A Photo Recap.......

Here is the week in review........


Jan. 19, Photo #19.... the proof. Justin has the computer up and running. It is the first time Amanda has been on the computer in almost 2 weeks. Way to go Justin! What would I do without you????

Jan. 20, Photo #20. Amanda spent the night at a girlfriends house last Friday evening. She had a great time. When she came home from school this week, she whipped up this little check list. I thought it might come in handy for some of you planning a sleep over..........

Jan. 21. Photo #21. My lunch....... Peanut butter and jelly. Come on....I was desperate for a photo of the day.

Jan. 22, Photo #22.... Nicholas and I playing the board game Pictureka. Nicholas is obsessed with it and I'm slowly getting sick of it.

Jan. 23, Photo #23... The crazy IKEA desk. This is what caused me the headache on Friday. Can you believe these 3 pieces of particle board and a shelf came packaged in 200 pieces and took 2 hours to assemble? On the other hand look how neat and organized my space is :)

Jan. 24, Photo #24. Me and the little one at 7 months. I haven't had time to play with my tripod. I'm hoping I can practice shooting some photos this week. I took this picture in my bathroom mirror.

Jan. 25, Photo #25. Amanda and I baked brownies this afternoon. Nicholas and Steve were busy playing the Wii or Nicholas would have jumped at the chance to bake. I had just finished making a new recipe for dinner. It was a baked penne pasta by Rachael Ray. Steve and I gave it a thumbs up and the kids wouldn't eat it! UGH! At least they were happy about dessert!

Finally, I just wanted to mention who the big winner was at our friendly poker tournament last night. You guessed it. Me! In 3 games I came in first, second, and second. The good news was that I won enough money to cover the babysitter. Woo Hoo! Well, I hope everyone has a good week. Get some rest. Nicholas has come down with a cold so we are all planning to get some zzzzzzzzzzzs tonight. Until later.....................

Nothing Exciting.......

Nothing too exciting to report lately except...... Justin managed to get the computer up and running for the time being. WooHoo! The kids were so excited to be able to get on-line, I was so excited to use the printers, and I am happy I havn't had to buy a new computer YET. Justin can't promise how long it will last, so we are all holding our breath and backing up files.

On another note, work has been fairly light lately. I guess with a little extra time on my hands I'm starting to think up some home projects I would like to get done. A lot of them have to deal with organizing rooms, closets, and figuring out just where this baby girl is going to go. When we first moved into this house we had so much space. Now.... it seems the kids clothes and toys and general junk is taking up a lot of room. Anyway.... with organization in mind I made my first trip to IKEA yesterday. That place is huge. Have any of you ever visited the warehouse in Canton? Well, I spent about 2 hours there browsing, getting ideas, and finally buying a desk with accessories for myself. This is in an effort to begin and organize our office. I have been pestering Steve to find some time and help. I can't organize his papers and I definitely don't understand his filing system. He says he need 2 hours on a Sunday. We'll see...............

So.... Today I spent a good part of my day assembling furniture and cleaning up. When I took the desk out of its 2 boxes I was just about ready to give up. There were parts and pieces strewn all over, nothing was labeled, the directions seemed unclear, UGH. Right then and there I realized why IKEA furniture is so CHEAP! It is a pain in the butt! You truly get what you pay for, but we are trying to save some money................ So I decided to give it a go. I already looked at the return policy, and it had to be returned with all the proper packaging within 30 days. I don't think there was any way I could have repackaged all the Styrofoam parts, plastic bags, cardboard strips, and doo-dads. Well,....... unbelievably, 2 hours later I had the desk completed. It was a MIRACLE! If I can do it.... anyone can do it. And I mean anyone....

Well, I'm off to get Amanda from Girl Scouts.......... Until later...........

One of those days..........

It has been one of those days..... Steve has been out of town the last 3 days in sunny Florida, while we are shoveling more snow and trying to stay warm. In an effort to be positive, I don't think I have anything to say tonight. I know tomorrow will be better. Here are more photos:

Jan. 14, Photo #14. This is for Janina. I know how she loves her temp. gauge. How do you like this high of 11 degrees? This was a heat wave compared to the -30 on Friday.

