Day 31 of 365 Days of Pictures

On the way to the bus this morning we could barely see the end of the street.  Even looking across the street was hard.  I tried to look at the houses on the other side of the golf course behind our house but they couldn't be seen.  It only lasted about 45 minutes before it started clearing up.

The rest of the day was uneventful.  I have come to the realization that we lead a VERY boring life.   I spent the morning setting up an Etsy store to try and sell some bows.  I will give it a month and see how well I do.  If I don't sell anything then I will look into other avenues to sell them.  I am still planning on getting a booth at a local craft fair in March.  I didn't make any bows today.  Tomorrow I plan on resuming my bow making.  Kirsten tried out for softball today.  We won't know if she made the team until Friday because the try-outs are 3 days long.  She missed the first day, but the coach told her today she has a good chance of making the team.  She has only played baseball with the co-ed youth league 1 year and that was 2 years ago.  She would have played last year but we were on vacation during most of the season.  The season for the rec league starts Mid-May and ends the last weekend of June.  We left for our extended vacation on May 20 and came back on June 26.  One of the benefits of Pablo working from home and me not working.

Day 30 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today was day to spend indoors.  It was raining most of the day.  The only time we left the house was to go to Anthony and Kirsten's basketball games.  Luckily again this week they were back to back.  I spent the day finishing the laundry and making more bows.  I am really trying to get the bows made.  I want to sell at a few craft fairs this spring but I have to make a ton of bows.  When I say a ton I mean at least 750 per craft show.  I am thinking of trying one medium size craft fair to see how I do before signing up for more.  The one I want to do is in the middle of March that gives me about a month to get the bows made.  Pablo will be on deployment so I will have to take the kids with me.  Kirsten won't have a problem but Anthony will not like it unless there are other things to do.  As far as Vivian I will just have to find a way to keep her entertained.  I sold my play pen so I need to find one on Craigslist or borrow one for the weekend of the craft fair.  The day ended with me making cookies while the kids took baths and got ready for bed.  Yes I make a lot of sweet things especially cookies because Pablo has to have cookies and milk every night before bed.  I am so glad I have a mixer.  I love my Kitchen-Aid mixer.

Day 29 of 365 Days of Pictures

Well, today I got bored and tired of sitting around the house.  I decided since i haven't let the house for more than a trip to the grocery store it was time to get out.  After thinking of something cheap to do with the kids I decided we would go take a ride on the Saint Charles street car.  I have never taken the kids on the street car before.  We rode the entire route.  It took about an hour.  It was a nice day for the ride.  It wasn't too hot and although it was overcast it was nice out.  I don't think Anthony liked it too much since you just sit there and look at the sights, but I am pretty sure Kirsten liked.  I know Vivian really enjoyed it.  I may do it again during the week with only Vivian since she enjoyed it so much.

Day 28 of 365 Days of Pictures

Nothing new going on today.  I spent the morning at the school talking to the gifted teacher about the curriculum for Kirsten.  She will be picking a country to do research on and then she will have to complete a 25 slide Powerpoint.  I really think Kirsten is going to enjoy it.  She loves learning about different countries.  I am going to have to find a way to incorporate the country she selects into what we do.  Maybe we will cook some food from the country, do some things they do and there are many other things we can do to make this a great learning experience.  The teacher is also going to get the status of her talented application.  Last year Kirsten was recommended for the gifted and talented programs.  These programs are  for kids that are very intelligent/smart and artistic.

This morning we woke up to another beautiful sunrise

Day 27 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today was another great day.  Woke up to Kirsten screaming "Mom, hurry get in here"  I was in the middle of getting Anthony up and ready for school.  The ton in Kirsten's voice sounded like something bad had happened.  Anthony and I run to where she is to find out what happened.  Of course I am trying to figure out what could have happened in the living room overnight.  Then I see her pointing outside to the backyard.  Again I am thinking something horrible has in the back yard.  I look outside and see there is a beautiful bright orange and pink sky as the sun was rising.

Day 26 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today was a very busy day.  Vivian was at Mom's Day Out which gave me a day to do things without kids.  I went grocery shopping and then came home put away groceries then cooked lunch.  I had about 1.5 hours left before it was time to leave and go get all the kids.  We had an orthodontist appointment, basketball practice, come home cook dinner, clean the kitchen then off to another practice.

