"A Wink and a Smile"

My Mom and Dad always had great photos of themselves TOGETHER. I'm not sure who was the photographer because when it comes to getting good pictures of my husband and I, it usually is one of our children snapping a picture. The result can be risky ;) *I love how my mom always posed for a photo. I think she secretly wished she was a model ;) *just pretend you don't see that nasty cigarette in that photo :0 *During the last year of my dad's life ... he was pretty sick here, and heavier due to the meds that he was on. I won't even venture back to the earliest of days of my husband and I, but I'll do that sometime soon (don't worry). For now, I'll go back nearly 5 years. Let me just remind y'all that I had my teeth/jaw FIXED. The first few would be during the crooked years (yikes). *Apparently I liked this shirt since it's been photographed twice. *This was only about a year ago, but as you can see, I will not show the TEETH ... braces are under th...

My girls get a big kick out of Photo Booth ... playing with fun backdrops and weird effects. You can ride roller coasters or swim with the fish without even leaving your home. That can really save this large family some money ;) I wish I was as lucky as the pup ... he's even been to France (sigh) ... *Old picture ... he's almost 4x that size (no joke) . Even Mommy can get into it ... Now it's time to get back to laundry and dinner plans.

Mom at age 19 (isn't that a cool pic ... she looks like Grace Kelly to me) Mom in her early 20's ME ... age 38  WOW! I do think that I have some of my Dad ... especially in the eyes, but since my jaw surgery, I NOW see a stronger resemblance to my Mom and her really prominent chin (especially when I don't smile because of these DARN braces) .

It's nice to have a weekend when not a whole lot is scheduled. There were no swim meets or basketball games (that part is over for us). I also didn't have to teach Sunday school (off for Spring Break). We spent some time ... ORGANIZING the house downstairs (too many piles of paperwork) rummaging through the attic to determine that we desperately need to have a garage sale (that will happen sometime in APRIL) Tutor time for {m} cleanup of the bedrooms Church on Saturday evening Dinner at Panera on Sat. night (of course I ate the soup) Movie watching at home(I think I saw a record of 4 movies this weekend) Visit to the Daffodil Festival (that meant picture time) OVERALL ... a really nice weekend with some beautiful weather. *You can click on the pictures to see them BIGGER ;)

When you are stuck inside for the most part, your usual subjects just don't seem as interesting. So what's a girl like me to do? Find other things to take pictures of ... These are the shoes I wear most days.  They match everything I wear (sad) and  are quick to put on. This is what sustains my 3 year old ... carbs, juice, and vitamins.  Sounds yummy huh? This is the project that consumed most of winter break.  It required lots of sugar cubes, lots of homemade icing, lots of grainy spray paint, and lots of daddy input ;) This is the lovely CHIA pet that {m} got for Christmas.  Poor thing had a hair growth issue.  I guess nothing ever looks exactly the way it proclaims to. Ahhhhh ... this is the lovely drink that my husband made for me on New Years Eve.  I rather like this photo which shows that sometimes at night, clutter just seems to not bother me so much when I have a good drink ;)  May have to make a request tonight for one of those.

It couldn't be her ... could it? Not too bad ... maybe that person really can't help herself.  Sort of like her mom ;)

From my family to YOURS!!!!!

I let {c} do this yesterday, but the ink only seemed to get on her hands.  Today the stamping went on the paper, the table, the hands, the arms, and the face.   Positive #1 ... this craft kept her busy and quiet for 30 minutes Positive #2 ... the ink mostly came off her skin Positive #3 ... {c} had fun and mom got a good laugh out of it Positive #4 ... the mess was contained in a room that allows for the crafty sort of mess

I throw myself into stuff all the time.  It can be anything from the start of a swim season, a new school year, the election, a vacation, an exercise routine etc.  I'm kind of in a phase where I really don't know what my focus should be.  I turned on the television and honestly, I have no idea what is on this fall season ... NO IDEA AT ALL .  If I watched television in the past few months, it was something kid related or Fox News. I NEED A NEW FOCUS. My current thoughts  ... reading a fictional, just for fun book stepping up my exercise routine thinking about our Christmas wish lists and shopping baking more ... I really am slacking in this area ways to save money so that we can get a new (second) washer and dryer for the upstairs (not a fancy kind because this would mostly be used by my oldest two children)... I actually have hookups. I wonder if a lot of people go through a sort of "lull" period this time of the year.  Surely it doesn't last long with the start ...

On my run this morning I got this lovely view.  Unfortunately the sun was not really shining.I would have had some amazing photos yesterday with all the color.  The few hours prior to this photo ... it rained.  Of course when it rains, the leaves come falling down ... Can you guess where my property line ends?   Hopefully the lady next door will not curse us when our leaves blow onto her yard ;)   WE ARE NOT CLEANING UP UNTIL SATURDAY.   Of course I am tempted to get out there with a rake, but my husband would say that was a waste of my time.  His thoughts ... "let ALL the leaves fall, and I'll just use the lawn mower to vacuum, mulch, and bag those annoying leaves".

We dug into our grab bag of dress-up this year.  All of these were either repeats or previously worn dance recital costumes, but I'm glad for the $$$ savings .   This year I only had the little ones with me. Daddy and {k} are at a big swim meet, while my oldest decided to comb the neighborhood with her friends.   WE have too much candy that will "magically" disappear in the next 2 weeks.   No it will not be ALL EATEN, but it will be GONE ;)