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.  

16/365

Just a quick one tonight.  Could have definitely been set up better, but It's 10pm and I want to finally go sit down and rest, and could not be bothered to even think about a tripod, or further fussing.  So, this is what you get!  This is my wedding ring, and I love it for a lot of reasons besides the obvious.  When we started looking, I knew that I wanted one that was similar to my mother's wedding ring; I just loved the way it had open areas.  That was so hard to find!  I ended up finding the designer online, his name is David Virtue.  He just so happened to sell his jewelry in a shop in Portsmouth called the N.W. Barrett Gallery, and I was so thrilled to find it!  Obviously, we ordered it, and while my ring in no way even resembles my husband's wedding ring, I am still in love with the design.  We had each other's rings engraved before our wedding day; I engraved his with "Always" and he engraved mine with "Forever".  Yeah, I know....pretty cheesy....what can I say?

15/365, Chickens Ordered, Check!

I haven't been getting the camera out during the day much lately.  Gotta get back into that.  As I type about yesterday's picture (that was taken late last night), at almost 9:30 tonight, I have yet to take today's picture.  Will get on that as soon as I'm done posting this one!  Anyways, we're getting chickens!  They have been ordered and we will be getting them the end of March, very soon after they hatch.  We will be the owners of seven chickens, a mixture of Rhode Island Reds, and Portland Rocks.  My neighbors have had chickens for about a year, and have become very knowledgeable in chicken raising, so I feel like we will have some good support to make this a success.  I am so very excited, and have wanted to do this for years!  I just cannot wait to see those babies, and get started!

A Trip to Mercer

So, this past Sunday, we made a trip to visit Greg's Uncle, Aunt and 3 kids up in Mercer, ME.  This is always a nice trip to make, even though it is a three hour drive each way!  They own Greaney's Turkey Farm, and run a slaughterhouse, but also have some cows and chickens that the kids love to see.  My plan was to get some good pictures of the animals, but it was so darn cold, I just didn't do it!  I took the kids out to say hi to the animals, then we scrambled back into the warmth of the farmhouse.  My kids adore their cousins (I guess they are technically second cousins) Emily (15), Ben (13), and Adam (8).  Ana always attaches herself right to Emily; she couldn't remember her name, even though we talk about her all the time!  She just called her "my friend" which was really cute anyways.  Adam was so cute with Cooper too; he got right down with him on the floor and spilled his buckets of Army men out so Cooper could play with them.  Cooper loves little figures, or "guys" as he calls them, and had a ball carrying around one in each hand yelling, "Go, go, go, go, go!" as he banged them together.  I think he was making them fight...it was pretty funny, actually; which is pretty ironic for me to say since I have never been one to allow guns, or toys that even relate to guns or fighting at all!  Adam was very sweet to bag up a handful of "guys" for Cooper to bring home, and he has already had a lot of fun carrying them around the house.  As far as Ian goes, we hardly saw him the entire time we were there, as he went off with Ben to play video games and compare apps on their iPods.  Anyways, we had a really nice time, and were treated to a fantastic ham dinner.  We can't wait to go back; I just hope it's a little warmer out next time! 

The day started with a trip to Dunkin' Donuts.
Yes, that is an entire munchkin in his mouth.... 

Adam playing with Cooper

Ana and "her friend"

Ana and Emily lounging on the couch.
What you can't see is Angel, a tiny dog  snuggled just behind Ana.
She says she wants a little dog now!

Ana and "her friend" again.

14/365, Men Down

13/365

So, I bring some laundry downstairs and come back up to Ana and Cooper standing at the top of the stairs.  Ana is dressed like a princess, Cooper has this silver sequined pink feathered beret on his head and a sword in his hands.  These kids crack me up!  He looked sort of like a knight....which is what I think Ana was going for; maybe a drag knight?  Anyways, Cooper just goes along with the flow of any play that Ana dreams up; it is so funny to watch!  There is such an age difference between Ian and Ana that we didn't have a whole lot of the "monkey see, monkey do" stuff, but now with Ana and Cooper, we see it all the time!  If Ana says, "Hey Cooper, let's have a princess tea party!"; Cooper replies "Oh!  Yeah!  Pincess tea, pincess tea!!".  They are beyond cute together.  I'm loving watching their relationship develop.  

So, when I saw his outfit the other day, I had to snap a picture and grabbed the closest camera I could find which happened to be Greg's phone.  It's not a great shot, but it does show my crazy Cooper's antics!  

