LOVE 28

The last of the loves for February.

I have spent the last four days without Lincoln. He went to California to say goodbye to his Grandpa Tidwell who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just a few short weeks ago. I am so glad Lincoln was able to make the trip, even though Grandpa wasn't able to speak he would squeeze Lincoln's hand while he talked to him. It was a special visit, but a hard one as well. We will miss you Grandpa.

We have been so very blessed by the wonderful people in our lives. We have made good memories together. I prefer to remember the happy and silly memories. Fortunately, we have lots of those.

Like the time we stayed at Grandpa and Grandma Tidwell's house in 2000. Grandpa has a bunch of big motion sensor animals, and he would hide a 1.5 foot brontosaurs in various places around the house. We would walk in and set off the dinosaur and it would let out a big "ROARRRRRRR."
This became a fantastic game.
We would hide that brontosaurs and try to get them back. Lincoln hid it by their toilet and it surprised Grandpa in the middle of the night! We heard it go off and laughed ourselves silly in our guest room.
Then one day we saw him casually leaving the room we were staying in. We totally caught him, and he tried to play cool!
Funny! Sure enough he had left it in there.
Then as we were driving away from their house Lincoln started laughing and said, " I put the brontosaurs in their bed." We laughed so hard and couldn't wait until the next day to hear the story of how they found it.




So what is the last love post.




FAMILY.





I so love our families. There are so many of us. It is hard to be far away from so many of them, but I want them to know that I love them.

LOVE 27

I didn't have access to these files for a long time. They were on a computer and external hard drive that we put into storage last year.

I LOVE looking through them. I need to get all these in a book ASAP.

3

1
and bald.

LOVE 26

I was listening to the song Mushaboom. (I love that song.) The first verse talks about lilacs and buttercups, and I thought "Oh, I miss lilacs."

Then my thoughts went back to when I was 8 years old.

I loved lilacs as a little girl. We had several bushes around our backyard, and we use to pick them and cover our trampoline with the blossoms. We would jump, land on our backs and laugh as the blossoms flew into the air.

That same back yard had sweet peas climbing and entire length of one side of the yard. I would pick handfuls for my dolls. Their smell is one of the sweetest scents. I want to smell it again...I wonder if sweet peas will do well here. Time to google.

Then I started to think of favorite flowers through out my life.

Peach Roses.
My sister loved the color peach and I adore her, and my first "boy friend" gave me a dozen peach roses on Valentine's day. I was only in 6th grade----he had a paper route. =)

Fuschia.
My Dad bought my Mom a hanging fuschia plant every mother's day. I loved that. What a happy memory. They are amazing..and I now I need to get my hands on one so I can photograph it with my macro!

African Violets.
My Mom had many many African Violets. This memory makes me teary. I can picture her changing the water and snipping off old leaves and blooms. She had so many, and loved taking care of them. She bought me one in Oregon. I didn't get to bring it with me here to Maryland. I also left behind my herb garden, and that still makes me sad.

Hyacinths.
One of my favorites still. The smell is intoxicating...and the thought is really making me miss spring right now.


Massive amount of Tulips and Roses.
The Tulip Festival and the Rose Garden in Oregon are two of my favorite places on this earth.

Camellia and crocus.
Another Oregon memory. Our Camellia bush was giant! The blooms were are big as the palm your hand. One year I took a photograph of the purple crocus blooming under that bush on my birthday. Feb. 11th and there were flowers blooming. Crazy.


Cherry Blossoms.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a little cherry blossom crazy. I adore them.

Purple Roses.
I carried these on my wedding day. A beautiful bouquet with stephanotis with pearls in their centers. Lincoln bought me some purple roses the other day. Looking at them sparks the most wonderful memories.



Ah.....Flowers. Now listen to this, another of my favorites right now.

Go away snow.

(This thought process helped me get through folding 6 loads of laundry.)

(I you made it through all of that...I'd love to hear your favorites.)

LOVE 25

I love this spot.

We went to the Science Center today. It was dreamy. The girls were so good. It was not too busy. We had to sneak into the pitch-black planetarium a few minutes late, and then I had a moment of bliss that lasted the entire show. Natalia loved the show, and her comments where so delightful that I didn't shush her.

" Now we're in Hawaii, Beautiful."

"Which one is your favorite Mom?"
(Looking at a bunch of swirly galaxies. I picked the one that looked like a shrimp. She thought that was funny.)

"Oh, so beautiful. This is amazing."

"So many stars!"

"Cassiopeia........A QUEEN!"

"Look...A SCORPION!"

