51:52 Cold

I had an idea...it was to try take an interesting picture of a glass of ice cold water.
Sadly, I forgot about it amidst all this Christmas bustle and my good light was gone before I could attempt it.  So, I am posting a picture of the obvious.  Obvious for late December in Northern Arizona.

51:52 Cold

It's been cold.  One morning the other week, I woke up to a temperature of 7 below zero.  Thankfully, it doesn't stay that cold and our glorious sun usually always makes an appearance.

Now talking about cold...our sauna "dressing room".  It's not heated.  So it has been anywhere from 20 to 40 degrees when we head out there to take a sauna.  That is when you master the art of undressing in split seconds so you can hop into the deliciously warm sauna.

And even colder...the snow piles outside the sauna...that my boys ROLL IN several times throughout the course of their sauna!  Brrrrrrrr!

Linking up to Leann.  See what's chilly in her corner.

50:52 Tradition

One of the funnest things about being a parent is the opportunity to continue your childhood traditions with your own family.

Growing up, one of my favorite holiday activities was decorating sugar cookies.  And we actually decorated them every Easter.  They were egg shaped cookies, and the decorating possibilities seemed endless to me...stripes, polka dots, zigzags, initials.  It was a great way to foster our artistic creativity.

While I whip up a batch of these cookies only occasionally for Easter, I always do them at Christmas.

 50:52 Tradition

It's one of the kids' favorite activities and it keeps them entertained for a whole hour or more.  Some of these cookies get wrapped up and make their way to the kids' school and music teachers.  The rest we share with family at our Christmas gatherings.

Elaina (2 years old) took her job very seriously.  Every now and then she would holler out "I need red!" or "here mom, you need green!" (she has no idea what her colors are yet).  She was especially serious when it came to sprinkles.  She went to town.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of her six cookies.  They each had a small mound of frosting in the middle, then a mountain of green sprinkles. :)

I've been thinking about traditions a lot lately.  I think they are important.  They foster a closeness among family members and create a sense of belonging.  I've thought about what traditions we have as a family, and most of them are carried over from either mine or Dean's childhood.  While that is good, I want to start creating some that are our very own.

One tradition that I'm excited to continue this year and every Christmas from here on out, is caroling.  Our little family bundles up and makes the round of our culdesac and other neighbors we know, singing our favorite carols.  I love that my kids are old enough for this!  Everyone sings!  Afterward, we come home and drink hot chocolate and decorate gingerbread houses.

And yes, while these traditions are supposed to be fun, I sometimes get lazy as a mom and am tempted to skip the things my kids anticipate.  Excuses of we're too busy, it's a hassle, and there's just no time shouldn't get in the way of my family's traditions. These are the things I know they'll remember of their childhood, just as I have such fond memories of my own childhood cookie decorating days, biscuit bunny making, and waking up to a valentine's day surprise.

What traditions do you and your family keep?

49:52 Intangible

Intangible: that which cannot be touched

Determination: a quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult; resoluteness

Yet I can almost feel the boys' determination in these photos.  It's palpable in the air, or for you, in the photos.  

49:52 Intangible

We can sometimes see those things which are intangible - emotions.  

And the world is a richer place because of it.

Linking up to Leann this last month.  We're in the home stretch of Project 52! 

48:52 Satisfaction

This week, satisfaction was a house full of family, feasting at our table, visiting and laughing together.
Thanksgiving was as wonderful as always because I am blessed with a large, loving family.

But I didn't get a chance to photograph that kind of satisfaction.  Or the kind that follows eating a very large, very delicious meal of turkey, candied sweet potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc.

So instead, I will share one of the other sources of my satisfaction this week.

My hutch makeover project is finished!

I am quite satisfied with the end result, and with the fact that I finished it in time to fill it with my china for use on this Thanksgiving. 

I'll share more details and pictures of my hutch next week.

Enjoy your weekend, as well as Marcy's pictures!

47:52 Nature

I thought that most of my pictures were of people, and specifically my kids.

However, Project 52 has made me realize that when I go out of the house I take almost just as many nature shots as I do kid shots.

47:52 Nature

I think that is a good thing.  I don't want to be stuck shooting just one subject. 

I don't want to be limited to only two either, actually.

Hmmm, I'm wishing next week's theme was 'urban' or something similar.  At least it isn't kids or nature.

Come visit again next week to see what it is, and in the meantime enjoy viewing what kind of nature Marcy has captured and shared.

45:52 Texture

Even bare of their golden fall leaves, I still find the aspen tree beautiful.

I'm wondering if Leann has some fabric texture to share with us this week.

44:52 Hands

One of the things I love

is hearing my children make music.

From the little ones, with cute chubby hands, learning to press piano keys with each finger,

to the older ones, with more dexterous fingers, who employ both their hands and their lips to make a note, then a string of notes that make a song.

