A Weeks Worth of Pictures!

39/365 - Just my girl enjoying her Cheerios for breakfast.

40/365 - My first attempt at a moon shot..
Will definitely try again when I find my tripod!

41/365 - some of the sugar flowers I was making for my mom's
60th birthday cake!  This was my first try at sugar flowers, and
it was so much fun!

42/365 - My wonderful neighbor Lisa brought us a treat the
other night.  She works for Stonefield Farms, and they were
handing out boxes of their new organic frozen yogurt pops.
She brought us two boxes, yum!

43/365 - Just a shot of the finished cake.  I was pretty happy
with it, and look forward to using that technique again!

44/365 - My girl signing a Valentine for a friend.  I cut out the
hearts, she did the rest.  I am so proud of how far she's coming
with writing her name!

Seeds - 38/365

38/365 - Seeds

Nothing too exciting, just a seed head from the garden.  I think this is a from a purple cone flower.  I like how it actually looks like a flower still, even though all the petals have dropped off.  Soon these will become more flowers for my garden!  I was having a hard time taking this picture indoors, so I ended up pulling the stem through a piece of white paper, and taping it to the window so it was a bit illuminated from the back.  It was a tad dark outside at this point, so I had to set the camera on the chair since I am unable to find my tripod at the moment!  Even though I was being circled by Ana, Stevie and Cooper at the time, trying to protect both the flower and my camera, I think it ended up pretty neat!

37/365 - Ewww...

Yeah...that's what I thought when I walked into my kitchen last night and saw this guy hanging out on the wall!  I have seen several of these guys in the basement, but they rarely show up on the main floor of the house.  Truthfully, I was heading into the kitchen to get my camera since I hadn't yet done my picture of the day...it was around 11pm.  So, yeah...I had to get moving!  I had no idea what I was going to do until I saw him there, clinging to the wall near where my camera was sitting.  Ewww!

Ewww... 37/365

Winter?

Such a big girl now!

I love these tights!

It has been ridiculously warm this winter.   I'm not complaining, it's just weird!  We got outside yesterday to enjoy some of the sunshine, and it was so nice!  Ana has been begging to ride her bike, so we pulled it out of the garage and off we went for a walk.  She did so great; she rode all the way to the end of our road and back again!  It's not terribly far, but for 4 year old legs, I'm sure it was a trek!  When we got back to the house, we played in the yard for a while.  Ana's mission was mud pies, Cooper's was a combination between stealing Ana's bike, climbing the play set ladder/sliding down the slide and being crazy on the swings.  Basically, anything but the mud his sister was trying to sell him!  We had a ball getting some fresh air, and we're looking forward to getting out again this afternoon after nap time!  Today, cousin Stevie can play with us too!

Trying to figure out how to get on!

 

Mummy helped him up...
checking out the bell!

Oh yeah!  I'm totally a big kid now!

Up - 36/365

and down!

I think she was saying,
"Would you like some cakes m'lady?"

Ana LOVES the mud (that's a heart she's trying to make)

The Lesson - 35/365

35/365 - The Lesson

No, he's not having an actual piano lesson.  He's just sitting with his Nannie at the piano, having some fun.  I adore the way he is looking at his Nannie in this picture.  It warms my heart!  Cooper loves to sit up at the piano and plunk away singing, "la, la, laaaaaa"; it is so cute!  He sings all the time, way more than Ian and Ana ever did, and I love it!  Maybe he'll be a piano player like his brother!

Still At It!

I've been taking a picture consistently every day for a couple days over a month now!  I am super proud of myself.  Even though this week was pretty lame in the picture department, I still kept up with it!

32/365 - Home

Well, Thursday was a long day.  I had PTA that night and knew that once I got home if I had sat down, I'd probably be asleep within minutes and I wouldn't get my picture done.  So here is my PTA bag and shoes exactly where I left them at the door.  I know, exciting!

