this coveted marriage license, I want to make it clear that I appreciate my heterosexual priviledge. We paid a mere $30 to obtain quite possibly the simplest and least descriptive legal document ever created. It simply states that myself and Gregory, in a ceremony officiated by a person the state of Pennsylvania deemed worthy of saying so, got hitched on a specific day in history. No mention of religion. No mention of man and woman. No mention of reading the Bible. No mention of traditional gender roles. No mention of anything pertaining to personal beliefs. Do you catch my drift? The marriage license is a legal contract: not a statement of universal religious beliefs.

 These peeps need to take a step back and realize that they are fighting a losing battle. The fight over a stupid marriage license is not the place to push theological views! Every marriage is personal, and who are we kidding? All of a sudden this country considers marriage to be such a sacred institution.... then why are there so many divorces? Why is there so much infidelity? Why so many strip clubs? Why so much contention over interracial relationships? Why can Elvis marry people in Vegas but two men cannot get a piece of paper? Why are so many women literally murdered by their husbands due to domestic violence? (Believe it or not, when a married person is killed, the first suspect is always their spouse.)

 When you take away all of the hypocrisy, marriage is wonderful. The institution, yes, is heavily guided by social norms and has changed dramatically over time. I am happy that in our current age, I am free to be a married woman but also have my own private property (not that I own anything!) - which wasn't always the case. So the more people who want to get hitched, the merrier! And how about this, Tea-partiers? More marriages would mean more MONEY generated in each state. Since money is more important than morals, right?

 Here is the question I would like to ask any (straight) married person who opposes gay marriage: How does this affect your personal life, really? If every gay person got married tomorrow, how would that make your OWN marriage any different?

An Embarrassed Blogger

 I am embarrassed: 2012 has not been the year of the Blog. It is shameful how I have let this little nugget of my life just drop off... but I won't despair, because many of the reasons my writing has taken an almost non-existent spot in my life is that I have been pleasantly busy with concerts, visits to Pittsburgh, a little bit of a social life and actual REAL PAYING sewing work!

 Often, I come up with paragraphs in my head - things that I want to devote posts to: The Michael Jackson Immortal Cirque du Soleil tour, the anniversary of my father's death, fun trips to children's museums in Pittsburgh and Rochester, Easter, the baby gorilla at the zoo, a fantastic wedding shower for my friends Erin and Rob, garden tilling with Gregory, sewing curtains, sewing cloth diapers, my funny children and their overall awesomeness. All of these posts are still potentially in my brain and I can only hope they make it into the blog.

 But, tonight, as I get back into the swing of things, I will discuss a recent thrill: grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. Buffalo is still on the losing side of the 'Burgh vs. Buffalo pro's and con's because it lacks own of my most favorite stores in the world. Perhaps it is because Wegman's is a super-force to be reckoned with. I love shopping at Wegman's, but our bank account was much happier shopping at Trader Joe's.

 They have such a unique collection of foods and many staples that I have missed in the last year, especially their potstickers. We have literally tried every other brand of frozen potstickers and they all taste, well, gross. (And yes, I can make delicious potstickers... but I will leave that kind of kitchen magic to someone who doesn't have three children fighting for scraps at the cutting board.)

 Needless to say, I stocked up on frozen potstickers (which fit quite nicely in our big new freezer!) and other delicious items. These are two of my new Trader Joe's discoveries that bring me little tinges of happiness every day.

Why have I never had this before? I never expected that I would like the flavors of lavender and calendula in my food, but now I don't think there's any turning back.

This makes Ayla laugh every time she looks at it. Thanks, tissue.

Amen.

  Until next time... thanks for reading.