Photography

Photography has been a hobby of mine for a long time. I can't remember the model/type of camera my parents had when I was a child, but I do remember taking pictures way back then. I'll have to look it up and see if I can find out what kind it was.

Anyway, recently I've been looking at a lot of photographer's blogs and yes, envying their skills a bit. I want to improve my own and hope to do so as time permits. I know I am going to have to make a more concerted effort to practice in order to do so and hopefully over time y'all will be able to tell a difference in the quality of the photos on the blog.

For now, I'll share this one w/you from a few days ago - the children were taking a break from school and watching Miss A playing a video game.

(If you click on the image you'll see a much larger version - something else on "my plate" is to find a different blog format that will enable me to share larger images...anyway)

This is a common scene in our house - I don't know how they can stand to just sit and watch on those little screens, but it seems to happen like this very often!

Snow Days! Record Snowfall in One Day! It's been wonderful!

Now I know, some of you live in areas where you get snow every winter and lots of it.

For us, that is NOT the case.

I've told many that I would really like to live in one of those places that gets snow all winter and experience a REAL snow at least once. Some of them nod with understanding, others think I'm crazy. My sister who now lives in OH said I could come and winter w/them because it appears they're enjoying a "real" winter for sure!

For now, I will remain where I am and will enjoy the beauty that God has surrounded us with.

Our day started Thursday with snow falling and I could hardly believe it when the snow FELL ALLLLLL DAY!!! and was STILL FALLING when we went to bed and apparently continued until about 2 or 3 a.m. We measured the snowfall a few times throughout the day on our picnic table and when we went to bed we had about 7" and Friday morning measured close to 8"!!! Amazing!

(our first reading - not quite 3")



The children were out in the snow twice Thursday for about an hour or so each time and again Friday morning - this time for close to 2 hrs. - they were just about FROZEN when they came in...they all took warm showers and got into cozy "snow day" clothes - you know, sweats and sweatshirts, slippers, that sort of thing. Thursday after their first outing, they all got warmed up, dried off and came to the table for hot chocolate and later some dark chocolate brownies - mmmmm. We called an official "snow day" when CKB came home from work early due to the road conditions worsening and potentially worsening more as the day went on. It was a wonderful day! Here are some pictures from the day...notice the amount of snow increase throughout and the fun and joyful expressions on the children's faces as they enjoyed their time in the snow! Miss Baby thought it was cold when I took her out for a moment and let her feel the snow - she touched it, pulled her hand back and tucked it under her stomach and would not reach out again :) Smart girl - that stuff is cold! I added a few comparison shots as well of the backyard and the front.


Thursday a.m. - not even completely covering the grass yet!


Miss Baby checking out the scenery...


Hey Mama...what IS that stuff?


The crew ready to go have some fun!



The fun begins!
Watch out Miss A!


I'll get 'em next time!


Hey, me too!


Wait a minute....is it the girls against the boys?


Notice the increase of snow on the table...the children were told to leave the table alone so we'd be able to measure the same place each time...and remarkably they all remembered! :) (in the end, when the snow had stopped falling the next day, we let them play with that snow too :) )


Hmm, maybe I'll try building a fort...


May the biggest snowball win!


Oh, Ma-maaaa.....(no cameras or children were harmed in the taking of this picture)


Yee-haw - this is fun!!!


A view out the front....take note of the amount of snow on the van to compare w/a later pic down below...


birds in and around the tree next door...


who me? walk across the street messing up the pretty snow to take a picture of the front of the house? Nah....oh wait, you see a trail...hmm, I guess you got me...


I feel a bit like I'm in Narnia!


Hmm, more accumulation! (just under 5")


Nightfall Thursday night....check out that table now!


At about 8:30 p.m. we had just over 6"


Friday morning - we were just about at 8" (the official tally was 9" for our area)


Ah yes, the table...isn't it lovely? This is early Friday morning.



A wider shot of the back...


Time for Miss Baby to check out the white stuff....brrrr!


I really like this shot - it looks like Miss Baby and I are in a very deep snowdrift....and me w/o my jacket...hmm.


Hmm, the cars are a bit more covered now and yes, CKB's is home :)


What's that? You see my footprints again....?


That's all folks! The snow is now almost all melted away....I'm finally getting around to posting this and it's Sunday evening. This morning we still had a good bit on the ground. We can't wait 'til the next snowfall! How about you? :)

A Proud Homeschool Mom Moment

After reading some of William Shakespeare's works over the past few weeks, I was thrilled with a conversation with Miss E this morning - it went something like this:

Miss E: Mama?
Me - Yes?
Miss E: A lot of the moons of Uranus have names from Shakespeare's plays!
Me - Really?
Miss E: Yes!
Me - (mental note - look this up later)

:)

Later, I looked up "Moons of Uranus" and was happy to see the following:

Uranus, the seventh planet of the Solar System, has 27 known moons,^[1] all of which are named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.^[2] William Herschel discovered the first two moons, Titania and Oberon, in 1787, and the other spherical moons were discovered in 1851 by William Lassell (Ariel and Umbriel) and in 1948 by Gerard Kuiper (Miranda).^[2] The remaining moons were discovered after 1985, either during the Voyager 2 flyby mission or with the aid of advanced Earth-based telescopes.^[1][3]

It does a Mom good to see the fruits of her time and labor with her children - let me tell you!
Miss E has a poster of the solar system on her wall and apparently had been perusing it again.

February Snow!

Upon awakening this morning we found this beautiful sight outside (well, the snow, not all the stuff in the yard!) - the children can't wait to get out and play in it after breakfast!

Miss E's Tea Party Birthday!

