The Virkler Family Blog

All Hudson, All the time!

2012-01-23T16:57:00.000-05:00

Apparently this blog is now all about my son.

It shouldn't be. The girls are beautiful, sweet and funny too, but lately he's been the star of some pictures that totally melt my heart.

Like this one.

Isn't he adorable?? That's a children's dictionary he's poring over there.
Puff, the stuffed animal my sister Amy made for Jasmine on her first Christmas, is a family favorite. I love seeing them include him in their lives!

Ties

2012-01-23T13:43:00.000-05:00

Hudson hates ties. He doesn't like anything touching his neck. "It's too tight, mama."
But yesterday I found his clip-on tie in the diaper bag, and he insisted on wearing it today.
with the shirt he asked for by name, his "mom's handy man" shirt.

The result?

Do I have a right-brained son??

2012-01-19T18:22:00.001-05:00

Hudson refers to things by their descriptions.
Is that a "boy thing" or is it a sign that he's right-brained? (or something else I haven't thought of)
Dogs aren't dogs. They're "woofs."
Blue isn't blue. It's "daddy's color."
There's another example of this, but Josh and I are both blanking at the moment on what, exactly, that is. It's cute, though!

so....is he right-brained???

My new photo theme is up! I'd love to have even more of my friends join me!

Cocoa

2012-01-17T16:05:00.000-05:00

The kids went outside with Josh on Sunday.

They had a great time in the snow.
I had a great time staying inside and warm.

When they came back, they suggested hot cocoa. I obliged.

Unfortunately, moments after I got this sweet picture, she dropped the mug. The handle was broken. The cocoa was all over the table.
We're not sure which happened first, the handle breaking or the mug falling. Either way, this is the last picture of this mug.

Rest In Peace, Alice Mug.

Friday List

2012-01-13T10:08:00.000-05:00

1. It's snowing.

2. And windy.

3. However, we haven't had any earthquakes lately! (name the reference)

4. Jasmine's learning magic tricks. Last night she was trying one that she just couldn't get to work. She hasn't figured out that it's important to read all the way through the description before attempting the trick. So she went back to read one more sentence and decided that was the key she'd been missing.

5. The sentence was "add glitter and stars to the hat to make it more magical."

6. The other trick she tried was making a coin disappear.

7. She lost the coin mid-trick.

8. It surprised even her!

9. Hudson this morning asked: "who will go with me upstairs? I don't want to go with myself!"

10. He's hilarious.

11. He's started calling me "mama" instead of "mommy." He even asked permission to do so.

12. He's also exceedingly cute.

13. Bekah's pretty cute, too.

14. Jasmine's really cute, too, but she hasn't been the focus of my pictures much this week. I'll remedy that when my new backdrops get here today.

15. My word for the year is "willingness." I'm struggling with it already, knowing how much it can demand of me, but I know it's a good stretch, and I need to be stretched.

16. I see Bekah as willing. She's willing to try things, even if she have any idea if she'll succeed.

17. So here's my picture for my goal of 2012:

She's dancing, though last year she was scared of the big class. She was reading before her 4th birthday because she wanted to learn. I want to be like her!

18. I like toddler toes. I know it won't be long before I want him wearing socks all the time, so I'll enjoy this kind of thing as long as I can:

Happy Friday!!!

I really should be teaching...

2012-01-11T09:50:00.000-05:00

But this is important!!

Today, my first challenge went live.
http://tellyourstoryeveryday.com/2012/01/glimpses/
I am SO excited about this! I can't wait to see what people do for it!!
My friend Stacey is joining me in this. Her pictures are going to be on each post (I'm hoping), so people can get two pictures as inspiration.

But I'm going to post my pictures here, because that's what my blog is about (right???)

Bekah wakes up for breakfast. She doesn’t think mornings happen until food’s in her tummy. The girls usually do school in the back room, but this is a normal scene, doing their copywork on the dining room table. Doing yoga as gym class. Jasmine practicing her magic trick, learning not to tell people how it works. Bekah’s Sudoku boards, complete with some of the numbers coughing (that’s the little circles on the page) and the note at the bottom, “Boo is not rede [ready] yet”). Hudson taking a picture of me taking a picture, and then working on his wooden beads.

I have plans to turn this into a photo book at the end of the year. I'm hoping to start working on that this afternoon, after school's done for the day, so I don't get behind from the outset and just never get it done. THAT is what this challenge is really all about, after all!!

Taking the Next Step

2012-01-10T15:35:00.000-05:00

I think it's obvious that I spent most of 2011 focusing (ha! get it?) on photography.
The result is, in order of when things happened,
~an etsy store,
~a Facebook Fan Page
~my own store
~gigs that came my way with no promotion of my own
~leading a weekly photo challenge (tomorrow will be the first theme!!)

So this year should be exciting. I have no clue what will be happening, but I'm already able to see that it will stretch me. Not all stretching is easy or painless, but it's necessary for growth.

I hope to see my style continue to form.
I would love to see more details before I take the picture, instead of having to photoshop them out after the fact. I'm tired of having to clone out branches that were in front of people's faces. It's time to NOTICE.
I want to continue to use my gift, my time and my passion for God's glory. Last year I was there to meet and say goodbye to Emma. Who knows what will come my way this year?!?
I selfishly want to see my prints sell more; to have more fans; to get a bigger following...and to be chosen by Pioneer Woman for one of her photo challenges. But those are things that will hopefully just come, not something I have to work for. Just working towards.

So one of the things I'm trying to figure out is blogging. Right now I consider my Facebook fan page to be my blog for my photography. I don't want people to tune out of my "family" blog by posting all the time about pictures, but I already struggle keeping up with two blogs, so there's no way I could handle a third. Not and expect any sort of consistency.

And I don't like the way my site's galleries look. At all. I don't think they're professional looking or inviting. So I need to figure that out, too. (poor Josh!!)

My word for the year is 'willingness.' I want to be willing to try things. To accept challenges that come my way. Not just photographically, but especially in this area. So it should be fun to see what comes my way and how different my life and my pictures look in December of 2012!

My Kids

2012-01-05T17:53:00.000-05:00

I should really do this once a month or so...

Bekah...
has started speaking in various accents. Her favorites are 'British' and 'Southern.' She keeps us very entertained.

Hudson...
is Mr. Talkbox. He has a vocabulary much larger than I remember the girls' being at 2 1/2. (could be the fact that "he's my baby so he can't be grown up enough to talk that much!") His newest word is "actually," and his favorite sentence is, "Mommy, I have to tell you something." He loves to tell me, "I love you so much." It melts my heart every. single. time.

Jasmine...
is growing up. She's just acting so much more mature (most of the time) lately. She's sweet company. She enjoys school (most of the time). She asks good questions about life, and loves learning. Especially about anything science-related.

I love my kids. I'm so thankful that I get to spend my days with them!!

2012:a look ahead

2012-01-04T14:29:00.000-05:00

I can finally spill the beans!!!
A week or two ago, my dear friend Nicole asked if I would be interested in leading a weekly photography challenge on a blog she was setting up. After .0328 seconds of thought I wrote back "YES!!!" and couldn't sleep that night.

And finally my day arrived!!
Tell Your Story Every Day

My first few weeks are already planned, and February in the works.

I have to stay ahead, so that when we're on vacation it's already set up and written (and photographed).

I'm a huge fan of Jon Acuff and his witty, pointful blog Stuff Christians Like. Right now he's working on helping people figure out their goals for 2012 and take the baby steps necessary to make it happen. I just read the past couple days' posts, and yesterday's was to write out our list of goals for the year and take a picture of it. I was happy to oblige :)

I was able to make my 2011 goal, which was to really work on my photography and see where it led me. And take all opportunities that came my way. So I can't wait to see what happens this year!

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T17:55:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend (and it's not even done yet!)

Just a glimpse:

Hudson proved that boys are, indeed, different than girls. He likes to brush my hair...but today used his plastic saw to do so.
His favorite toy is definitely the "bammer" that came with aforementioned saw.

Jasmine finally has a Kewpie Doll so she knows what her nickname means.

Bekah's loving her tutu made by a friend of mine.

Josh is enjoying my Tetris game ;) Not as much as I am, though!!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The Weirdest December EVER!

2011-12-23T14:13:00.000-05:00

So far this December, we've had 3 inches of snow.
Total.
Usually by now, we have 25 inches. Last year we had 31.

It's cold today (28 was what the fire station said an hour ago), but for the most part it's been warm enough that all of our precipitation has been rain.

Apparently it's not just me feeling slightly "off."

Yeah. That's a crocus.

It's December 23rd. In Buffalo. Winter will come, with snow and frozen ground.
But my flowers are ready to celebrate SPRING!! And I would love to join them!!

Christmas

2011-12-22T19:29:00.001-05:00

Josh is upstairs right now, wrapping my presents.

This is the one time of year when being oblivious pays off. I love that I can tune out things (um, though for once I can pretend I do it on purpose!) so Christmas morning is a surprise.
I guess I took mom's story about sneaking in early to see her presents, and being so disappointed the next day, stuck with me. I never wanted that disappointment.

Of course then things happen, like the receipt from Pacific Chai shows up in our mailbox, after Josh tries so hard to keep it all under wraps (having it shipped to the office so I wouldn't see it, ordering it online when I wasn't nearby).
But those just make for good "do you remember" stories years later!

Merry Christmas!!

From Josh, Charla, Jasmine, Bekah (Boo) and Hudson!

Hudson, Again

2011-12-20T19:54:00.002-05:00

I made a hat. It was supposed to be a tiny hat, but since I didn't have a small enough crochet hook it ended up being the perfect size for my Little Man.

He looks pretty cute in it. He thinks so, too!

(sorry that my watermark covers his bottom picture. At least it's not over his eyes ;) )

Cuteness

2011-12-18T14:31:00.001-05:00

Hudson's newest word: Instead.
The kid sounds like he's 8. If he said his Rs and THs, you'd never guess he was 2.

He has opinions about everything these days. Food he likes, food he doesn't like but will eat so he's not hungry until the next meal, movies he wants to see, and activities he thinks he should try.

I'm only allowed to take pictures on *his* timing. Thankfully these were in his timing!

The other night, after he was asleep, I did some more Christmas Tree pictures with the girls. I was thrilled with how a few came out!

Yesterday, the girls' ballet classes each did a little Christmas performance for us. Both pretended they were dolls, but that's where the common ground ended. Both were very sweet, and they did a lovely job!

Dear Santa

2011-12-12T11:00:00.055-05:00

Conversation yesterday morning:

Me: Bekah, what will you ask Santa for when you see him today?
Bekah: um.....
Me: Last year we talked about this. You can ask him for something you're hoping we'll give you on Christmas. What are you hoping you'll get this year?
Bekah: Last year we asked for a Leapster cartridge. Will he have any this year?
Me: No, that's not the point. He won't give you any of these things today. He's just asking so your parents hear what you really want for Christmas. So what would you like to ask for?
Bekah: um...
Me: What did you ask Auntie Charity for last week?? You could ask him for that.
Bekah: Oh! An Ariel doll!
Me: There you go!

Who had any idea this was such a complex concept??

So...off we went.

See all that lovely sunshine?? It was gorgeous, until it started to hurt. Today is day two of having to avoid the sun, and all noise, in hopes of avoiding a full-blown migraine. I lost the battle yesterday and am nervous that I'm not doing so well today, either.

...but it makes for cool pictures.