33/365 - iPod Touch

Yup, Ian has one.  I really wasn't crazy about him having one.  I mean, if he was going to listen to music with it, that would be one thing, but he wanted it for the games and apps.  He had lots of friends who had them, but I just wasn't convinces that a 10 year old needs to be owning one of these things!  Anyways, he asked for money for his birthday because he had purchasing and ipod in mind, and combined between all his gifts, he scrambled up enough to go purchase it.  So yes, my 10 year old has an iPod Touch.  It tries to take over his life; so we have had to set some major boundaries to prevent that from happening!  Like, he can't use it until his chores and homework are done, and he has to hand it over promptly at 7pm, an hour before his bedtime.  Before we realized we had to make these rules, we were unaware that he was taking it to bed and playing it until late into the night.  This made for very bad mornings.  This week he asked to download some music to it, and I was very happy, but we're pretty picky about what kind of music we want him listening to.  The stuff his friends are listening to are not always what we approve.  He's pretty good about this, and know that mum is going to look up the lyrics and make sure it is okay before we add it to his playlist.  It is so hard though finding appropriate, but still cool music for kids!

34/365, Knit

I felt really cozy last night curled up on the couch with my cup of coffee, and a knitting project!  Actually, this picture had to be staged, because before I decided to take a picture, I majorly messed up the pattern, and had to rip several rows back.  I was then too lazy to get up and get a crochet hook to assist getting all the stitches back on the needles correctly, and to be honest, I'm not sure I will be able to tell where I am in the pattern if I do get them back on!  Very frustrating, I may have to start completely over.  It will be worth it though when these little slippers are finished and keeping Cooper's little piggies warm!  

Carrot

February 1st - 31/365, Carrot

Well...it was one of those days.  Kids were nuts.  I'm exhausted.  Crappy picture it is.  C'est la vie!

Nannie and YUM!

January 30th - 29/365, Nannie 

My mum was in the hospital most of last week suffering with complications from pneumonia.  On Monday, she finally felt well enough to leave the house, and she paid us a visit.  She is still beyond exhausted, but I can't tell you how nice it was to see her smiling again!  Everyday brings us a little bit closer to seeing that crazy joyful Nannie we are used to seeing!

January31st - 30/365, Yum

Um....Cadbury Creme Eggs.  I know they are loaded with lots of stuff I shouldn't be putting into my body, but YUM!  I just can't help myself.  Thank goodness they are only around one time a year, but unfortunately, that time of year seems to come earlier and last longer every year!

28/365

I don't have a title for this one.  I was taking pictures of Ian doing this:

 and this

when he did this:

So I did this:

28/365

and I'm still in awe every day

how Greg + Cammie = this reddish haired, hazel eyed boy!

All Caught Up!

Long Day, 26/365

It was one of those days!  Look at that mess behind my reclined slippers, arrgh!  We spent the morning finally getting our hands on the elusive popcorn salt I searched for for four hours the day before, and going to Wal Mart to get the popcorn, bags and a few other items.  This was all done in really icky pouring rain, and we were soaked by the time our tasks were complete.  We then went to hang out with my mum who has just spent the majority of the last week in the hospital due to complications from pneumonia.  We arrived home in time to see Ian off the bus, and get everything together for the PTA Family Movie Night that I was running.  It was a good time, even though my mind was very preoccupied, and things didn't get set up, or started early enough to make it run smoothly.  It was just one of those exhausting days!  When we got home at 9pm, I just couldn't deal with cleaning up the days clutter.  Instead, I put on my nightgown and my cozy slippers, and plopped myself down in the recliner.  Sometimes you just have to let it go!  

Blue, 27/365

This is Ian.  He doesn't always feel the need to see things through.  He's a lot like his mumma that way.  We get excited about starting a new project, but get bored before it can be finished.  Anyways, even though he often gives us a hard time about going to karate class, he always comes back out of it with a smile on his face saying, "Thank you!  That was a great class, I'm so glad I went!".  I am so proud that he has stuck with karate for almost two years now!  He is currently a blue belt with one stripe towards his green belt.  I don't know how other dojo's work, but in his, you start with a white belt, then purple, yellow, orange, blue, green, brown and black.  So I really feel like he has accomplished something with this!  I love watching him go through his movements, he is so precise, and sharp with them.  It is good for his mind and body!

