... I am enjoying the quietness of the morning.
... I am feeling the shafts of sunlight in this early mornings, promising a beautiful day.
... I am making lists in my head, knowing I should get a paper and finally write things down!
... I can feel that I have to be really careful with myself and take care of my own energy balance.
... happy we had a weekend get away.
... I can't wait until the kids finish their school day and we can all have a jump into the pool!
... I am realising that it's only two more month until the girls summer break starts...
... I know that there is lots of planning to do, and I am not quite sure where to start.
... I need to focus on taking one step after the other...
...
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
...lots and lots of vegetables and fruits this week, after a week holiday and eating out.
...quick but delicious snacks with my sick girl.
...to try my first homemade muesli bars!
...a new banana bread recipe from the "Sivananda Yoga cookbook".
...the wonderful smell of all used herbs and spices...
as it turned out really nice, I am more than happy to share this simple and quick recipe:
100g butter
100g light muscovado sugar
4 tbsp. golden syrup
100g nuts (the original asked for pecan nuts, but I mixed walnuts and almonds)
300g unsweetened muesli...I mixed oats and flex seeds...feel free to do any mixture you like or ready made muesli
1 medium ripe banana, mashed
melt butter, sugar and syrup, stirring until sugar has dissolved. cool slightly. stir in muesli, banana and half of chopped nuts until well coated. spoon the mixture into a tin, press down with a spoon until firmly packed. scatter rest of the whole nuts over, pressing them lightly into the mixture. bake for 20-25min...light brown and edges start to crisp. let it cool in the tin before you cut it into slices - enjoy!
I am sitting on my terrace, enjoying my cup of coffee and the fact that summer has truly arrived! sure, I am sweating already and it's not even 9am, but I still prefer this to the cold...
as I said, it's not even 9am but today was already filled with lots of love and light...I started back into my rhythm of getting up at 5.30am, doing my yoga practice (and I don't have to wrap myself in blankets anymore!)...I got downstairs to get the lunch boxes ready and prepared a birthday breakfast for my todays 7 year old girl! while doing so her little sister already came down to help and it was great to see how excited she was for her sister...
oh, and that face of my big girl coming down the stairs, seeing the table and taking it all in. I just love how "respectful" she can be....she is not the kind of child that rushes and wants everything at the same time. she really looked at it all and you could almost see how she absorbed every little thing.
as she is not a birthday cake girl and she is still a bit sick there was one cupcake filled with strawberries (all she asked for) and one with her usual breakfast of yoghurt and oats.
after eating all this she slowly brought her attention towards her presents...opening them slow motion, sharing with her sister and oh, being truly happy...and so am I...
I am sure I mentioned that before, but I think that for a Mum the birthdays of her kids are just so special. of course, remember what you've been through!? and I didn't forget one single bit of my birth experiences...I know it all, from the very first second till the moment I saw the baby girl...7 years ago...
to me that seems like a long time already but hey, my Mum will soon think back 33 years...and because of the fact that I don't take my own birthday that important I do forget that it is a very special and important day for my Mum...
my girl might not understand it today, but she loves to hear the story about the day she was born...soon the years will come when she won't be as happy to hear her Mum going on and on about it until there might be a day for her, as it is for me today...her childs birthday...
realizing this more than ever before, it"s a very special day for every Mum, so let's celebrate the Mums!
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
I wasn't planning on any blogging this week as we are on a holiday. we're traveling through Jordan together with 2 other families... we've been at the Dead Sea, walked through Petra, spent a night in the Wadi Rum desert and are now in Amman before we go back to Cairo on Friday.
why I am blogging now? my oldest woke up with an aching body and fever ...she did join our sightseeing trip around lunchtime, but after a while I went straight back to the hotel with her and she is now resting in bed and with that giving us all a bit of rest and a quiet evening in the hotel.
I am looking at my two girls curled up in bed watching a movie right now...the little one worried about her big sister... my love enjoying a good book and enjoying this so needed holiday from his work...me...I love this little family of mine and while looking at them right now I had to start thinking about balance...this oh so well known balance in whatever we do, eat, love, play, work, exercise...it's everywhere and sometimes we tend to forget where it starts...within!
as this holiday now takes place with 2 more families, for sure not everything can be done the way I/we want it...once more, we have to find the right balance. we're "on tour" for 5 days now and luckily it took me only our one hour flight to realize that it is all about working on and stabilizing my balance!
not that this was/is such an easy task...I had quite a wobbly eagle in my practice a few days ago :-)...still I try to stay within and balance myself and with that my family and with that we might manage this balancing act...
right now it's all about having a quiet evening and getting this big girl of mine back on track...so I'll draw my attention back now and leave you with a beautiful picture of me and my big girl, trying to balance our tree after walking over 800 stairs up to the monastery in Petra...
I had one of this days that turned out sooo different to what one thought it could be... not in a negative way, just different, with lots of good things happening (depending on how you look at it, right!?)
and as I was stuck in traffic in the afternoon, I searched my iPod and listened through a great selection of songs by the Cranberries.
I cannot even remember the last time I did put their music on and I have to say it was just great...of course it brought back quite some memories and then I reflected on today...
...the kids have their holidays and I rise with my husband to get some things done before the kids get up...the sun already comes in through the curtains and oh, I just love to wake up into sunshine and a day that is not filled up yet
...my big girl woke up just when I wanted to start my yoga practice...as she placed herself opposite me we embraced the moment and did a little practice together...cooling breath, sun salutations and some partner stuff, ending in final savasana, giving each other a beautiful adjustment
...breakfast and coffee out on the terrace...
...surprise playdate for both the girls...they were taken to the cinema, lunch and afternoon play including air hockey and bowling!
...I headed out to do some anti gravity yoga with one of my friends...a whole new world opened up and oh, I am excited to explore more!
...coming back I realised that I don't have any kids at home waiting, so why not ask my husband to go for a quick lunch together...yes, he had time!
...with still lots of time on hand I decided to do the necessary shopping trip...as not really in a hurry and with just little things that I had to get, I was able to observe things I never realise on days I just quickly have to get things done..."my" music in the car on the way there, all this smells once you enter the shopping centre, incredible loud music in a shop I went to pick up some basics for my big girl (usually I like looking through all that clothes without the girls running from here to there, but that music was so loud today, I only did the necessary), the noises of lots of arabic speakers all around once I entered the big food shop to quickly check for oats and a special brand of crackers (all out of stock at the moment) and finally the heat that hit me once I left the centre to slip into the car again - my own bubble filled with cool air and "my" music getting me home...very slowly...
from there it was tired kids, tired husband and tired Mum...now off to bed, as I know for sure that there is a yoga class to teach in the morning...let's see what else comes along...
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
... I was writing lots of lists. ... had a nice yoga practice at the beach, between kids and sunset. ... I was trying to plan ahead. ... we did fit some candlelight dinners in! ... we had lots of wonderful mozzarella meals. ... the fridge decided to take a break! ... we were Easter crafting. ... we're slowly getting out our summer clothes. ... I was teaching a baby-massage class! ... working on my patience. ... we had the first breakfast out on the terrace. ... I am asking: how about I be me and you be you!?
