{goobers} -- 24/365 -- 2009

{goobers} -- 24/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{frame} -- 23/365 -- 2009

{frame} -- 23/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{drops} -- 22/365 -- 2009

{drops} -- 22/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{drip} -- 21/365 -- 2009

{drip} -- 21/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

Handsome Mason

Handsome Mason
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{blue} -- 20/365 -- 2009

{blue} -- 20/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{intricate} -- 19/365 -- 2009

{intricate} -- 19/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{dusk} 18/365 -- 2009

{dusk} 18/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{celebrate} -- 17/365 -- 2009

{celebrate} -- 17/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{personification} -- 16/365 -- 2009

{personification} -- 16/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{system} -- 15/365 -- 2009

{system} -- 15/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

3/52 of the girls :)

Ainsley was willing to ham it up for the camera with the promise of a lollipop.



Avery -- wanted no part of smiling today.

{spun} -- 14/365 -- 2009

{spun} -- 14/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{chop} -- 13/365 -- 2009

{chop} -- 13/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{breathe} -- 12/365 -- 2009

{breathe} -- 12/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{bling} -- 11/365 -- 2009

{bling} -- 11/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

Carpe Leafem

2/52 of Ainsley

She's such a fantastic little person. So full of spunk!

2/52 of Avery

Such a serious look for such a goofball.

1/52 of Ainsley

My little May May -- what a spitfire this girl is. She is just like the Tasmanian Devil, I'm telling you. She never stops going from the moment she wakes up, and all the while, she's climbing to the highest thing, swinging from the curtains, or trying to run all over the backyard with no shoes on. She is her own person -- VERY independent little turd. That's our affectionate nickname, which she regularly argues with me about.

She talks non stop.... and she's just a ball of hyperactivity. She does settle down and concentrate, too, so hopefully it's just your ordinary two year old hyperness.

Here's a quick movie of her just to demonstrate her wackiness. How can you not love her? As long as you have ear plugs handy...

Ainsley the Spaz

1/52 of Avery

I'm doing a weekly shot of both girls and figured it was a good time to start blogging again. You know, resolutions and all. So here are some things that Avery has been up to lately.

She's obsessed with coloring (in the lines! ONLY) and she loves to help me write shopping lists. All day she wants to make a shopping list. Sometimes I just tell her to write random things because we don't really need anything, and later when we do actually visit they store, she'll say, "Mom, you told me to write Crisco on the list, we NEED Crisco!" I can assure you, no one NEEDS Crisco, especially not me.

She is very into spelling -- Jed and I can only rarely sneak a word past her without her figuring it out. For fun we'll say things like "Avery is really a C-A-T" and she'll reply "I am NOT a cat!" There are about 20-30 words that she can spell aloud that we can no longer try to sneak past her.

She'll be going to KINDERGARTEN in August. HOW did that happen? I am both excited and terrified for her. Excited because I think she's ready and wants to go, but terrified because she'll be leaving me EVERY weekday and she'll be gone for many hours!

She is growing like a weed -- getting taller and smarter with each passing day. Her hair is finally hair -- meaning, no longer just a wispy fluffy mess. I actually trimmed her hair for her a couple of months ago because it was long enough to pull it off!

She's my girl -- I love her to bits. I love it when she comes into bed (after Jed wakes up... there isn't enough room for the three of us) and snuggles with me for a while before she demands that I make her a healthy breakfast. I know that won't last forever... I cherish those mornings!

{departure} -- 10/365 -- 2009

{departure} -- 10/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

Finally got around to seeing "Across the Universe." I LOVED it!

{perch} -- 9/365 -- 2009

{perch} -- 9/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{treasured} -- 8/365 -- 2009

{treasured} -- 8/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{visitor} -- 7/365 -- 2009

{visitor} -- 7/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{breeze} -- 6/365 -- 2009

{breeze} -- 6/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

{samara} -- 5/365 -- 2009

{samara} -- 5/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

The seeds of a Japanese maple are called "samaras" and when they fall, they sort of float to the ground in a spiral. Really cool...

{obedient} -- 4/365 -- 2009

{obedient} -- 4/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

My little Murphy Boy :) His most recent nickname is "Smurfleberry." Don't ask...

{plans} -- 3/365 -- 2009

{plans} -- 3/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

So I'm trying a photo a day for 2009 and figured it was also a way to make me blog more regularly. I have sucked at it since doing my self portrait project. So here's day three... I'll try to remember to do this regularly, but maybe not daily :)

{daybreak} -- 2/365 -- 2009

{daybreak} -- 2/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

Photo a day for January 2, 2009. Last spring I planted these lavendar in my backyard and they seem to be pretty hardy. Hearty? I am too lazy to look it up. They are one of two plants that we've planted in our many new flower bed areas that were created with our backyard remodel project. We have A LOT to do this spring!