(I really wonder. if I ever live in Florida, will I be nearly so obsessed with sun flare? is it just because I live in a place that sees so little sunshine...54 days of sunshine, 103 days of partial sunshine. That's 157 days seeing any sun at all. And 209 days with overcast days. According to this site)

Wow. I'm seriously all over the map today.

So back to our Santa trip.

It was bitter cold, like it always is when we go see Santa.

The line wasn't terribly long, but it's slow-moving.

Almost as slow-moving as a caboose on a track barely longer than the train car.

Do you ever feel guilty when you're letting your child do something, another child tries to join them, and his mom yells at him to come back?

I do, ever-so-slightly. But then I knew my kids weren't doing anything unsafe, and it made for good pictures, so I just felt bad for that kid.

Closer to inside the caboose...

And finally inside, where it was a bit warmer, and thankfully out of the wind and intense sun.

(those little Christmas lights are lanterns. How cool is that in a caboose??)

(Have I ever said I love cabooses?? Ever since I can remember, I loved seeing cabooses on the back of Dad's model trains. They just look so happy and cute, and they say someone was paying attention to the fact that it was the end of the train. I love them.)

Then on to Santa's lap. Our kids are some of the only ones who dress up, so every year he and his elf/photographer ask if we're going to a party! They close the door so the kids don't freeze for the picture, since we take off their coats for the picture.

Jasmine and Bekah did tell him they wanted the dolls they asked Auntie Charity for. But then he threw a curve ball...what else did they want?? They weren't ready for that question, so he asked if they wanted to be surprised. They thought that sounded good.

Are we the only family in the world who doesn't have their kids write long "wish lists" every year??? Between not watching any TV, not getting catalogs, and just not shopping unless we actually need something, none of us knows what's available out there. It's lovely!

Anyways.

Last night, we went to the County Fairgrounds to see the light show/activities there. Last time we went, Hudson was still in my belly and Bekah rode in a stroller. And probably slept.

This year, they all loved it.

They had a chance to write a letter to Santa. Again, the normal thing to do is write out the list of what they wanted. Here's what Bekah narrated (she wanted to write it but didn't want to take the time, so she finally let me do it)

I love it!!

Hudson insisted on writing his own...

...but eventually let me add a note. If you add their address, they'll get a letter back at some point, so I didn't want him to be the only one not to get one.

Bekah was quite concerned that it didn't come back out the bottom of the mailbox. It took awhile to get her to realize that this is the only way Santa will be able to see it!

Totally unrelated to Santa at all, I promised Charity that I'd add this picture to the blog so she could see it. Learning more techniques with Christmas lights :)

Rockaroni Pizza

2011-12-09T12:47:00.000-05:00

Hudson loves to eat. But there are a few things that top his list.

1. Rockaroni
(well, to be completely true to his speech, it's "wockawoni." But I like emphasizing the "rock")

2. Hot dogs

3. Pizza

4. Eggs

One of his favorite lunches is boxed mac n cheese with hot dogs chopped up in it. He would happily eat it multiple times a week. Being as unhealthy as it is, though, I'm not going for that plan.

Recently, he suggested a Rockaroni Pizza. Dinner was already in the oven for that night so his idea didn't make it, but I did put it in the back of my mind.

And today, tired of the normal lunches we eat around here, I decided to give it a try!

It wasn't perfect, but I know what I'll do next time to make it have that status!

So here, without further ado, a Charla/Hudson Creation!

Rockaroni Pizza

Ingredients:
*Pizza dough (or Naan bread, or pitas, or whatever else you can think of for the crust. We went for Naan bread because I had it in the house and it was already lunchtime when I started)

*2 Tablespoons flour

*5 Tablespoons butter, separated

*pinch ground mustard

*1 cup milk

*2 hot dogs, warmed up

*2 cups sharp (or exta-sharp) cheddar, shredded. Or half shredded and half cubed, if you want to be like me

*breadcrumbs

*half a package of broccoli, cooked and drained, and put in a blender/food processor until it's a meal-like consistency.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put Naan bread on a cookie sheet, or pizza dough onto a pizza sheet.

2. Melt 2 T butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and mustard until bubbly and thick.

3. Add milk, heating and stirring constantly until boiling. Add half the cheese (the cubed half if you were like me), the chopped hot dogs, and the broccoli, and stir until cheese is melted.

4. Melt remaining 3T butter, and add enough bread crumbs to make it the texture of brown sugar.

5. Pour cheese sauce on crust(s). Top with remaining (shredded) cheese and then bread crumbs.

6. Cook 6-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

7. Cut, serve and enjoy!

Toes

2011-12-05T14:28:00.000-05:00

I love baby toes.

My kids are all too old to be considered having baby toes, but I still love this picture!

Mom says I have an unhealthy love of feet. No...once a person is over the age of 5, I want to see shoes on the feet.

I guess I have an unhealthy love of shoes, though.

Anyways. Feet. This is one of my favorite pictures from this year. Aren't they the cutest feet???
I'm pretty fond of the kids, too!

This photo was entered into the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

Funnies

2011-12-04T13:20:00.000-05:00

Things heard in this house today:

Hudson: me want to play with Bekah *mumble mumble mumble* please, Mommy?
Me: What?
Hudson: Me say it louder?

"The reason I use the bit bike instead of the bullet bike [on Mario Kart Wii] is that it has excellenter handling." (Jasmine)

"I devoured [my dessert]." (Bekah)

25 days of pictures

2011-12-02T14:13:00.003-05:00

The girls and I are working on taking a picture a day that's at least somehow Christmas-related each day of December. We're using Debbie Hodge's list to keep the ideas fresh :)

Yesterday, December 1st, was "red."
Here's my take:

And Jasmine's:

Bekah did one too:

(Jasmine said this was too pink, but I said it was cool enough to call it red :) )

Today is "list." I'm the only one to do one, at least at this point!

And it's the perfect segue into our fun project from yesterday:
We came up with a new version of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

I won't write out the whole song...you know how it goes.
But here's the list:

12 marching penguins
11 Pookie answers
10 children sailing
9 veggies bailing
8 tweedle beetles
7 silly eaters
6 sweet princesses
5 Chompo bars
4 signs from Aslan
3 hungry bunnies
2 bad mice
...and a pigeon who must not drive the bus!!

Today's Surprise Picture

2011-11-29T15:50:00.001-05:00

Today features my beloved middlest child.

Isn't she the cutest??
And no, I did nothing to those eyes. They really do sparkle!!

Surprises

2011-11-27T14:57:00.001-05:00

Don't you just love when you go back through pictures, deleting shots that never should have been kept, and come across one that takes your breath away??

I have an incredibly beautiful daughter.

She has two incredibly cute siblings, too. But today this is the picture that took my breath away.

Christmas Tree, Part II

2011-11-26T13:13:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving early with Josh's family, and a day late with my family. So the day of, we decided to go look for our tree.

And can I just tell you how glad I am that we didn't choose one of the less-than-ideal ones we saw last weekend??
Because it was perfect. A tad chilly, and more than a little muddy, but a huge selection of beautiful trees.

We ended up with a Concolor Fir, we think. It looks pretty green in the house, but compared to the other ones at the fam, it's much more blue-gray. And it smells like citrus!! It's gorgeous!

(picture taken by Charity with my camera)
And, um, huge.

(picture taken by Charity)

We found out when the farm owner helped us get it on the house: he had a chainsaw. Josh didn't need to cut it down by hand. We just look at it as his exercise for the weekend!

(picture taken by Charity)

****

And now, a brief commercial break

I've decided to join in on the "Small Business Saturday/CyberMonday" sales going on, and put my entire etsy store on sale! Everything is 20% off. Feel free to tell your friends!! And if you're not already, you can like my Facebook page and hear about new products, since I rarely think to mention them here!!

****

We are now all decked out. I haven't found a place for the beautiful nativity from Josh's grandma, but everything else is out!

The tree grew when we got home.
The angel has less than an inch of head room. The tree takes over the entire section of the room. It's HUGE!! You really lose perspective when you're outside among so many trees, even though we tried to compare it against Josh's height.
But it fits, and it's beautiful. And the house smells GOOOOOOD!!

So now to find new owners for our old artificial trees!!

Searching for a Tree...Part One

2011-11-20T18:45:00.000-05:00

We've decided to get a real tree this year.
I'm excited. I've never had a real tree. We've always been an artificial tree family.
Josh grew up with real ones, but we always had pre-lit artificial trees since we got married (he's not a fan of dealing with strings of lights. Needless to say, we don't put lights on the house, either).
But the tree we had last year was, well, missing some lights.

So we decided to try a real one this year!

All the nurseries in our county don't open until the day after Thanksgiving. Which would normally be fine, but we're celebrating Thanksgiving on Friday, so that puts it one day later. And since it was warm this weekend, it seemed like a good time to get out and look for a tree. So we found a place online that was out of the county but not too far away, and decided to give them a try. Cheap, easy-going, and they had free-range eggs and some vegetables advertised as well.

We invited Charity to come with us on our adventure and headed out. Off to find a tree...

....and make friends with a "meow"...

Hudson found a cute one. It will be a nice Charlie Brown tree in about 5 years!

So we kept walking.

And we walked.

And walked. And walked.

We went through their whole property. There were some lovely trees that would have put Clark Griswald's to shame. Wisely, we kept looking.

(Look at that sunflower, Mommy! It's the biggest flower I've ever seen! It looks like it's showering on me!)

Tired, hat-haired, and out of luck, we all decided we would be better off waiting and going to a more official nursery next weekend.

so...like all good "part one"s...this is...

To Be Continued

Dear Emma Grace

2011-11-17T10:51:00.000-05:00

Dear Emma Grace,

I met you one week ago.
And my life was forever changed.

I'm not exactly sure what our relationship is (first cousin once removed, plus a marriage in there). But I know you've found a place in my heart that will stay yours forever.

I've known for months that you wouldn't have long to live. I watched your mommy learn more about all the things that weren't going right in your body, and I prayed for you so many times.

And maybe it seems like my prayers weren't answered. But I know better.

You breathed. You heard your parents tell you they loved you. You cried.

You lived.

Not as long as you should have, but you lived. And that was a miracle. A beautiful, God-given miracle.
And now you're dancing with Jesus. You are whole and complete (like your name, Emma). You get time with your wonderful great-grandparents.

I'm so honored that I got to see you for those few minutes, and that I could be the one to take your pictures. You taught me to be thankful for the time we have with those we love. You taught me to treasure each breath.

Your beautiful mother taught me so much about faith. She showed me (and everyone who knows her) that faith really is strengthened in times of testing. She's been through the fire and has come out purer, stronger and more beautiful.

I hope you don't mind that I'm going to keep crying about losing you for awhile. It doesn't take away from my understanding that you're with Jesus, and that you are whole and perfect. It just means I miss the opportunity to get to know you better.

Love,
Your "cousin" Charla

School

2011-11-10T16:54:00.000-05:00

This is a cheap cross-post. Charity mentioned that it's nearly impossible to find a link from this blog to the homeschooling one, so I thought I'd mention that one occasionally, especially when I'm planning on continuing this being-online-less thing.

So here are a few new pictures of school this week!

And since this isn't my school blog, here's something else, too!

(an outtake picture from Vivian's senior picture shoot 2 1/2 years ago :) )

Enjoying the Journey

2011-11-10T16:50:00.000-05:00

I'm finally disciplining myself and spending less time online. And I love the feeling. I feel so free! My house is staying cleaner. We got the week's school done in 4 days, and I think all but one day it was done before lunch. Which is good; tomorrow we'll start in on some of next week's school, since we have outings three days next week!!

