Valentine's Day.

Yes, truly.  Valentine's day is second in favorite holidays here at our house only to Christmas.  Why? You ask.  Because they are the two days a year that the kids get to eat candy for breakfast.  Shameful, as a mother, I know. 

The day before Valentine's we make hearts galore and hang them on string above our kitchen table.  Miraculously, in the morning when the kids wake up there is candy strewn all over the table with little gifts and a token pumpkin muffin that no one eats (even though if we had the pumpkin muffin at any other time of they year, they would be finished off completely before the bus arrives...). 

At night for dinner the kids get a favorite book on their plate...this year we went on a family trip to Barnes and Noble. We spent most of the evening scouring the store for the perfect book for each person and left a boatload of work for all of the workers there.  I think they were pretty glad to see us leave.  And, of course, on the way home everyone had their light on in the car while Mike tried to drive.  When you find the perfect book you can't wait until you get home to read it...

love. DAYS.

Ariel's Day.

Ariel is a senior in high school this year, which really amazes me.  She is the daughter of my cousin, who was my best friend growing up.  That my cousin has a daugther about to graduate just blows my mind.  She is on the ballroom dance team at her high school and has been working very hard to get on to a university team.  I loved getting to shoot her and her partner dancing.  They looked like they were having such a great time. 

Everyone came along for the shoot so we got some pictures of Ariel's brother and sisters as well.  We ended up with a great (read: unexpectedly warm) day.  And they all love black and white images...so you'll find a lot here.  I love black and white too, so I'm glad I get to post them.  Here's to graduation, Ariel!

new. LIFE.

wonderful gift.

Sterling arrived just before Christmas and was the perfect gift to this sweet family.  After months of his mom being in the hospital and times when they hoped both mother and baby would safely make it to this side of the pregnancy Sterling is just the gift they wanted.  In fact, his mom said he was going to be the only gift beneath the Christmas tree this year.  I had such a fun time taking pictures of this little baby.  Even after a difficult time at the doctor the day before he was so sweet.

gift. LIFE.

The Happy Christmas tree search....

Okay...so maybe we had a little fussing at how cold it was and the snowballs that hit people in the side of the head and everybody hopped up on way too much candy after our gingerbread party (coming soon....).  Even with all of that if was still fun to finally get our Christmas tree.

People say that pregnant women know where all of the bathrooms in town are in every building...I'd say that's true, too, if you have a three year old.

Take a Vacation.

....a real one.

This means no cell phone, no lap top, no meetings, no business whatsoever.  Just you and whoever is important to you.  That's it.

I took my first real vacation this past summer for the first time in four years.  I really wish I hadn't waited so long.  It was wonderful and worth every minute and more of being away from my cell phone.  No matter what it takes or what kind of planning...Just Do It!

Planning our vacation wasn't easy and with 6 people it's bound to be difficult.  Because my son had a commitment to football when we decided to take our vacation we couldn't be gone for more than about 4 days and three nights, at the most, in a row.  We wanted to do something fun but it needed to be fairly local.  So we decided to have an at home vacation.  These can be difficult if you are not committed to a real vacation.  Here is how we did it:

1. We told everyone we were going on vacation because we were.

2.  We didn't take any phone calls and left messages everywhere we could that we would be on vacation.

3.  We made a list of all of the fun things that we would like to do or have wanted to do for a long time.

4.  Everyone got to choose one thing that they wanted to do from the list.

5.  Each day we did something that one person wanted to do. 

6.  We all wanted to go camping so we went on two camping trips.

7.  We had a great time and went to the best swimming pool/park in the area for a whole day (I didn't take pictures of that...I need a water proof camera.)

8.  Miniature golf was one evening.

9. Mike loves the nature center so we went hiking on trails and ate lunch there.

10. The Drive-In Movie was my favorite.  The kids thought is was extremely cool to put our lawn chairs and air mattress on the gravel at the back of our mini van and open up the hatch on the back so we could get all the speakers loud and clear.  We brought lots of pillows and blankets and pizza.   At the break between movies we went and got some snacks at the very vintage looking snack area. 

11. We were together doing things we all loved and sleeping in our own beds at night.  Perfect all around.

Plan when you will take your next vacation right now.  Get it on the calendar and then plan everything around it.  Don't let anything get in your way of a little time away from everything else but those you love.

Adapt this for you:

*If you are single plan a trip with a couple of best friends or a best sibling.  Keep your commitment to each other to go on vacation and leave behind your cell phones and laptops.

*JUST GO ON VACATION!  No more excuses.  No more reasons.  No more.  It will be worth it in so many ways.  It ups your creativity, lowers your stress, and helps you gain a little perspective.  And that just the beginning of all the good a vacation will do you.  Let me know how yours goes!

Oh!  and get ready for wayyy too many pictures. lol.

new. LIFE.

Just a few things you  might want to know:

*when you meet an little thing that looks like a small squirrel but not quite a chipmunk, you can call it a squunk.

*if you go to a place with a hole in the ground toliet your 3 year old will probably ask you from now and forever every time she has to go to the bathroom if she will have to use a hole in the ground toliet.  If you take her to a public toliet almost every time you walk into a stall she will say in a loud voice.  "Oh Mom! It's not a hole in the ground toliet."  And sigh in relief.

*When you make foil dinners make sure to put some water in with the potatoes so they don't charcoal.

*Playing mini-golf is a lot more fun when you take kids...who don't know the rules and don't care what they are.

*There's something about the nostalgia of the drive-in movie that takes you back to another era.  If you haven't gone, find one.  It's a time machine.

*You play mini golf better if you dress up like Tiger Woods.

*Vacations give you something nothing else can....GO.

Slideshow.