"I LOVE THIS!"

It was non-stop.

Simone sat quietly on my lap for half of the show. Then she turned and smothered me with hugs, kisses, and Eskimo kisses. I couldn't have stopped her if I had tried.

HEAVEN.

(I looked over and Rileigh was experiencing the exact same heaven with her girls.)

We made a pit stop and photographed a few things around Baltimore that I have had my eye on since Jan. 1st.

I was smiling ear to ear!

LOVE 24

I love that I can pray anytime, anywhere.

We are experiencing monster winds in Maryland right now.

I just felt my chair shake from my house actually moving. (I am up in the attic.)



I have prayed a lot today.

My children have prayed a lot today.

I am sure Lincoln has prayed a lot today.

We are going through a part of life that isn't easy.

Oh how it hurts.

How do people do this without the gospel of Jesus Christ? (A little more)

I have so much to be thankful for.

LOVE 23

I love that Rileigh took photos of her yummy cupcakes.

Ours were eaten much to quickly.

Read about it here.

Today was a good day.


I made shepherd's pie for dinner. I have to say...it was so good.


I love a dinner that ends in spotless plates.

Here's what I did.

4 carrots
2-3 parsnips (Lincoln's favorite)
1 onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
4 mushrooms (chopped until unrecognizable)

Chop the veggies, and add to a hot skillet with olive oil.

Add 1 lb. hamburger.
brown.

salt
pepper
a little Worcestershire
a few drops of liquid smoke

(You should have peeled and boiled potatoes before this.)

Make yummy mashed potatoes.
BUTTER.
milk.

Put the meat mixture in a pan.
Spread mashed potatoes over the top.
Sprinkle grated cheddar cheese over 2/3 of pan.
(Two kids eat it better with out the cheese.)
I would bake it- but we were all hungry...so I broiled it until the cheese was perfection.

Serve with a salad.

Eat (embarrassing amounts) more than your husband.

LOVE 22

I love these shoes.

I won't wear them if it's wet out.

I don't want them to get ruined.

I wore them on Saturday....for the best day ever.

Rileigh and I went to a deluxe spa in D.C. for facials.

Exchanged the most perfect gifts.....both wrapped in Christmas-ish paper.

Then we walked amongst the ritzy shops.

Stayed in Anthropologie for more than TWO hours.

Cheesecake factory for a delicious dinner, and little cheesecake.

All while my adorable shoes were ripping the skin off my heels in multiple places.

I still love them.

I wore them to church the next day.

the end.

LOVE 21

I don't love to eat these. They are fun to photograph though.

LOVE 20

My girls are both taking a nap, and I have time to post these pictures.

I love that.

Now you see him. Now you don't.

Sunny, snowy day.

This lasted 3.2 seconds. Then she was crying. She wouldn't keep her mittens on.

Hiding a big smile. Snow was blowing inside on me. He thought it was great! =)

LOVE 19

love

LOVE.

Love 18

I loved today.

It was amazing...every second of it.

I got to sleep in---because Simone did, and my big kids went downstairs to play xbox until 8:30.

I photographed my little girls in ballet clothes and matching dresses in a beautiful studio. (Pictures tomorrow)

It was so much WORK! I am not kidding. Photographing two kids (that belong to you!) in a big space is hard work.

Came home.

Lunch.

Nap for Simone.

"Wild Hearts Can't be Broken" with Talia.

Oops...I took a short nap during that.

Wyatt home.

Ballet class for Talia.

Dinner with the whole family.

Got to listen in as Lincoln asked Natalia out on a date for tomorrow. It was super sweet.

Ballet class for me.

Only me, I was the only person there tonight. I am going to be so sore tomorrow.

Proofing.





I love days like this. I think I have another one just like it tomorrow.

(Oh, I got my NEW camera bag today. woohoo! See--- a good day.)

LOVE 17

I love a baby wrapped in a towel after a bath.


This baby wouldn't keep that towel on her head for one second though. I have some funny outtakes. I put a onesie on her and kept taking pictures.


You want to see how crazy she is...........

Or...maybe I am the crazy one because I let her do it, and just stood there and took pictures.

LOVE 16

I love that these are the sight words that were up on Valentine's day.

I switch out one word each day.

Talia's favorite sight word so far--

PLAY.

LOVE 15

i love the five of us.

five strawberries

five snowballs

five super hot cinnamon bears

five conversation hearts

five raspberries

Hey! Who got into the cookies!?

LOVE 14

This is the best Valentine's Day ever

and it is only noon.




