Project 365 - day 49. Thinking of Spring

Today was a definite turning point for Clare.  It was the first time since Saturday that she had any interest in getting dressed.  Her face is still sore and her nose is still running but we saw a real improvement overnight so that's a relief.

Emma might be mildly better.  Or maybe it's just my wishful thinking...   Either way, she's definitely not in modeling condition just yet.

We actually left the house for a short trip (I needed more Tylenol) and I think it did us all good to get out for a bit.  It's sunny and relatively mild so it felt nice to breathe the fresh, unsick air!  I kept my eyes open on our trip for a good photo op but nothing struck me...until we got home and I saw a lovely smile on my little girls face that I hadn't seen in a while and there it was...inspiration.

Glad to have you back, Clare!

Project 365 - Day 43. Keeping My Perspective

The last couple of days my 16 month old BABY has been insisting upon sitting in her big sister's booster seat at the table and she won't even THINK of eating anything off of a tray anymore!  

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this age but I'm also realizing that I'm really not liking how fast it's all going.  I think that knowing Emma is our last child is making me hang onto her and every little moment even tighter.  

She just looks so big and so little to me at the same time right now.

So for todays photo I decided to go with two.  Because in one, her plate looks so huge and she looks my teeny weeny baby relative to it.  But in the other, she looks like the big kid that she thinks she is.  (sigh)  You can guess which one is my favorite.

Fix-It Friday...For Real This Time

Ok...I'm on track now with Fix-It Friday and I was excited to get started.

Here's the before picture:

The photographer was unhappy with the "clutter" in the background and while that didn't bother me too much, I worked with that.

Here's my edit:

To have a play of your own or see what others came up with, go to:





I intentionally didn't look at ANY other plays before I did my own so I wouldn't be biased. Now off to see what I could have done!

Project 365 - Day 38. Dog-Gone Cute (A Sneak Peek)

Today I got to try something new.  Some great friends of ours asked me to take photos of their "Grand-Dogs."  Dick and Miki don't have any grandkids yet but one of their daughter's does have two dogs.  Bella and Trek have been staying with them for several months now and they've all grown very attached.  Next week, the Dick and Miki will be taking the dogs back down to their daughter's house.  But before they left, they wanted a few shots of them.  And no wonder....aren't they gorgeous??  

This was my first pet shoot so I hope I did ok!   It was fun...thanks for the fun experience, Dick and Miki!

Project 365 - Day 37. Another Kind-Hearted Boy

We had a nice family day today.  Disney On Ice was in town and we attended for our 2nd year in a row.  The kids loved it...particularly Emma who was clapping like mad and bouncing up and down when Minnie and Mickie skated onto the ice!  There was some fear when the withes/serpents/ or whatever "bad gal" came out.  (They're all evil women in Disney stories, aren't they?  Why is that?  Hmmm...maybe Walt had Mommy issues.?  But I digress.)  So our tears were limited to the "scary parts" but we quickly calmed down COREY!    Yes, the 1, 2, and 5 year old girls were fine but that 7 year old boy had to come sit on mommy's lap!  Did I mention he was sensitive?  :-)

After the show, we picked up our nephew from Marquette and headed up to Bayshore Mall for a trip to the Apple store and lunch at Bravo.  We haven't seen Ryan much since December so it was nice to have a little time with him.  I've had a special place in my heart for Ryan since I first met him 11 years ago.  He's a similar soul to Corey's in many ways...very kind-hearted.

I remember that on one my first visits with his family in England, we were riding in the car one day and several of the other grown-ups got into a heated debate about something.  This is very common for them and no big deal but very different from the family dynamics that I was used to.  Sweet little Ryan who must've only been about a year older than Corey is now, leaned forward from the back of the car and said softly to me "You alright, Auntie Kelly?"  I was fine but I was amazed that this young boy could have sensed my discomfort and, beyond that, that he would check up on me.  He won my heart that day and I still think the world of him!

We're very proud of you, Ryan, and love having you nearby.  I can't imagine a better role model for our son.