Day 31

No, my legs are not that long. I'm enjoying my new macro lens. Yes, they are that white.

Day 30

We made it! It's been a long day. I'm exhausted. More tomorrow.

Day 29

We're headed out to find some sun tomorrow. I forget just how hectic it is getting six people packed, the house cleaned, the dog boarded, the rabbits fed, the schools notified, the medications refilled, and the mail collected without losing. your. mind.

But it's worth it.


Mahalo!

Day 28

This kid has it in his head that he's growing his hair out like his big brother. So far, the growing out process has been painful (for me). Spray bottle, anyone?

Day 27

I made the kids an after school snack today. A rare occurrence, I must admit.

formspring.me

If you could go back in time for only a day, what day would you choose to relive and why?

My best friend growing up recently sent me a picture of myself from a photography class we took together in middle school. If I could go back to that day, I would tell that 13 year-old girl to pluck those eyebrows, brush those teeth, and tame that wild mane of hair. Yikes!

Ask me anything

formspring.me

chocolate or vanilla?

Chocolate most definitely! Is vanilla even a flavor?

Ask me anything

Day 25

I grew up in the suburbs. With neighborhoods, and playgrounds, and greenbelts, and shopping. Where the ice cream truck came around in the summer and the kids got together in the winter to sled down the local hill. Where the grocery store was right around the corner and the library was stocked full of favorite books and comfy chairs. Summer nights smelled faintly of the seashore.

Right now we're living in the country. Where the closest grocery store is ten miles away and there's not a single stop light in our town. Where guns are plentiful but not a Nordstroms in sight. Summer nights smell faintly of farm animals.

This is one of the donkeys that lives right behind us. Our house is just behind him in the distance. I am learning to appreciate the beauty of the country. Some days are easier than others. But I'm learning.

Day 25-Me Monday

Dear, Dear Husband,

Have I told you lately that you're incredibly helpful, amazingly smart, surprisingly handy, fantastically handsome and over-the-top generous?

May I please, please, PLEASE go to WPPI???

Love,
Your adoring, loving, complimentary, thrifty (OK, maybe not thrifty), did I mention loving? (a-hem) Wife

*Anyone wanna watch my 4 kidlets while I'm gone?

Day 24

My husband and I are polar opposites in many ways. He is super extrovertly (yup, made up word) social and spontaneous while I am much more reserved. Well, we ran into an acquaintance of his and his family at Target yesterday and within ten minutes, my husband had invited them over for Sunday dinner. Luckily we had time to run to the grocery store for supplies. He usually does this last minute and we scramble to throw together something on hand. So here I am making bread sticks from scratch. It's a recipe handed down from my mom that always turn out delicious.

The dinner was a success. Good food, lots of laughter, and a new friendship.

Day 23

This is the baby of the family. He gets away with more than he should. He's had a little cabin fever lately and a little too much energy. He took it out on his big sister today.

Day 22

Everyone went to the high school basketball game tonight. The house was quiet. Guess what I did...

Day 21

Just trying out some Florabella actions and textures I got today.

Day 20

After a 7 month break, it's time to start the kids in piano lessons again.

Day 19

I've been reading The Lightning Thief to my two little guys every night at bedtime. My 8 year-old has already read the entire series but he still likes to listen to me read to his little brother (who's hiding behind the book). We're counting down the days until February 12 when the movie comes out. We'll be first in line at the ticket counter.



And a crappy picture shot through my dirty kitchen window. I finally got my hair cut and colored. I'm documenting it because it may not happen again for a long time (with my track record).

Day 18

Me Monday.

I'm so glad I'm not doing a 365 self portrait project. These self portraits are SO tricky!!! (And just for the record, I did not touch the liquify tool for this. Yay!)

Day 17

We're getting together with friends for dinner and decided to bring dessert. We made one cupcake resembling each person who will be there. A fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Day 16

I'm having a hard time deciding on images lately. I want this project to feature family life as much as it can but I also want to use it to try new ideas. So some days I might have to post two photos instead of just one. And I've decided that's OK. It's my project after all, right?



Dh and I went out to buy an ottoman for the playroom which is slowly morphing into the teen hang-out movie room. On our way home from the "big city", I snapped this as we were driving down the highway. I focused on the mountains in the distance so that everything else would be out of focus. I added texture for interest. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.



We grabbed dinner while we were out so we came home to hungry kids. So I threw together a mishmash of food for them and documented the typical fend-for-yourself dinner. Does any of this look familiar to you? Picky, utensil-free, texting, chatty diners?

