February 1, a dream day.

Today, February 1, in Central PA, it was almost 60 degrees. I spent 2 hours and 25 glorious minutes outside with my children.  It was a miracle of weather.

We had no where to be with no committments and we just enjoyed the amazing weather.  I put a pot of soup on and let it simmer while the children and I played in the back yard.

The kids had a wonderful afternoon and it left me feeling rather hopeful.  Usually by this time of the year I am miserable and dreading this month.  This year we haven't had much of a winter, so even if it turns deathly cold, I know it can't last much longer.

For the first time in a really long time February has brought me hope and a glimmer of happiness.  Who knows, I might even buy a valentine or two.

My friend Melissa is doing a 30 day photography challenge this month.  She is talented and committed to the challenge. I am not committing to any challenge, although I do think it's fun to try new things and Melissa always inspires me.


Doing things every day for a month stresses me out.  So I am going to randomly choose different photo challenges and post them...I got a few today.  If I feel like taking more pictures I will...see how that works, no rules or stress.


I don't think I would have understood "silhouette" until I saw Melissa's picture.  So I am copying her by using this as my first image, imitation is still the best form of flattery, right???


Photo challenge #13. Silhouette.

Photo challenge #11. Something Blue.

I didn't realize Carson was wearing blue until the editing process.  I took the picture because he was feeling "blue,"  see how that is so artistic of me to think outside the box?

Photo Challenge #30. Movement.

Lilly jumped herself right out of this shot.

I really enjoyed having a purpose with my camera, other than my children, I might try more.

Jim photo update.

You can see Mars tonight.

Half moon.

Jim.

Did you know that Jim is a man of many talents?

He can cook, garden, write poetry, and take amazing photographs...to name a few.  For Christmas he bought "me" a digital SLR.  I have dreamed of getting him a really great camera since I met him.  So he beat me to it.

Here is a picture of the moon he took with his telephoto lens.  I cropped it to enlarge the photo so you can see more moon details.

A few weeks back there was some sort of meteor shower.  Jim set his alarm for 3AM and did star photography.  That is some dedication, there is very little that will get me out of bed at 3AM. He is out taking pictures of Mars right now.

Big dipper from my back yard.  What motivates me is his lack of fear.  He is not afraid to try anything and possibly fail. He takes thousands and thousands of pictures, experimenting with different lenses, filters, settings, etc.

My sister and Jim are very similar.  They do not let rules confine them and they think outside the box.  My sister has no fear taking a pair of scissors to an article of clothing and fixing it up to her liking.  I used to say to her "You can borrow this sweater as long as you don't cut it."  My sister will cut anything she feels like, her hair, other people's hair, clothes, etc.  She is also really good at it.  I digress....

Despite our gloomy weather here in central PA, Jim gets some great shots.  (I am pretty sure the sky is grey and cloudy 300 days a year.)

He can also use his lens to shoot in miniature. He took these on top of a parking garage looking down.

I plan to post more of his pictures in the future.

Jack prays.

Jack likes to say our family prayer.  If someone else is praying, he will usually verbalize his prayer at the same time.

Last night we were smart enough to catch it with the camera.



In case you are wondering why I am in bed, it is because I ran a long distance earlier that day and I was a bit tired. I am covering my face with the sheet to hide my laughter, because I think Jack is so adorable and hilarious.

Birthday

Lilly turned 6 on Monday.  She was born on a Monday and it was rather odd to have another January 23rd pass by on a Monday.  How can she be growing so fast?

Sunday night I made cupcakes for Lilly to take into her class. The only specification she gave was "NOT chocolate!" I cried inside and made her lemon cupcakes.  I also spent an inordinate amount of time making cupcake liners. 20 of them to be exact.  In hindsight I probably should have spent a little more time on the quality of the cupcake and less time on the liner.

I would just like to say that Lilly is one lucky girl.  Her dad woke up early to make her a special breakfast of crepes before his commute to State College. She opened up some presents while Jim finished the crepes.  Her favorite gift was her own personal stapler.  That makes me so happy because I picked it out knowing she would love the stapler.  She has spent the week stapling.

(Stacking her gifts.)

During Lilly's celebrating Jack had a few fits.  Jack is going through a phase, one might call "the terrible two's," I am hoping it will not last that long.  So far the phase has involved screaming, throwing, hitting, and dramatic collapsing to the ground.  (Last Thursday he screamed for 3 solid hours before I took him to the doctor, convinced that something was wrong. Nothing was wrong.)

(Fit.)

Lilly picked out her perfect birthday outift and happily went to school. 

There was a two hour delay, which was the perfect gift.  Her name was read over the loudspeaker and she got a special crown and birthday pencil.  After school we played at the McDonald's playland and then came home to get ready for dinner.

Jim's parents came over for pizza and wings, and of course birthday cake.

My neighbors had another cake lying around, so they brought it over as well.  Apparently my neighbor's have a tenant who works at the local bakery and gives away the cakes as they near the expiration date.  Explaining the dragon cake and Jack's car cake. We also had "Peachy Paterno" ice cream that Jim brought from State College after he finished class that day. Jim thought that this was a good way to honor JoePa (I will follow up with a Joe Paterno post later).

Lilly was one lucky girl with two cakes.

This is going to sound cliche, but it's true, Lilly is a delight.  She is sweet, loving to her brother and parents, eager to learn, loves to cuddle with her mom, and loves school  Her teacher sent home a progress report and she has aced everything.  Her teacher wrote "Lilly is my best writer. She writes with inner dialogue and feeling."  She also said that "Lillibeth has blossomed into a sweetheart. She is a joy, loves to learn. I love her, she is amazing."  How could you not love a teacher who says that about your child??

American Girl Store

Last Friday I gave Lilly an early birthday present.  I took her, along with Alysson and her mom Tina, to the American Girl store in Tyson, VA for her birthday.

  

The store is a bit overwhelming and a tad, shall I say, completely out of control?

Hooks for your doll while you wash your hands in the bathroom, each individual stall has a hook as well.

The store also has a doll salon.  You can get your doll's hair styled, a facial if she is particularly dirty, and her ears pierced.  Lilly has been begging to get her doll pierced for some time.

I was rather ashamed to have a doll at a salon, but Lilly thought it was fantastic.

After shopping and piercing we had a birthday lunch for Lilly at the American Girl restaurant. I made this reservation in advance with all the pertinent information for Lilly's birthday.

The dolls are seated at the table with you and are served plates and cups.

Lilly received a birthday crown, and crowns for all the dolls present.  She had a cake with six candles and a goodie bag. Grandma brought fun presents and so did Alysson.  

Each guest at the table chose an appetizer and an entree, and was then served cake and ice cream.  

There were several birthdays that day and we kept seeing the same cake brought out and then taken back to be cut.  We questioned whether they brought out the same cake to every table, but they did not, because we got to take the leftover cake home.

Lilly picked out a dog named "Sugar" as her treat from the store.  At lunch she kept asking me to hand her sugar.  It took many sugar packets handed to her until she finally said "Sugar the dog!"

My mom was able to join us for lunch, which was another surprise for Lilly. I was so happy she could join us for our girls lunch.

Lilly had a wonderful day.  I have video that I will upload soon.