Airzone

Just wanted to post a few more pictures of Ana's field trip to Airzone earlier this week.  This attraction was a huge draw for Cooper, my ball and bat lover!  The cone blew a sharp stream of air out, and levitated the ball so the kids could hit it with the bat.  He got such a kick out of carefully getting the ball in the right place, then waving the bat around yelling, "Go, go, go!!"  I'm pretty certain he didn't hit a single ball out into the "field", most of them going backwards or sideways, but he sure had fun!!

Even the grown-ups can go on the slides at Airzone!!  Below, I am braving the slide with Ana, and then you can see her teacher, Mrs. Tewell having her turn.  It really was pretty fun!  By the way, Mrs. Tewell is the same teacher Ian had at Fremont Early Learning as a Kindergarten student; you can see a picture of cute little 5 year old Ian with her here.  She's on the left.  He was just so cute!  I just re-read the post too, and noticed that I mentioned his promise to me that he would still cuddle with me when he's 10.  Well, so much for promises!  Really, every so often if I'm lucky he will still cuddle up to me...and let's face it he still climbs into bed with us every night.  So I guess I am still getting my cuddle time.

And, here are the daredevils.  So much fun!

More Catching Up

Hand Wash Only, 21/365

Febi is a seriously happy baby!  I had to set her down to help Cooper with something so I put her on the pile of clean laundry that had started to take over a corner in the living room.  It was the perfect prop for her, and she just smiled away at us!

Danger Dan, 22/365

On Monday, Cooper and I accompanied Ana on a field trip with her preschool class to a new place in Exeter called Airzone.  It is all blow ups, from slides to bouncy houses.  They had a ball!  There were a few kids in Ana's class who were weary of climbing the big slide, but Cooper plowed right through them all and went down over and over.  I swear this child has no fear.  That is how he has earned the nickname "Danger Dan" in our house.  From trying to stick knitting needles in sockets, climbing onto counters, bay windows and over the high backs of our furniture; from using rolling toys as footstools to standing on tables and arms of chairs squealing "Wook a me!", he is an accident waiting to happen.  He really is the easiest 2 year old out of our three kids, BUT, I am quite certain he will be the first to need stitches or a cast of some sort!

Twenty Piggies 23/365

I know...more feet.  I just can't help myself!  I love kids' feet and hands!  This was Ana and Febi the other day.  While the boys were sleeping, Ana wanted to hold Febi so she sat in her Ana sized reclining chair and I propped Febi up in her arms.  It was the perfect perch for her and she sat there happy as a clam for over half an hour!  I was sitting on the floor, and liked the difference in size between their feet, so out came the camera.

Down Time 24/365

The kids spend a lot of time pretending they are camping.  Here they have set up their "sleeping bags" and pillows and are having a little quiet time.  Moments before I took this picture, Stevie and Ana were fighting over who was going to hold Febi's hand.  Until I pointed out that she in fact had two!  You can see that Ana is still trying to be a little possessive.  I love how Febi is looking at her though...and that you can see Stevie has a grip on her little hand.  He adores his sister!

We Love Popcorn, 25/365

I spent all day yesterday trying to search out ingredients that I needed to make "movie style popcorn" for our  PTA Family Movie Night scheduled for tonight.  Specifically, I was looking for the Flavacol popcorn seasoning.  I had been able to find the stuff online, but the shipping was outrageous!  I went to four stores yesterday morning, before calling Sam's Club and discovering they not only had popcorn salt, but 50lb bags of popcorn kernels!  I was so excited!  I don't have a membership, but the lady on the phone told me I could shop, but just pay a 10% upcharge.  Seeing as it would only amount to a couple dollars overall, and that it was still going to be a good deal, I decided to go for it.  I got to the store, loaded the 50lb bag into my cart, the salt, and a pack of 500 popcorn bags and went to the checkout line.  That's when I was basically told that I shouldn't even have been able to be in the store without a membership.  That they no longer do day passes, and that they will let me buy this time, but not again unless I buy a membership.  Feeling like a hardened criminal at this point, I whipped out my credit card to complete the transaction and end my misery, I was then told that they don't take Visa.....

huh?