11/365 and 12/365

11/365, Snow Angels

We finally got some snow!  Ana was beyond thrilled, she just adores the snow!  She was begging from the moment she opened her eyes at "0 dark thirty" to get outside and play, and when we did make it outside, she literally ran out into the yard, flopped on her back and started making snow angels.  It was so funny!  She had a ball rolling around in it, running around in it, and eating it!  We always get a kick out of how, out of all the kids, she has the most tolerance for the cold; she was so meant for our family right here in NH!

12/365, Learning

More Ana.  What can I say, she's always up to something interesting!  We went to my mum and dad's house this afternoon and my sister was there as well.  She happens to own an i-pad that Ian goes crazy over, and she had it with her.  Izzy was showing Ana some of the things that can be done on it, and Ana was absolutely unwilling to leave, because she was having so much fun!  I promised her that she could play a game on my Nook when we got home.  So here she is doing an activity I downloaded a while back called iTouchiLearn Words.  In this game, she has to take the jumbled up letters on the bottom of the screen, and match them to the letters that spell out a word at the top of the page.  I have to remember I have this next time we are waiting in the doctor's office, or elsewhere because she loved this!

Time Out, 10/365

Greg just returned from a 4 day work trip.  As usual, he arrived bearing a little trinket for each of the kids.  Cooper received a little die-cast airplane which has a moving propeller...he adores it!  Yesterday was a day that Stevie and Febi came to spend with us.   Cooper and Stevie are only a year apart; they like the same toys, and they go back and forth between being great sharers and non-sharers.  Stevie was as taken with that little airplane as Cooper was.  Overall, they really did great yesterday, with the one exception when Stevie dared to try and grab the airplane from Cooper, and Cooper in turn thought it fitting to smack Stevie in the head with it!  Cooper has done this a handful of times to Stevie...he's a bit of a ruffian!  He is hands down, the happiest, most laid back child 99% of the time.  There are moments though that I'm thinking to myself, "Who is that kid?".  Like when he wraps his pudgy little arms around his cousin's waist and tries to haul him to the floor.  Maybe we have a football player in the making!

Anyways, I know I'm a mean mom for pulling out the camera for this one.  But I couldn't resist not capturing this face!

These Boots, 9/365

Ana has always been a shoe lover.  Even before she could walk, she would crawl around with the shoes on her hands!  We found a pair of cowboy boots at Wal-Mart last summer that Ana absolutely fell in love with!  She wore them EVERY day, regardless of what else she was wearing (it was August, so a lot of swimsuits with boot looks!).  Then one day, she left them outside by the sandbox, and I didn't realize they were there....we looked and looked inside the house for them for days!  Meanwhile, they were getting rained on outside.  They were absolutely ruined by the time we discovered them, and I had a very sad little girl!  Well, yesterday, Ana's friend Emma (who happens to be daughter to our fabulous neighbors, and sister to very good friends of Ian) passed on a bag of clothes and in it was an identical pair of boots!  Ana is in her glory!  She doesn't even care that her size 10 foot absolutely floats in the size 1 boot.  Emma was over to play yesterday, and she cuddled up with Ana and Cooper in the recliner.  I took the opportunity to snap this picture.  I think it's hilarious to see the two pairs of boots, almost the same size, and one pair on legs half the length!  That's my girl...a slave to fashion!

Shadow Flowers, 8/365

Narcissus have to be some of the happiest flowers on Earth...but they wither away so quickly!  Greg bought me a small pot of them about a week ago, and they are already looking very haggard.  Nonetheless, they are still sitting on the computer desk, behind my laptop.  A little while ago, I was sitting in the computer chair (which happens to be a recliner, weird...I know!) watching Ana do a craft (read, glue stuff to other stuff).  I was a little sad, because we had to miss Ana's dance class today due to an "on the way out the door Cooper Poop Incident" (involved shower spray down, possible clothing loss, hair washing, tub scrubbing...yup, it was that bad.  I was moping, thinking about how I wasn't going to do a picture of Ana in dance class for my picture of the day when suddenly I noticed the bright sunshine streaming through the window causing this shadow on the wall.

I thought it was kinda neat looking.

So it became my picture for the day...

Ever notice the shadows around you?

ROYGBP, 7/365

Yeah, I know....it's supposed to be ROYGBIV.

Well, our crayon selection was a little limited, 

so this is what you get.

Don't tell Ana I was playing with her crayons without her!

Rare Moment, 6/365

They fight...a lot!

But, I will sometimes find them sitting like this.

Watching a movie.

Or reading a book.

And it makes me happy.

