52 on Friday: Week 52

Week 52: Blessings

Week 52... 52 weeks of photos... we have reached the end of this daunting project!  Which... in itself seems like a blessing!  Looking back, this year has been a year FULL of blessings... each of the 52 photos is a memory of my beautiful family, which is my biggest blessing.  I am so thankful for our little family!  We usually have a house full for Christmas, but this year it was just us.  At first I was a little sad that my mom, my sister and nieces, and my brother and his wife, wouldn't be joining us like they have in the last several years.  But, it was such a nice relaxing holiday!  (and we ALL spend the ENTIRE day in our pajamas!!!)  I love Christmas.  I love taking time with the kids to remember the gift God gave us in Jesus.  How He willingly came to our broken earth, and put on our injured flesh, so that we could have freedom and eternal life- blessings.  And because He has blessed David and I, we can bless our children.  I love seeing the pure joy on their faces when they open the gifts I have thoughtfully purchased for them.  Here is a peek at our Christmas morning. 

What I love the most, is that these are not the big presents that I was so excited for them to open... Aiden is thrilled over colored pencils, Conner's ecstatic to see play-doh, and Hannah squealed for a piggy bank.  :) I love these kids

Stockings were hung by the...stairway... with care :) and as you can see... Santa came :)

Our traditional 'waiting at the top of the stairs photo', and Aiden with the coal he found in his stocking :)



Santa brought everyone exactly what they had asked for for Christmas... except Aiden, who changed his story as he was climbing into Santa's lap.  He then said he wanted a laptop... to which Santa replied, "I don't even have a laptop!!!" well played, Santa :)



Hannah asked for the McKenna American girl doll and movie :)



And here is Conner, our little rocker, who asked for Guitar Hero World Tour. 



I hope that you all had a blessed Christmas as well.  Thank you for sticking with me on this year long project!!!  Please take one last loop through my friends' posts, start here with Laura :)

52 on Friday: Week 50

Week 50: Tied Up With Strings

I love this week's theme of tied up with strings!  I LOVE presents- from the buying to the wrapping- to seeing them under the tree- to the giving and watching them being opened.  And I may have a bit of an addiction to ribbon... I've been told that I use to much, and that it's silly for me to spend so much time wrapping something that will be ripped open and thrown away.  But, you know what??? It's going to sit under my tree for a few weeks... so, I want it to look pretty!  Here's a look at my packages tied up with string :)

Don't forget to stop by Patti's blog to see her Tied Up With Strings photo! :)

52 on Friday: Week 49

Week 49: Make Believe

How can it be December already?!?!?  I have always thought that time was flying, but doing this 52 week project has made it seem like the Earth is spinning twice as fast.  So, here we are, December is here- Christmas tree is up- stockings are hung- the kids are placing their nativity pieces on the Advent calendar... and 2012 is almost behind us.  I absolutely love Christmas.  I love to see the wonder in the kids' eyes, as they dream about Christmas Day.  Here are my kiddos longing for the magic of Christmas Day to be here :)

52 on Friday: Week 48

Week 48: Favorite (and Thankful)

I missed last week's theme of Thankful, but since this week's theme is Favorite, it works well- since my favorites are the things I'm most Thankful for!  I've chosen to share a few of my favorite images from 2012.  I've shared some of these before, so please bear with my redundance!

My Favorite Little People



My Favorite Guy :)



My Favorite Place

My Favorite Memory

I hope you all have a great Friday and a blessed weekend! 

Don't forget to head over to Laura's blog to see what her favorite is!

52 on Friday: Week 46

Week 46: Reflection

Last night David and I were watching videos we have of our kids from several years ago.  In one of them, Conner, who just turned 6, was walking around with his pacifier in footie pajamas.  Now, he has two wiggly front teeth.  Where does the time go?!?!  So, after reminiscing last night about my little ones... who aren't so little anymore... I thought I would share an old photo of the kids and a new one.  You'll have to bear with me- I know the first picture isn't the best quality, but I lost all the photos from 2008 when my laptop crashed... so it's downloaded from Facebook. 

I hope each of you will hold your little ones a little longer this week- time is running away from us. 

Here is Laura's Reflection photo for this week :)

52 on Friday: Week 45

Week 45: Bokeh
Bokeh is a photography term that has been defined as the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light. 

I was really excited and looking forward to this week :) The fall colors in Searcy are peaking and I had big plans to get out with my own kids and get some fall portraits.  But, instead I have spent nearly all week in bed sick.  So, I have pulled some old pictures of the kids that demonstrate bokeh.  I certainly hope that these fall colors will last just long enough for me to get out there! And I'll be sure to share those pictures with you :)

I hope you'll take a minute and head over to the Zoe Portrait Art blog to see how the talented Cheryl Weaver captured bokeh this week!

52 on Friday: Week 44

Week 44: Tricks or Treats

We had so much fun this Halloween!  Although it took me a few weeks to get over the disappointment that my children did not want to dress up as a group.  For the last 7 years my kids have worn costumes that go together- last year they were Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Lucy, and before that they were pirates :) (I think that was one of my favorites!) But this year, they let their unique personalities show.  We trick-or-treated with several friends after roasting hotdogs together.  Here's a peek at the fun we had.