Yeah, they don't take Visa!  I was near to tears as I told them I had no other means to pay, and that I was going to have to return the stuff.  It was pretty devastating leaving those things behind; four hours of running around yesterday morning got me nowhere!!  When we got home, I found the snack that I popped for Ian earlier on the counter, and decided I had to make peace with my popcorn misadventure, so I got out the camera.  After all, I really do love popcorn!  Sam's Club, notsomuch.......

A Little Catching Up

Glow, 18/365

No!  I didn't miss days with the 365 project!  We've had a pretty stressful week and I haven't picked up my Nikon in several days, but thanks to the ease of my phone's camera, and my little Kodak point and shoot, I did take pictures; even if they aren't that great.  Anyways, on Wednesday night, we went to see Disney on Ice Celebrates 100 Years of Magic.  It was fantastic!  I was a little worried about how Cooper would do, and if it would hold his attention.  He did get antsy in the second half, but over all, he did great!  Ana was absolutely enthralled the entire time, particularly when the princesses took the stage; and even Ian enjoyed the show!  We let the kids each pick out a souvenir at the beginning of the show; Ian and Ana picked the snow cone cups, Ian's Bruce the Shark from Finding Nemo and Ana's a Cinderella themed one.  Cooper picked a Buzz Light Year glow in the dark sword, and well, you can see by the picture how much he adores it.  The entire time, it was either clutched tight like this, or was swinging around, barely averting whacking the grumpy people sitting in front of us.

Hello?  19/365

Oh...yeah.  This one is exciting.  Lucky I was sitting goofing around with my camera phone that day, or else there wouldn't even have been a picture!  I've been fighting a cold this week, and fell asleep on the couch at about 7:30; I didn't wake up until after midnight, and was in a panic thinking I had missed taking a picture that day.  Well, I was pleased to remember I did take one!  Even if it is just a picture of our crappy old phone!  The numbers are wearing off; you can barely hear it when it rings; and look, you have the choice of tone vs. pulse!  Mind you, the tone part doesn't work...so you have no choice but to wait while it pulses away.  Ian says, "Mom, why does it make that noise, and why does it take so long to dial?!"  It's pretty funny actually...I remember having the rotary phones in our house growing up...it was so frustrating when you messed up the number and had to start over!  Anyways, it is nice to have a  phone on the wall for when I can't figure out where I have laid the cordless phone which happens on pretty much a daily basis.  So here it is, in all it's splendor!

Who, me?  20/365

This is a mug I made at a local pottery painting place called To Your Art's Content.  Ian and Ana both LOVE going there, and on one of our trips, I decided to make something along with them.  I saw something similar in a store somewhere, and thought it would be a fun way to enjoy my morning cup of coffee.  If I were to make it again, I would definitely put the mustache closer to the rim.  But it is fun to goof around with anyways.  This was actually a picture again from my phone that I sent to my sister to make her giggle....I think it worked.

This Little Piggy - 17/365

This Little Piggy 17/365

Greg had a little procedure this morning and is in a cocoon on the couch, pretty much incapacitated.  Of course I've come down with a head going to explode sinus thingy, and feel like I've been hit by a truck.  When we went to pick up the kids from Mimi's house, Cooper was laying in the same spot Mimi reported him laying in for pretty much the entire four hours he was there.  So apparently, he's brewing something too.  It could be so much worse though, so I'm counting my blessings!  Anyways, Cooper crawled up in the recliner next to our friend Joe who was visiting today, and promptly fell asleep.  He just looked so sweet there with his little feet crossed, I had to snap a picture.

Ana cuddling with Daddy

Cooper snuggled up to Joe

I had trouble choosing between the other one and this one.
I liked that his face is more in focus for this one,
but I liked the exposure, and angle of the other one better.