The new house...

Here are some of the locations of where I want to put some portraits.





Then here are some of the yard...yes, I will probably kill those plants.






The rest of the inside photos will have to wait. Except for this one. It's looking from the dining area back toward the front of the house with the kitchen and breakfast nook.

I ALMOST MISSED IT!

Ack! Today's post just about snuck by me, and I have so much I can write about. :)

I can choose from the new series I've been reading - Twilight saga. But, well, I don't want to ruin it for anyone.

I could choose to write about Birthday season here. But, as we have a strict "try not to share anything too personal" about people other than ME. Yeah, that won't fly either.

I could choose to talk about how busy the business is. But well, I think you've heard about that ad nauseam. FYI, it's not slowed down any at all.

I could choose to talk about how horribly I feel about homeschooling stuff. See, busy season for us means not as much time for devoting to "educating our young." Which, in all honesty is okay. We start June 1st, and school through the summer for this reason. I mean, we've already completed roughly 1 semester already.

But, instead, I can talk about how much I just enjoy packing. Did you catch that sarcasm? Packing. Moving. Inspecting. Repairing. Packing. It's never ending...well, it will end. This time next week I will be busy UNPACKING. If you could see my house you'd think we were months from moving. I've done THAT much. *giggle*

(sigh)

99 things I've done - Lizzy's List

Stealing a fellow blogger's list to see how much I have done of it. :)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity - don't really feel right marking this one, as I always feel like I can give more
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - well content, truly satisfied will come when I can help others in the world without thought to financial obligations
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing - didn't specify that it couldn't be one of the fake walls with safety harnesses at recreation places!
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar - it was YUCKY, one bite.
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book - does the one I did in 3rd grade count?
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

My world is different

I've got this friend, she's an Army wife and a fellow photographer. She's also living in a slightly different world than I am. We've chatted for hours, mainly at night when she lived in Hawaii. She lives in Germany now, and our chatting is much less now due to time zone and my sleeping patterns.

She made a post on her blog recently. She described her life. It's beautiful. It's different than my own, but in a way that brings tears to my eyes. It's the that true, deep down appreciation for the people in our lives who serve in the military. It's the that feeling of being in awe at that one little glimpse into her world.

Go and read her post This is our world

Go on, I'll wait.








What she has not said here are all the little things WE non-military folk take for granted. Things, that well, I never even thought about before. Like, not getting a say so in where you move. Not getting much choice in where you live in some places. Not having options about careers, you can not build a good career when you only live in a place for a few years. You have to deal with your kids making friends, then telling them good-bye. You have to deal with making friends and leaving them. You have to learn how to deal with all aspects of family when your spouse deploys, then you have to learn how to "re-integrate" when they come home. So many little things. Yet, all of it combined makes me want to fully honor our military servicemen and women AND their spouses and children.

I'm glad I have had the chance to be her friend, and to learn from her.

Enginerds in the making

If it weren't bad enough we've corrupted our kids with Monte Python at an early age, drug them over to the dark side of being Trekkies, totally immersed them in Sci-Fi shows like Stargate, and punish them by NOT taking them to Chess club. We had to drag them to see Dh's adviser for his master's degree (aka, mentor and adviser for that thesis).


We ran into him and 4 of his current students. Dr. A was doing the advising thing, and my kids? Oh it was quite interesting to see their reactions. The 4 students were working on their robot project. When it's completed I think Dh is going to take them to see it working completely. I know it's something they'll enjoy too.

Samuel was as close as Dh would let him get. He would move along with the robot, he excitedly ran up to the computer monitors to exclaim over what the robot was seeing, he yelled instructions to the operator (watch out! it's going to run into the wall), and he was entranced. Like, 100% enamored of this robot.


JM, he stood a bit further back, studying intently. He paid close attention to the details and remarked that when the controller told it to turn to the left it listed a little. Or something like that. He was, however, 100% enamored of the circuit board with the timer on it. He was intently gazing at it and following the circuits of it. He asked questions regarding it's use, why they had it out, did it go into the robot, was it really a timer? Here he is watching...he's out of focus because I was taking a photo of Dh and Dr. A.