But I did manage to get a few pictures :)

This was Monday morning's pile. One morning.
And yes, we got it all done!

Yeah, I know. It's a sandwich.
No, it's not a gun.
She recognized that the shape looked familiar: she matched it on her puzzle and proclaimed it Oklahoma!
Then she ate it, saying things like "I just ate a big church!"

Playing with the abacus after finishing her worksheet.

Bekah, proudly showing off her work.

Happy end of week 21!

Pictures of Letchworth

2011-10-25T10:22:00.000-04:00

Pioneer Woman wrote a few weeks ago about a photo shoot that wasn't.
I had the same thing happen...well, it happened differently, but with the same results.

We went to Letchworth State Park on Sunday. The weather was absolutely perfect. (well, on the cold side of perfect). I got family pictures in front of the waterfall, with a rainbow behind our heads.

I wasn't completely thrilled with the picture because I'd forgotten to hide my hand with the remote in it (which is kinda sorta the reason I had it on "Remote Plus Timer" to give me time to hide that hand) and we were all squinting from the sun. But it was still good and I was planning to use it as our Christmas pictures.

I'd love to say that's why I'm not showing it here...to keep it a surprise.

But unfortunately, I can't show it. It's gone.

I put the memory card in the computer, hit "import," and walked away. And either I touched something, or Josh did, and it made it stop importing.
I came back an hour later, grabbed the card from the computer without looking first, put it in my camera, formatted, and then sat down at the computer.

Only to find out that something had stopped the import.

So no Christmas pictures from Letchworth. No adorable pictures of the kids throwing leaves on their heads. No video of Hudson throwing leaves at Josh.

Just a lesson. And I must say a good one to have gotten from that day and not the evening before, when I took pictures of Josh's sister and her husband!
So here's a picture from that.

Button Letter

2011-10-19T15:24:00.000-04:00

We have a lot of buttons.

Thousands and thousands of buttons.

See, when my sisters were little and my mom spent too much time at antique stores, she would bring home a small container of antique buttons whenever she saw them. It was her way of giving the kids a collection of something fun, something they didn't know existed or could ever actually use.

Sorry, Mom. I mean, she bought them something they spent hours playing with. They really did. They're the ones who organized them all into color order. Makes me happy to see them that way.

But now those sisters aren't so little, so they donated them to our homeschool room.

About once a year, I think of a project that uses "a ton of buttons" and ends up using a couple hundred. At this rate there will be "only" 5 jars left when I die.

Unless they start buying me more.

I bought the kids their initial letter at Hobby Lobby a couple months ago. They were cheap (under $2 each) and they had all three. I knew we'd eventually use them...

So today we tackled them!

First, they put on their adorable smocks.

Then they each colored their letter with whatever paint they wanted. Hudson almost wanted pink but eventually settled on dark blue.

After lunch, they glued buttons on the surface. And I covered the whole surface with a ton of aerosol hairspray. There would be too many tears if the buttons started falling off right away.

Then I took pictures and the glass out of three of our 8x10 frames that were on our wall, and put the letters in the middle.

At some point tonight I'll figure out something strong enough to hold it there to put up on the wall. But for now, ~~I'm too lazy to do anything more~~ I wanted them to have plenty of time to dry.

They love the final result, and I think they'll look great on the wall!

Farm Outing

2011-10-18T19:19:00.000-04:00

Today was the fourth year in a row doing our favorite October event (well, second to celebrating Josh's birthday, that is): we visited the local family farm. We love it there. And not just because the woman who runs the place is named Charlene ;) (that's almost a point against her, since she goes by Char!)

This was an unusual trip, in that it was our homeschooling group instead of just the family. But Josh took the day off so it could still be our family outing, and we had a wonderful (cold) time.

This poor angora rabbit. I'm sure they love being touched...to a point.

This goat has a permanent grin!

All three kids tried milking the goat!

I thought it would be fun to take a pony ride down memory lane:

2008

2011

2008

2011

2010

2011

I can't believe how much they've changed!

Auntie Charity

2011-10-14T13:36:00.000-04:00

Josh's sister Charity comes with him to eat lunch with us once a week or so. The kids love time with her, and I think she likes it just as much!
Josh couldn't come home for lunch today but we still invited her over.
Lunch didn't go as planned, but it was still fun having her here. After lunch is over, the kids like to bring her books. Bekah brought her 6 and Charity said she only had time to read one of them. She chose "Home for a Bunny," telling her Auntie that it "has a sweet ending."

So they all listened intently.
And Charity agreed. It does have a very good ending!

Productive Day

2011-10-14T11:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I left the computer off.
I'm thinking this is going to become a weekly thing.

I:
made a double batch of applesauce
made homemade macaroni and cheese for the kids and I for lunch
made taquitos for dinner (have to make more up today with the rest of the stuff. I'm NEVER making them again. I'll enjoy the restaurant's version instead!)
washed all the dishes for everything I made
made "energy balls" (peanut butter and honey formed in a ball, dipped in coconut and chilled. YUM!)
got the laundry put away
finished the kids' school
organized some of their school stuff
put away the pieces of their games that had lost their homes
made soup for Josh for work

Today we finished up the rest of the school week...which means we're now finished with our second quarter! We've finished half the school year! I'm so proud of her! And I'm allowing myself back online :) I have some pictures to look through and work on, but I refuse to spend the entire day on the computer.

And just because no blog post is complete without a picture or two:

(ahem, we won't discuss the fact that this was while Jasmine was supposedly in a time-out)

She just gets more gorgeous every day!

And from the photo shoot I did last weekend. I love the way these two brothers play together. My kids LOVE them!!

Apples, Take 2

2011-10-08T15:04:00.000-04:00

Today is absolutely gorgeous. The type that even I have to get outside to enjoy.

I went out and pulled the eggplants and remaining grape tomatoes from the garden. They've made it through the past few nights' frosts, but I don't want to chance it. So I'm planning fried green tomatoes.

We went to the Farmers' Market. Got a few things, including kohlrabi, something I'd never heard of but a lady told us what to do with it. So I'm giving it a try!
Bekah picked out the one we were going to buy (hoping it will help her actually try it):

Then we went to the farm to pick more apples. Last time we went, the Empires weren't ready yet, and since those are our favorites, we decided to make the trip back up.

Everyone else in the entire region decided on the same way to spend the afternoon. It was mobbed!! But we found a tree. One tree. And filled two bags with apples.

48 pounds of apples. I'd better start peeling!

Friday Confessions

2011-09-30T15:13:00.000-04:00

1. I pronounce "longevity" longetivity. I guess long life has something to do with longitude.

2. I'm allergic to cats and don't enjoy their company, but signs for free kittens make me want to stop and pick one up.

3. but Josh would send me to the psych ward so I keep driving.

4. I forget things a lot.

5. I'm really bad at finishing things.

6. Which is funny, since finishing things is a bit of a passion/driving force in my life.

7. Part of why I don't finish is that I forget what I was doing.

8. I am always afraid of letting people down. Not doing things I told them I'd do.

9. Or forgetting something I've told them I'll do/give them/bring somewhere.

10. I wish it was as easy to upgrade human memory as it is for computers. or as hard as it's supposed to be. Right, Josh?

11. I was NEVER that cool. Not in the 80s, and not now! But it's fun to pretend!

Happy weekend!

I'm in love

2011-09-28T09:36:00.000-04:00

I can't keep it a secret anymore.

I'm in love.

I've got it bad.

This guy knows just what to say, when to say it, and how to make me laugh or melt. Or both.

So he tends to do the caveman-speak. From his mouth, it's charming!

Hudson: Going home, mommy? [translation: are we going anywhere?]
Me: I don't know yet, Hudson.
H: Grandpa know?

Hudson: me cleaned it.
Me: you did! great job!
Hudson: me wock?
Me: yes, hudson, you rock.
Hudson: thank you!

Hudson: {said something funny}
Me: Hudson, you're a nut.
Hudson: yeah :D
Bekah: you're a goose.
Hudson: No, Bekah! Don't say that! NUT!

Hudson Tyler, you have completely melted my heart. I'm so in love.

School of Hard Knocks

2011-09-25T15:11:00.000-04:00

1. When getting helium balloons to take fun pictures, expect mayhem as soon as the balloons have been purchased.

2. It's not wise to trust an untested Navigation system on our new car (!) to get somewhere I've never figured out.
(but hey! we made it!! I'm so shocked!!)

3. Breezy days don't give the same feeling with balloons that still days do.

4. Putting the sand-filled balloon in your mouth results in a disgusting mouth (Right, Bekah?)

5. Just because I want to edit pictures instead of eat doesn't mean the kids will agree.

And now that lunch is done and the kids are watching a movie, in theory so that Hudson will fall asleep, for the balloon pictures:

Hi! My Name Is Charla

2011-09-22T11:36:00.003-04:00

Don't you love those "all about me" surveys?
I've always loved them. I love trying to come up with clever answers, hearing unusual questions, and just basic self-disclosure.
And since I'm feeling a little insecure today, I thought I'd share!

1. I love lists.
2. And bullet points.
3. And paragraphs. I won't read long, rambly paragraphs. Not in books, and not online.
4. I don't like letting people down.
5. But I do it more than I care to admit.

(this photo has nothing to do with what I'm writing, but I know I keep reading when there are pictures)

6. I love coffee.
7. I never drink tea, though my sweet Southern friend got me hooked on sweet tea.
8. I'm not particularly worried about what other people think of me.
9. But very worried about how my words/actions affect them. Too worried, I think. (see #4)
10. I take my role as oldest child seriously, even at 34. I'm a natural mother hen.
11. I love the Apostle Paul. I love that he tried to be "all things to all people," even going so far as to call himself Paul instead of Saul because he knew that Saul meant something negative in the languages he was sharing the gospel with.
12. I hate that it's taught that he had a name change with his conversion like Abram and Sarai did. It's wrong and the truth is SO much more meaningful.
13. I love to talk about Jesus, and to talk with like-minded people about politics, but I detest debates. I find them pointless at best. And I don't think Facebook is the place to post about either of those things.
14. At least as bad as debates are forwards or Facebook "reposts."
15. I hate knowing about something but not being able to find it.
16. My coffee pot just told me it's ready, so I guess it's a good place to stop!

Thanks for letting me share!

Celtic Day

2011-09-18T18:03:00.001-04:00

We knew today was supposed to be "picture-perfect," which is music to my ears! But what did we want to do??
Thank goodness for the internet! Not only did it bring me Josh, but only slightly less valuable, it told us where to go today!

We went to the Lake, where there was a huge Celtic Festival. What fun!
I love my Scottish heritage. I love Irish food, music, dancing. I knew this would be a good time!

We watched some Scottish dancing.

In the sword dance, it gets continually faster, while they are supposed to dance around, but not touch, the two swords. They did great! It was fun to watch.

Question: How can you pick out a father of girls?

Answer:

There was a Viking Storyteller. They unwisely placed his tent right near the Kids' Corner, so only kids and young families even noticed him, but most of his stories were *not* intended for kids. Vikings, after all, weren't exactly Rated G.
But he did have one cute story to tell them:

(loved the boots)

Bekah decided at the end that she wanted to get her face painted, and the other two followed suit. They were very proud:

Hudson's is a clover, but the black-and-white showed off his eyes so you'll just have to trust me ;)

It was so much fun! I can't wait for next year! More bagpipes! More dancing!!

