Hands On - {i heart faces} week 8 challenge

The challenge at {i heart faces} this week is called Hands On.  Well, I edited some hands last week that really stood out to me!  In this shot, this lovely 9 year old girl was sitting on a hospital bed reading "Guess How Much I Love You?" to her 2 year old brother just after her new baby sister was born.  It was a really special moment and one I won't soon forget.

Check out more "hands" or play along by going to:

Project 365 - day 52. Let's Dance!

We had an outing today.  That's right.  All of us.  LEFT THE HOUSE!   It's been a rough week and while the little girls still aren't 100%, they're SO much better and well enough to not be kept in solitary confinement any longer!  Phew!   Needless to say, we all needed the day out and some nice family time.

We're lucky to have a great children's museum in Milwaukee and even luckier that we have a FREE corporate membership through Rob's work.  The kids had a blast!  They were all over the place but especially enjoyed dressing up and performing on the stage and also getting this little dance lesson.   It's not the greatest shot, I know, but I like to see at least a few of them happy at one time so it's a keeper!  Corey was also happy but more interested in playing with the video cameras than doing the ballet dancing.   He's below.  Trust me, he is happy.  Just trying to analyze something or other.

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.