~Photo of the Week: October 3-9~

I noticed recently that my picture taking has doubled since I was pregnant.  While I want to record every little event, I just don't have as much time to blog these days so I am reintroducing Photo of the Week.  This way even if I don't have time to tell all the stories I can still show off some of my favorite shots.  This weeks "gem" is one I was really excited to catch.

"Wide Awake"

It's a rare occasion that you find Cordelia awake during the daylight hours for more than a few minutes.  On this particular day she had been fast asleep most of the morning.  Then she woke up, calm and content as can be, looking around examining her world.  I ran over and started talking to her.  Once I caught her attention it almost felt like she was staring at my soul, with her eyes so intensely hooked on my face.  I took about 20 photos in a matter of seconds, watching her typical scowl grow into a half smile... and my heart turned into a melted puddle on the ground.  

I swear I fall more and more in love with this little lady each day.

~Sneak Peek~

Here's a sneak peek from our weekend... how cute is this shot? Good lighting, nice composition, cute babies watching their daddy while playing at the beach... who could ask for anything more?Happy Independence Day! More to come when I have internet access again... not to mention time...

~Mesmerizing Jelly Fish~

If I still did photo of the week, this would be the winner.

I love jelly fish.

They look so beautiful, tranquil, mesmerizing...

yet as I learned watching the Will Smith movie 7 pounds, so very dangerous.

Lyssa loves jelly fish too.

Dreamy, no?

I love it when I find beautiful natural lighting.

I also love those tan little legs and arms with the perfect farmers tan.

That's what we get for using a rash guard instead of a tradition swim suit.

Just ignore the dirt spot on her skirt. I didn't feel like editing today.

Lyssa Lou still falls down a lot, and this time it just happened to be in mud puddle.

Picture of the Week: December 1-7

So I know I already posted this photo, but it really was my favorite photo from last week. Plus I wanted to have it in here so you could click on it and make it big for better downloading purposes for the grandparents. :-) Enjoy!

Picture of the Week: November 24-30

This is just a glimpse of what a digital SLR camera can do... I didn't even have to do any touch-ups or Picasa edits... Drum roll please... LOOK at those EYES! THAT photo came from my low lite cave-like living room... beautiful! Isn't technology amazing? Maybe you don't see the different, but I think the photo quality, the coloring, the crisp clean images are amazing. In fact I think I might take a few comparison shots with my two cameras over the next few days, just to show you how amazing this camera really is. I've always thought my kids were cute, but this camera is sure helping me take more pictures... Now I just need to find a camera case that can double as a diaper bag... and possibly a few photography lessons, and a nice lesson in using photoshop.... :-)

Picture of the Week: November 18-24

I love the picture of the week this week. So sweet. Drum Roll Please....

Aren't friends wonderful?

This sweet picture is of Alec with one of his best buddies, Harrison. Alec thinks the world of this little guy. They have very different personalities but share many interests, such as football, bikes, cars, dogs, playing outside, and eating goldfish crackers. But I think what draws Alec most to his dear friend is the laughing. Seriously, Harrison can make Alec laugh one of those deep belly laughs that no one else can (even silly Daddy). These two boys can throw balls together, poke each other in the cheeks, or push baby strollers around the house and have a blast. They can even sit and share a book... for a minute or two anyway. Here's to friends that make you laugh and that laugh at you (you know who you are and I love you for it!).

Oh, and we had our first nice blanket of snow on Saturday! Nick really wanted to put up Christmas lights, but as we walked out of Sam's Club in the snow we opted to go home and bake cookies instead. Alec was entranced by the falling white stuff when we got out of the car so we decided to document him soaking up his first memorable magical moment of snow. Unfortunately he got cold pretty quick so we had to head indoors. While we're out visiting family we'll have to hit DI and see if we can find him some snow overalls and boots, and maybe some boots for Lyssa (she already has a fabulous pink pair of snow overalls...thanks Tiffany!). Now that Lyssa is almost 1 and Alec is almost 2 I think this year we'll try to take advantage of all the magical memorable moments snow can bring to little children. Welcome Snow! Now if only that blasted Iowa wind would go away....