Nicholas and his latest dance moves.

Jan. 15, Photo #15. I'm trying to keep up for book club. I just finished The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. It was good and a quick read. Now I want to see the movie.

Jan. 16, Photo #16 and others. These photos are from an impromptu photo shoot with the kids. I was trying to play with side lighting from my bedroom window. I think they came out pretty cute. I wish I would have read about exposure a little bit more. Well..... next time. I followed some of the tips supplied in this book about photographing children that I'm reading for a second time. All of these pictures were taken without a flash and without a tri-pod. I'm anxious to continue learning about the manual settings on my camera. I think I'll try the tri-pod for the pregnancy photos Aunt Annette wants to see. So without further ado........

And here the kids are being kids...........

Pretty funny playing with his pockets.........

Jan. 17, Photo #17, Playing play-doh while being snowed in with the cousins......

Jan. 18., Photo #18, How can these seemingly quiet and content kids be so HYPER?!!

Until Later.......................

Catching up on Photo of the Day........

Here are some of the photos chronicling my photo a day project. Check out these snippets of my daily life.

Jan. 5, Photo #5 Back to school

Jan. 6, Photo #6, Hanging out together

Jan. 7th, Photo #7, Nicholas and I reading on the couch, courtesy of my cell phone

Jan 8., Photo #8, The luxerious life of a dog

Jan. 9, Photo #9, Justin taking a break from fixing my computer to race cars with Nicholas

Jan. 10, Photo #10, 10 inches of snow is perfect for catching snowflakes

Jan. 11, Photo #11 We have been drinking a lot of this lately......

Jan. 12, Photo #12, Justin taking a break from fixing my computer to play Dance Dance Revolution

Jan.13, Photo #13, This could have been another photo of Justin taking a break from fixing my computer, but he left before I could snap him today. Therefore, I had to share this picture. When I went to Best Buy to buy replacement parts for the computer look where I got to park. How great was that! Another photo courtesy of my cell phone.


Until later.............

Lots of Random Thoughts..........

Once again, it has been awhile. It has been difficult to get to blogging lately.... So here are a few random thoughts...........

1. I absolutely love my digital piano. At the end of the night I like to play while the kids are winding down. Right now I'm working on "Bless the Broken Road," a song by Rascal Flatts. It is starting to sound better. My right hand has been cooperating along with my temperamental left.

2. I had book club this week and just finished The Septembers of Shiraz. It was good. It was a quick read and well written, but nothing you couldn't put down. Our next book is The Reader. Everyone seems to be enjoying the movie, so I'm anxious to read the book. This weekend I also read the latest Julie Garwood book, Fire and Ice. I couldn't put it down. I'm a sucker for romance with an FBI agent with a mystery twist. It was her usual formula which is nice FLUFF! The final book on my nightstand is the Canon EOS Digital Rebel Field Guide. So far........... my pictures are not improving......... I guess I need more practice.

3. Speaking of pictures, I am taking my daily photos. However, I don't think I'll be sharing them tonight. As of 7:45 I have not put them on my computer yet. You'll have to wait until later. I promised the kids we would frost cupcakes and I have to watch 24 tonight. I'm so excited it is coming back on. I wonder what Jack Bauer will survive this season.

4. Steve and I FINALLY got a babysitter last night. Yes, in the crazy 10 inches of snow, we met friends for dinner at a restaurant we had never tried before, Mon Jin Lau. It was very good. They serve Chinese food, Thai, and sushi. It was a fun night, the traffic wasn't bad, but the driving was very slow.

5. I think I'm going to learn how to knit.... or use one of those round looms to knit. I want to make Amanda or the baby a hat or a cute fuzzy scarf. I guess I can cross that off my list as soon as I find someone to teach me, or I can find a class to fit my schedule.