Apple Picking: Second Annual

2011-09-17T19:56:00.000-04:00

Last year we heard about a place that had good apple picking from a friend of mine, and we loved it there. So this year, we went to the same place.
And ran into that friend!

It was a wonderful surprise! The kids played for awhile, we talked for awhile, and they went home with their loot when we were ready to start collecting ours!

"Picture me?"

He knows when he's cute, which is why I'm always taking his picture.

He just doesn't realize that he is still the smallest in the family.

(side story: at night sometimes Bekah falls asleep on the couch. Every time it happens, he suggests being the one to carry her up to bed. Isn't that the cutest?
And the other night, this was the conversation:

Hudson's telling Josh to carry a sleeping Bekah up to bed.
H: You. Carry her. You.
Josh: can you do it?
H: (too) Heavy.
Josh: what about Jasmine?
H: Heavy.
Josh: what about Mommy?
H (thinking for a second): Help.)

Okay, back to today!

We came home with 2 pie pumpkins, and about 20-25 pounds of apples. That should do for awhile!

Rag curls

2011-09-16T17:06:00.001-04:00

I did the girls hair in rag curls last night. It was easy and pretty quick, and they look so pretty!
(Well, Bekah's hair is fine like mine was at this age, so they fell out quickly)

Put up to dry and curl:

Bekah had hers come out last night, since I did this to them in the afternoon. Waiting is hard at 4!
(or 34)

I left that one in because it was still damp. This morning it was on the frizzy side instead of curly, but she thinks it's cute!

Jasmine had me take out two last night, but when she heard they'd look even more amazing in the morning, she was willing to wait to take them out. I'm so proud!

This is her "small smile" modeling pose. She was quite proud of herself for coming up with the face!

And Hudson insisted on showing off the side of his head, too:

Kitchen Makeover

2011-09-11T14:56:00.001-04:00

A couple months ago, Josh won a $1,000 gift card to the local do-it-yourself store chain.

We've bought a bunch of things so far; some fun, some more necessary. But yesterday we bought something that was fun...I consider it almost necessary. At least Josh was willing to go along with it!

We painted the kitchen!

Here's what it looked like yesterday afternoon.

And this afternoon:

It's a gorgeous rich, warm gray color. We're going to put more pictures on the top of the counter (oh wait! You can't see that! Directly to the right of where the second picture ends is the framed picture of the apples. I'm hoping to put a lot of food-related pictures, or particularly coffee-related pictures, up there over the next several months)

We love it!! We are replacing the knobs (Josh is there now, buying a few more because I'd made a mistake and didn't buy enough yesterday) with brushed silver look instead of dirty-gold.

Isn't it wonderful??

I need new curtains, when money allows. But the store doesn't sell those, so those will have to wait!

...And just because, I got a picture of a project Jasmine did last week. These made me laugh even if it wasn't exactly what I wish she'd be doing with napkins...

Anniversary

2011-09-04T12:06:00.002-04:00

Monday is our 8th anniversary. 8 beautiful, wonderful, fun-filled years.

We celebrated a little early by going to the Cleveland area (we found a coupon for a really beautiful inn there so decided to make the drive). It was well worth the drive!

The timing couldn't have been better for our staying at a Tudor mansion, since we just covered the Wars of the Roses and the Tudor era in school this past week! I couldn't wait to show these pictures to Jasmine.

The whole area surrounding the inn was the type of place even doctors can't afford. Incredible, luxurious, amazing houses and gardens.

After a leisurely morning, we went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and then Rock Hall (known by everyone who doesn't live in the Cleveland area as Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). The parking wasn't fun because there was an air show going on right there, but we did manage to find a place.

Unfortunately, they don't allow pictures inside. Actually, if I'm perfectly honest, it really didn't bother me. I wouldn't have gotten any incredible pictures of things like John's costume from Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...so instead, I got what I hope is an "artsy" shot of my inability to get pictures there!

I'm planning to leave that tag on my camera case. It let the staff know what was inside so they watched me more closely to be sure I wasn't taking pictures. If they only realized how well I follow the rules...

Happy anniversary, Josh. I'm so happy I've been your wife for the past 8 years and can't wait to see where our adventure next takes us...

Vacation: the rest of the week

2011-08-30T17:19:00.000-04:00

I don't think I'll ever get these pictures done if I keep chipping away at the rate I'm on.
So I'll just post the rest of the week now, with not nearly as many pictures as there could be. Maybe someday I'll show more of them. Maybe.

So, without further ado, here's the list of memories, mostly from the mouths of our very cute kids.

Monday
Jasmine's favorite part: holding the "red bird" (Macaw).
Bekah now likes to demonstrate having us hold her toy snake so she can take our pictures.

Tuesday
At the border crossing, coming home from a couple hours with my grandmother and two of her dear friends, the kids were asked if they had been out with Mommy and Daddy. They gave their deer-in-the-headlights stare. I whispered to them that they needed to answer the man when he asked them anything. So when he asked what we'd been doing for the afternoon, Hudson very quietly answered: "Grandma Kay!"

Bekah and Jasmine's favorite part of the rest of Tuesday was the musket demonstrator (not the demonstration itself, but the man who has so much fun doing the demonstrations) at Old Fort Niagara.

Wednesday
After Josh's flight in the morning, Jasmine asked:
did you enjoy your flight?
was it good exercise?
why did you need headphones?
When Josh answered, she replied,"I think that makes sense."

After asking each of the kids for their favorite moments of the day (the county fair after Josh's flight), they replied:
My new magic wand (Jasmine)
The bouncing....no, the hamster wheel (Bekah)

ammals (translation: animals) (Hudson)
(when Josh heard that, he said, "you know all those animals were horses, right?" and Hudson answered, "Yes.")

Jasmine: I waved because I was saying 'hi' to everyone in Bethlehem.
(i.e. she was a Magi)

Bekah, to the horse named Boo: Hi, Boo. My name is Boo, too!

Thursday
Bekah, at the playground, made friends with "little 'kids" (i.e. younger than her).

Saturday
After horseback riding lesson, Bekah said the following:
it would be fun to be a horse
but horses don't eat chicken nuggets
and chicken nuggets are my favorite food.
so I don't want to be a horse.

Hudson spent the evening hugging my sister's cat, and looking for her whenever she took a reprieve from his affections.

Vacation: Monday

2011-08-26T17:53:00.000-04:00

It's fun to reminisce about our vacation on a day that I can't do what I most want to do.
(that would be sleep).

So instead, here's day two. Well, day 3, but Sunday we stayed home and relaxed. Played Beatles on the Wii.
Monday...

We went to Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls, Ontario. We've passed it numerous times, always saying 'we should try it there someday!' So, since it was supposed to rain, it was the perfect day to go!

There were...birds.
Lots of birds.

They were beautiful. We weren't allowed to touch them, though they had a special area where you could hold an animal. Free! Of course, you weren't allowed to take pictures, but could buy theirs for $12 apiece. Uh, no. I'm a photo snob (and pinching pennies). So no photos. but if you ask the girls, they'll reenact the whole thing for you!

There were also reptiles!
Those, you could touch.

They were thrilled to be a part of the touchy part of the exhibit.

More to come next time I'm at the computer...like the rest of Monday. This could take me months at this rate!!

Garden

2011-08-25T17:50:00.000-04:00

I just checked our garden for any new produce.

We have four (or is it five?) eggplants growing. None are quite big enough to harvest yet, but I'm pretty excited about them.
We've gotten between 6 and 8 zucchini. I've blanced most of it so I can make zucchini bread all winter.
And we have two plants of grape tomatoes. We're at that heavenly place now where we should be able to collect a handful each day!

Yum!
(sorry I haven't gotten anything more up from our vacation last week. I'm working on setting up Lightroom for my pictures and have to get all my pictures sent over still. Soon.)

Sunshine and Roses

2011-08-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

A lot of times I feel like Larry in one of my favorite Silly Songs.
Trying to sing the blues but unable, because he's so optimistic and happy.

And those are the times I'm always blogging.

Today I've been thinking more about my time in Turkey, as I watch from a distance about the earthquake in Virginia this afternoon. Remembering that difficult time, when I was thrown together with my new neighbors, with whom I shared nothing but a common, traumatic experience.

During my two years there, I wrote monthly updates to people back home (as well as daily emails to my mom) But I always made sure I wrote those updates when I was in a good mood, so no one ever saw any of the struggles I went through.

I guess I should take that lesson and learn from it, and share when I'm struggling, too.

Then I read this blog post, which says exactly that!

So here's me, on a less-than-perfect day.

We had an absolutely wonderful vacation last week. But getting back to routine, to put it bluntly, stinks.

Jasmine does best with routine and order in her life. Even at 6, messing up her schedule messes up her temperament. So whenever people would ask why we did school all through the summer and if we'd ever take breaks, I'd tell them how much happier she is when we keep things the same each day.

At this moment, I'm almost wishing we'd just plowed through last week, too. Done school in the morning and taken vacation outings in the afternoon, maybe.

I don't, really. these are the weeks I love to look back at.
But I'm so fried. I'm so frustrated and worn out. The house is a disaster. Jasmine wants nothing to do with the written parts of school, and at this moment is screeching at Bekah for changing the order of her matchbox cars.

So I'll show a very old layout that sums up today pretty perfectly:

Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll get back into editing pictures and telling you about last week. But it just takes a part of me that isn't functioning today, so it's not going to happen this afternoon.

The Week: Day One

2011-08-22T14:08:00.021-04:00

Saturday
Visited Amherst Museum, which is our local version of Genesee Country Museum or Old Sturbridge Village.

Then went to pick blueberries. It was a very "Blueberries for Sal" experience for Hudson.

(my bucket isn't pictured...I'm proud to announce I picked more than anyone else! I'm sure it has something to do with Josh choosing better berries, but whatever!)

...to be continued...

Last Week

2011-08-22T13:49:00.001-04:00

Today is back to "normal."
back to school...
dishes...
laundry...
grocery lists...

all that fun stuff.

But one thing I'm trying to do today is fun. Lots of fun.
Editing pictures from last week!!

I'll be writing down some of the kids' morsels as I get the chance, but for now, here's a taste of the past week.

Decisions

2011-08-12T16:42:00.000-04:00

Jasmine loves to try on different personas. She loves to use her imagination in her choice of clothes. Thankfully she's very imaginative and doesn't insist that the clothes are identical to what she sees.

That was the inspiration for this picture:

I had a lot of fun setting it up, and even though I didn't wait until closer to sunset like I wanted, I still love the way it came out!

You say you want a Revolution

2011-08-09T17:00:00.000-04:00

On Saturday morning, we were driving out for a haircut and passed a beautiful historical house we've walked through in the past. They were having a special weekend of Revolutionary War reenactments and camps for both sides. It was fantastic!

First we watched them fight:

And an awesome verbal battle between the leaders:

After the battle was over, the kids took their little sheets with pictures of 4 of the actors around to find them and get their signatures.
At first they were very nervous about it, but then they got comfortable:

Then we visited the blacksmith. They were all set up so that the kids could give the bellows a try.
(at this point I'd like to add that kids were free. Everything was directed at getting them involved, but they were all three FREE!!)

Then all three kids signed up for the Patriot Army. I'm so proud!

Voting time!

2011-08-09T16:07:00.000-04:00

I have my pictures all up and ready for votes!!

If you have a few minutes, would you mind going through these albums and leaving comments (here, there, as an email or however you want to tell me) about which 3-4 pictures you like best in each of the 4 categories??

Green

Textures or Patterns

Eyes

Alphabets

The pictures shown above are just a sampling of what you'll find there ;)
For a full description of what's happening, you can read all about it here.