Picture of the Week: November 11-17

Most of the fun photos I took last week were already posted, but I thought this was a sweet one too. Drum Roll Please...That little girl just gets cuter and cuter all the time! It's amazing to think that just a few months ago she spent most of her day rolling back and forth. Now she's crawling and pulling herself up on furniture, and babbling. She absolutely adores her daddy, and he adores her back. Nice reciprocal relationship they have going there. :-) Last Friday was the kick off for our anniversary! Technically our anniversary is not until Thursday, but why celebrate on one day when you can celebrate for a week! Actually, we had a very dear friend offer to babysit our kids so we could celebrate in style and stay out past 7:30 PM. (Thank you, Robyn! You're such a dear friend. Oh, and I found your frozen pizza in my freezer.) I got to wear my new outfit and feel cute. (Yay for jeans that fit!) We went to Cool Basil off many recommendations and were impressed. Yummy Thai food, with some kick, especially for a spice wimp like me. Delicious and I was excited to take home leftovers and make some extra rice to spread the heat around.

After we had our fill we made our way over to a movie theater. We haven't seen a movie in a theater together since Nick's 26th birthday, and we were excited! Nick, of course, wanted to go to the new James Bond flick, but I don't stomach the violence and torture so well, so we settled for "Fireproof" off of a few recommendations. It was... how can I put it nicely... have you ever seen the Seminary Videos? You know, the ones you watched half awake at 6 AM early morning seminary? Well the acting, the filming, the lighting, the music, THE SCRIPT... all equal to a seminary video. At a certain point I turned to Nick and said "This is painful. I could make this movie." He said "THIS is what we saved our free movie tickets up for?" Call us movie snobs, but we were dying in the first five minutes. Finally Nick got up and walked out. I grabbed my stuff and followed and for the first time in my life we went movie hopping. We walked right down the hall into "The Secret Life of Bees" (which was EXCELLENT). Too bad I accidentally left my gloves in the crappy movie. Nick was my hero, and went and rescued them despite his embarrassment to climb over all those people again.

When we got home we realized that we had our camera with us the entire time, but never took any pictures. We set it up on the tripod to catch a few cute shots, but after the first one (with both our heads in the photo) the camera batteries died. :-) Funny ending to fabulous night.

Picture of the Week: November 4-10

My camera is crap. I want a new one.. specifically I want a Nikon D40. No noteworthy pictures this last week. I do, however, have a little gem to show off. Drum Roll Please....
This is my great grandma, Margret (whom I've always called Grammie), with my dad's Uncle Sam, and my grandpa, Papa Ike. I love this photo. I love that Papa is wearing a little sailor suit. I love Grammie's fabulous 1940's hair. I'm not sure how old my Papa Ike and Uncle Sam where in this photo, but I'll bet Grammie was around my age when this photo was taken. I look at it and think about her taking care of two little kids all day, doing the same kinds of things I do. It makes me smile. I love black and white photos, especially old family photos and hope to someday cover a wall in my home of beautiful black and white classic photos of my immediate and extended family.

Last week had it's ups and it's downs. There were great times and there were times when I wanted to go lock myself in the bathroom and shove ear plugs in my ears. Case in point... check out this photo...

If you look close you may find yourself asking "What is that on Alec's shirt?" Be glad that you can't smell it or you would know exactly what it is. Three days in a row I have come into Alec's room to a reeking smell and a smiley little boy saying "Hi, Mommy! Look! It's sick! It's gross!" He's been gagging himself to make himself throw up... It's a little disturbing and he's right that it is totally gross! I usually just stare at him, blank slate, and say "yep. It's gross. Time for a bath." (this picture was taken after the second day... he stopped smiling when he realized that he doesn't get a reaction from me. Only a picture) So I pop him in the tub, clean him all up and send him on his way to play with his sister while I go change the sheets, start some laundry, and clean up his crib...again. Three days in a row of this... sick...

My sweet children have been particularly needy this last week. Lots of whining has ensued lately, but everyone seems healthy (something to be grateful for, eh?). Lyssa hasn't been eating very well with me, but eats like she's starving if Nick feeds her. Alec refuses to let Nick hold him or put him to bed, but goes down within minutes with me. Maybe it's the time change still bothering everyone. Maybe it's the weather changing... or maybe last week was just full of those moody, crappy moments... To take my mind off it, I've started working on Christmas present projects again in my free time... It helps me relax and forces me to use a different part of my brain. I like that. Another cape done! Now one more to go!

