Sunkissed Morning

Our dog Lulu is getting old. She is only 6 years old, but arthritis has set in and her joints are way crackety. Seeing that puppy behind those eyes is kind of deceiving. We used to let her up on our bed alot before Ella was born. But after Ella was born, we didn't want her jumping on the bed anymore in fear that she would smoother Ella one day. She is still quite a spunky dog, but pays for it usually later in the day.

Recently, she has started jumping up on our bed and napping again. When I go to look for her and peek in my room to see if she is under the bed or in her kennel and find her on my bed, I cant help but feel bad for her. I just know that her little arthritic legs had to have hurt jumping up there and she must have really wanted to get comfy on our bed to feel the pain. (To hear more about what she did with those arthritic legs click here). So I usually walk in there, pet her for a minute, give her a kiss on the bridge of her nose (my favorite place to kiss her) and tell her what a good dog she is.



I've probably mentioned before, Ella LOVES Lulu. She is ultimately her playmate at home. Available to her at all times. Completely submissive enough to play hide and seek under a sleeping bag with her. Calm enough to let Ella hang like a monkey around her neck. And humble enough to let Ella treat her jowls like rubber.

Sometimes you can look at a moment and know if it is going to look good through a camera lens or not. On this morning, I could not resist taking pictures of Ella and Lulu. Up crawls Ella with her blanket (tag in hand) and gently cuddles with her. Lulu didn't move. I also knew that I had just downloaded Pioneer Woman's new set of PS actions, which included a sunshine action.





I could have shown every single one of these shots by using the sunshine action. This series was just too perfect not to take advantage of that. But I thought it might have been a tad much to make a whole post using the one action....So I mixed it up with a few b&w shots too (which by the way, I have been feeling very b&w lately with my processing over Christmas for some odd reason).




This last shot has to be one of my favorites of all time of Ella. The sunshine effect and the milky, hazy, sleepy feel it has just melts my heart.

Best Shot Monday

I can remember when I was little how our presents would be scattered around the living room for at least a week after Christmas. Everyday I would go and pick a new toy to play with. It was so exciting to scrummage through all the new toys that I had received from Santa. Its no different at our house with Ella.

Keith and I have now made plans to go through Ella's old toys (after she goes to bed, of course) and start thinning out the mess. She doesn't play with half of them anymore and some are still from when she was a baby. I usually cringe when I buy a child a toy now because I know that every other house with children has basically turned into a toy store, like ours. But that's what they love. Toys. So I am convincing myself that as parents, we will just have to put up with the mess like our parents did. But it doesn't mean I cant make the mess a little smaller than it was. :o)

Hmmm.....I wonder if my Mom and Dad ever thinned out my toy collection after I went to bed......?



For more Best Shot Monday images, head over to Tracey's.

Christmas Eve to Day

Long post.....

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ella went to church on Christmas Eve with her Grandma and Papa. She got all dolled up in her dress and felt like a princess. Ella is a girl in every single way. When she puts on dresses she starts to squint her eyes, tilt her head, throw her hands up slowly and make a deep sigh....That's her "feeling pretty" move. It will never get old to me. We took a few pictures by the Christmas tree before sending her off to church. Keith and I had some alone time and then met them later for Christmas with his Dad, Stepmom and sisters.

(Aw crappers...I cut this off and mistakenly delete the original)



We were told that night that Ella and her cousin Jack were the cutest things. They walked around holding hands in their dress and suit and looked like an old married couple skipping away. Its hard to get Jack to pose for me, but I love them holding hands in this picture.


They have a baby grand piano at their house and every time we go over there Ella jumps on it and starts to play. She has music in her blood I swear.



On Christmas morning, we had Ella went potty and brushed her teeth before we let her go downstairs to see if Santa came. That gave Keith enough time to go to the bathroom himself and get the video camera. The first thing she did was check to see if the cookies and milk were gone. Check. Then she ran over to the stockings. She opened all of her gifts in the stocking and then opened Keith's, Lulu's and mine. Off to the Christmas tree. A few of the presents she got were a Snow White doll, a new camera (from our friends, which she loves) and a guitar.




Keith's mom came over in the morning. She knit an adorable hat and scarf for Ella. Then it was off for an afternoon nap for Ella and Daddy. Keith did not like waking up to the sound of my shutter going off. Oops. :o)


After the nap, my parents came over. The plan was they were going to bring a turkey over and we would have turkey sandwiches after Ella opened her gifts from them. As we are sitting downstairs, we hear a big crash upstairs. My mom says, "I hope that wasn't my turkey!" Sure as sh*t, the dog had eaten half of the turkey off the counter and finally pawed it down to the floor. O-M-G!! We were in shock. Lulu is the most well behaved and mannered dog I know. She was never a garbage picker as a puppy and has NEVER tried to grab anything off the counter. Its not like the turkey was sitting on the table or some place lower. It was on the counter and she would have had to have thrown her arthritic paws up on the counter and pull it to the floor. We were all stunned. I still cant believe she did it.

Needless to say, Keith was livid and she sat in her kennel for the next few hours. Keith ended up cooking a wonderful dinner for us. My mom hit it on the nail though....She said that for all the love and companionship Lulu has given us over the years, the least we could do is give her a turkey dinner! I agreed and wasn't so upset after that.



I have to add...for humors sake, that later that night after Ella went to bed, Keith and I were downstairs and he told me that Lulu would be spending the night locked in her kennel. He said he knew the turkey would make her want to poop and he was not going to clean it up off the carpets or something the next morning. Just as he said that, Lulu walked by us, started to go upstairs and let out the biggest fart ever. I swear it was the best timing in history. We laughed so hard.

