A few from a week ago...

The feet- playing with the idea of Scott, New Photo Biz had a tutorial on his website... with a twist.

And the boy and his Poppy.

And my delicious, lovey nephew boy L. I could just play with him and kiss him and smoosh him all day long. Being an aunt is every bit as great as I had hoped. I love you, little man!

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Reflections, LOL

My friend on 2 Peas created a challenge for "reflection" self portraits. It's really funny. And because I am who I am, I take self portrait reflections often :)

I think it started so I would be in the family albums too...

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A quick shot from yesterday

What do you do when you're four and the big kids are playing big kid games?

Borrow Daddy's iphone and play your own games, of course :)

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Sneak peek : )

From the shoot today with baby "M". We had a ball, more to follow...

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HaPPY VaLeNTiNe's DaY!

From our Imp...
And Dreamer!

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And this is Sammy

And this is the other cat, Sammy. He's your usual I'll-hang -out- with-you-if-I-choose-to kind of cat. He's also smart. And, I have to admit, he has a beautiful coat. If there were a cat I would like, Sam is probably the closest I'd come.

Sam is the one who sits in my kitchen windowsill, drinking up the sun and chewing any flowers or plants I place there. He's the one who climbs on my wall unit, and sits for hours watching the fish tank. He will at times become attracted to the TV, and sit under and watch it with us. He makes me laugh, but he's also a cat. It's a character flaw I just can't seem to get past.

Both cats understand. They know I don't wish them harm, but I don't like them. Not really. I'll feed them, and at times even pet them. But still.

Of course, that means I'm the one they come to. When I sit on the sofa, Rocky immediately jumps in my lap, nomatter how many times I put him down. No matter how often I sit at the desk, Sammy comes over to watch the computer screen and head butt my arm, shoulder, etc. When I sit in the office chair, they take turns jumping on the back of it.

When I come down in the morning, they meow a greeting. I don't let them out from the basement until everyone else is up, because we close the rooms upstairs to the cats. They've learned theat, and don't cry to come out. They just give a morning meow. Just in case :)

We are unable to have dogs at this time. We don't have a yard, and we're just not home enough for it to be fair to a dog to be cooped up and then not have the yard to excersize in. And the girls just really needed a pet. And as K said, "But I can't play with the fish." Point taken. Every kid, if they can, should be able to have a pet at least once in their childhood.

So cats it is. So long as we have our understanding. I wish you no harm. I admit you're cute. I just don't particularly like you, so much. But I love the love you share with my girls.
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Rocky

He's not the smartest cat, not even by a little a little. But he's super affectionate, thikns he's a dog, and finds a way to almost be downright loveable. Well, for a dog person. But he's cute, and my kids think he's terrific.

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2.6.09

This was the scene at our house last night... a little Wii, a little iphone, and an itouch to watch a movie. I couldn't resist snapping the moment!

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a few from Christmas

Thought I'd put up a few that caught my eye...

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Dear Santa

Uh oh.

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Happy 8th Birthday, Miss K!

Eight years ago you came into our lives, slowly and easily. And you've brightened our days ever since. I love you, my darling girl. I hope your day is filled with sunshine and smiles...

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The almost great cake

So, my oldest daughter turns 8 on Wednesday. We had her "Nutcracker Suite" bday party on Saturday with a few friends and family. When I found this giant cupcake cake mold, I knew right away that this would be perfect!
I have to tell you, I had several misadventures getting to this cake, too complicated to get into without writing a whole chapeter. However,at 7 pm the night before the party I finally got all my ingrediants together and then hopped in the car to get the eggs that someone didn't quite get to do for me, despite having taken the day. We do now have some lovely new pieces of furniture, however :) But, I digress.
At 7:30, I made half the pan in vanilla and half in chocolate. The cake baked up nicely, although slowly, and popped out easily, to my great relief.
The next morning, I iced the cakes with my favorite little helpers. I have to say,two days and several hours total really felt pretty good.

Fast forward a few more hours, and the girls were having a fabulous time. They decorated individual gingerbread houses which they took home at the end of the party. BUT- and here's my rookie mistake- THEY DECORATED THE HOUSES BEFORE WE HAD THE CAKE! You know where this is going, right???? Not one child had a piece of cake. It was so sad. Not one.

At least it looked pretty.

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The I family

This picture makes me Laugh Out Loud. Really. I knew when I tok it that it would be silly. However, today as I was catching up on editting my pictures, this one gave me pause.

We were out getting pumpkins at our local nursery, and were playing around in their garden center as is our usual routine there.

After seeing heather's avatar outakes, this one smacked me upside the head. It just makes me think of some groovy urban English band album cover.

Or us, playing around on a sunny a Sunday afternoon. TFL!

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My nephew :)

Here are some of my "official" welcome to the family pictures of my favorite littlest man. He is of course, the best thing to come along the pike ever. i'm not sure who is the most excited in our family to have our little BoBo. Hey, BoBO- "I BoBODeBo*"

*girls made up language, based on the nickname we made up, all of which means I love you.

My settings were everywhere; please post or email if you want any specifics!

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Welcome, BoBo

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