40

I love putting candles in these old jars and placing them on my window ledges. There is something so warm about a candle flickering in the window. The snow piles up outside but within these walls there is great warmth.

39

The girls totally take after Matt and love to play games. They'll sit down together pretty much everyday to play some sort of game. Hudson usually isn't as welcomed as he was here. You can see how he is completely enjoying being included for once. However you can also see his look of pure mischief which is why he doesn't always get included. His style of play is to get some cards/game pieces in his hands and walk off with them in delight!

38

Our son is perfecting "the smooch". He's got one of the best pucker-ups around! He and Grandpa are showing each other how it's done. Hudson concentrates and pulls his cheeks all the way in...and, of course, we laugh every time! :)

37

Everyday I am overwhelmed with how much these two boys mean to me! Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with them!

36

this pic is disgusting. i know. it was only taken to remind myself to never buy 20 lbs. of beef again. even if it is on a really good sale. i made a gazillion meatballs and meatloafs today. i'm sure i'll be thankful that i did it someday, but for today...that was A LOT of meat! i apologize for giving you this dumb of a pic...but seriously i sorta had my hands full and this was all i got for ya today.

35--I'm Baaaaaaaaack!

Ok...so Feb. was a rough month. Sorry to leave ya hanging. :) I am getting back into my game here! I'm going to try super hard to keep up on my pics even through getting the house ready to sell.

About the above pics...my dd is an absolute joy! She is vivacious and spirited! Today she wore a birthday hat and kept throwing a birthday party for Hudson. He wore a hat too! She sang "HaPpY BirThDaY" to him over and over. He clapped every time. They are so much fun...I love our kiddos!

34/365

this is a strange pic, but it has a sweet story behind it. my oldest dd came home from youth group tonight and we chatted a bit about it then she went up to get ready for bed. i asked her if she could turn the bath water off for me because i had left it running. a little while later i came up to settle all the girls into their beds. said my goodnights and walked into the bathroom...this little display was sitting there for me. the note said: To my special mother, Here's some special spa things for after your bath. Have a fun getaway. p.s. I'll take care of hudson and "the girls".

she even had her big fluffy robe hanging on the door for me to wear. she's just so sweet!

33/365

today i had the honor of taking pics for some friends. they are leaving in a couple of days to share the love of Jesus to another country. it has been a delight to get to know them while they have been home for the birth of their daughter. we're praying for you guys!

32/365

i'm getting mentored by an amazing photographer and today i had an assignment to take one of my kids outside to get some shots. i took a bunch of them! here is one of our favorites! :)

31/365

i am forever on the search for the best products for our little man. his skin is the complete opposite of mine, he is very dry. this time of year really dries his hair out. i've been going into salons looking and searching on the internet for a good product. after 3 separate places recommended this moroccan oil...i decided to give it a try. even at wholesale prices it is not cheap...but he deserves the best and we want something that works well. so far i'm really liking it! if you have dry hair you'll have to give this a try. :)

30/365

i didn't have a pic for today...so i'm giving you my favorite outtake of the fire contest shots!

29/365

he makes us so happy!

28/365

as i drove past this car in the ditch, i knew i needed to turn around and take a pic. we have record snowfall this year...and this just goes to prove it! :)

27/365

these silly girls kept begging me for a slice of lemon today. i finally gave in and boy did we have fun. i have bunch more pics that i will put up tomorrow on my other blog...but i couldn't go to bed tonight without getting these up on here! i have some loyal fans that i thoroughly disappoint if i don't post. or, ummm, something like that...

26/365

is there something wrong with this picture?!?! what my kids won't do for fun?!?!?

we're calling this one "lil' sis, big sis".

25/365

i love our son to pieces! he just keeps getting cuter and cuter!

24/365

this is the sunrise we woke up with...it was gorgeous! the kids were completely impressed with this icicle. :)

23/365

we had a wonderful weekend get-away! the girls loved to go hide under the waterfall and get soaked. i had fun playing with a slow shutter speed and the falling water!

22/365

our little girl is falling in love with books, and it makes me so happy! i totally love vintage Dick and Jane stories.

21/365

we needed to get out today, so we headed out on a drive to take pics. the girls helped me scout out photo opportunities. we stopped along the way on dirt roads to take pics. i took a bunch of pics of them, but decided to go with these for my project {365}.

20/365

Today's impact on history means a lot for our precious son.

19/365

This is now my life. He can reach the tables and counters now. He pulls everything down and makes a mess. This cereal ended up EVERYWHERE!!!!

