Sunday, November 30, 2008

Day 35

Today was a busy, busy day! I had church in the morning (wonderful service!!), then a portrait session this afternoon, and then a youth activity this evening. I'm tired! But it was a good day. Here are a couple shots from the portrait session.

Dixon Family 11 Jeff Rosalind

Dixon Family 15

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Day 34

It is a rainy, yucky, icky day today. But my daughter and her friend still wanted their picture taken.

Fancy and Krystal 2 with border

I need a really good portrait lens! I got them as far away from that fence as I could, but my current lenses just don't open up far enough. Christmas is coming...Christmas is coming...

Friday, November 28, 2008

Day 33

The whole family went for a long walk this morning. We took photos here and there, so here are a few...

Caleb and Fancy with border

All 7 in November 8x10 with border

And here's one more...

All 8 in November funny with border

I have so much admiration for anyone who can get 7 kids to look in the same direction with pleasant expressions. 

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Day 32

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a lovely meal with our extended family - the nine of us, my mom, Ken's parents, Ken's aunt, and our neighbors. There were 17 of us! All of us provided something, and it worked out well (and wasn't even stressful!). What a nice day. Now it's time to relax, enjoy the evening, watch movies and nibble.

Here was one of our 3 tables...

Day 32 with border

And here is a close up of that centerpiece...

Apple centerpiece

I hope you have had a thankful and joyful day.  

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Day 31

Not only is this photo indicative of this particular day around here(cleaning house and preparing for a bunch of cooking), but I loved the way these looked! These are the new Cascade dishwasher tabs, and I just loved their new colors! LOL! At least I get some fun out of washing dishes, right?

Cascade

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Day 30

After yesterday's photo, I'm kinda disappointed with this one, but I got through almost the whole day without picking up my camera, so I had to take a family shot after the sun went down. This is part of our family life - praying before meals. I am so thankful for all the God provides for us. And tonight Caleb was thankful too - he prayed and thanked God for the Lord, for making Mommy and Daddy strong, and for our food. What a sweetie!

Day 30

Monday, November 24, 2008

Day 29

Mom and I went to Missoula today...it's always exhausting, but we had a good day. We stopped at one store that had some wonderful Christmas stuff...

Day 29

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Day 28

Well, today you get a couple bonus shots...if you haven't heard about my little man's mishap, hop on over to Scrivnerburg to find out the details...

Here he is before we went to the hospital (a really quick shot because he was really in pain):
Broken Dubby before hospital

And here he is today, after he got all fixed up:
Broken Dubby after hospital with frame
 

 

And here is the shot I intended to use for today's 365 - a shot of our whole family out for Sunday brunch after church.
Lunch out with family
For
those who don't know us well, the man in the wheelchair is Ken's dad, next to him is Ken's mom, then our two daughters. At the far right end of the table is my mom, then our oldest son, and Ken. Behind Ken's parents you can see 3 of our other sons, and the fourth was tucked down in a chair so that he can't be seen behind Papa's chair. We this group goes to the brunch buffet, the cooks get busy!! Oh - and note the sling on Caleb's arm and the cast on my mother's arm...people are going to start wondering!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Day 27

If a 3-year-old came to you and said, "I wanted my marshmallows cooked", would you panic? Now, if he came and said, "I want to cook my marshmallows" I wouldn't be too worried. But the past tense thing definitely causes alarm.

Yesterday I made a snack mix for the kids with popcorn, Chex cereal, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows. Yummy stuff! But they ate it all! So Caleb decided to make some more, without any adult assistance!

He put some Cheerios in a bowl, put the rest of the mini marshmallows in, then put in the remaining Ritz crackers, and put the bowl in the microwave. Fortunately for all involved (especially the microwave) he only pushed the quick start button that only runs for 30 seconds - especially fortunate because he had his concoction in an aluminum bowl! I stopped it with 11 seconds left.

Cooking

By the way, he did share this creation with at least two of his brothers.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Day 26

Today my mom, my husband, my little man, and I went to the Olde Coffee Mill to do our duty as sweetbread testers. We take this duty very seriously, and try to get in to test their wares at least once a month.

Sweetbread inspection

After determining that the cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, and chocolate chip cookies were all acceptable, we moved on to the feed store. Our "feed" store has a lot more than feed in it including a Koi pond!