{afterglow} -- 1/365 -- 2009

{afterglow} -- 1/365 -- 2009
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

My first photo of the day that doesn't include me.... AHHHHHH. Big sigh of relief. We had quite a night on NYE -- had some friends over, made lots of good food, stayed up way too late. It was great :)

366/366

366/366
Originally uploaded by snippets_from_suburbia

DONE! I am so done... I did a year of self portraits -- one every day. It was a long year. I feel like a new woman knowing that I don't have to take a picture of myself today, or tomorrow, or....

Doesn't it suck when...

you suddenly start to have lots of things happen to you to reinforce the fact that you're getting old? And also, that you're not nearly as dumb as the younger generations?

Today I was at a little sandwich shop by myself. I ordered a sandwich to go and was sitting there waiting. The Beatles song "Dear Prudence" came on, so I kind of hummed along to myself and watched people for a few minutes.

Then I listened to the conversation two guys were having. I would have picked them as being 25-ish.

One of them asked the other (about the song): "Hey, isn't this that song from 'Across the Universe'?" The other replied "Yeah, that's an awesome movie." Then the first one asked "Who sings this?"

REALLY?
SERIOUSLY?

I mean, the movie is kind of about the Beatles, right? So probably... the original? It's probably BY the Beatles. It made me want to shout "OMG, WTF?" -- but not the words, just the aronyms. I'm sure they would have understood those better.

DUH. I am making it a point to play Beatles CD's (no, not records...) for my girls from now on. If Avery can walk around saying "I can ride my bike with no handlebars," surely she can also remember "Eleanor Rigby" and "Nowhere Man."

Busy time...

I am back to work on a shared contract this school year, so things have been crazy busy. I actually worked a 40 hour workweek last week for the first time in more than 4 years... the first week of school I'm required to be there all 5 days. Needless to say, I'm tired! The girls start preschool on Tuesday so we're going to meet their teachers tomorrow and refresh their memories about the school. They'll go there twice a week, on Tuesdays from 9-12 and on Thursdays all day long. That'll be tough for them at first, I'm sure. But it'll be the only day that they'll be gone from us all day long.

I haven't had much time for photography lately... which makes me aware even more that I am totally addicted to it. It's nice to have a hobby that helps me document the girls' lives and our family as a whole.

Here are a few recent pics... (click to enlarge)

Awesome...

I saw this link somewhere the other day, can't remember. The commentary is fantastic.

Cake Wrecks

Lots of reasons to smile...

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

June 2008

Summer has been busy. I forgot that last summer my teacher friends were all off of work and I suddenly had a lot more playdates and midweek things to do! So we've been busy here playing and reading and learning to ride tricycles. We've had lots of stubbed toes because the girls refuse to keep their shoes on outside and it's maddening following them around all day reminding them to put their shoes back on. When do kids learn to walk without constantly hurting themselves?!?!?

Here are some recent pictures, and at the bottom, a video of our SWEET and CHARMING Ainsley May :)







A personal favorite...





And the video, entitled, "Stupid Mommy."

This would SO make my 2009...

I've heard here and there that an "Arrested Development" movie is supposedly in the works. If you were a fan of the show and hadn't heard this rumor before, I've no doubt you're cheering at home, alone, in your underwear, practicing your "Waiter, get me a vodka!" routine. How freaking AWESOME would that be???


(This photo shamelessly stolen from the Fox Website)

Just had to document...

I listened to Ainsley count to ten today with no prompting or encouraging from me whatsoever! Love it!!!

I need an intervention

I am completely addicted to playing Scrabulous both on Facebook and on the Scrabulous.com website. HELP!

Fiesty little one...

Mourning the loss of a favorite pasttime...

I've thought a lot since having children that one thing I always loved to do (and still do, really) when I was a kid all the way to my college years and even into my married life was to prank call people.

MAN, I love to prank call people.

It used to be such a simple way to totally annoy other people anonymously while completely amusing yourself to the point of almost peeing your pants. What could be more fun than that? Really?

With the invention of *69 and Caller ID, I'm afraid that calling the neighbors to ask questions like "Is your refrigerator running?" and the bowling alley to inquire about whether or not they have 12-pound balls and, if so, how they fit them into their pants are falling by the bad joke wayside. I have to admit, I've mourned this for quite some time. How can childhood be the same without being able to call someone and ask if I.P. Freely is there?

Some of my favorite episodes of the Tonight Show are when Dave Letterman steals random things from the TGIFriday's across the street from the Ed Sullivan Theater and then calls them afterward to say he's holding the item for ransom. Funny, funny stuff.

I just wonder what has replaced prank calling for teenagers today? Prank texting? Leaving anonymous comments on each other's My Space page? Who knows. I'm sure it's not nearly as amusing as calling Target and asking them to page a customer named "Mike Hunt." How could anything ever compare???

