31 days down, 334 more to go!

It is hard to believe it has been a whole month. It is hard to believe it has ONLY been a month! :) I am ecstatic that I have made it this far! I know it is only 1/12 of my journey, but it feels like so much more. Especially when in the beginning I had no idea if I could really do it. And there are days when finding a picture is way harder than I thought it would be this early on. But other days there are half a dozen pictures that I have to pick through to narrow it down to just one.

I am not sure what the rest of the year will hold, but I hope that whatever it is I will continue to capture it - one photo, one day at a time.

Going hi-tech

Day 31 - Going hi-tech

I am downright giddy. I LOVE this thing. I practically drooled all over it online. Then on our way back from the car show last week I convinced Kevin to make a detour by our local home improvement store looking for a new wireless keypad for our garage door opener. And by a stroke of fate the garage door openers are in the same section as the doors which reminded me of it. I didn't really think they would have it in stock. But they did. And despite my husbands sticker shock I had to have it anyways. So this afternoon when the boys went down for a nap I ran to the store to pick up a different garage door keypad (don't ask), programmed the garage doors, remove the old keypad, installed the new keypad, and installed 6 new outlet plate covers, and then twiddled my thumbs while I anxiously waited for Kevin to install it. And finally it was done. A new number pad door lock installed on our garage door. Never to be locked out again (well, as long as there is power, and fresh batteries!) Like a kid in a candy store... I love technology!

Little Gym

Day 30 - Little Gym

We took advantage of a trial class at Little Gym this morning. The boys were really shy at first, but they eventually warmed up and had a great time running around and exploring. They really loved the parachute and the bubbles at the end of class.

In need of a 10 step program

Day 29 - The Addiction

I can admit it. I am a coke addict. So is my husband. We both drink far too many. And I have a coke rewards grave yard on top of my fridge to prove it. On a bright note arriving in my mailbox in a few short weeks should be the 1st edition of my Martha Stewart Living compliments of coke's rewards program.

Auto Show

Day 28 - The Auto Show

We took the day off and went to the auto show. It's about time for me to get a new car so I was really looking forward to checking all the new stuff out. And I was really surprised with what I found. I liked cars from several companies that I wouldn't have even thought to take a look at. Like Mazda - the CR-9. And GMC - The Acadia.

Kevin on the other hand was pretty predictable. His favorite of course was the Corvette. But alas, it still doesn't have a backseat much less the "real adult sized" backseat which is my one and only requirement for whatever car he picks out.

Bit Me!

Day 27 - "Bit Me!"

It was a rough day for the boys. Connor tripped and fell and bumped his head on the play kitchen. And Ryan got bitten. Twice. Once on his back and once on his tummy. Poor kiddo. When I stopped by his room to pick him up he came running up pulled up his shirt and said "Landon bit me!"

Grrrr...

And wouldn't you know the chips, tupperware, and cokes were on sale this week. Grrrr! :)

I saved $49.71

Day 26 - Holy Cow - I saved $49.71

My total grocery bill was 105.75 and I saved a total of $49.71. So if I did the math correctly I saved 32% off my total grocery bill. What is awesome about this for me is that I didn't use any coupons or spend hours figuring out how to save money. I just took advantage of the in store specials. I actually looked at the weekly ad to see what kinds of things my local store was running specials on and planned my meals around what was on sale. So easy, and definitely a big pay-off.

Some interesting facts -

- I bought a total of 50 items.

- 42 of them were on sale.

- 38 of the total items were on my list and amounted to $67.49.

- 12 of them were random things I picked up in the store (candy, chips, can of cinnamon rolls, a pound cake, cokes, and some take and toss tupperware). They totaled $38.26 - only the candy, and cokes were on sale.

- 2 items didn't ring up as expected/advertised - Pears were supposed to be $1/lb rang up $1.79/lb, Tuna should have been $1 rang up $1.59 - for a difference of $3.11.

- I spent $0.78 on a loaf of bread specifically to feed the ducks.

Needless to say I will definitely be paying more attention to at least my local store's weekly flier from now on and thinking twice about what I just pick up because it looks good in the store! :)

Week 4 - January 18th - 24th - Scrapped

Week 4 - Scrapped

At lunch today I managed to get Week 4 scrapped - the second page of the two pager including Week 3. Check out the gallery (linked) for full credits.