Indoor Koi pond

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Day 25

I finally got to have my session for the newborn today! Yay! But...the little man was not very cooperative as far as our plans were concerned. Oh well...he's still adorable and precious. While I was waiting for him to settle down for sleep, I took some shots of his sister and brother. They are adorable too!

5 blog rounded Mister E

This was my favorite shot of the baby.

 

3 blog rounded Miss A and Mister A for blog

Here are his sister and brother. These rounded corner templates were created by Jenn over at Design by Jenn.

And here's my favorite shot from the session...

Aidan 1

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Day 24

Another almost photo-less day. I left my camera in my car last night (bad idea when it gets cold at night) and I had to let it sit inside for hours before it was usable. Argh.

Anyway, this is a shot of the logo on my Faithweaver Friends sweatshirt. Faithweaver Friends is the kids' program we do at church on Wednesday nights. It's a lot of fun for the kids, and a great motivator for children to behave! :-)

day 24

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Day 23

I hardly had a chance to pick up my camera today. I was hoping to get an opportunity to take some nice landscapes this afternoon, but by the time I got outside it was too dark. Ergh. So all you get is the silly shot of me and Molly that I did for a thread on OPS. Not a very good photo...but there it is.

November Elli self portrait with border

Monday, November 17, 2008

Day 22

Well, I guess it's my turn to have a photo of a sick little one. My poor Caleb is feeling icky today. He stayed home from school and has laid on the couch all day. He's had a nap or two and a couple Mommy snuggles...that's all the excitement around here today.

sick bbaby

(By the way, he really is that pale today.)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Day 21

Well, there's no earthshaking photos here today...you get Miss Molly again! She's so sweet and funny! Dale and I took her out to the neighbor's grassy/leafy yard for some photos and she played jumprope with her leash, chased her tail, and tried to follow me everywhere. She's such a silly girl! I had a very hard time getting a good shot of her. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get a nice portrait once she knows what "stay" means.

Miss Molly

And just for kicks...here's some video of our sweet young lady (and Austin).

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Day 20

I didn't take this first shot today (I took it yesterday, but I'm including it for those who only read my 365). This is the newest member of our family, Molly. She's a sweetheart that we adopted from the local animal shelter. She's great with the kids, has nice manners (except that pesky potty training bit), and she's just been great so far!

Molly

 

Here is today's 365 - it's not one shot, it's 4. But that's because I couldn't get our activity in just one photo. Today was our turn to clean the church, and as you can see, we get everyone involved (except Fancy, who was off at speech/drama meet).

Church cleaning small

Friday, November 14, 2008

Day 19

This is not the topic I intended for today, but the opportunity arose, and I couldn't pass it up. My friend Felice and I noticed that my two kids were awfully quiet this morning...normally when Kristi is quiet she's teaching school. Not a problem...

Today is not a normal day, apparently...

Kristi was bored

This is what I now call a Sharpicure. (Yes, that would be a manicure/pedicure done with a bright red Sharpie!) ARGH! We tried scrubbing, but it had been there too long by the time I discovered it, so nothing came off. ARGH again. But it's just her fingers and toes...a tiny bit on her pants...no big deal. I decided not to get too upset...

Until...

I

saw

Caleb...

Kristi was really bored

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Day 18

Today was just another Thursday in Scrivnerburg. Ken and I (and Kristi and Caleb) had an IEP meeting for Kristi. For those who don't know what that is, it is a meeting of all the people involved in a special needs child's education plan. We set new goals and revise special education programs. Since this is something we do with several of our children, it is a fairly regular part of life in Scrivnerburg, so I thought it would be appropriate for today's 365. (As always, you can click the image to view it larger.)

blog day 18

It must be noted that this entire team had only fabulous things to say about Kristi. She is making great progress, and has far exceeded many of the goals that were set a year ago. Whoohoo, Kristi Rose!!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Day 17

Today is a special day in our family. It's the 44th anniversary of my husband's birth. In case I haven't made it clear, I have the most wonderful husband I could possibly have. He's thoughtful, generous, and affectionate, and he always strives to be the best husband and father he can be. I couldn't ask for a better man to spend my life with. I thank God for bringing us together, and I pray daily that God will fill Ken with joy.

Ken on his birthday

Here's an extra photo - we saw a rainbow today that "followed" us all up and down the valley. It must have been in the sky for close to 3 hours! (But it was a very dark afternoon otherwise.)

