{style}

does she have it or what! LOL…  I don’t  know who has more fun with the clothes, tights and shoes.. me or her!  I think (actually I know) there is a reason why I only have 1 girl… I would be so broke if I had more than one

{buddies}

another one for the buddie series.. I really hope they start letting me take more pics because then I can make a small scrapbook for each them…I think it will be a fantastic keepsake for them to have when they are older.

{lunch date}

Today I had a lunch date with 2 special girls…Sydney and Helena!!!  Bet you can’t guess where they wanted to eat…lol.  We went to McDonalds, they had lunch and then played in the tunnels for a while.  I am pretty sure they had a great time.

ok…so against my better judgment they wanted to kiss him.. so, picture this.. ocd mom in action.. I whipped out my anti bacterial wipes and wiped his whole face…lol… I bet Ronald was thinking..wow, so this is what a spongebob is like…  Although I have to say, he actually was pretty clean.  Don’t think the ocd ended there.. when the girls were done playing on him, I wiped them down!  The few other people that were there probably thought I was nuts.  The only reason I even let them play on him is I figured he was no dirtier/germier than the play area it’s self. I have to be honest, I find these play places gross but lots of kids play in them and seem to be none the worse for wear.. so I am trying to get past my ocd and let her play there….   And in all fairness to this location, I was actually was impressed with how clean it “appeared” to be.

{baby blues}

Just love her blue eyes… seriously, no pp’ing on the eyes at all, actually very little pp’ing all together.

Yesterday we rec’d a box of clothes for Sydney from my girlfriend.  She was so excited with her “new” stuff.  Can you believe she wanted to wear this blue hat today?  Yes, blue..not pink…lol!!!!!

here’s the vertical, tight crop.. I think I like it!

and the b/w verison…. love them all so I had to post them all…lol

{Frogs}

and snails and puppy dog tails… that’s what boys are made of.   EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

In general, I don’t mind fake frogs, like Kermit or the tree frog from Rain Forest Cafe, but in real life.. I HATE frogs!!!!  Gross.  This stems back to my childhood when my neighbor, Richard, used to chase me and torment me with these huge bull frogs.. yuck.  Now, I have the joy of re-living my chidhood except this time it’s MY boys chasing me with these smaller frogs.  They think it’s hysterical that I scream my head off.  My fear of frogs is just about as bad as my fear of mice.  Yup.. I hate them too!  I even asked Shawn this morning if the exterminator which we use for normal maintenance things has frog spray.  He cracked up and thought I was kidding but little does he know, I wasn’t and I plan on calling and asking.  I have seen 1 to many frogs around lately…   Along with shopping you can add this to my list of the downside of WI!

{white bench}

Ok girls, so here it is…my tiny ballerina on the white bench… this bench certainly was the best find.  It’s gotten a lot of milage already and I’ve only had it about 2 months.

I am thinking of re-shooting today though..to have her sit a little differently.. I don’t know, maybe I am just too picky.. ha!  me…picky… couldn’t be!

Honestly, I can’t decide which shot I like better and either can dh…his solution.. order both and switch them out…ha ha.. while that would solve the problem, not really cost effective so I don’t think that will be the option I choose.

So, while there will hopefully be a reshoot today, tell me honestly, which bench you like best for the pic because I have different reasons for each bench and I want to hear your thoughts.

and incase you forgot the other pic… mind you the pp is slightly different, different locations, different lighting situations…  This is a different crop ratio here.. I didn’t upload the other crop ratio to flickr, but you get the idea

Can’t wait to hear what you ALL (yes, come out of hiding and tell me your opinions) have to say.  Those who know me, know decisions aren’t my thing!

{kick}

he’s not a leftie for writing but when he’s playing… he kicks with either foot…interesting!

{Captain America}

Meet Captain America…

As if 4 kids, 2 dogs, and 1 cat isn’t enough… yes… we have hermit crabs!!!  These lovely pets came home with us from the Mall of America in July.  I tried very hard to leave the mall empty handed but it just wasn’t happening.  I had even less of an agrument when they told me they were buying them with their money.  And the fact that the 3 boys chipped in for Sydney to have her own…how could I say no.  Now, don’t get me wrong, ultimately I could’ve won, but you know what they say, you have to pick your battles.

So we left MN with 4 additional pets… that their rightful owners would tend too… well, all except Sydney.  Andrew chose a crab with a natural shell and named him Sheldon.  Matthew’s is painted like a flag, hence his name.  Max choose a spiderman painted shell for his and Syd’s is green/yellow with rinestones (the most girly one there), whom has been named Packy.

I have been told that hermit crab can live up to 18 years… yeah, great!  That will be just my luck.  But most people have told me they only had theirs a few weeks or months.  Honestly, they are kind of cool to watch/play with and they really are low maintenance.  Fresh water and food once a week, spray them with a spray bottle for a bath and the cage should get cleaned a few times a year… I can handle that.   We no longer have spiderman as I think Max over loved him…meaning taking him out for wagon rides, on his bike with him, etc.  But we do still have the other 3…they are going strong…

So pretty…

Sydney and I went and had our nails done this morning.  It was a lot of fun. I brought my camera but duh, my battery was home charging.  Well, this wasn’t her first manicure so I wasn’t really upset.

I think we are going to make this a weekly thing, followed by lunch.  A little mommy-daughter time…it doesn’t get better than that.  I know this isn’t a fantastic shot but she really didn’t want a pic, so I should consider myself lucky I got this.  If you can’t tell, her fingers have flowers on them, with a top coat of sparkly polish.  Really, could she be anymore girly?  Probably not, but that’s ok by me!

A wonderful birthday gift…

As many of you know, my birthday was 2 weeks ago.  We kept it pretty low key this year which was fine by me.  All I wanted to do was go out to eat at the rainforest cafe for those tasty quesidillas I told you about!

You can imagine my surprise when the doorbell rang, and the mailman was there in hand with a box from BH photo.  I was thinking to myself…I told him not to get me anything.  Then I was thinking, gosh, I really don’t need anything, what would he gotten me… As the thoughts are going through my head, the mailman hands me the box and I see the return address… I know now that my husband did listen and didn’t get me anything…

And after all that, it dawns on me that BH ships UPS not mail…why didn’t I think of that at first.

Anyway, I opened the box to find something more meaningful than anything from BH…  Dalia sent me this gift that touched me so deep.  It’s 2 weeks later and I still have the warm and fuzzies.

I know like many of you, at first I didn’t understand how it was possible to form these great friendships with people on the internet.  Well I know (and have known for a while) that it is possible.  Yes, I have friends in real life, and some very good ones…even best ones…but truth be told I have lots of good and best friends on line too.    I met Dalia on-line about 4.5 years ago when we were pg. with our girls.  As our friendship developed we learned we only lived 15 mins. away from each other.  Our friendship grew online as we both discovered we had a passion for photography, we liked to scrapbook,  we both had boys named Max who are the same age, only days apart.  Finally, when our girls were over 1, we met.  I was nervous for our in person meeting but after a min. it was like I knew her all my life.. we had the same connection in person that we had online.  After that we got together fairly often for shopping trips, photoshoots, apple picking, you name it.   I am happy to say that even though I moved out of NJ and I haven’t seen Dalia in close to 2 years, we still continue to be great friends.  Thanks for the great birthday gift Dalia…it really means a lot to me!  XOXO