the 5th birthday

just a handful of photos from my daughter's fifth birthday party last weekend.  she chose the theme of yellow submarine based on the old animated beatles' film which seems to be on constant rotation at our house these days.

happy weekend!

happy birthday tula mirth.

tula + mama, minutes after birth. 7.17.2006

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                    i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant 
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart) 

...e.e.cummings

my wee girl is five and i want to stop time.  it feels like everything is moving so fast and i am not savoring it enough...suddenly we are here at five when my girl's lanky legs hang down to my knees and i grunt when she sits on my lap.  i remember easily when she was so light that she fit into the crook of one arm.

happy birthday tula mirth.  you are my heart.

my kid is funny...

so funny that a couple of my friends started a twitter account for her and demanded that i start tweeting the things she says.  at first i thought it was a little crazy but it has proven to be a nice way to collect all of her quotes in one place, instead of the scraps of paper i usually record them on.  so, check out my funny kid at tula_says.

scenes from a life...

fourth of july block party, by juli

when my daughter looks back on her childhood i hope my photos help her to remember just how beautiful and dear these years are to both of us...her experience and my witness to it.  we live in the moment and so often let them pass, i hope to capture whatever i can to help us both remember.  today this one is my favorite.

dear spring

please arrive soon.  we are tired of cold, rainy days...

sincerely.  juli + tula mirth

by juli

the treehouse

in 2009 a little idea started unfurling about what would become my daughter's first bed.  i looked all about and disliked everything i saw until i ran across an awesome post by blogger joanna goddard of a cup of jo about a treehouse built indoors from mathy by bols.  now you see, i have always wanted a treehouse so i thought any child of mine would also want one.  i did drawings inspired by this post and talked a friend of mine, who is good with numbers and owns power tools, to get involved.

tula mirth picked out the paint with her wise two-year-old sensibilities: orange on the outside and eggshell blue on the inside.  she even helped paint it in her little diaper.  i love hearing her tell the story of making her bed. 








and so, tula mirth has a treehouse bed.  we built it in 2009 and it has survived a move and a large birthday party with boys leaping from it's steps.  i look at it and smile.  it is good memories and i enjoy how everyone, no matter how large, wants to climb inside.

 

all photos by juli