Props

 

I’m not really big on props in photos.  I don’t think a photo is made better by how cute the toys and chairs are.  I like the focus to be the person in the picture, not the stuff around them.  That giant styrofoam number two in a toddler photo just isn’t my style, but when my friend posted her cute little blue-striped hat on Facebook, I knew I wanted one!  One thing I haven’t yet mastered (haha, because I’ve mastered so many other skills) is the art of crochet and knitting.  I love the finished product, but just haven’t had the time to get it down.  Of course, I don’t know how my friend has time either, she also has four kiddos about the age of mine.  Anyway, I called her and asked about the blue one she posted and if I could buy it this weekend for a photo shoot I was doing Sunday.  I said I’d also like a pink one whenever she had time to do one, but not immediately.  She agreed to let me swing by Sunday morning and pick up the finished hat.  When I came by Sunday morning, not only had she finished the pink hat, but admitted the blue one was a copy of the one in the photo!!  Now, that’s fast!!!  I was so happy with both hats, and they were an awesome prop for our shoot, without being too much.  Super cute, right?

Friday Fragments

It’s been so long since I did a Friday post!  Thank you, Mrs. 4444 for letting us wrap up the week!

• I don’t know how you super moms do it.  Maybe its just the appearance of “doing it” that I’m missing.  My house is usually on the verge of “Hoarders” status.  I have ignored my blog more lately just to keep my head above the sea of laundry and dishes 6 people create.  I never want visitors to stop by without a good warning so I have time to hurriedly stash the mess before they arrive.  I wish I had the money for one of those organizers to come and have their way with me….I mean my house.  When my young neighbor came by every day for a week we made huge strides in getting my place cleaned.  She’s great at motivating me and she likes to clean.  (We had a small disagreement on the music to listen to.  I guess I’m the only one in this small town who does not in the least enjoy Country music.  Unless I’m at a wedding dance.  Drinking.)  Now that I really have no one to answer to, I have slacked off…..  Need. Motivation.  I did, however, use “Tackle It Tuesday” to get something done.  I think I’ll have to stick with it.
  
• I also don’t know why the dog puts up with JC.  I think it’s because he drops the most food on the floor.

• Aria had her first “real” basketball game last weekend.  The 3rd and 4th graders (boys and girls together at this age) played during the half time of the varsity game.  It was pretty cool, she did well.  I would have taken a photo of her during the actual game, but I was recording it.  I need more hands.  And more cameras.  At least she’s easy to spot with that hair.

• Princess Piper the Ballerina.  Even when it’s 20 degrees below zero, she will wear dresses.  I guess if you don’t have to go outside, it’s just fine.

• Max and his Mario obsession.  He went to the fridge, took markers, and colored these “Yoshi Eggs”.  Fortunately, after a few pictures, he put them back in the fridge.  We’ve been eating them all week.  Apparently the Yoshi population was ok with that.

• Lastly, would some of you out there PLEASE PLEASE learn the difference between “your” and “you’re”?!?!  I’m not the best at writing and grammar, but even when YOU’RE saying something very intelligent, YOUR IQ points slip away in my estimation every time you misuse those words.  The same goes for “they’re” “their” and “there”….oh, and apostrophes.  That is all.

SEW: Shooting Stars and a Ballerina

Piper has been honing her drawing skills lately.  She’s very prolific, 6-8 drawings a day it seems like.  She loves to show me drawings of herself as a princess, complete with castles, rainbows, and kitties.  Sometimes I have to ask what items in the drawing are, but usually I can guess.  This is one of my favorites from the past week.  She told me it is her and me in sleeping bags, under the stars, watching a shooting star.  Over to the right is our dog, Karma.  I just love it!!

And because we can’t go without a little ballerina……. (when asked to dance like a ballerina, she can always get both arms above her head! Otherwise, there’s no motivation to try!)

    

Special Exposure Wednesday is hosted by 5 Minutes for Special Needs.

