A winter Photo Shoot

My camera hasn't been out of the bag in a couple weeks,

so I decided a winter photo shoot was in order.

So out we went into the winter wonderland.....

Daniela had a ton of fun playing Frisbee with Danan

and chasing her around the yard.

And Danan was having the time of her life.

I will post some of the ones I took it color ....

After I upload them to Kodak, turn them, save them and

upload them here, and finally

tear my hair out because I have to go through this

crazy process.   UGH!

Got the book! But not.............

Got the book, Juggling Twins, but now it doesn't look

 like I will be needing it anytime soon.

I was suppose to hear by last Friday regarding becoming

a Nanny for a set of newborn girl/boy twins.

Friday came and went, but no call or email, so

I decided to just wait a while longer, but then I had another

offer so I called the Mom of the twins.

They had decided to let their grandparents watch them

their first six months.  The babies were preemies

and still require a considerable amount of care.

She told me of all the applicants that applied that

they liked me the best and she'll keep my information, so she

can contact me in six months to see if I'm still looking for a change. 

To say I'm bummed is an understatement.

I'm going to keep my eye out looking for that dream job,

but in the meantime I'm still a Mother's Helper.

Adding in some Ghosts

I shot this photo while on vacation and did

some editing on picnik.com

I added in some ghosts...

used texturing ...

and some other tools.

Does anyone know where this was taken?

It's by far the most bizarre thing I've done with

any of my photos.

My lack of posting is due to illness in the family.

First it was Daniela, then Gam-paw and then me.

Feeling much better today and I made

homemade chicken & veggie soup.  Yum!

Our Gifts

This year I bought my hubby a good sized cute nutcracker for Christmas.

It's the Chubby Mouse King from the Nutcracker Ballet, it's

a Steinbach nutcracker made in Germany. 

He has mostly Christian Ulbrecht's and Steinbachs in his collection.

Isn't he just adorable?

Under that very strategically placed snowflake is a price tag.

We have no secrets from each other regarding the cost of our gifts,

I know exactly what he paid for mine too.

I've been wanting a Kindle Touch, mostly for the convenience

of not having to pack four heavy books for a weeks vacation.

Ashley bought me a cover and then I also later bought

the E-Luminator E-Reader Booklight when it was on sale.

Now I'm all set to read while traveling, even in a dark car.

I'm currently reading the Weird Sisters on my Kindle.

Pulled it!

Darn it!

Pulled my neck muscle and it hurts bad.

And Yoga is suppose to be so good for you.

I probably was not quite ready for this advanced position.

Seriously, I believe I pulled it while I was on the computer with Daniela.

So lame, I know.

Daniela is a computer screen hog....

and I was craning my neck to see around her.

Lesson learned.

Now I'm off to take some Motrin and a hot shower.

I have a job interview today for a set of newborn twins, if

the pay is right I'll be leaving my present position of a

Mother's Helper for five under five years old.

Not Another Book, I hope!

"Not another book, I hope" was Michael's statement when

it came time to open my suitcase and pass out gifts.

My daughter, referred to it in her post here.

I was hoping he would change his mind when

he saw what came with the instruction book....

eighty Wikki Stix!

He did.  He created a few things out of the
instruction book and shared some of the
stixs with Ava and I.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture
of his cool drink glass or his burger.



Don't we look fabulous in our Wikki Glasses!


Our first encounter with Wikki Stix was at this Mexican 
Restaurant on a previous trip to Maine.

If you'd like to try some out for yourself
look for them on the web.  I found some here.
Wikki Stix are fun!

Will I ever learn?

Will I ever learn?

Saying "Cheese" to a child will often end with a photo like this.

And although doing the raspberries works well to

get the attention of an infant....

it doesn't work so great for toddlers!

And did you know that sometimes it takes two

parents and a dog to put shoes on a one year old?

Here's a quick picture I took of

Audra Jane & Rowyn Gracie Jane

in their flannel shirts.

And yes, she was allowed to play with this nativity

that's why I put it at kid level on this shelf.

Baby Jesus and the lamb were the favorite figures to

be played with.

And everything is still up at my house. 

I will have more than one day off finally next week, so

then if will all be put back in the attic except for my snow babies

which I enjoy a bit longer.

Double the FUN!

The fun began first thing in the morning.

Two little girls, two bowls of cereal

and Gramie joined them with oatmeal.

YaYa (Baby talk for LaLa) shared oatmeal with Rowyn.

MiMi (Short for Gramie) shared oatmeal with Daniela.

Gramie LaLa made more oatmeal for herself. 

It was double the fun, double the oatmeal.

Daniela doesn't often have someone else on her turf,

but she did a great job sharing all her toys; even

her new kitchen set, which cousin Rowyn loved.

She even shared her Princess Potty.

This picture is just way beyond cute....

Daniela is still talking about Rowyn this and Rowyn that

and when we were looking at pictures from their visit

 she yelled out

there's "Unca Wrick!"  It was beyond cute!

They are growing up fast and I treasure the times I get

to spend with each of them, but when I have more of them together

it is double the fun.

More to Celebrate!!!

An announcement was made after leaving our house

via a text message picture.....

of another positive pregnancy test.

Baby Roberts #2 is on the way.

It looks like Rowyn will have a sibling around the time

she turns two years old.

And if Audra follows suit like her two older sisters, she will have a

girl first and a boy second.  

I had such a great time with Rowyn

she is 15 months old now and learning new

things every day.

We were playing a shape game and she found a piece that didn't belong

to that set and went and found the correct shape game and put in the spot it

belonged.  Holy Cow!  I was amazed she was able to figure that out on her own

and carry through the actions to get it to the right place.

Pray for a safe journey home for the Roberts family

and a easy, healthy pregnancy for Audra.

Belated Happy New Year 2012!