Moments before the tea party was scheduled to begin, I zipped back to our bedroom to try to get Miss Baby down for a nap - moments later Mr. A bursts in hollering something about something...then I hear voices outside the bedroom as apparently some of our guests had arrived...I sighed thinking there was no way Miss Baby was going to nap w/all the commotion, but laid her down anyway in her pack 'n play and hoped for the best.

The stage was set:

Beading stations were set up and ready to go:



The tea table was prepared - place cards in place - tea cups ready and waiting....


Guest of honor ready to welcome her friends - food at the ready for tea time...


The boys were occupied...


Let the party BEGIN!

All of the guests arrived in their tea party finery and the beading began! All the girls set out to make their bracelets because, well, you know you have to look fancy for a tea party! Look closely in some of the following pics to see some of their creations - my one regret was not getting a picture of all the girls' bracelets - oy!


Mama.....quit taking pictures please and tie my bracelet for me....oh mamaaaaaaaaa.....


In progress....at some points we had PLEN-TY of beads lying around and I wondered how clickety clackety the vacuum would sound later....but amazingly there were hardly any beads on the carpet when all was said and done - great job ladies!


Tea time!!

Teapot cake...can you guess what flavor the icing was?


Birthday girl blowing out the candles....


Game time - "pin" the teacup on the saucer....remember, look for bracelets!


Look at those adorable nails, ring and bracelet - she was ready for the party!


All the young ladies....a special prize to anyone who can match all the sister pairs - there were 2 from each of 5 families at the party (no fair any of y'all who came to the party giving an answer!)


It was a VERY crafty birthday - perfect for Miss E - she was so excited about everything and hasn't stopped crafting since! Thank you again to all her sweet friends (and their moms and dads!) We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends for our girls (and boys!).





Happy 9th Birthday Miss E - you are a wonderful blessing to us all!

A year without Wal-mart - 2009 recap

Well, we made it through the year. I have a confession to make...I missed Wal-mart...a little.

There were a few exceptions made throughout the year that CKB and I agreed on and he then went to Wal-mart to pick up some things like a twin bed frame for Mr. A to match the one we'd gotten there for Mr. E. Also, on a trip to a smallish town, CKB went to Wal-mart for some tools and car things he needed. Then, as Christmas approached and I was sooooo tired of looking at Target, CKB and I decided to make a few little trips to Wal-mart to see what other options we might have - hey, we were shopping for FIVE children ya know!

So...to sum it up...

1. we lived w/o Wal-mart pretty well and could've done w/o it completely w/o much consternation at all
2. the children still got sick - so it's not just the carts at Wal-mart after all ;)
3. when I went to Wal-mart for the first time in '09 around Christmas I was disgusted w/the one I used to shop at - it was dirty, the people were rude (not the workers, the people in there), the parking lot was filthy, it was not a place I wanted to be and do NOT plan to ever return to that location again
4. it's just as easy to buy extra stuff at other stores as it is at Wal-mart - 'nuf said.
5. some of the "other" stores would do well to get larger carts (and wider aisles) - some of them do NOT work with baby seats at all (hint hint Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Dollar Tree....and others, you know who you are!) and people at Kohl's WITHOUT any children...why are you taking the carts w/child seats leaving none at the front for those of us who really need them? hmmmm????

So...try it, you might like it...or don't.

I wonder what we should do w/o this year? Target? Too late.

I'd like a year w/o fast food or eating out, but I don't dare think we could manage that with our crazy traveling lifestyle...but then, who knows...maybe we could...if I could find a nanny to watch the children 1 day a week so I could do extensive grocery trips and have brain time to plan menus for weeks at a time and go to the store alllll by myself and actually remember everything on the list (yes, even w/a list in hand, I still forget things)....maybe we'd try it then...but then I'd have to give up hot mocha coffees from Mickey D's and, well, I just don't know if I could do it!

Bathing beauty!

Little Miss Baby had her first bath in the big bathtub the other night and I just love her expression here. Look at those chompers she's been busy growing lately! She now has 8 confirmed teeth that are through the gums - poor girl - they've given her a little trouble coming in, but all in all, it hasn't been too bad!

Where are y'all from?

Every once in a while I like to look and see where folks are coming from that land on our blog. Some of them are friends and family, I'm sure, but others just happen along to visit our fair spot in cyberspace.

Just in the past 24 hours, we've had visitors from:

Canada
Mexico
Paris, France
Kuwait
South Africa
Germany

and in the good ol' USA, from the following states:

TX
MO
IN
OR
SC
NV
TN
WI
MT
MI
AZ
VA
MA
NC

But, no one, sniff sniff, said hello or hola or hallo, guten morgen? or even a big "Howdy!" It's so...quiet...around here.

We have...or are getting....pipes!

Stopped by the house site today on my way home from having lunch w/CKB and the children, and we are getting pipes! Whoo hoo! They were working away at the site when we dropped by and the children were extremely excited to see something happening. You can't really see them, but there were probably 6-7 guys working away on the site and about 3-4 work trucks parked all around. That little digger was zipping all over the place digging trenches while we were there and the workmen had placed some plywood here and there to make "bridges" which the children thought was really neat. I took a quick picture and then moved the car down a bit from the site to let the children watch for a few mn. before we headed home.

Miss E is 9 today!

Today is Miss E's 9th birthday!

9 years ago today at 4:39 p.m. Miss E came into the world and has been such a blessing to us ever since.

This morning she asked for blueberry pancakes and bacon....uh...no eggs...what's your 2nd choice? Biscuits. Uhhh....still don't have eggs...hmm, IHOP has them....after quickly loading everyone up, we headed out and splurged a bit on breakfast today. Maybe I can get it together in time for the next bday! (excuse the poor pic quality - I took it w/my phone...)



We plan to have a little family celebration tonight and this coming Saturday Miss E has 8 friends coming over for a birthday tea party! Stay tuned for pics!