Darling Daughter

Lately, Amanda has been the kid who is least likely to let me take her picture. That is, until yesterday when she got her new hairdo and she suddenly felt inspired to pose for the camera. I love that I was able to catch the many sides of Manda: beautiful, sweet, fun, zany and as you see in the last picture, full of suprises!

The Princess Locked in the Tower, I Mean the Bathroom

This morning Lauren went to the bathroom, then had quite the suprise when she discovered she couldn't get out. The door was stuck and there was no prying it open. Luckily there is a window and Daddy was able to rescue her through it. Oh, the joys of living in an old home.

My New Toy

Last week I got a new camera lens as an early birthday present and I absolutely love it. It's a Nikon 50mm, f1.8, for those of you who understand that kind of thing. The reason I love it is because it gives you very shallow depth of field. That means that it throws the background out of focus. This is great if you are taking a picture of something and don't want to see the busy/ distracting background behind it. It also makes ordinary household objects look kind of interesting.

25 Things

My friend Rachel "tagged" me on Facebook which means I had to post 25 facts about myself. For those of you on Facebook this post will be repetitive but I thought I'd go ahead and post it here too.

25 Things About Me:

1. When I was growing up I planned to be a career woman and never get married or have kids. When I was 18 I got married, had 3 kids and have been a stay at home mom ever since. Go figure.

2. After 15 years of marriage I still get excited every day when my husband gets home from work.

3. I love to ask people questions about themselves because I enjoy figuring out what makes them tick. I often wonder if people feel like I'm interrogating them!

4. I LOVE photography but still have a lot to learn.

5. I am addicted to books and usually read 2-3 of them a week (mostly in the middle of thnight).

6. In my opinion, Barnes and Noble=Heaven on Earth.

7. I talk to my animals like they are human.

8. I am shy. If I see someone in a store that I know, I am more likely to hide than say hello.

9. I had Lasik eye surgery a year and a half ago. Best money I ever spent.

10. I love to make lists and always have half a dozen of them going in my head.

11. We move a lot. I have lived in 11 different homes in the past 15 years. There's something disturbing about that.

12. I would much rather spend money on experiences (travel, classes, entertainment) than material things.

13. I love blogging because it combines writing and photography, two of my favorite things to do.

14. I can name every actor/actress in just about any movie.

15. I would rather listen to the radio than a CD. Listening to 15 songs by the same artist drives me crazy!

16. I once hiked 10 miles into the Grand Canyon. It took 3 days for the pain to subside and then I hired a donkey to carry me out.

17. I love how I feel when I put on an apron. Instant Domestic Diva.

18. I am terribly afraid of heights yet I jumped off an enormous cliff into the sea in Jamaica, just to say I did it.

19. I could eat pizza every single day and never get sick of it.

20. A couple years ago I took horseback riding lessons. I enjoyed it a lot but never really got over the fear of being thrown off.

21. I fear failure. I would almost rather not try than try and fail.

22. I love to cook and try new recipes. My husband and kids are great sports about trying my new concoctions.

23. I love to spend time with my family and can't stand the thought that someday the 5 of us won't always be together.

24. I daydream a lot about places I want to travel to and where I will stay when I get there (example: Italian villa, thatched roof cottage in Ireland, beach side cottage on an east coast island etc).

25. Sometimes I forget I'm "the mom" because my kids and I are such good friends.

My Little Helper

One thing Lauren loves to do is help me in the kitchen. Especially if I am baking. For her birthday we decided to make one of our all time favorite desserts, key lime poke cake with strawberries. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

He's So Sweet

It's exciting to get flowers for your birthday.
They are hoped for when they come on Valentine's Day.
It's romantic to receive flowers for your anniversary.
They are well deserved when they come after giving birth.
It's sweet to receive flowers when he's sorry.

But there's nothing better than getting flowers JUST BECAUSE.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words...

(Make sure your sound is turned on!)

Make a Smilebox slideshow