the moments in between

happy earth day

(everything is from the april studio calico kit.  the double row of stitching and the leaves were inspired by sam's shirt)

i took sam i am out for a little photoshoot this morning..  i wanted an earth day picture in his "protect our treehouse shirt.

but sam...  he wanted to check the neighbor's yard for their dog.

and then he wanted to swing.

and then he wanted to grab the other swing while he was swinging.

and then he wanted to get down.

so he could go up high

and then slide

all in front of the very bright morning sun.

i'm in a mood. =P

so i'll share some projects tomorrow, because i don't have the patience for it today.

but i had to share my 365 pic for today.

sam was here.

ps : and seriously, typepad, why all of a sudden is my photo a day blog mucked up????  my photos aren't all showing next to the calendar, it's cropping them.  and i am not amused.

internally motivated? nope. not me.

seriously, people.  i am NOT motivated from within.  one of the reasons i started scrapping for submission was that it gave me clear goals and deadlines, and got me to get something done.  anything that gives me an extra little push to get in gear is much welcomed.  so i am *loving* the new challenge badges that 2peas has this year for participating in the weekly LO and photography challenges (i think there's a digi one, too, but i am not moving THAT quickly on that resolution yet - LOL)

see?  happy little badges.  can i get them up to 52??  we shall see. the photography challenge this week was "ready set go" - to photograph the start of something. i caught this pic of kelly and katie looking at the wedding pics that becky brought to bagels yesterday. the photos are amazing and it was fun to watch katie and kelly look through them. i thought that this image of them looking at the start of katie and garrett's marriage was a good fit for the theme.

and the scrap challenge was to scrap someone who inspires you.  and i did this LO about becky - i can't express how lucky i am to call her my friend.

(click for details)

i also love to peek at the garden girl blog for community challenges - i did this LO last weekend for an inspiration challenge that robyn posted.

(click for details)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaand.  let's be honest, money talks.  i am all about mel's challenge to post 20 LOs this month to get a $20 gc to 2peas - details are here.

another challenge i love??  guesting for kits.  there are so many cool ones out there, each with a different style.  i just got one in the mail today, can't wait to dig in and start making a mess with it. =)  i'll be able to share more next week. =)

on top of all that, i'm challenging myself to get back on track with keeping up with my photo a day blog.. i have, with a few exceptions, managed to get a photo nearly every day since march 15 08.. but i got lazy about keeping the blog up last summer / fall and then quit entirely.  i do love to see them all together, so i'm going to try to be better about it!

it only takes one

which is good, because one is all i got.

it was gorgeous saturday.  50something.  we seized the moment and took the boys to the park and got a lot of not so good shots, a couple good ones of each of them seperately, and some funny ones.  and somehow, we lucked into a good one of all three.

afterwards, we went to coldstone to celebrate our success.  mmmmmmmmmmm.  sam liked it. ;)  and when we got home the boys ran around w/ the neighbor kids, and then we put up the christmas tree and got chinese food.  all in all, a wonderful day. =)

and then the unseasonably warm weather moved out and was replaced by unseasonably cold weather. yesterday it was COLD.  today it's colder.  the high is FIVE.  oy. it was -2 when i dropped the bigs at school.

i need to go update my little to do list...  i didn't quite knock out everything i wanted to this weekend, but i did do everything that HAD to be done, so i'm calling it a success.

today, sam and i are staying in, cleaning, and tying up loose ends.  fun times. =)  hoping your monday is warmer than ours!!

going up?

(ignore the ugly carpet, that's something on our "to change someday when we have time and money" list ;)

i turn my back on this little man for a second and this is where he heads.  the stairs.  he's in love with them.  he's also learned that this same skill can be used to get on top of his little activity table. yeah.  not good for mama's stress level.  we've started putting a gate on the stairs and he is NOT happy about that.

i updated my photo a day blog from 4.9-4.24 last night.  after 5+ weeks, it's finally becoming a habit to grab the camera and get a few shots everyday. before i started this, i'd reach for it less often and take more pics at once.  this way feels less intrusive on our days.  i've gotten a lot of throwaway shots in these last 5 weeks, but i've also gotten quite a few that really capture our days.  and that makes me happy. =)

i am off to a field trip w/ ben's preschool this morning..  should be fun. =)

fun w/ packing material

goofballs.  trying to remember why we spend money on toys... ;)

loving the 28mm 1.8 lens that i bought from miss kp.  our house is old and small and i can't always back up far enough to get a shot w/ the 50mm.

we are having a mellow spring break..  matthew took mon and tues off and we basically just hung around and did not much.  i held sickie sam, they played wii and imaginext.  sam is doing much better but is still cranky ..  giving him till tomorrow morning and if he's not better, we're going back to the ped.  alex has a top tooth that is nearly out, but he refuses to wiggle it so it's just getting more and more crooked by the day.  ben has been keeping us busy playing board and card games.   i've been working on some projects for fiskars, and matthew has been cursing the weather because he wants to go to the driving range w/ his new clubs.

there's a chance of snow tomorrow.  that seems like a really wrong way to end spring break. =P

a photo a day for my 33rd year

3 days down. =)  i'm hoping i can keep this up, i have not taken as many photos as i'd like since sam came.  hoping this will get me into the habit.

i love my big honking flash.

a color comparison...

now to figure out how to use it in M mode..  i have to go to auto when i put it on right now.  hello, learning curve!