News from the Soundaras

Year of the Dragon

2012-01-27T21:53:00.002-06:00

So, Gabe and Mya are studying ancient China at their tutorial; very conveniently at the same time as the celebration of the Chinese New Year. They had to take paper bag vests to school on Monday for the dance of the dragon each vest decorated as a piece of the dragon's body. Here's our attempt:

(You'll be happy to know that Gabe got a haircut the next day. His hair was looking slightly shaggy!)

I didn't get to see their dance, but they had a good time so we'll count it a success.

Tuesday was a beautiful day and the kids spent most of the afternoon outside which resulted in this at about 4:00. This is how Eden always sleeps - blanket in mouth and cup in hand. So funny what they get attached too.

5 Months

2012-01-22T21:48:00.002-06:00

From the past week...

2012-01-19T19:00:00.000-06:00

The girls strung bead necklaces on Sunday night. They decided to be very silly once they had them completed.

Love how Laney sucks her fingers to go to sleep.

Miss Inspector Gadget

Another sleeping picture, this time with Daddy holding her

Laughing Laney

2012-01-17T21:36:00.001-06:00

Nae took this video tonight while he was giving Laney and Eden a bath.

Roll over

2012-01-12T21:56:00.002-06:00

(There's always a sibling nearby to provide Laney with plenty of reading material. Eden in particular will set the books up so carefully so that Laney can "read" them.)

Purple

2012-01-09T17:14:00.002-06:00

Alena: "Hey, Momma, me, Eden and Laney all have purple on. You'd better take a picture!"

Loved this one of these two (Alena had her eyes closed), and is Laney not funny. She's so tiny and her whole face is just hair and eyes.

We had lots of other pictures along these lines:

All clean!

2012-01-07T20:40:00.000-06:00

January 5

2012-01-05T21:25:00.002-06:00

I've seen on several blogs the idea to take a group picture on the same day of every month. I'm going to give it a go. Hopefully we'll get some better shots than this one, even though Laney's look cracks me up in this picture.

A picture of our 5 kiddos on the 5th of each month.

A Missing Tooth

2012-01-04T21:55:00.002-06:00

Mya finally lost her first tooth while we were at my parents. It had been loose for a while, but once the new one started growing behind it she let Grandmama pull the baby one out.

Love those fingers

2012-01-03T21:07:00.001-06:00

It seems the paci is being replaced.

1-1-12

2012-01-01T21:06:00.003-06:00

I'm barely getting this one on here in time (blame it on being in the car all day.) Happy First day of 2012!

A Christmas recap

2011-12-29T20:31:00.002-06:00

There was much excitement Christmas morning...

Family gathering at Carrie and Robbie's...

Enough snow to make this little snow ball person...

and, a gathering of friends. Julie, Sarah and I have been friends since 3rd grade...we now have 16 kids between us; the oldest is 9 1/2 the youngest 4 months. It's quite the crew.

A few more days of fun to come before it's back to the norm.

Day 25

2011-12-25T14:00:00.000-06:00

“He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy. He, the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute.” -Augustin

Merry Christmas from the Soundaras.

December Photo Project - last day!
(quote taken from here.)

Day 24

2011-12-25T00:25:00.000-06:00

Lunch at Mathu's store

December Photo Project

Day 23

2011-12-23T23:25:00.002-06:00

A good fire for toasting marshmallows.

December Photo Project

Day 22

2011-12-22T20:00:00.001-06:00

It doesn't seem possible...Laney is 4 months old.
Pictures of Eden in the same outfit can be seen here .

December Photo Project

Day 21

2011-12-21T22:42:00.002-06:00

Mya's first piano recital; here with her sweet piano teacher.

December Photo Project

Day 20

2011-12-20T18:00:00.000-06:00

Friends to play soccer in the rain with.

December Photo Project

Day 19

2011-12-19T21:26:00.002-06:00

One step away from a big bed...

and, I had to throw this one in there too.

December Photo Project

Day 18

2011-12-18T20:37:00.002-06:00

A little snack for Nae - unripe papaya dipped in salt and crushed red pepper.

December Photo Project

Day 17

2011-12-17T21:10:00.001-06:00

Alena checking out one of the waterfalls at the Opryland Hotel today.