Persistent Rainbow

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Day 16 - "After"

Yesterday I showed you my kitchen "before." So today is the "after!"

Kitchen after

Thanks, Heather, for issuing this challenge! Some weeks my kitchen never gets completely finished, so it's nice to have this done! Now, about the bathrooms...

Monday, November 10, 2008

Day 15 - A challenge

Well, today I was issued another challenge. Not strictly a photo challenge... Heather suggested that we take before and after photos of our kitchens and post them on our 365 blogs. The intent was to get our kitchens clean. Hmmm...

So here's my "before"...

kitchen before

And to prove that those two bread machines were doing their jobs...

Fresh bread for blog

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Day 14

I was practicing on my "little girl" today. What happened to the "little" part? It's still cool, wet, and very heavily overcast, so we didn't spend as much time as we wanted to on photos. I need lights so I can take photos indoors!!

Fancy 11-9 pic 4 with border

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Day 13

I went for a very short photo walk this morning, and when I got back and looked at my foggy fall photos, I couldn't decide on which one would be my 365. I'm indecisive, so you get more than one.

I love foggy fall mornings!

foggy fall
The view down the nearest cross street.

 

tree moss
Moss on our maple tree

 

foggy fall 3
A different view down the cross street.  

Friday, November 7, 2008

Day 12

My photos were limited today. It is a dark and rainy day today, so I only took 10 or 12 photos. The first one is one I took for a "fruit" challenge on OPS...

bi-weekly challenge 2

The second one is just for Eric...thanks to your great DIY instructions, I was able to make my own waterproof housing for my CANON camera...

High-tech camera housing

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Day 11

Do I get kicked out of the 365 group if I don't take my photo with a camera? Today's photo was done with my flatbed scanner. Just for kicks.

fall maple leaf scanned

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Day 10

Once upon a time, my mom lived in the bush of Alaska. The real bush - no phones, no running water, an outhouse instead of a toilet...the nearest town was 42 river miles away (which had to be walked in the winter) and the closest neighbors were a five-mile hike away. During the time that Mom spent out there she became friends with a woman that has been like an aunt to me. She and her family were an extended part of my family as I was growing up. As an adult my opportunities to visit with her have been few, but I look forward to each one. Today I had one of those opportunities, so it had to be my 365!

Mom and June

Here is my mom (on the left) and our friend, June. These women taught me so much about what it means to be a true woman of strength.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Day 9

For those of you who haven't read our story, you must understand that this little woman (Kristi) has some disabilities, and at one time had no muscle tone in her legs. They just flopped around like a rag doll's legs would. She has been in physical therapy almost all her life, and she has done amazing things! Today's photo is of my little SuperGirl using her fabulous leg muscles to keep herself steady on the bolster swing...it's a lot harder than you might think!

kristi working hard
(The woman is the photo is our fabulous physical therapist, Holly - known to Kristi as "Good Holly.")

Monday, November 3, 2008

Day 8 - A Sad Day

Aspen edit with border

I did not take this photo today, but I had to share it. This beautiful old lady, Aspen, fell asleep for the final time today. She was much more than "just a dog" to us - she was our guardian, playmate, companion... She will be sorely missed.

Fall carpet 2008 with border

This shot was taken today since the purpose of this 365 blog is to get my camera out every day.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Day 7

I was trying some photos at my church this morning. There is a great spot with big windows and skylights...I think it will work great when the sky isn't so heavy with clouds. The skylights didn't give me quite what I was hoping for with the very dreary conditions outside. Oh well. Here's my 15yo daughter (sitting) and her friend W.

W and Fancy
(ergh...I chopped off her fingers!)

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Day 6

We had our Fall Festival at church today. It was fun, and the kids all had a blast, but boy, was it exhausting!! And our kids came home with soooooo much candy!! We have an entire stock pot full of candy! If we still had some daylight, I'd take a picture of it. It's crazy!

But here's my 365 photo...it's from the festival...and it shows that my sweetie is crazy! (about me!) I asked him to bring me a hot dog, and he did!

My sweetie loves me

(This is technically the worst photo I've posted, but I thought the sentiment was too funny/sweet not to share.)

If you're interested in the rest of my festival photos, they will be on my family blog: What's Up in Scrivnerburg.