Katie, well, Katie wasn't too sure about this robot thing that MOVED. This, I've been told, is not the final robot they will use. This is a testing platform to test a specific set of components (or at least that was what I got out of it). I followed it about as well as I follow Dh when he tries to explain what he does.

Right after this photo, the robot moved toward her (she was between it and the door, and the student didn't realize she was a wee bit unsure about it and made it go toward the door to test it out of his sight). As soon as it started moving toward her, she backed up. Then it advanced again, and she turned and ran toward me. I picked her up and she was crying a little (no tears kind of crying), and then she dove into Dh's arms. Where she proceeded to LAUGH.


BTW, just in case you were wondering, Dr. A didn't get that glazed look to his eyes that 95% of people get when Dh starts telling someone what he does and gives just a little too much technical jargon with it. Dr. A is a really smart man. One Dh needs to EMAIL! :) See, Dr. A, I'm trying.

The way we figure it, we have 2 Enginerds in the making and one girl who might not be into robots too much.

Giving the boys some bloggy love..

I really do need to post more photos of the boys and brag about them more, but well, they hardly EVER let me take photos of them anymore. I don't really understand why either.



We were recently at our old college visiting with friends, and looking at the buildings we practically lived in. You know, impressing upon the kids that college is fun but also for studying REALLY hard. It was BEAUTIFUL there with the fall leaves, and sadly my kids had no real idea of how to play in leaves. See, we've only lived in homes with little tiny sticks for trees (young, newly planted ones). We've just not had good "leaves" in our yard to rake and jump in. JM wasn't too sure, and we think he thought himself a little too mature for such childish antics as throwing leaves around. Samuel, on the other hand, really had fun.




*darn it...one of Katie snuck in there...she had to warm up to the idea, but since Samuel was having fun and not one to ever be left out of fun that Samuel is having, she dove right in with gleeful laughter. Sibling peer pressure is a wonderful thing...sometimes.*

Katie fell in love with Tea Parties

We went to visit her friend "Lu-she" this week, and "Lu-she" has a tea set in her room. The girls, who are only about 7.5 months apart in age, both sat down at the table and pretended to pour tea, drink tea, and stir the tea. All without words.



Katie loved it. She loved it so much she went back in there after we had done something else to play tea party AGAIN, but with "Lu-she's bay-bee dah" to which "Lu-she" did not respond so well.


and here's one JUST so you can see her outfit. :) I think it's a little funny how her hand on the standard height railing is above her head.


We're hoping this means that the Dora Star Mountain Ball pit toy thing can go WAAAY down on Katie's Christmas wish list. BTW, if you happen to see a child's play table and chair that looks similar to the one in these photos...please please please let me know. :)

5 months without cable

At the beginning of the year, I told Dh that I thought it was silly we were paying $55 a month for the satellite tv when we hardly watched anything. He agreed, but felt like the kids watched enough, and we weren't sure how much we truly would miss it or not.

In May he told me that I was going to have to be the one to pull the plug on our TV satellite. I did in early June. It was gone that night, which was a tiny bit abrupt for me. LOL Well, we had enough shows on the DVR for another 3 weeks. Then, life was busy traveling. So it wasn't until July that we really noticed that we didn't have it anymore. Since then, we've missed it only a few times. Homerun Derby, Monday Night football, one evening when I would have watched HGTV (watched a movie instead), Presidential election coverage, and that's really it. It's been 5 months. We hardly miss it. Sure it would be nice for the kids to be able to watch shows, but they pull out movies now. The boys play more with toys. They also played more with game systems. Me? I've read more books, and we've watched more DVD series of shows, and a few things we found online.

Adopted is NOT an adjective!

Just wanted to clarify that. Adopted is a verb. It's a PAST tense verb as well. Meaning that it happened in the past and is not happening.

