Back Yard Art

It's been a long time since I've tried to do much with my photography hobby. Sure, I take lots of pictures so I have something to show on my blog. But I haven't actually tried to be creative with my photos since... well, since a long time. :) Today, I actually spent a half hour being "artsy" with the camera in our back garden. I don't pretend to have a fabulous eye for photos, but I enjoy looking for a fun shot or a unique angle. The lighting wasn't terrible today; it wasn't great either. That said, I thought I'd give a sampling of my work.

I started off with Samantha, though I can't say any of my work with her was exceptional... she's too wiggly these days, but still cute, of course. This first one is actually cropped a bit (her belly was hanging out down below), but I love it. Another cute one here below (I think). Sam always sticks her tongue out like that when she's concentrating on something. Right then, she was about to slide down the slide, which takes much concentration, of course.
Sam smelling the flowers... she generally tries to lick rather than smell.
Sam was trying to grab the camera in the one below. All you can see is her eyes, which, aside from being a bit blurry, looks kinda artsy to me. But the camera grabbing became her only object after this one; she lost all pose-ability. So, I decided to let her play while I took some other pictures of the fence and gate.

Lucky us, we have a very cool fence and gate in our back yard, and our neighbor's rose bush is growing gorgeous white roses right over the top and down into our yard. How very kind! It made a nice subject for my photo-practice. If you don't like picts with nobody in them, this post probably is not for you. For those who want to critique/admire/browse, feel free. No more comments, just pictures. I'll label them with numbers, just in case anyone wants to comment about a specific picture. The number refers to the picture just beneath it. Enjoy!

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7. (cropped slightly)
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Scotland pictures

Okay, so I'm finally going to post some of the pictures from our lovely trip to Scotland with Alicia and Scott. We had such a nice, relaxing time. Alicia's blog is much more descriptive and entertaining. She tells all about the village of Stevenston, where Scott's dad is originally from. And she has some great pictures. I highly recommend visiting her site (see our sidebar) for more details. Here we are on the beach in Stevenston...
Sam LOVED the water and wanted to dive right in. I had such a hard time keeping hold of her, I lost my glasses in the ocean. Sad day.
Below, Sam does a Laura Ingall's little-house-on-the-prairie run from Daddy toward the water.
Scott, Alicia and Brielle on the beach where Scott's dad and his family were baptized as members of our church, way back in the 1940s.
I know I said Samantha LOVED the beach and water. But let me repeat... Sam LOVED the beach and WATER!! Oh, and the sand... except she didn't want to touch it with her hands. When she fell over, she kind of army crawled along to avoid touching it with the palms of her hands. Funny.
So, the picture below is not just an empty beach shot. If you get out your zoom lense, you'll see the tiny pink spot in the middle; that's Samantha. I have no idea how we took this picture and still retrieved her before she dove in.
We literally dragged Samantha away from the beach and water. (And no, I'm not pregnant... not sure what is going on with my sweater there, but I don't normally look so belly-full!)
Below, a group shot on Stevenston beach. It really was such a lovely little town! And way to go Brian, using the self-timer on our new camera to take this nice pictures of us all.
Cuties in Stevenston...

Brian took about 20 pictures of this gorgeous old church in Stevenston, trying out different settings on our camera. I liked this one the best. The church was beautiful, and one of Scott's ancestors was buried in the cemetary behind.

