Overlooking the French Broad River…(On the left-hand side you can see the sandy shores of the teeny park where that opossum lurked last week.)

It’s a gray, rainy day here but I thought the fog lifting off the mountains was pretty.

Tell me, what’s a girl to do when she has cute springtime clothes to wear but the weather won’t cooperate?

Why, hit up a local greenhouse, of course! It’s bright, warm (humid, in fact – perfect if one needs a little extra curl!) and oh-so-pretty!

The last time I photographed Lyddie she was 6 months old – I can’t believe how grown up she is now!

Lydia is very lucky to have an extremely-talented mama who sews all of her adorable clothes (in her spare time! who has spare time?!)

Thank you, Natalie & Lydia (and extended family) for the springtime session! It was the perfect way to cure those winter blahhs.

PS. Bows from Just Ducky!

A couple weekends ago I took Cole & Harper to the Asheville Art Museum for the opening reception of their new children’s book exhibit: Nouns: Children’s Book Artists Look at People, Places and Things! I don’t think they’re necessarily used to seeing children at the Museum very often, or maybe we just hit them on an off day (when we arrived to purchase our tickets they asked if we were looking for The Health Adventure. Although I love The Health Adventure, I’m smart enough to know when I walk through two doors labeled “The Asheville Art Museum” that chances are I’m going to end up in the Museum.)

So anyway, although you might get a bit of a frosty reception when you bring your kids to visit, rest assured that the exhibit itself is kid-friendly and fun. As you can tell from that really crappy photo from my phone (taken with permission, I might add) they have a little desk & chairs set up for kids and hands-on copies of almost all of the books on display. (Harper enjoyed matching the books to the images on display. Cole enjoyed the fruit & crackers that came with the opening reception. To be fair, he also liked the book about George Washington.) The docent who helped us was very patient & kind to the children, and she definitely made our visit worthwhile. Besides seeing the artwork in person, which was great! I had a hard time keeping my hands off the framed images, too.

This is the second time I’ve been able to view a collection of children’s book art up close & personal. The first time was waaay back in 2000 at the Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibit was: Once upon a Picture: Caldecott Medal and Honor Books. Simms Taback, David Wiesner…mmm, that was such a memorable experience! If you live by the Art Institute of Chicago, I envy you.

Another place I would love to visit is The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

All this to say, if you have the opportunity to see the artwork of some of your favorite children’s books, or just artwork in general, go do it! Introduce your kids early on to art museums and art galleries. (M’s Art School, taught by M, in Hendersonville, incorporates visits to the local art galleries into her classes. Not only does she strive to introduce her students to different kinds of art but she also wants them to know the proper etiquette for visiting a museum or gallery. Be sure to check out her summer camps for kids!)

Seeing & studying artwork is a great way to illustrate for your children the whole process of creation and design that takes place before a book can even be published. And it’s just fun to do something new once in a while, too.

Lark is growing up so quickly! She has 2 new (sharp!) teeth and is sitting up pretty well (for short periods of time, anyway!)

We took a few formal photos in her Easter outfit (how I love those shoes!)…

…and then palled around on the floor for a bit.

After 3 consecutive snow days I was super happy to stick the kids in school and get out and enjoy the sunshine… (that just sounds wrong, doesn’t it?) Along the Parkway I found more evidence of spring – the melting of hundreds of icicles along the rocks. The sound of all that drip, drip, dripping was pretty enjoyable, too.

After a quick stop at Starbucks (I swear that’s not the only reason I use the Parkway) I tried to photograph the mountains. But alas, big barricades prevent dummies like me from driving up tall, winding mountain roads in icy conditions. So I settled for this view from the back of a car lot (not on the Parkway!) I will say that the snow does make the mountains pretty – they’re not as brown & hairy with a nice coating of dandruff on top. Okay, that sounds gross. Really, truly, they’re pretty.

After meandering some more I headed over to the park by the French Broad river, which was gurgling and bubbling and practically overflowing with all that extra mountain ice & snow melting into it. When I first pulled into the park I was totally admiring that gorgeous blue water (from my car) when I spotted…

…this. This opossum. Having never encountered an opossum before, I found myself wondering whether it could be a vicious attack animal. I didn’t really want to find out, so I called Mark (had I been thinking I would have just looked up “opossum” on Wikipedia on my phone and spared Mark the amusement.) He assured me that they moved pretty slowly but warned me to stay away from it if it was foaming at the mouth. Since I didn’t have a telephoto lens with me, I couldn’t really tell if it was foaming at the mouth…but I did get out of the car and he/she didn’t seem very keen on chasing me…so I took some pictures.

When I showed the kids these photos they said, “Awww, cute!” And I said, “Really? You think that thing is cute?”

It should also be noted that Mark never did call me back to see if I survived my vicious animal encounter.

After taking a few more photos it was time to pick up Harper from preschool, thus ending my adventurous (and enjoyable) morning out! All hail the kinder, gentler weather that is in the forecast. Too bad Cole has to go to school on Saturdays to make up for the snow days…

Have you been to Just Ducky lately? I keep hearing their ads on my favorite radio station, so I thought that I’d stop by and check out their new location in Biltmore Village today. (I wasn’t a big fan of their old location on Charlotte Street.) Oh my goodness – their “new” store is super cute! (Really, they’ve been open in Biltmore Village since September…this is just the first time I’ve gotten around to visiting it.) Harper would LOVE it – there are so many beautiful dresses & accessories in there for little girls! They have lots of cute things for babies, too, and some things for boys, but really, this is a little girl’s haven. (Especially a little girl like mine who refuses to wear pants.)

They’ve got a great sale going on right now to make way for the new Spring line that arrives next week – perhaps you need a new thing or two for a portrait session? The two things I love most about their new store: 1. All their clothing is still made right here in Asheville. 2. They’re located next door to a children’s book store: Once Upon a Time

Anyway, I just thought I’d share my exuberance. You’ll have to forgive me… I tend to get this way about visually pretty places or things or landscapes or craft shows or art galleries. If you haven’t been there lately, go check ‘em out!

Oh. My. Goodness! I love her!

This is baby Maddox. She was completely content & cooperative the entire time…

…and she has not one, but TWO big brothers to keep her busy! The leader of the pack (making faces up there) is Dylan…he cracked me up!

…and this is Sam. Oh, how I love those sweet little cheeks!

Smooches for M!

‘A’ family, I know you’ve got your hands full, so thanks for taking time out for photos! I so enjoyed our time together!

You are simply delightful!

Dear Snow: It’s time to go.