Jan. 19-25, 2009

Jan. 19

Not a very exciting picture day, but a necessary one to document our life right now. If you know us well then you know we have moved a lot in the 9.5 years we have been married. I know some of you may be guessing 3-4 times but if you say, ummmm, 12 times then you would be right on the dot. I don't know what the deal is, so don't ask. Life has just carried us all over. Okay, in the 12 places we've lived, only 4 of those was lucky enough to have a dishwasher. That's a total of approximately 2 years of dishwasher heaven. So that means 7.5 years of our marriage has been without one. 7.5 years of hand washing dishes! Oh that makes me feel ill. Let's just say, I'm not fond of doing dishes. Aaron and I usually take turns, which is nice. I had just finished doing the dishes and thought it was definitely a worthy photo op.

Jan. 20

This was such a historic day whether you voted for this guy or not, I had to include him in our 365 album. It is definitely a life changing event. I'm excited for something different.

Jan. 21

At about this time of year my kids start growing out of their fall clothes. It's kind of hard because I don't want to spend the money on new long pants when spring and summer are right around the corner. But then we have to deal with a few months of floods. Both of my kids are flooding it right now. By Spring I think they will have full on capri pants. It's nice to see the evidence that they are growing and doing well.

Jan. 22

This is a well known scene at our house. We were lucky enough to find a home in our price range that had 3 bedrooms. The third bedroom is Aaron's studio and my craft room, although Aaron pretty much hogs the whole thing. It is nice to have him at home while he works. I enjoy peeking in and seeing what he is up to. You can check out his blog here.

Jan. 23

We have had some pretty crazy weather this winter. It had been raining off and on the last couple of days including all morning on the 23rd. As I was driving home from work the sky cleared up and the sun was out. It was unusually warm, around 47 degrees, for January. I thought it was perfect for a walk. And it was. B and princess enjoyed getting out and playing at the park. This picture cracks me up. I sure love these two monkeys.

Jan. 24

The night of the 23rd I noticed it was getting pretty cool in our house and we figured out our furnace wasn't turning on. We also noticed some outlets not working and figured a circuit must be out. We are in such an old house and couldn't quite figure out all which fuse had the problem. It was late so we ended up having to go without a furnace that night and most of the next day. This whole day we pretty much just hung out in the kitchen. We shut all the doors in the house, turned on a couple of space heaters, baked brownies, and played games. It was cold, but it was actually pretty nice to spend the day together. This is the kiddos huddled up in front of a space heater getting warm.

Jan. 25

When I picked B up from his class at church, he skipped out and handed me his artwork. His picture made me chuckle and I knew this was the picture of the day. I love to see how he perceives his world around him. This is a picture of our family. In the front is me, B, and Princess. I love how he portrays Princesses hair. It's kind of hard to see but it cracks me up. The person in the back is dad. Dad is standing next to the stove, cooking. This makes me laugh because since I'm a full time working mommy, dad has taken on the responsibility of making the majority of our meals. Just the other day, dad was making pancakes and got busy doing something else. I jumped into help and B said, "what are you doing? you don't know how to make pancakes." Hmmmm. It's not like I never cook. I wonder if he remembers the other 4 years of his life that I cooked and fed him all his meals? Probably not. Oh well.

Last week of Jan. Yay! Keep smiling!

Jan. 12 - Jan.18, 2009

Jan. 12

Hello Blogland, meet my running shoes. I won't tell you how long ago I got these bad boys for fear of you knowing how little I've ran since I acquired these. I actually really love my running shoes, it's the running I'm not really fond of. With that being said, with a new year comes new resolutions. I used to be pretty healthy and let's just say I've enjoyed my chocolate the last few years. I've decided to workout more this year and so far so good! Really. I decided to document this picture in my project 365 to remind myself what I started doing in January. Let's just hope by December these shoes look more loved.

Jan. 13

Oh play-doh. My kids love this stuff! Princess got some for Christmas and it's a favorite indoor activity right now.

