Birthday Girls

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but these two "little" nieces of mine have turned another year older.



Happy four years, girls!





Thanks for bringing four years worth of joy and love and laughter to my life.



This week's Best Shot Monday is totally dedicated to these two ultra cool little ladies.

SOOC Saturday: Creepy Crawlies

We're not huge fans of creepy crawlies here....but there are a few that make our "good" list:

Roly polys
Lady bugs
Caterpillars...

....including those crafted from egg cartons and paint and imagination.

They really are pretty darn cute little critters, but their greatest attribute is more than skin deep.

The best thing about them is the fun to be had in creating them.

Years ago when I imagined being a mother, I envisioned lazy afternoons of crafting and laughing, afternoons of sitting around the kitchen table and losing track of time and starting dinner late.

Afternoons just like this.

More often than not, my best laid plans go awry.

But every once in a while, it all works out.

And that? Well, that's just perfect.



















These images are SOOC (Straight Out of Camera - unedited) for Melody's SOOC Saturday.

Some moments are perfect just as they are...no need to improve on them. Visit her to be enchanted with more naturally sweet moments.

P.S. I just had to add the links for these cool websites my father-in-law sent me. There are some really clever ideas here - I see more craftiness in our future!
What Can You Make From An Egg Carton?
Crafts With Egg Cartons

Splash! Splish! My Daughter's a Fish!

Notice the tongue stuck out in concentration...is that not unbearably cute?!

Behind the scenes. The light in our bathroom is dreadful - no windows and only a single-bulb light fixture. NOT the best for natural light pictures. So, I decided to improvise my own studio lighting. Without this supplemental light I can't go below 1000 ISO....at least this way I have enough light to go "down" to 500. :o)

Find more Wordless Wednesday HERE and HERE!

Memorial Day, remembered

Mama: "Today is a special holiday, Nadia. Do you know what it is?"

Nadia: "You can tell me."

M: "Well, today is called Memorial Day and it's a special day when we remember all the people that help protect us and keep our country safe."

N: "I know that."

M: "Yep, you know everything, huh? Do you remember what colors are on our flag?"

N: "Red, white and blue."

M: "That's right. Let's go pick out some red, white and blue clothes to wear today!"

We pick out a patriotic outfit, she gets dressed, and runs to show Daddy.

"Daddy, I am wearing this today because it's American Idol day when we remember the people that bring us red, white and blue clothes!"

Huh???? Gotta love a three year old!

Whiplash

Silly faces.
Prune-y toes.
Girlish giggles.
Splashing water.
Flying hair.
Whiplash.
Joy.
Memories.





This photo is my choice for Best Shot Monday. Visit Tracey for more!

Conversations

Nadia: "Mama, this stick is my sword."

Mama: "Hmmm, okay. But you know, I don't really like swords so much- they are sharp and hurt people. I like magic wands better."

Nadia: "Why?"

Mama: "Well, because a magic wand can be used to 'poof' things to help people!"

Nadia: "Like what?"

Mama: "Like, if someone is hungry, you could poof some food for them to eat."

Nadia: "What else?"

Mama: "What do you think? What could you do with a magic wand if someone was cold?"

Nadia: "I could poof them a blanket!"

Mama: "Great idea! How about if they were tired?"

Nadia: "Poof, and give them a pillow and a bed."

Mama: "Now someone is lonely."

Nadia: "Poof to make friends for them."

Mama: "Now someone is thirsty."

Nadia: "I will 'poof' a sink and a cup and ice so they can get a drink."

Mama: "What would you do if someone was sad?"

Nadia: "I would 'poof' them their Mama, and then they would be happy!"

Mama: "Aww, I love that, Nadia! How about if someone was angry, what then?"

Nadia: "There's nothing I can 'poof' for that. They just have to stop being mad and decide to be happy instead."

Nadia: "Mama? Why are you laughing?"

Soak your cares away

So, what's a girl to do when she gets chilly dancing in the rain?

This is Nadia's answer:



A bowl of warm water to soak those tootsies - ahhh, sweet relaxation!

Nadia had never before had a foot bath, but she's always game for something new. She really liked this something new!



A mug of hot cocoa makes it that much better.



My silly girl has adopted soaking her feet as a new favorite thing, and she looks for any opportunity to do so. A few days ago she asked me to turn on the oscillating fan in the living room, and for several minutes she stood in front of it letting her hair flutter in the breeze. And then? "You can turn it off now, I'm cold enough now to warm up with my feet in water!"



I think I have a little spa junkie on my hands.

Dancing in the Rain

Almost every time it rains, Nadia has the same request.

She stands at the door watching the raindrops splatter on the sidewalk and exclaims, "I have a great idea! Let's wear my kitty cat jacket and play in the rain!"

So a couple weeks ago we did just that.

