Snow, Snow, Beautiful Snow

We got snow last night...Actually it snowed from noon to midnight, at some times pretty heavy. Being a stay at home Mom, I find that the snow doesn't bother me as much as it did when I had to drive into the office everyday....for obvious reasons. The last snowfall we got, a week or so ago, melted already and it was looking pretty brown and dirty around here, so this snowfall was welcoming to me.

I've been pretty sick for the last few days. Keith went out to dinner last night with his family to celebrate his step mom's last radiation treatment (yaaa!) for breast cancer. I wish I was there!! I was so bummed I couldn't join them, but I would have been miserable and I didn't want to get my mother in law sick. So after he left and I put Ella to bed, I went out into the garage with my camera to take pictures of my surroundings with this beautiful snow in the back yard. I had been waiting for it to come all day as news reports said it would be 6+ inches for us.

All of these shots were taken hanging out the back door of my garage (except for the one of the grill which is up on my deck. That one happens to be my favorite).

"First" Dentist Appointment

This is really Ella's second dentist appointment. For some stupid reason, I didn't bring my camera to the first one. But, when I whipped out my camera at the office, we all agreed that I was documenting Ella's "first" appointment just to make me feel better! Aren't they sweet? :o)

Ella is such a trooper. She wasn't even scared for one second. With all of the praise she was getting for being a big girl, she felt so proud of herself.





The "spit sucker" was her favorite thing. She let it suck her cheeks in until it looked like her mouth was going to cave in. The dentist had to say several times, "Ok Ella, you can open your mouth now. I think we got everything in there." It was really funny. She just kept going cross-eyed looking at all of her spit go up into the tube.




I know the light is super bright on her face, but it was so cute how they put the sunglasses on her when the light came down for the final examination with the dentist.





When we got in the car and she said, "Mommy, they forgot to give me a shot."
I said, "What do you mean?"
She said, "They need to give me a shot so that I can get a bandaid for being a big girl."
I then had to explain to her that it was a different kind of doctor that gave shots and bandaids and that she was a very big girl at the dentist.

Wordless Wednesday - Puppy Love

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How In The World......

Many of you asked about my last post with the world in Ella's hand. It was totally unplanned...until she mentioned it to me. We were playing with playdoh and mixing colors when I did this little tiny one in her hand below she told me it looked like the Earth. I was first of all stunned that she knew the word Earth or what it looked like. But that's when I decided to make a bigger ball of playdoh. She was very excited that it was so much bigger than the one before.


Below is the original photo that I used. Yes, she actually has blue nail polish on...I wish she hadn't for this picture because I feel it took away from the actual focal point of the Earth. As you can see, the playdoh was pink and green to begin with. With a lot of Photoshop work, I got it to be blue and green. I worked so long and left it for many days to go back and look at it with fresh eyes.


I knew it wasn't perfect. The blue didn't blend as nicely as I had wanted it to. I felt that it almost looked like I placed the ball in her hand through Photoshop because the shadowing wasn't as consistent as I had hoped. But I finally laid it to rest. I knew it was the best I was going to be able to do, and I was happy with it for my limited PS experience. Thank you for all of your nice comments. :o)

BSM - The Whole World....

....Via Playdoh.



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Theme Thursday - My Two Loves

Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express. ~Joseph Addison



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Wordless Wednesday

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The Next Thing You Know......

I signed Ella up for preschool a week or so ago. She will begin this Fall in September. It will be for 2 days a week, 2 1/5 hours a day through May. I joke that I am super excited about the time I will get to be by myself....That I will drive her to school in my jammies, open the door and kick her to the curb yelling as I skid up dust in the parking lot, "See you in 2 1/5 hours!"

But, by all means, I AM SUPER EXCITED about it, but I think for maybe a week or so that I might end up pacing the house for those 2 1/2 hours that she is gone. I am thrilled that she is going to preschool. She needs so much more stimulation in her ever expanding world than I am able to provide her. I am excited for all of the things she will learn and do. All of the new friends and experiences she will have. And for the variety that will happen in our schedule.

I am excited. But I am saddened by the quickness of the last 3 1/2 year. She already talks like she is 30 years old....makes decisions like a supreme court judge....and delegates her clean up duties like a drill sergeant (even if it is just to her stuffed animals). The next thing you know she will be moving out, getting married and having a little family of her own! Deciding on a preschool was a daunting task. I am trying to tell myself that the rest of her life is not planned out at this stage. I wish time would stand still....

As Cool As A Cucumber - BSM

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Two Things.....