Jan. 14

I know this scene looks all too familiar to you moms out there. Can I tell you that I hate this pile of fabric? I hate laundry as much as I hate this photo. (Sorry not a great pic for the day.) Laundry is not my forte. It never will be. I may have to hire someone to do this for me someday. Well, except for my skivvies, of course. I'll do that myself.

Jan. 15

Princess got her ears pierced when she was 3 months old. *gasp* Really, she did. And she's not psychologically damaged in any way. At least I don't think she is. I guess time will tell. If she ends up in prison someday, we'll just blame it on her 3 month old trauma. Okay, I got off track. Anyway, we noticed that she was missing one of her earrings so we headed off to the mall as a family to buy her some new ones. She was so excited to be able to pick out a new pair. I was worried we would have trouble getting them back in, but she was tough. (and I called her a wimp last week *pssf*) Afterward, we spent some time in the children's play area. They had a blast.

Jan. 16

This picture is to document the history of this old white car. I will bear you the boring reading, but I plan to write down it's history in our 365 album. I went to a funeral recently and one of the gentleman's sons went through the history of the family vehicles because dad loved his cars. The rest of the children really got a kick out of the stories and gasped in remembrance of long forgotten beaters that their father dearly loved. I thought our old car needed a place in 365 to remind us of all our many adventures with it.

Jan. 17

Aaron and I clean an office building on the weekends and grandpa and grandma are always so kind to watch our little kiddos. This day grandpa and grandma took the kids on a trip to a little diner for breakfast. When we picked them up they were enjoying a bowl of chocolate ice cream with grandpa. If you know grandpa L very well, you know he loves ice cream. It was a moment definitely needing to be captured. I love the interaction caught between grandpa and Princess.

Jan. 18

Sunday, Sunday. One of the items on my cons list for whether I should become a full time working mom was the fact that I wouldn't be able to do Princesses hair everyday. That I would have to leave that task to Aaron everyday! I know! Crazy! Aaron has actually done a very good job. No complaints. But every Sunday I make sure to do a fun hair-do for Princess. Aaron captured the beginning process. I'll post pics later of the finished do. I love having a girl!

I hope everyone is having a good January. January is rough, but we're half way through!

Jan. 5 - Jan. 11, 2009

Okay, so last week was a little more difficult. Winter break was over so I had to get back to work. By the time I got home it was starting to get dark and the lighting in my home was not ideal. I'm still learning to take a good photograph in artificial lighting. I'm not sure it's possible. So unless I have a photo op. right when I get home, we are going to have to bear with not so perfect photographs. As the days get longer and we have more natural light, hopefully the photos will get better. Hopefully.

Jan. 5

This was my first day back at school after a great winter break. If you have a boy then you know that everything much be extreme. I guess including the utensil you are using. If you can't tell he has a huge serving fork. Okay, okay, it was not a very exciting start to the week. That's what Monday's are for, right?

Jan. 6

Babies, babies everywhere. This has been the scene in our home since Christmas. Princess loves her dolls.

Jan. 7

This is the scene from my rear-view mirror everyday on our commute home. (I was stopped at a red light, promise dad.) I'm lucky to have these two at the daycare right in the school I teach at. So on my way out the door I pick up my rugrats and head home. We get to chat about their day and lots of random things. Today we talked about the clouds. Remember when clouds were a mystery? When I was little I thought I could sit on them and see all the people below. I love how conversations with my son can spark some of my own childhood memories.

Jan. 8

Here is another not so great picture. Picture taking this day actually turned into a game. I think I chased B around the house for a good 20 minutes trying to get a picture. I ended up with 30 really great blurry pictures. This one was the best. Not so great for you to look at, but great for reminding me of my very active and funny little boy. Plus you get to see my very ghetto rental home with a pink bathroom and very old everything else.

Jan. 9

B loves to play in the snow. I think the best thing about living in a rental home is having a backyard to play in. This picture was actually taken on our way to the garage to head out for the evening. B can't help but take a few minutes to run and jump in the snow. It is fun to watch him enjoy being a kid.

