Little Boy at Play

This is a regular sight at our house.

Usually he sets up his Tonka Chuck & Friends Play Yard Set in the walkway by the kitchen.

This is classic - toys oozing out of the organization bins in the background and two pairs of sister's shoes lying around.

DISNEYLAND - January 2011 - His Own Annual Pass

Jayson has his own annual passport now. He & I have had several Daytime Disney Dates while the kids were at school. I love having one on one time with him. He's still afraid of the characters, but he saw Mary Poppins and wanted to approach her. He clung to my leg so I could get enough distance to take a photo. He listened to her talk with her British accent. He might have been crushing on her.

A Dozen Years for Our Firstborn - January 18, 2011

I always like to make birthday cakes for my children. Perhaps I should invest in cake decorating classes. I insist on doing it, but have absolutely NO training. So I decided I should make a sphere cake for the ball (which I think I had to bake twice because I didn't let it bake long enough) and made homemade marshmallow fondant because I didn't want all the preservatives in the store bought variety and because I was trying to make the cake as difficult as possible. Marshmallow fondant was a ridiculously sticky mess until you get it kneaded to the right consistency. But I has happy the I could create a #12 basketball jersey for the cake.

Pizza Pajama Party - The American Girl Late Over

Jessica usual dreads the annual Fathers & Sons weekend. Being the only girl in her family it makes her feel especially left out because everyone gets to go but her. This year we planned to have a Pizza Pajama Party while the boys were gone. She's always asking when she can have sleepovers, so we also made this event into a LATE-over (where you go, stay late, have all the fun, but then get to sleep in your own cozy bed).

On her birthday Jessica received several American Girl craft supplies from her friend Mallory and from her Mom. This was the perfect night to complete these fun projects.

Upon arrival we jumped right into CRAFTS. The girls started to scrapbook their photos from the American Girl Cafe lunch we had on their birthday weekend. The moms were taking turns at the iron to apply the decals to their daughters aprons and matching doll aprons.

The girls and their dolls wore their matching pajamas :)

We enjoyed Papa Johns Pizza, salad, and root beer together. The girls had Rainbow Sherbet and the moms had Blueberry Pomegranate Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream. I would have never thought to toss those flavors together, but SO GOOD.

We finished out the night with the Kit Kittredge movie. It was a super fun girls night. Looking back I don't even remember how pounding my head was through most of the evening.

Teddy Bear

Flowers in Her Hair

Just Dance - links to Jessica's recital pieces

2011 -

Pineapple Princess

Flowers in Her Hair

Teddy Bear

2010

Lollipop

Forever Your Girl

Stop in the Name of Love

2009

Conga

Danke Schoen

Black or White

Pineapple Princess

Went to the amazing JUST DANCE concert last night. Get ready for adorable cuteness highlighted right here:

Disney on Ice: Let's Celebrate

To kick off the new year, my daughter & I went to Disney on Ice: Let's Celebrate! Why do I forget that these types of shows are performed on ICE? I had a light sweater and even a scarf and we were FREEZING. Still don't understand why the arena runs the A/C. During intermission we walked the halls to warm out bones and found a concessions spot where they sold scalding hot chocolate. We couldn't drink it until the show was almost over, but it kept our hands warmed as we huddled together with my scarf wrapped around us both.

Stories 2011

At the beginning of the year I was inspired by so many photographers who challenge themselves to take a POTD (picture of the day) or POTW (photo of the week). I liked the idea of pulling my camera out more for the every day moments. I'm real good at taking photos in clusters (like when we go to Utah or during a series of events).

I thought about doing a photo project that featured one image and a short story or comment. The ideal scenario would be to print a photo book at the end of the year with these snippets.

I still love the idea. I still take "everyday around the house" type photos. But I'm not good at uploading them on a steady basis. I had created a separate blog on Wordpress, but it's private and I don't remember how to make it public. So I'm grabbing some of my "Stories" to share here.

Enjoy them while they last. It will probably be some time before I organize another group to share.

Pink Lemonade

Quite the little business woman. She didn't have time to worry about a designer sign or cute coordinating cups and table cloth. She wanted to sell lemonade. So sell she did.