OUR COMMON HOURS

18 // 52

lillia // b&w

the best little face :)

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lillia: This week you had a big field trip to our state capital, Concord. You got to meet some politicians and learn about their jobs. You told me that our local representatives only make $200 a year which, you quipped, “Makes their jobs really intense volunteer work!” I think you would make an excellent politician: you are very passionate about your ideas; you love to argue; and you have a very well-developed sense of justice.

Zane: You are getting to be such a big boy! This week I decided that it was finally time to start getting serious about potty training. You’ve been able to go on command for awhile now, but you were having trouble realizing you had to go until it was too late. Yesterday, you stayed dry ALL DAY, including during a short nap in the car! Most of me is so excited for you (and happy not to have to buy so many diapers!), but part of me is also really sad. It’s hard to believe that you’re going to be three years-old in just a few months…you’re really not a baby anymore.

rainbows in ’em

“It always amazes me to look at the little, wrinkled brown seeds and think of the rainbows in ’em,” said Captain Jim. “When I ponder on them seeds I don’t find it nowise hard to believe that we’ve got souls that’ll live in other worlds. You couldn’t hardly believe there was life in them tiny things, some no bigger than grains of dust, let alone colour and scent, if you hadn’t seen the miracle, could you?”

— L.M. Montgomery, Anne’s House of Dreams

rainbows in 'em 1
rainbows in 'em 3
rainbows in 'em 5
rainbows in 'em 2
rainbows in 'em 4

new lens // nikkor 105mm 2.8d

My husband, who is always amazingly supportive of all of my hobbies & whims, got me a new camera lens for my birthday — the Nikkor 105mm 2.8d — and it is wicked cool (pardon my New Hampshire-speak). Can I just say that I am so grateful to be married to someone who not only knows what I want, but knows what I want even before I know that I want it?

I’ve never used a macro lens before, and this one is manual focus on my camera body, so I’m anticipating a bit of a learning curve. Numerous wise people have noted that it’s not just how much you practice, but how far you push yourself outside of your comfort zone, that makes the real difference when it comes to getting better at something.

I give you my inception — withering tulips.

tulip // new lens test 2
tulip // new lens test 1
tulip // new lens test 3

today is my birthday // i’m 33

today's my birthday // i'm 33

One cannot love without suffering or suffer without loving.

Look at the mothers who truly love their children: how many sacrifices they make for them. They are ready for everything, even to give their own blood so that their babies grow up good, healthy and strong.

— St. Gianna Beretta Molla

Today is my birthday, and I am thirty-three. I share my birthday with many notable figures. But, today I learned that my birthday is also the feast day of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian wife, mother, and doctor who discovered in the second month of her pregnancy that she had a uterine fibroma but refused surgical interventions in order that she might carry her child to term. She successfully delivered her full-term baby daughter, Gianna Emanuela, but died seven days later on April 28, 1962. Although I am not a Catholic, I do place an enormous value on motherhood and I strongly identify with the all-powerful love for one’s children that St. Gianna embodied; I am honored to share my birthday with the feast of St. Gianna Molla.

You can learn more about St. Gianna Molla here.

17 // 52

17 // 52 // Lillia
17 // 52 // Zane

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lillia: This week you are on vacation from school. I have to admit that I have really missed our lazy mornings. Now that you’re back in school, it seems like we are always rushing. On Sunday the Easter Bunny gave you a book about drawing animals and you have been spending a lot of time looking at it and trying out the different techniques. We have other “learn to draw” books, but they are really too simple for you. This new guide is for more advanced artists…which is what you are now!

Zane: Your egg obsession continues! The Easter Bunny gave you a mother hen with baby chicks that “patch” (your word for “hatch”) from eggs, and also a book all about how robins build their nests and take care of their eggs and babies. I am so touched that you want to be a mother bird. I guess it means I’m doing something worth imitating, which is not only a huge responsibility but also a great honor.