December Photo Project

Day 16

2011-12-16T21:15:00.002-06:00

Pajama day at school (and at home for the little girls.)

December Photo Project

Day 15

2011-12-15T21:47:00.002-06:00

One of the kids favorite advent activities this December - cinnamon applesauce ornaments.

December Photo Project.

Day 14

2011-12-14T20:27:00.002-06:00

Yay! for a December day warm enough to eat lunch outside.

December Photo Project

Day 13

2011-12-13T17:50:00.001-06:00

December Photo Project

Day 12

2011-12-12T20:02:00.001-06:00

As seen on Gabe's door.

December Photo Project

Day 11

2011-12-11T20:53:00.001-06:00

Cheating a little bit on this one: pic taken by Nae at the Walk Through Bethlehem today.

December Photo Project

Day 10

2011-12-10T20:56:00.001-06:00

December Photo Project

Day 9

2011-12-09T20:37:00.002-06:00

December Photo Project

Day 8

2011-12-08T20:39:00.001-06:00

Hot chocolate break.

December Photo Project

Day 7

2011-12-07T21:56:00.002-06:00

Eden had her first haircut tonight. She was so excited all day about "Ms. Ashley" cutting her hair. We didn't do anything drastic - just a good trim, and even though Mommy brought her camera she neglected to make sure the memory card was in there. We'll have to be satisfied with a phone pic.

December Photo Project

Day 6

2011-12-06T21:33:00.001-06:00

The annual making of the gumdrop trees

December Photo Project

Day 5

2011-12-05T16:46:00.001-06:00

December Photo Project

Day 4

2011-12-04T17:48:00.001-06:00

Learning to make rice noodles with Daddy.

December Photo Project

Day 3

2011-12-03T20:35:00.001-06:00

Going to the Nutcracker with good friends.

December Photo Project

Day 2

2011-12-02T19:43:00.002-06:00

The big 3 all ready to go to the Christmas parade tonight.
December Photo Project

Day 1

2011-12-01T22:31:00.002-06:00

It's that time again...December Photo Project

More to be thankful for.

2011-11-29T21:06:00.003-06:00

When I wrote the previous post about Thanksgiving, I had no idea that in a few days we would have an even greater reason to be thankful.

Friday evening Laney developed a cough and fever, by Saturday morning she was a very sick little girl. After a quick trip to the pediatrician we were sent over to the ER where things turned serious very quickly.

She was diagnosed with pneumonia and bronchiolitis, put on oxygen, and sent to the PICU. It was a scary situation that God mercifully turned around. After a day and night in the PICU, Laney was taken off the oxygen and moved to a regular floor. We came home yesterday afternoon.

Here she is tonight playing with Grandmama.

Every time I look at this little girl I am overcome with thankfulness that she's here, home with us, and healthy.

The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love,
he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

Thanksgiving - plan B

2011-11-24T20:19:00.001-06:00

So, yesterday when I got Eden out of bed and discovered that she had thrown up, I knew things were not looking good for our Thanksgiving Day celebration. When she was still sick last night, we made the call to switch Thanksgiving dinner from our house to Nae's parent's house.
For that reason, these are the only two (really bad) Thanksgiving 2011 pictures we will have. Nae and the 3 older kids went on to his parents with the food (and forgot the camera) while I stayed home with the still sick Eden and Laney. We watched a little tv, read some books, kept down some sticky rice, and whined a lot.

Despite this interruption to our plans, we still have so much to be thankful for:

- a house that now has floors throughout. Nae finished just this week laying the last of our bamboo floors.
- healthy kids. Nothing like a few days of sickness to make you appreciate the well ones.
- little Laney. This time last year we had no idea that we would celebrate Thanksgiving 2011 with 5 kiddos.
- all the extended family we saw, skyped, and talked to today.
- a Heavenly Father who knows what we need even when we fail to understand why

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

3 months

2011-11-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

Our little Laney Lou, Laney Lou-Lou, Laney Bug

Lane Bane, Laney Baney (these from Alena who we often call "Lean Bean")

is 3 months old today. She continues to be an extremely compliant, easy-going baby which is much appreciated by her Mom. We love her lots.

