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a little photo love and chatting.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011 Posted in Amanda, Berlin

I was in the mood to take some pictures and Berlin is always willing to be my subject. I told her to pick out some outfits and we got her dressed and plopped her on the desk in her room. Whamo, mini portrait session. It was fun. She played her pop music and danced in between shots and we had fun finding things to take pictures of. She can be so proper and posey sometimes though, it was hard to get her to just relax. I had wanted to check out my lenses that I hadn’t brought out in a while. I’ve decided I’m selling 2 lenses.

If anyone is interested in buying a Canon 85mm 1.8 or a Sigma 18-50 2.8 Macro, let me know! I’ll be listing it on Ebay this week. I gave up on Craigslist because of too many weirdos.

Also, wanted to share because I’m now allowed to say something… My dad and his wife, Angie, are expecting another baby this October! I’m going to have another sibling!

I hope that everyone had a nice Mother’s Day! It is nice to have a reminder to appreciate your mom. The lovely woman that raised you and taught you to be everything you are now. I’m incredibly thankful for both my mom and my mother-in-law. Moms are the best! My day was pretty good! I slept in and James made me breakfast. We went out and got 1/2 price frappuccinos for all of us. Enjoyed the nice weather…went out shopping for a new hair straightener for me since mine broke, and James bought me an iPad2! I would never buy myself that so I was a little freaked out but it is a nice gift and I’m looking forward to it arriving in the mail soon. I was thinking of all the awesome stuff I can use it for…and geeked myself up to end up finding out I had to wait for it in the mail. It better get here soon! lol. The day ended with Chinese food and skyping with my Mom, brother Roger, sister-in-law Sarah, and the cutest little 3 month old Ariah! The whole day the kids were really behaved too! What a day!

I finally got my phone connected to the computer after 10 months, so I was able to load all my music on it. LOVING IT! Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros has not gotten old yet. Such a nostalgic sound. The new Radiohead album is pretty amazing as well. Also listening to a little Duffy, Adele, and No Doubt to please Berlin. Girl music is a must for her. And I’m happy to oblige as long as we can step away from the Beebs. lol. Berlin claims No Doubt to be her music now.

James’ wisdom tooth extraction went well. He was feeling sore and had a headache the next day but by Sunday he was doing fine.

She has such an odd voice but it sticks in your head!

AH, its the magical mystery kind…

A little No Doubt…reminds me of being a tween. Driving my step-brother bananas with the Alanis and No Doubt over and over and over. ha ha.

PHOTOS ARE NOT OPTIMAL QUALITY–all are sized and sharpened for web as usual. Don’t print from these. Moms…if you want a print of anything, just let me know.

She was demonstrating the tea pot... if you remember her other demonstrations, think she may end up on a game show like The Price is Right

And this was her pose...all by herself. Sears-esque but she looks adorable.

I finally let her touch this lunch box...she was excited. It used to be my Grandpa's.

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March 14, 2012 - 5:44 am Melanie - You haven't posted on here in so long!! Miss seeing your posts!! Come back to the blog world! :)

23 days and counting.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011 Posted in Amanda, Kids

I’m very excited to head back to Michigan at the end of the month. I started counting down yesterday… 23 days to go! The kids really miss everyone and are antsy about going. Berlin was asking when the rest of the family was going to move down here. Hmm…good question! Ha ha. I’m really looking forward to meeting my niece, Ariah! She is already getting so big! Lucas and Ellery have probably changed a ton in 6 months too. Thankfully it won’t be as long between visits next time. Some of my family is coming down in July, some of James’ family is maybe coming in July, and we are coming back in August for a wedding (and I’m trying to think how we can celebrate Isadora’s 2nd birthday there too!).

So the update:

* Isadora has molars! Finally. The girl has had only 6 teeth. She just sprouted 4 molars and one more front tooth. Hope this will help end the picky eating.

* Chrissy got a job. She had a lot of offers come in but she decided to take a sales/internet sales job with Subaru. So far she loves it.