Friendship

2011-08-08T14:20:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my last post that I'm working on collecting pictures for the year-long challenge I've been a part of. I re-discovered one that makes me smile a little more each time I see it.

The relationship between Bekah and Hudson is so apparent in this shot.

And to think that right after this shot, I put my camera away, frustrated that "nothing worked!"

Weekend Pictures

2011-08-01T17:11:00.000-04:00

I just finished taking pictures for Heidi's yearly challenge. In the next couple weeks, I'll give you links to the galleries and ask you to choose your favorites for the four themes. Most are pictures I've posted here over the past 10 months, but some are likely new.
But for today, I have a couple pictures to show off from this past weekend.

Friday, I decided it would be fun to make a partial alphabet about my favorite drink:

I was invited to take pictures of a ballet master class.

It was awesome that I could really get into the class without being able to dance at that level. It's perfect for a former dancer who still loves it!

And in the evening I took my brother's senior pictures.

Then yesterday, we went to see Motocross Racing.

I'd say that was a pretty successful, fun weekend!!

Turkish Recipes, part 2

2011-08-01T16:55:00.000-04:00

This won't be a terribly exciting post, unless you wanted the other two recipes I made for the Turkish Open House!
I'll try to make up for it by posting some pictures very soon...

Cerkez Tavugu (Circassian Chicken, an awesome appetizer that would make amazing chicken sandwiches!)

Whole chicken
1 cup walnuts
half a loaf of fresh bread (shouldn't be fresh), torn in pieces
4 cloves garlic
pinch salt
pinch sugar

Put chicken in a pot, add some salt and enough water to cover. Boil until chicken is cooked through.
Put torn bread, garlic, sugar, salt and walnuts in the blender. Add some of the broth from the chicken to the blender. Blend. The mixture shouldn't be too thick. (You can add more water as needed, and can even add it once the chicken has been added).
Cut the chicken into small pieces and blend them (it's okay if there are still chunks of chicken). Put a little olive oil and red pepper on top, if desired.

Patlican Salatasi (Smoked Eggplant Puree)
4 medium eggplants
1/3 c fresh lemon juice
4 c water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t sea salt or coarse salt
3-4 T extra virgin olive oil
Additional salt and/or lemon juice to taste
Toasted pita triangles or rounds of French bread for serving

1. Roast eggplant. My favorite way to do this is to poke holes in it in numerous places with a fork and setting it on a cookie sheet. Cook it in the oven at 350 until it's very, very tender. (check it in 20-30 minutes). This will mellow the flavor beautifully.
Let the eggplant cool until easy to handle.

2. Combine the lemon juice and water in a large mixing bowl. Carefully peel away and discard all of the skin from the eggplant. Place the pulp immediately into the lemon water and let soak for 20 minutes. Drain the pulp in a fine mesh strainer, gently squeezing out any excess water.

3. Mash the garlic and salt together with a fork, chopping knife, or mortar and pestle to form a paste. Transfer it to a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the eggplant pulp and puree until smooth. Add the olive oil and puree until incorporated. Adjust the puree on a serving dish and surround with the bread of choice. Minced fresh mint or parsley may also be added to the puree as a tasty and colorful garnish.

Photo Class

2011-07-24T18:19:00.000-04:00

I took a photo class today. It was so much fun!
The thing I was most nervous about was the one hour live model shoot. It's one thing to take pictures of your kids, but how was this going to work??
As I looked through my pictures, my discomfort was pretty obvious. I didn't fight my way around the other photographers to get close enough to get a decent shot. I ended up with a lot of elbows in the shots

and a lot where the backdrop just didn't cover enough of the area behind the models.

After about the halfway point, I wandered over to one of the two instructors and told him about my frustration with the backdrops, and how I wanted to try for different angles but the backdrops kept me from being able to do that.

He understood, and pulled me aside to see things from a different view. I'm not sure if he'd already found the view and was waiting for someone to show it to, or he came up with it, but it was very cool.

Then he started tweaking my camera settings and making me zoom in closer, and actually step closer.
Until I got *the* shot.

The shot.
He had told us at the beginning that he wanted us to give him our memory cards so he could critique some of the pictures. But after I got this shot, he told me he really wanted to make sure he had my card. To make sure I got it to him and that I reminded him that he wanted to see that picture.
I was obedient ;)

While we ate lunch, the two instructors looked through some of the cards and chose some pictures to go over after lunch.
He walked through a bunch of them, things that were good and things not-so-good.
Then he showed my first picture...and then the second one.
And said it was one of his favorites from the whole shoot today.
And had me acknowledge myself as the one who'd taken the picture.

Granted, he had a lot to do with the shot, but it still felt absolutely incredible.

So if you see a redhead floating on air sometime today, wave!

Contests: A request

2011-07-23T08:24:00.001-04:00

I'm SO excited!
I've been chosen as a finalist in a contest for the place where I get my pictures printed, iPrintFromHome.com . They chose 14 pictures out of 100, one of them being mine, and now people are voting for their favorites. The top 8 pictures will be featured on the paper packs they send to all their new customers. How amazing would it be if my daughter's beautiful face was on one of those papers?!??!

So...would you mind taking 30 seconds and helping me out?

There are two ways to do it. If you're on Facebook, go to their fan page here, "like" it, and then "like" the picture of Jasmine here.
this is what you're looking for:

If you're not on Facebook or don't want to do it that way, you can email it to them. Go here to see the pictures, and then email them here with the name of the picture ("Howdy, Girl!") and that will get me a vote too!
(please only vote once) :)

Thank you!!! I'll know in a week if I won and I'll be sure to let you know!!!

Hot hot hot

2011-07-20T10:06:00.000-04:00

I don't usually complain about the heat here, because it's short-lived and a billion times preferable to the horrible long winters.
But this is a tough week to get through in this non-central air house.

We have a puny window a/c in the kitchen, and three fans pulling the air from the kitchen into the rest of the main floor.
It brings it down to a cool 84 degrees. (don't know how humid it is in here, but it's still pretty sticky).

Today and tomorrow are supposed to be really hot, and then back below 90 for the following three days.

Right now I'm wondering how wise it was to buy a house with a boiler/radiator system of heating the house, which means we can't do central air. It seemed wise enough in March, but right now central air has a lot more appeal!!

Home from Istanbul

2011-07-17T19:12:00.000-04:00

I suppose we're still technically in Constantinople, since Aya Sofya is still in my line of vision!

The only thing added to this after the picture above is a sign made by Bekah announcing its name.

And now to some food pictures with recipes:

Coban Salatasi (Shepherd's Salad)
cucumbers (the tiny ones are sweetest and closest to what you get in Turkey)
tomatoes
scallions
olive oil
salt
lemon juice

This is a terribly non-specific recipe. Just cut up the vegetables and combine. I think I used 4 small cukes and 2 large and one small tomato, and a bunch of scallions (greens only). You can use the whites but they're a little more onion-y and I knew my kids would revolt.
Then add a bit of olive oil (roughly a tablespoon), a couple dashes of salt and a bit of lemon juice. Combine, taste, and add more of whichever there isn't enough of!

Ekmek (bread)
(it doesn't usually come out this flat. I didn't add enough flour. Didn't affect the taste, though)

1/2 oz/15 g fresh yeast or 1/4 oz/7 g dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
4 fl oz lukewarm water
1 lb/450 g/2 c white flour
1 teaspoon salt
6-8 fl oz cold water
scant teaspoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 425F
Cream yeast with the sugar in the lukewarm water until frothy
Sift the flour with the salt into a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yeast and the cold water. Draw in a little of the flour from the sides to make a smooth batter. Sprinkle a dusting of flour over the surface of the batter, cover the bowl with a damp cloth, and leave the batter to sponge for about 20 minutes. Remove the cloth, draw in the rest of the flour, and knead well. Continue to knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic.
Pour the oil in the bottom of a bowl, flip the bread dough over it, cover the bowl with a damp towel, and leave the dough to prove for a few hours until doubled in size.
Punch the dough down, knead it again on a lightly floured surface and mold it into the shape you want. Place it on a floured baking tray and leave to prove again under a damp towel. Once it has doubled in size, you can score it with a sharp knife, glaze it, and sprinkle it with a variety of seeds. For a simple plain loaf just brush a little milk over the surface to harden the crust.
(*note: I didn't put the milk on the surface because I wanted to leave it vegan. It was still nicely crusty!)
Bake it in the oven for 30-40 minutes, then turn it upside down and return to the oven for 5 more minutes. It should sound hollow when the bottom is tapped. Leave to cool a little on a wire rack.

And the rest of the spread!

Here's a hint. Turkish food is labor-intensive. None of it (that I've made) has been terribly difficult, but it all takes a long time. There's nothing "instant" about any of it, even if I cut corners and grill the meats on my George Foreman grill. I still had to start it 1 1/2 hours before we planned to eat it.

So what I'm trying to say is: go ahead and try any of these recipes. You just might not want to plan to make them ALL. Or even more than one at a time!!

And now the rest of the recipes:

Zeytinyagli Yesil Fasulye (Green Beans in Olive Oil)
1 kg green beans
1 cup olive oil
3 medium size onions, chopped
2 large tomatoes
1 green pepper (I always leave this out)
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons sugar

Remove the two ends of the strings of the beans, trimming the two sides. Cut them in half. Wash and drain.
Heat the olive oil. Lightly brown the chopped onion and the green pepper cut in 3-4 pieces. Add the tomatoes peeled and cut into small pieces (*I never bother peeling the tomato. Too much work and I've never been bothered by the peels in the finished dish*) Add the beans, salt and sugar. Mix well. Pour in just enough warm water to cover them.
Cover and cook on low heat for one hour, until the beans are tender and the sauce is reduced.
Let cool before serving.
(*I like this cold. As in, throw it in the fridge. It works out to be like a cold green bean salad*)

Cacik (garlicky yogurt)
*awesome for a hot day!* similar to tzatziki sauce, but is used as a side dish or a cold soup
plain yogurt
a couple cloves minced garlic
cucumber cut up as small as you can get it
chopped fresh mint

Mix yogurt in a bowl with garlic and cucumber. Add fresh mint to the top. Is best with an hour or two in the fridge to let the flavors meld.

I'll write the rest of the recipes another day. I'm tired and the recipes aren't in the room with me right now.

So, to conclude, a picture of Jasmine, headscarf worn in the style of the village women of Turkey:

Getting ready to visit Turkey

2011-07-14T16:45:00.000-04:00

I go back and forth on which blog to post this on. We're doing it for school, but it's become much more than that.
This one won. Congratulations, joshandcharlene.blogspot.com!!!

We've spent this week creating the beautiful Byzantine church, Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) ready for showing off for family and friends.
You can see the progress of the exterior here.
Today I started cooking the things that don't have to be prepared last minute.
Yogurt, two appetizer/spreads, and a yummy green bean side dish. I'm not making a full meal...I'm not quite that crazy. But I'm making enough that it's two days in the kitchen! (Turkish food is labor-intensive)

Yes, I really was using all those cookbooks at the same time. As well as the hand-written recipe.

No, I don't think I made anything wrong. I hope.

After lunch (chicken nuggets; I wasn't up to making anything else!), we went onto the porch and started gluing small pieces of construction paper to the insides of Ayasofya. It was quite the activity.

We kinda ran out of steam, though.

We went out later and finished all the paper that was still waiting to be adhered.
I'm planning to have more paper cut up and let the kids who come be a part of "history" and help make the "mosaics." Though I haven't figured out how to keep it from getting too messy.

