February 14, 2010

Today I am thankful for the excitement of the Olympic games.  Last night the kids and I stayed up to watch the games, and Bayleigh couldn't wait until they came on again today, to watch some more. 

I think it's amazing how hard these athletes train to be the best at what they do.  Through injuries, pain and a focused determination, they make their way to the Olympic games.  I admire each and every one of them. 

We stopped at the grocery store after church again today.  The kids brought out their "I Spy" books, and had a lot of fun trying to find everything.  (Some of those things I even have trouble finding.)

After we got home, we opted for a quick lunch of Campbell's soup, so we could get down to the serious business of watching the Olympics.

And seeing as how it's Valentine's Day, I couldn't help but get a few shots of the kid's candy . . .

I love these colorful little hearts.

My Valentine picked me up a humorous card (just because he knows how I am), and some yummy chocolates.  We also got more snow for Valentines Day.  It just doesn't seem to want to quit.  I could really use a little sunshine.  I'm lacking in Vitamin D, and it's doing some bad things to my motivational levels.

Maybe tomorrow . . .

(*My favorite shots of the day are the CANDY.  What's not to like about candy? lol)

February 13, 2010

Today I'm thankful for naps.  I finally made it to bed around 1:00 a.m. this morning, and then had to get up early and get everyone around for Bayleigh's first Saturday of basketball camp.

I'm hoping she pays enough attention, to at least bring home a few tidbits of knowledge; but I'm not holding my breath on that one.  Maybe next week she'll calm down and do a little better job of listening and following instructions.  I'll be helping her out on some of the ball handling drills this week, so she doesn't feel quite so inept at it. She REALLY loves to play, and I am looking forward to helping her hone her skills.

At least Eli stayed occupied. He really behaved quite nicely.  (I probably just jinxed myself for next Saturday's camp.)

We had a busy morning, and when we finally made it home, I fixed lunch and everybody rested.  While Eli was still napping I came upstairs to work on my layout for the day, and ended up upgrading my anti-virus software, and cleaning off my desk, while I was waiting for it to update.  By the time I finished the update, Eli was awake and I had to throw together something quick, for my layout of the day.

I fixed supper and while the kids were eating, I came back upstairs to finish the layout, and eat a few of these awfully sour gummy worms. 

They're nauseatingly sour, but I couldn't stop eating them.  That must say something about my warped taste buds.

(The gummies are my favorite shot of the day.  I didn't spend much time behind the camera, and my eyes are too tired to focus.  Hoping to get to bed EARLY tonight, so I can jump back in tomorrow!)

February 12, 2010 ~ 12 of 12 Plus 1

Today I'm grateful for survival.  It's been a long day.  Up before 5:00 a.m. and it's 12:08 a.m. as I type.

My day started off with Pilates (my muscles are still screaming for mercy from yesterday's cardio workout), and then I got my oldest up for school.  My sister-in-law called at 6:30 a.m. to see if she could drop Kasey off to get on the bus, since there has been yet another hiccup in "the saga".  I'm finding that as I get older, the less I like to deal with foolishness, and right now it's running rampant around here.  My patience grows thin. And I'm not particularly pointing fingers at just one source here, just so you know.

Aw well . . . it's not mine to worry about, so on to the rest of my day.  Dad called around 8:30 a.m. asking if I could go down and check on one of the sows, which was close to having pigs, since no one would be home until later in the afternoon.  So I pulled on my coveralls and my rubber boots and trudged through the snow to check on her.

She was doing fine.

So I headed back out into the snow, and played around in some of the old buildings while I was there.

The old farrin' (farrowing) house, has seen MUCH better days, but I tromped inside to see if anything had changed, from when I used to clean it out every afternoon, back in my youth.  Some of the solar panels had caved in and it was snowing through the roof . . .

and the building wasn't in the best shape, but it afforded me the opportunity to get some nice photos, out of the wet snowy weather.

Then I moved to the equipment shed to plug in the tractor, to haul hay to the cows.  Luckily my brother showed up just in time to take care of that task.

When I got back in, Dave fixed Eli some oranges . . .

and then got back to work on his term paper.

After lunch, we all headed out to Bayleigh's school Valentine's party.  (Dave actually had another Friday off, and got to go with us!)

Eli quickly found something to keep him occupied, while I took pictures.

When we finished up at school, we headed to the bulk food store.  So many wonderful spices and cooking supplies, that you can't just buy at your regular grocery store.

And so many neat sights along the way.  This group of Mennonites rely on bicycles . . .

and buggys to get them where they need to go. 

They have their own little community with folks who specialize in so many different things.  Saddle making and repair, furniture making, greenhouses, stone and concrete . . . it's just amazing.  I can't help but think that these people have it so much better than the rest of us.  Even without all the frills of technology.

And here it is 12:30 a.m. on the 13th.  I'm glad I can sleep in a little in the morning.  Basketball camp doesn't start until 10:30 a.m.  Maybe I can improve on my action photography tomorrow.  We'll see what I can come up with.

February 11, 2010

Today I'm grateful for the drive to get things done.  I started a new cardio workout this morning, and I can honestly say that Jillian Michaels kicked my rear.  Fifteen hours later and my body is still screaming in places that I never knew existed.  So much for thinking I was in pretty good shape . . . Tomorrow I'm switching back to Pilates to give my aching muscles a rest.

The sunrise was absolutely gorgeous this morning.

It lasted all of MAYBE five minutes,

and never did truly break over the tree line;

but the colors were phenomenal.