We got up early and went to church. Wyatt had me lay his church clothes out before church when I was tucking him in last night. We started 9:00 church this week in our new building. He thought it would be a good idea to try to be on time, and my heart beamed that he would even have the thought. Then at 7:20 in the morning Lincoln crawled back into bed and said, "Guess who is ready for church? Wyatt is completely dressed."

So proud.

Were sent home after Sacrament meeting because the snow was taking up all the parking spaces. There were no spots for the ward meeting after us. Oh, we weren't on time--close. Next time I will make sure Simone has two little black mary janes instead of one.



Lincoln bought me these terrible slippers. I LOVE THEM!

They make me laugh every time I look down.

Try to be in a bad mood with these babies on!

I got Lincoln a framed picture of me on our wedding day for his nightstand.
I got myself one too. He was the most handsome groom ever.

We came home from church and gave each other our gifts.

Everyone was happy and hugging.

I love VALENTINE'S DAY!

The presents come from someone that loves you, or you give them to people you love.

There are no sneaky bunnies or Santa Claus.

Just love. I love that.

LOVE 13

I love this necklace.

I have had it on everyday since August 1st 2009.

Except for August 3rd, when it slipped down the drain.

Lincoln got it out for me.

I do wear other necklaces, and I just flip this one down my back so I don't have to take it off.

Do I think it brings me good luck?

I don't know, but I think I have had less of the bad kind.

On it stays.

(I have got to mention my fabulous five year old photographer. She is a natural.)

LOVE 12

I love these plates.

I made my own food faces for my kids.

I had a great birthday. Lincoln and I went on a date Friday night too. Dinner, a little shopping, and a movie. Today is "get ready for Valentine's day day". I'll be making paper hearts and cards all day. Hopefully I'll actually send them (even though they'll be late.) this year.

Read about our fun bowling day here. Love.

LOVE 11

I love this day.

I got to sleep in.
Lincoln, Talia, and Simone brought me a GREAT breakfast in bed.
Then Rileigh, Ben, Jocelyn, and Brooke brought me YUMMY blueberry muffins.
We all decided to go bowling.
It was so much fun! I almost won...Lincoln beat me on the last frame! We were tied and he tried to lose and got a strike. What? Who beats their wife on her birthday? =)

We came home and Simone and I took a nap.
I woke up and Lincoln brought me flowers and balloons.
My sweet friend Sara called and offered to watch the kiddos.

Before we left to drop of the kids, they all made me a snow cake.
It was delicious....and best of all...no sugar or fat!
The candles were sparkler candles.

Talia has told everyone that I turned 22 today. I love her!
She gets an extra piece of cake.

LOVE 10

I love this shirt.

Oh how I wish it were true right now.

We got another 12 inches of snow, I think. It is hard to tell exactly how much more, because the wind was blowing it around so much. Lincoln went out in the morning and drove some nurses and doctors home and to work. We really had another good day being snowed in. We watched a few movies. Talia painted a bird house. Simone played with her toys. Wyatt and Lincoln built a --I don't know what that was--guy thing. I got some photography work done finally. Lincoln has commandeered my office so I had to kick him out of it! I am catching up on laundry too...it's funny, it takes 40 inches of snow for me to catch up on laundry.

LOVE 9

I love this tractor!

It came to dig us out yesterday...so we were finally able to get out of driveway. Today we went to Rileigh's and had lunch, and a great time sledding. It was great to get out, but more snow is on the way. The weather service said between 10 and 20 inches. MORE! That is crazy. Here's to being snowed in again.

I hope this tractor doesn't stay away too long.

LOVE 8

I love all the memories we have made as a family this week.

Snow Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 8 cups snow, or shaved ice
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Place snow or shaved ice into a large bowl. Pour condensed milk over and add vanilla. Mix to combine. Serve immediately in bowls.

LOVE 7

I love that I am not in a photography rut this year! I always go through a depressing photography funk each winter. NOT THIS TIME! I am on fire...I am constantly taking pictures!

I made a heart filter and have been using for two days straight! I love to sneak outside and find sparkly things to photograph.

Here are a few that I liked. Okay, not a few.

I *heart* sun flare!

I love these three bright hearts.

P.S. If anyone wants to play in the snow, come to my house.
We have LOTS....and are getting MORE!

LOVE 6

Talia building a puzzle watching the snow fall yesterday.

Simone says "no" for snow.

Painting today.

Lincoln's grill...this got more snow...I took this in the morning.

Time to shovel again!
Lincoln got up at 5:00 in the morning to go help drive people to and from the hospital. The snow was too deep, and he couldn't get out of our neighborhood. Then he shoveled the driveway before coming back in.

