friday phone dump

March is here, and marching right along.

On Saturday, we made a cake for Ryan's birthday. 

Mia smothered her brother.  

He survived.
Barely.

On Sunday, I washed the sheets.

Which means they jumped on the bed.

Mia sat still enough long enough for her first french braids.

And we celebrated this guy's birthday.

On Monday, I paid bills while drinking coffee and holding a baby.

Probably not the best spot for my cup of coffee.

I moved it once I realized how dangerous it looked sitting there.

On Tuesday, Mia gave Noah shots in his hand.

And listened to his heart.

And prodded his eyes and ears.

She also took control of her wardrobe choices.

It was just a pink kind of day.

On Wednesday, more sisterly love.

It doesn't look like it here, but this boy really does love his smothering sister.

He lights up when he sees her.

Even if she puts her fingers in his mouth.

He also really likes his feet.

This girl eluded the camera most of the week.

On Thursday, we had a tea party.

After many, many interruptions over the span of an hour,

I did finally sit with her to eat Fig Newtons and drink "tea."

I may have stepped outside for a few minutes in the afternoon

to breathe fresh air

while everyone inside the house was either whining or crying.

His foot is just cute.

And that, dear friends, was our week.

Good night.

my 2014 photo project

I am attempting another 365 project this year.  What's a 365 project?  You take a photo a day, every day, for a whole year.  I finished one in 2012.  A photo a day of the girls.  I did have to cheat some here and there, but I ended up with a collection of photos that I love and that are, sadly, waiting on my hard drive to be printed.  I tried another one last year, fizzled out sometime in April, and then gave myself a free pass to quit.  I don't regret it.  It was getting stressful.  But, I did know that I wanted to try again this year. 

Why do a project at all when I'm already being pulled in so many different directions?  A few reasons.  One, I needed to do something that challenged me in a creative way, aside from figuring out how to keep three kids clean, healthy, and happy while simultaneously keeping our home halfway tidy and being a wife.  Two, I'm really wanting to improve my photography skills, but have limited time, so shooting just a few minutes everyday seems to be something I can handle. And three, because I'm stubborn and refuse to ever admit that I can't do all the things.

All.  The.  Things.  I say it a lot lately.  And while I know I can't actually do all.  the.  things.  I certainly do try.  And then some.

I decided they would all be phone camera shots.  I always have my phone with me.  I can edit my shot, on my phone, while cooking dinner, and singing Frozen songs.  Multi-tasking at its best.  The handy dandy phone camera is probably the only reason I might succeed at this project.  Plus, a part of me wants to prove that it's not the equipment that makes the photographer.   

If you're on Instagram, I apologize, these shots are all repeats.  But, I wanted to post a few favorites here.  I certainly won't be posting all 365 of them.  When you're doing a project like this, I think one of the hardest things you must accept is that not every shot is going to be amazing.  You have off days.  Days when you forget to shoot until after the sun goes down.  Days without inspiration.  But you shake it off, pick your shot for the day, and move on.  Because the next day, you might end up with something you really like. 

And if you're wondering, I'm following the daily word prompts from Clickin' Moms (@clickinmoms on IG).  There are probably a hundred different 365 project prompts available on the internet, this just so happens to be the one I'm following.

"the sky today"

"backlight"

"table top"

"dry"

"clouds"

"emerging"

"perfect"

"glittery"

"out and about"
I was super excited when this one was feature on the Clickin' Moms blog!!

"juxtaposition"

"reflection"

"three"

I try to include the kids as much as possible, but they are generally less than cooperative.  And, honestly, it's nice to have an excuse to shoot something different.  The best part?  For the first time in a long time, I feel good about what I'm creating.  

pictures, pictures, so many pictures

Is it even necessary to say, "I take a lot of pictures" ? Probably not.  Sometimes I don't know what to do with them.  Some go on Instagram, some go here, some live indefinitely on my phone.  And yes I'm talking just about phone pics here because my "big girl" camera took a whopping 50-something photos in the past couple months.  I'm thinking I need to do something about that.  But right now, I need to do something with these pictures.

So, here are all the random phone pics from February that I haven't posted already.  At least I don't think they've been posted yet.  Apologies if there are any repeats.  With this many, you can't really expect me to keep them all straight. 

 Cousins!!!

 Maverick stayed the night with us.  These two are best friends.

 I changed a lot of diapers.

 We ate ice cream outside.  In February.  Such confusing weather this year.

 Direct quote from Mia:  "I not sitting on him.  I just standing here."

 Harper the walrus.

 This is the day she decided to wake up at 5:45,

so it makes perfect sense to rest on a pile of rocks in the sunshine.

And then we finally got some rain, so we had to jump in muddle puddles of course.

And sometimes, you get so excited about the rain that you insist you "Really, really, really want to go outside."  And you insist on wearing a rain coat, and boots, and mittens.  So your momma spends 15 minutes getting everyone zipped and hooded and mittened.  And you run outside and, in 90 seconds, you realize it's also really, really windy and cold (just like your mom said it was), and you come back inside and have hot chocolate and marshmallows.  Or really, just marshmallows and leave the hot chocolate in the mug. 

Is 34 pictures too many?  Probably. Though I'm not sorry.

love and marriage

As we rode in the car the other day, she says, "I want to marry daddy."

I have been told every girl says this. I don't remember saying it myself, but four years old was a very, very long time ago. 

I say, "But I'm married to daddy." I start to tell her about the joy of growing up and meeting a very special man that she'll want to marry. 

This only upset her. She doesn't want to grow up. She doesn't want her own house. She tells me she wants to live with me forever and she wants to marry daddy. 

So, of course, I tell her she can marry daddy.  And she is happy. 

She also thinks Mia should marry Noah.