I believe I am creating a monster. If Chelsea can reach it she will grab for my camera, the strap or even the lens. Chels is just so very interested in Mommy's toy that I am already putting it up out of reach so that I won't cry later.
My little sweetie turned 7 months old today. Some highlights of Chelsea right now:
Her hair is getting thicker,
She looked at Rob yesterday and said Dada,
sits up with a little support from the boppy to play,
has a great laugh, is getting over a nasty cold, loves to pull and try to eat my hair, is so damn cute.
This is them today, Rob got a phone upgrade and was playing with it and Chels was fascinated by it. Can't you tell??
I still need to do the Mr. Bear monthly photo but that can wait til tomorrow.

I am extremely proud of Wyatt and here is why; last night at dinner he asked if he could say the prayer. He was clear, coherent and did a darn good job. Then tonight we decided that Wyatt really needed a haircut. As you know Wyatt is terrified of the clippers until tonight. We put in a movie, and put a sheet down, but forgot the cape, and with very, very little fuss and no crying we shaved his head. That boy had a ton of hair. I think we have stumbled on to our solution to a problem we dreaded. My little man is growing up so fast.

These are those little moments that mean so much but I know I will forget. Thank goodness for blogging, it will keep me sane when I finally get the chance to scrapbook and will be an added addition as a journal when I'm gone one day.

A picture of me and my friend Julie at the mini album class we took Thursday night. also a shot of my new hair cut. The cut reminds be of the 80's rocker Joan Jett. I would post pictures of the album but it's not done yet. I haven't decided what pictures to use. The album will come together quickly once I pick out pictures.
Julie and I don't hang out nearly enough and we always have fun when we do. We have another class next Saturday that will have us making V- day cards.

Last night Rob and I took the kids to see Playhouse Disney Live. Wyatt and Kelly both agreed that it was AWESOME!! They featured Little Einsteins, My friends Tigger and Pooh, Handy Manny, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Rob gave me crap because I could sing all songs to all the shows. I think I was just as excited as the kids when it started. We let Wyatt get an official Manny construction hat and Kelly got an Einsteins light-up wand. We had really good seats, on the floor, section 1, row 3. Next time I will go to section 2 because it is right in the middle. The people asked for no flash photography, so I bumped things up and I think I got some great shots. I started really wishing for a slightly longer and faster lens, like the 24-70, 2.8. we were closebut I couldn't get the lens close enough. this shot was taken towards the end when everyone was on stage. The kids did fantastic and again we all had a great time.
This is my weekly challenge for 2 Peas. This weeks theme is technology.
I was trying to stray from what lots others were doing when they did laptops, ipods, cell phones, yada, yada.
I have a hand wisk, a hand crank wisk, small beaters and my big mixer. I like it and thats all that matters anyway right?

Chelsea is on her way to saying her first word but will it be Dada or Mama?? Both Rob and I are coaching her to say one or the other. I know that the odds of her saying Dada are bigger but dang it can't one kid say Mama first? I'm the one that got cut open to bring them forth, give me this at least.
Poor Chelsea has been so miserable with this cold. I think last night was the best she slept and Rob was fantastic and got up with her at 6 this morning and let me sleep until almost 8am.(that is REAL late for me)
So far today I have done lots but not much that really shows. Like feed the baby, take shower, upload photos, arrange 365 photos in folder, covert RAW images, upload photo to the challenge, feed baby again, change baby, blog, play with baby, etc.,etc.
I need to go, it's hard to type one handed and Chelsea stinks again. hmmmm.......

Several years ago I saw a picture that Kim's grandpa took of the tv when the peace deal was made in Israel. It was the two leaders shaking hands. So lately I've been giving it a try.

I spent most of yesterday glued to the tv. I remember some of the pomp from Clinton and Bush's inaugurations but not all of it.

It was a proud day for America, it is a step forward into our future. This is a man that has inspired millions and I wonder in 40 years what history will write about President Obama. It's obvious he is a great orator, but will he get the hard job done. Will the people of America step up? Will we the people change our ways for the greater good?

Yes it remains to be seen what he will accomplish, but I hope this is the start of something great for all our sakes.

Let's see, I need to back track a bit.

First off..Way to go Cardinals!!! We are on our way to the Superbowl! Rob and I were hoping we would play the Ravens because Robs brother Chuck is from Baltimore but the Ravens couldn't hold up so now we play the Steelers. I am very excited about seeing the Superbowl this year.

Starting Saturday all three kids have gotten snotty noses. Chelsea is by far the worst and the most miserable baby. It has been a rough few days. I hate seeing my normaly happy baby crying and whiney.

