The Most Wonderful Time...

I'm still here...just haven't been motivated to blog, or scrap, or do a lot of things. Hoping to get back in a good flow. I know...a blog post with no picture isn't a great blog post. I spent too much time updating to actually think about adding a picture today. Maybe tomorrow.

Today she is 4!

Hard to believe that a mere four years ago she looked like this.
Today she looks like this.
Time has gone by so quickly and eternally slowly just the same.

I love you, sweet girl.

I know, I know...but look at this!

Can I just say that I really love my new camera, and I really, really love taking photos, and the Pioneer Woman helped me do this: I downloaded the PW actions for Photoshop Elements...this one is "seventies" and I love the look of it. Brenna and Pa had been riding the tractor and they stopped just long enough for me to get the shot.
Yes, I need to post more often but life has been just plain busy. School is out on Friday and then hopefully I'll have more time. I had every intention of doing Photo-A-Day for May but it just didn't happen...I'll get there. Have a great Memorial Day!

It Arrived!

My new camera came today...so excited to start shooting with it! I only took a few shots today because I had to wait for the battery to charge. No fun! Like a 3 year old with a pile of Christmas gifts, but being told you have to wait a few hours! It's definitely going to take some getting use to but I can't wait to see what comes of it! Yes I know it is a boring post without a pic, but I need to get some more before I post something!

In remembrance...

My grandma passed away peacefully Sunday night. I am so thankful for the memories, the things I learned, and the time I had with her in my life. I'm thankful that she was part of Brenna's life. It's funny how Brenna was always so calm with Grandma, even when she was so little, she would just sit quietly with her for long periods of time. I'm thankful that she was part of the world and that she touched so many lives.I am thankful that she is at peace. She will be greatly missed...

The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

Commencement

I'm sitting on the front step of my grandparents house. It's the eve of my 34th birthday and I am saddened. Saddened because I'm not sure if this is the last time I will spend with my grandma. It's been coming for a while but that doesn't ease the wealth of emotion I am experiencing at this moment. What I am greatful for is the love that is being shared with her as friends come to wish her well as she moves on to the next chapter in her life. That we are bonding together and holding tight to the knowledge that she will be free from pain and confusion, that she will be shining her ever bright light onto us as we move about the earth. She has always been a most amazing woman and I am so fortunate to have had her for so long. Fortunate that our daughter has experienced all the love that great-grandmas give. Fortunate that I received so much love and knowledge and care and fun. Fortunate too that my little Brenna is sick, not that I ever want her to be sick but more that I can spend the time with her and with grandma, time that I otherwise may not have with either of them.The memories are many and fill my heart with joy. So today I am sad, but I will rejoice when she lets go because she will be in a better place, no longer tired, no longer in pain, but free.

Week 8 - I cheated...

Journaling: I am cheating...I did not take one single picture this week. I find it funny that I went through a picture drought last year at this time too. Must be that the winter blahs get to me at the same time each year. I am hopeful that I will be successful with the rest of the year. I think it is ok that I skipped a week, at least I still have this...a photo from this week last year. Brenna’s first homemade pizza. She had such fun pushing out the dough and adding all of the ingredients. I love that it was Brenna-size! She sure loves to cook.

I am saving for this!

I love taking photos and have taking almost 8,000 in the two years and two months that we have had our current point and shoot. I really want to be able to take better photos of our lives! It goes along with my word of the year CAPTURE...because it is so important to me that I capture the events of our lives, the smallest to the biggest and most important. I know, I know, a better camera doesn't necessarily mean better photos, but I think it will really make a difference for me. I picked this one because it is a good beginner DSLR, I can use my dad's lenses from his Minolta Maxxum - can't go wrong with that one, and it is a very affordable option as far as a DSLR goes...so I am starting to save. A little here, a little there, until I can save up enough. I have a birthday coming soon, and not that I need anything for my birthday, but if my dear family wants to contribute to my saving instead of buying me anything else, I'm ok with that! :) Have a happy day everyone!