I already included a shot of the Brig'a'doon in earlier post. Next, is the very beautiful, peaceful view from the top. While we were there, they were having some kind of wedding party at the posh b&b place on the right. The gazebo thing in the background is a monument to Robert Burns. If you haven't heard of him, shame on you and go read up on your Scottish poetry! (O my luv's like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June...)
We didn't go in the Burns cottage, is that cheating? Well, we probably would have, but is was closed, it was sprinkling, and the girls were asleep in the cars. All very good excuses, no?
After Stevenston and the western coast, we drove over to Edinburgh to spend our last day. (By the way, that coastal drive on the way over was spectacular, too bad we didn't stop for some scenic pictures, but I bet you can imagine?) We stayed in a really nice Marriott country club that looked like a castle. There was a gorgeous golf coarse out back, which we didn't use, as none of the Hone brothers were along for this trip. There were rabbits out front... Brie loved them. Sam was too interested in sprinting across the parking lot to stop and see the rabbits. Samantha's main interest in the hotel was the very cool phone. We unplugged it, and she talked on it almost nonstop until bedtime.
In Edinburgh, we toured Edinburgh Castle (Alicia's site has lots more picts of it and descriptions about how cool all the rooms were.)
We also walked the Royal Mile -- the famous High Street of Edinburgh where all the little kilt and cardigan shops are.
We went in one of those really old cathedrals with amazing stained glass windows. I thought this was a nice shot Brian took of the window...
Here's Alicia and me on the Royal Mile. (p.s. No , I did not wear the same clothes every day, but that red sweater was the only warm item I brought, and it turned out to be cold enough that the sweater is in every picture of me.)
The girls did great in Edinburgh, even though it was a long, cold day in their strollers. Just before we left, the rain poured down on us. Both girls hunkered down in their strollers and crashed out. We missed that cute photo op of the sleeping girls, but Brian stole this cute one of Brie sharing a breadstick with Samantha. It really was a lovely trip, and so wonderful to share with best friends! That's all for now, folks!

Post Visitors ... back to normal, I guess?

Scott and Alicia left last Saturday morning, and as soon as they left I started a very busy weekend I'd like to write about... First, I waved Scott and Alicia off at the bus station, along with Brian and Sammie, then I went to the Hampstead Womens Club Nearly New Sale. This is an annual event where the posh women of Hampstead have a great big sale for all their childrens' clothes and toys. I went last year and got soooo much good stuff for Sam, and I wasn't about to miss out this year. Behold my DEALS...

As predicted, I came home with a boat load of goodies... several pairs of pjs (Samantha is modelling a pair in her bed right now, I just snuck the above picture. hee hee.), some cute jeans and sweaters, a couple nice summer dresses, lots of socks and t-shirts, all of which are designer brands in great condition for just a few pounds apiece. Sammie was most happy with the TOYS and BOOKS I got for her... several new hard cardboard books with flaps and things, a few puzzles, and a couple lights-and-buttons telephones that she just LOVES (have I already mentioned her phone addiction? we think it's cute and hereditary).

Immediately after the sale, I rushed home to prepare for a Primary Activity Day at our house that afternoon. My good friend and primary counselor, Jenny, came and helped clean the house and set up the activities, while Brian went running errands and getting the food for us. It turned out to be such a fun activity! We have 12 children who regularly come to church, and 11 of them came to our party. We cut and pasted our "favorite things" onto a worksheet, then did poster paintings of ourselves and played a little guessing game with the pictures. We also decorated mini pizzas to look like faces, and topped everything off with ice cream bars. I was so pleased with how it all turned out... No one got hurt, nothing got broken, and no one was crying when they left. I call that a success! Below are a couple cute pictures of the kids acting crazy, showing off some of their artwork. (I told them to put on a crazy face, and they did!)


After the party, I planned a lesson for church the next day, while poor Brian slept. He got the cold the rest of us had earlier in the week, and it really knocked him out for Saturday night and Sunday. Anyway, I was especially pleased with how my lesson went at church, and consequently had a very nice Sunday (it's sad, I know, but somehow the quality of my Sundays is very dependent on how the children behave during my lessons at church... patience is a virtue, I remind myself.)

