Today we had one of Emma’s classmates over for a playdate after preschool.  I think Rachel’s mom & I can appreciate this photo since we both know our girls are not super smiley and oftentimes quite shy.  However, when you get them together, they talk, laugh, smile, & play non-stop!  Thanks for coming over today, Rachel!  The quiet house I now have is in part thanks to you!

My dearest childhood friend is having a baby!  Her first baby!  And a girl baby!  Aren’t you as excited as I am?!?!?!?!?  Well, you should be!

Her surprise baby shower was today and I sort of went.  I was supposed to be there at 3pm, but whatever I ate at 1pm didn’t agree with me, so I left my house almost 45 minutes later than I had hoped!  So, I arrived after the surprise (better than ruining it, right?) and got to witness a sea of baby shower cuteness!  The baby’s room is decorated in pink, green, and brown, so the hall was decorated in the same manor.  Now, being the lazy friend/photographer that I am, I forgot my camera, was late, and didn’t even wrap my Bumbo!  But, I showed up!

I snatched a few party favors for my girls & to take photographs of.  The cookies are onesies! Aren’t they stinkin’ cute!  And the gift boxes say Martha Stewart on the bottom.  Whoever coordinated & decorated this shower needs to start their own business!

I cannot wait to meet this little girl, Steph!  Been waiting for this day for a loooong time!

(*oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, that is a can of coke on my desk.  And yes, the walls in our new office/playroom are Slimer green – it used to be a kid’s room!)

I’m posting earlier today than on other days because I’m about to be invaded by a great group of high school girls from my church for a “Finals Are Over” sleepover.  I’m sure we’ll be up past midnight so I can get some shots for tomorrow’s post.

About this photo:  I’ve been eyeing this fire hydrant for a while now. I pass it every time I drive my girls to preschool & it just intrigued me.  I’m not sure why.  So, today, I finally pulled over on the side of the road and snapped a few pictures of it.  I wonder if it still works?  I wonder if the people in charge of fire hydrants know of it’s dilapidated conditions?  I wonder why I chose it?  I don’t have any answers today.

Photos I’ve been looking at:  Heather Grace Photography.  Heather is a very dear friend of mine, and also a photographer.  We have daughters around the same age & I love seeing what her little ones are up to throughout the week.  She also just shot a sweet newborn session.  I love what Heather does with newborns – they just look so newborn-y!  She’s got a special touch with them.  Great work, Heather.

Welcome to my living room.  No toys were cleaned up in anticipation of this post.  In fact, there are a pair of socks lying on the floor visible in this photo (dirty socks).  This is how I roll.

This quaint Melissa & Doug dollhouse was just sold to us by our neighbors & friends Anna & Kate.  Anna is cleaning out some of her toys & her mom Laura offered this dollhouse to us first.  She also told me that Brooke plays with it constantly whenever she visits Anna’s room.  We do have a dollhouse already, 2 in fact, but one is Emma’s and the other is what the girls call a “baby” toy.  It was Emma’s first dollhouse given to her by my mom on her birthday – the Fisher Price Little People series.  Ever since then we’ve been collecting a slew of Little People until it got too unbearable.  They were like a bunch of breeding rabbits, showing up everywhere!  The kids have loved them, but I told them if they want to buy this dollhouse, they needed to sell some of their old toys to make room for the new one.  They agreed.  Some things have sold (enough to clear out some clutter) & they’ve been playing with this doll house non-stop since Laura brought it over.  So, thank you Laura, my dear friend, for thinking of us.  We love its simplicity & the imagination it brings forth.  Emma & Brooke are in dollhouse heaven!

Here’s to recycling your toys!

And to get this shot – in case you care – I put my camera on the dining room floor and put the ISO at 400, the aperture at f/4.0 and the shutter speed at 0.6 sec.  I wanted to see if I could get enough light, no grain, & enough in focus without using my flash.  My makeshift tripod of the dining room floor seemed to work well!

Photos I’ve been looking at:  Homeshade Photography.  Tasha Pool was introduced to me by my friend Heather (her website, not her in person).  I’ve loved looking at all her work, following her numerous hilarious status updates on Facebook, and just enjoying her real, vibrant, & colorful photos.  She’s even shared with me a little bit about how she does petti parties for little girls & mini-sessions for various other holidays.  They are kind of like Tupperware parties with the hostess inviting friends over for little photo sessions of their kids & the hostess receives credits for the more guests she invites. It’s ingenious!  And this girl cranks out the photos – and they are by no means mediocre.  She is fabulous!

Well, that’s my talk for today.  Just wanted to give a little shout out to my wonderful family, friends, and clients who’ve pushed my Ethiopia fundraising all the way up to $500 so far!  (Corinne, Jimmy, Ashley, the Rode’s, Kelly, Aunt Gail)  And the total cost of the trip got reduced to $2,500 so I am on my way!  If you’d like to help me get all the way there, visit my online donation page.  I’ll also be mailing out support letters & prayer cards, so let me know if you want one too.  I covet your prayers!  Thanks so much!

Emma has had a little runny nose today & is claiming to “not feel well.”  She did, however, make it to preschool for the in-house puppet show field trip.  When we got home & ate lunch I declared a “no TV” rest time.  It worked!  She & Brooke broke out some toys they haven’t played with in a bit.

This photo is of them playing with the Lite-Brite.  I fondly remember playing with this toy when I was a child.  And you’ll have to ask my mom if the pieces were as hard to keep up with then as they are to now.  (*On a tangent, the lite-brite pieces have come in handy as roads when we lose pieces to Settlers Of Catan)  I’ve been so pleased with the level of getting along & togetherness they’ve exhibited during this forced “no TV” time.  They’ve been creative, played with lots of different toys, & their imaginations have been running WILD!  I love their creativity!

I was actually kind of bummed today because I had no idea what to shoot & really didn’t feel like going on with my streak of a photo a day.  I just felt like curling up under the covers on the sofa & drifting to sleep while listening to my Augustana station on Pandora.  However, life must go on, even if we don’t feel like it.  And I was inspired by my friend & neighbor Mary’s blog post today on creativity.  She reminded me that I can be creative as much as I want to be.  I just have to want it.  Thanks, Mary.

Photos I’ve been looking at:  As many photos as I can to wrap my head around this whole Haiti thing.  It’s just devastating.  And as sad & tragic as it is, I am making sure I look for the little stories of miracles & hope in the midst of it all.

*ps – in case you’ve been waiting, I AM slowly going through my photos from the Prigel-Castillo wedding so that I can have a blog post shortly.

*pps – my sweet husband it working on my iPhone App for me – I should be revealing it soon

*ppss – I am humbled by your encouragement & donations for my trip to Ethiopia – God’s provision is amazing