The Thanksgiving Feast

2011-11-18T22:01:00.002-06:00

Today was the annual Thanksgiving Feast at the kids tutorial. They got to make butter, friendship soup, corn cakes, and pumpkin pudding as well as the table decorations.

Gabe tolerated the dressing up, but Mya had a great time. She said it was, "A very fun day!"

A job he never complains about

2011-11-13T21:01:00.003-06:00

(and we have plenty of leaves for him to work on.)

Baby

2011-11-11T09:42:00.000-06:00

The rest of his birthday

2011-11-09T15:55:00.003-06:00

Does the birthday boy look sleepy? Maybe it's because he was up at 5 - a combination of birthday excitement and the time changing.

I thought this was very fitting for Gabe, and I got it for the girls to give him.

This is the "I wonder which Lego set this is? " look because no birthday would be complete without new Legos.

A bike upgrade. Alena was quick to take over his old one.

How old are you today? 8
What is your favorite color? blue
What is your favorite food? tortellini and pesto
What is your favorite book? Robin Hood
What do you want to be when you grow up? a chemist
Where is your favorite place to eat out? IHOP
What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? shopping, but it depends on what kind of shopping it is.
What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? take apart computers
What is the best thing about having Mya for a sister? she plays Legos with me a lot
What is the best thing about having Alena for a sister? she likes to play feet war with me
What is the best thing about having Eden for a sister? she is funny
What is the best thing about having Laney for a sister? she smiles at me
What is your favorite thing to do with your friends? play
What can't you wait to do when you get bigger? work
Where is your favorite place to visit? Virginia
What do you love about going to Mathu and Pathu's? eating eggrolls
What do you love about going to Grandmama and Grandaddy's? playing in the woods
What is your favorite thing to play? Legos
What thing do you most dislike doing? having a strep test
What is your favorite part of the day? morning when I wake up
What would you do if you could stay up all night? watch a movie and then play with Legos
Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world? New Zeland or maybe Mars

What makes you happy? Saturdays and getting new Legos
What makes you sad? when all my sisters gang up on me
What do you wish you could do? choose what I get to eat for every meal
What made this the best birthday ever? Having so many freinds

eight

2011-11-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

If I could go back 8 years and tell the mom of this little guy anything I'd say:
all those sleepless nights when you don't think he'll ever learn to sleep through the night? He will. It will take years, but he'll learn and he will go to bed without screaming too.

All those tantrums where he throws himself in the floor and bangs his head, all those times when you call him and he looks at you and runs the other way? He'll learn. It will take a little (or a lot) of instruction, but one day you'll call his name and you'll know that he will come. One day you'll say "No" and he'll accept it without dissolving into tears.

All those days that you worried if you were doing things right; all the time you spent wondering if he would ever turn into a respectable little boy? Stop worrying and wondering because he will, and you'll look back on those 8 years and wish you had just loved them for what they were - not wished them away. And oh yeah, as soon as you think you have him all figure out; he'll change and you'll start all over.

Happy birthday to our first-born. We love you more than we ever thought possible eight years ago.

Walk like an Egyptian

2011-11-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Monday was Ancient Egypt day at the kid's tutorial and they came home looking like this:

They rotated through different stations of brick making, wrapping each other as mummies, eating Egyptian food (hummus and grapes) and some others that I can't recall at the moment.

Is this wig not hilarious?

I have no idea how they made these things. Mya just said, "We used lots of glue."

Eden apparently heard Gabe and Mya discussing the making of bricks out of mud and decided to give it a try as well.

2011-11-01T06:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to My Amazing Wife!!!

Let me count a few ways:

Gabriel - the son of my life. You brought him to my life and I wouldn't trade him for the world. He is like me and I am like him.
Mya - my beautiful prima ballerina...
Alena - my lovely laughter, the joy of my day...
Eden - your spark in my life that is wrapped in a 2 years old body...
Laney - what wonder, how amazing that God would love us this much to bless again...
My heart-beat, dearest..

Here's a message from your children for their mother...

Here's from the non-speaking child:

Laney's Baptism

2011-10-30T21:21:00.002-05:00

Fun in the leaves

2011-10-25T21:34:00.003-05:00

While jumping in the leaves this afternoon, Mya said, " I wonder why Daddy piled all these leaves here?"
Well, for you to jump in, of course.