Katie is NOT my adopted daughter. She is my daughter who was adopted. It is something that happened in our past. It is not going on any longer (well, okay, we need to do the re-adoption to get a birth certificate from our state). When you (general you) are introducing, please do not say, "This is Katie their adopted daughter." Or "This is their adopted daughter Katie." Who really cares if she is adopted or not...she is our daughter. Plain and simple.

When asking a question of a group of people, please don't say, "Those of you with adopted kids." Instead, can you please say, "Those of you with kids who were adopted." Or "Those of you who adopted your kids." It's a small thing, and it may seem petty to you. But it's part of the thousand cuts that build up and can really hurt someone.

So, ADOPT is a verb. ADOPTION is a noun. There is not an adjective for adoption, unless of course you want to use BEAUTIFUL. That one, yes, I think that is the best adjective for adoption and our children.

Laughing at myself.

Okay, so I joined this NoBloPoMo and I've been happily posting. I even started labeling all those posts for NoBloPoMo with a NoBloPoMo label...you know, so someone could easily find them if they so desired.

Yes, I probably should have had blond roots.

NoBloPoMo stands for NOVEMBER Blog Posting Month. Um, that NOVEMBER part. Yeah. Someone could click on the archives for NOVEMBER 2008 and find all the posts. No need for that NoBloPoMo label. No indeed.

*blush*

Wish I could claim something profound that allowed that little tidbit to come through, but alas I can not. I do this sort of thing all the time.

The question is, do I go back and remove the evidence or leave it for others to find?

Family Portraits

One of my friends, and an amazing photographer at that, Beth Valentine took our family portraits yesterday. Even more amazing, she had a sneak peek up on her blog last night!

Can I say that she totally rocks. Truly rocks. Not only did she have to deal with my indecisiveness on clothing choices, but she had to pick the location as well. It's a LOT of pressure to be told, "I trust you. I know I'll love them." Trust me on that. Those words make ME sweat bullets when someone says that to me. So, for her, I know it had to be hard. I like the all posed pretty and smiling at the camera kind of shots, I really do. But the visions I had in my head were so different, and more about the relationship of our family.



She did it. She totally put MY visions that I could hardly explain and took them. Most of the session could not be 100% planned because it's not a posed kind of session. She did her "directing" of us, she dealt with our kids being wild after 2 days in the car, going to grown up functions, and such. Katie was not in the best of moods either. Dh and I were "sweating" how it was going to go.


This image, well, it's one I adore. It shows Miss Katie in all her glorious personality. She had us laughing so hard.


I can not wait to see more, and hopefully I can share more later.

BUSY day!

We went to our college to say "have a great retirement" to the director of the Baptist Student ministries this weekend, see some old college friends, and then when that was all done we went to get family portraits made in Nashville!

Phew!

I'm tired. I'm worn out. I have nothing profound to say.

Tomorrow I should have some photos to share!

Reflections on what I learned from our China trip

Prior to even thinking about adoption, I had thought I was beyond all racial reactions in me. I thought that I was "color blind" and only judged people on their character. While that IS true (and after reading some great blogs, I'm learning that being "color blind" isn't quite right either as that denies a lot of WHO a person is). What I had not heard of, nor learned about, nor even seemed to care about is White Privilege. Huh? What in the HECK is that I wondered the first time I ever heard the term. After reading a few more blogs, I slowly began to understand it in my mind.

It's the knowledge that I will fit in when I go somewhere. It's the knowledge that I will be treated fairly in regards to race when I go shopping, or out to eat, or to the movies. It's really so very many things that I take for granted. It's the knowledge that when people SEE me, they know my cultural background and it's considered the "standard" one, the "ideal" one. It's the knowledge that ads are geared to appeal to me. It's the knowledge that television shows are geared to appeal to me. It's the fact that I can take my kids into a store and find toys that fit THEIR ideas of themselves, well okay not Katie and her baby dolls.