Now you can drop by and see how Mr. Jon Yoder celebrated Halloween!

52 on Friday: Week 43

Week 43: Vintage

Vintage was a hard word for me, but I finally settled on a vintage camera photo I had.  This camera is from the Wright Brothers museum in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and is from 1902.  That may make it a little old to be vintage... but either way, I sure find it fascinating!  This is not the exact camera that captured Wilbur and Orville's first flight, but it is the same model.  But, still... I wonder what images this camera did capture 110 years ago.

Now head over to Mark and see his vintage image :)

52 on Friday: Week 41

Week 41: Golden

Golden.  I envision tall grasses... my kids running around at dusk... beautiful light as the sun is setting... but when I open my eyes... it's only gray outside. 
I'm for sure not complaining!  This is my favorite weather- I love rainy days, snuggling in my hoodies and warm coffee with a good book- or a load of laundry fresh and warm out of the dryer... but, when I'm looking to shoot a 'golden' picture- dreary is far from what I was hoping for. 
So... I turned to my arsenal called 'the hard drive'.  And dug until I found a field of tall grass with my kids running as the sun began to set.  I know I've shared a few of the pictures from this night, but I know I haven't shared this one :) So, here is my little golden ray of light on this dreary fall day :)

52 on Friday: Week 40

Week 40: Crisp

Week 40... I'm really shocked that we are 40 weeks into this challenge- only 12 more weeks!  Only 12 more weeks in 2012!!! How can that be?!?! 

October is here, Fall is here... Christmas is right around the corner- I know because Walmart is ready :) hahaha!  This is my favorite time of year- I love fall.  I love the cool crisp mornings, I love the vibrant trees as they change color, I love the crunch of the dried leaves on the ground. 

 I knew I wanted to try to capture the crisp mornings we've been having for this week's theme.  Although it's not exactly how I'd pictured it in my mind, here is our crisp morning from our home. 

I hope you all enjoy your crisp weekend weather they've predicted!  Now head on over to Annessa's 52 on Friday post :)

52 on Friday: Week 39

Week 39: Games

So, this week's theme is games... I realized this last night.  I had planned all week thinking our theme was something else- I'm not going to say, because you'll see that one in a few weeks! :)  So, games... I quickly ran through the options I had... the boys playing the Wii... David watching football... but, it was rainy so it was dark in the living room... and the boys were fighting over who was going to be player one- definitely not a picture I would want to share with anyone.  Our family loves playing games, so I thought- "hey! I'll take a picture of our cabinet full of all our board games!" - yeah... not a good idea... when I opened the door several fell out on top of me... didn't want to share that picture either :) So, here is a glimpse at my inner nerd.  I love, love, love to play Scrabble.  I play Words With Friends on my phone- but it's not the same as having the wooden letters.  I even love the way the pieces smell when I open the box... yes... I warned you... my nerd score probably just jumped a thousand points :)

I hope you all have a blessed weekend :) now head on over to Mark's blog to see what games he's playing this week!

52 on Friday: Week 38

Week 38: Plaid

I knew right away what I wanted to use for this week's image.  Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to get to my mom's to get it.  In my March post for the theme Irish I mentioned how my family's Irish heritage has always been very important to us, and how my Dad frequently wore a plaid cap.  I was hoping to get a chance to get either one of his caps or at least a picture of him in one, but as luck would have it- I'm going to my mom's tonight... hours after this post will have been shared.  So, as a plan B I gathered up all of our plaid clothing, shoes, bags... I kind of have a plaid obsession... so there's a LOT.  Then went to grab my camera... dead... D.E.A.D So... on to plan C!  Here is one of my favorite photos of my Dad.  He adored his grandkids and the feeling was mutual :)



 This is just a terrible scan- it's still in the mat, since it was taped, I didn't dare try to remove it!  And, hey- he's wearing a plaid shirt- so that counts, right?  I bet I inherited my plaid obsession from him :)

Head on over to Laura's blog to see her plaid post.

52 on Friday: Week 37

Week 37: Retro


ret·ro/ˈretrō/

Noun:

Clothes or music whose style or design is imitative of those of the recent past.

It's crazy to me to see so many of the styles from when I was a kid being worn by the kids now.  I have to admit- I don't really let Hannah dress that way... I look at the '80s fashions that are so "in" and cringe.  But, I guess since I wasn't around for the '70s bell bottoms; 'flare' leg pants manage to make it into our house.  So here's Hannah in her bell bott -.... er... 'flare' jeans and her chucks... which have both made a full circle to being back in style. 

Don't forget to stop by Mark Gregory's blog to see how he interpreted our theme!  Happy Weekend :)

52 on Friday: Week 36

Week 36: Relax
Relax... that's something that doesn't happen all that often for me- and I'm sure for most of us.   And while I've got my friend's little one year old here, you sure wouldn't think that there would be much relaxing going on.  But, the truth is, I can't work at the computer while she is here, so... what could be more relaxing than playing on the floor with this beautiful little girl?  I enjoy the days that Hadley spends with me, we play and read stories, we dance to songs like "Jesus is My Superhero"- which seems to be her favorite, and we make a huge mess of the table (and Hadley) while eating lunch :)  She is so sweet! 