So, one of Ella's favorite gifts was from Mama and Daddy. We had given her a doctors kit and a flute. The $0.99 flute was the hit of the day. I really need to remember that for next year before I start spending $40-$50 on toys she wouldn't enjoy as much.


All in all, I am thankful we made it through the day. Keith is on vacation now until January 5th and I am SO excited. It will sorta be like a little vacation for me too!

Merry Christmas!

My in-laws gave me this beautiful candle centerpiece for my birthday. It was so festive, I just had to post it for Christmas.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

Love Thy Hot Cocoa

The snow fell again last night and I hear we are going to get more later in the week. The joy that it gives Ella is amazing. No matter how cold it is, she wants to play out in the snow. I think we have figured out that part of the idea is that she knows she will get hot chocolate when she gets inside.

The second she walks in downstairs, she is yelling at me for hot chocolate, and driving Keith crazy because she cant wait to get upstairs to demand it from me. Little does she know that I have it all ready and sitting on the table for her....Tinkerbell cup and all!

Oh, those cold little cheeks. "Mama, Dont forget the marshmellow!"

Best Shot Monday

I love these quiet moments when she is enveloped in an activity.



For more Best Shot Monday images, head over to Tracey's.

33

33 bottles of beer on the wall, 33 bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, 32 bottles.......Nope, still 33.

No matter how hard I think about it, I am still 33 years old today.

Sometimes it is so hard to believe. I still feel like a kid....raising a kid now!

I went to the Celine Dion concert last night with my sister in laws. It was amazing. She has the legs of a stallion! I mean GREAT FREAKING LEGS!! I could not take my eyes off of her legs while she was performing. Despite that, she sounded excellent and I had a really good time. It's been forever since I pounded back the margaritas. Yum, they were tasty!

But I did not take my camera to the concert. We thought maybe they would search our bags and I was afraid they would not allow me to take it in the stadium. I did not want to have to leave it somewhere and go back and get it afterwards. Silly me. They could have cared less. Thankfully, my sister in law brought hers and she snapped a few shots.


Its hard not to think back on what has happened over the last 33 years. Its amazing the different paths we choose in life that make us who we are today. I often think about how happy I am with the way my life has gone, regardless of the trials I have been through. I would not want to be anywhere else in life but here. That's such a good feeling. I am very fortunate.

Thank you Karen for letting me take your camera home last night so I could download your pics. And thank you Crystal for inviting me to the concert. It's been a long year since we purchased the tickets. I love you's both wicked!

Theme Thursday - Holiday Memories

I can always remember Christmas morning. The anticipation and excitement of not being able to go to sleep and of waking up and seeing all of the presents in the living room. They didn't just go under the tree either. It seemed the presents overflowed throughout the room. My special present that I got was a stereo. Every couple of years or so, my parents would upgrade me from the last one I got. I started out with a record player, then got a boom box, then got a table top stereo until I finally got what seemed like the granddaddy of all stereos. It had its own cabinet, 4 component pieces and it was beautiful. As a matter of fact, I still have the stereo which now sits out in my garage. We use it in the summer time while playing outside.

My parents were very good to my brother and I. I don't know how they did it. Actually, my mom just told me the other day that she never bought anything for Christmas that she could not pay off in January. What a concept! Too bad, I don't know how to manage that....

I am so thankful that Ella is so close to my parents. She is their Angel. Their Princess. Their wonderful look at life again through new eyes. Grandparents are the best. And I know that they will give her just as many wonderful memories that they gave me as a child.

I posted a photo the other day of Ella and her Amu.

Here's Ella and her Eppe




For more Theme Thursday Holiday Memories, head over to Stacy's!

My Snow Baby

It has been so dang cold here in the last couple of days. I am talking' like -5 degrees of a high one day. We have also had a steady fall of light snow that has managed to stick around. Before it got too cold out, Keith and Ella spent some time outside enjoying the winter.

Ella is like our dog. She sees snow and she gets so excited. All she wants to do is get out there and pounce around and kick snow in the air. She helps Keith shovel the walkway and makes snow angels with a smile on her face the whole time.....Full of snoogies running out if her nose and everything!



I love that sweet little cold face! :o)



She's feeling it now!

BSM - The Golden Nest

Since Ella is full-on into Christmas this year, we have been purchasing ornaments for our tree almost every time we go out. Most of the stores have Christmas ornaments at 50% off or more, which is why I don't mind. Plus we don't really have many ornaments on our tree so I figured it was a good time to start collecting.

When we were at a store the other day, I picked up one special ornament for me. I couldn't resist it when I saw it because it reminded me of this past summer when Ella and I watched the Robin's in the nest under our deck.

On the back of the box for the ornament it read this:

The Golden Nest
Good luck comes to the household that has a nest among the branches of its Christmas tree. Within this glitter nest are cradled the golden eggs of Prosperity. Nestle this gift among the boughs of your tree and may you be rich with health, happiness and friendship.

I'm such a sucker for these selling ploys....But I love my golden nest of eggs. It will always remind me of that summer, and isnt that what we collect ornaments for anyways? So each year we can pull them out of the box and recount the memories that we have made with our children in the years past.


This is one of the pictures I got of the Robin's nest over the summer. You can see other shots here, here, here, here, and here.



For more Best Shot Monday images, head over to Tracey's.

Theme Thursday - Holiday Fun

I love, love, love Daddy time! The two of them had a great time putting together this ginerbread house.....Almost as much fun as I had taking pictures of them.









Ummmm....Yup, Ella made this gingerbread man. Think I have anything to worry about?


There's nothing like ending the project with a mouthfull of icing!!




To see more Holiday Fun, head over to Stacy's.