See, I understood it intellectually before we adopted. I didn't understand what it meant emotionally. I had not really seen minorities treated badly in front of my own eyes in a long time, or perhaps I was just blind to it? I thought we had mostly moved past this stage.

Then...well, the trip to China happened. Specifically, the LAX airport happened. I was happy and secure in myself all the way through Denver. But it was going to the international terminal at LAX, and going through security. Seeing the TSA belittle the people around us from other countries. Seeing the exasperation and rudeness they displayed with people who didn't speak English and were not white. Then, I experienced stellar treatment when we went through. Why? Is it that we are American and spoke English? Is it that we had our paperwork ready like they had asked? Or was it something related to race? I don't know, but the TSA person was not white.

But I will never EVER forget how it felt to walk up to that China Air (or was it Air China) area and realize that we were the ONLY white people around. That we could not understand what anyone was saying. Where, for the first time, we were ignored when standing at the desk to ask a question. Where, when I smiled in greeting to people, I didn't get the same response back that I do at home. I got curious looks. I got stared at. I was watched. It made me uncomfortable. My heart starting breaking when I realized that THIS is how many people in our country live on a day to day basis. I started looking at the ground so I didn't have to see them staring at me. It hit me then that perhaps so many minorities around me look at the ground for the same reason. It made me want to cry for what Katie would experience growing up in our family and in our country. It opened my eyes to how far we really had to go. I wondered then how I would feel for the next 12 days while in China.

It was shocking to me to NOT hear English first in instructions while in America. I had sort of expected it in China, but not really given it much thought. I had not thought just how isolated I was going to feel in China not being able to speak the language, how out of place I would feel because no matter where I was I would stand out due to my skin color. It made me truly feel uncomfortable about how comfortable I have it here in America. It made me wonder how Katie was going to feel growing up in our home, in our lives, and I wondered...was I doing the right thing?

I felt very guilty for any of the bad thoughts I had previously had, especially in Disney where instructions are given in multiple languages. It's NOT easy to sit and wait to hear your language so you can understand what is being said. It's really not easy to sit through the quiet while the first set is being played, then everyone around you starts talking and you can't quite hear and understand the YOUR language instructions. It was very frustrating. It was very eye-opening.

Since our trip, where I learned exactly how hard it was to not fully understand people who were talking to you, and how difficult it was to order a meal when you couldn't speak with the person, I have looked around me with new eyes. I have tried to respond in ways that I do not hinder someone who might be in the situation of having to cope with not speaking the language. I have read numerous blogs on race issues. I have vowed to give as much support as I can to Katie's feelings about how she looks. We will also talk to her about how when she goes out without us around, people are going to assume she has a different cultural background than what she will have. We'll have to prepare her for people thinking she doesn't speak English when they first see her. We'll have to prepare her for dealing with racism in all forms, something I don't feel totally prepared for as I have never really experienced it. I hope that I can.

By the way, ordering a meal in China with picture menus was one interesting experience. It wasn't hard, but there was no way to order special. Not to mention trying to figure out the money. Basic life skills that I take for granted here. It is NOT easy, and patience and kindness go a VERY long way.

Halloween - FINALLY!

My 3 kids all ready for Halloween.

The Knight who says "Ni!"
Minnie Mouse with a sword, who ended up being Minnie Mouse who says "Ni!"
The Black Knight, with all his arms and legs...and only sometimes another knight who says "Ni!"

Unfortunately I couldn't find a bunny rabbit costume for Katie so she wasn't able to be the Vorpal Bunny.

If you have no idea who those characters are, then...well...you can go search for them. Monte Phython's The Holy Grail. Yes, we have indeed made geeks of our children.

History.

Yes, History was made last night. We elected a minority to be president, and I am very glad I was alive to see it. I'm glad my children will grow up in a country where racial issues are hopefully declining.

