cousins

i went over to my sister-in-law's house today to take photos of kate and jack and their cousins, haley and paige. tessa had a great idea to take photos of the four of them for our grandmother's 90th birthday.

it was a lot of fun but boy is it tough to get four kids looking in the same direction at the same time. especially when two of them are 2-years-old and only want to eat the lollipops you promised them if they sat and smiled.

photos here

weekend retreat

jeff and i went away to lansdowne resort in virgina yesterday. his cousin and her best friend stayed at our house and watched the kids and jeff and i got a weekend to ourselves.

the resort was beautiful and blissfully child free. we each had massages yesterday afternoon and i also had a facial. my skin hasn't been this smooth since i was 8 years old. we went shopping at the outlet malls and then came back to our room and ordered room service. we got into our jammies, watched 'the break up' (which wasn't that good) and nibbled on room service appetizers as the wind howled outside and the rain came down sideways.

it was the perfect mini getaway. we've both been so busy lately that we haven't seen much of each other except in passing. we talk via email and instant message and have to schedule appointments on each other's calendars. it was so nice to just sit and snuggle and relax.

and now we're home. the instant i opened the door, i was hit by kate running full force into my arms, yelling 'mommy!'

and that was really nice, too.

(here's my room-service breakfast from this morning. my very favorite part of staying at a nice hotel is getting breakfast in bed. i think if i was a prisoner on death row that my last meal request would be room-service pancakes served to me in bed in my pajamas)

the spirit of jack

i was using jack as my model today as i practiced trying to get the correct exposure under different lighting conditions. just a few random snaps as he was eating his snack.

but when i downloaded them to my computer and saw this one, i knew it was a keeper. every once in a while you take a photo of your child that captures them in a way that speaks to you. it may not be the best photo from a technical standpoint (that black backsplash in the background drives me nuts) but it captures the spirit of the child.

this is that picture for me. this is jack.

footings

they've poured the footings for the new house:
house photos

jack's new haircut

kate had ballet this morning so i took jack to get a haircut. i've been trying to grow his hair longer thinking it would be easier to manage. he has very thick, wavy hair that grows really fast. i figured he'd have really cute surfer hair - kind of shaggy and messy on purpose. but instead his hair is a mess and while i realize that he's only 2 years old, i also don't want him looking like a slob.

so i took him to one of those walk in places where kid's haircuts are only $9. i was going to just get it trimmed but saw a photo of a kid on the wall (one of those really big photos that those places have of smiling models with haircuts you know some high priced salon in nyc cut). but i asked the girl to try to give him a haircut like the boy in the photo. i wasn't holding out much hope but figured a) it's hair and it grows and b) he's 2. he doesn't have to have cool hair yet.

well the girl suprised me because i love jack's hair. it's not a little boy bowl cut - it's a real boy haircut and now my little guy looks so much older. she even put gel in his hair to get it spike up like the photo. it's adorable if i do say so myself.
no bias, of course.

note to self

if you buy bags of halloween candy the week before halloween AND it happens to be the week before your period, you will have to buy more candy before the trick or treaters come knocking.

NAOCP

i posted about this new organization over on my photo blog. if you know of any organizations or families who could use this, please email me. it's completely free of charge.

more kids

are you sick of photos of my kids, yet? these are from yesterday, at the playground by the new house.

musings

i've been busy lately...busier than i have been in a very long time. not that staying home with two kids isn't crazy, but this is different. now i have deadlines and other people to answer to and client expectations to meet and it's taking some getting used to. for the past 2 years, i've been my own boss. my clients were an infant and a toddler and they had no idea if i didn't give them a bath or forgot to add carrots to their lunch. nap time was whenever i said it was and it could be a different time every day. i could do what i wanted and no one was the wiser.

but now it's different. i'm volunteering, building a house and my photography is really getting busy and all of a sudden i feel like i'm disappointing people. my mind is in 8 different places and no one is getting the benefit of my full attention. i have friends who run their own businesses, volunteer WAY more than i do and are on so many boards it makes me dizzy. and yet they still find time to take their kids to baseball games and help them with homework and play poker with friends. i don't know how they do it.

i wonder if it's possible to have a type A personality without the drive? you know, to be uptight and tense and want things perfect but not have the drive to make it happen?

i dunno. maybe i'm type W. you know, whatever.

progress

do you know what these are photos of? they're photos of work being done on our new house! finally! we signed the contract two and a half months ago and they started digging the foundation today.



































they tell us we'll still probably hit our original move-in date of march, barring any bad weather this winter. we'll see. at this point, i don't even care. they've STARTED. that's enough for me.

(and in case you're wondering, yes, the houses are close together. they're supposed to be that way; it's a traditional neighborhood development.)

overheard

tonight, as jeff called the kids downstairs for the dinner he had prepared:

jeff: kate! jack! come downstairs for dinner

(two pairs of little feet running down the stairs)

kate: what's for dinner, daddy?

jeff: salmon, rice and edamame

kate: AWWWWWWWWW! i don't WANT that. i want KID food!

throw your arms around me

i can't stop listening to this song this morning:

hunters and collectors cover of a neil finn song

i found it on one of my favorite blogs. this woman has great taste in music and i've come across a few of my new favorites bands through her.

can't stop listening. yum.

a thousand words

the pictures say it better than i can. here's what our weekend looked like:

girls night out blog

i've never seen so many photos of me with my mouth open that wide. we were *those* girls at the restuarant and bars. you know the loud, drunk, obnoxious people that everyone else in the place is looking at and feeling sorry for/annoyed by? yep. that was us.

but we had a blast. an absolute blast.

(the skinny guy with the beard who looks slightly jerry seinfeld'ish? that's my little brother. it was as good seeing him as it was hanging with the girls.)

last night

OUCH.

wendy and i are hurting this morning. seriously hurting. having that much fun should not hurt this bad.

surprise

i drove to ohio with a friend today (we're meeting other friends tomorrow). because we had tonight free, we decided to stop in to see my parents (who live in ohio). i called my dad to let him know we were coming by and that i wanted to surprise mom. we arranged to meet at the house at about the same time.

my friend and i pulled up to the house (dad wasn't there yet) and hopped out. i ran up to the door and rang the bell and my mom opened the door.

and then stood there and stared at me. without saying a word.

(if you know my mother, you know that has never happened before. her not talking, that is.)

she was stunned. and then she hugged me and we laughed and i explained why i was there.

it was wonderful.

thanks for dinner, mom! i got you!

kitty kat and jack jack

praise the lord and pass the beans

got an email today that our house permits are good to go and we can schedule our pre-construction meeting.

whoo hoo!

our house is really going to start being built. and all it took was me getting fed up and calling the permit department myself :)

divinely inspired

last night i broke down and ordered a pizza. i'm not supposed to be eating pizza on my low-glycemic eating plan, but i was craving it and jeff wasn't home and there was no one to stop me.

turns out, i was meant to order that pizza. apparently Christ himself managed my pizza experience. and hey, who am i to argue with Christ?


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