Wordless Wednesday-winter theme

Snow Days, shoveling and digging

Wednesday night we got another round of snow.  This time, it was some serious snow.

And this was literally just outside the door.  Needless to say, school was canceled for yesterday and today.

The temperature wasn't too cold yesterday, so we spent much of the morning outside.

We did some shoveling.

We are truly blessed to have a retired neighbor with a snow plow on his John Deer and he does most of the driveway. So honeslty, we didn't have to do too much. The snow was so deep, however, he needed us to shovel out a path for his tractor to make turns on our steep driveway.

We all did some sledding and snowboarding in the front yard. So fun!

Miles walked down the street after the snow plow had come by, and with a friend, they began digging a tunnel.

 Just getting started...

They made it through, to the sunlight! (This reminds me of one of Miles' favorite childhood books called The Diggers, by Margaret Wise Brown. Oh, how we loved that book! Every mom of little boys, and girls too I guess, needs to have this book.)

Later in the evening, Emily and her friend dug out a tunnel in the pile of snow by the driveway.

They both had their tunnels collapse.  Miles and his friend were standing on top of his when it fell. Emily's fell just they were finishing the dig.  We've decided that caves are probably stronger than tunnels and snow tunnels are not something you do alone.

Today, were are getting a little more snow and it's much colder.  I think we'll just stay nice and warm inside. They have already spent some time playing a rowdy game of soccer in the playroom. :)  

I'm hoping to get some more scrapbooking in today.  I've got GCD Studios projects to get ready for CHA. :)

Wordless Wednesday

I thought that instituting a Wordless or nearly Wordless Wednesday, as the case may be, would provide me a good way to share some of my favorites from my 365 Project.  So here you go.

I ended up not using this one for 365, but I really love it. If it snows again and I get the opportunity I'll try and do it again.

Scrapbook inspiration

I have a layout to share today.  I started this, ah, over a week ago, shortly after I decided on my one little word. I used this page from a recent Anthropologie catalog as inspiration for the layout, mainly the colors on the rug. And then I ended up actually creating a "rug".

I played around with it for a while and then it sat mostly done on my table for the rest of the week.  I finished it up on Friday, but then after I photographed it I decided the photo processing I had used wasn't working.

Papers: October Afternoon, GCD Studios, Studio Calico; Border Stickers: Crate Paper; Flowers: Sassafrass, Stamps: Studio Calico, Hero Arts; Envelope: Maya Road; Fabric: K&Company, Letters: Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts; Chipboard phrase: GCD Studios.

I used Mister Huey for the splatters, but used regular, white craft paint to stamp the white Doilies.

Here are some close ups. I printed my blog post about the one little word and tucked it inside of the envelope.

Today is supposed to bring us ice and maybe some more snow.  I think we'll enjoy this MLK day inside.  Hopefully, I'll spend some time in my studio. :)

On assignment...together

I've been wanting to share this post for a while, since Christmas actually. When my dad was in Missouri for our beautiful white Christmas, I mentioned to him that I had a photo assignment he might like to go with me on.

Richard took this one of us with my iPhone and I just love it!

For quite a while, I've been wanting to photograph this big tree not too far from our house. It's over 300 years old and is quite the landmark in the area.  I knew that with snow on the ground and possibly still snow on the branches it would be an amazing nature scene. My dad has recently gotten the photography bug, with the purchase of his first Canon DSLR, so he was excited to take me up on the asssignment.

We both got some really beautiful shots.  I started with my 17-85 lens and then switched to my 50mm.  I'm kind of wishing I hadn't.  He was using a Tamron 18-270 mm lens.

I really like in black and white with my 17-85mm. We took a series of shots and then waited for the sun to go down a little more.  Waiting in the car was essential. It was cold!

Mine with the 50mm at little later:

And here is my dad's. I love the wider angle with the sun and the road.

I love that we did this.  Great photos and great memories together.

Snow days and 19 years of love!

Today, the children are home from school again for another snow day!   They were excited about being home yesterday, but when Emily heard my phone ding for the text message last night for cancellation of school again, she was jumping up and down for joy!

I think we got around 6 inches yesterday and the roads are still a mess.  I know they didn't call off school soon enough on Monday and the buses were sliding all over the neighborhood and are now being extra cautious, rightly so.  Today we'll just barely get out of single digits, so I'm sure that was factored into the equation.

Miles and Emily braved the cold yesterday and did a little sledding. But not for too long.  Emily tried to snowboard, but it was just too much work because the snow was too deep and dry.

Today, we are busy doing some winter cleaning. (Miles and Emily were quick to note that the first snow day was theirs and this one is mine. :)  Actually, most of the cleaning is stuff I said we'd do over Christmas break and didn't.

On Tuesday, Richard and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary and because of the snow we actually got to spend it together!  We went out for a nice dinner on Sunday night since we thought he wasn't going to be home.

