glimpses week 11

The kids wanted to walk to the park which is just a couple blocks away from our house. They had a few minutes of play in them and then Leah was completely pooped. The walk knocked all the energy out of her. Their little legs could barely carry them all the way home. These two clearly have a very rough life.

fifty two on friday ~ week 3 (words)

does xoxo count as a word? it is going to for today, ok? a migraine and my original idea for the theme not working out the way i hoped equals me sitting at the computer late on thursday night, inserting an adorable random pic from the week and forcing it to hoping it would fit the theme.

leah's pronunciation is at a really cute stage right now. she is a talker. a great talker. i love to hear her talk. she says some things incorrectly and it is really cute when she tries to say it the right way. she has a really hard time with the letter "f" which most times come out as a "b".  At the dinner table last night she she was telling us that at swimming lessons she picked up a ring in the swimming pool with her foot but it sounded like she said she was picking it up with her butt...it was very, very funny.

her favorite word right now is super. everything is super. the other day i hit my head on her bed and she said, "you ok mom?  it didn't hurt super much right? just a teeny tiny bit right?" it was very cute.

she is also known for telling everyone in the house that she loves them super much! love that.

be sure to stop by and visit and say, "hi" to  stacy vitallo, of d'lara photography, downers grove, il to see how she interpreted the theme this week.

fifty two on friday ~ week 50 (memories)

"forever is composed of nows." ~ emily dickinson

This year I wanted to start a tradition of sleeping under the tree some time before Christmas with the kids. We did not do anything fancy, no movie or popcorn or anything like that. We kept it very simple. The excitement of the pull out bed and the tree was almost more than these two could handle. They were so excited! Jordan could hardly believe that there was really a bed inside our couch. It took the kids forever to fall asleep.  I was so sore when I woke up the next morning, heck I don't think my body has forgiven me yet. But it was worth it all. Drew told the kids he was not going to sleep with us and Jordan told him he had to because in his words, "it was a family event."

The other day my mom asked me what I think my kids will remember about the holidays. My hope is that they will be joyful memories. I know that they are not going to remember what toy they got and who they got it from.  I hope they can remember that they were always loved beyond measure. My hope is that they will remember some of our traditions. Traditions of  being together, being loved and being happy. Traditions that build strong family bonds, and hopefully they will be wonderful and vibrant family memories.

Now head on over and see what my friend Misty Setzler, Lubbock, TX Photographer has come up with for the theme this week. 

30 days of gratitude {day 21}

I am thankful I have someone who will run out in the cold and happily grab the newspaper for me.

30 days of gratitude {day 17}

I am thankful for fun and easy crafts that we can do together that both the kids can do and enjoy. We had fun making these puppets and then the kids had even more fun showing off the creations with a puppet show. Check out the "bellybutton" on Leah's snowman...too funny!!

30 days of gratitude {day 13}

I am thankful for my sweetie Mikey and from the look of things my kids are pretty smitten with him too!

30 days of gratitude {day 12}

I am thankful my baby girl has an older brother.

I am just as thankful she is one of the toughest chicks I know.

30 days of gratitude {day 8}

I am thankful the tears never last for long.

fifty two on friday ~ week 43 (warmth)/30 days of gratitude {day 4}

I had to combine both 52 on friday and days of gratitude today since I don't want to skip either one of my little projects. Leah and I had so much fun playing in front of the camera together. Her love provides me so much warmth.

For so many reasons, I am thankful to love and to be loved by her.

Don't forget to follow the link and check out what the lovely and talented  Nicole Denae Photogoraphy, Cypress Texas Photographer has come up for this weeks theme.

fifty two on friday ~ week 40 (play)

I love to watch and listen to Leah play on her own, she has quite the imagination. It is a rare moment to see her sitting still. In fact her preschool progress report came home this week and she got all plus marks except she needs to work on sitting still during circle time. That does not surprise me one bit.

During her "alone" time she does a lot of talking and there are many friends with her. She has two friends at preschool, Bella and Kate and she always pretends that they are there with her. I love to see and listen to where her adventures take her.

Please head on over and visit the lovely and talented Amy Craft, San Antonio Texas Photographer too!

school days

Every night at dinner time we go around the table and we each talk about our day. It is so cute to hear what the kids have to say about their day.  Today Leah played with her friends, painted paper and drank juice. Jordan sang songs, played with a train and painted an apple picture complete with a squirmy worm. The kids are having so much fun at school and they talk about what they played with, friends they made and games they played. They are learning so much too.

