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!