day 44 thru 59 (2/13-28/09)....gotta get caught up!

Ok so this is going to be one hellaciously long post. I will keep commentary to a minimum lol. I have been taking the pics, but haven't taken the time to post in almost 2 months so the following is a quick run down on my 365 project in Feb.

Day 59....2/28/09
We met up with a friend and her girls for lunch...700 and some miles from home! lol These 3 hit it off like they had been pals for years and years :)


Day 58....2/27/09
Heading out on our first long trip...Just me and Li'l T headed on a 1498 mile trip to go to my biological father's funeral.


Day 57....2/26/09
"NONE shall pass...." do we have any monty python fans in the house?....well this is our hillbilly troupe Monty Garder Snake


This is how we spend much of our afternoons...Li'l T putting on "puppet" shows with her toys and me snapping pics of it so that when HER lil ones do this day in and day out I can pull out the old pics *bwahahahaha*


Day 56....2/25/09
Just a day at the park with the kids and the nephews :)...it was really warm when we left home but by the time we got to the park (about 4 miles away) it was sooooooooo cold! They had fun anyways ;)


My friend's son used to call these Sweetgum fruits "baby elephants" because he was convinced that they were elephant eggs and that baby elephants hatched out of them lol.





I think they have seen The Polar Express one too many times....keep in mind they are both 10 yrs old....lol


Just being her pretty self for a moment before running off to play.


He was trying to control the runaway train I think....Goozie is hiding, he was right beside Middle E when I got the camera up lol.


Bubba lost a tooth :D


Day 55....2/24/09
WHOOPS, the whoopi cushion had a blow out and Li'l T had a meltdown....that girl loves her gas jokes....


Day 54....2/23/09
I love the irony of this pic....that scratch on Li'l T's wrist is a direct result of a previous poking endeavor.....go figure


Day 53....2/22/09
it snowed....again.....


Day 52....2/21/09
Tippy & Jillybean looking adorable as ever! (that is my baby brother and his girl ;) )


Bubba's 6th bday party (his bday was on the 18th)....I can't believe how big he is getting....


reach for it!!!!!


Day 51....2/20/09
Middle E was convinced that he could build a remote control car....all you need is a matchbox hummer, 2 batteries, 2 oversized paperclips, a bit of yarn and a remote control from a car that broke....he couldn't figure out for the life of him why this wouldn't work!





My newest "grandbaby"....Li'l T loves these chubby little babies


Just a pretty day and a pretty girl :)


Day 50....2/19/09
Even my cat Zoe gives me the mean mug when I try to get a decent pic! She's much cuter when she isn't staring you down like this....sigh


And Middle E's "Gov. Blagojevich" hair do.....seriously...it is getting a bit out of hand...





Day 49....2/18/09
Rockin' out with your big brother is the best way to spend a lazy day :)


L-dest used my tripod as a makeshift mic stand lol


Day 48....2/17/09
Ok so maybe even the kitten is done with pics now....


Not all pics are of those happy smiling moments....I was trying to do an impromptu shoot with Li'l T and Bubba and Li'l T's fingers got mashed between the fence and Bubba's back...she wasn't too happy but it made for a cute shot none-the-less lol


Malachi got busted trying to dig out from under the fence (probably to go visit the family who took him in for 2 days when he came up missing a couple yrs ago....he visits them every few months when he escapes)... He tried to play it off like he was innocent, but the mud on his paws...chest...neck...belly say differently!


Day 47....2/16/09
What do you do when the kids are hiding from the camera, the kitten is mad at you and you need a pic for the day? You wing it....


Day 46....2/15/09
Li'l T loves goin' swimming but when the weather is this cold and momma doesn't feel like toting the whole crew to the YMCA sometimes the bathtub just has to do :)


Silly Jofehfeen....she is the only pet or human in this house that doesn't run from the camera...in fact she thinks that it is some sort of toy...or maybe she thinks it holds food by the looks of this pic!


Day 45....2/14/09
Isn't it weird how time seems to stand still when you are the one with the ball? :) This was Middle E's game on Valentine's Day....the day that marks the 14th anniversary for mine & Mike's wedding :) Seeings as how I am 32, that is a pretty big accomplishment now days! Praise God for His love and mercy and the blessing of marriage!


Day 44...2/13/09
My first try at a night shot with my new camera....not the best but I am learning :)
I now know that I need a tripod for night shots....I need a tele lens or need to be closer...and it needs to freaking be warmer when I try it!

day 43...2/12/09

:) It is Thursday and Valentines Day isn't until Saturday, but since the pre-k only goes to school Mon-Thurs they celebrated Valentine's Day today! I love hair blogs and this is a style that I saw on one of them! isn't it cute?! The little girl that they showed it on had long straight beautiful hair. As most of you know my sweet Li'l T has beautiful hair, but it is curly and coarse and kinda shortish so I was not sure if it would work....well IT DID!
Everyone LOVED it (including me and Li'l T!!!) and so many people commented on it! So Happy Valentine's Day!

day 42...2/11/09

The weather warmed up and brought with it a pretty cool storm front! There were these HUGE clouds (like this one) that seemed to touch the ground (note the house in the lower left corner for a size reference)! Then if you turned around the sky was blue and clear in one direction, full of whispy cirrus clouds, yet in another area of the sky you had these little floofy clouds...it was crazy and beautiful! Is it any wonder that people have marveled at the sky and weather from the beginning of time?!

day 41...2/10/09 in the trenches & on the battlefield...

