The Leaf Man

The girls and I went for a walk the other day (we do this at least three times a week which includes me at my 5'1" stature, a double stroller and a preschooler plus a toddler) and Lorelei brought her Elmo's doctor kit (minus the stuff) to carry some fun stuff. She loves to collect so I figured this would be perfect for her. She enjoyed collecting different items and we took them home. This was the other day and we finally got to making the leaf man today. (We've been busy, but good busy.) So take a look at Lorelei's leaf man (which includes an awesome beard) and please enjoy.

Before & After: Hang On Kids

The edit I'm sharing with you today is from the park just yesterday. We went out with Jennifer over at A Beautiful Life to the park and really enjoyed ourselves. I think we got some wonderful shots between the two of us. This is my favorite shot from yesterday. I'm not sure how the edit turned out, but the kids are just adorable. Zeke was the first one hanging so by the time Lorelei got up there he was ready to get down, but the kids were just having a blast together. There is Jennifer to the side and baby Kiah at the bottom while Hannah is with her Momma. Please enjoy my before and after. Thanks!

After:

Before:

For more Before and After shots please take a look at the button below. Click it and have a good time!

It's Another Black and White, Wordless Wednesday

I thought I would compile a sort of funny and happy Black and White, Wordless Wednesday fairly similar to one I did just under a month ago (look here). Well, I hope you enjoy a little funny today. Take a look.

Thank you for stopping by! Please take a look at other Black and White Wednesdays and Wordless Wednesdays by clicking their buttons below!

Touch Up Tuesday: Lorelei Plays Dress Up

I have not taken photos in days. This is not good, so I grabbed the camera this morning and started snapping away. We did a few projects I took some pictures and I tried to get some good photos of the girls. The photo I picked to use for today is of Lorelei playing dress up in some of her accessories and some of mine. It was hard picking from all of the photos I took this morning so I hope you like it. Please enjoy and thank you for stopping by.

The Edit:

The SOOC:

For more touch ups please check out the link below!

Simplicity Photo Challenge: Snapshot (Everyday Happenings)

Here is a quick snapshot from the other day. The idea over at Simplicity is a snapshot to show what happens in your house at any given moment. This is a great example. Lorelei and Hannah are playing "Ring Around The Rosie." As long as Lorelei remembers Hannah is responsible for her own "All Fall Down" all is well. Hannah quite enjoys plopping down and laughs whenever anyone else does it and Lorelei couldn't be more thrilled when Hannah grabs her hand to play one more time and one more and one more. Well you get the picture. Please enjoy my snapshot.

Check out more Snapshots over at Simplicity!

A Game: How Funny Are My Girls

Today I would like to play a little game in honor of the holiday and "last summer weekend." I would like to have a little fun with some funny questions and three choice answers. Please enjoy and have a laugh!

1. What did Lorelei thorougly enjoy with plenty off laughs when she saw it jiggle?

a. her jello

b. my thighs

c. a fish after being caught

2. What did Lorelei say about a women holding a large sign in the wind?

a. that she laughed hysterically hard when the sign kept falling.

b. that she felt bad for the lady.

c. that she wanted to help the lady.

3. What is Lorelei's favorite drink?

a. Gatorade

b. water

c. chocolate milk, but calls it hot cocoa.

4. What does Hannah climb in?

a. the toy box.

b. the baby doll pac n play.

c. the bath tub.

5. What does Hannah say to get what she is after?

a. pea peesh

b. ank u.

c. me me

6. What did Hannah swallow a while back?

a. a tiny plastic poodle.

b. a penny.

c. a rock.

The End

Three questions per child. How well do you know my kiddos? What do you think Lorelei finds so funny?

Answers:

1, b

Yes. My sweet little Lorelei bumped into my legs and noticed they jiggled and kept on smacking them to watch them jiggle. "Look mom. They are jiggling!" This of course was while I explained to her that it was not polite. She still thought it was funny.

2, a

I don't think this game is shedding much polite light on my daughter, but yes she did think it was funny that the poor lady could not hold the sign in the wind. After all the lady was laughing herself, but that was quite a large sign and I felt bad. Lorelei did say that she herself "laughed hysterically hard."

3, c

Definitely chocolate milk. She does of course call it hot cocoa and this love came after watching an UmiZoomi episode about where milk comes from. She now loves chocolate milk.