Two things have been going through my mind for quite some time now.

Thing #1. I am feeling HUGELY uninspired lately....AND I HATE IT. I have barely picked up my camera in the last 2-3 weeks. We all go through lulls like this but my creative pores are completely clogged right now and its so frustrating. I look at every ones images for "365" and they are great but I feel like my "eye" is sleeping lately. Every picture I take is blah to me.

That being said....

Thing #2. Have you noticed I have been into Ella's hands and feet recently? I was laying in bed one night and out of the blue the phrase "ELLAments of Life" came into my head. I saw images flash before me with all sorts of ideas on how to use this phrase. And again.....(refer to Thing #1).....I am at a loss. But one thing it has done for me is be so much more aware of her hands and feet....Sounds weird, I know. Not that I don't love them and look at them and kiss them everyday anyways, but everything she does with them, I just want to capture.

When she was a baby, my Mom used to say to me, "Look at those hands Jo. They are made to do great things." A little quirk she had when she was younger was that she used her middle finger as her pointing finger. She touched everything with her middle finger. She doesn't do that anymore, but it is still cool to watch her little hands and feet learn how to work.....Even at almost 4 years old.













So I guess I need to just pick up my butt (or my camera in this case) and start shooting again and hopefully things will fall back in place.......It would suck not to capture absolutely all of the "ELLAments of Life".

Wordless Wednesday - The Eyes Have It

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Crashing Guys Weekend!

Keith has had a guys weekend planed for about a month or two now up at his Dad's cabin. No big deal for me. They've done it before and planned to go ice fishing....but they decided against that when they went to the lake and saw how unsafe it was. I decided to ask my parents to take Ella Saturday night so I could have a little break too. I didn't want the weekend to turn into a crab fest having it be just Ella and I 24/7, you know. Plus I knew there was no chance of me going since I already invited myself one night to a casino sleepover with the guys last year. hehe. Good times. :o) I'll admit though...I am much more a guys gal than a girly girl, and all of my friends know it.

Friday night was great. Ella went to bed...I did whatever I wanted! The best part though was that I actually slept in the middle of my bed that night! Usually, even if I am taking a nap or something, I stick to my side of the bed out of habit, but on this night I TOOK OVER THE BED.....And it was fabulous.

Saturday night, I planned on doing something with my friend Sheila, who's hubby Todd was up north with Keith. Our plan was unclear, but one option was crashing in on the guys. Keith and Todd had an idea that we were thinking about it because Sheila had asked if we could go up with them before they even left and the guys nipped that in the bud right away. Well we left it kinda a mystery all that day....not too sure if they would be pissed off at us for crashing.

None the less, Sheila and I decided to do it, but it wasn't going to be until about 8-9pm that night. The cabin is an hour away and Sheila would have to leave her dog at home alone and only wanted to do it for 12 hours. So we had our plan...Head up late and leave early. Then Keith called me around 5pm demanding to know if we were coming! Finally I said, "YES, we are coming up! Happy?"

His response? "Great. Bring some eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast would ya?" Todd also sent Sheila a text message telling her to bring donuts!

I was appalled that they were ok with us coming up only if we were going to bring them groceries. I guess half of the guys left on Saturday afternoon anyways and they were looking for a little more company to mix it up a bit. Enter Sheila and I! Who cares....we were taking a little road trip to crash their weekend.

We ended up taking the dogs with us. Sheila and I and our two big dogs in the back seat. It was like Thelma and Louise! :o) (just kidding, no driving off the cliff or anything).

Once we got there, they were all trashed of course. We caught up pretty quickly and just ended up playing poker the rest of the night after the guys got their fill of 4 wheeling through all of the trails. It was a little too cold for me. I couldn't help though but laugh at the Scooby Doo bowl in the sink. It just seemed so appropriate that during a guys weekend, they ate out of Scooby Doo bowls. Boys will be boys. So I snapped a few more pics of relevant things going on at the guys weekend.....


Some cheesy chili concoction.....


And a crusty spoon that I was surprised even sat on a paper towel.....


Beer and poker chips...which actually was my beer. Their beer of choice is Guinness, but there was so much liquor being mixed that it just didn't matter. That was all out in a snow bank that I wish I had taken a picture of......


Cant forget the Patron!


A little Texas Hold'em action....


My husband was the first one down....which is not unusual. He is still a party animal at heart! We stayed up a few hours later, but once I headed to bed what did this girl amongst the guys listen to to drift off to sleep? The soothing sounds of Norah Jones! How unmanly can I get! :o)

Best Shot Monday

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