The Joy of Love: Week One

Sometimes, when you live with the same people everyday, you forget to really look at them.

Even as I was taking these pictures, I was paying more attention to the settings on my camera

and trying to get those right, rather than really looking at the people I love.

Even looking at each of these photos individually doesn't compare to having them all smooshed together in a collage.

There they all are, looking back at me, and I start to notice the details.

I think Grant has Dan's nose.

and

Does Julia have my dad's nose?

and

Hey... Kevin and Natalie have matching shoulder bling!  :)

More than anything, I noticed just how much I LOVE them all.

And that's a good feeling to be overwhelmed with.

Looking up...

(Forgive me as my commentary does not match the pictures.)

I'm exhausted.

Today is the kid's last day of school and the first day that I overslept.

Not so much that I made them late, but enough that I was practically stumbling out the door 

(still in my pajama pants) to drive them to school.

We live in a funny location that is too close to the school for them to catch a bus

and too far for them to walk in a decent amount of time.

I don't mind making them walk home on days when I'm particularly busy, 

but those days are few and far between, so I've been their school bus for most of the year.

There are some advantages to this situation.

Every day, I get 5+ minutes in the morning to hear about their plans for the day

(or maybe the weird dream that they had)

(or a conversation about how the radio people never let each other finish a sentence)

then in the afternoon I have about 20 minutes (traffic)

to ask them how their day was,

did anything interesting happen,

and how did you do on that test?

Anyone who has teenagers

(or has been one)

knows that "face time" with them is rare.

(They are busy creatures and have been known to hole up in bedrooms and basements for hours at a time,

only coming out for food.)

So that makes my time in the car with them that much more important. 

They grow up so quickly 

(really... it's not just a cliche, it's true!)

and I feel like I need to take advantage of each moment that I have left.

They've left their toys behind 

(hey... my commentary is catching up with the pictures, or vice versa!)

and in just one more year my oldest will be heading off to college.

(Oh, no! )

(And have you guys seen Toy Story 3?  I cried.)

So on mornings like this,

(when I could use a little extra sleep,

and when I'm grateful that my pajama pants can pass as yoga pants, or something like that)

I have to remind myself that this time is fleeting and 

remember how incredibly grateful I am to have these moments with them.

Teenagers on the loose!

***Warning***

Lots of pictures coming your way!

You've already seen one of my favorite pictures of Natalie from our recent backyard photo shoot.

Here's my favorite of Quincy.

In black and white...

and color.

The shoot started out well.

The girls were a little self-conscious but...

it wasn't long before giddiness took over.

While some of us were trying to get a decent shot...

Others were keeping busy playing volley ball.

Nice form!

Julia was a great assistant.  

But she couldn't keep the older girls from stepping into each other's shots.

She managed to get in a few herself.

Is this pose required whenever two or more people get together?

I think it may be.

Posing like this did not come naturally.

So it wasn't long before the giggles took over.

You would laugh too...

If this is what was going on behind the photographer.

(Julia had some definite ideas about how the girls should pose.)

No matter how much the boys didn't want their picture taken, 

 they couldn't keep themselves from causing trouble,

Getting into the photos...

And generally being annoying.

That's Natalie's "not happy with the annoying boys" face.  :)

Things settled down a bit after Grant brought Natalie some Shakespeare to read.

Who knew that  Hamlet was so amusing?

To be or not to be..

Quincy pondered that question.

Quick! Get outside while you can!

Yesterday started out absolutely gray and gloomy.

I woke up with a headache and nothing was looking good.

However, the one thing the day had going for it, was the temperature.

Whenever the temperature gets above 50 degrees, I feel the need to get out and do something, anything.

Besides... the sky was starting to clear and I began to see a spot of blue here and there.

So, I drank a couple of cups of Awake tea and took some aspirin and by the time lunch was over, I was up to doing some exploring.

I had absolutely no agenda.  Just get out of the house and GO!

The kids didn't have a choice, they were coming with me.

I had one of the upcoming photo challenges in mind and wanted to get some pictures of "color."

HA!  I couldn't begin to think of where we'd find color at this time of year.

We drove past an empty nursery, but it's too early in the year for plants.

I saw an airplane and thought we could watch them land, but the kids weren't all that excited.

I just kept driving.  I only half knew where I was going.  I thought that I was heading toward a park, and lucky for me, I was right.  We ended up at a local park that has a few farm animals, so we wandered around, hopped over the mud puddles and took a gander at the pigs, cows, chickens and this turkey.

Is he ugly or pretty?  I'm still not sure.

Darling son, who is nearly 13, was NOT into this.

I told him to consider this his dose of vitamin D.

"Isn't there any food that has vitamin D in it?", he asks.

"Yes," I reply innocently, "Milk has vitamin D."

"You mean I could be home, drinking milk and playing video games!?!", he asks.

I told him to shut-up and stop getting all teenager-y on me.

 

We found this lovely old rusted scale outside one of the buildings.

He was a little put out that it didn't work.

I, personally, wouldn't mind standing on this scale and reading that number.

 

 Okay, so maybe this is a more reasonable range.

( I'm so not close to this, but that is another story for another post.

Someday, when I'm feeling like getting really real with you, but don't hold your breath.)

There were a few smiles.

Actually, quite a few from this kid.

 

 But toward the end, she started to fall under the influence of her nearly teen brother.

Combine that with the fact that she didn't eat her lunch and you get this face.

It's the "Mom-I'm-hungry-can-we-go-home" face.

By then, it was time to go anyhow, and we had accomplished what I set out to do.

We got our dose of Vitamin D.

We spent some time outside of the house, while the sun was out and the weather was warm.

And... I got all the pictures that I needed for the next You Capture.

I'll post those on Thursday!

Playing with Technology

I suppose that military families have always had to be creative when it comes to keeping Dad (or Mom)
a central part of the family even while they are so far away.

Letters, pictures, e-mails, hidden notes, and packages are just a few ways to keep in touch,
but there is nothing like seeing your loved one's face.

This is the first time that we've been able to use video conferencing as a regular part
of our deployment communication, and I am so grateful for it!

Last night we tried out family game night via Skype.

It worked out far better than I had imagined!

I held the cards up for my husband and he let me know which card to play by giving me the number of the card from the left. 

Does that make sense?  You know... first card from the left, or second...

It was lots of fun and it was almost like he was right there with us.

Very cool!

 

After the game, Dan entertained us by uhhh... making some faces.  :)

I have to say... technology sure has changed the way we are facing this deployment!

You Capture: Love around your home

This challenge was interesting.

I spent a lot of time wandering around my house wondering what "things"  I really loved.

I have a lot of stuff, maybe too much stuff, but the things that truly make me smile are these people.

 All four of them!  Love them all.

I also happen to love these portraits that I had done of them a couple of years ago by an amazing artist.

(It's only the angle of the picture that makes one child look bigger than the other.)

 

Another great love... my books!

My piano!

I don't play, but my children do and they do it well.

I love hearing them practice or just goof around on it.

And again... the kids.
I love the look of concentration on her face as she begins her painting. 

I also really love my husband...

Check out everyone else's great shots here.