 So, here's what my relaxation looked like. 

Please take a minute to stop by Laura's blog to see how she was maxin' and relaxin' this week.  Have a great weekend everyone :)

52 on Friday: Week 35

Week 35: Feet

All day yesterday I kept checking out my window to see if Isaac had arrived in Searcy yet.  I knew I wanted the ground to be wet for this picture.  Alas... Isaac didn't bring any rain until after dark, so we went out early this morning to get our feet wet :) 

My boys :) This is exactly how the were standing when I turned around to take the picture.  They crack me up :)

I hope you have a great Labor Day weekend, make the most of the extra day off!!!  Here's Annessa's feet picture!

52 on Friday: Week 34

Week 34: Texture

Today is my daughter, Hannah's, 11th birthday.  Here she is with her baby blanket, Ginky, that my sister-in-law made for her before she was born.  She used baby flannel, so soft... Hannah wouldn't (well... she still won't) sleep without it.  I remember when she was a year old, she left it at my mom's house after a weekend visit, and my mom drove 2 hours to leave it on our front seat while we were in church (because she knew Hannah was going to throw a fit without it).  She used to rub a particular corner of the blanket on her face while she fell asleep- and it wore a hole through it... hence the big patch job... but, now... poor Ginky is beyond repair.  Not that that stops Hannah from sleeping with it each night.  What was once a soft cozy quilt is now literally loved to pieces. 

Happy Birthday, to my baby girl :)

Have a great weekend everyone, and be sure to stop by Laura's blog to see her texture picture.

52 on Friday: Week 33

Week 33: Future

Last night I dreamt that this week's theme was exhaustion... I wonder why? Could it be that school is about to start?  Or maybe becuase my children have fought incessantly for the past week? Or maybe that I just had too many cups of coffee yesterday? Well, whatever the reason, I was very concerned in my dream because I knew that I hadn't photographed exhaustion... but I did let the kids play 'grown-up' yesterday so that I could grab some shots of what their 'future' mornings might consist of :)  They sure thought it was fun!

Here's Laura, stop by and see how she depicted future today! :)

52 on Friday: Week 32

Week 32: Broken

This is Bird.  Conner has loved this bird for most of his life.  You can see his love scars.  When Conner was 2 my sister's dog chewed the three little hairs off of Bird's head.  Conner brought Bird to me with tears in his eyes and said, "Bird is broken!".  It broke my heart to see him so sad about his friend, so Bird got a 'new haircut', as Mommy transplanted hair from another stuffed animal onto Bird's head.  Since then, Bird has been lost in the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, where I backtracked nearly a mile to try and find him (only to realize he was right where I started looking). He's been left at Walgreens, where I frantically tore the store apart until we found him (sitting among the stuffed dog toys).  And most recently Bird received a lateral abdominal incision as Conner learned to cut with scissors.  Most nights Bird sleeps wrapped tightly in Conner's arms, although Conner will go to sleep without him (finally...).  I swear, this little bird is so much a part of our family, I can't imagine him not being with us.  And, as Conner prepares for starting Kindergarten in a week, I can't help but enjoy him being little for a little while longer while he totes Bird around.  I know he'll grow up soon enough, and won't need to carry his broken little buddy with him everywhere he goes. 

 

I hope you have a great weekend.  Take a minute to stop by Annessa's blog to see her broken post.

52 on Friday: Week 31

Week 31: Water

This theme was pretty well timed for me.  I just spent a week at my Mom's house in Cherokee Village, AR.  The highlight of this summer trip for the kids... (and maybe mom too:) ) is the little beach on one of the lakes.  We always get up and head to the beach right after breakfast, so we often have it all to ourselves.  The kids let me have some fun with my camera... before nearly dragging me into the water! 

Aiden spent the whole week under the water looking at the fish.  These little guys have no fear and will swim right up to you... I know... one bit me :)

Dive into Patti's blog to see her water photo!

52 on Friday: Week 30

Week 30: Fruit

To be honest... I totally thought this week's theme was something else.  When I realized Fruit was our theme a hundred ideas came into my head.  Then the idea I chose to run with was going to be photographed last night when our family went to see a Drum and Bugle Corps competition.... well... it rained... for the first time in almost 4 months.  Rain on the one day of the summer I had outdoor plans... Sooo... that left me coming home at 10:00 last night empty handed... no photo for today's post. The first thing I do everyday is to open my YouVersion app on my phone and study a devotional.  Well... today's was about the fruit of the spirit.  I am so not perfect.  This list of fruits that should be in the life of someone who is a follower of Christ reminds me how much I need to work on.  But, I know that God is working on me, and through his love and his grace I know that there is hope for me. 

Please take a minute and stop by my friend Patti's blog to see her fruit today.