Polaroid

Day 25 - Polaroids

Turns out Polaroid isn't just for pictures anymore. Remember the Polaroid cameras - the camera, film, and photo processing lab built right in? Watching the pictures magically appear as it dried? Well, move over snapshots - there is an all new Polaroid in town. For video.

I actually got this one for Christmas. It was the one thing I picked out of the Black Friday deals. I finally got around to opening it tonight and going through the setup. Of course by the time I got around to it the kids were in bed and DH was off to the gym so I didn't have any models to try it out. So for now I just had to content myself to recording what was on tv.

Nature Walk

Day 24 - A Nature Walk

We took the boys to a nearby park and ventured off onto one of their nature trails. Though I didn't remember any recent storms there were several forks off the trail where the trail was too muddy to pass or underwater all together. The whole area was beautiful. The only reminders that we were in the middle of the city was the distant sound of traffic floating by and the other people out enjoying the outdoors who we would pass every once in a while.

All by myself

Day 23 - "All by myself"

Sometimes little signs that the boys are growing up like little weeds just sneak right up on me. Like yesterday at the Arbor Day Celebration when Ryan just walked right up the stairs. Not that he hasn't tackled stairs a million times before, but this time he didn't crawl up. He walked. Without holding on to a thing. All by himself. Completely out of the blue.

YMCA

Day 22 - YMCA

I stopped by the YMCA. It was a madhouse - the parking lot and the new overflow parking lot were almost completely full. There were already a a whole line of cars parked on the street - lining both sides of the street. I picked up new class schedules, and got information on the next spinning series and swim lessons for the boys.

Terrible Twos and Irony

I didn't get a picture of the shoes on backwards... And because there aren't two of me I didn't get a picture of me hauling both of my children out of school - one under each arm - carrying on like I was murdering them. If this is a preview of the terrible twos they aren't going to make it. ;)

They are typically model children. We can't get out the door until they have put up all the toys they were playing with, and sometimes toys the other children were, or were still trying to play with up. It's really sweet how they want to be such big helpers. Then they run over and put their bags on then come and take my hand, turn around and wave bye-bye to the class before happily trotting along beside me up and down the big steps all the way to the car where they put their bags in the floor board and stand right beside me as I put first one and then the other into the car. Today? Today was nothing like that. There were tantrums, and running away, refusing to hold hands, refusing to walk, and throwing of bags. First of one, then the other.

So now that you know what I didn't get a picture of today, I suppose I should share what I did. Before I went into school for the nightmarish pickup I snapped a quick picture of one of the snowman dotting the landscaping near the front sidewalk. They showed up a few weeks ago along with some snowflakes. They struck me as funny from day 1. Given that it was a balmy 74 when I snapped this pic they just seem so out of place.

Morning hijinks - why didn't I take a picture??

It was a rough morning, which just seemed to be a continuation of a rough evening yesterday. Keep in mind it is all relative. There were no earthquakes. Not even major complaints on a toddler scale - no middle of the night wakening or other drama - just mildly uncooperative toddlers doing what they do best. This morning among other things it involved a dash into the street (at the end of a ghostly quiet cul-de-sac). Apparently if one jumped off a bridge the other would too as they both dashed into the street holding hands. One fell down, and I chased the other one down. No sooner did I have him under my arm like a sack of potatoes did the other one realize this could be a fun game. And he took off the other way around the cul-de-sac median keeping us on exactly opposite sides. About that time the neighbors happened out to enjoy the show. I started across the middle. He backtracked. This went on for a good minute or two. He finally headed back towards the car encouraged by the neighbors praise when he inadvertently headed in the right general direction. They were both wrestled into their car seats and off we went towards school with no toys to play with thanks to their morning shenanigans and a mean, mean mother.

On the way into school we were practicing what "STOP!" meant and I looked down to discover that one of the boy's shoes were once again on the wrong feet. As we sat down to fix them in his class the teacher asked him if he had put his shoes on the wrong feet again (Again??) to which I replied that no, daddy had done this. And she said they had had to sort his shoes out on Monday as well (when daddy got them dressed and dropped them off). This was a recurrent problem when they were little - my husband would get it wrong more often than he got it right for a while, but I thought he had finally figured it out... I often joked that I should check my husbands' feet to see if he has his shoes on the right foot. And never once during the walk across the parking lot, down the long hallway, or before we sat down in the class did it ever occur to me to take one single picture...