In between naps I have been working on my Random Acts of Kindness cards. So far I have completed 10 out of 40. I started this project early enough that I am not stressed about getting them done. I do need to talk with my Pastor about presenting them to our congregation, he asked me to make an appointment to give better details. I need to do this today.

Actually I have had the computer off for the last two days and it feels weird, sort of disconnected and not being accountable for my 365 photos. I also need to get my weekly challenge done and check out lesson 3 of my 12 week photo lessons. Shoot, It's Wednesday I need to get crackin'.

Well we have had a VERY interesting day today. It started great friends Renee and her daughter Kiah came over for a lunch play date and the kids had a blast. Shortly after that I noticed hair on Kelly's shirt. Little Miss took sissors to her hair. Thankfully she didn't do a horrible job but it is bad enough that we had to do something about it.



Say Hello to the new Kelly. We are calling the Dora the Explorer haircut. Hopefully now she can learn to brush her own hair.
While we were at the salon I also got a trim and while I was sitting there she managed to do this.....

The tooth has finally come out. It was rather gross because she could actually twist it around and this had all us ladies at the salon talking about our childhood tooth experiences.
It looks like the tooth fairy will be swinging by tonight.

Which leads me to Grandmoms visit this afternoon. Seems g-mom was shopping at Kmart and found something that Wyatt would like...

Cowboy boots. He has been walking around like this all afternoon, he even took his nap wearing them. Earlier he had on his Woody hat and kept asking if he could go to cowboy camp, which he said was Mt. Lemmon. We shall see if he tries to sleep in them tonight.

Another funny thing, Braxton the dog has learned how to open our screen door. So when I want him out and he doesn't agree, he shoves his snout against the door and drags it open. At one point I had to re-close the door like five times. Stinker, love him anyway.

I can only imagine what the rest of the weekend holds for us if this is just Saturday and we've had this much fun.

So my photo for Thursday is our homegroup. since it is such a part of my life I thought I would show you our little group. We meet every Thursday from 6:30 to about 8-8:30. We talk about our troubles, or walks with God, the good, the funny. We need to work at sharing more and going deeper into what is the root of our problems but we are getting closer.
I haven't taken a photo yet today but I did do my homework for my 12 week photo course.
I'm half way done with all the little V-day gift bags for Kelly's class. I know I will post a photo when they are all done.



So I'm going to have one of "those" boys. The ones who don't listen to their teachers, that are running around and whopping it up. Yep that's my boy. I got to his class Wednesday and I get the line," we need to talk to you before you leave". Dread hit fast and I wondered what Wyatt had done this time. It seems he wouldn't settle down at snack time, he wanted to go outside, he didn't like the snack. when they said no to his going outside he pushed his teacher and told them to let him go outside. So when it was time to go out they wouldn't let him go until he apologized which he did. For this disobedience he wasn't allowed to watch any t.v., no Yohoo's or friut snacks. We had several talks and reminders throughout the day about doing what you are told etc. when we picked up Kelly he tells her that I'm mad at him. He just doesn't fully get it. I keep hearing from both of them that I am mad at them when I'm not, they just aren't listening to anything I say, so when I get ignored they lose a priviledge. Reality discipline you gotta love it.

Hoping to have a productive weekend, I hope yours is lovely. I'll edit later with Fridays picture.

It's almost done!!!! Tonight Rob will put in the shower head and lever and for the most part (we still need a medicine cabinet and light fixture) the bathroom is complete. It is a full sized bath but the room is so small I can't get a wide view. In a month or so we will get the last two fixtures but to be able to take a shower again in MY bath is freakin fantastic. I haven't been able to use this shower since June 2007! Right before I left for Paris. Yeah how's them apples?




Picture from last night of Chelsea and Kelly. Chelsea is getting teeth and Kelly is about to lose one of her top teeth at any time. Love my cantankerous girls.

How is it in one evening my living room and kitchen can get destroyed? I have been trying hard to keep things picked up but yeesh. I'm going to reestablish some order before I pick up Wyatt from Busy Bodies.

Chelsea has figured out that a walker can actually move forward. Now I just need to clear a path for her to get around.

I have added another project for myself to work on. I'm working on project 365 and an online 12 week photo course and my new project is the 2peas weekly photo challenge. This week is texture so I uplaoded a couple of frost photos from a couple of weeks ago.

I'm going to do my best NOT to fall off the wagon but I really need to take some time out and convert all my RAW photos. There are more pictures I would post but I'm usually in a hurry and only get out the important ones.

So off to clean for 40 minutes before I get Wyatt.