I'm delighted they are interested in instruments.

I look forward to adding the violin or flute (she hasn't decided yet which) into our cacophony of noise. 

The music their little hands can make is quite wonderful.

This month I'm linking up to Marcy.  Head her way to see more.

43:52 Looking Down

It is late in the morning

and the sun has just peeked out from behind the clouds

melting the light dusting of snow and making the roads shimmer.

A train's light blinks in the distance, then the whistle blows

as it comes curving through town on it's way to who knows where.

43:52 Looking Down

I am content to watch it pass through as I keep my perch here, high above my mountain town.  I am happy here.

42:52 Storyboard

Yesterday morning I was glad to discover that I had left my camera on the kitchen counter.

Because this is what I was able to document while I flipped french toast 

and while the kids came, one by one, out of their rooms.

42:52 Storyboard

Take a big guess which of the kids is the most comfortable with the dog?!

And yes, every morning looks a lot like this.

She (the dog) sure lives a hard life, huh?

Can I go curl up for a morning nap now?

Head Leann's way for more storyboard fun!

41:52 Wrinkles

I have no *new* photo to share.  Terrible, I know.
But it's the cutest photo ever, so perhaps you'll forget the fact that you've seen this little love before...

41:52 Wrinkles

I'm linking up to Leann again...

40:52 Movement

Be aware: If you start tossing and swinging her around, she'll never let you quit. This girl will keep you moving!

This week I'm linking up to Leann.  Happy Fall, ya'll!

39:52 Sweet

I know that you all will think I'm a bit biased, BUT...

does this girl not have the sweetest eyes and smile?

39:52 Sweet

A sweet treat for a sweet girl

She turns two tomorrow!  And while it's true that I call her my firecracker, she also has the sweetest disposition.  She hugs everyone, loves on her baby dolls, and melts me with her smile.

Cute little headbands in her (finally growing) hair don't hurt anything either!
Neither do chubby little toddler hands.
Or kissable cheeks and button noses.
Or toddler language, for that matter.

Go see what's sweet this week in Maaret's world.

38:52 Outside the Lines

If I pretended we had a set of lines that we, as parents, were following for this journey called 'raising children', they would not be straight.
If you were to look back at our lines of the last nine plus years, you would find that while they started heading in one direction, they veered off course several times, and that we are no longer heading in the same direction now.
But I think that is good.
We are learning, and we are learning that what we once thought was important may not necessarily be so any longer.  I'll call that living. Living and learning.

While we may have once walked in narrow lines, I think they are starting to broaden. It's when we step outside of our self-created lines, that we push them out, expand them. I'll call that growth. Personal growth.


I think that I may have stepped outside of our pre-set lines earlier this week
(the only kind of growth I see at this moment is the tangible one of another breathing body occupying this household).
I brought home a four legged friend.

As crazy at it is to me, my kids now have a new best friend.

A very energetic, shedding, and kind of smelly best friend.  Oh, what did I get ourselves into???

But the kids love her already.  

They want to be in the same room as her.  

They think about her when we're not at home.

They give her endless hugs.

And they *cringe* share their snacks with her.

Definitely outside the lines!

I never would have thought this would be a sight you'd see in my home...

So yes, perhaps this step of acquiring a family pet was a bit 'outside the lines' for us, but then again perhaps it will soon seem very apropos and our lines will make yet another, broadening shift on their ever evolving course.


I'm linking up to Maaret this Friday.
Enjoy your weekend!

37:52 Emotion

We run through a lot of different emotions over here.

And while I knew I would have lots of different opportunities to capture some, what with five kids ranging from expressive, to funny, to sensitive, I ended up with something completely different than I thought I'd have.

We've had a few birthdays in this household lately.

Brant turned six. We didn't quite know how to wrap his bike, so we brought it into the room and then told him to open his eyes.

37:52 Emotion

Surprise!

Then, two days later, while all the family was gathered for a weekend camping trip, I threw a surprise birthday for my hubby.  Yes, the photo of him when he realized the party is his is fun.  But I liked this one from the day better.

37:52 Emotion

The children are excited, Dean is delighted, and his mother is ever loving.

These photos make me smile.  Do they have that effect on you?

I'm just as curious as you to see what kind of emotion Maaret's photos are going to evoke.  Who bets smile and who bets frown?

36:52 The Golden Hour

I never thought about how fast I run...until my neighbor told me she was a slow runner.  Then I started wondering where I fall.

Then we made a family trip to Buffalo Park and I had to run with my brother and my husband while my kids biked.

Now I know that I am a slow runner. 

Not only do I hold everyone up with my slow pace, I stop often to catch my breath take pictures.

Like seriously, how can you not try to capture this kind of beauty at sunset?

36:52 The Golden Hour

We saw this person paragliding off Mount Eldon and down into Buffalo Park.  I must say that I was enchanted. 