Common Sense Parenting??

Day 20 - Common Sense Parenting

I am not at all sure common sense factors much into parenting a toddler, much less two toddlers, but I will take all the help I can get. Today was the 1st day of my parenting class for toddlers. I took the same class for all age ranges last fall (before I knew there was a specific toddler class). And there were successes, and let’s call them lessons to be learned from. I thought you guys might appreciate this antedote from the previous class...

Common Sense Parenting Gone Awry...
I recently took a 5 week parenting class called "Common Sense Parenting." I learned some new tips and tricks, and well as got some positive feedback and validation on some of the things we were already doing.

This morning, in practicing some of the lessons learned I was trying to teach Ryan to tell Connor "no hit" when Connor hit him with a toy.

It went something like this….

Me: “Ryan, if Connor hits you what should you do?”

[silence – but he was obviously paying attention and thinking]

Me: “You should tell him “no.” Tell him “no hit.”

Me: “Can we practice that now? Say “no hit.”

Ryan: [whispers quietly] “nooooss hit” (In case my phonetics don’t give you the picture it sounded an awful lot like a bad word).

Me: “What did you say?”

Ryan: [significantly increased volume] “NNNNOOOOOSSSSEHIT”

Me: [stifling laughter] “Good job. But maybe next time we should tell him “no touch okay?”

Something White

Day 19 - Something White

School sent Ryan home with this pail. In it was a piece of paper saying to fill it with something white. White? What's white? Turns out we have a whole collection of "white" lying around the house.

Yeah, I got nothing.

Zip. Zilch. Nada. I got nothing. Though maybe I should take a picture looking in my front door. Apparently with all the boxes and mayhem inside it looks like we are moving. At least that's what the little boy down the street said when he rang the doorbell this weekend. Wonder if he noticed that Christmas was still up to boot?

Anyways... Back to today. I dutifully download all the pictures from my camera today. Just 2 pictures. Of a crock pot dinner. So it was slim pickings...

But that's what was for dinner tonight. Pork chops with cream of mushroom soup and mushrooms in the crock pot. Which cooked far faster than it was supposed to. Even checking it an hour and 15 minutes before it was supposed to be done it was slightly over cooked. Though luckily they were still juicy and had a good flavor. The kids loved the mushrooms. Ryan, however, was less than thrilled with the pork and only ate it for the rewards - quite literally carrots dangled in front of his nose. And more mushrooms. Seriously - what kind of kid has to be bribed to eat the meat so he can have his veggies??

Week 3 - January 11-17th - Scrapped

Here's Week 3 - scrapped.

Sticking with the dark paper, ribbon, and tag from Colie's Corner, Project 365 Dates from Connie Prince, and Stolen Moments Basic Black Alpha. Swirls from Jady Day Studio Love All Year Long, Border Dates by Erica Zane and one of the new Simple and Clean 4's templates from Armina Designs.

Week 2 - January 4-10 - In Scrap

I am enjoying my MLK Jr. Holiday today. :) Slept late then got a little scrapping in before lunch. Went back and modified my week 1 layout just a tad to make this a nice 2 pager and I am really liking how they turned out.

This one uses paper from Colie's Corners' A Day in the Life, Stolen Moments' Basic Black Alpha, Sahlin Studio's Wire Rimmed Alpha, and another one of the great templates in Chrissy W's A Photo a Day Set 2 collection.

Rodeo & Duck, Duck, OWW!!

Day 17 - "Rodeo & Duck, Duck, OWW!"

We got tickets to the rodeo this morning. I can't wait to take the boys. I remember going to the rodeo every year with my mom and my Grandfather. I still remember the black felted hat my grandfather always wore. And how excited I was to go - it was always something I really looked forward to.


I have been promising the boys that we would go feed the ducks one day soon for a while now. So after popping the meatloaf in the oven we grabbed some bread I had been saving just for them and headed to the pond.

The boys are getting better about throwing the bread out for the ducks instead of dropping it at our feet (or ON my bare flip flop clad toes!) while we retreat backwards from the surge of hungry ducks. :) Once in a while though they grab a handful and don't throw it fast enough and one of the aggressive ducks get a little finger snack in addition to a bite of bread. It was Connor's turn today. Poor kiddo. I think it startled him more than anything. But after a minute or two he was right back in the bucket grabbing fistfuls again.