Earlier today, I told Goozy (oldest nephew) & MiddleE that they could set up today's pic. I had pics of snow that I complained about on facebook and my cousin said "it's better than mud" so I decided to get pics of the rain/mud we are dealing with now that the snow has mostly melted.... oh yes, even after 4 days of 50*+ weather there is still some snow lingering in corners and on street sides!
So the boys (both 10) set out with their bucket of military men (they are no longer army men, they represent all of the armed forces lol) in search of the perfect dirty battlefield. These are the photos that resulted ;).
The one is of a lone soldier in the trenches, perhaps covering a scouting commerade. The 2nd is of a surrounded enemy (you can barely see him in the background, he is the tan figurine). You can see the mud and sludge thrown up on the barricade, possibly from a recent mortar round exploding nearby?.... You would absolutely understand my descriptions if you would have heard those boys setting these scenes up ;) (complete with sound effects, I might add).

day 40...2/9/09 signs of spring....

Here in the land of odd, our weather is crazy madness from week to week and day to day.... -8*F as a low one morning, 2 mornings later 41*F was the low, and highs hitting 60*+..... So our pre-spring spring has come to the land of odd and there are some definite evidences of it, an open upstairs window adorned with a sun-loving smelly cat, and a discovery that the spring sprites have decided to knock a hole in our fence to better travel from one part of odd to the other (without having to go around). I know it was the spring sprites that caused this mischief because none of my kids did it, just ask them..... they are completely innocent ....darn sprites....

day 39...2/8/09

Remember these friendly li'l monkeyish critters? The Monchichies? I had several of the figurines when I was little. Mom would go every few weeks and splurge on a new one for me and a new smurf for my sister (early 80's) from Hallmark. I only have one of my original collection, but a couple years ago I bought a small lot of the figurines off of ebay. Among them was this lil cutie. She was one of my favorites when I was little because I discovered that I could use her tail and lil pony tail hair as a crayon lol (if you rubbed them on white paper the paint would rub off lol so mine was tail and pony tail "bald"...this one is not ;) ). Do you remember the rhyme/hand jive with the surprise ending?!
something along the lines of
Monchichi Monchichi I'm so soft & cuddly,
Monchichi Monchichi I can play atari,
Monchichi Monchichi I can do "the fonzy",
Monchichi Monchichi OOPS I'm sorry!

(you hugged yourself for cuddly, you did the joystick move on your hand for atari, you did the slick "ehhhhh" hand move by your head for "the fonzy" then it was a dash to see who had the quicker hand to smack your "friend" on the cheek for the oops I'm sorry)....sheesh we were such suh-weet kids!

day 38...2/7/09

The economy is so bad that even the little birds have turned to thievery to keep warm... They stole a long yarn thread out of our snowman's scarf, but the bumbling li'l tweeters that they are, they got their loot stuck on the front perch of their home. Li'l T wants them evicted for their behavior... I told her that they were cold and needed warmed up too and that they only took as much as they needed lol...she is still mad.

day 37...2/6/09

Don't ask...just know that this is the ONLY pic that was on my camera for Feb. 6th, so I was forced to use it....and that IS a defensive position on the cat's part....

day 36...2/5/09

There is so much to say about today's pic, I just don't know how to say it.... I love it, but it hurts my heart to see my Ldest so grown looking....ouch....

day 35...2/4/09

Personally, I think that the Snow Meiser needs to be shot.....I am having nightmares about this stuff now....seriously....

day 34...2/3/09

Needless to say, I was very surprised with this photo. Keep in mind that I do not have a "big girl" camera yet so this was shot with a point and shoot! I was surprised at the detail! This was yet MORE snow here in our town. In the 20 minutes it took me to pick up Li'l T from pre-k, a nice little pile had accumulated on the side mirror of the truck and I thought "hm ok might try that for a pic" and this was the result! Now I can't wait for a big girl camera to see how much better shots like this come out! The only thing I tweaked was the contrast just a little! No matter how much I am sick of snow, I think that each little flake is a minor miracle unto itself!

day 33...groundhog day

I was so upset yesterday because I drew an absolute blank when I was trying to decide on what to take a pic of for the day... Of course there is always the fall back of Li'l T, but honestly sometimes I just want to show off my other 2 or I want to take a dramatic pic... SOMETHING other than my cutie pa tootie 4 yr old lol.
I put my problem in my tagline on facebook and a friend from high school said "why not do something with shadows? It IS Groundhog Day."












So I thought and thought, then it hit me! I had seen a photo on myspace or somewhere, then I had seen a version a friend did for a wedding she photographed and LOVED it .... soooooooo I decided to try it....
I did it with 2 different lightsources and got 2 totally different effects :). The spotlight effect turned out really neat though because the light itself made a heart shape too!... This was really fun and really easy to do and has pretty cool effects. I am really trying to think of some other shadow photos to take... could be interesting!

day 32...

Ah yes, finally the snow was packable (as it got up to 45*F on Sunday). Hubba & the boys had a good old fashioned snowball fight while Li'l T and I made a snowman. I love this pic because it shows how their snowball fights usually go....Hubba obliterates the boys (note Middle E laid out in the background), boys exact revenge (note cocked back hand of L-dest), Hubba runs for safety (directly behind me because the boys know better than to chuck a snowball anywhere near my camera)...and this repeats itself over and over lol.