Tackle it Tuesday–Table of Doom

It’s really embarrassing, but this is what greets us when we walk in the door.  A little table in the kitchen where we drop our junk.  Then never return for it, apparently.  A tiny bench for the kids that they can’t even sit on.    I hate having this table by the door.  I hate this being a first impression when people stop by unannounced.  I’ve decided not only to clean up this table, but to eliminate it all together.  No table means nowhere to drop stuff, and probably we’ll find the right home for it all!

I started by getting a new garbage bag and actually going through all the junk mail.  I collected all the stray toys and laundry and put them where they belong.  I filled quite a bit of the bag with plain old junk and old school papers that had just never made their way off the table.  Finally, once the table was cleared, I folded it up and stashed it away.  I had my husband bring up from the basement a small freezer we were talking about using again.  This is the perfect spot.  The freezer itself was in bad shape, lots of mildew and dirt from our dank basement.  I scrubbed the freezer back to life, and to our happiness, it still worked after sitting in over a foot of water last spring (yay!).

I set up the freezer, and later shopped to fill it!  While I was shopping I picked up some baskets from the dollar store to slide under the bench.  Each child can put their hats, gloves, etc. in their own basket (and find them again later)!  This is such an improvement over the last picture.  I feel much better about someone stopping by and seeing a neat area instead of that “table of doom” we had before!!

Do you have a chore to tackle?  Big or small, 5 Minutes for Mom makes housework bloggable!

Trying to enjoy winter

Its cold.  Really cold.  When I had posted a photo of how much snow we had gotten over the last few weekends, my friend asked why we weren’t out making snowmen.  I had to explain that when its 2° F outside, snow doesn’t really stick together.  Your nose hairs freeze together when you breathe, though.  Also, I don’t much care for playing outside in the snow, even at 30°F.  Just sayin’.  Right now it’s a balmy 13° F (but with the wind chill its actually -4°).  Not my cup of tea.  Or hot chocolate.  I made the effort to take the kids (and two friends) out sledding when it was a little warmer.  By warmer I mean in the 20’s.  It was fun, but Piper got chilly so I took my chance and walked her home while the others stayed out to play. 

They had fun.  (I had to apologize to our friend J for only having pink snow pants to loan him.  He didn’t seem to mind.) I enjoyed going back in the house and getting hot chocolate ready for when they were done.  Piper was glad she didn’t have to stay.  Today it’s too cold for sledding.  Or snowmen.  But its never too cold for hot chocolate and a good movie.

Competing with desire

My son has an intense desire to run for it.  Usually when I bring out a camera, but more often than that.  He would take off in a store and never look back.  JC can’t sit still for more than a few minutes (unless he’s tied up tired and SpongeBob is on).  So any time I try to get a nice photo of the kids all together, he bolts.  It seems as though I’m constantly competing with his desire to run.  Most times I’ve managed to get one right before the sprint, but I end up getting so many of him running.  Looking through my photos today I realized just how many I have.  The thought of all these shots made me laugh, so I put together this little slideshow…

 

Then came the snow

We knew it was coming.  I mean, they predict this stuff over a week in advance, but you never know around here what it will actually be like.  The weather guys said there would be a big storm.  Since we knew it was coming, we knew that where ever we wanted to be for New Years, we’d have to leave a few days early or risk being stuck at home.  We packed up and left, dog and all, for my BFF’s.  We looked out the windows the night we arrived and scoffed at the Mr. Weatherman’s predictions.  “ooh, a little wind!” 

The next day showed us how correct Mr. Weatherman was.  The wind whipped around like a hurricane (average gusts of 38mph!) and the snow blocked out sight.  The thing is, I could not have cared less.  I was completely content to be where I was, with my friend and her family.  We, of course, had some reservations after last year’s incident.  My hubby was concerned enough to call a friend to check on the house and make sure it was still warm, which it was.  There was a 100 care pile up (no one seriously hurt).  The Interstates were closed for days, the snow fell over a foot above what was already on the ground, and the wind drifted snow piles everywhere.  We were stuck, and I didn’t care.  We were warm, we had food, we had games and a fireplace. 

We made s’mores.  It was really a fun time.  Well, fun until we had to use a shovel to open the door again….

Just to be clear, this porch was free of snow when we left….

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!