18/365

my oldest dd (12) loves to help me take pics. well, all the girls do...but she is getting the hang of using my camera. i set the settings and metered for this, then she took the camera and clicked some shots. i'm going to count it as a sp. :)

17/365

the part of this project that i love is that it is making me takes shots that i've always wanted to shoot. this was taken yesterday on a drive over to another town to do some shopping. we drive by this spot everytime we go, and everytime my eyes soak up the beauty in this little moment. everytime i think it would make a great pic, and think i should stop. the thing is...in order to get the pic, i had to pull over on the highway with cars whizzing by. but you know what...i did it, because i didn't want to keep wishing that i would do it. not only are my technical skills improving in huge ways, i am thoroughly enjoying the motivation to capture the beauty i see in my life.

16/365

We just wrapped up a game of Camp. It's a fun outdoorsy camping game...and we learn about wildlife in the process. It is freezing outside, so it was a perfect night to sit around a boardgame where the center of it is a bonfire.

*on a side note--hudson is already feeling better. the meds are kicking in and helping him. praise Jesus!

15/365

sorry to have to do this to the grandmas...i know they don't want to see him like this. but this is what my day involved. hudson woke up from his nap having a really hard time breathing so i took him in to the clinic. he is now on some antibiotic for ear infection and some steroids for breathing. poor thing! but on an exciting note while we went through the McDonald's drive thru on the way home there was a big fire in the garage apartments next to it. the girls were thrilled to be watching the firefighters in action. i was bummed that i hadn't grabbed my camera on the way out the door. that would have made a better entry than my poor little guy!

14/365

Here you have it...my pic of the day. I tried to get a fun, creative shot of a couple of my girls today, but it was freezing outside. Hey, at least we tried. My desires to get some creative shots in today were shot down by a sick baby that needs his mama...so off to cuddle my boy and watch American Idol with my daughter who is sick now too.

13/365

So I went out tonight...this is how I looked. This is how people look when they go out when it is -22.

12/365

This was the essence of my day. We've been having another blizzard outside, so it is one of those snuggle up and stay warm days. Plus we spent the weekend sledding, so the kids are tired today. They played some board games by the fire, then I spent the afternoon enjoying it. If you are new and don't know this about me...I love playing with fires. Love it! Until it means I have to go outside and bring more wood in...then I get all cold and that's not fun.

11/365

We had a blast today! It was our neice's birthday. We celebrate together as a whole family all of the cousin's birthdays. So...today we all bundled up and headed to the hill for some sledding. It was the perfect day! My oldest dd didn't quite catch air like my bro-in-law, but I love this picture of her. Because *I* know she has a huge smile on her face under that scarf and her eyes are smiling too!

(It was a long day and I have lots of pics. I'll put them up on my other blog tomorrow--but I couldn't skip today's entry on here!)

10/365

Today we spent time with our dear friends...went to the Cub Scouts pinewood derby, ate pancakes, went sledding, had pizza, played wii, and had some great laughs. This little dearie just loves Hudson. She followed him around all night touching his hair. She love textures and Hudson's hair has to be one of her favorites.

9/365

so tell me this...when do you think they will get tired of having their pictures taken? we still have 356 days left to go. :) is this project going to lead them to vanity?!?!

8/365

Matt suggested the girls should give Hudson a spoon of peanut butter to see what he thought of it. They were so excited to do it. We all had some good laughs watching him eat peanut butter for the first time.

7/365

I took this pic today because I want to remember us all gathered around the table working on school. Hudson chills out in his high chair listening to us read. Everyone spreads their books out and our day begins. We have a schoolroom, but for some reason we've migrated to the dining room table. I think it's the bright sun that comes in.

Today I realized that I don't want to take these times for granted. I can get so caught up in all that needs to be done that I forget to take time to realize how blessed I am! I understand that this pic might not mean much to those that see it, but what it resembles is something that I never want to forget.

6/365

My daughters are as into this 365 project as I am. This girlie has really, really wanted me to get a pic of her jumping to post. I love the practice for fast shutter speeds, so I'm willing to do what my little model wants. We'll be working on perfecting this shot to a full body shot. ;)

5/365

So today I had to post two pics today...because it was such a special moment with these two. Hudson fell and hit his mouth. We settled him down, then she asked if she could hold him. The two of them snuggled in together like that for the longest time and pretty soon he fell fast asleep with his big sissy. I was able to go finish lunch and school with the big girls. Please excuse the orange marker on her face...while she was coloring during our schooling this morning, she colored on her face. She looked at me and said, "Good thing these are washable, right mom?" Oh I just love these two!!!!!!

4/365

I'm sad that I have to take this down. I love the cozy feel that it adds to my dining room. I'm such a goober and like to leave my decorations up as long as I possibly can.

Date Nite!

We got to go out on a date tonight!!! Whoohoo...we couldn't remember the last time we went out for dinner and a movie. It was so much fun. Like every good 365'r, I took my camera to get my pic of the day in. (plus this counts as a sp for this week!) :D

2/365

i purchased this little treasure from a fabric store last fall. there is just something about him that i love.

1/365

do you think my family is wondering why i've just taken on this challenge? wonder how many of these shots we'll see over the coming year. :)