Friday, March 28, 2014

Photo Friday 2014 ~ Week 13

My mom is in town and we have been doing some fun, touristy types of things this week.  I forgot my camera for most of them (typical) so I am just going to share a couple shots I took at the pool one day.  It's Spring Break week so there were some kids there who were visiting their grandpa that my kids were able to play with which was fun for them.  My girl even learned how to dive!  It's been really fun showing my mom all of the fun places around here and finding some new ones to visit too.  The other night we even tried geocaching but ended up not being able to find the one we were looking for.  I later found a note online saying that the owner had taken it for maintenance which explained why we couldn't find it!  We will definitely be trying again because the kids were really into it and it's free so of course I'm going to like it!

Here are my favorite photos of the week!

I just love the drops falling from his hair!

Love the light on the water and the weird way things are distorted.

I'm having technical difficulties with the rest of the photos, so I guess I'll just share 2 today.  Have a great weekend!!


Friday, March 21, 2014

Photo Friday 2014 ~ Week 12

 One of my favorite color combinations is red and turquoise.  Just so happens that is my view most days when I look out of our window onto our balcony.  I love looking up at the underneath of our red umbrella up to the blue skies above.  So today when I was sitting out there I decided to take some photos.  Then as I was sitting there looking inside through the window at my kids I noticed the reflection in the window and I had to snap this.  I love the sheerness of the curtain and the slight reflection of the lamp on the table.  I love the shape of the umbrella and that gorgeous color combo.  It reminds me a little of abstract art...only I know what it is. :)

I love the way he is standing at the computer.  And I love the way my girl is on the floor doing something artsy.  This is pretty typical of our homeschool days lately.  I've gotten much more relaxed and I think we are all loving it so much more. I don't usually like photos with a lot of clutter in them, but that's actually pretty typical of how my desk looks.  I recently read somewhere that geniuses have messy desks. ;) The black and white edit just makes this work.  

My girl had on this crazy outfit the other day for Awana and I took a few pics.  Then she was just standing there for me because I was having some focus issues with my camera and she was being my model while I tried to figure out what was wrong.  I love this serious face.  She doesn't normally wear big bows like that anymore, but I love it.  I love little girls with big bows and short hair.  It's just a thing with me.

I snapped this yesterday when she was fluffing her hair.  She told me this story about how one of her friends told her she kinda reminds her of a vampire because of her teeth and she would sometimes think she was scary looking.  I was trying to be all consoling about it and she was like, "Oh, it's okay, I love my vampire teeth!" and proceeded to show me her vampire smile where she can make them stick out.  She's so fun!  By the way, my boy just stood here and told me this photo is creepy.  What?  I like it and don't think it's creepy at all!

Have a great weekend!  The weather is gorgeous here and I'm off to the pool!

Friday, March 14, 2014

Photo Friday 2014 ~ Week 11

I forced myself to take these photos today.  We got some  pretty heartbreaking news about a friend yesterday and I have been just in a sort of fog since then.  I don't really even know how to articulate my feelings because I'm still working through them.  I've been spending time praying and contemplating.  I needed to get out of the house though because being in nature and having the sun shine down on me always makes me feel better.  So I guess I'm thankful for this project today if only because it gave me something else to focus on and keep me busy.  And I got some really great photos too.  I decided to walk down to the entrance of our condo complex where I had seen this old door like every time I drive home.  I thought it would make a nice photo background.  I took my two favorite models of course.  Here are my favorites.

My pretty girl.  Love her blond highlight in the front.

Her hair has grown out a bit since I cut her bob and it's starting to flip out instead of under.  It's still cute, but I'll probably cut it again soon.

My boy.  He was totally making faces for photos today, but I did catch one quick smile.

Love her wild hair in this one!  She was jumping around.  She's a wild child.

She sure can rock the serious face when she wants to though!

They posed themselves for this one.

I adore my son's laugh.  It cheers me up no matter what my mood.

I'm thinking it might be haircut night for my boy. ;)  Love these two.

She picked these little flowers for me. :)  I am one lucky mama to have such sweet kids.

I hope you have a great weekend.  Enjoy your time with family and friends and make the most of it!

