Thursday, March 31, 2011

March 31 - Say Cheese

Miriam and I bought a Groupon for photos at The Picture People and scheduled our sessions close together. Though I'm not a fan of chain store photography, it was cheap and right down the street plus Goggy was here to help lug everyone and their gear. We ended up waiting a while, so I snapped a few clandestine shots on one of their sets. This probably makes me a person of questionable character, but it was Miriam's idea, so I blame her.











Sweet baby Ewan and my unethical sister.























The girls like the black background because they think it looks like they're flying. During the real photo session, Nellie kept walking off the set saying, "I'm all done with pictures."
















An employee caught us on the set and kicked us off before we could get a shot with all of Goggy's grandbabies, so we had to find an alternative spot.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

March 30 - When the Cat's Away

I attended a breastfeeding conference in Dalton today while my mom stayed at my house with the big girls. Diana West was the guest speaker. She was fantastic, and I learned a lot while I paced the back of the room shushing Lucy for roughly 8 hours. This completes the education credits I need to apply for the IBCLC exam this summer.



















Mom and the girls went to Monkey Joe's to burn off some energy on a rainy day. Mom and Lila were still going strong when I got home tonight.






































But little Nellie Katherine was down for the count. Good job, Goggy!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

March 29 - First and Last

Goggy arrived this morning to help with the girls for a busy, busy couple of days. She got the girls ready for their last gymnastics class while I had a doctor's appointment.





















Lila and Nellie both find that their tongues help with execution.



































A couple of hours later, Lila had her first tennis lesson. As a former tennis player, I'm trying to suppress my excitement that she is interested in tennis. I want her pick her own hobbies and activities, but I sure would love a tennis partner. And realistically, there is no way my girls are going to be gymnasts given the genetics of their body types!



As I pulled into our driveway after class, we startled this hawk in my yard. The auto-focus on my zoom lens is broken, and I wasn't wearing my glasses, but I was still happy to catch this shot. Lucy and I then rushed off to pick up my friend Lluvia and get to Dalton for the night where we are attending a conference tomorrow.












On this day in 2008, Nellie was 3 months old, and a sweet, drooly, chubby baby.

Monday, March 28, 2011

March 28 - Happy Birthday, Monique!

Today we took our friend Monique cupcakes for her birthday. I love how none of the girls are looking at the camera and all eyes are on the cupcakes.











The girls enjoyed the sweet treats, and Monique and I enjoyed playing with our cameras and practicing our food photography.






































In 2010, my mom had just gotten her chicks for her foray into backyard laying hens. Despite a few losses over the year, we've enjoyed some yummy free range eggs from these little ladies while also being terrorized by the mad rooster of the litter.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

March 27 - Double the fun

Cousins! My cousin Anne and her beautiful family were in Atlanta visiting family this weekend, so we got to meet William and Robert (born 12/9/10) for the first time, and they got to meet Lucy.


Back row: Lila, Nellie, Caroline
Front row: Lucy, William, Robert








Anne and me with our wee ones. It looks like they all have the same strawberry blond hair in this shot.



















I could start a whole separate blog of Lucy Jane's daily photo in Daddy's arms. I love her expression in this one.










After our visit with the Lawtons we headed to Fernbank to check out the new NatureQuest children's exhibit with our friends the Richters. The girls had a blast exploring the new features despite the crowds and chaos. I love how all of our girls are color coordinated.

















I could have photoshopped out that drool on my sweater, but I think it lends authenticity to the shot.







Monique has inspired me to post "This date in history" photos. She does this on her photo blog, and it's a neat way to look back in time.


So, on this date in 2010, I was in Louisville, KY visiting my best buds from college.
L to R: Shara, me, Olivia, Misty. I can't believe it's been a whole year since I've seen most of these ladies.









And a shot of our kiddos. L to R: Oliver, Annie, Lila, Izzy, Katie, Anna, Nellie, Jude, Jackson.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

March 26 - Celebrating our Friends

I had the honor of celebrating one of my main ladies today. The moms and Lucy had lunch at The Flying Biscuit in honor of Monique's birthday.










Rick took Lila and Nellie to their friend Lea's birthday while I was lunching with the ladies. It was a princess themed party, and Nellie still had on her princess dress when I got home several hours later.