This picture is technically pretty awful.  Out of focus, and underexposed.  I literally found them sitting together in the recliner watching a movie and held the camera up over their heads, focused on who knows what, pressed the button and hoped for the best!  However, there is an awful lot about this picture that I like.  Besides the fact that I caught them actually acting like they liked each other, this one (unlike the others I took of them just looking at the tv) clearly shows how Ian consistently wears his clothes; inside out and backwards.  What can I say, it's his unique style!

Party of Four, 5/365

One of Ana's Favorite Past times is setting up dinner parties for her "friends".  This one was thankfully without the usual sneaky trip to the faucet for "tea".

Yes, those are the same pajamas she was wearing in the last photo.  They are new, and the current favorite!

Yes, she has worn them all day...

To the store even...

And probably will, 

barring a pajama catastrophe, 

wear them to bed again tonight!

A Comfy Spot, 4/365

Lately, Ana has taken to falling asleep in the hallway right outside her bedroom.  She's going through an "I'm afraid of my room" phase, and is having a hard time falling asleep.  I don't know if it's the comfort she feels that she can see and hear Ian in the next room better, or she can hear us better downstairs, but this is how we have found her for three nights in a row now.  She then wakes up and crawls into bed with us (that is; me, Greg, and Ian who still joins us as well).  While I don't mind sharing my bed with my kids at all, I'm afraid we are all suffering in sleep quality.  Ian is a BEAR in the morning, Greg and I ache from sleeping in contorted positions trying not to squish our children, and though Ana is perfectly chipper first thing, it is obvious by mid afternoon that she is exhausted.  Life is not so good when Ana is exhausted!  She sure looks cute curled up in this new favorite spot though!

Febi's Piggys, 3/365

Febi's Piggys, 3/365

Febi, 99% of the time!

I watch my nephew and niece on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  I love that I'm building lasting relationships with them, but I'm not going to say it's easy peasy!  Having four kids 4 and under running around is absolute chaos sometimes; and that's when they are all getting along!  When they are fighting, arrgh!  Cooper and Stevie have a love/hate relationship for sure!  However, I must say that Ana and Stevie were the same last year, but are best buddies now, so I'm sure next year this time the boys will be good pals!  But there are moments.  Moments where they are getting along; playing together, doing the same thing; that I can have a few moments to enjoy the little things about having a baby in the house; like tiny toes!  I love baby feet, and Febi has some pretty cute little 5 month old feet!  So while the kids were engaged in play dough yesterday morning, and Febi was napping, I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of her.  She really is such an easy baby, in all her sweet chunkiness!

rolling out the dough takes
a lot of concentration!

making a "guy"!

Play Dough for Ana usually means some sort of "cooking"!

Another favorite game recently.
Pretending to be Elves in the workshop.
Can you tell who the Head Elf is?

A Treasured Gift, 2/365

A Treasured Gift, 2/365

I know.  Kinda boring.  However, my camera battery died earlier in the day and I couldn't find the backup one so the first opportunity for a picture was after the kids were in bed; after I was exhausted, and uninspired.  Anyways, the subject of the photo is pretty important to me.  This was a gift from my kids for Christmas.  Greg bought me a Keurig, and I love it!  I'm the only one who drinks coffee in the house, and I'm not a big coffee drinker at that.  I really do enjoy a nice cup of coffee or tea in quiet moments while reading, or as an after dinner treat though.  It has never made sense to have a coffee pot, so I've been drinking decaffeinated instant for quite a while, and it's been doing the trick, but it's nothing compared to a fresh brewed cup of coffee!  I think it was Ian who thought a pair of slippers (from Ian) and this coffee mug (from Cooper) would be the perfect gift to go with it (along with a very thoughtfully picked out skein of yarn and knitting needles from Ana).  To be honest, this isn't the exact mug they gave me.  Unfortunately, the original one broke after the first couple days.  Someone knocked it off the counter and it shattered.  It was a little different, saying "Live, Love, Laugh" instead, but when I went back, this was the only one they had.  I do love it though; it's very fitting isn't it; as my children are my greatest blessings!

Cooper's Guys, 1/365

Cooper's Guys 1/365

I made this little toy for Cooper for Christmas this year.  I saw the idea here while trolling the web for some homemade gift ideas, and knew I had to make some!  It's amazing how wooden candle cups, peg dolls, and a little soy paint can make for hours of toddler fun!  He calls them "my guys", and loves to sit at the table matching them to their cups.  When he completes his task he yells, "Yay!!" and claps his hands, so proud of himself!  I will definitely be making more of these for gifts!

Yay!!