Or rather, she did that while I sat in the dry garage with the telephoto lens - after all, I don't have a kitty cat rain jacket! :o)

She laughed and shrieked and slipped and slided and did all the other things little girls are supposed to do.

But it was a chilly day, and before long she retreated to my side. "I'm cold," she reported as she raised her arms to show them shaking in an exaggerated pretend shiver.

So I suggested we head inside and find something to warm her up. She LOVED that something even more than dancing in the rain. What was it? Well, you'll just have to stay tuned to find out tomorrow!

Mother's Day Crafts

Alright, so YES I do realize that it's a week and a half past Mother's Day. But heck, these days I seem to be a day late and a dollar short with everything and it's only appropriate that I'm running behind with this too. I had hoped to at least get it up for Crafty Tuesday, but I even missed that deadline. I know, I know - I rock, huh!?

So anyway, Nadia has a great time putting together some sweet little Mother's Day crafts for the Grandmas. When I came home from work swinging a bag of craft supplies the Saturday before (since I'm nothing if not a procrastinator!), my little artist was totally ready to jump right in.

Her favorite bit was painting the Nadia-dolls. And yes, she was fresh from a bath and yes, I l.o.v.e. her hair all curly like that!











Here are the finished products, along with the other goodies we made. She painted the picture frames with Daddy at one of the free workshops up at Michaels, and we got the idea for hand print lilies from Family Fun magazine.



What Mama or Grandmama wouldn't love to get a sweet offering like that?



Okay, and with that - Mother's Day officially over!

i luv u

Dear Nadia,

Thank you for being my little ray of sunshine.

I love that no matter what else is going on in our lives - no matter the stress and worry and frustration - you are always there with your love and your laughter.

You are there spreading your joy.

You rock, kiddo.

I love you to the moon and back,
~Mommy
yes, I still insist on calling myself MOMMY even tho you call me MOM!


In case you can't tell - she is flashing the sign language "i luv u!"

Visit Tracey's for more Best Shot Monday images

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I am no longer the only shutterbug in the house.

In fact, I'm no longer even the biggest shutterbug in the house.

Well, I am the biggest...but not the biggest.

You got that the first "biggest" referred to size, and the second one to enthusiasm, right?

Okay good, just making sure we're all on the same page here.

Anyway, I can't claim to be the family's biggest shutterbug anymore as that title has been taken over by a certain tiny tyke by the name of Nadia.

Ever since a friend gifted us with a tripod a couple weeks ago (thanks Cheryl!), Nadia has become a camera fanatic.

The kid is all. about. the camera.

I can't tell you how many times she has asked to take pictures, and I also can't tell you how cute it is to see her working the tripod like a little pro. It's seriously cute, folks. She really is like a miniature pro, adjusting the tripod and everything. I often wish for another smaller camera as backup (and for video!), but I've never wished for it more than when she's behind the big camera.

Following are some of her masterpieces, and as random as they may appear, I can assure you that they are were all deliberately framed this way:



While hotdogs and air conditioner vents apparently make for compelling images, neither one is her favorite subject. Nope, I've been lucky enough to claim that role.



I love seeing the world through my kid's eyes, and I love that she's inheriting my love of photography. But the best part of this whole camera fascination? From time to time, I can sneak in a couple shots of the two of us together.



------
P.S. Happy Birthday to Jenny - my sister, my friend, my role model. Love you!





And Jen, next time we get together we're doing a mini photo shoot of you with your girls. These are the most recent pictures I have of you, and they're pretty old!

I say WATER, you say MELON

What a difference 8 months makes!

Yesterday's watermelon pictures got me to reminiscing about previous sticky, sweet feasts so off I went in search of the evidence. And I found it, here and.....oh, wait there is no other here!

Apparently these pics of my girl savoring her melon in the great outdoors never made it to the ol' blog, so I thought I'd throw them up now. I'm glad to share this walk down memory lane with you, but I also can't deny that I'm just a bit attracted by the idea of a quick and easy post! :o)

These were taken in September 2008...back when Nadia was still just a little two year old. Same curly-haired little girl, just a bit smaller. Clearly, her love of watermelon hasn't changed since then.

My editing style has, though! It's subtle, but these look dark and cool and over-processed to me compared to how I'd do it now.

Wordless Wednesday: The First of the Season

Fresh, cold watermelon ranks right up there with swimsuits and sunshine as a hallmark of summer. Clearly, Nadia is ready for summer (even if she is already complaining that it's too hot!).

Find more Wordless Wednesday here and here.

Mommy Dearest

To all the wonderful mothers that fill my life with joy -

To my own Mom
To my mother-in-law
To my sister
To a whole gangload of terrific Mommy friends -

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope your day was full of love. I hope you felt appreciated for all you do. I hope you had a rare opportunity to put your feet up.