So almost every Sunday, on our way to chrch we pass this spot where the cows come to feed. Some days the are around, some days they have headed back into their desert pasture. Ol' Red here was giving me some serious attitude. He kept sticking his tongue out at me. Then he would diss me by looking away. Uh..hello, I'm taking your picture, look my way. I truly wished I could have stayed longer, I wanted to get some nicer shots but we were already late for church. The fault for that is mine alone. I asked Rob to pull over twice. Once for a roadrunner sitting on a rock, and second time to get a hawk on a telephone pole. It wasn't till after the hawk flew away I realize that I didn't put my memory card back in my camera. Thankfully I keep my extras in my bag otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get this big guy.

He is really hard to see and Rob was the one who saw it and pulled over. I had to run across the street to get even near him. I wish I had the time to pull out the tripod cause he never moved, he was still sitting there when we came home from church. And yes he is real, his head moved a couple of times.

This is from tonight. Just hanging around after dinner. Having fun just taking normal, everyday shots of my family.

Kelly is selling Girl Scout cookies so if anybody wants any, yes I can ship, just give me a holler.

Kelly is really enjoying her troop. She runs to her class when we arrive, she does her work granted she doesn't participate in all the songs but she enjoys watching.

I come home from scouts and Chelsea is sitting in her high chair, without falling over, and Rob showed me where Wyatt started writing "F"'s. I think that boy is sandbagging me. I truly do.

Dang kids are growing up way too fast.

So I really don't plan on showing every photo but right now it keeps me on track and I'm recording my thoughts as I go along. Cause you know I still have momnesia. This is a totally random shot, handheld. Chelsea loves mommy nuzzles.

I haven't done photos like these with the other two in quite a while. Food for thought.

This bottom shot is one I did about half and hour ago. Since the moon is suppose to be bigger I wanted to try the whole reflections and silhouette thing.

I might go out later and try again. I wish the mission wasn't so far away. They took down the scaffolding before they move to the other tower for renovations. A white mission bathed in moonlight. Breathtakingly beautiful in my mind.
Unfortunately the mission is about 45 minutes away and in a not so safe area, right Mom? Granted I'm sure there will be other shutterbugs out there but...

Oh and by the way, food photography is considered the hardest and if you can do it successfully, they say you can shoot anything. I'll give it a go.
Have a great weekend. Go Cardinals!!

Now you really need to double click on this image to really see it. I haven't done much tweeking cause I'm not really sure what to tweek.

This is my photo for last night. We lost power for about and hour and all of a sudden I thought that this would be the perfect time to try this since no one in a least a quarter mile had power.

I learned two things. Which I hoping to try later tonight. I really need a wide angle lens and I should have tried this earlier in the evening and get the moon when it is in a different position.

The moon was almost directly overhead and I wanted to get the moon in with the silhouette of our fat palm tree. Well it was just cold enough and I was doing 30sec exposures that I didn't want to lay on the ground. Plus I really don't have the right tripod. So cool, I used and learned with what I have. I do think in the summer I will get one of those kinder sleeping mats so that these old knees can get down and be more comfy.

**Chelsea had a 6 month check up on Wednesday- she weighs 16lb and 4oz and is 25 inches long. She is darn near perfect but mommy already knew that. Poor thing got 4 shots, two in each leg and has had a fever for about 24 hours. Chelsea has been miserable and a total bear from it.

I have downloaded a 12 week photo class from 2Peas and I'm enjoying. Most of this I know but it's refreshing and I like the challenges and excercises.

Now I'm off. I'm wanting to learn more about food photography. My plan is to take my own and use it in our kitchen. If all else fails I will download from istock photo gallery for a fee and then I know I will have great images. But I really would like to try and learn on my own.

Off to learn.

I have always wanted to wear funky socks but they usually didn't come in my bigfoot size.

It all started with Kelly wanting this one pair of socks a couple of years ago and the obsession has taken over. Most of the time the socks are striped, polka-dotted, flowers, anything. But today it is Disney characters.

Now Wyatt is my whitey-tighty boy, but for X-Mas he received Lightning McQueen and Mater socks. So when I was at Target this morning they had finished their Dollar Spot setup and I found some cute new socks for ALL the kids.

Wyatt received Buzz and Mr. Incredible, Kelly got red pom, multi colored hearts, and purple and white with multi colored polka dots. Chelsea received two different multi colored striped socks.

So my picture of the day is all about our crazy socks and Mommy's secret wish that she could wear them too.

This is my rough prototype of Kelly's Valentines day card.

The actual one will be in either red or pink, with a small square of v-day patterened paper. I will cut out the love in a different color and glue that on. I also plan on cutting out a heart that will say from Kelly, and use fiber or ribbon to attach to the handle. I will let Kelly pick out some candy to put in the bag. The bag is only 3 1/2 inches tall and 1 inch wide. Perfect for her class. Now I just need to get busy and make about 20 of them! Oh and find more v-day paper, the one thing I don't have an abundance off.