4, b

The doll pac n play must look like her old pac n play or just look like fun, but she climbs right in and laughs and smiles. The first time she climbed in I took it away because I didn't want it to break, but she cried so hard I decided it wasn't that big of a deal. Bad mom.

5, a

Pea, Peesh is her way of saying please please. My polite pal Hannah. So cute. She also says "ank u" for thank you after she gets the object. So polite.

6, b

We do have a very tiny toy poodle Lorelei got from one of those change machines, but it was in fact a penny. I felt absolutely horrible and like the worst mom in the world. To read more on my horrible mom moment click here.

There you have it, three new facts about each little girl. I hope you enjoyed every word. I enjoyed telling it. Well, I was a bit embarrassed when I realized my momming skills seem to be lacking. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and please enjoy your day!

Just leaving the parking lot Lorelei held onto Hannah's hand this weekend to show her around on her first hike (where she was old enough to wander on her own).

Black and White Wednesday: Lorelei, Raggedy Ann plus Unexpected Guest Plus an Accidental Link Up to Mellow Yellow Mondays on 9/6/10

MELLOW YELLOW PARTICIPANTS

Please Read:

I apologize to Mellow Yellow Participants and the host at Mellow Yellow Mondays. I accidentally hit enter before checking the url it put in for me. Please click here for my MELLOW YELLOW ENTRY on 9/6/10. I am sorry for the inconvenience!

I enjoy this photo. It makes me smile with it's unexpected guest. The contradiction of the serene black and white with the funny twist makes me happy. Please enjoy!

"Lets Play Catch Up" A Letter From Yours Truly

Okay, so I have to say that I have been very intrigued by the new possibilities I have come upon with all of these photo challenges. I haven't ever really taken notice to having any kind of skill level with photography and never thought I would be so pleased with taking "that" good shot. At any rate, I am very much so interested in photos these days. So much so that it seems like my content has just gone down the pooper.

Not that photos aren't great content, but I feel like my blog has been steered into a corner. My journey has lead me astray from a "MOM BLOG" and more into a "Photo Blog" or "PHLOG" if you will. (This will be the only time you hear me say "PHLOG".)

The photo challenges have filled a void. I was missing some beauty in my life and now I have found photos, but since I feel my sharing is lacking I will share some updates on my life as of lately.

Lorelei is sharing some hilarious stuff these days. Oh, and she is so smart. As her great grandpa said over the weekend "not smart, intelligent." The things she says are just priceless. I tell you, she has already passed me by. I talk to myself often and she likes to answer me. She is always right.

Hannah is trying to talk more and more every day. She will be fifteen months on the fifth so she has her own "Hannah language," but it is cute as ever. Her facial expressions are priceless. She of course loves to run and laugh and laugh if you chase her. She does not like french fries or to stay in the swings for long. She will how ever over eat her big sister at the dinner table any night.

As for me I have been my regular happy fun loving, mom self. Okay, so I have been a little crabby especially after vacationing on the farm. Oh how I miss the birds song in the morning sun. I love living on the lake, but I so miss walking outside in my pajamas and looking like a fool without anyone staring at me or gabbing. Does that sound antisocial?

And as for my husband he is working his hiney off as usual. If it weren't for him and his hard work I wouldn't be able to be home with my girls everyday, teaching them, caring for them, hugging them and making sure everything is okay. He is my rock and he is my equal, and without him I would not know where I would be.

And to those of you who enjoy my photos I already have some ideas in mind for tomorrow. I hope you enjoy! Please forgive me to the ones who enjoy my written word as I have been dazzled by the photo challenges. I would like to think it happens to the best of us. I promise I will be back on track soon and will get back to my sharing self.

Thanks again! Please enjoy my pretty photos as well as my pretty words.

~Nicole

Photo by, My Father-in-law (Thank you)

Simplicity Photo Challenge: Love

I decided to go look a little outside the box on this photo challenge. The challenge is to share a photo showing love and my first instinct is love between family and little girls and their daddies, but when I got to thinking about love while going through my recent photos from our zoo adventure I saw a reoccurring display of affection in the photos; Lorelei and her Raggedy Ann doll. She is in love with this doll and takes her on walks, to the store, for car rides and of course to the zoo. There isn't any other kind of love like the love for your childhood doll.

Take a look at the Simplicity Photo Challenge for more photos of love.