* I went to church for the first time since we moved. I’ll call it CB church. I’m not sure it is the church for me. I have a little list in my head of what churches I’m going to check out. 1. CB 2. CC 3. EMC … searching for a church is not fun. There is a church that I found online that I was interested in checking out but it is way too far away 35 miles but around here, 35 miles could mean a 2 hour drive.

* James started playing soccer. He is on a team called Manchester. He signed up late…he is hoping to be put on a different team next time. He is the only English speaking guy on the team…which kind of makes it difficult for the whole team spirit thing. He is also planning to play indoor soccer soon.

* Doctor and dentist appointments…blech! James is having one of his wisdom teeth taken out on Friday. I feel bad for him because I know how much that stinks to have the pain in the mouth area…headache and misery. Hopefully he heals quick and without too much pain. Only having one tooth out should be better than all four though. My appointment at the dentist didn’t go so great. Walked out with a $1500 bill! I have some cavities. And when I broke my tooth 3 years ago (on a popcorn kernel), they put in a filling but it was a majority of my tooth that fell out, and now it caused some fun stuff….meaning they need to do a crown and fix some teeth nearby. Also, I guess I am damaging myself by grinding my teeth and clenching. The kids do it too. They grind so loud at night. They want me to get a guard.

* I had my first evening at the Food Bank on Monday. I’ve been trying to volunteer there for 2 months! I wrote them 3 times asking about helping and just got a call. They had accidentally had all the volunteer emails sent into a spam folder. Oops! But they need help and I’m going to be helping in the warehouse.

* Isadora has been asking “why?”. She has passed into a new stage and Eli has shifted into a new stage too. Oh the fun. It is remarkable though that now after seeing it happen with Berlin, then Elijah, that we can identify the changes! And that each kid goes through these things learning about life. It doesn’t really stop either. I was reading a few weeks ago about stages that adults go through with certain things and it was amazing to read this stage and realize that my brain was in a stage! An identifiable stage.

Spring is in full swing here. Temps have been between 68-88 (ugh, 90 a couple times). We have been enjoying the sun though. Lots of little trips, bike rides, park adventures…. There are a surprising number of parks here. Here are a couple of pics from the the park play 4 times ago (i said we go a lot!).

Aunt Chrissy helping Izzie climb super high.

Couldn't resist a picture while she was taking a break.

She kept stealing my drink and trying to run off with it.

And this sad face is from taking the cup away.

He climbed up and just sat like this for a few minutes.

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May 4, 2011 - 11:26 am Sarah McNutt - Can't wait to see you all!! The kids look so cute and they're getting sooo big! So excited!!!

Easter. {part two}

Monday, May 2, 2011 Posted in Kids, special moments

I didn’t take very many photos on Easter. I mainly did video, which I’m horrible at seeing if it is in focus when using live view, so a lot of the pictures I did take, were out of focus. I also realized that I took ZERO photos of the kids in their Easter fancies since they wore them for less than 2 hours. After breakfast, the kids found their baskets and ate some of their candy. The kids looked at us, “candy…for breakfast?!”. Later in the day, we planted the garden and finished up my painting project while the kids played near us. The kids enjoy watering plants…so our plants probably don’t need a drink for a while now. We went on a bike ride to the park then came back and made our own version of an Easter celebration dinner. I don’t like ham so I gave the option to James to pick whatever he wanted for dinner…. Ham or no ham, we’d still have a nice dinner. So, good for me, he didn’t care about the ham. We grilled porterhouse steaks on the grill, with cheesy potatoes (with BACON), honey glazed carrots (so good!), and something else that I can’t remember at the moment. We finished it off, after a day full of candy, with even more sugar. Oreo cream pie. It was a very relaxing and fun day. Berlin sang us a lot of Jesus songs. Some she learned in church time at school and some she made up. She was telling Elijah all about the reason for Easter. It was adorable to hear her being so informative and teacher-esque.

Honey Glazed Carrots Recipe.

Random one from Saturday night. The kids do a dance party daily...Here is Berlin whipping her hair.

Found it!

Candy in the morning?!

They were being really silly...pretending to be bunnies.

Elijah asked me to take his picture.

She 'wrote' her own Easter songs. She said it was her fave part of the weekend.