Jan. 10

Saturday was a fun trip to a park for sledding with cousins. I was unable to go because I had work, but dad was able to take them and everyone had a blast. I love this picture because Brian is having a hay-day and Princess is scared to death. She is such a little wimp. :)

Jan. 11

Grandpa and Grandma L. have a playroom for the kids in their basement. It has been great. When we get tired of all the noise we just send them downstairs to play. I went down to check on things and found these two sitting on top of the kitchen set. This happens to be their crazy face. Looks pretty crazy to me!

See ya next week!

Jan. 1 - Jan. 4, 2009

My photo a day so far has been a lot fun. It's a good thing. I'm taking more photos of my family and trying to capture the little things. A couple of days I had a hard time choosing which photo to use. Yesterday was a busy Sunday and I forgot to take a picture until an unplanned event. We were at my in-laws and I realized I had forgotten my camera. Not good. Luckily my mother-in-law let us borrow hers. Enjoy!

Jan.1

Princess wanted to bake something from her cooking kit, so we let her cook up one of those Betty Crocker Desserts. She was so cute in her little apron pouring and stirring. Ben was mesmerized by it all and couldn't wait for a bite. Our first day of the year was perfect. We stayed in all day just enjoying each other.

Jan. 2

This was my day to start eating better. (Another one of those silly resolutions.) I was eating my oatmeal and reading when princess toddled in to bring me a friend. One by one I had "Kung Poo Panda" (that's what she calls him), Master Shifu, and the Furious Five joining me for breakfast. She then climbed up to join us for a nice breakfast on a Friday morning. See, these are the things I'm missing working all the time.

Jan. 3

Princess seems to be dominating this week. I think B was too busy playing his Wii game Santa brought him. He will be featured in the coming week. Bubble baths are a big thing in our house lately. Dad was finishing giving her a bath and I could hear them laughing. Normally, I would just smile and go about my Saturday. I'm glad I pulled out the camera though. I think this picture is priceless.

Jan. 4

This is not the best quality picture, but I'm glad I have it. Every Sunday Aaron's family meets for a delicious dinner. We usually spend the evening just enjoying each others company and letting the children play. We were upstairs working on various things and chatting when my brother-in-law inquires on his daughters whereabouts. Pretty soon he comes upstairs with a permanent marker and says, "ummm, guess what I found the girls doing?" Lo and behold they used a black permanent marker to color their nails, face, wall, dollhouse, and various other items including the dry erase board behind her. Oh it was hard not to laugh. Good thing grandma is such a good sport. She just giggles and starts cleaning. We all helped and everything pretty much came clean with a lot of Clorox, Soft Scrub, nail polish remover, and paint. All I have to say is, someone needs to watch their kid a little better. :)

I'll be back next Monday with days Jan. 5-Jan. 11. Fun fun!

My word...

Okay, so I've been thinking. As mentioned in my last post, 2008 came and went. We all start a new year with all kinds of visions and aspirations. Of course most of them kind of fizzle out as life gets going again. If only we could make good intentions a reality all of the time. I decided this year to post my word for all to see. Not that I want you to help me live it. It's a word that I must commit myself to and strive to live everyday. It's something that happens to slip as we get so involved with our own lives.

My word for 2009 is Serve. I know, big unveiling. Whoopee, right? I hope not. I've always had this innate need to serve others around me. Unfortunately, I don't feel like I'm very good at it. Sure if you needed something, I'd be there in a second, but I want it to be more unplanned. I'm amazed at the people around me who are constantly serving and I yearn to be more like them. I think everyone knows someone like that, someone who thinks of others first, always.

Now, I have some ideas of how I can become better at this, it's the implementing and the constant reminding myself that's the problem. So there, I've given you 'my' word. It's more a public commitment to help me be a better person.

As far as other resolutions for 2009, I will be taking a photo a day. I'm a fan of Becky Higgins and she made a kit called Project 365. It's an alternative to fancy scrapbooking and the idea is to capture an entire year in an easy format. I'm excited for this and will be posting a weekly update of my daily photos.

Okay, enough of my rambling. I'm done! :)