Good thing you have that leaf blower, Daddy.

Alena wanted pigtails to match her baby, Lucy. She added the clips on her own.

Snoozin'

2011-10-20T21:34:00.002-05:00

and because it's much harder to get a picture of the boy:

Trying to catch a smile

2011-10-18T20:49:00.001-05:00

Watch out!

2011-10-16T14:00:00.000-05:00

It's super Eden and super Alena

sisters...

out to save the world.

Daddy and his girls

2011-10-14T06:30:00.000-05:00

Another Mya's Birthday Post

2011-10-11T19:56:00.003-05:00

I've had the worst time with Flickr not letting me edit pictures, but here are a few more pictures from Mya's actual birthday.

(plate from here)

It was a real treat to have Aunt Emma here on Mya's birthday. Here are Emma and the kiddos right before we left our house to take Emma to the airport.

Finally, Mya's answers to the birthday questions.

How old are you today? 6

What is your favorite color? yellow

What is your favorite food? sweet potatoes

What is your favorite book? my Bible

What do you want to be when you grow up? a Mommy

Where is your favorite place to eat out? McDonalds

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? hold Laney

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? play games

What is the best thing about having Gabriel for a brother? I get to play with him

What is the best thing about having Alena for a sister? we can play princesses

What is the best thing about having Eden for a sister? she's funny

What is the best thing about having Laney for a sister? that she's so sweet

What is your favorite thing to do with your friends? play

What can't you wait to do when you get bigger? be able to use a permanent marker

Where is your favorite place to visit? the beach

What do you love about going to Mathu and Pathu's? we get to eat supper or lunch

What do you love about going to Grandmama and Grandaddy's? we get to spend the night

What is your favorite thing to play? ballet

What thing do you most dislike doing? playing Star Wars

What is your favorite part of the day? the middle of the day like noon

What would you do if you could stay up all night? play

Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world? South Carolina

What makes you happy? Daddy and Mommy

What makes you sad? if Daddy doesn't come home from work

What do you wish you could do? see Ellen more

What made this the best birthday ever? I got Chloe (a ballerina doll)

Look who's 6

2011-10-08T06:30:00.000-05:00

Pictures from our birthday celebration in VA this past week.

2011-10-01T06:30:00.001-05:00

(yes, Laney is in there)

...She says I shall now have one mouth the more to fill and two feet the more to shoe, more disturbed nights, more laborious days, and less leisure or visiting, reading, music, and drawing.

Well! This is one side of the story, to be sure, but I look at the other. Here is a sweet, fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God; and the body in which it dwells is worthy all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends , but I have gained one dearer than them all, to whom, while I minister in Christ's name, I make a willing sacrifice of what little leisure for my own recreation my other darlings had left me. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother's heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her tenderest cares, to her lifelong prayers! Oh, how rich I am, how truly, how wondrously blest!

Elizabeth Prentiss Stepping Heavenward

So much to learn as I re-read this book yet again.

Alena's invention

2011-09-29T20:43:00.002-05:00

In case you ever wondered what Alena does while we are doing school, here is a little example:

She was very proud of her ingenuity, and it was even more fun when she got Eden to push her.

I feel like almost every picture I take of Eden looks like this because as soon as she sees the camera she runs up and stands right in front of me saying, "Take Eden's picture!" The next thing is "Let me see!"

(Nae took this one.)

Fall evenings...

2011-09-27T07:29:00.003-05:00

We've had some gorgeous late afternoons lately spent out on our porch. The kids have played out there and we've even eaten dinner out several nights. The girls were playing "princess club" on the porch yesterday while Gabe was at soccer practice.

Here's my makeshift version of this which I'm sure some Mom invented after a long afternoon of trying to cook dinner when the baby would not keep their paci in.

A few outtakes

2011-09-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

After I forced everyone to pose for pictures the other day, the kids then wanted to do some of their own choice.

Alena wanted to hold Laney

as did Gabriel.

Nae snapped this one of me talking to Laney,

and while the picture I used as a blog header wasn't the best, it was certainly the best of what we got that day. Most of them looked like this one below:

Lastly, a family picture of all 7 of us.

I was exhausted by the time this little photo shoot was over. I can't imagine actually going to a studio to have pictures taken, they would kick us out.