Caught her in the kitchen listening to music, laying on her belly with her feet in the air. So cute...but when I grabbed the camera, this is the pose she was in.

A-B-C-D....

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Easter. {part one}

Sunday, May 1, 2011 Posted in Kids, special moments

This was a very different Easter this year. It was still rather wonderful even though we really missed our family. The forecast for Easter Sunday was that it was supposed to rain, so we did an egg hunt on Saturday. We dyed eggs while Isadora took her nap. Then James hid eggs around the yard. The kids had a blast…we ended up doing hunts a couple of times to prolong the fun.

Tie Dye kit unnecessary. Wrap some paper towel and go at it.

Little bunnies ready for an egg hunt!

counting their eggs.

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Restyle.

Saturday, April 30, 2011 Posted in Amanda, projects

Everyone has a junk drawer that those miscellaneous items are thrown in when you don’t know where to put them. I’m comfortable with a junk drawer. But we seem to have this horrible habit of a junk counter. This junk counter is always in our kitchen, which takes up the much needed counter space. This landing pad for junk has moved with us from Davison, to Royal Oak, to Stafford, and now here. It really drives me crazy. Clutter, clutter….yuck.

What lands on this magnet for stuff is generally composed of:

* mail that isn’t important, but not so unimportant that it is thrown out.
* Drawings that the kids make. Painting projects.
* Anything pertaining to Berlin’s school, be it forms to fill out or the zillion projects she does.
* My purse.
* Hair ties, headbands, clips that randomly are found around the house.
* Sunglasses from when we forget that we are wearing them in the house and need to take it off.
* Keys and wallet
* My purse, Chrissy’s purse
* Occasionally my camera and or lenses
* Pens and crayons that haven’t been put away
* Anything that needs a temporary house after buying at the store before being moved to the actual home

So, I’ve really been wanting to have a cabinet or table in the foyer to use instead of cluttering up the counter.

Before.

While doing some errands a few weeks back, I drove by the Goodwill and saw this cabinet. I almost didn’t buy it because I thought James would be irritated at my habit of seeing potential in random furniture and wanting to do projects. But, it was $20, and I really could see some use out of this thing. So I picked it up and hoped he trusted me.

It was a little short. So I planned on getting some table legs to give it some more detail and to paint it. I decided on yellow with a carbon gray accent. I have some ideas for the front wicker if I get bored with it. But for now, I think it works.

I bought Valspar paint. Worst paint I’ve ever used. Don’t buy it. It was one of the Premium paints, but not the $40 a gallon one, it was like $24. Just terrible paint though. But after spending the money, I made myself use it. The gray was leftover paint from the studio walls.

James helped me attach new table legs. Bought them from Lowes for $2 each. We had to buy attachments for them, so it ended up being $12 total for the legs. James picked out a modern square leg but I wanted it to look like a mix of styles.

Almost done.

I still haven’t put the shelves in. The shelves are painted yellow, which makes a nice graphic element against the gray. But we moved it in the house and put a new knob on. I’m looking forward to utilizing this new storage cabinet. And to decorate the wall above it with family pictures.

Knob is from Hobby Lobby. It was on sale for $2.

So total, cost of this project was $58. I still have almost a whole gallon of the yellow paint left for painting some step ladders that I bought from Ikea. So next time I’ll know to buy a smaller can. But $58 for a solid wood cabinet isn’t all too bad. And it has character…which is a big deal for us.

Done. Minus shelves.

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April 30, 2011 - 8:25 am Sara - I love this! I love repurposing old furniture. I like your colors, too (grey and yellow seem to be very popular right now) I'll pretend I didn't read you went to Lowe's for your paint :-P

April 30, 2011 - 8:39 am admin - Thanks! Yeah, we've had gray for so long so it was nice to add another color in the mix. Ha ha, I always go to Home Depot. Lowes is the closest one to me now but I'm refusing to go anymore. Home Depot is better!

May 1, 2011 - 6:59 pm Melanie - Love it!! Great job! I always like seeing the before and afters of people's project!

The Burg.