Day 15

I have two for today.



This is my second born entertaining himself with a tissue. Remind me again why I spent so much on video games for Christmas this year.




I'm trying to eat more fruits and veggies this year. This is now my prime time TV snack.

Day 14

I stopped by a pond by our house this morning after dropping the kids off at school. A foggy January morning in the country.

Day 13

Waiting for the kids to get home from school on a rainy afternoon.

I love this concept so I thought I'd give it a try. It's not perfect, but it was so much fun. More of these to come in the future. :)

Day 12

I'm feeling creatively drained today so I snapped a picture of the current books taking up room on my nightstand. I'm in the market for a really good read for our upcoming trip. Got any recommendations?

Day 11 - Me Monday

It's laundry day. Blech!

Day 10

I found a mailing tube lying around today so I used it as a frame to take a shot of the boys while they were playing pirates.

Day 9

We took the kids to Barnes & Noble to stock up on winter reads and then we all went to Macaroni Grill for an early dinner. Mmmmm!

Now we're off for a movie date to see "Up in the Air".

Day 8

What to wear? What to wear?

Day 7

My dad loved westerns, black licorice, honesty, hard work, extra starch on his shirts, growing giant pumpkins and beautiful roses, Diet Coke, golfing, Hawaii, and black fleece sweat pants. With pockets.

Every Christmas his wish list would include the same fleece sweat pants. Black. With pockets. You see, my dad was the CEO and President of a major pharmaceutical company as well as a board member and Chair of several other companies. His career involved hard work, stress, travel, lecturing, writing, managing, developing, researching, and more hard work. When he left for the office every morning, after eating his daily banana and glass of skim milk, he walked out the door wearing a suit, a stiffly starched dress shirt, and a pair of Johnston and Murphy loafers.

He loved spending his weekends relaxing at home in the yard, moving rocks around the stream bed, cleaning the pool, walking around town with my mom and entertaining family. In his sweats. Black. Fleece. With pockets.

When he passed away in 2005, he had accumulated an impressive collection of business attire. Suits, ties, shoes, and stiffly starched shirts. There were even a few pairs of worn cowboy boots and hats. But what reigned supreme in his closet was sweats. Black. Fleece. With pockets. My wise mother tucked all this fleece away with a project in mind.

She spent this past year, planning, cutting, pinning, trimming, and quilting each of us daughters our very own quilt made from my dad's black fleece sweats. With pockets. Inside each pocket was tucked a few momentos belonging to my dad. Business cards with his signature, a name badge from a convention, and one of his personalized golf tees.

It's my favorite Christmas gift ever. I miss my dad and look forward to our reunion one day. Until then, I will always feel the love of my dad as I wrap his quilt around me. The one made of his fleece. Black. With pockets.

Day 6

Studying for next week's finals. I don't remember reading The Odyssey in high school.

Day 5

Gosh, I can't believe I'm still doing this and I'm up to date. Only 360 days left! :)
What to do on a stormy winter day when it's too cold to go out and play in the rain? Play in the shower instead. Don't all 5 year-olds love that?

Day 4

Me Monday.
Yikes! I HATE pictures of myself. I'm not at all photogenic. It took about 127 shots to get this one that I'm not completely scared of sticking on the blog. I guess this "me Monday" thing will be good though since I am always holding the camera and I have very few shot with me in them.

Day 3

We have a "no media" rule on Sundays. The kids are restricted from T.V., video games, and computer games. So after church they usually spend the day reading or playing board games or playing together in the playroom. Some Sundays go by slower than others.
Today wasn't one of those days. The kids decided to make a movie. It's one of their favorite things to do. This one was a public service announcement about the importance of an education.
Each kid played two parts. What their future would look like if they had gone to college and what their future would look like if they hadn't. (Not to say that a college education is vital to a successful life, but we do encourage it in our family).
This particular kid ended up playing his guitar for spare change.

Day 2

The last day they get to play limitless video games before school starts again.

Day 1

2010 Project 365

New Years Resolutions and I generally don't get along. I list my goals every January and by April, my goals and I have pretty much parted ways.

This year I'm only making one official goal. And that is my Project 365. I will post one picture everyday of the year. Every Monday will be "Me Monday" where I have to post a picture of myself. Yikes! Hopefully by the end of 2010, I will have a good idea of what our year looked like.

Wish me luck. I begin tomorrow. :)