Samantha has some sort of big news that's kind of funny. We have used a bath chair for Samantha (pictured below) for the past several months. They are supposed to support babies who are just sitting and perhaps crawling. Well, we've used it to CONTAIN our extremely active tub-lovin' baby. But not any more!! It's time to say goodbye to the bath chair (which she was starting to get stuck in, anyway). While Brielle was here, Sam was chairless, and it worked out fine, except that she is absolutely WILD with excitement at her new-found freedom in the tub! It's seriously like a three-ring circus at bathtime now. I mentioned her fear of bathing after our Egypt trip. Well, she's over that now, and can hardly WAIT to climb in. I took a few pictures of her last night because it was such a performance. Laying on her tummy is a new favorite position. Hilarious and wet!!
Sam's also been entertaining herself in her crib by pulling out as many clothes as she can reach out of the dresser (next to the crib). I've probably written about this before, but I finally got a cute picture of her with the contents of her pants drawer beside her.

One more news item for Sam, no picture included... While Scott and Alicia were here, we discovered that Samantha had cut four molars, unbeknownst to me! Alicia was talking about Brie's molars and asking how many teeth Sammie had. I had only counted seven, up front. We check for the molars and low-and-behold they were all four in! Who knows how that happened so fast? But it's great, she can handle all kinds of foods now, and eats like a champ!!

So, I still want to write and add more picts about our time with Scott and Alicia... don't get confused if a new post pops up out of chronological order, kay?

Two Cuties

Well, Scott and Alicia have gone back to Germany to finish their vacation before heading home next weekend. We had sooooo much fun and really enjoyed being with them. I want to write all the fun details of our time. But first, I want to share pictures of our two cute girls, Samantha and Brielle.


It was so much fun to see the girls together. I wouldn't say they've really made the connection they're supposed to be "best friends" just like their moms... at least not yet. But they did interact enough to keep us entertained. We got some great shots of the two of them together. Above, they're enjoying a bench together on their last day out.


Below, eating out: Sam stays in her chair, Brielle prefers to sit on her dad or mom's lap. Sam likes to eat lots of carbs but little meat, Brielle likes to stir things into her water cup. I think they both learned some of each other's tricks.

On the Brig 'o doon: Brie posed for several cute solo shots, and then we decided to try to get one of both girls together... imagine us snapping several photos as Sam ran by on her way across the bridge and back again.
Tub time. Their last bath together, Samantha got dismissed from the tub early because she was just too wild for Brielle and was splashing too much water on the floor. Just too much excitement to bathe with her friend.
Shopping together. Okay so they weren't exactly thrilled to be in the shopping cart on the same little bench, even though Alicia and I thought it was just "perfect" that there were two little seats for them. Brie ended up standing in the back and Sam kept turning around to talk to her.

Next three photos is one of our favorite entertaining sequences:

Photo 1: Sam gets excited to see Brie and goes to give her a hug.
Photo 2: Brielle doesn't want a hug from Sam.
Photo 3: Sam on the ground. Hug unsuccessful.
Making Music: they actually played together on the piano quite nicely... not that it sounded nice, but that they were nice to each other.
Toy time: Hard to share the cool toys. Samantha does look like quite the bully in this one, eh? Poor Brie. But I have to say they both stood up for their rights quite well.

That's all for now, folks.

Visitors!

Hello! It's hard to get in some good blog time when we're so busy enjoying ourselves around here. We've had Scott and Alicia and their baby Brielle here this week, and it's been so much fun! I hope to be able to put up some pictures and write about what we've been up to, but not right now, because we're on our way out the door again in just a few minutes. So, for now, just a few quick pictures I'm stealing from Scott and Alicia's camera...

The girls on the beach in Stevenston (where Scott's dad is from).

The Brig 'o doon, a lovely bridge from the 13th century, famous in Robert Burns' poetry.

Our lovely Marriott country club hotel in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Castle... we took a tour. Very lovely!
More to come later.... Stay tuned.