Shopping with Mom

Day 16 - Shopping with Mom

I love spending time with the boys one-on-one even if it's just a trip to the grocery store. And it is a totally different expereince between taking one of them somewhere and taking them both. I really treasure the time I get to spend with them on trips like this. Today I ended up taking Connor to WalMart and then later taking Ryan to Costco to finish up our shopping.

Dinosaurs

Day 15 - Dinosaurs

We got the boys this dinosaur last Christmas. Needless to say they were a little too little for it then, but we recently pulled it back out and Ryan especially loves to prove that he can get on by himself now and ride the dinosaur.

A few minutes later Ryan and Connor played a game of follow the leader and Ryan dove under the dinosaur like a tunnel and Connor followed. They went round and round for several minutes laughing as they went.

And I just had to throw this in as an honorable mention for the day. As I was sitting in the floor snapping away Ryan ran over and pulled out his camera and said "Mama, cheese!" as he took my picture. :)

The Scene of the Crime

Day 14 - "The Scene of the Crime"

22 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days. That's how long we had managed to go without a "floater" in the tub. Until tonight. And while I am not sure exactly who is to blame daddy has all but convicted a suspect based on the size of the turd.

Luckily whomever the culprit was waited until bath time was actually over and we were already getting out. As I worked on getting the boys ready for bedtime daddy was sent to take care of it. So I didn't actually get any proof of the event, but as I went back to photograph the scene of the crime for today's picture of the day I noticed daddy had had some fun with the bath toys while cleaning.

Unlucky 13

Day 13 - Unlucky 13

Or should I call it 17 shots, 4 ligaments, and a Darvocet? This is where I spent my morning. 3 hours straight in that chair. There's a reason my blood pressure goes through the roof when I visit the dentist. It's always bad news. And it always involves shots and drilling. Shots that never work and always hurt. By the time it's over I have had enough injected in me to take down an elephant. Today was no exception. I do, however, like my current dentist. He tells it like it is, has lightening fast reflexes, and an arsenal of numbing products that have proven effective even on my impressively resistant nerves.

The Digital Era

Day 12 - The Digital Era

I knew kids were getting cell phones earlier, but come on... Still in the crib!?! Talking to Daddy on the way home.

Bed Head

Day 11 - Bed Head

A little bit of bed head over breakfast.

Not one single spec of white

Day 10 - Not one spec of snow.

It's cold outside. Really, really cold. But not one.single.spec.of.snow. Oh so wrong.

Not what I had in mind...

Day 9

This was definitely not what I had in mind for my picture of the day.... I thought maybe the ice on my windshield, or the frost on the grass, or maybe even the unusually low reading on the thermometer. But this - this was the story of the day. That's our sprinkler back flow valve. Or what's left of it. It blew a gasket yesterday afternoon shooting a geyser of water over 5 feet into the air.

It's cold out there

Day 8 - "It's cold out there!"

No doubt about it - the cold front came through with a vengence dropping our temperatures from 52 yesterday morning to the low 30's by lunchtime. This morning my car read a chilly 22. And those gusty winds were incredibly cold. So this morning I bundled the kids up in their hats, mittens, and coats before heading out the door to school. I love those hats. :)

The Big Game

Day 7 - "The Big Game"

Kevin had been looking forward to this day for a long, long time. Texas' chance at another National Championship. He (a Texas alum) and his boss (an Alabama alum) had even gone so far as to try to get tickets and were planning to road trip to the game. Unfortunately tickets were a bit hard to come by. One day at lunch a couple of weeks ago while chatting with another patron in line the guy mentioned the article in the paper he held saying it would cost $800 a ticket just to set foot inside the stadium (even for the worst nosebleed seat in the whole place!) and $2400+ for a ticket anywhere near the 40 yard line.

So with tickets to the game not forthcoming several other ideas including a trip to Austin, or a movie theater stadium event came and went. He ended up at a local restaurant/sports bar with several friends. As they had to be there over 2 hours before the game to get a table I thought it might be fun for the kids and I stop by for dinner before the game. It was a bright and noisy place with a boisterous, decidedly Texas crowd. Throughout the pregame as the crowd clapped and cheered at the sight of their team and players the boys got really excited - jumping up down, smiling, and clapping along. It was adorable.