Ten minutes later though, the sky started turning yellow and orange.

I had the better show after all, put on by mother nature herself as the sun set the sky on fire before dipping out of sight.

And, I got to see it with my kids. 

It was a perfect evening.

I'm linking up to Maaret this month, so head her way to see her golden hour.

35:52 Our table at mealtime

Ahh, the family table at meal times.
Is yours like mine?

Our table at mealtime is not a lot of things.
It is not...
One: Beautiful.  We often eat off of mismatched dinnerware. And I don't have time to wonder if food tastes better when it's presented well.
Two: Quiet.  Five kids in our house means noise, especially at the table.
Three: Orderly.  I usually forget to grab either the milk, our glasses, an extra fork, or the paper towels. And I have not yet learned the trick to keeping my kids' bottoms on their seats without the use of rope.

But...
our table at mealtimes is a lot of other things.
One: Beautiful. We are all together.  And that is more beautiful than anything I could set the table with.
Two: Joyous. The noise is a wonderful thing. I hear all about the school day, new friends, and what everyone is looking forward to.
Three: Significant.  The table is our gathering place - where all the beauty, chaos, and joy of our family unfolds.

35:52 The table at mealtime

It's who gathers here that is most important.

Lets see what Leann's table looks like at mealtime.

34:52 Worth a Thousand Words

I like words.
While I would love if my pictures would speak for themselves, I often want to add some of my own words to them, to explain, whether it's necessary or not.

And actually, I do that for everything else too, give too many words.

But, back to pictures...
I'm realizing that what I want is for my pictures to tell the story, to capture emotion, and evoke feeling.
I'm not sure if I'm accomplishing that; so I just keep snapping pictures.

For me, that means lots of photos of the everyday life with my kids.

34:52 Worth a Thousand Words

Elaina gets the most serious expression on her face when she's "reading" with Aubrey.

We've started calling her our firecracker.  She's a little spitfire!  And she loves to be involved, to do whatever her siblings are doing.
We said goodbye to the high chair and sippy cup long ago, because she was going to eat where and like her big brothers and sister do.
If Donovan spreads butter on his own bread, by gosh she's going to spread her own butter too!
Her sobs at being intentionally left out are heartbreaking; it's a very big deal to her.

And speaking of her keeping up with the big kids...I'm going to give a bunch more words because I have to tell you this story.
So all summer long (and last school year) Elaina tagged along with Brant and Donovan, doing whatever they did.  They rode bikes, so did she.  They drew pictures, so did she. If they went pee, she did too - by pulling up her shirt and pushing her belly out while standing in front of the toilet.

While we were on one of our family excursions recently, Elaina came along with Aubrey and I on one of our potty breaks.  She observed us sit down and well, you know, pee.  She was absolutely befuddled!  She walked around and around the vault toilet signing and saying "where? where?".  When Aubrey and I realized she was looking for the certain male anatomy - on us - we died laughing!

Oh boy, she might be difficult to potty train!
Anyone have a girl toddler willing to come hang out for a while and show Elaina how it's done? :)
And goodness, but I now wonder how many times she's stood in front of the toilet, looked at the boys then at her own belly button, and wondered why she's built so differently from them!    

For more fun reads, continue around the circle.  Happy Friday!                                

33:52 Inspiring

This one made me think.
What inspires me?

I find people inspiring.  Other's actions and art often inspire me to be creative or act a certain way.  That doesn't seem tangible enough to photograph though.

I find nature inspiring.  The beauty that surrounds me often directly affects my mood.  I like absorbing the tranquility of nature, the vividness of it.

I find my children inspiring.  I delight in discovering their personalities - seeing their stubborn streaks and their gentle spirits shine through.  I enjoy watching them grow up and see the people they are becoming.

33:52

Children are wonderfully adaptive, positive, and persistent beings.

Take this girl for instance, my oldest daughter.

She picked up the oars and paddled our kayak shortly after I took this picture.  She brought us from one side of the reservoir to the other, awkwardly dipping the oars deep in the water, struggling to keep us on a straight path. After a while, she gave a dramatic sigh and slumped her shoulders. I thought she was going to give up, especially seeing as how I was videoing it all and laughing hysterically rather than helping her; but then she picked up the oars and kept at it.  

She persevered.

She inspires me.

Let's go see what inspires the very creative and talented able mabel.

32:52 Clouds

This cloud's silver lining was very apparent.  It literally spilled out of California's gray, overcast sky.

Head on over to Leann.

31:52 (Two-wheeled) Travel

You've probably guessed this...we love biking as a family.  It's our favorite way to travel together.

Granted, we can only go as far as my five year old can go...
but he loves biking and usually outlasts the toddlers riding in the bike seats.

31:52 Travel

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. ~ Ernest Hemingway

Have fun travelling around the circle.