4 weeks

2011-09-19T21:29:00.002-05:00

(Not sure what's up with the off-centered header, and my tech help has already gone to bed. We'll have to work on it tomorrow.)

Soccer Action

2011-09-17T21:23:00.002-05:00

Today was the start of the fall soccer season for Gabriel. He's playing for the Jets this year and he had a really good game today.
Here he is at the start of the game, getting ready to play goalie.

throwing the ball to his teammates,

a little running action,

and here at the end of the game. He was getting pretty tired as you can see.

This is Gabriel's cheering section who just love to spend their Saturday morning at the soccer field.

3 Weeks

2011-09-12T21:00:00.002-05:00

Today was Laney's due date. Hard to believe she wasn't even supposed to be here yet.

In many ways, it seems like she's always been here.

I can't believe it's only been 3 weeks but on the other hand the weeks have just flown by. I'm trying to enjoy every moment of having a tiny baby because I know we'll look back and it'll be hard to remember these first few weeks.

(This is Laney doing some ninja moves with her fingers.)

Here's a little comparison of all 5 around the same age. Hmmm who does she look like?

Siblings

2011-09-08T21:10:00.001-05:00

Are you tired of Laney pictures yet?

2011-09-04T21:02:00.003-05:00

Laney has already outgrown this little newborn outfit. She wore it today, but it will be the last time.
Every day she's awake a little more much to her siblings delight.
Eden seemed little to us until Laney arrived; now look at her. Eden has done much better than I expected with Laney. I only hope that it continues.

Her first week

2011-08-29T21:06:00.002-05:00

Laney meets her siblings

2011-08-24T09:06:00.002-05:00

I think she's going to fit in just fine.

Introducing...

2011-08-23T09:41:00.002-05:00

our baby girl

Laney Susanna

born last night around 10

We're so thankful that's she's here.

First day pictures

2011-08-22T11:34:00.002-05:00

Gabriel - 7 1/2 2nd grade

Mya - 5 1/2 Kindergarten

Alena - 4 pre-K

Eden - 2 (thinks she's a big kid)

2011 - 2012 School Year

Alena's gymnastics

2011-08-16T07:46:00.002-05:00

Is this not the most 80's looking leotard?

Alena, of course, picked it out and she though it was simply wonderful.

I think she can pull it off.

More outside pictures

2011-08-07T20:45:00.002-05:00

It was pretty muggy outside today, but we pulled out the 'ole water hose and the kids had a great time getting wet. Nae said that playing in the water hose was very redneck, but I said it didn't matter if it kept everyone happy, cool, and most importantly outside.

Every picture I got of Alena, she was looking down. I really like this one in b&w, though.

This was a happy scream!

And, in every picture of Gabe, he was doing this:

screaming and running around with his hands up in the air.

A break in the heat

2011-08-06T21:58:00.003-05:00

After raining this morning, it cooled off enough that we could enjoy some time outside this afternoon. The kids spent a lot of time on their bikes, burning off some energy from being cooped up inside all week due to the heat.

{Notice the socks}

I don't know what's funnier in this picture - Eden running with that light saber and thinking she's a big kid or Alena in the background running with her tongue hanging out.

A few more of the birthday girl

2011-08-05T10:45:00.002-05:00

We celebrated with cupcakes this past weekend while Grandaddy and Grandmama were in town.

Sunshine cupcakes (not spiders which is what Gabe thought they looked like)

She really only ate the corn candy off the top.

Gabe, Mya and Alena picked out this doll to give Eden for her birthday.

A new set of wheels.

I think that Eden felt well celebrated. Now it's back to normal around here.

The Birthday Girl

2011-08-04T06:30:00.000-05:00

Oh, if we had only known on this day two years ago that this beautiful baby girl would turn into...

this (also beautiful) two year old. Eden Vanh is full of personality. She is a non-stop talker and cannot bare to be left out of anything "the guys" (her siblings) are doing.

Happy birthday, Eden we all love you and think you're the best thing ever.

And, because Eden will forever have to share her birthday with her parent's anniversary, happy anniversary to my wonderful hubby.

10 years ago we had no idea what we were getting into, and I'm glad we didn't. I wouldn't want to share this journey with anyone else.