6. The kids started back to tennis this week. They took the first half of the year off after playing all summer. Wow have they improved! They were both whacking the ball (in a good way) over the net. Maybe Nicholas will reach his goal of becoming a tennis pro yet! (Or maybe Amanda will get that scholarship, although right now she is aspiring to paint nails and college might not be in the future :)

5. Steve worked 50 hours this week, which is a lot of tennis playing. He rightfully got a massage today at Sports Club. Unfortunately for us, he goes out of town on Friday. He is traveling with a junior player. However, fortunately for him, he won't be hitting tennis balls for 50 hours!

8. Finally, I'm sick of all the pessimism. Why is everything so negative? You are surrounded by it on TV, the news, the paper, and talking to people. Why can't we focus on some good and the happiness we have in our lives? That is my goal for the week, focus on being happy right now. Once again, here is a little reminder from the Zen Habits website:

Accept what you have. The problem with many of us is that we always think that we’ll be happy when we reach a certain destination — when we get a certain job, or retire, or get our dream house. Unfortunately, it takes awhile before you get there, and when you get there, you might have a new destination in mind. Instead, try being happy with where you are, with who you are, and what you have. To do that, instead of comparing what you have with other people, or with what you want, compare yourself those who have less, with those who are going through tragedy, with those who are struggling. You will see that you actually are extremely blessed. And this can lead to more happiness with your current situation.

I know this has been long....... Until Later.........

New Year's Goals

Happy New Year everyone! It is about that time to start thinking about some resolutions. Does anyone else make them? I like to think of them as Goals more than resolutions. I think resolutions are hard to keep. Goals are always attainable and you can take baby steps to reach them.... With that said here are a few I have and some that have carried over from last year.

1. Continue to blog. I enjoyed creating the blog last year and it was part of my "learning something new" goal. This year I hope to keep up my ramblings even with the birth of a new baby on the way.

2. Learn something new. I wonder what it will be this year. There is a lot of stuff I don't know how to do. I think this is a very easy resolution. Let's see.... there is.... stuffing a turkey, knitting a hat, jumping a car, creating a web page, learning Italian, and the list goes on and on.......

3. Take a class. I'm still trying to get into a photography course. Too bad I procrastinated and the 2 community colleges with photography courses are already closed for the winter semester. I just might have to take a music class or cake decorating /cooking class.

4. Procrastinate LESS. Need I say more.

5. Get better at the piano and less frustrated with my fingers.

6. Enjoy the family more and worry about chores less.

Well, I guess that is a good start for the new year. I'll have to check back in a few months and see how I'm doing.

Finally, in an attempt to better my photography skills, I have been contemplating the photo a day for 365 days. It is a project that a lot of people have participated in and you can post your pictures on Flickr. I think this is a very ambitious task, however, I think I am up for the challenge..... at least for the month of January. (I don't know how well April will go.) People who have participated in this challenge find that they become better photographers. They begin to see things more creatively, play with lighting, angles, f-stops, and shutter speeds. I guess time will tell. I can't creatively photograph 365 pictures of my children so I wonder what I will come up with.....

Here are a few to begin:

Jan. 1.... Photo #1.... Okay so I'm already starting with the kids.... but don't the strawberries look great too? They are Amanda's favorites and I had some left over from the New Years Eve party.

Jan. 2.... Photo #2... I'm loving my new piano and it has been consuming my time lately. Unfortunately, my hands can't keep up with my brain.

Jan. 3.... Photo #3.... Family time playing Operation. Can you believe that the latest edition has sound effects? You need to remove gas bubbles, burping, a runny nose (which looks like green snot.) Exactly what kids love!

Jan. 4...photo #4..... My kids' newest obsession. Do you know what they are? Gumballs. Nicholas can chew these for hours at a time and they are truly disgusting. Do you remember them from your childhood? They lose there flavor in T-minus 10 seconds. Once these are gone they will not be getting more. I hope I don't find them in the carpet or in someone's hair.

Well... if anyone else wants to play along with the photo challenge (JANINA) I think it would be fun. Until later.......

Happy New Year!

A NEW LOOK for a new year! Hope everyone has a great 2009! Until later...........