Still to do: finish cleaning, put the yogurt in the fridge when it's done incubating, and SLEEP.

A list

2011-07-07T14:17:00.000-04:00

1. Yesterday I started planning a bit of a detour in school. Between "ancient history" and "medieval times," we're adding in a week to look at Byzantine Turkey.

2. Suddenly this week can't end soon enough.

3. I found all my Turkish pillows and scarves. The girls are so excited.

I told them to look "happy without smiling." That's tough for them. For me, too.

Turks aren't big into the grins we Americans give to the camera.

4. The next week of scheduled school has us making a mosque as the hideaway. So we're one-upping them. This coming week, we're creating Aya Sofya as a Byzantine church, and the following week we'll convert it to a mosque, complete with white-washing the mosaics on the walls.

5. Is it Monday yet?

6.We're also having a Turkish Open House, inviting people to stop by and taste Turkish food (lots of eggplant and yogurt are on the grocery list now) and see their creation.

7. The girls have already learned how to welcome guests appropriately.

8. If you've never been kiss-kissed by a four-year-old, you're missing out.

9. Last night we had thunder and blue skies for a half hour. The clouds finally came overhead.

10. The dark clouds weren't quite this dark. I over-photoshopped it.

11. Whoops.

13. I can't count.

14. Did I tell you I'm a finalist in a photography contest? More details will be coming in the next couple weeks. Warning you in advance that I may be begging for votes.

15. It's time to go. Bekah's asking me to translate everything into Turkish. Talk about a mental stretch...it's been 10 years since I moved back!

American Girl

2011-07-05T14:21:00.001-04:00

My beautiful American Girl.

When's New York's Birthday?

2011-07-04T11:13:00.000-04:00

Jasmine is so confused.
New York...Buffalo...America...they're all "where we live" and she has no idea which one she really means to refer to.
To help things along, we've been referring to today as America's Birthday over and over again, to help them get the idea. It usually works.

The kids have been enjoying SchoolHouse Rock lately. Jasmine loves to ask me what each song is about, and when we'll learn that (and what subject it falls under). She and Bekah can now sing the multiples of three thanks to "Three is a magic number," and they know a little bit of history, science and government.
And the other day, Jasmine came down in "costume" and made me guess what she was.
thanks to her props and pose, I was able to figure it out:

Isn't she much cuter than the Green Lady??
Bekah had to be one too, but since the Statue of Liberty was already taken, Jasmine had a new suggestion: She could be the Statue of New Mexico!
(no picture of her, unfortunately)

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends and family! I love being an American :)

Trying new things

2011-07-01T17:24:00.000-04:00

Last night I did something completely new: Irish Dancing!
I loved it. It was exhausting and SO much fun. I can't wait to go back!

Tomorrow Jasmine, Bekah and Hudson are getting a day out with their Auntie and Uncle. They're going to the zoo. Jasmine's been counting down for the past few days. They are all so excited!
So Josh and I will have most of the day free. How exciting is that??
And in spite of my natural tendency to say "what can we clean?!" we're working at finding fun things to do.

So we're looking into things that we've never done, or not since kids...maybe trying a shooting range, or a horseback ride. He called about using his Father's Day present (a half-hour flight) but they're booked for the weekend (big surprise).

Can't wait to see what we do and how much fun we all have!!

I played Hangman with the kids for the first time today.
Well, the girls. Hudson thought he was playing too....

They loved it. They wanted to lead.

We ended up with a very confused leader:

Consistency

2011-06-29T14:37:00.000-04:00

It's never been one of my strengths, but I am trying to be more consistent.
Not just with blogging, but with life as a whole.

I've been working hard on my AlphaKids. Want to see?

I still have about 62 more letters to extract.
Well, 62 more pictures of letters. They're still collected from the same 26 letters shown here. They take 15-20 minutes each to extract, when I don't stop mid-Y to post to my blog, so that's another 15-20 hours' worth of work ahead of me before I can start offering custom names.

In other news, we've discovered that Jasmine does much better with routine and consistency than with a loosey-goosey schedule. She's calmer and happier and more pleasant. So if you ask her what she thinks of her summer vacation, don't be surprised if she looks at you like you have three heads. She's loving that we're doing school nearly every day, and I am too. We still have breaks, and we'll still take vacation, but the idea of a 3-month summer really doesn't need to be a part of our lives any more than sitting behind a desk and raising her hand to talk to her teacher does.

So I guess life in general is full of learning opportunities for me to figure out how to be consistent. How long before I really learn it?

Conversations

2011-06-28T13:23:00.000-04:00

1.
Hudson: {closing the window} Did it, Mommy!
Me: Hudson, why did you close the window?
Hudson: Because......cold.

2.
{Josh, Jasmine, Bekah and Hudson head outside for awhile after dinner. Jasmine and Bekah go get their bikes. Hudson gets his "bacuum," or lawn mower.}

Bekah: Daddy, I'll get your skateboard.
Josh: No, thank you. I'm not going to use my skateboard tonight.
Jasmine: Daddy, I'll go get your skateboard.
Josh: No, thanks. I'm not going to skateboard tonight.
Bekah: Daddy, here's your skateboard!
Josh: I. Don't. Want. My. Skateboard. Tonight.
{to me: }Could you grab my book for me?
Charla: Don't you want your skateboard??
Josh: ACK! Why does everyone want me to skateboard?? (replaying conversation)
Charla: oh. I didn't hear the "don't."
Hudson, coming over: Daddy! Skateboard??

I don't think I woke up this morning

2011-06-28T13:09:00.000-04:00

and I have proof.
This morning Josh mentioned that he needed more frozen fruit to keep making smoothies.He also mentioned something else he needed, so I checked the pantry and then wisely added it to the grocery list.

Or so I thought.

When I walked back into the kitchen 4 hours later, I was astonished to see what I'd actually written on the list:

umm.....

2011-06-27T16:08:00.001-04:00

Life's been pretty normal lately. Well, "normal" might be too strong. But nothing stands out as being photo- or blog post-worthy.

That doesn't mean I don't take pictures still, of course. x

The kids were "bored" Saturday morning, so I put 'em to work.

They had a great time, and the crayon spots on some of the walls are now gone!

Hudson stood at the door, calling "kiss? kiss??" after Daddy when Josh was leaving for work this morning, so I got Josh's attention. He came back for that kiss.

Hudson still watched him leave...

And last week's theme for my 52-week challenge was "craving."
This was a bit of a stretch, but I figured it works.
I love baby toes. Hudson's feet are almost past that 'baby toes' stage, but not quite. So I got this picture to hold onto that baby-ness :)

I've finally gotten back into extracting my AlphaKids letters. I got side-tracked with the ballet pictures I did, and then never got back into it until this week. I'm reading an awesome, incredible book right now and he's helping me figure out what I should do with my photography while still doing the parenting/homeschooling thing :) If you have a dream job in mind and don't know how to get there, or even if you don't quite have a dream "job" in mind, this book is SO fantastic!

(yes, I'm giving it a bigger plug than I usually do. Because I can't believe how much I'm enjoying the book and how much I can see it's already changing the way I look at my world.
So now that I've way over-hyped it you'll probably hate it, unless you've already discovered it yourself...
I'm such a good salesman.)

Strawberries

2011-06-19T20:27:00.000-04:00

This was technically a homeschool outing, but it didn't feel like it so I'm writing about it here instead of on the other blog :)

Yesterday we met with two other families from our homeschooling group at a farm an hour from us.
Jasmine was over the MOON because Grace, one of her very best friends, was going to be there. The two of them and Kevin, the other going-into-first-grader there yesterday, had an amazing time together. You can see her pictures here.

Here's my take on the day!

He's not doing very well at hiding the evidence:

"and she just doesn't know. should she stay? should she go??"

(no, I'm not calling my beautiful daughter a hippopotamus. After all, Hippopotami are not to be messed with!)

We came home with 6 quarts of extremely ripe strawberries (we think the hours in the hot trunk ripened them even more than they were when they were picked!) I've frozen about 4 quarts of them, we ate one and turned one into strawberry shortcake. Delish!

Trains

2011-06-16T11:26:00.000-04:00

We had so much fun on Sunday, riding an old-fashioned steam engine-pulled train!

We managed to pawn off all three kids by the second half of the trip. I found that pretty amusing, since it was a homeschool outing!

We loved watching the engine steam! (here it was going from the front of the train to the "new" front of the train, for the return trip).

The only thing I wish I'd gotten was a picture of this going around a corner. But this will do ;)

We loved the accordion player! He was hilarious!

The kids had a great time playing with their friend's dad!

They had a little race. Poor Bekah's legs just aren't quite long enough to keep up...

Botanical Gardens

2011-06-10T18:43:00.000-04:00

You can read all about our adventures here, but I wanted to share my favorite picture here. Because it had nothing to do with school and everything to do with having beautiful children!

Beautiful, aren't they?? Of course I'm not partial or anything....

Enchantment

2011-06-08T14:26:00.002-04:00

This week's challenge theme is "enchantment."

My picture might be a bit of a stretch, but Hudson really does have me under his spell.

Especially when he's wearing his overalls.

I can't get enough of those overalls:

*happy sigh*

Dreaming of Disney

2011-06-01T18:11:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we got the 1,309,473,273th thing in the mail about Disney Cruises since we got home from the trip in early December.

Apparently Hudson's ready to go back.

In the evening, we were cleaning the house. Jasmine decided it would be fun to switch roles, so she was Mommy and I was Jasmine.
I played it for all it was worth ;)

"Mommy, can we go to a Disney Cruise again?"
"No, sweetie, I don't think so. See, that was for something special. Grandma spent lots and lots of money on that cruise, and so it was something we can't do again."

You mean she was listening?!?!

Hair

2011-05-28T18:58:00.000-04:00

Bekah likes to cut.
When she finishes cutting her current project, though, she lets her scissors do the thinking.
Scissors aren't very smart.

I call it the "Ruby Sue."

So today we got it fixed.

(this should also make it easier on me to remember that she doesn't like me playing with it. The girl's love language is most definitely not "touch.")

Nicknames

2011-05-24T09:45:00.000-04:00

While I was away for the weekend, painting mom and dad's house to get it ready to go on the market, Josh had some fun conversations with the kids.
One of them was about nicknames.
But first, a back story.

When Jasmine was a baby, we called her Kewpie Doll. She still occasionally hears it. Hudson has started using it some of the time.

No Jazzy, or Jazz, though. The midwife tried "Jazzy Claire" the day she was born. Thankfully it didn't stick. It's kind of cute but I'm not a fan.

Of the name, I mean. I love jazz music.

Bekah got called Boo from about the time she could crawl. It went from Bekah-Boo to just Boo. But she's started requesting that we not call her Boo.
At least I thought she'd just started. Then I found this:

whoops.

Hudson has been Buddy almost since the day he was born. He occasionally calls himself Buddy.

So now back to our story.

Bekah said she wanted a nickname. Apparently "Bekah" isn't a nickname in her book. (oh, and "Rebekah" isn't allowed in her book. or Bekah Jenny. Just Bekah.)
So Jasmine suggested a couple things, like Bekah Jenny or Boo, all of which were quickly shot down. She said, "give me a minute. I want to think of one."
There was silence at the table.
Suddenly, Hudson suggested one: "Buddy?"

You can't argue with a boy willing to share his nickname with his sister!!

"When it's spring"...

