sunflowers and train tracks.

"I'd rather be a mother than anyone on earth

bringing up a child or two of unpretentious birth...

i'd rather tuck a little child all safe and sound in bed

than twine a chain of diamonds about my [carefree] head.

i'd rather wash a smudgy face with round, bright, baby eyes

than paint the pageantry of fame or walk among the wise."

-Meredeith Gray from The Beauty of Motherhood

"if we really stop to think about what we do, really do, we are building for the centuries. we are building character, and tradition, and values, which meander like a river into the distance and out of our sight, but on and on and on."

-Anna Quindlen

photos taken by my cute new friend Rachel.