I found a new blog party link – wooohooo!

I do love these link up parties – it’s such a great way to find new bloggers

and to discover new purposes for why people are blogging.

 I found PINK SATURDAY at Beverly's How Sweet the Sound blog:

Here is my pink contribution:

While trying to find a clever quote for my collage, I came across a few facts about pink.

It’s not a difficult color to find in our household with three little girls !

These fun facts come from Sensational Color

Pink is the color of happiness and is sometimes seen as lighthearted.

the pink ribbon is an internationally recognized symbol of

hope and awareness in the fight against breast cancer.

Bright pinks, like the color red, stimulate energy and can increase

the blood pressure, respiration, heartbeat, and pulse rate.

They also encourage action and confidence.

Pink has been used in prison holding cells to effectively reduce erratic behavior.

In 1947, fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli introduced the

color "hot pink" to western fashion. She dubbed the shade "Shocking Pink,"

 though today the color is more well-known as "magenta."

please join me in  my first blog party:

happy weekend everyone!

Christmas Card Greetings...

I can't remember how I stumbled upon this blog this weekend, but I am sure glad I did because she is hosting a very fun blog party. I don't know if it's the same in your household, but our load of Christmas cards this year seems to be yet another thing affected by "this economy." I keep commenting that either I've really upset some friends this year or that people are not sending cards to save a few dollars. I am pretty sure that the second reason is the answer.

So this blog party, which allows bloggers to share their family Christmas cards, will let you feel like you've received just as many cards as you would have any other year! You just have to pretend you know the people or appreciate greetings and good wishes from kind creative strangers. Take your pick!

I am excited to see what others have created, but it's kind of like that feeling of looking at wedding magazines or watching the Wedding Story after you've already had your wedding and thinking "I wish I would have thought of that!!!" I'll just have to take notes for next year...but I am pretty pleased with our card this year, both the family picture and the snowmen creations made by my twin daughters...

It started with a morning of the girls' drawing snowmen while waiting to leave for school. After seeing their family creations, I knew they had to be shared. A mommy snowman with hair - how cute is that?  ...so off to kinkos to resize and copy!

I then collected the supplies and friends and family card list...

the creating chaos I like to call it...

Added the family picture...

Typed our greeting and signature...

Attached it all together with a brad...

Put my eager little artists back to work to draw more

snowmen on the envelopes...

and then begged my husband to either remember to mail them from his office or to bring me home some stamps!

our two cards from the past two years...

2008

2007

I love the handmade touch to our family card this year, and especially love that we have an additional handmade blessing, our little miss izzy-belle!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

that turquoise wall...

given my love for photography, i can rarely drive down a street without noticing the perfect backdrop for pictures -- and then obsessing about when and how to get back there to take the actual pictures - how many times i've said "oooh, i wish i had my camera!" this turquoise wall was one of my favorites in my hometown. i am happy i took my nieces to this building when i did because sadly, on my visit home this time, i noticed that my vacant turquoise building has now been painted a dreary gray. i will now have to obsess about where to take the next batch of pictures.

...and on that same day, this old swing at the end of a neighbor's lakeside yard was just too inviting to not stop and take a few photos..but i didn't know these neighbors, so the girls, being girls, were "mortified" that i just popped on in this neighbors yard...but come on, you can see in the distance of one of the pictures just how far the swing is from the house -- so really, unless they really didn't want others, or strangers like us, to have a seat and take a leisurely swing, they would have put it up by there own patio. correct? so sit down and smile silly girls -- and that they did!

the new teen smile...

in this digital age , i am so happy to see that the young ones can document their cheerfulness and memorable times with their friends -- i loved photography even back in grade school, but every picture had to be posed, everyone carefully looking at the camera with their polished on smiles because you only had 36 chances per film roll to catch that perfect picture -- what i wouldn't do to have those not so perfect silly carefree pictures of my youth.  i couldn't help but snag a few of these of my niece from her computer during my last visit to illinois -- notice the new look - the opened mouth, stick the tongue out, and flash the peace sign --

and yes, do i wish these young ones nothing but peace in the unfolding of their lives!

keep "smiling" girls - or sticking your tongue out - whatever it takes to be your

 happy fun selves.

that little four letter word...

my sister asked that i take some pictures of items to spell the word "love" for her bedroom in her new house - her sort of "new beginnings" following her recent divorce. you never have to beg me to take a picture - photography is an outlet for me! so this is what my 11 year old niece and i created on our photo hunt that day --

i plan to print her pictures separately in black and white 8x12s and frame them separately in black frames so it will make a statement above her bed.  i have seen these collages available at festivals and such and at the most recent festival, this 4 letter word was priced at $98! not to disregard anyone's talent or art, but really this is a simple do-it-yourselfer!

my niece and i had such a good time looking for hidden letters that we've decided to continue looking for letters and have made a texting game out of it - we find the letter, text it to one another, make one another guess the letter and then thankfully for me, it leads to more conversation through texting or an eventual phone call --the end result, i feel closer to her than ever before! that world of  texting for (pre)teens is like our world of blogging.

grab your cameras - you don't need anything fancy for this - just an editing program after you take - let me know if you post your collage - i'd love to see your creation!

and while we are on the topic of love, here are a few loves in my life:

pretty worthy of lots of love i must say!

                                    “the earth laughs in flowers.”

e.e. cummings

matter the most monday #5

maddie and my dad, "papa bob" planted sunflower seeds back in march when my parents visited for the girls' 4th birthday. maddie was diligent about watering her planted seeds and spent most summer mornings running out onto the back patio in her jammies checking to see if her sunflower had appeared. thank goodness that little seed decided to sprout!

so thank you little sunflower for showing my daughter how compassion and care can create a beautiful thing! her love for nature has been strengthened with your sweet vibrant yellow appearance!

matter the most monday #3

(mia and me)

i have been passionate about photography since i can remember but it was the arrival of my first niece, baylee, that i decided to really take notice of photojournalism and documenting life through pictures. there truly isn't a day in this house that a picture isn't snapped - if it isn't my camera, it's my husband's, and now mia has become the newest photographer. as much as i gasp for air when she grabs my not-so-cheap camera, i try to relax, letting her explore, while I walk silently behind her, holding my breath, not wanting to distract her focus but having my hands ready to catch that family member in my hands if it gets dropped - yes, the family member, the camera; mia would be fine if she stumbled, she's a tough girl!

i love to see the mia's world as she sees it from behind the lens...

Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation