Sunday Citar ~ A HAPPY LITTLE NEW YEAR TO YOU... and a Giveaway

Welcome to Sunday Citar!! Here's where we all share a quote... a favorite, a new find, a laugh inducing or tear inducing quote you love this week. (Citar = to quote in Spanish)
The linky will be open all week for you to link up your special New Year's post... and to get in on the GIVEAWAY AT THE END OF THIS POST!



"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
From The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

I've been delving into books more and more lately, losing sleep, burying my head in the space of black and white while the words take me to another place. Stories and poems, learning and growing... and then a few words caught my eye and held me there, hovering in emotion. Wild and precious.

I could go on by saying that the littles and I cleaned out their room, again, to start fresh for the new year. That I'm proud of my girl who tried on every pair of shoes she owns and was quite pleased with herself as she meticulously and thoroughly lined up the remaining pairs in their place in the closet. Or that we came this close to converting Bray's crib, progressing him up to toddler bed, but found out some screws are missing and have to wait on Daddy to make a trip to Home Depot.

Yet I keep being drawn to these words that resonate with me. Wild and precious.



And I wonder if cleaning the kid's rooms, washing their sheets and converting a crib is what I should be doing... before I realize that I've been trying to live by this credo daily. Finding beauty in the small moments with my littles.

Sometimes it lies in praising my big girl for mastering the vacuum and wielding the hose to clean the corners of her room. Or letting little man show me the shoes that don't fit his growing feet anymore, either.



Sometimes it lies in heading out in the sunshine with a new box of chalk for midday sidewalk art.





Watching my girl spell out the words she knows while little brother draws giraffes and doggies along behind her.




And then pretending to understand exactly what he's saying and realizing after hearing "mammal" for the fifth time that he meant "animals" and not "Nemo" (which it clearly sounded like to me).





Sometimes it's as simple as taking a new Christmas present for a spin around the neighborhood.




Or spending the afternoon in "her climbing tree."



And not worrying so much that it's getting late for naps or that their clothes are getting dirty, and instead enjoying the heck out of the moment. Because that's what washing machines are for, and early bed times.




And sometimes it lies in the spontaneity of hearing fireworks outside and grabbing blankets and flashlights and heading out to our "hill" in the dark to lie down and watch the blasts light up the sky under to moon. Laughing while Brayden flails his arms and whispers "fireworks" and letting their excitement literally charge the very air we breathe while daddy runs up the street to buy some sparks of our own.

Tell me, what is it you plan to do in the new year with your one wild and precious life?

I plan to grab hold to everything that is around me, the colorful and the bland. To love those around me even more fiercely and find countless ways to show my appreciation, to be the friend that I always want to have. I plan to live a little more freely and open myself up more... letting go of the fears that hold me back.

Oh, and I plan to kiss someone special come midnight (I'm writing this Saturday night, so by Sunday, know that it happened. Lovin' fierce, baby).

Happy New Year friends, it's gonna be a good one. A wild and precious one.

I would love to have you join the Sunday Citar inspiration and have all of us come to your blog to read what quotes inspire you! Simply link within your post to my blog, and sign up with the linky below, leaving the link directly to your Sunday Citar post. Just click here if any of that sounds confusing, and please take a moment a visit at least three of the participants around you... you'll be glad you did!

A little look down blog header memory lane (which I think I need to update more often as well)...

And a few favorite posts from 2011...


The Big One


... And It Was Just Right.


Being Born Into Motherhood.


Get Naked, the best advice. 


Spinning Balls and a Deep Breath.


Saying Goodbye to a Burnt Kitchen.

The beginning of KitchenWise.

Kids, Uncensored... things like this are said every week, I need to record it more often.

And now a little New Year's love for you all from one of my favorite places for cute kid's stuff, Tea Collection.  When I was pregnant with Brayden, Chris and I wandered through a kitschy children's store and snatched up a blanket that, to this day, is still the first one I grab from his bin. The tag? Tea. 

I drooled over the adorable clothes and now I love it when my kids are wearing anything with Tea on the tag... and we are so excited to have Tea Collection as a sponsor this month.

Some of my favorites are Brayden's cinnamon colored happy hoodie and Aliyah's go-with-everything tennies, skinny cord cargos and the Puebla graphic jacket (which is now on sale).

A $100 shopping spree to Tea Collection will be given to one lucky commenter on this post, and the giveaway is open all week.

The kids barely made it past ten and Chris and I are ringing in the New Year together.  Have a fabulous New Year, friends! 


A very wild and precious one too.