Murphy's law in the kitchen

How is it that every time I wash and clean the kitchen floor, I end up dropping something on it within the hour? Seriously, it happens to me all the time. Last night, it was a pile of newly boiled rice, sticking in clumps all over the floor. Last week, it was a new bottle of ketchup that fell out of the fridge and exploded. (That has actually happened TWICE in the last couple months, believe it or not!). The week before last, I had just mopped the floor when I accidentally exploded a blender full of soup that I was trying to puree. Man! Murphy's Law in the kitchen... I just do not like it.

On a better note, I found a GREAT brownie recipe last night that came out perrrfect. They're already gone. :)

On an even better note, Brian is home. Yay! The nasty stretch is over and we finally get to enjoy a little down time (and sleep for Brian). Looking forward to meeting Scott and Alicia in Scotland for the weekend. Life is good.

cheerio for now!

Looking on the bright side

So, with my lonely nights of late, I've not only had time to gripe about how much I miss Brian and how hard this is; I've also been able to think about how good we have it and how much my little family means to me. Each night before I go to bed (yes, it's still after midnight every night, I'm ashamed to say), I sneak into Samantha's room to watch her sleep for a few minutes. I cover her up and just look at her cute little face, wishing the crib weren't sooo high, so I could kiss her little cheeks. Then I go back to my room and call Brian before going to bed. He sounds exhausted, but always kind and attentive, rarely grumpy or negative even on less sleep per week than I get per night! I wish him a good night, and wish he could be home with me, then say goodbye to him. As I say my prayers before turning out the light, I feel frustrated at first, but then grateful. Very, very grateful.

This may not be the ideal job or the ideal location for us longterm. It definitely has its downside and its rough spots. But it's not all bad. I mean, the pay is great, for one thing. And for now it's what we've got, and it's helping us reach some goals we've set for our future. It's true, I moan and complain about how it's so hard to see Brian work so much and be so tired and miss being home with me and Sam. I don't like being home alone so much, and I don't like seeing how taxing this schedule is to my poor husband! But I also feel very grateful for so many things...

• It's so nice to be able to stay home and be a full-time mom. I love seeing all the little things Samantha is learning and doing. I love how much she loves me and Brian. My mom called her my "little friend" the other day. I like that, because she really is such a fun little person and we are good friends, most of the time (just before nap time, or if I decide to get out the vacuum, we sometimes have to reevaluate our friendship).
• I love how Brian is so good at balancing his priorities and his time; even when the hours are unbearable and we don't see each other very much, I always know Samantha and I are at the top of his list of "most important" things. He does those little things that mean so much... a call when there's two minutes of down time; always a hug and kiss and a prayer in the mornings; and the other night, he even brought home two dark chocolate truffles he saved from his dinner and they were FABULOUS!
• I love our new home. It is so comfy and relaxing. I'm so grateful to have our parking spot right in front of the house, the few stairs we have out front (instead of the bazillion at our old place) and our big back yard with plants and a patio and a little barbeque grill that we've yet to use.
• I'm very grateful for a close group of friends here, who listen and understand and cheer me up with little escapes and escapades when the going is tough. It's so nice to be able to WALK to many of my friends' houses! How very convenient.
• I'm also so glad to be reasonably healthy and fit. I know that's cliche, but it's something I soooo very appreciate and hope I don't take for granted. I'm not saying I couldn't stand to lose that last bit of preggo fat, but I'm feelin' pretty good and satisfied right now, which is a nice way to feel.
• What else, what else? Oh yes, this is a BIG, BIG one... I'm very, very thankful for the phone! On my mission, I earned the nickname Sister Phone. I'll keep it, even though it doesn't rhyme with Bishop. :) We have an internet phone connection that allows me to call the US for free as often as I want. It's sooo nice to talk to my family and friends, most especially my mom. What would I do without the moral telephone support I get?? What a blessing of technology!

I'll stop there, but not for lack of more to say. Actually, I better get busy cleaning my house that I love so much... we have house guests on Friday, and we're going to meet Alicia and Scott and Brielle in Scotland on Saturday. Mucho worko to do-o.

Ciao for now!