I love being snowed in.

We made cookies
Lincoln made the best baby-back ribs for dinner.
We painted, watched movies, read books, and played video games.
I caught up on laundry.

I look forward to being snowed in tomorrow too!

LOVE 5

I love that snow is not permanent.

Enjoying the blizzard here. We went over to Ben and Rileigh's for dinner and games. The snow is really coming down now. I think we have 7 or 8 inches.

I asked Talia to tell me something that is permanent---something that lasts forever.

She said love.

I agreed and smiled. The love she knows does last forever!

Then she added, "And socks. Some socks last forever."

( We were folding a pile.)

I laughed loud. What?

I don't think socks are permanent. Lincoln was talking to his Dad on the phone a few nights ago. He mentioned that I will be the big 32 in a week or so--and then he made fun of me a little. His Dad's response was, "I have socks that are older than that."

I have some old socks too. I have a pair (my oldest) I got in high school at Contempo for my 17th birthday! They are white with a little ruffle on the edge. I loved those socks. I still do.

What about you?
Do you have some old socks?

LOVE 4

This boy.

After a nightmare grocery shopping trip I yelled at him. I was so angry and overwhelmed and I said, "You need to GROW UP!"

As soon as those words left my mouth I regretted them. I felt like the dad in Peter Pan saying---"This is your last night in the nursery."

I don't want him to grow up. It is happening to quickly. He is so smart and so much fun to be around. I talked with him...he forgave me with out hesitation. He hugged me so tight. Then the big kids and I played "family game night" on the xbox (HIGHLY recommend that!) way past bed time.

Man, I need to try harder to be a better Mom. I will never take three kids to the grocery store before a big blizzard....epically without a list...and then do self check out with $300 worth of food to avoid the line that LITERALLY wrapped around the ENTIRE store. I have never seen a line like that in my whole life.

I just remembered that it wasn't a complete nightmare at the store. No one can make Simone laugh like Wyatt can. Up and down the isles he entertained her. She adores him! That is what I will choose to remember from this crazy day. Simone's sweet laugh and her proud big brother, being such a great helper.

(I took this a long time ago....for a self portrait everyday for a week thing. I never posted that. This one isn't in focus, but you can see everyone...so it's my fav.)

Just for fun this is what the store was out of....
Onions
Bananas (Simone will be sad about that.)
tomatoes
cucumbers
salad
potatoes
avocados
grapes
blueberries
most of the veggies were scarce
Shrimp
ground beef
string cheese (I got the last one)

LOVE 3

I love to sleep in!

I love it even more when I wake up to this.....

Can you just hear that giggle? She was pretty sneaky, hiding quietly in that box for a long time. She didn't even move when I said her name and I was standing over the box. Then the laughs came. I am glad my camera was in my room!

LOVE 2

I am going to post something I love each day in February. (I did this last year too, and I thought it was great way to celebrate my favorite month.)

Today's love is Simone. I had a little "baby" session with her a few days ago. She is growing up way too quickly for me. She has slept in her big girl bed 4 nights in a row. I am going to do her big girl session on her birthday.

At 5:00 this morning I heard Simone crying. I nudged Lincoln to go open her door so she could come in with us. He came back to bed with her in his arms. He said she had been twisted up in two baby blankets (which she refers to as "my") like a little cocoon. The blankets were pinning down her arms, and it was wrapped over her head and face. I couldn't sleep after that. She snuggled with me, and I thought about how grateful I was for her and that she was safe.

I had another experience today where I was reminded how closely Heavenly Father watches over for us. We went to Baltimore for a doctor appointment for Talia. My GPS didn't recognize the address, but did recognize the street so I just put in a mystery number in hopes that it would get me close. Close is not good in Baltimore. When my GPS said "Your destination is on the left." I just about started to cry. It was the scariest boarded up neighborhood, with graffiti everywhere, and sweet looking teenagers dressed in black hooded coats standing in groups. I just kept driving and prayed. We were going to be late and that added to my anxiety. I turned a few corners, and then out of now where was the intersection I needed. I couldn't believe we found it, and on TIME no less. I said a thank you prayer, and then tears came---they were inevitable.


Here is my sweet Simone.....
(Her curly pigtails may be the cutest thing on this earth.)

snowtographer

"I'm a photographer."



"Oh really, what do you photograph?"



"Snowflakes."

I can't apologize for posting so many, because I think I am going to post more.

I spent a lot of time with snowflakes this weekend. They are simply magic. I love them.