Saturday we went to Omaha and visited Papillion, where I lived for all 4 years of high school. I got to show Nick my old house, my neighborhood, my junior high and my high school, and just look around see how things have changed (and they most certainly have changed). Then we were off to the Omaha Zoo (despite the 30 degree windy weather) and enjoyed all sorts of fascinating treasures there! I loved the butterflies, the penguins, and Jungle. Alec loved the monkeys, the sharks, and the lions and tigers. Nick seemed to really enjoy the sharks as well, and Lyssa loved everything (but the swamp with the alligators... too dark). Sadly, my camera sat here at the lonely house next to the computer the entire time...

Picture of the Week: October 28-November 3

Picture of the week was taken with a tripod this time. The winner is... (drum roll please...) The picture that won't be making the Christmas card this year. I love the expression on the kiddo's faces. Taking good pictures with the timer and tripod is not so easy now that we have two little ones in the photo. Notice all those sticks and leaves? We have about a 4 million of them. We spent practically all day Saturday racking and bagging leaves (adding some of them to the ever growing compost pile). The downfall of mature trees is that you have lots of racking to do in the Fall. It wouldn't be so bad if they were small leaves, but no. Most of them are as big as Lyssa!After a long day of racking I felt pretty good about a job well done, even if the leaves are as big as my face... Then I woke up Saturday morning, looked outside and felt something like this...The front and back yard, back deck, driveway, and garden areas are completely covered again... and yet the trees are still full of leaves! Thank goodness it's a BEAUTIFUL 74 DEGREES outside. Perfect leaf racking, yard winterizing, outdoor toy cleaning weather. Happy Fall!

Picture of the Week: October 21-27

So I've already posted about trick or treating at the Living History Farms, but I purposely didn't add this photo so I could use it for "picture of the week". Drum Roll Please....

What a cute cute sad little mouse... It was blasted windy, cold and wet that night. Alec's sweet puffy feet were soaking up all the mud puddles that he stepped in, and I imagine that it was getting pretty frustrating. Luckily he bounced back once he got some of that sugary goodness 100 yards down the boardwalk, and stayed pretty content from that point on. He even roasted a marshmallow and learned of the sweet goodness found in those white puffs of sugar!

Oh, and as far as the Meal of the Week goes, I feel a little embarrassed about the winter of cheese and spinach ravioli. It's all about the Costco baby! I buy Pasta Prima Spinach and Cheese Frozen Ravioli. You pop it in a pot of boiling water and let it cook until it floats. Then I drain out the water and toss in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, wait a minute or two, and then sprinkle the cheese spice mix (that comes in the package) on top and toss. I also usually add a little bit of McCormick cracked pepper medley and Parmesan cheese on top and serve with a side of salad or green beans, and whatever fruit I have on hand. It's fast, easy, not badly priced, and makes my tummy happy. Enjoy!

Picture of the Week: October 14-20

So I got this photo last Tuesday and knew as soon as I saw it that it would be the photo of the week. All I did was point and shoot. No touch-ups. No picasa edits. No photoshop. It was one of those cloudy cold days when we decided to go to the park anyway (just bring a towel along to dry off the slides). Lunch with Daddy at the park up in Johnston is always a hit! We just wish we could do it every day! Okay, now on to the photo. I love my little guy, so chill, so happy (most of the time). :-)