Demolition weekend

2011-07-30T21:00:00.002-05:00

Since the first time we looked at this house (a year ago) we have wanted to knock down this wall that seperated the kitchen and den/family room. Picture on the left is looking from the kitchen, on the right is looking from the den.

When my parents decided to visit us this weekend, we took advantage of their help and got the wall down. (We really means Nae and Grandaddy, of course.) Here they are in the midst of getting the wall down.

And, here is the finished product. I love the way it looks and now it's hard to imagine that wall even being there. It really opened up both rooms a lot.

Thanks, Grandaddy for all your help; we couldn't have done it without you. Now on to phase 2 - laying down floor in the den.

The girls have their chance at swimming

2011-07-22T16:23:00.002-05:00

To really get how amazing these pictures are, I wish that I had a video of Mya and Alena just two weeks ago when they were at their first swim lesson. Wow! There was screaming, crying, and everything else you can imagine from two little people very afraid to put their heads under the water and not very appreciative of being forced under the water. After two days of torture, however, and some practice being submerged in the bath tub, both Mya and Alena took off and had a great time. They were both disappointed that today was their last day of swim lessons.

Such a fun thing as a parent to watch your children overcome their fear of something. We are so proud of you Mya and Alena.

The Tale of Peter and Benjamin Bunny

2011-07-18T21:42:00.002-05:00

Little Benjamin did not very much want to see his Aunt. He came round the back of the fir tree, and nearly tumbled upon the top of his Cousin Peter. Peter was sitting by himself. He looked poorly, and was dressed in a red cotton pocket-handkerchief. "Peter," said little Benjamin, in a whisper, "who has got your clothes?" Peter replied, "The scarecrow in Mr. McGregor's garden"...They went away hand in hand, and got upon the flat top of the wall at the bottom of the wood. From here they looked down into Mr. McGregor's garden...
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter

There once was a little boy who wanted very badly to catch one of the many rabbits that were in his back yard.

And so, his Grandaddy very kindly offered to help him build a rabbit gum (also known as a rabbit trap.)

After perfecting the trap, the boy brought it home and very faithfully kept it set with lettuce and carrots for bait. Until one morning he went out to check his trap and

in it was not one but two small rabbits! This boy was very excited and quickly decided to name his rabbits Peter and Benjamin.

And that is how we came to have our first pets - two bunnies - living in a pen on our back porch.

Go Barracudas

2011-07-09T21:49:00.002-05:00

Today was the last swim meet of the season. Gabe has had so much fun participating in swim team this year - he went from barely able to keep his head above the water six weeks ago to swimming freestyle and backstroke. With practice, his times are going to get faster,but we're just so happy with the progress he's made. Here are a couple pictures from this season.

All of these pictures were taken by other swim team parents and posted on the Barracuda Shutterfly account. I'm glad someone was doing a better job than I was.

Celebrate!

2011-07-04T09:47:00.002-05:00

Hope you have

a happy and safe

July 4th!

June 30 - Family

2011-06-30T20:54:00.002-05:00

Last day of June, and I made it to the end of this photo challenge. It was much harder to do a picture a day when it had to be a specific picture, but it was good to learn how to do some new things.

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 29 - Trees

2011-06-29T21:11:00.002-05:00

Very glad to have all these trees in our front yard after the ones in the back were all cut down.

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 28 - Transportation

2011-06-28T21:39:00.002-05:00

for the new baby...

Found this at the thrift store on Saturday for $20 retails for about $300. I wasn't even thinking of getting a new stroller but this was a deal to good to pass up. Our other stroller is almost 8 years old and has been through four children; this was definitely a step up.

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 27 - Your Weakness

2011-06-27T21:51:00.001-05:00

A lot of different things I could have chosen for this one, but potato chips are one thing that I don't usually buy. If they are in the house then I feel the need to eat them, and to make it worse several of my children are the same way!

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 26 - Favorite Color

2011-06-26T22:28:00.002-05:00

Blue (in all shades)

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 25 - Citrus

2011-06-25T22:30:00.001-05:00

All ready to go for church in the morning...

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 24 - Love

2011-06-24T18:10:00.001-05:00

They really do love each other!

