Wednesday, April 29, 2009

I love slurpees!

A few years ago we were talking with some friends over dinner. Someone at the table said, "Did you hear that someone was murdered at the 7-11 in Columbia?"

I gasped loudly, my hand went to my heart.

"There's a 7-11 in COLUMBIA?" (--said very quickly, and very happily!)




(My friend Holly thinks this is a funny story, and has made me tell it to several people in the last few weeks. I thought I would tell it here too.)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

just pictures today....













Thursday, April 16, 2009

And....

we're off.

The house is off the market. Too many reasons to list why, but I feel good about it. Lincoln and I stayed up until 1 am talking about the pros and cons. We are planning to stay put and hopefully finish the attic so we have some more living space here. I love this home, so I don't mind living here a little longer.

A few pictures from this week.....


I had a busy Saturday and missed coloring eggs with the kids. Luckily Lincoln took pictures for me! =) Don't you love Talia's shirt! What a hoot...a perfect top for coloring Easter eggs!





I love this little girl! She ate a big chunk of daffodil later on.




I finally got some time to photograph some blossoms. Our cherry blossoms haven't opened yet, but I bet they will with in the next few days!




Natalia and I got to go on a walk by ourselves. It was a rainy day. Lincoln home sick, so we went out for a little while.




I love the petals on the ground here.





Simone loves her Daddy. ADORES him! He comes home from work and she cries and waves her arms when she sees him....because she can't stand that he hasn't picked her up yet. Lincoln LOVES this...and scoops her up into his arms! (Don't you love his gas station sunglasses...you should see them in person.....green and yellow flames on the side! LOL! ( It's a black and white photo for a reason!) He wears them and points to the flames with a super cool look on his face....just to BUG me! =)

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Joy!





I created a new subfolder in my main photography folder today. The title of this new subfolder is....SPRING 2009! It felt so good to create that, to type those warm sunshiny words!

Today was a great day. I bathed 2 little girls, and then directed a shower of one small six year old by yelling through the shower curtain.
"You still have tons of bubbles in your hair."
"Are you finished?"
"Why are you still in there?"

Then Simone sat in her swing while I got ready. The phone rang....a showing at 4:00. I loved having plenty of time to get the house ready. I made three beds, and got the upstairs totally ready. When I came down to finish up the kitchen my maid pulled in the driveway. What?!!!!! She was supposed to come on Friday! She was a sweetheart and cleaned out my fridge and organized my shoe/coat closet since I had done a part of her work. I folded three overflowing baskets of clothes, nursed a baby, and did the cha cha to a song called "Iguana" with the kids while my house was cleaned. Everyone needs a maid!

We made the trip down to Brookside gardens. Such a charming place. I have never been there in the spring. The air was the sweetest smelling I have ever experienced in my WHOLE LIFE! I kept inhaling, and would make my children do the same. I wish I could bottle that smell!







The kids pet a huge turtle, chased geese, I got a handful of photos, and then Talia needed to go potty. That is the story of my life. Someone always has to go potty when the bathroom is very far away.
We are going to go back to try this one again. I needed to switch lenses, but she was DONE. =)


We went home and turned on all the lights, and the classical music. We went to the park to wait for Lincoln to finish his commute. The park we went to brought back so many memories. When we first moved to Maryland we lived in a condo for six months. They have a little tot lot and today I needed a playground where I could park (sleeping Simone in the car) and see the kids playing. I thought of this little playground. After Simone woke up I took her up to have her first real swing. She loved it! That giggle will be forever etched in my mind. I took pictures on my phone, and played a little Elizabeth Mitchell thanks to my phone and it's tiny speakers.

During all this gooey happiness, my mind went back to the last time I was at this tot lot. I was pregnant with Natalia, and Wyatt was 2 and a half. He loved to bring his tractors to this spot and dig in the sand. ("Scoopa the dirt....DUMP it in the dumptruck.") It was September 31, 2004, and we had gone on a walk to try to get our baby to come! We walked to the playground, and on the way home Lincoln would say, "Walk to that tree as fast as you can and then come back to us. Now walk to that sign as fast as you can. Now that corner....." It was quite a work out. That night Lincoln was snoring loudly. I wacked him with the back of my arm and my water broke.

To be standing there this evening, with THREE children instead of one was so overwhelming. A good overwhelming. Four and half years have passed, and I FEEL so different. I can not explain it, but I like where we are in our lives. I love having three kids. We are so blessed to have each other. I pondered a little about what the future may hold for us. I smiled...and then went back to taking pictures.

Wyatt and Talia were playing and chatting with a Mother and her little girl. They were so well behaved, and kind. The Mother smiled at me as they walked home, and they said some cheery goodbyes to the kids. I was proud of them, and so proud to be their Mother. Then they started a sand fight, and we left....and not easily I might add.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

a little of my life....

We are having a good spring break. We aren't going on a "big" vacation because we are saving money like crazy for a new house. Lincoln is traveling (on his way home as I type) and it feels like he has been gone a lot lately. He travels the most during Feb. and March every year. I am starting to feel a little trapped....by three kids. I see the most gorgeous blossoms outside my door, and I don't have even the smallest second to go out and photograph them. As the sun starts to set each evening I want to run out and capture the gorgeous golden light on the barely pink blossoms. If they can just stay on the tree for a few more days. I will get them soon enough.

Simone is starting to sign. She can use a sign to communicate, and she does it quite well. Before this she would just cry to try to get what she wanted. Her favorite sign is more. She likes "more" so much they the other signs she has done in the past are no longer useful to her. I set her in her high chair and she immediately starts signing, and then I pull out the yogurt puffs and she grins and laughs! It is so funny.

Simone is also getting the cutest baby curls at the nape of her neck! I love it!

We have had a ton of showings on the house. The comments are all the same. The kids bedrooms are too small. (I already know this!) They also comment on the small backyard, and small square footage. They all say that the house shows well, and they'd better....because I work so hard on it every time I leave the house! I love having such a clean home, and then I remember the 10x10 storage unit that is full of tons of our stuff! It is easier to keep tidy with less to put away.

We were saying one nice thing about each person in our family tonight at bedtime. Talia said, "Mom I love you so much--because....you collect dinner for us, and love us."

This post needs a picture...but I don't have one. Yes, I do. I found this film scan on my hard drive. This is Natalia and I and it was taken in 2004 at our condo in Ellicott City, MD. She is 3 days old in this picture. My kids are getting so big. This huge boy walked out of my bedroom today. I thought, "No Way is that my little Wyatt?" I am trying my hardest to enjoy them while they are little. I want the



Lincoln just walked through the door! He's home a few hours early!! =)