After I got Bayleigh off to school, I did a little housework, and then decided to let my screaming muscles rest, by vegging on the couch with Eli.  I think we watched every episode of Umizoomi this morning, before I headed upstairs to download my class materials for Library of Memories.  While I was printing off handouts and assignments, I glanced at the little (ginormous) pile of floppy discs sitting next to my desk, and decided to see if anything was really on them, that was worth saving.  I was hooked after the first floppy . . . and ended up moving all the files worth saving, to my computer. 

Lots and lots of photos from the original home remodel back in 2002-2003, baby pictures of Bayleigh, pictures of my horses, and so many pictures from back before children; thanks to my first digital camera (a 1 mega pixel Sony Mavica that took a floppy disc), I had several old photos worth saving.  The photos are mostly poor quality (which is why I stuck mainly with my Pentax 35mm) but they are memories none the less, and maybe someday I can salvage some of them.

I just have a few more floppy's to go through and then I can pitch this huge pile and move on to the CD's.  But I HAD to take a break and play a game of Monopoly with my oldest.  She wasn't too happy about that last move, but in the end I'm sure she finished it out in her favor, while I fixed supper.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day and I have a few more photos to experiment with tonight.  So I'm off!

(*I can't really pin point a favorite today . . . none of them are really stellar, but I think I'll go with #3.)

February 10, 2010

Today I'm thankful for SUNSHINE, and a little warmer weather.  You'll probably see a theme in my photos today . . .

as I was soaking up all the sun I could. 

Our garden is looking a little barren right at the moment, but in a few more months, it will have a completely new look.  (Or at least I HOPE it will.)

I spent most of the day vegging in front of the computer . . . catching up on emails, blogs, photo editing and such; so this afternoon I took the kids out to play for a while.

There was no school again today, but it looks like we'll be heading back tomorrow.  (Both of my parents drive buses and I'm sure they've been enjoying their days off.) 

We walked over to their house, through the milo field, and ended up heading home at the perfect time.

The sun seemed so vibrant coming through the stalks of milo . . .

It was SO good to be out soaking it all up.

I was lucky enough to get a shot of one of the mud puddles just before Eli tromped through it, shattering the image into a million tiny pieces.  God surrounds us with so much beauty, but sometimes in the busyness of life, we just don't take the time to stop and admire it.

(*Hassan ~ My favorite shots of the day are #4 and #6.  But please feel free to choose whichever one you like.)

February 9, 2010

Today I'm thankful for hooded goose down parkas.  It was a cold one today!

The kids were out of school again, so we started off the morning, making a birthday cake for daddy.  The big 4 - Oh!  Wow!  I'm just three years behind him and I'm wondering how in the world I went from 18 to 37 in just a blink of the eye.  I'm missing 20 years in there somewhere . . .

(*Hassan . . . this is my favorite shot of the day.  Oil and water make interesting subject matter.)

The kids brought out some old toys to play with, while I baked the cake,

and then we headed to town with my mom to do a bit of grocery shopping.

Both kids promptly fell asleep on the way to town.

On the way back, I took a few photos, 

and I thought the sun was actually going to break free for a bit . . .

but I think that was just wishful thinking on my part.

When I pulled in the driveway the "Jeep-ometer" was reading 21 degrees, and the wind chill was atrocious.  I'm sure if you were outside for more than 30 minutes at a time, you would be frozen solid.

And speaking of frozen solid.  You know what they say about good intentions.  The road to hell is paved with them.  I've been meaning to get Eli's tricycle put away in the garage, but it looks like it will indeed be Spring, before I get around to it now.  This baby is frozen to the ground!

After Dave made it home from clinicals this evening, we gathered around and sang happy birthday,

while he blew out his candles.  I didn't have an "0", so Bayleigh decided he needed the Eeyore candle holder for his "bunny" cake.  Bayleigh picked out the cake design, and I had it iced and ready to go, right before Dave left for clinicals this morning.  However, we decided to wait until tonight, to actually celebrate, so the bunny got a little roughed up under the foil.  But it tasted heavenly!

Happy 40th Birthday Honey! 

February 8, 2010

Today I'm grateful for my morning Pilates.  At 5:00 a.m., it's just the boost I need to get me moving.

When I looked outside this morning, I could see that it was snowing.  They ended up calling school off, so I let Bayleigh sleep in.

As soon as both kids were up and running around, I started laundering all the bedding, while Bayleigh brought out the blocks to play with.

Not to be outdone . . . Eli quickly jumped in with his own blocks.

I helped him build a castle . . .

while Bayleigh built the tallest tower.

It seems like they've always got to be competing with each other!

My Husky, Ike, loves this weather.  I'm dreading what Summer will do to him.  He's going to be 14 years old very soon, and he has arthritis in his back and hips.  The past 6 months haven't been good on him, but with medication, he's almost like a puppy again.  He's such a sweet dog, but I know that he won't be with us for much longer.  It breaks my heart to see him aging.  It seems like only yesterday, that he was a feisty little puppy.

It continued to snow throughout the day, so I only ventured out to take care of the animals, and put wood in the stove.  It was a good day to be inside, cleaning.

I tackled some of the misc. items that I display in the kitchen.  They're just on open shelves and they get grimy and yucky pretty quickly, as they are displayed over the cooking area.  This particular Red Wing Pottery bowl was my grandma's.  It brings back lots of good memories of helping grandma make bread in her kitchen when I was very small.  I seem to have a fondness for pottery like this.  Something handcrafted basically from clay, or a similar substance . . . formed and shaped into a work of art.  Some day I would like to try my hand at making pottery.  

In the meantime, I'll continue taking photos and documenting my "oh so exciting" life.