Friday, March 7, 2014

Photo Friday 2014 ~ Week 10

I just have one picture to share today.  I didn't take many photos this week, just a few snapshots of the kids playing around.  We didn't go anywhere exciting this week, not even to the park.  It was just a hanging out at home kinda week and that's okay.  We did go on a family bike ride over the weekend.  My husband and I finally got bikes which the kids were super excited about.  Neither of us had been on a bike in over 15 years, so we are still trying to get used to it!  We just rode around our condo complex because my boy isn't quite up for going near traffic yet.  We need to get a bike rack for our van so we can go to one of the many bike trails around here.  I can't wait to do that.  It's so nice that our kids are old enough now that we can do stuff like that as a family.  My mom is coming on Monday and staying with us for a while so we have been busy getting ready for her.  I can't wait to show her around now that we know more fun places to go and things to do.  And in just a few more weeks my brother and his family will be here.  It's so exciting to have visitors!  We have lots of new friends, but there is nothing like old friends and family to make you feel loved and at home.  Well, here is my favorite photo of the week.  I'm sure next week we'll go to some fun places and I'll have more to share.

He was playing this labyrinth game that he has.  You know the kind that is wooden and has a little ball that you have to get through the maze by tilting the floor of it?  They are so hard and I can't do it at all. He can get the ball totally through it.  He amazes me with his patience and perseverance sometimes.  He mastered it after just a few days of buying it.  I gave up after like 5 tries.  I guess he doesn't get those traits from me. :)

I like this photo because I just adore that little piece of hair that sticks out by his ear.  It's just so cute.  I tease him about it, but I think he likes it too because he won't let me cut it.  He likes his 'beach hair'.  I also like his eyelashes (so long!) and the way this photo is just a bit grainy.  I had to bump my ISO way up because it was so dark, but I like how it kinda resembles a photo taken with film.

I'll be back next week with more posts about our Florida life, so check back!  Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Lego Masters

The kids have been really into their Lego building lately.  We got a book from the library called "Cool Cities" which shows inspiration photos on how to build your own designs and they were definitely inspired.  One example showed a building with an elevator that really worked and my son was determined to build one.  He tends to be more of a stick to the plan type of builder so he was discouraged when he ran out of white bricks because he wanted the whole building to match.  He said his sister and I could finish it since he didn't want it anymore (I knew he'd still want it when it was done!) so we added the last couple of floors, and as predicted, he still wanted to play with it and helped out to finish it.  It turned out so awesome!  They added a park and a road and furnishings and it is seriously the one of the coolest things they have ever built.  I took some pictures and even since I took these they have added another skinny building next to the big one complete with a rooftop deck and more cars and people too.  I counted this as homeschool science class because we learned about pulleys and all kinds of stuff while building.  They even learned about teamwork and perseverance.  I love it when we have days where they can immerse themselves in something without interruption.  Here are some pictures!

 So proud of their creation!  My master builders.  :)

Close up.  Notice the elevator shaft.  You just turn that wheel on the roof and it lowers it up and down to each floor.

My son built the soda machine.  He was super excited about it.  He really wants a Coke sticker to put on it, but we looked up Lego stickers online and they are so expensive.  I can't bring myself to spend money on tiny stickers.

My girl built this floor.  She included a bed, a gumball machine (doesn't everyone need one in their house?) a fountain and a little table.  Pretty cute.

I helped out with the top floor adding a ceiling fan.  My boy added the other desks and things and I made a balcony off the front of the building.

I thought my fireplace was a nice touch!  I always have what I think are great ideas and my kids always shoot them down so I was happy that they let me keep the fireplace in there.  I guess my artistic vision is vastly different from theirs.  They don't really need my help, but my inner child comes out with the Lego building sometimes and it's so fun.  Plus it just made my day when my son told me that he "loves it when I play Lego with him, it's so awesome!"  Also, I just have to add that while we were building this, I remarked that it was so awesome and they both spontaneously starting singing the "Everything is Awesome" song from The Lego Movie at the same time and it was so funny.

They also added a road and a fire hydrant and bench with this old guy sitting on it.  I asked my son which floor he lived on and he informed me that he was just an old guy with no home so he lives on that bench.  We then talked a bit about homeless people and he decided to give him a job as the janitor for the building (he even gave him a little Lego broom) so he can hopefully afford a place someday.

This is the park next to the building where there is an ice cream vendor.  I love how this little project got their creative juices flowing!

The other side of the building.

Have you built anything cool with Lego lately?  I'd love to see it!

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