I must thank my Cricut machine for doing most of the work. ;)

So yesterday I entered an ugky kitchen contest. Today I received my confirmation along with the other 33 applicants so far. Honestly after looking at some of the others kitchens I bow in defeat. Some people didn't even have cabinets. What is funny is that almost al of us have those nasty 1970's cabinets. So this is my photo for sunday/day 4
Today's photo is of Wyatt on his way to Busy Bodies Preschool. I hope he is doing well and listening. I sure do miss today. I think I'm already dreading him going to kindergarten and how quiet the house will be. Granted by then Chelsea will be making plenty of noise but I think it's just how much things change. And I'm not always good with change.

I have been doing some planning and I'm going to make a prototype of Kelly's school Valentines Day card. Yes I know I have more than a month but I don't want to do it last minute and stress out about it. I have actually written down what months and what kind of projects that I want to work on, wether it is for scrappin, holiday or home decor.

It's sounds in some ways that I am micro managing my life but in reality I always seem to put things off or wait to the last minute. Well if I work on a project say a month in advance then when the holiday comes I'm ready, right?? ;)

I just want to be creative and have fun being creative. I'm tired of talking about doing things, now I'm writing them down and setting goals for myself. This photo a day project has already taken me out of my box and seeing my life and how not boring it can be.

So while Kelly is at Girl scouts tonight I will make some plans, organize and find some fun project that I can do and some project the kids can do themselves and with me.

Do you have and fun projects in mind??

I'll post a photo of my projects as I complete them.

First of all,

Happy Birthday Mikey! If my calculations are correct you are 31 this year. BWAAAAA. I just realized that I have no current pictures of Mikey. Add that to my list.

I have been scouring the interent for more ideas of pictures to take. I have also been working on making my calender. Now I did take a picture yesterday but I haven't uploaded it yet. Rob and I were at Home Depot and I saw this vibrant purple ice plant. I have been thinking of redoing our garden and this would be fantastic. Of course in redoing the garden I first have to dig out all the grass and reset it all up. That project has been in the back of my head last month. It's not really the hard work that I keep putting off, it's the constant interruptions I get from my children. Love them though I do, I hate getting into a groove and having to stop for feeding, and crying/I'm bored jags.

But there are so many beautiful flowers I would love to look at every day, that maybe starting this week I will break it down into bite size pieces and start working on it. Now this it not a resolution, don't go there, this is just a task. Maybe I'll take pictures as I go, IF I do it.

enjoy your weekend!

A new day, a new year.
It feels promising. A bunch of scrappers are starting a Project 365. How this works is that you take a picture a day. A picture of whatever you want. Well I'm not going to buy their kit, I'm going to do my own project. My goal is to be a better photographer. so I've been making a list of photos that I want to take throughout the year and also doing a photo idea calender where I list photos I want to take each month. For example on the calender I would take Mothers day. ideas would be to take a picture of mom, any flowers, a hug, whatever makes that holiday come alive. For my everyday shots that would include taking pictures of our street, a wreath on a door, my computer, doing the dishes etc. Got the idea?
My first photo is of my new TV with my favorite program, Good Morning America, with the news ticker documenting it's new years day. I have started a new folder labeled project 365 in my My Pictures folder.

Last night Rob set up the jumperoo. Chelsea was content in that for a bit as big bro and sis kept setting off the lights and music and making it bounce. Why is it that big kids like to play with little kids toys??
So I'm late as usual in posting Chelsea's monthly Mr.Bear photo. Those two are getting along better these days but if Mr. Bear gets to pushy Chelsea will not hesitate to shove him off the couch.

Chelsea has beautiful blue eyes. with an inner ring of light blue and an outer ring of dark blue, but I'm finding it very hard to get a shot highlighting those eyes. I tried for awhile to capture them but they come out dark. I should take her outside.

At six months sleeps later than my other kids. This morning she awoke at 6:30a, I picked her up and she went right back to sleep, so I laid her in my bed with Rob where she didn't wake up until 8am.

Is eating very well, and enjoys watered down pear juice. Wants to sit up and almost rolls over but doesn't try very hard. Chelsea really wants to follow her brother and sister. Loves playing in the bathtub, like to be swung like a pendulum (shake off the baby), we have done this with all our kids. Chels is laughing and smiling more. She is starting to recognize her name when called. Loves Braxton our dog.

So as not to exclude my other heathens I'm compiling a list of funny things they have been saying lately. Wyatt's favorite thing to do is mimicking or repeating commercials. Right now whenever a Christmas commercial comes on he turns to us to say Christmas is over. He can do this several times in a hour. Kelly lately keeps saying that she never gets, or never has had something like eggs or chicken. She says this instead of saying its been a long time. I've started telling her to take the word never from her vocabulary.

Again Happy New Year.