This picture was taken on the way home from taking the kids to school this morning.  I have been looking at this pond buy the house that has a run-off near the road.  There are always different birds there early in the morning.  This morning there was a different bird.  I haven't seen this bird before.

Day 25 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today was a rainy day which meant no time for any outdoor activities.  I spent the day playing with Vivian.  She wanted to "cook" for me so I spent the day as a "taste" tester of some very delicious plastic food.  She did warn me when she handed me the bowl "careful it's hot".   The rest of the day was spent making bows.  Yesterday I got my new order of ribbon.  I love the place I get my ribbon from.  I placed the order around 10am on Friday and the box was in my mailbox yesterday at 11am.  If you want to know where I buy from it is the Hairbow Center (http://www.hairbowcenter.com/)  It is the cheapest place I can find online.

Yesterday my picture was of a baby fish we found in our fish tank.  Today's picture is one of the parents.

Day 24 of 365 Days of Pictures

Another boring day in our house.  Spent the day cleaning the house and doing more laundry.  I don't know how there is always so much laundry.  I just washed all of the clothes yesterday and today there was another full load.  Then tonight I walk in the laundry room and the basket is full again.  I am not sure how we go through so many clothes especially since the kids wear uniforms to school.

A few days ago Pablo was looking at the fish tank and he found a new fish.  It was so small and it wouldn't stay in the front of the tank long enough for us to figure out which fish laid the egg.  After a few days it has grown enough to be seen and we are able to determine what type of fish it is.  Now we just have to wait and see if there are any more hiding.  So far we haven't seen anymore.

Day 23 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today was another lazy day.   Nothing exciting except the weather was nice enough for the kids to play outside.  The day would have been better if our allergies weren't causing all of us to have sinus congestion and coughs.  The day ended with basketball games.  Some days I am happy to go then there are days that I don't feel like going.  Today was one the I don't feel like going days.  Luckily the games were back to back instead of 2 hours between them like normal.  We are home now, the kids have taken baths and everything is ready for school tomorrow.  Now time to relax and enjoy the remainder of the evening.

This was taken before we left for the basketball games.  Vivian looked so peaceful.

Day 22 of 365 Days of Pictures

Not much going on today.  Just been sitting around the house.  Woke up feeling bad.  I am pretty sure I am getting what ever Vivian has.  She has been coughing and has a runny nose.  I am hoping this passes quickly because the house will fall apart if I am not able to do anything.

On the way home from a quick trip to the store I took this picture.

Day 21 of 365 Days of Pictures

It is time to start getting ready for festival season.  That means time for making bows.  I am finally going to try to sell some bows at craft fairs.  I must get started making them since every thing I read said I need a ton of them.  When I say a ton I mean at least 500 in various sizes.  I have made 4 sizes in the past and I will continue making them.  I will do special orders and I have printed out some simple cards to give to people at the fairs in case they want a special order.  I got out my ribbon and started cutting and sealing to get ready to make some bows.  After all my ribbon was cut and I was able to determine what colors I was still missing I ordered more ribbon.  That should be here in a few days since the place I order from is very fast with orders.  My past two orders have arrived within 2 days of my order.  I placed my order around 10am and at 1:35 I had a tracking number.

Day 20 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today was a very overcast day.  Since I didn't feel like going any where Vivian and I stayed in pajamas all day.  I was really hoping the sun would come out so Vivian and I could go for a walk.  I prefer to walk in warm sunny weather.  I can't wait for spring when the warmer weather returns.  What to take a picture of?  Yes this is the daily million dollar question especially when we don't leave the house.  There is only so much I can take a picture of in the house that I would like to add to this project.  I walked in the backyard to find something.  The only thing I could find were these things that fall off the trees.  I have no idea what they are called but it was an opportunity to see how far I could zoom in on something and get a clear, detailed picture.  I had to use a flash, because without it I just got a dark picture with no detail since there was no sun in sight.