2011-05-23T20:31:00.000-04:00

Jasmine keeps starting sentences with "when it's spring..."
I guess that tells you what it's like weather-wise around here. Actually, today we got up to 80. It was awesome!

Then last night, she said "we get a whole week of summer!"

*teehee*

Jasmine is so much like me, sometimes it's frightening. She decided that, since she is now 6, she can ride her bike. Without training wheels. So yesterday Josh took off the training wheels (and put them on Bekah's bike).

and now...

(side note: I've finally found a way to take a picture in the front yard that doesn't make you see how hideous the house across the street looks!)

and Bekah:

Hudson had to get in on the action, too. He was very sweet and let his Baby take a ride:

Counting from both ends

2011-05-12T15:00:00.000-04:00

Jasmine's big project for today is to write the numbers from 1 to 100.

Well, that's one way to do it!

Why did no one warn me??

2011-05-10T12:30:00.000-04:00

How come no one warned me:

just how fast time would fly?

(actually, that's not true. I've heard it more times than I can count)

Happy sixth birthday, Kewpie!

Photo Encouragement

2011-05-02T12:54:00.000-04:00

Remember how I set for 2011 the goal of improving my photography?

Whoa. I had no idea what a ride I was in for!!

A couple weeks ago, I got a message from a friend from college, asking if I'd be interested in taking pictures of a mutual friend's bridal shower. Whoa!! I said yes...and did that on Saturday.

I had shown some of the girls' ballet pictures to their teacher, who asked me if I'd like to take pictures of all the kids in her class and the other classes of young kids. I'm super-excited about that! It starts this coming week!

And one of my challenges I've been a part of this year...
Every week they choose 10 pictures from the hundreds submitted to highlight on their blog.
Guess who they chose this week?!?!?

Just to catch up a little, here's my picture for this current week, "first thing in the morning." It's such a perfect picture of our mornings!

AlphaKids...a list

2011-04-25T16:53:00.000-04:00

It's good timing.We're going to start school next week, the kids are starting to resent having to wear solid tops all the time, and I'm getting to the point that I should have enough variety of letters to start creating custom names for people who want to buy them!

So here's a list of numbers.

1. there are 460 pictures in my "AlphaKids" folder on the computer.

2. 93 of them are starred in Picasa.

3. 67 of them have been edited and made web-sized. That means at least those are good enough quality, in my opinion, to put on posters, thank-you notes, name posters, and anything else I think of creating.

4. 14: the number of families who have been involved.

5. 12 photo shoots to date (two or so more are in the works).

6. 1,308,372: the number of times I've wished we got a little more sun on a regular basis. We have had absolutely no sun in the past 8 days, for the three photo shoots I had scheduled for those days.

Loose Ends

2011-04-21T16:32:00.000-04:00

I'm really hot-and-cold at this blogging thing. You think I'd have some sort of a routine after almost 6 years of blogging!

I set up a new blog for homeschooling. If you are interested in following our adventures, it's here. I left it more anonymous for some unknown reason...I kinda had the idea I'd be sharing it more publicly so thought I'd leave the kids' names out of things.

We went to an Amish farm on Tuesday evening to get raw milk. This is our second experience drinking it, but our first time getting it (we went together with a friend of mine, so we can split the travel in half. Makes the cost more reasonable). It was such a fun thing to see! The kids have been using Amish readers for awhile now, so it was fun to tell Jasmine on the way out that we were going to a farm like where Peter and Rachel live. I think it made the books more understandable for them both!

I spent yesterday morning making a serious mess in the kitchen. I separated out most of the cream from the milk when it had settled, and made butter. It's now in the freezer. I'm so proud!

I used 2 of the quarts to make Turkish-style yogurt. I've made it in the past, but the third or fourth time I tried to make it, I must not have let it boil long enough, so it never set. I was scared to try again!
But I decided I could do it, and eventually ended up with beautiful yogurt with far more flavor than the plain yogurt you get in the store.
I've gotten requests for the recipe, so here it is!

Turkish Yogurt
("starter" for yogurt is plain yogurt, either from the store or from a previous batch. Yogurt with more fat, and milk with more fat, will make thicker, creamier yogurt)
Boil milk on the stove, mixing frequently. (use 1 quart of milk with 1 tbsp "starter" yogurt; I doubled it). Take off the burner and let it cool until you can put your finger in and count to 10.

Put starter yogurt in a large bowl and blend it until smooth (I used a whisk). Slowly strain in a small amount of cooled milk and stir well. Gradually add in the rest of the milk (straining as you go; I just took off the skin on top and dumped it, but I'm sure there are more exact ways to do it. I went for "easy") and continue stirring.

Cover with plastic wrap or a plate, and wrap in a blanket or warm towel. Put someplace warm (I put it in the oven) and leave for 6 hours or overnight, until it has begun to ferment and thicken.
Put in the fridge and let it continue to thicken.

And you're done! That's it!

CharlaArts update: I got business cards yesterday! I love the way they came out.

And we just bought the domain charlaarts.com. There's nothing there yet so don't bother looking ;) But hopefully I can get something there soon! I've done another few AlphaKids gigs and am almost at the point where I can start offering to do custom names for people. I'm very excited about the possibilities!

The Zoo

2011-04-15T17:49:00.001-04:00

The zoo came here today.

Bekah and Hudson woke up at 6, holding hands to come get us up. So sweet. Too early, but so sweet.

Jasmine came down while we were eating breakfast, but it was too early for her. She demanded a blanket and went back to sleep on the couch.

So Hudson patiently waited for his presents (because he forgot that it was his birthday. I love two-year-olds!) until she woke up and Josh had his shower. He loves them.
Especially this one.

Josh had to go to the chiropractor first thing this morning. he texted me that the truck from Lowe's was coming to deliver our fence.
Unfortunately, I didn't get the message. Until well after the fact.

The guy dropped off the fence. I signed for it. All was well and good.

Josh came home after stopping by the office, and a few minutes later his dad got here. They got right to work.

As did I. I had two photo shoots scheduled; one at 10 and one at 1:30.

So the house got tidied, the floor got swept so as not to kill my beautiful new white background paper, and I waited.
And waited.
and waited.

She forgot. So we rescheduled for afternoon, so I could use her daughter WITH the other kids coming. That works.

Then my package of my first thank-you notes arrived. I was thrilled!
Until I saw that I had ordered the wrong thing. I now have 125 "thank you" photos with envelopes. If anyone would like to buy some for...I don't know...something...contact me. I wrote to the company, heard that it was my mistake, and sadly ordered the right thing. *sigh*

I started to pull out ingredients to make cuppycakes for Hudson, but we didn't have cocoa. So the ingredients continue to sit on the counter. Mom would be appalled.

We had a yummy lunch (bagels and cream cheese!) and Josh and his dad went back out to work. The kids wanted to play out there too, and came back in when the kids got here for pictures.

We took a ton of pictures. There was much giggling.

No, it was far more than giggling. They were new best friends.

So we let them play until the second family came. They actually came back quite willingly and got right to work.
And there was even more giggling and more pictures taken.

The kids said goodbye, our kids went back outside and ran. and ran. and ran.

Hudson finally came inside and asked me to take off his sneakers and wanted a snack. He fell asleep on my shoulder, tortilla in hand.

Bekah managed to finish her tortilla before she, too, succumbed to the beauty of an afternoon nap.

It's now 5:45.
There are no cupcakes in or out of the oven. There is no pizza crust rising. Josh and his dad are still hard at work on the fence. I have 18 different letters, all waiting to be cropped and edited, and eventually extracted. I did the starting steps on three and stopped out of complete exhaustion. I have between 5 and 10 more sessions in the works, so I can't let myself get behind or they'll never make it out of Picasa. And all I do in Picasa is flip through galleries. So that won't do!

I think it's going to be a night for Ted's Hot Dogs and some cupcakes from Wegmans.
Once the naps are over, that is!

P.S. The fence is complete. The naps, however, aren't. Hopefully they'll wake up when Josh says "Ted's!"

Hudson

2011-04-14T18:09:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow is Hudson's birthday. I will have a two-year-old in the house again. For the third time, in this house.

I love the two year stage.

I love watching their language explode.

I love watching them learn to jump.

I love that he's already gotten the "no"s out of his system. He hasn't gotten to the "why"s yet ,but they only lasted a couple weeks for Bekah so I'm hopeful that it won't take him long to get past that as well.

I love that he's becoming friends with his sisters.

I love that he's starting to show his opinions. Unfortunately that does involve being heartbroken when he doesn't get his way, but he's learning.

I can't believe it's been two years since I was in labor with him. Since I first saw his perfect face.

(he looked just like Bekah, but looked very much like a boy from the very beginning. I never tested this, but always thought I could put him in a dress as a newborn and he's still look like a boy!)

I can't wait to see what this year brings. He's filled a void I didn't know I had. He's completed our family. He's shown me a whole new aspect of life. I'm so thankful. So in love.

Happy birthday, Hudson!!

Phase II

2011-04-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

Today began Phase II of my Alpha Kids project.

I put Thank You Cards in the store. I'm SO excited about how they came out, and I can see more projects like this coming down the pike.
And today I had two girls come over to do more letter pictures. Yes, I have a full alphabet at this point, but I'm hoping to do custom posters of kids' names, which means I need between three and four of each letter to really make that work. So I'm taking advantage of my new white paper and the schools' spring breaks and getting kids I couldn't otherwise see: kids who aren't homeschooled!! Funny. I kinda forget those exist!!

Busy week!

2011-04-08T08:46:00.000-04:00

I've had a lot of fun this week. I'm putting more time into my etsy store, trying to see if I can start drumming up some business. I won't post large sizes of all the things I've put in the store because it's all pictures you've seen before, but you can go check it out if you're interested. Feel free to tell other people you know about me, too!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CharlaArts

What would you like to see me add to the store? any particular picture, or a type of product (more greeting cards, different sized pictures/posters, or something else entirely)? I'd love to add things that people want to buy, rather than just what I like! I'm not my target market, after all.

We had company last night. It was fun that Bekah warmed up to them and read them stories (they were blown away hearing her read. I was so proud of her!) I'm so glad she warms up to people in small groups, because I want other people to see just how precious she is!

And now a brief list:

The Kids' Favorite movies at the moment:
Jasmine: Hans Christian Andersen
Bekah: Toy Story 3
Hudson: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella

How's that for short??? ;) Happy Friday!

Down-side to birthdays

2011-04-05T12:06:00.000-04:00

I love birthdays. Love celebrating them. Love time with family. Love cake and presents. Don't mind turning a year older.
The thing I'm not so fond of, at least in my case this time, is that Monday is my day to do all the laundry and general cleaning. But I didn't yesterday, so now I feel like it's Monday when it's also Tuesday, or grocery day.
But. I did do something fun yesterday, that turned into something fun today: I made posters for myself and ordered them, and should be getting them in a couple days.

The other is a 20x30 version of my Alpha Kids picture. I can't wait to see these on my walls!!

Bekah was pouting yesterday and looked really cute, so I grabbed my camera. The pout quickly changed (my actual goal in the camera-grab) and I got some sweet shots. My favorite, one of my new favorites of her, fit in well for this week's challenge of "emotions" (is "shy" an emotion?)

I have some fun ideas for a photo shoot today, but first I should make some lunch after I change the laundry again. Time to get back off the couch!

Birthdays

2011-04-04T10:31:00.000-04:00

It's my birthday!
I love birthdays. So here's a list!

