Gung Hay Fat Choy! 5/52 - Project 52

Wishing you health, prosperity, and happiness 

in this Year of the Horse!

We're very lucky in that we get to spend the upcoming weekend

with our beloved China travel group at a hotel,

swimming, eating and celebrating.

Grace was born in the Year of the Horse as were all the other children adopted

in her travel group.

We have known these wonderful families now

for over 10 years.

Hope you are doing something fun to bring in the new year!

i heart faces - Best Face of 2013

Of the many photos that I take every year of my children,

it was difficult to choose just one for the I Heart Faces Best Face of 2013.

I kept going back to this one of my daughter Grace.

My joyful girl.

Please stop by I Heart Faces and take a look.

Light and Dark (Sunday Snapshot & 2/52 Project)

Penny for her thoughts.

As light is a precious commodity here in Winter

as it doesn't last long and we can have some grey, overcast skies.

When I see the opportunity to use a little window light, I use it.

Taken last Wed. before we left for ballet.

I love the way the light falls off her face

and the dark gently wraps around her as if to give her a hug.

Making the Best of It (Sunday Snapshot)

 

As the Upper Midwest is just about to turn into the North Pole temperature wise.

We are staying inside our warm and toasty home.

 

 

 

School is cancelled tomorrow and probably will be Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

 

When Dan and I were young and couldn't go outside because it was too cold,

we played board games, cards, read books, did crafts, and teased our siblings.

 

 

(And who said swinging was just for Summer?) 

Tomorrow we plan on baking cookies, maybe do some crafts with Grace,

and I'm sure there will be some playing on ipods and the Wii.

 

 

 

 

These (obviously) were taken when it wasn't 50 degrees below zero

like it will be tomorrow.

Please stay safe everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas

"Christmas my child, is love in action."

 

~ Dale Evans

 

 

 

 

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,
The gladness of Christmas give you hope,

The warmth of Christmas grant you love.

~  Author Unknown

 

 

 

 Behind all the commercial-ism of the season
is the simple story about a family trying to get through difficult times.
And a baby born in a manger.

 

 

 

 

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

~ Luke 2:10-11

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

May you find the blessings of Christmas - peace, love and hope...today and always.

 

with love,

Dan, Gail, Nick, Grace and William

Tradition (Sunday Snapshot)

 

 

 

 At Christmas, all roads lead home. 

~Marjorie Holmes

 

 

 

 

Growing up my family had the tradition of cutting
down our Christmas tree and as the years have gone by
and I now have my own family, we've continued it.
We moved to Wisconsin 8 years ago when Grace
was a little one of 3. That year Dan carried her
through the tree farm and it was bitter cold!
We still go to the same farm to find our tree and now
my two youngest definitely help and voice their own opinion
on which is the perfect tree.
This year the tree we chose is the tallest we've ever had.

I think I love this entire experience so much because
we get to drink yummy hot apple cider and
the fragrance of the fresh trees outdoors always
speaks of Christmas to me.


(Taken yesterday afternoon, the hazy light was gorgeous)

 

No Tricks, all Treats (Sunday Snapshot)

October,

tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets

and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins.... Merry October!

 

~Rainbow Rowell

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story. 

~Mason Cooley

They start talking about Halloween starting in early September,

and Will usually has thought of what he'd like to dress up a good 6 months

before Halloween. His costumes get a lot of wear as he wears them at home frequently.

This year he went as Ironman and Grace is a 'Weeping Angel.'

I took very few photos of our Halloween evening because it was a rainy one but it didn't stop my trick or treaters by any means.

Probably my favorite image was the candid one below as they checked out their loot in between houses.

 

It may have rained but they still had a great time!





October snapshots (iphone style)

October is almost halfway over.

We're in a good routine and my kiddos have been great about getting up early to get

ready for school

and completing their homework in the afternoons.

 Dare I say this...we are about 10 weeks away from Christmas.

 

1. Top left. 'Bruce Wayne' in black and white. 2. Grace making

lemon sugar cookies for her classroom (she has become quite the baker).

3. Ballet has started again for Grace. I have finally mastered the ballet bun

for her hair. 4. Gourds and mini pumpkins. 5. Grace with a sequined kitty cat mask.

6. We made a quick trip to Chicago for a girls China friends get together.

7. 'Frenemies' Jack kitty and Zoe dog, they rarely get this close together. Usually Zoe is

chasing the cat. 8. The leaves are starting to fall here. 9. Sweet little farm stand selling pumpkins.