At one point the Alabama faithful were cheering and the boys shouted and clapped along, too. Kevin, trying to discourage the cheering for Alabama had Ryan booing though still clapping at the same time. And I had Connor yelling "Roll Tide!" much to Kevin's disappointment.

With the boys having such a good time with the crowd I decided to stay for the kick off and watch a series or two despite the fact that kick-off was later than I thought and would put us home well past the boys' bedtime. About the time Colt McCoy was headed to the locker room the boys' high was wearing off and sleepiness was setting in so we called it a night.

One of a kind

Day 6/365 - "One of a kind"

How's this for unique? Betcha don't have one of these sitting around in your garage. I wouldn't be surprised if most of you don't even know what it is.... :) It's a genuine original Burroughs adding machine. And it still works. It is sitting in my garage because when it came several years ago from ebay it was wrapped in towels that I would swear a cat had peed on. Repeatedly. Needless to say it really reeked and needed to be aired out. When I eventually got around to bringing it in and putting it up I discovered that it was a couple of inches too long to fit. Oops.

Week 1 - January 1-3, 2010 - In Scrap

I hadn't given much thought to how I would scrap my year of memories other than an off the cuff decision that it would probably be weekly because how would I possibly be able to cram more pictures than that on a page and still be able to see them? :) But is that weekly as in the first 7 days, then the next? Or Monday to Sunday?

To make things easy on myself down the road I decided I would do it the way I think of weeks - Monday to Sunday. Which for those of you still following along means that the first week only consisted of Friday - Sunday. 3 days. Sounds simple enough, except that I had grand plans for these pages in which 3 pictures just didn't work for silly reasons too numerous to mention. So I culled back through my snapshots over those first three days to pick pictures that told the story of those days in more than 3 pictures and not by coincidence also included pictures of both of my children lest I be accused week 1 of favoritism. I am saving that for week 2 at least.

So compliments of a hodgepodge of designers including Colies Corner, Connie Prince, Simply Scraps, Sahlin Studio, and Chrissy W - here is week 1.

Mountain of guilt

Day 5/365 - Mountain of guilt

I think I might be feeling a tad bit guilty...

It was a rough, rough morning. The kids weren't terribly thrilled with going back to school this morning in general. Add to that that I okay'd daycare splitting my twins up into seperate classrooms (they are 22 months old) and it was a double whammy of a morning. There were lots of tears shed by all and I felt really, really awful. So I did what any guilt riddled mom would do - picked them up early and took them to buy back their love and forgiveness.

Flying

Day 4/365 - "Fly, daddy! FLY!!"

They are so funny to watch together. He says "Fly, Daddy! Fly!!" and "Again!" But on the way up he looks terrified. However, once he is in the air he has such a big smile and an infectious laugh.

Elf on the shelf

Day 3/365 - "Elf on the shelf"

One of the things I hoped to get out of the 365 challenge was an opportunity to learn more about my digital SLR. It's just so big and unwiedly I don't use it nearly as much as I should and when I do I am often disapointed in the results - they are never quite as crisp as I think they should be and invariably I have the wrong lens for the job. Part of that is that I just don't know enough about the lenses and what they are capable of. So, today I pulled out one of the newer lenses that I don't use very often and took a variety of shots around the house. I still need to read up on focus points because for every okay shot I had just as many the totally wrong object was in focus. But hey - I am learning. And even I get lucky sometimes. :)

I loved the blur of the Christmas lights in the background so I grabbed one of the stuffed elves that I got the kids for Christmas and started snapping. Yes, you heard me right, Christmas lights. And yes they are still up. And still turned on. I know I should be ashamed, but if I had taken them down how would I ever have gotten this shot?? :)

I am a big kid now

Day 2/365

Forget the fact that it's so cold you turned into a popsicle half an hour ago. And let's not even mention the mud that has thoroughly coated the rear of your pants from zipping off the end of the slide. It has been a grand adventure. Playing with the big kids. And swinging in the big boy swing just like everyone else. With the breeze blowing in your hair, your feet dangling down while you hold on tight. And that smile - the one that says it was all worth it.

Bon Appetite

Day 1/365 - "Bon Appetite"

I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen today making treats for a family get together tomorrow. I made silky smooth apricot cakes, chocolate covered oreo truffles, and peanut butter flakes. Yummy! I don't know if it was the challenge or not, but I took a ton of pictures. It was actually hard picking just one!