1. My birthday is lovely double digits (4-4-77. Yeah, I'm 34). This is my 5th double-digit celebration...4-4-11 is pretty cool too! I hope there are a bunch of babies who come today who can enjoy the same joy I have :)

2. There's no snow. That's wonderful news. There's about a 60% chance of snow on my birthday (just pulled that number out of the air because research on the topic sounds boring) so I'm relieved when there's no snow.

3. Jasmine and Bekah went with Josh on Saturday to pick out my birthday presents from them. Jasmine thought clothes would be good...specifically pants. Josh nixed that, but said shirts would work. So they each chose a shirt from Old Navy. I'll have them take pictures later today, when my flash batteries are charged back up.

4. Josh took me to a romantic comedy ("Just Go With It") and then to Salvatore's for dinner. The best part was that they put us in the same table that we ate at on the night he was planning to propose (but couldn't because the ring wasn't ready until the next day).

5. The girls also chose their cards for me. Jasmine picked out "the best one they had," which she chose for the front, but the inside was good enough to make me cry. She's such a sweetheart!

6. I got an email this morning that I almost classified as spam. But it wasn't! It was from futureme.org, and it was an email I had written to myself in 6/08. It was great! I had a precious Jasmine story in there:

My favorite Jasmine story right now happened about a week ago: she fell out of bed in the middle of the night, and said "excuse me! help?!" so Josh helped her back up. A few minutes later she fell out again, and said, "not again!!"

7. I'm having a good birthday. Hudson just fell asleep leaning on my arm. I love his snuggles.

8. Trying to decide what I want for lunch...

9. Happy Double-Digit Day!

a list

2011-04-01T16:59:00.001-04:00

I need to get through the next hour and a half before Josh can get home. But I'm so fried. It's been quite a week. (not a bad week, just quite a week. A long one)

So I'm going to write a list. because Pioneer Woman did and lists are my favorite thing that involves a computer keyboard.

1. I love baby toes. Hudson's still count. He likes it when I kiss them.

2. I'm not so fond of toes after about age 2.

3. I'm a big fan of shoes. I think because it covers up bigger-than-two-year-old feet.

4. I've just wasted another 10 minutes since I started this post by looking on Flickr to see if I'd gotten any comments on my pictures. Good thing I did...I had!! I have fans :D

5. well, maybe not fans. but people (people I don't know) who like my pictures.

6. Is it time for Josh to come home yet?

7. Actually it's good that it's not time yet, because dinner isn't started yet. Cheddar Chicken is on the menu for tonight. Yum.

8. We discovered this week that Olive Garden is outrageous without gift cards.

9. But that's okay, because we also found out their food gives Josh a headache (i.e. MSG), so we won't be going back.

10. which is fine, because we've discovered the fun of restaurant.com and groupon.

11. which is how Josh afforded to make reservations for Salvatore's this weekend.

12. I like birthdays. I'm not afraid of turning 34. Shocked, but not afraid.

13. I hate April Fool's Day. I do like that it's April, though. I'm so thankful that Josh doesn't do tricks. I'm too gullible and would be terrified and mistrusting all day long.

14. Which would mean I was miserable to be around.

15. so that's good.

16. and I think that's the official sign that I'm done.

Bekah Day: a success

2011-04-01T15:33:00.000-04:00

We had a lovely day yesterday, in spite of the utter lack of sunshine.

And it's good that Bekah Day was yesterday and not today, because this morning Hudson chopped off a chunk of Bekah's hair. He's enjoying learning how to use scissors, and though I don't let him have them unless I'm in the room, Jasmine's figured out how to get to them and then leaves them sitting out when she's done. (yeah, that's it. I'll blame Jasmine).

I'm sure our awesome hairdresser will be able to remedy it, but it's still not what I wanted to see!

Bekah Day

2011-03-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

I hereby decree today, March 31, 2011, to be Bekah Day.

1. What is Bekah Day?

Bekah day is a celebration of her having finished Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. She is now reading at a solid second-grade reading level. (and she turned 4 a month and a half ago).

2. What are we doing for Bekah Day?

We are making alphabet cut-out cookies and decorating them with red and blue frosting. Decorating the house in green and yellow, and probably huge letters all over the dining room.

3. I can hear you all asking, "but what can I do for Bekah Day?"

If you want to be a part of Bekah's special day, leave her a comment here. Tell her how proud of her you are, and how much fun it is to read. She will love to read all your messages!!

The best part of all of this? She's discovered that reading is fun. She loves to grab a book from her shelf and start to read it. And that has actually made Jasmine more likely to pick a book up and read, as well. Since reading is one of my favorite things to do, it makes me so happy for her!

Happy Bekah Day!

Mirrors

2011-03-27T19:51:00.000-04:00

Hudson put on Bekah's hat this afternoon.
The first thing out of his mouth: "Mirror!"

Springtime in Western NY

2011-03-23T11:47:00.002-04:00

I love spring. It's officially here.

I love the flowers starting to peek out in our garden.

I love looking in the back yard and seeing the fresh grass starting to grow again.

I love that it doesn't take 10 minutes, for each person, to get ready to leave the house.

I love the spring clothes. I love the pastels and finally not having to wear sweaters all the time.

um, yeah. I love it.

(and yes, I took all these pictures this morning)

Favorites: a few lists

2011-03-22T13:44:00.002-04:00

I didn't ask Josh to participate because, well, you'd understand if you knew him. Lists and Josh are not the best of friends. And he's at work.

Bekah's Favorite Things
1. to play with Hudson's toys with him
2. chicken nuggets
3. the swing
4. giraffe, tiger, elephant and zebra
5. playing my Leapster
6. coloring
7. reading books (favorite book: Beauty and the Beast)
8. Song: "if you're happy and you know it"
9. playing Just Dance Kids
10. princesses: Aurora, Belle, and Princess Jasmine
11. favorite time of day: evening (her choice to ask, and answer, the question)
(Me: "Bekah, you're a bit of an overachiever." Bekah: "thanks!")

Jasmine's favorite things

1. play Mario Kart with Daddy and Mommy
2. writing things down
3. ilove to play with Bekah and Hudson
4. I love learning math and learning about the days of the week
5. birthdays
6. hippopotamus
7. Esther, the Girl who became Queen
8. Minnie, Mickey, Goofy and Donald
9. princesses: Aurora and Jasmine
10. book: The Hat

Hudson's favorite things
1. Rella
2. cheese
3. apples
4. tortillas
5. playing with his sisters
6. hugs and kisses
7. holding hands with the girls in the car
8. Toy Story (AnBeyont!)
9. favorite response: "hmm, maybe...hmm."
10. favorite book: Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb

Charla's favorite things
1. Josh
2. the kids
3. my camera
4. coffee
5. the weekend
6. truffles
7. birthdays
8. Christmas
9. Jan Karon
10. Jane Austen

(dressed up as an 80s chick for a party with an online Mommies forum. I was pretty proud of my creation!)

Pretending it's really spring

2011-03-18T14:04:00.000-04:00

I like to pretend it's spring.

I'm not the only one. I saw people running in shorts yesterday.

It's 51 right now. We're 4 days from the first day of spring. There is a small chance this could really be it (last year we didn't get anymore snow after the first day of spring) but I'm trying to brace myself for the fact that we could be in for more. Lake Erie is likely starting to thaw, so we could get pummeled. Just praying we're not.

But in the meantime, I took a willing Bekah Ballerina outside for a mini photo-shoot. Her sister wanted nothing to do with my camera, but I'll take what I can get!

Hudson and Babies

2011-03-17T09:55:00.002-04:00

My son loves babies.

He is very gentle and sweet to them.

But sometimes his "boy"-ness shows up.

I'm just glad it showed up with Pink Baby and not a real one!!

Sun Flare Fun

2011-03-14T12:58:00.001-04:00

Jasmine is now a big fan of sunflare. She picks it out in pictures all the time, and that cracks me up!
As we live in the least-sunny place I know, it's a very exciting thing to have enough sun to get sunflare in any pictures! So I tend to go nuts when I have the chance.
The day I took this picture, I think I got about 100 pictures that had sunflare in them. Because I didn't know when I'd see sun again next!

The Big Reveal

2011-03-09T16:13:00.001-05:00

I have been taking pictures of kids for the past two weeks. I have another photo shoot on Friday, another next Tuesday, and a couple more that are more tentative.
But I now have a complete alphabet, so I can finally spill the beans!!

(clicking on the poster will take you to its location in my Etsy store)
Aren't they awesome?? I had SO much fun. This is so much more "me" than if I tried to do family portraits for people. I had a lot of younger siblings who wanted no part of the process, and that didn't matter! I had kids that all wanted to be there and were willing to make all the letters I asked them for. And we all had fun!

The next step is to get doubles (and maybe triples?) of letters so I can make custom name posters, and to make posters with things like "Jesus loves me" with just the "me" in kids' pictures (to make it readable).

I hope other people like seeing it as much as I do creating it!!

Photo shoot: not mine, though

2011-02-28T15:38:00.000-05:00

I put the camera on the tripod and handed the remote to the kids. This could be a fun new project for when they need to just unwind/be creative!

Jasmine took:

She then handed it to Bekah:

Who kindly shared it with Hudson:

but to make up for his sweet shot, he then got:

and one more from Jasmine:

Moral of the story: a backdrop and a good camera don't mean the pictures will be any good ;)

Pretzels

2011-02-28T12:49:00.001-05:00

We made pretzels this morning! And they really are as good as anything at the mall.

And a lot more fun, too. (more dishes afterward, of course).

I spent too long helping the girls create the pretzel shape to get pictures of that. You'll have to imagine that....

...someone want to tell me why I'm tired?

2011-02-20T20:06:00.000-05:00

For those who don't live in the same part of the country I do, these may need a little explanation!
A house made in the style of a 19th-century house, but to kids' proportions. They pretend to churn butter, use a water pump to bring water into the kitchen sink, and use a cast-iron stove.

Hudson thought it was his job to clean up the place, so he was always putting things in the "door" (cupboard), the drawers and in the oven. It was very sweet.

Then over to the miniature Wegmans. Jasmine and I made a hat for her bakery job. (now that we're home, she's put on her white polo shirt and is carrying her toy tray of cookies around the house. TOO cute!)

And Bekah went shopping, checked herself out, and put the "food" back on the shelf a half-dozen times. I had to drag her into the "store" but she immediately figured out how much fun it was.

She liked to hit "override" on the prices.
Some of the registers (i.e. when they're working and the kids haven't messed it up) print out receipts for them, identical to the ones at the stores. It really does feel like you're shopping at Wegmans, just SHORT!

And on that miniature theme, I had fun with a couple more pictures last night.

I'm not convinced they look quite like true miniatures, but I think a lot has to do with having just the right picture to start with. I rarely take quite the right shot for the look, but now I will start trying for that type of shot!

Miniatures...bringing a childhood obsession to a new level

2011-02-18T17:49:00.000-05:00

As a child and teen, I loved miniatures. I dreamed of having a dollhouse (never happened). I went to a miniature shop and drooled over the displays.
I had a small collection (get it?? small?) of them, but they cost more money than I could part with at that point.

Fast-forward to today. My friend Stacey asked if I'd ever heard of tilt-shift photography. Oh my goodness. I had to try it right away.
Obviously not by buying a lens.
So to Photoshop I went!
After a bunch of failed attempts, I finally got what I wanted!

How'd I do??

half-price candy

2011-02-16T10:38:00.000-05:00

Josh and I never buy Valentines...I always thought it was a dumb holiday and I'm glad to avoid spending the money!
But I wanted to play with conversation hearts, so I picked up some on clearance last night.