......early morning solitude.....

.....one of the things I love most about summer is that it stays light for so long, allowing for the days to inch their way to later and later bedtimes.....there are nights that I stick to our nightly routine; if it's been a long adventure and we have pushed through nap time.....all of us exhausted and collapsing to bed......but sometimes, I ignore the clock and let everyone hang out, play, and enjoy the long days.....and if it were up to Elsie she'd tell you.....can't go to sweep yet, Maaahee, cuz it still wight out......

.....and when the girls stay up a bit later, they sleep in a bit later......however, when I say later; I mean they wake at 7am, opposed to 6am.....

.....and I have been savoring my mornings.....Stefan gets ready for work, I am groggy eyed, yet present.....until I get that first steamy cup of coffee.....and with the first sip, I am alive....there is something about making the cup.....watching the cream swirl around the blackness of the coffee, the motion of slowly stirring in my sweetener, the steam rising with the aroma that warms me from the inside out.....it's a ritual that I often think about before I go to bed the night before....

......and my mug.....oh, how I will never part with my old, loved, chipped and hearty mug.....there is nothing better to contain the brew that starts off every morning of my present life.....

.....and Stefan showers, joins me for a cup, gets ready for his day......all the while, we catch up.....my lounging and our chatting as I watch him tighten his tie and polish his shoes......I love to start my mornings this way.....

.....but this summer has also allowed me some early morning solitude in my kitchen......alone with my steamy brew......and I savor it.....every minute of just me and my mug and the quiet of the room.....sometimes just a few minutes before the hustle and bustle, laughing, screaming, demanding, fun filled days of raising two toddlers begins.....

.....and this morning, I had 18 minutes alone.....to be exact.....before Callie's enthusiastic holler......

.....however, in my 18 minutes of solitude, I was also able to prep for a pancake party with our pals from the third floor.....Elsie was ecstatic about having Jolie and Stella over for pancakes and play first thing this morning.....

......and in just a few short minutes, I had some pretty yummy baby pancakes......

.....and a happy toddler who was ready to take some down.....Callie eats with so much vitality.....

....and our sweet friend Stella wanted her pancake just right with the toppings in their exact places before she took her fork and went to dig in.....

.....Jolie ate quickly, only to stop every few bites to observe her sister and her friends with a smile and a giggle.....and Elsie ate all of her fruit first and then asked for a pancake with juss butta.....

......and all four of these little individuals brought me so many smiles and genuine joy this morning....me and my coffee loving the scene of the four girls as they asked for more, shared bites with each other, laughs at nothing at all other than the excitement of having breakfast with friends on a random Wednesday morning.....all in their tutus and playful girly-ness....

.....and there are a lot of mommas out there who tell me that they never have the time to eat.....that after taking care of the kids, cleaning up the house, getting littles dressed with teeth brushed and hair smoothed down that they are running out the door without eating themselves.....

.....not me...

......I always make time to eat.....

.....granted, my pancake was freeing cold.....but I still had to partake in the pancake party.....

......then it was off to dancing, playing, singing and reading princess books......so we were feeling pretty productive by 9am.....

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......another great thing about summer is that I have not signed the girls up for any classes......I wanted it nice and slow, lazy and loungey......which has left us plenty of time for building get togethers like the jam sessions we are doing in our playroom every Wednesday afternoon.....

......and I feel like I say it all the time.....but our living situation offers new friends, old friends, neighborly favors, glasses of wine after bedtime, play dates, swaps so a Momma can run an errand or take a jog.....and it just gets better each day.....where else can we find so many friends that all live within a 50 foot radius?.....

.....No, we New Yorkers do not have much space......but there is something to be said about the closeness of family and community that we get in exchange for an attack, a basement, a his and hers closet and an upstairs playroom.....tight quarters allows and forces human interaction......it's the basis and core of how relationships begin, develop and are sustained.....and I am so blessed that my children are able to have this experience and these memories.....

....and to end the day, we headed outside to appreciate the 75 degree, sunny weather.....we skipped our normal dinnertime and watched Callie use her chalk on her face instead of our NYC sidewalk......

.....only to come home to Elsie breaking the vacuum by riding it like an airplane...... leaving me to clean up the bag of popcorn that made it all over the living room floor by hand.....

.....only to get the girls ready for bed but to find out that they pulled out every item of clothes in the bottom drawer of the dresser.....and Callie had started to robe herself with the PJ section.....

......and the blessing of my house's chaos continues until tomorrow morning.......

.....when it's just me, my coffee and my kitchen.....