Day 19 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today went by so fast.  I don't know where the time went.  I guess when you are busy time flies by.  The day started with getting Kirsten and Anthony up and off to school.  Normally Wednesday Vivian would go to Mom's day out, but the past few days she hasn't been feeling well and I was going to take her today, but she is coughing up a lot of mucus.  The coughing is causing her to gag and a few times she has thrown up from the gagging.   I would prefer her to stay home when she is like this.  I still had to take her to the center for class pictures.  We spent 30 minutes there then we went to CVS, Wal-Mart and back home.   Next on my to-do list, a doctor visit for me.  I had my annual checkup and my doc said every thing looked good and then handed me a referral for a mammogram.  I knew he was going to since my mom died from breast cancer and I have talked to my doctor about it as well as my concerns about it.  Since my insurance pays for them at any age we decided it was time to get another one.  The first one was 5 years ago.  I came home fed Vivian lunch and put her down for a nap, then called my insurance to verify my coverage for mammograms.  They are covered 100% once a year.  Called the hospital radiology department and made an appointment.  After all that I decided it was time for a treat.  Pablo has to have cookies every night before bed so I  decided to make sugar cookies.  We haven't had them in a long time.  I usually just make chocolate chip cookies, but I wanted something different.

Day 18 of 365 Days of Pictures

Vivian still was not feeling well today.  I don't like it when the kids are sick.  I feel so helpless because there is nothing I can do to make them feel better.  I just have to wait for whatever they have goes away.  Today was such a nice day and I really wanted to get out of the house but I didn't want to get Vivian out of the house.  During her nap I walked around the backyard and was looking around at everything.  I don't like the winter because everything is brown and looks dead.   There are no leaves on the trees, no flowers blooming, all the grass is brown nothing looks alive.  It makes the winter so much more depressing.  As I was looking around I saw something green on the golf course behind our house.  It is the only thing that was green except for the putting green for the 17th hole.

Day 17 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today Vivian woke up not feeling good.  She started coughing yesterday and this morning she woke up with a low grade fever, the cough and a running nose.  She didn't want to take off her pajamas.  We decided it would be a PJ day since she wasn't feeling well.  The only thing that made her happy was blowing bubbles.  She walked around the house doing that all day except for when she took her nap.  She really didn't feel good because her nap was 4.5 hours.  When she woke up her fever was higher and she still only wanted to blow bubbles and color.

Day 16 of 365 Days of Pictures

Woohoo!!!  I have managed to keep this project going for 16 days.  How many more do I have left?  349.  It is hard to take a picture everyday.  Yesterday and today I couldn't think of a thing to take a picture of.  Yesterday that resulted in a trip to the park.  Today, well I didn't even leave the house.  I have been in pajamas all day and sitting on the couch with a bad headache.  Sitting here I was trying to figure out what in the house I can take a picture of.  Of course I thought the kids but in the past 16 days there are 4 pictures of the kids.  I have a lot more of the year left and even though I could take pictures of the kids every day for the rest of the year I remembered why I began this project - to improve my photography skills.  This means taking pictures of the kids is not going to help with this goal.  I was sitting here and thought why not take a picture of the wooden rocking horse I found at a garage sale for $3.  I had been looking for one for a long time and you can not find them in any store and if you do they are not cheap.  I was very happy to find one for Vivian a couple of months ago and she loves it.

Day 15 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today was the nicest and warmest day this week.  The day started by cleaning the kitchen floors.  I just couldn't handle the dirty grout any more.  Then Anthony had a basketball game.  Kirsten didn't have a game because her team had a bye week.  After the game we went to the park for the kids to play around and hopefully use up some energy.  That didn't work.  They were more hyper when we got back home.  While at the park the fountain in the middle of the pond was on and the ducks were swimming around.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a picture.

Day 14 of 365 Days of Pictures

We have been experiencing freezing temperatures at night for a week now.  This is unusual weather for the New Orleans area.  We normally don't get weather this cold.  I think it is funny that every one is looking forward to the warmer weather this weekend.  It has been in around the 40s this week and this weekend it should be in the high 50s.  I wonder what this summer has in store for us.  Now on to my picture.  This morning on the way to school a neighbors fountain was frozen.  This is the reason I now take me camera every where even the short trips to school or the store.

Day 13 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today I had a doctor appointment and after the appointment I took Vivian to the aquarium.  We get there and I reach for my camera only to remember I took the battery out to charge.  I wasn't too mad because we go to the aquarium frequently, but I needed a picture for the day.  Thankfully cell phones now have cameras.  Although I am not very happy with the quality of today's picture it was the best I could do under the circumstances.