Week 7

Journaling: I didn’t take many pictures this week. I think I may still be traumatized by the camera almost being broken. I am very proud to share that Brenna can draw a dinosaur. It is a pink dinosaur, of course! Because “pink and purple is my favorite colors, Mommy.” We celebrated Valentine’s Day with heart-shaped pizzas from Papa John’s when Sean got home from being gone for four days. Another long trip but we all made it through. Thankfully the snow let up enough for him to get there and back safely. We have been innundated with snow...and I am sure there is more to come. I’m so wishing for spring.

Week 6

Journaling: What to say about these photos...Brenna’s point of view while mommy takes a shower. The mother of them all though is the pure white photo that took as she dropped the camera right on the lens. Yikes, I thought for sure it was broken and I was really mad at myself for leaving the camera where she could get it. The camera, which had captured 7858 of our memories, that I tend to have as an extension of my arms, that my brother gave us as a gift two Christmases ago, that I cannot do without because something might happen and I want to get every single shot, the camera that makes me care about photography again, the camera that inspires to me to get the perfect shot, that camera had a very crooked lens. Said camera would not turn on, the lens wouldn’t retract, it was broken. I was crushed...thank goodness for Sean. I was afraid to push the lens back in, “Why? When it is already broken,” you may ask, “I really don’t know.” But my awesome husband just pushed on it...and it closed, and it turned on, and it took pictures and it IS NOT BROKEN! While I haven’t determined whether the quality has been compromised, I can still get the shots, and keep the memories attached to those shots. Lesson learned: keep the camera away from the small child that lives in our house!

Needless to say, it is apparently very important to a 3 year old to take pictures of whatever she may be watching on tv, and the dogs back end, and her chair, and the hall/kitchen floor on the way to show mommy that she has the camera, just before the deadly (or not-so-deadly)drop. She took 14 pictures in 4 minutes.

Here is that famous "oh my gosh, it's broken" photo...it makes my heart drop just thinking about it! Doesn't look like much does it?

Week 5

This week has been fairly uneventful and for that I am very thankful. It was nice to have a “normal” week. We managed to watch the Grammys Sunday night. Sean taped Taylor Swift’s performance so Brenna could see her sing. She immediately ran for her guitar and started singing “You Belong with Me” right along with Taylor. Then she ran and got her “stand” which was a puzzle that she decided to stand on as her stage, I guess. We’ve continued to make this a nightly event, often 4 or 5 times in a row before she has had her fill. I managed to catch this on video and posted it to Facebook so the family and friends could have a peek into our evening. She is just such a funny girl. She’s destined to be a star, I think...or for greatness anyway...

Learning new things...

So I tried something new with my PE6 today...thanks to this tip from Ree...check it out!

Before
After
Love it...I need to tweek it to really perfect it but not bad for my first try! I may even have to go back and edit my Week One layout to reflect this new little trick...I love that the snow is white, not gray!

Week 4

Week 3

I’m not sure how I managed to capture this look, but I did and I absolutely LOVE it! The anticipation of eating one of the cupcakes that “Auntie Michelle” (Michelle Carey) sent home with daddy for the little girl, the very specific choice of the cupcake with the mini, swirled chips, and the sheer delight in completely devouring half of said cupcake, makes this priceless in the mommy book of memories. This week we have pretty much been back to the normal routine, minus one smearing of toothpaste, lotion, baby soap and vaseline all over while a little girl was suppose to be napping. Sunday through Thursday have been pretty great. It’s much easier to be a patient Mommy when my little girl is back to her happy self. Brenna is VIK (Very Important Kid) this week at day care, it is a job she takes very, very seriously. We’re trying not to let it go to her head, tough when she is already a little princess. Yes, we admit it, we caused it, we know it, and we love her! We’re looking forward to having daddy home again on Friday after another few days of travel for work. Friday nights are so cherished in our house!

Super Excited!

Wow, am I ever excited about my Saturday morning today! I decided it was time to enter the last of my Gifts to Grow Points from all of the packages of Pampers diapers and wipes (minus a bunch because I was saving the wrong thing for a while (all those preemie diapers?, yeah, they didn't count - boo).