And I hope you got to snuggle with the precious little people that make you the awesome mommy you are.



I have a feeling that in the years to come, these simple, quiet moments are the ones I will cherish the most.

Visit Tracy for more Best Shot Monday images.

Fabulous Faces

As kids are prone to do, Nadia has been changing.

I can't even begin to wrap my mind around all the changes occurring in that little person. Almost daily there's something she does or says that shocks and amazes me, and I'm left with my mouth hanging agape wondering "how does she know that?" or "when did that change?"

As any parent can tell you, many of the changes are bittersweet. The fact that my baby is growing up both excites and saddens me.

But there are other changes that are met with nothing but eagerness on my part.

Case in point:

My daughter no longer hates the camera. She sometimes even asks me to take her picture.

Oh happy day! This shutterbug Mama is most pleased about this development.

BUT (there's always a but!)...

This doesn't mean that she's suddenly a perfect little model.

She may no longer cover her face and turn away from the camera while pouting, "I told you no pictures, Mom"...but she still makes sure photoshoots go her way.

Hey, she's three - what do you expect?!

Things not on her list of preferences: eye contact and smiles.

Things that are on her list of preferences: silly faces.

To be fair, she usually does flash a sweet smile immediately following a request for pictures. But, since said smile generally lasts about 2.4 seconds and because she without fail chooses a time when the camera is not in my hands - I rarely capture it. But it's sweet when I do...even if she is pulling her don't-look-at-the-camera trick.

After that first smile, she's ready to move on to faces: happy face. silly face. angry face. scared face. shy face. sad face (her favorite for some reason).

But for some reason, no matter which emotion she is acting out, they all end up looking shockingly similar.

This is supposed to be angry:

This is supposed to be shy:

And this is supposed to be sad:

Does the kid know how to pout or what?!

The funny thing is that she's actually quite adept at reading faces and interpreting emotions.

And you'd better believe that she knows how to display those emotions with shocking clarity.

It's just when it comes to acting them out hat she gets a bit...repetitive.

Even Nadia herself is baffled by it. When we looked at these pictures together on the computer, she said "why was I mad again and again?"

But ya know what? That's fine with me. It's funny. It's just one one idiosyncrasy to love.

After all, who wants photo after photo of the same ol' cheesy smile?

Personally, I much prefer photo after photo of...umm, the same ol' cheesy pout?

Really, I do. I wouldn't change it for the world.

P.S. I'm being featured today for the first time today at the fabulous DFW site BurbMom! My post is part of a terrific series focusing on what is means to be a Mother.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

It all began a few weeks ago with an animated round of "The old lady who swallowed a fly."

Nadia laughed all the way through the song, but the instant her giggles at the punch line - she died, of course! - ceased, her face turned serious.

"I would NEVER eat a fly or a bird or a horse" she reported, revulsion clearly written across her features.

"Would you ever eat any animal?" I asked, and it was a struggle to keep from laughing as her disgust deepened. "No WAY!" she vowed.

"Really?" I kept my voice mild. "What about chicken, would you eat that?"

Still she insisted that no, no animal flesh would ever pass her lips.

Apparently she had not yet made the meat=animals connection. I let it drop. The kid is a die-hard carnivore I wasn't about to scar her for life at the tender age of three.

Nadia wasn't done with the subject, though. She must have continued to quietly mull it over, as a few days later she suddenly looked up from the picture she was coloring to ask "Mom? Is chicken....chicken?"

I took a deep breath and told her YES.

She accepted the answer easily enough, and didn't even balk at pork = pig. But beef = cow? That she just couldn't accept yet. "We don't eat cows" she insists, "because that wouldn't taste good. And cows are nice."

Hamburgers apparently come from "hamburger animals. But I don't know what that is."

Yesterday she asked me what animal potatoes come from. I explained that they're vegetables that grow in the ground, they don't come from an animal. Her response? "Stop tricking me Mom, just tell me what kind of meat potatoes are! Because I like potato-animals."

Yeah, we're still working on this "where food comes from" concept!

Wordless Wednesday: The Kitchen Elf

FYI - rice krispy treats made with strawberry-flavored marshmallows taste rather odd. But don't tell Nadia. She was quite proud of them!

Find more Wordless Wednesday here and here.

Bluebonnets

I'm not a very good Texan.

Spring in Texas is virtually synonymous with bluebonnet pictures. Drive down any Texas highway in the spring and you'll see countless vehicles pulled over onto the shoulder of the road, their occupants knee-deep in bluebonnets. The purply-blue hillsides are dotted with impromptu photo shoots.



And yet, until a month ago, I'd never participated in this great Lone Star State tradition. I've spent roughly 15 springs here and this is Nadia's fourth spring, but the photo albums remain empty of bluebonnet pictures.