Dear Tina Fey:

I love you.
That is all.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year we went to our favorite little breakfast restaurant nearby and had some awesome pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, etc. Afterward we drove up to Lake Arrowhead and hiked around for a while before going to the lake and wandering around the village shops for a couple of hours. It was a nice, leisurely morning. On the way down the hill I wanted to look at the pictures on my camera and ended up making myself carsick -- not to the point of actually puking, but definitely to the point of feeling woozy and like I was turning green. Add two whiny kids in their carseats directly behind your head that keep dropping whatever their treasured toy of the day was and begging me to pick it up again and again... that part = not so fun.

We tried for a family portrait, but only managed to get half of us into the picture.



Ainsley started melting down a little at the end of our hike because she wanted to walk it herself, which is totally fine, but not in the parts where there was lots of loose rock next to a cliff edge. She is so not afraid of things like this I kept envisioning her sliding down the hill and rolling and tumbling to the bottom. Next time we'll do a flat, safe, desert walkabout or something.



Jed and the kids got me a new tripod as a gift, too. I haven't really checked it out a ton yet, but it does lots more things than my old one did. Yay!

A SAHM's Dream Come True...

I used to wish for diamonds and Cristal and trips to the French Riviera. Now I wish for maids and chefs and chauffeurs. Five minutes of peace so I can drop a deuce after my morning coffee would be nice, too.

Not good for my self-esteem...

Avery has come into a phase of brutal honesty. She constantly tells me things that challenge my view of myself.

In the morning, she comes into my room to find either me or Jed. I'm usually already up and maybe gone walking the dogs. But if I'm still there, she'll get into bed and cuddle with me. Once we're all comfy and snuggled together, she'll say something like, "Mom, your breath stinks. You should really brush your teeth."

Yes, I know dear. If you didn't wake up so early I might have already showered and gotten those important things done.

This morning while I was changing clothes she said, "Mom, kids don't have boobs. Adults have boobs, though. Yours are big and droopy."

Uh-huh. That's because you breastfed every three hours for a year, Avery. I blame it on you.

Last week in the dressing room at Target, she said, "Mom, those pants aren't going to fit you. You are all fat and chubby!"

I guess I can count on her to really tell me like it is...

It works the other way, too. She tells me on a regular basis, "Mom, you're so beautiful and precious. You're my precious darling."

Love her, that little stinker.

(click to enlarge)

Working with RAW -- my next step...

I'm trying out RAW files for my photography. Not sure if I'm sold... the files take up so much more room than fine .jpg files. But here's an edit I did today that I thought I'd share. If I were to print it, I'd print the CS3 edit, not the B&W with texture... just for fun.

So heartbreaking...

I recently photographed a woman named Heather who runs mom4life.com. We took maternity pictures in some local spots around town and I was really happy with the results. She found out yesterday at 37 weeks that her baby boy no longer had a heartbeat. Another friend, Sarah, contacted someone at the "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" foundation to help photograph him once he's born. I feel so heartbroken over the thought of this happening to anyone, but especially someone as wonderful as as Heather. I don't feel like these photographs were taken in vain -- I feel like they're all the more special now. Just such terrible news...

500% margin of error...

3 years old
plus 2 shoes
times 100% of the time
equals 500% margin of error

Family Circus Snapshots

Click to enlarge if you like :)

Bobble Head Bathers

The REAL reason I chose to procreate...

107/366

Testing Flickr's post-to-blog...

Crimony...

I've been on an extended blogging hiatus. People who I don't want to read my blog keep Googling and finding me and then referring to things I've written here to my horror, because if they only went far enough back into the archives, they'd have found some shit I'd written about them and I'd be waking up to toilet papered trees and a paper bag filled with something awful on fire on my porch.

SO! I resolve to blog again. Voila!

My little problem solver...

So we're expected at a birthday party this Saturday. Avery saw the invitation and got all excited at the prospect of cake and games and 3-year-old mayhem. I explained to her that there might be a chance that we could have to go to the hospital if my SIL is having her baby that day and we wouldn't be able to go to the party. Here's the exchange that resulted from this heartbreaking news:

Avery: "But Mom, I want to go to Jacob's birthday party!"

Me: "Well, Avery, I do too, but if Auntie Jodi is having her baby, we will want to go visit him that day at the hospital."

Avery: "But I don't want to go to the hospital, I want to go to the birthday party instead!"

Me: "Avery, I'm sure we'll be able to go to the party, I was just letting you know that there might be a chance we'll go to the hospital if Auntie Jodi's baby is coming."

Avery: "Mom, can't Auntie Jodi have her baby at Jacob's party?"

Me: Hysterical Laughter

I'm sure Auntie Jodi would much rather be surrounded by Labor and Delivery nurses than Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey and a Dora Pinata. I'll be sure to suggest Avery's brilliant solution to our problem to her, though.

Blog move, again...

My poor blog has gone through too many moves in its lifetime. If you're still with me, thanks for sticking around :)