I'm so very lucky.  In case you hadn't noticed my blog ABOUT ME says, "I am married to a great guy
who still makes me laugh" He does indeed still make me laugh, at life, at myself. We laugh about the kids and the dog.  And that's just one of the many things I love about him.  He's the very best dad and a giving and considerate husband. He's a very hard worker, dedicated to doing his very best at everything he does. He's also developed into quite the romantic writer.

For example, This is what I found on my Facebook wall Tuesday morning:

Like I said, I know I'm the lucky one. And I'm sure I knew it on this day as well, but I know I never imagined being capable of loving him more than I did that day. But I do.

Project 365

I never really ever considered doing a Project 365 before. I've always thought of it as a daunting task, but on the second of the new year I got an email from my cousin who was doing it and I figured I'd give it a shot. 

I know it's obviously still very, very early in the project, but I'm really enjoying it.  It's a good challenge to capture everyday life or think of a new ways to photograph the world around me.  I have often had several different subjects to choose from each day.  Taking more photos can only be good for my photography skills and of course will give me more slice of life photos to scrapbook.

I ended up not choosing this one for 365, but I love this of Miles, his guitar and laptop.  He had just gotten a new cable to hook his guitar to Garage Band on the Mac and was super excited. Sweet!

Both of the photos above were taken with my phone and point & shoot respectively and I'm okay with that.  Improvement on any camera is the goal. I'm also working on keeping any camera handy at all times and remembering to keep my Rebel charged would be good too!

Here's a link to my Project 365. I'd love for you to follow along and/or join in! Let me know if you decide to tackle Project 365 and I'll follow you too!

Also, I need to mention that the GCD Studios site just got a redesign and all the new releases for CHA Winter are up!!

I can't wait to play with all the new collections when my box arrives in the next week.

Laughter

So, yesterday's post was kind of heavy.  Here's something a little lighter.

After Emily got home from school and had a snack I basically begged her to take a photo of me to use on my layout about the "one little word".  I could have done a self portrait with a tripod, but I know how long that takes to set up and was not looking forward to that process. I figured if I could get her to do it, I could move on to the next thing faster.

So, we went on the front porch and I was busy coaching her and eventually she started making fun of me, (as she is oft to do these days) pretending she was a photographer moving the camera all different directions and caught me laughing. 

Technically speaking, these, and many of the ones she took, are blurry, but they cracked me up when you compare them to the serious, posed photos. (I discovered just how hard it is to look serious and not look dorky.)

I might even have to scrap these too. They make me smile (which is really hard for me to say about photos of myself).

One little word

I've been struggling for the last few days to find one little word that fits me this year.  I was stuck on simplify or simply for a while, but I have a feeling this year's is going to need something stronger.

Eventually, I realized what I was saying in my head and it was indeed strength.

strength |stre ng (k)θ; strenθ|
noun
1 the quality or state of being strong, in particular:
• physical power and energy :
• the emotional or mental qualities necessary in dealing with situations or events that are distressing or difficult
• the capacity of an object or substance to withstand great force or pressure
• the influence or power possessed by a person, organization, or country
• the degree of intensity of a feeling or belief

I want to be stronger, more fit physically.  I plan to run a marathon this spring and I'll need strength to get me to the finish line and out the door for my training runs.

The strength to say no to sugar and all the other bad food choices, to drop these extra pounds.

I'll need strength (determination) to make me declutter this house.  I can tell we haven't moved in 3.5 years. Moving is the great declutterer.

Richard continues to work out of town, A LOT.  I need strength to get through this year.

To be strong for the children. To demonstrate strength in character and love.

And most importantly, to remember this, "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13, New Living Translation

This feels right. Strength.

10 in 2010

As many scrapbookers have been doing, I'm sharing my 10 favorite layouts from 2010. (I'm a little late as I have been fighting computer troubles.)

 In no particular order.

 

I love the simple, defined, orderly space.  And the photos are my favorites as well.

Masking & mist. Still love it.

This was one of my first layouts as designer for GCD Studios.  The title and page was inspired by the Rascal Flatts song.  Love the message here.

 I love the series of photos on this one and all the fab Studio Calico stuff.

I was proud of myself for finally using this adorable photo of Miles and this paper.  I love, love the little banner.

I think this one is so fun. I love the split repeated images.  And the big sky in the background of the photo.

I love this GCD Studios layout. The inspiration piece was so fun and I loved the color scheme.  And what a cutie pie, right?!

 I really like this two pager. Tells a good story of a good day.

 This photo is one of my favorites of Emily. (This photo of the layout makes it look a little dark, but it's not.)

This one was a Studio Calico challenge.  I think it was use to use a list of things on a layout.  I love the Hipstamatic photos, they remain one of my favorites of all the ones I've taken.

So there you have it, my favorite photos from 2010. Now I'm off to run some more repairs on my computer.