Lovely Easter.

 We had such a wonderful Easter with friends then family! I hope yours was lovely too!! We started the day with brunch and worship with a house full of some of our favorite people.  I'm borrowing the following photos from my photo-talented friend Andrew. I was too busy monitoring Jude's donut intake to take many photos. : )

 Lovely ladies, lovely dresses, lovely babies, lovely instruments.

 We love the McMurrays!

(me)  : )

 a sitar, banjo, and several guitars....now THATS some great worship!

 and, of course, an amazing spread of Easter carbs : )

 Yay! Our family on Easter!! (Thanks for the pics, Andrew!)

After the brunch we headed to the country to be with family for more good food, handmade ice creams, egg hunting, and conversation on the front porch.

 Love my boys!

I hope the weekend gave you time to slow down and enjoy spring!

Arian

Party Balloons

I'm working on a set of customizable invitations that will soon be available in the shop. If you have any suggestions for themes or sizes let me know!

We're still getting settled in to our new routine now that Hudson is in kindergarden. I actually don't mind the early mornings as much as I thought I would. Biking to and from school with Hudson is quickly becoming this sweet little daily bonding time for the two of us. And I think Jude is enjoying the little bit of extra attention he's getting now that he's got both parents to himself for part of the day. Sweet, little, Jude....getting bigger every day!


Have a good night ; )
Arian

Urban Gardening

I'm blessed to have a husband who grows vegetables and a landlady who grows flowers all in our tiny little urban back yard. Jude and I get to just bring in the harvest : )

With Hudson off to school and Daniel off to meetings and such, Jude and I are getting lots of good, quality mommy/toddler time. Today he brought me flowers ; ) and we chatted over a lunch of just-picked tomato sandwiches with feta cheese, sprouts, red onions and hummus (Jude is quite the little foody)





A girl could definitely get used to fresh flowers every day!

The vase below is one of the few things (maybe only?) I have from my great-grandmother on my dad's side. It's a cute little thing!

And here are some flowers for you : )

Have a good one!
Arian

Back "Home" : )

Our 2200+mile, 6-state, 3-week road trip came to an end late last night and this morning both both boys woke up asking to go back out on the road.

Two big things we learned on the trip were 1. We love Cincinnati--our apartment, our friends, our Cincy family, the city, our church..... and 2. "Home" seems to be where ever the 4 of us are together. (and 3. no one this side of the Mississippi makes an iced soy latte like Coffee Emporium)



We felt at home driving through the Tennessee mountains in our tiny, un-air-conditioned car. We felt at home at the beach house in Oak Island,



at my dad's house in North Carolina,









snuggled together in a tent in West Virginia,





and playing in the New River under the highest bridge in America.











And now that we're back we feel at home here. I'm excited about the next few weeks. We're entering a new season with Hudson starting school for the first time, Daniel starting his teaching gig at our Alma Mater, me turning my creative efforts away from freelance and back toward my own art, and Jude entering the wonderful world of potty training.



I feel like we've fully immersed ourselves in traveling and summer and have tried hard to experience all that this season has to offer. And now we're back and we have our eyes set on cooler temperatures, putting down roots, and new adventures at home.

Hope you're fully immersed in whatever season you happen to be in : )

Arian

ps-- there are more pics of our trip on my flickr page and a lot more will be posted once I have the time to sort through them all.. sooooo many!!

The Open Road

We're nearing the last leg of our epic Kentucky to West Virginia to Kentucky to Oak Island, North Carolina to Fayetteville, North Carolina to West Virginia to Kentucky vacation. And it's. been. awesome. We've seen lots and lots of open road.



I definitely see the appeal of life on the road and there's a big part of us that wants to make traveling more of the rule than the exception in our life. We'll see!



Til then we'll enjoy this last big fling before Hudson starts kindergarten in a couple weeks and Daniel starts teaching in the fall. But I wouldn't be surprised, come next summer, if you see us Armstrongs out on the road again, hopefully for longer than just three weeks.









Happy Travels!
Arian