Saturday, April 30, 2011 Posted in Kids, trips

We ventured out downtown Fredericksburg last week. There were debacles as there always are with 3 little kids and public places. We lost a shoe. Yep, totally gone. We also lost a pacifier. But we had a nice time despite it. First we went to the library. Oh, library, I hope digital media doesn’t ruin you! We picked up some fun books for the kids and a gardening book for me. All New Square Foot Gardening that was recommended to me from my wonderful friend, Amy. I read through it already and it is informative and game changing for gardening. I was complaining to Amy about wishing I could garden but I hate weeding and bugs that accompany the weeding. She said to check this method out and she is right! My garden box is all planted and growing out back. We’ll have to see how well it flourishes with me as the caretaker….but I’m excited to try with the book as a guide. After the library and the very cramped book sale, we went to a few vintage stores, and a toy store while eyeing all the other stores we can’t wait to check out. Vintage stores aren’t super for strollers. We stopped for a snack at Colonial Cupcakes. Yummy cupcakes! They had some strawberry pancake cupcakes the last time we went that were delicious. The place is very cute and had a little garden area in the back to sit. The service was a little lacking…which is odd in this area. Even Walmart has the helpiest helpers and smiles galore. So no smiles or a hello was kind of weird and made me not want to go back…but the cupcakes were good.

<3

i want this place!

that must have been really good...eyes closed and everything...

my sister, Chrissy and her mini cupcakes.

So funny to put frosting on your lips!

ugh, a picture of me and my cupcake.

My super cool camera bag that made taking pictures so much easier!

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Week 16. {a photo 365 project}

Friday, April 29, 2011 Posted in P365

I need to get my heart into this project. Next year, if I do it, I’m going to do a 52 project. I came across a pretty cool one with a focus for the whole week. I really enjoyed doing the Develop on Fridays project. I think it was more thoughtful. The 365 is a nice way to document the year though I suppose.
108.

what could I be painting?!

109.

i want this! i want a studio downtown...the buildings are so adorable.

110.

111.

112.

113.

Dancing before bed.

114.

i took this while video recording, so i was off on the focus but i love her expression.

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May 2, 2011 - 6:24 am Sarah McNutt - I cannot believe how tall Izzie looks!! Can't wait to see you guys soon!!

Funsplosion.

Friday, April 29, 2011 Posted in Amanda, Kids

With nicer weather, it makes us want to get out of the house a lot more. The park has seen a lot of us so far. James and I had a date night a couple weeks ago and we went to the DC United V LA Galaxy game in DC. It was a pretty good game. We were sat in front of some vocal annoying guys that were trying to impress those around them with their knowledge of soccer (i don’t think people realize how much their voice travels into the person’s ears in front of you when you are talking loud at a game)…so next time we aren’t going to wait until the last minute to buy tickets. We were wishing we were on the fan side with all the DC fanatics.

We went to an Easter Eggsplosion! event in Fredericksburg. They had a bunch of bounce houses, pony rides, egg hunts, yummy cotton candy and funnel cakes. Berlin didn’t do wonderful on the egg hunt…she was irritated by the scrambling kids so she kind of quit. She had zero eggs until they put some more out for those that didn’t get any. The poor girl would try, bend over to grab one, and some ambitious boy would scoop them from under her. We missed the other kids’ time for the egg hunt but they got prizes anyway. The variety of bounce houses was nice as it accommodated all the age groups. They all had a blast.

Poor Landon. And he wasn't even there. lol.

this blurry picture is of David Beckham.

She actually kept a headband in for longer than 1 minute! She looks so girly and cute

Weee.

He was a little stinker and climbed back up after he went down. The people were not happy. But he sure was.

Berlin and the bunny.

Berlin ran into her friend.

bouncy houses galore...there were 4.

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Bubble wands and sunshine.

Thursday, April 28, 2011 Posted in Kids

Wow, April is almost over! It just seemed to fly by. The weather has been mostly amazing! This last week, upper 80s. It mixes with some 60′s but nothing to complain about. I picked up the kids some bubble wands at the Target dollar section. Target is the best. We had a grand time making bubbles…running and jumping and flying to catch them.

Here you go, Mom! More pictures to come this weekend!

Berlin’s dress is courtesy of Judy Mattila. Thanks for the cute dress!