I wish Fall lasted longer than it does, but for now we are savoring every

moment of it.

Welcome Autumn (Sunday Snapshot)

If you stand still outside you can hear it...
 Winter's footsteps, the sound of falling leaves.

 

~ unknown

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came,

The Ashes, Oaks, and Maples, And leaves of every name.

The sunshine spread a carpet,
And every thing was grand;
Miss Weather led the dancing;

Professor Wind, the band....
The sight was like a rainbow
New-fallen from the sky....

 

~ George Cooper, "October's Party"

 

 

Autumn is here in Wisconsin.
This week our yellow leaves popped,
next will be the oranges and reds.

It's my favorite season for many reasons but
as a photographer I notice the light is low in the sky, golden
and delicious in color.
This week I took Grace out to a new location and loved the light in the trees.
I can't get enough of seeing these Fall colors
and spending as much time as we can as a family
outdoors.

 

 

Little Boys and Football

 

A Mom's Observations About Flag Football

 

(Now Will is the first of my 3 children to try flag football,

so it's new too me. These are some things I noticed)

 

~ There's quite a bit of energy out on that field of little boys

and it's not necessarily going in the right direction

 

~ Pulling a flag seems to be harder than tackling

 

~ There is some little boy that cries on every play(after all they're only 7)

 

~ The favorite play is "RUN!"

 

 

 

Will might be small but he's quite fast.

And it's really been a joy to watch him play.

It's all about Apples (Sunday Snapshot)

 

When the bold branches
Bid farewell to rainbow leaves
Welcome wool sweaters.

 

~ B. Cybrill

 

 

Fall has finally arrived in our neck of the woods.

Why do I love Fall so much?
 Maybe because for us Midwesterners it's 'just right' as in not too cold,
not too hot and humid, and not too rainy.

  Cool nights and bright blue skies have arrived.

So to celebrate Fall's arrival we made a little trip to a local farm that offers apple picking.
This is a new place for us this year.
The one we used to frequent had gotten crazy busy and

we were pleasantly surprised by the Appleberry Farm.

 

 

 

Now, what do I do with all these apples?
No worries, our two apple picking helpers have plenty of yummy ideas!

 I need to get busy. :)

 

 

Celebrating Her Special day(Sunday Snapshot)

 

Grace turned 11 in early August.
 That month for us was a crazy busy one with our vacation,
a trip into Chicago, me making a brief trip to Florida to see a friend
 and getting ready for school so

we elected to have her party last weekend.

We had it at a 'Kid Spa' in Madison
where the girls were pampered with manicures,
a glittery faux tattoo, and their choice of a little bit of
makeup to wear.

  

 

 

Oh and their choice of flavor of ice cream.

You can tell by the big smiles all around that they all had a GREAT time!

I love every single one of Grace's sweet friends

and we cherish their friendships.

 

 At an age where Grace still loves to play with her American Girl dolls
but would like to start wearing a little makeup,
she is definitely a tween.
And I'm taking in every moment of this time in her life.

 

Nearing the End

 

When summer gathers up her robes of glory,

And, like a dream, glides away.

- Sarah Helen Whitman

 

It doesn't seem possible but our Summer break is almost over.
In Wisconsin our Summers are surely not taken for granted,
after our long Winters.

School starts next week.
Supplies have been purchased and still need to be labeled.
New school clothes and shoes are ready to be worn.
I do love the routine that the school year brings to our family
but a part of me will miss having them home
during the day.
We've had a fun Summer!

Taken a few weeks ago towards the end of our vacation in Door County.
We've had several Summer trips up to the peninsula over the years, and this is the first
time the cherries were ready to be picked.
So cherry picking we went...
Will found what he called
'a magical sword'
and was a knight for
a little while in the middle of the orchard. ;)



 

 

Dog Days of Summer

The phrase, "the dog days of Summer" refers to the wicked hot, sultry days
of July and August.
And it's certainly arrived in Wisconsin and in many parts of the U.S.
 

 

I love Summer, maybe it's because I was born at the end of July.

I'd take a Summer day over a cold, snowy Winter one...anytime.

I thought Grace and her friends Miles and Lydia were quite creative (and cute)

  riding their scooters up and down the sidewalk through the sprinkler.