Today I was able to score the following from Shutterfly
~one 12x12 photo book
~200 4x6 prints
~one photo package of 25 4x6 prints, 2 5x7 prints and 1 8x10 print

I am one happy mama! I have been wanting to do a photo book and now I get too...if only I knew what I was going to put in it...hmmm, I feel a project coming on! And to get 200 prints for free, with the way I have been editing and scrapping lately that could potentially be 800 photos printed (I like to put multiples on a print because let's face it, it doesn't matter the size of the photo sometimes, it's about getting down and being able to remember the moments right?). Luckily I have some time to figure it all out!

With my left over points I was able to donate 7 vaccines for Unicef, and entered to win free diapers and wipes for a year, not that we need them, but I could always donate those to someone in need as well!

And, because a post without a photo has been deemed boring, here is one of my favorites from this month...little girl's hair is getting longer!

Have a great weekend friends!

Calendar Time

It occured to me that I forgot to post this on my blog since I posted it on FB. Our Paper Pin-Ups calendar is out for 2010. Hand or digi-scrapped by some really amazing women, we were all running a little behind this year but it is up and ready at Cafe Press...all proceeds will be donated to benefit children and women who have been abused. March was my month.

Week 2

I've decided that I will copy the journaling into my post since it is difficult to read in the picture. It has been a rough week in the life of this little girl, but we are hoping that with a little time, consistency and lots of love, she'll get back on track... Journaling ~ week 2
This little girl is exactly three and a half today. It has been a rough week for her and us, to say the least. It has been a week of aggressive, unusual, and downright mean behaviors for her. Between not wanting to go to bed, to pushing, kicking and punching friends, to ending up in the office at day care on Wednesday...we're hoping it is just a phase. We're at a loss as to the reasoning and are happy that today was a good day all around! The focus now needs to be on getting her back on track and looking forward to what is to come. Brenna is such a smart and feisty little girl. We thank God everyday that she is fine~100%, absolutely, and wonderfully amazing. We know that we are very blessed that this is the case, because so many others in our position weren't so lucky. We know that her feisty personality and intelligence have gotten her to where she is today, and can only imagine what the future holds for her. Happy three and a half day, Brenna! We love you!

2010 - a year in weeks...

Thanks to my friend Marie's template talents, I have managed to get my first week completed. I changed it up a bit to fit my needs but it is completed just the same. I think this photo-a-week is going to be a challenge in that choosing just one photo is hard for me, but I'm finding it much less daunting than actually completing Project 365. I'm aspiring to complete a 365 one year, just not this year. So here's week one, hope you like it...

Capture

The last ten years have brought some pretty major changes to my life...getting married, gaining a dog, and having a child...memories that I will not soon forget. I am so looking forward to what will be ahead in the next decade. Not so sure where the road will lead us but I'm sure we're up for the adventure, as every year of the past 10 have been, so will the next be a continuation of that trend.

I feel a little nostalgic as I write this, knowing that I can't go back but can only hold to the memories that have been made. Would I change anything you ask? Not one, I can honestly say I wouldn't be the person I am now if I hadn't experienced every single thing that has come my way. It wasn't always easy, and sometimes it was downright difficult, but I made it through and know that everyday it's my choice to decide how I will respond to whatever may take place ~ easy or difficult, good or bad.

So I have decided that this year, I want to CAPTURE the important moments...there are so many things I feel like I miss - and I want to be able to remember those important moments. So my word for the year will be CAPTURE. How? I'm not completely sure yet, I don't think I am up for the 365 challenge...I started it last year but didn't make it past February. Maybe it will be a 52 week challenge...a photo a week for 2010 that I can scrapbook. Maybe it will be completing a 10 on Tuesday every week for the year. I'm not sure, but I will be deciding today.

It's important to me to make sure that I capture all of this. I want to record the important and the everyday so Brenna has something she can look back to when she is my age, to know what she was doing and what was going on in our lives.

Happy New Year friends...capture your memories in whatever way you can...