We had some storms later in the evening. I held it together pretty well, but Junebug stayed in the bathtub for security.











On this day in 2010, we visited my Aunt Sallie and got lucky that my cousins Anne and Mary were there for the weekend with their babies. Here are Nellie, Lila, Elliott, and Caroline.


Friday, March 25, 2011

March 25 - Nature

We spent the afternoon at the Chattahoochee Nature Center with the Dunwoody Homeschool Hive. This is one of my favorite area attractions. I always leave inspired to learn more about native plants and animals and to actually read my field guides and identify the creatures in our yard. I still haven't done it yet, but someday. Someday.










Some wildlife.
















Corn snake encounter.


















More wildlife.













A native species with her offspring.


















On this day in 2008, Lila dressed up like a princess.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

March 24 - Park Day

We packed a lunch and spent this glorious afternoon at Brook Run Park in Dunwoody. This was Lila's first time riding her bike somewhere besides our driveway, and she was a superstar with sidekick Nellie on her scooter.








Look at that sky! Now try not to look at that outfit. Nellie wore a Christmas shirt, jeans that don't fit and the shoes from her Halloween costume.
















This park has several state-of-the-art play structures with that spongy turf stuff underneath. Where did my kids spend the most time? On the rusty arches that are not a play structure with concrete below.








In other happenings around our house today, Blue stole and ate a head of lettuce, a tomato, and 15 soy wax crayons.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

March 23 - Pirates and Doughnuts

Atlanta has so much to offer homeschooling families, and we try to take advantage of as much as we can. Today the Atlanta Opera put on a mini-performance of "The Pirates of Penzance" for area homeschoolers. We met up with our friends Lluvia and Sofia there and enjoyed the show.














It took us what felt like hours to get out of this building after the show. We had potty needs and diaper needs and screaming baby then we got everyone strapped in their carseats then needed more diapers and more potty and more screaming.







After everyone settled down, and we could finally leave, we went to Sublime Doughnuts for an afternoon sugar infusion. I had the orange dreamsicle flavor, Nellie had raspberry filled, and Lila had cookies and cream. We took Rick a dulce de leche and a Butterfinger. They were spectacular.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

March 22 - Just a Tuesday

I thought today was the girls' last gymnastics class of the session, so I drug out my zoom lens to get some shots of their ribbon ceremony. Unfortunately due to a snow cancellation, I was off by a week and get to do it all again next week.















My girlies enjoying a yogurt snack after a grueling trip to the grocery store.

Monday, March 21, 2011

March 21 - Spring Gardening

I'm getting the beds ready for planting our garden. Lila and Nellie helped me trim back the liriope border. Lila had a proper tool, and Nellie used craft scissors.
















Lucy Jane watched with interest for about 5 minutes before falling asleep in the sunshine.

















Farewell, crib/laundry basket. Hello, underwear drawer. I finally sold the crib today. Rick assembled it in this space in front of my dresser several months ago with the plan that I would take a picture, list it, and sell it, but alas, I procrastinate. I finally posted it last night, and it sold within an hour. They picked it up tonight, and now I can access my drawers! Punny!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

March 20 - The day the Rebel died

Aunt Miriam took Lila and Nellie to see The Dragon King puppet show this afternoon. Nellie loves dragons and thought the show was superb. It was a tale of a good dragon that breathes water instead of fire to water the crops.
















I tried to get a cool shot of the cousins (and Uncle Chris) together with the cityscape in the background. The shots didn't come out very good (stupid fence), but I have to post this picture since it was the last picture my old Canon Rebel took before it died. Since I upgraded my camera a few months ago, I've been using the Rebel as my "diaper bag" camera to take along on our outings. RIP Old Rebel. You served me well for 25,010 shots.














This is me and Lucy watching Lila ride her bike later this afternoon. Since I'm usually behind the camera, I like to feature shots with me in them to prove my existence.











Check out those cheeks. Seriously.



















My camellias have been gorgeous this week. The blooms are starting to fall, so I snapped a pic of one of the remaining perfect blossoms. These are my favorite yard plants, and I love this time of year when they're all in bloom.








Special visitor! Ciera had dinner with us tonight. We love it when we get to see our CiCi.