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 23 - Black and White

2011-06-23T17:32:00.002-05:00

I couldn't decide which picture I liked better, so I'm just going to post both from a little afternoon photo shoot while the girls were dancing.

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 22 - Landscape

2011-06-22T21:42:00.002-05:00

An ugly picture of our backyard landscape which thanks to TVA has 5 fewer trees. Our backyard runs into the power line easement and this year they decided that they would enforce the easement rule of no trees (except low growing ones on their list) within 100 feet. Five of our six trees fell in this space and so down they had to come. I understand rules are rules but ugggh now our backyard is so ugly.

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 21 - Micro (up close)

2011-06-21T19:16:00.001-05:00

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 20 - Water

2011-06-20T21:54:00.002-05:00

A few pictures from Gabe's swim team practice today. He has really enjoyed this and I can't believe how well he is swimming considering he knew basically nothing going in.

Freestyle (Sorry the pictures are so terrible. We were sitting on the bleachers and I was afraid to get any closer because I had Eden with me and she just might decide to test out the water.)

Backstroke. This turned out not to be the best day to take pictures because Gabe started feeling sick during practice and we had to come home early. He's been in bed all evening with a fever. I hope it's just a little (not contagious) bug.

One picture from the cheering section.

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 19 - Summertime

2011-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00

When I was at the grocery store last night (at 9:30 - why do I do this to myself?) I saw these "Summer" Oreos. Same taste but blue filling and beach scenes on the cookie part. I knew the kids would love them and thus our "summertime" picture.

Everyone shared one cup of milk. Only Gabe will actually drink the milk so I just pour one cup.

Eden with her shirt off for obvious reasons.

June 18 - Eyes

2011-06-18T22:35:00.002-05:00

Can you guess who these eyes belong to?

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 17 - Bokeh

2011-06-17T20:26:00.002-05:00

I almost didn't even attempt today's picture because bokeh is something I've never been able to achieve, but after reading up on the how-to again, I decided to give it a shot. I got out our Valentine's Day decoration, Mya held it, and here you go. Of course, there were about 100 pictures that didn't turn out, but after I figured out the settings in manual mode it finally made sense. Glad I gave it a try.

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 16 - Mason Jar / Jelly Jar

2011-06-16T21:35:00.002-05:00

We did this lava lamp experiment today and the kids thought it was really cool. Gabe said it used, "all kinds of science ideas."

More pictures at the flickr group.

June 15 - Action

2011-06-15T20:59:00.002-05:00

We celebrated Nae's birthday tonight with strawberry cake and those of us who prefer chocolate in our dessert had Marshmallow S'more Bars. I think Nae felt celebrated enough especially since Alena and Eden told him about 200 times, "Happy Birthday, Daddy!"

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 14 - Someone you love

2011-06-14T21:45:00.002-05:00

Very fitting for today since the hubby and I got to go out tonight, and tomorrow is his birthday. Love him lots.

More photos at the Flickr Group.

June 13 - Reminds you of Childhood

2011-06-13T22:08:00.002-05:00

A thrift store find that I used to love playing with. Carrie had one (even though it wasn't quite this old.) My kids aren't old enough (or patient enough) to do the drawings yet, but I hope one day they'll enjoy it too.

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 12 - Sun Flare

2011-06-12T21:39:00.002-05:00

I'm just learning through this photo a day for June how little I know about taking pictures. I had no idea how to do a sun flare photo and even after some Google research this was as good as I could come up with.

More photos on the Flickr Group

I'll throw in a few pics of the kids enjoying a little cool water play on the deck this weekend. (Eden was still napping for this one.)

June 11 - Silhouette

2011-06-11T20:56:00.002-05:00

More pictures at the Flickr Group.

June 10 - Animal

2011-06-10T20:22:00.002-05:00

I don't know that an insect counts as an animal, but I had to get a picture of Eden holding a cicada this evening. Ugggh! I can't stand these things and can't wait until they all disappear for another 13 years. Eden, however, has gotten quite used to them.

More photos at the Flickr Group.

June 9 - Fresh Fruit

2011-06-09T22:04:00.001-05:00

Just about forgot to take a picture today, and this is the very last piece of fresh fruit in our house - tomorrow is grocery shopping day.

More pictures at the Flickr Group.