swinging at the park

I've been taking a beginning photography course through one of my favorite webistes, Two Peas. Today, it finally "clicked" how to freeze outdoor action. After countless blurry and out of focus swinging pictures, I finally "got" it! Yay!



A's shadow


M's shadow



Lisa and two of her cute girls came with us.




I don't think this girl can take a bad picture. Isn't she a cutie?

M and E were up to their usual spats. This time it was over which one of them was on the ladder first. It was a georgeous day today. I didn't touch the color in this one at all. The sky looked just like that!


Have a good weekend!

pink blankie

This blankie has been loved (and interacted with) for a very long time. It was mine as a little girl, and now it belongs to A. She loves it so much!







Thanks for stopping by!

just playing

There's nothing more interactive than a girl playing with her favorite game. I've said it before, but I just LOVE Discovery Toys!

















Some of you asked about my black material on yesterday's post. It's black velvet from Jo-Ann's. I used a 50% off coupon from Sunday's newspaper circular this week. (I think it's good through Saturday.) Thanks for stopping by! It's so fun to read your comments.

just monkeyin' around

In need of a subject to photograph on my new piece of black material this afternoon, I discretely grabbed a newborn-sized stuffed animal from M's room. He was Valentine's gift a few years ago and has been affectionately named "Fumbles."









M snuck downstairs to see what I was up to, and wanted her "Fumbles" back. I had to creatively pose her on my black material, as I only purchased 2 yards. Not enough for a kid shoot!

play dates

There is a little park just out the door from ballet class. Every week we have a play date with the other little ballerinas. This week, A brought her coloring book and enjoyed coloring with her friends first. It's so fun to watch her interact with her little friends.

details in A's room

This beautiful mirror-frame was painted for M as a baby gift. (Shh--don't tell her it actually belongs to her and that it's hanging up in her little sister's room.) Marta, if you're reading this, thank you! We still LOVE it!



These wirey flowers were a Walgreen's special--(much cheaper than Pottery Barn!)



Beautiful stacking dolls that David brought back from China a few years ago. BTW, what do you think of this crop? Does your eye want to see more of the doll on the left?

my little rectangle...

...at 8:30am.


It's the pre-school carpool! Thankfully, I only have to do this once a week. Pre-schoolers can be quite entertaining, though. Especially when the conversation turns to how many "pieces of sky" there are, or why "guwls are silly and boys are yucky." Actually, these kids are all GREAT, and I really do like 'em all a lot! We are quite a sight crossing the parking lot because I make 'em all hold hands.


...and at 9:15am.


Whew, now it's just "Mommy-A" time.

...and 3:15pm.


We're off to ballet. It's quite a day. I forgot to grab my camera for the 1:30pm and 2:30pm shots. You'd have seen A snuggling her blankie on the way to pick everyone up, and bunch of kids enraptured with "Super Why" via podcast on the drive back.

train tracks

One of my favorite things to do with the girls is build train tracks. It's fun to make cool designs, though it can get a bit complicated! Maybe in a few years they'll be able to build them by themselves. Don't you think they make some cool shapes?

where all your dreams come true {Magic Kingdom}

After living in Orlando for a year and a half, we finally did it. We took the girls to Disney World! They were soooo excited to go, and we had a great time too. Here are just a few from yesterday's fun.


These wrought iron hearts caught my eye. They're a little late for Valentine's though. I'm still playing around with black and white conversions. What do you think?






I was taken with the awesome window reflections along Main Street USA. This balloon came along at just the right time!