Well, we made up for it this year. Oh yeah we did! I've already shared plenty of the resulting pictures, but guess what? I've got more. LOTS more.



I don't generally think of myself as an overly nervous, cautious person but the idea of stopping along a highway (where most of the bluebonnets seem to grow) just doesn't sit right with me. That's why I was so thrilled to come across a picturesque patch of bluebonnets right off a small side road. Pretty, safe and close to home - check! (local peeps...let me know if you want to know where, although it's a little late for this year!)



When we went a few evenings later for our little photoshoot, it was one of those magical times when everything just all came together. It's rare for me to say this, but I was on fire that evening. Every single click of the shutter delivered another keeper.

You photographers have had times like that, where it felt like there was something more than just you behind the camera, right?

Even after deleting left and right, I ended up with over 80 images that I simply can't bear to part with. I truly love the entire series. As picky as I am, that never happens.

I usually just see the flaws. But with these, I just see the love...the memories...the girl.

(although, can you tell that I had a few different editing sessions, each with a different style? LOL!)

Speaking of memories, here's a funny one. There we are in the middle of the bluebonnet field when Nadia announces that she needs to go potty. Before we can say okay, let's pack it up and head to the Target right down the street; before we can blink - Nadia simply hikes up her skirt without a moments pause and does her business right there amongst the weeds on the side of the road. Ahhh, to be three and innocent again! LOL

The bluebonnets season has pretty much passed now, and they have all but vanished from the Texas landscape. But that doesn't stop Nadia. "Let's look for bluebonnets, Mama!" she says as we drive, and her child-eyes sweep the roadside until she invariably finds the last few tenacious State flowers.

But she doesn't find only bluebonnets. She also sees yellowbonnets...and whitebonnets...and redbonnets.

The bluebonnet season may be over for the year, but it still lingers for Nadia. And since this time we have a record of it, it an linger for me too.

We're real Texans at last.

Six Years

It's been six years.

Six years since that day we started our married life together.



This past year has been a hard one for our marriage.

But in the end, I think it will strengthen our relationship.



Looking at that wedding picture, I'm struck by our baby-faces. We were so young! So naive!

We've both grown a lot since then. We just need to make sure we're always growing together in the same direction...



...along with our sweet girl, of course. She's the best thing to come of our marriage!



Happy Anniversary, Vasily. I love you.

Oh, and thanks for going along with my crazy photo shoot this afternoon, even if I never did manage to capture the image I had in mind. Seriously, I can't do self portraits. Seriously, V. ;o)

On that note - best shot? Ummm, I'm not sure. None of them worked out quite the way I had planned, but it's the memories that count right?

P.S. We recreated a classic dates this weekend for our anniversary: dinner and a movie. Dinner was at Texas Land and Cattle, one of our old favorites, and their smoked sirloin is just as good as remembered. The movie was X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Wow. Go see it. It's good!

Sights & Sounds

A laughing child: the sweetest sound in the world.


A sleeping child: the sweetest sight in the world.

A pouting child: an inescapable truth of the world. ;o)


Just clearing out the April 2009 photos folder, and I thought I'd share a few. Can you believe it's May and the year is nearly half over?? Yeah, me neither.

Mother May I...Sleepover!

What do bunny hops and ballerina twirls, tiny tiptoes and giant leaps all have in common?

Just ask these two three-year-olds, and they will tell you all about a very animated game of Mother May I!

Better yet, they'll show you:
















Don't they make you want to be three again?

Well, during daylight hours anyway. The moonlit hours...well, they weren't quite so full of fun and games.

After an artistic afternoon over at the cousins' house, Pennelope came back home with us for Nadia's first ever sleepover.

That's right folks, this was the first time for Nadia to have someone spend the night with her, or for her to sleep somewhere other than home. I think I was more excited about this milestone than the girls - and they were pretty excited! I had visions of an evening full of little girl chatter and games, popcorn and a movie, and two sweet little cherubs snuggled up together in the night.

Well, the first part of that plan went off without a hitch. Little girl chatter, check. Games, check. Popcorn....well, at least one of the girls was interested in that. I got them all set up on the couch, and we were ready for the movie.



Yeah. About that. It lasted all of five minutes before the pandemonium began.

Then it became "I'm going to cry because she looked at me!" And "I'm going to hug her because she's upset that I touched her!"

Those of you that know both girls can probably guess the guilty parties. ;o)

At least they agreed on this point: "I'm upset so I'm going to get aggressive."

Ooooh yeah, fun times.

To make a long, frustrating story shorter - it was nearly midnight before the girls finally passed out.

First sleepover? Not a shining success in my eyes.

Little girls see things differently, though. Nadia's already asking when her cousin can come spend the night again.

I just have one request for next time: Daddy and I swap places. I want to be the one to go to bed at nine o'clock and blissfully sleep through all the drama.