Did I vote for him? If you know me, you know the answer. :) We'll leave it at that. I don't want my political views to be front and center on this blog, mainly because who is president does not really change my day to day life. At least not right now. The sun still rises, I still have to feed my kids, homeschool my kids, and clean the house. What does concern me a little more are the Senate and Congressional races. Legislation is made in Congress, especially legislation that pertains to economics. If the Senate and Congress have more than 2/3 majority, then they can pretty much push through any legislation they would like. To me, that is way too much power for one party to have (and I would believe that if the Republicans had the super-majority). There are too many viewpoints and opinions about certain topics for sweeping legislation to just be able to be passed without a thorough look.

What I find appalling, however, is all the talk on Facebook and on blogs from people from both sides. I felt this way after the last 3 presidential elections as well. The gloating from the winning side, the whining and complaining from the losing side. Yes, I remember it from Clinton's 2nd term and I remember it from both of Bush's terms. I see it, and my opinions of people are changed because I feel like their true characters are showing. I don't mind the "I'm happy." or "I'm disappointed." It's the "OH MY GOSH I can't believe this is REAL and America's voice has finally been heard!!!" Or the "I'm so scared about what this means and we're going to just fall apart as a nation now." The "oh it was so unfair!" and stomping of feet (yes, this election and the 3 prior ones...Florida anyone? Bush/Kerry election where people were bemoaning "Shrub's" victory).

Look at the percentages of voters. Look at them. 46% voted for McCain, that's 46% of AMERICANS who feel like their viewpoints are not being represented now. It's not all of America who voted for Obama. I said this exact same thing, except for the percentage and name of Kerry last election. Put yourself in the other's shoes. If your side won...and you didn't vote for Bush, you remember how it felt. If your side lost this time, and you voted for Bush last time (or two), you know how THAT felt. Celebrating or complain quietly...and be respectful of how others are feeling.

Will our lives change, in a fundamental way? Not immediately. Yes, there are changes, but it's going to take Congress, Senate, and the President working together to bring that change. If they make sweeping changes that are 100% on the left side, the liberal side, then those changes are not reflecting what 46% of this country wants. Is that truly fair? Could 46% of the country be totally wrong, or could they have some right things to think about? Think about that.

I don't think politics are all black and white. I believe, truly, that in order for our country to change we are ALL going to need to work together to find solutions that we can all believe in. Both sides are going to have to compromise, and I'm sorry, but I don't see that happening easily at all.

tomorrow...tomorrow I promise to show off my Halloween cuties. Then on to rather boring day to day posts about how my life is going. 2.5 weeks until we move and I've only packed 5 boxes.

I can now complain.

Yes, internets, I'm allowed to complain now. I voted, so I have the right to complain about the people elected. That's my philosophy! If you don't vote, then you don't have the right to complain because you didn't make your voice heard.

We waited 1.5 hours on a crisp fall morning, with sunshine and good natured people all around. I was a wee bit concerned about the people and voting, and how crazy some could be. But everyone was happy, smiling, and chatting...with everyone around them. They smiled at Katie, the kids who were there played together, and I felt a sense of community with these strangers.

I wonder though how it would be if we had to divide into lines for presidential candidates instead of "A-L" and "M-Z" lines. I truly wish the division between the parties wasn't so horrid, and it seems to only get worse and worse. I wish I knew why, and I wish we could fix it. Our country is so incredible, so diverse. I love that we don't all think alike, or want the exact same things. How boring would it be if we all thought the same?

Of course, I wish more people thought like I did, and I hope the people I voted for today all win. But if they don't, I'll move on. I'll still respect those who were voted (at least the office they were voted into). I'll still be friends with those who voted differently than I did. I'll let my kids play with their kids.

I only wish I had had my t-shirt on that says "I'm Blogging This." But as I wasn't the only one taking photos (I just took photos of the kids, not the line), I didn't feel strange pulling out my camera.

The stroller? It was less than useful for corralling Katie.


The boys did GREAT standing in line, only complained every 5 minutes or so. No, really, they were fairly calm (it helped that gameboys came with us).