Picture of the Week: October 7-13, 2008

Lots of fun this last week, but not too many pictures were taken. My rechargeable batteries are running out of life, and frequently need to be recharged after only a few shots. I hate having to recharge every day, and often forget to pull the batteries out of the charger and put them back in the camera… that or they just never make it to the charger again. I may need to simply invest in some new rechargeables. No one ever said they would last forever, and the fact that they’ve lasted for the past three years has surely saved us some money. Okay… onto the picture. Drum roll please…
I was making dinner the other night and looked out the window to find Lyssa riding in Alec’s police car, with Nick and Alec pushing her around the yard. Everyone was laughing and having so much fun that I couldn’t resist letting dinner burn so I could run out to grab a few shots. Watching the babies was hilarious; especially when Alec decided it was his turn and tried to climb in with Lyssa. She didn’t mind at all! She just laughed! Next thing I knew Alec was riding inside and Lyssa was giggling away, body surfing on the top as they drove around the yard with Nick. My two kiddos have so much fun with their dad sometimes. I love watching him play with them and enjoy them! I love that Lyssa is getting sturdy and able to rough and tumble a little bit more with the boys. This last week Nick came home and for the first time in her short life, she completely rejects me to go to Nick. (Don’t worry, I wasn’t offended.) She’s starting to figure out that he really is the more fun parent.
So this weeks post is a little late due to an Internet outage at our house the last 4 days. Yes friends, I’ve been disconnected from the world and I must admit I felt like Lyssa looks in the above photo... I’ve realized just how incredibly dependent I am on my technology… how do you read your e-mail? Check the weather? Check the latest election polls? Read the news? Keep up with your GoogleReader list of blogs? Find that recipe you’re dying to try or prepare your lesson for church? You may laugh, but it’s been an eye opening experience. I can only imagine how disconnected I would feel if my TV and cell phone were gone too! I can honestly say that I am thankful for the handy dandy technology that we so often take for granted.

Photo of the Week: September 30- October 6

So no pictures really stuck out to me this week. There were fun pictures, but nothing that screamed "I am the one". So this week you get to see one of my favorite oldies....

I love love love this photo. I must say that my mom did a great job with her 35mm camera, catching the love and peace in the moment of this photo. I struggle to capture photos like this with my digital! It's such a precious moment that captures my emotions for my little brother so well. Robert and I have not always got along, but this photo always stirs up tender feeling towards my big baby brother. I've used this photo for many different things, and think it definitely deserves a place among the photo of the week.

On a less sappy note, I made these over conference weekend and thought they were delightful!

Little puffs of goodness with yummy apple slices and cinnamon-sugar inside. I got the recipe for the crust here... and think I'll be making more in the next couple of days.

Picture of the Week: September 23-29

Doing this picture of the week has really made me get out and take more pictures of my kids... It's also made me realize just how inferior my camera (as well as camera skills) are... If only $500 fell from the sky so I could go buy the camera I really want. Then again, I probably would end up spending it on groceries and bills. :-) Okay, onto this weeks photo. Drum Roll Please...

"Fly! Fly!"

Lyssa has recently taken up "flying" around the house with her Daddy. She LOVES it! I swear, as much as we talk about flying in this house you would think we were birds. Alec wishes he could fly with Daddy like he used to, but 25 lbs. (that have a tendency to go limp) doesn't work very well for flying on Daddy's shoulder. They both agree being tossed in the air is pretty spectacular too, and Nick is by far the best tosser in this house. :-) Yay for Daddy's and Mommy's that play with their kids and help them learn to fly.

I have great memories of doing things like that with my parents. I remember holding on to my Dad's thumbs and having him lift me up until his arms were stretched all the way out above his head. I remember it was so exciting and scary being up so high, knowing that if I let go of his thumbs I would fall, but he would catch me. Funny the things we remember, huh? Any fun childhood memories running through your head?

Picture of the Week: September 16-22

Since Lyssa was born Alec has taken up going Home Teaching with Nick. The families Nick visits seem to enjoy Alec's company, and Alec LOVES all the extra attention and the "big dogs". I love that it leaves me with an hour or two in the evening of Lyssa Lou and Mommy time. Even when she was tiny it was fun to have some time to just sit and hold her and stare in wonder at her tiny little face. As she's gotten older we have a much more active time rolling around on the floor, dancing in the kitchen, etc. It was a great time to do a "photo shoot" with her, leading us to this week's photo of the week. Drum Roll Please...

I love this photo. In fact, this will likely go on my black and white picture wall upstairs. It's so telling of the stage Lyssa is in right now. She's so curious as to how the world works. She wants to examine (and sometimes eat) every speck of dust or piece of lint she can get her hands on. Lately she's found great interest in the piano, and Home Teaching night was a perfect time for her to play without her big sweet brother coming up and taking over, trying to show her how it works. :-) It was a nice relaxing evening for us girls and I look forward to doing it again next month!

On a side note, I was looking at pictures and just had to post these two...

Lyssa at 8 Months

Alec at 8 Months

Here's to children who hopefully won't quit piano at age 8!