Leah always says, hims instead of he or his. She will say, "Hims has on a yellow shirt" or "Hims is silly Mommy." The other day I heard Jordan talking to Leah and he was correcting her telling her to say, "He is silly Leah, he is silly" she replied with "Hims is silly." Jordan repeated the correct way and told her to try again. When she finally said it right he tackled her with the biggest hug and kiss and said "Great job Leah! You are learning!" I was grinning ear to ear hearing him teaching her. It had to be one of the cutest things I have heard in a while.

fifty two on friday ~ week 34 (brave)

The brave show I had to put on for my "babies" on their first day of preschool this year was nothing more than just that, a show. I felt tears welling up inside me but I held them back. At least while I was with them. I may or may not have let a few fall when they were not looking.

I was not sure how the kids would do going to preschool but they started the day out right. When we walked out the door of the house to go to school Jordan asked Leah, "What do you think of boys?" her answer, "Uucky!" Their Daddy is teaching them both well!

Leah gave hugs and kisses to both Drew and I and walked right in the door and never looked back. She immediately walked over found the accessories and she was a happy girl. She had so much fun. When I picked them up the teacher told me that she was awesome! Leah told me she played with apple peels, danced, sang songs and drank pineapple juice.

Jordan walked in the front door of the school and never looked back. I didn't even get a kiss and a hug goodbye because I was helping Leah hang up her bag and by the time I looked he was already in his room playing. I didn't want to disturb him so I just snapped a pic and left him to have some fun with his new friends. When I picked him up he said he had so so so much fun! He said that he played in a pirate ship, cut out pieces to make an apple picture and played on the playground.

They were both so brave today and they cannot wait to go back to school.

Please head on over and check out what the talented Liza Hall has in store for us.

the swing of things

I just can't delete these images, they are so Leah. Completely unpredictable, no one can tell this girl what to do. She is a free spirit with a mind of her own.

I am so excited for her to start preschool this week. Not excited for me, I am excited for her. I am looking forward to all the fun she will have. All the friends she will meet. All the crafts she will run home with to show me. She is a little worried about being dropped off at school and has confirmed nearly every day for at least a month that I am going to come back to pick her up. I know whe will get in the swing of things quickly.

The other day when we went to the park she climbed to the highest part of the swingset and she yelled out in her loudest voice to a park full of kids, " Hey, I am Leah, this is Jordan do you want to play with us?"  Yep, this girl going to be just fine!

fifty two on friday ~ week 33 (odd)

This theme had me frozen like a deer in headlights. I almost gave up and skipped it altogether. Not because I was too busy but simply because I was not creative enough to come up with anything for the week. I took this shot around 6:00 pm on Thursday evening. I did not know how or if it was going to work for the theme but I saw her running around with these goggles on and it seemed silly and even "odd" enough. Later I looked up the definition of odd and I found out that some of the synonyms for odd are extraordinary, rare and uncommon and in an instant I knew it was a perfect fit. The problem was I was giving the word a negative connotation. But without a doubt that defines my little girl to the core. In this mama's eyes she really is extraordinary, rare and uncommon in every way.

Head on over and check out what the lovely Meghan Boyer Maryland Lifestyle Photographer has in store for us this week.

fifty two on friday ~ week 32 (nostalgia)

I didn't have the theme in mind when I snapped this shot of Leah with her friend. But when I first saw this image fond memories of my childhood and growing up came flooding back. I can remember confiding in many a stuffed animal when I was young.

Head on over and check out what Amy Craft, San Antonio Texas Photographer has in store for us.

fifty two on friday ~ week 31 (alone)

Summer is almost over and in the very near future both of my kids will be heading off to preschool. I will be left home all alone for a few days a week for a couple of hours...what will I do with my time?

Please head on over and check out what the talented Jobrina Hofleit, Goodyear, AZ Photographer has in store for us.

Have a great weekend!

fifty two on friday ~ week 30 (time)

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Now head on over and check out what Tara Carman, Akron Ohio photograper has in store for us this week.

wordless

little fish

fifty two on friday ~ week 28 (summer)

This snapshot reminds me of my own childhood.  Growing up I had two older brothers and mostly boy cousins around and since they never wore shirts I never wanted to either.  I wanted to be just like the boys. I could not understand why I could not be just like the coolest kids I knew.  I try really hard to make sure Leah keeps her "peaches" covered but sometimes when we are in the backyard I let her slide. This photo will always remind me of her going shirtless, her adoration for her brother, my love for my brothers and summer.

I can hardly believe this project is more than half over. If you would like you can take a walk down memory lane and check out past posts here.

You are in for a treat, because next up is the talented Nicole Denae Photography, Cypress Family Photographer. Head on over and check out what she has come up for the theme this week.