Did I mention the stroller wasn't very useful for corralling Katie?


The stroller was useful for something:


In honor of ELECTION DAY, and Katie's first time voting, she wore Red, White, and Blue. :) But alas her coat/jacket was pink. At least you can see the hair bow.


The best part though? Katie woke up with a nasty cold.

*sigh*

Week 3 of contaminated household.

Pumpkin Carving Fun

Yes, this will be a photo intensive post. :) Our carving night, in photo essay.

Answers to some possible things - we use the kit and templates for carving. Yes, it's somewhat tedious. No, it's actually VERY easy. The tools make a HUGE difference.

Yes, Katie dug right in. The boys...not so much. The boys took some convincing to stick their hands in pumpkin guts.












I really wonder what Katie's thinking here...








Not a moment's hesitation on Katie's part.



















Katie's pumpkin was the cat, Samuel's was the Pirates logo, and JM's was the Black Pearl.

If you think these are cool, you should have seen the one we did when Dh and I were engaged! It threw bats up on the wall behind the pumpkin and had a moon with a witch in it on the front. It was a very cool pumpkin, but my photo skills could NOT do it justice (I've learned quite a bit since then). :)

Creative Meme

*yeah I know I said I'd post Halloween photos, but I've not gotten them downloaded off the camera yet....shame on me!*

I've been tagged by Nik over at Exceptional Voyage for this creative Meme.

You are supposed to find the 6th folder in your pictures directory and post the 6th photo in it.

So here are the instructions:

* Go to your sixth picture folder then pick your sixth picture.

* Pray that you remember the details.

* Tag 5 others, leave a comment to let them know they've been tagged.

*eh-hmmm* I have 4 hard drives. 3 are dedicated to photos. 1 is the C drive. I'm not sure WHICH picture directory I'm supposed to show you. Then, finding the 6th folder isn't so hard, but the 6th folder typically has sub-folders and not images...so finding the 6th image...yeah...that's the part I'm getting hung up on.

So, here are some of my "6th" images that I did find. :)


Katie - newly home from China, during my first "oh my gosh I have a daughter and I'm not jet-lagged so badly that I can't operate my camera photo session"


Wow - Zoo trip. I believe this was...umm...Samuel's itty bitty...probably around 3? Or 2? I remember it was in the spring. But it was not the zoo trip Feb 2006, so I'm going to say March 2005. YES, that's right. Because I was coughed on quite a bit by a family with really snotty nosed kids who looked like they were feeling terrible, and their father is the one who REALLY coughed, and sneezed, and moaned around me. It was about a week to a week and a half later that I found myself in the ER with a medicated 104 fever and the flu.


July 2005, Hilton Head Island....awwww....


JM at Disney World, May 2005. Wow does he look YOUNG here. *sniff* My baby is growing up on me!


I'm going to tag some dear dear friends....

Tonggumomma - because I know she'll enjoy having a post taken care of! ;)
Cheri - because I always tag her...aren't I sweet?
Kay - because turnabout is fair play, aren't I kind?
Treasure's Mom - because I know she probably has as many photos as I do
Luci's mom - because I think she needs some of this taggy goodness too
Julie - because she doesn't have enough going on already. *giggle...snort*

Joining in the fun...

which means you'll be bored to tears this month here at my blog. I just know it. I also know that I can do 30 days (and what a fun stressed 30 days it will be too). See, I joined the Project 366 challenge and lasted for almost 3 months. BTW, that one is a photo a day taken, edited, and posted to the blog for the year.

Yeah. I was over-ambitious.

30 days? Shucks, I should be able to do that no problem.

Did I mention we MOVE in 3 weeks? I'm in my busiest season yet with the photography. AND we're still homeschooling. Yeah. Easy peasy to do 30 blog posts this month, and NO cheating either. I can't pre-write to post on each day. No can do.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Halloween photos. Yeah, I'm almost always a day late to the parties. ;) But today? Well, today was spent packing 5 boxes and shopping.