Day 12 of 365 Days of Pictures

Tonight while driving to Kirsten's basketball game the sun was setting.  There horizon was full of color.  I am so glad that I now take my camera bag every where.  You ever know when you will find an  opportunity to take a picture.

Day 11 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today we visited the ducks that live on the golf course behind our house.  Their was a lady feeding them so we were able to enjoy them without them running up to us.  On any other day the ducks would have come racing toward us looking for food.   These ducks are not afraid of people and sometimes scare the little kids away because they are so aggressive.

Day 10 of 365 Days of Pictures

It is definitely cold outside.  I was not made for the cold.  I am always cold even when it is hot outside.  With the cold weather comes the urge to make a fire.  Today I have been sitting here watching TV and listening to the fire.  It is so calming.  The crackling noise, the smell and the warmth.

Day 9 of 365 Days of Pictures

Not much happened today.  It was cold and rainy.  The kids had basketball games.  The rest of day we sat at home and did nothing.  The kids let me sleep in today and I was surprised when I came into the living room this morning.  Vivian was laying on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  I was able to get a picture before she got up.

Day 8 of 365 Days of Pictures

Pablo has been hard at work making a cover for the back of his truck.  HE has spent many hours at his friend's shop.  This is not the first cover.  The first one was a big failure.  The cover wasn't sealed properly and started to expand when it rained.  Then they made a new one - this one.  He covered it and then decided the foam material they used wasn't the correct type because when you put anything on top of the cover it left an impression.  They took the material and foam off and tried again.  This is the result.  He is very pleased with the outcome this time.  Hopefully he will not need to redo this one.

Day 7 of 365 Days of Pictures

It is Friday night and Kirsten has been doing homework since she got home from school.  It is days like this that she makes me proud.  Instead of waiting until Sunday night she decided to do her research and write her paper for her Science Fair project.  She got home at 3pm started her homework around 3:30pm it is now 7:50pm and she is still working on the project.  She said she is almost done and then she will have the rest of the weekend to have fun and be a kid.

Day 6 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today I received a new toy.  I have been wanting to move from PC to Mac for a long time, but the cost has always prevented me from transitioning.  After saving and finding a good deal I was finally able to buy a Macbook.  It will be interesting learning the world of Mac after using Windows based computers for over 15 years.  Tonight I have moved all of my docs and stuff to the new laptop.  Tomorrow I will spend the day customizing and making sure I have every thing I need.

Day 5 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today was a day of sewing projects.  Vivian went to Mom's day out so I decided to do a few sewing projects I have been wanting to do but can't with Vivian home.  She loves to watch me do projects but when I am sewing she is constantly trying to get into the needles or push the peddle on the sewing machine.  I think I had a productive day.  I made Vivian another Crayon tote, a set of curtains and a blanket for Vivian.  Here is a picture of the crayont tote and the blanket.

Day 4 of 365 Days of Pictures

What happens when you leave leftover cupcakes from the day before unattended on the kitchen table.  Vivian helps herself to one of course.  What should you expect - a 2 year old no one in the room and cupcakes within reach on the table

Day 3 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today is Anthony's 10th birthday.  I can't believe it has been 10 years.  Time just seems to go by so fast.  I still remember the day he was born.  It was a day full of emotions both good and bad.  I was almost 36 weeks pregnant when my water broke and Anthony was born.  He was 4 weeks 1 day early.  I was so scared when he was born because the labor and delivery was fast and easy.  I thought the worse - that I was going to be going home with out him.  Luckily he was 100% healthy weighing 7lbs 1oz and 19 inches.  I can't imagine how big he would have been at 40 weeks.  I had pre-term labor at 28 weeks and was on bedrest until 35 weeks.  The doctor said this is the reason he was so big at 36 weeks.   He could have possibly gained anoth 1.5-2 pounds if I would have delivered on or around my due date.

Now on to my picture of the day.  Cupcakes for Anthony's birthday

Day 2 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today I got the camera out and Vivian would only let me take a picture of her.  Every time I tried to take a picture of anything except her she would scream "No picture me"  So today's pictures are all of Vivian.  I had numerous pictures to find the one for today.  We had pictures of her looking out the window at the dogs, her coloring, playing with the felt board and of course a crying Vivian.  I picked one of her smiling since this is a rare thing to capture on the camera.  She is a happy child and smiles all the time, but get out the camera and she always has the same look on her face.  She just strares at the camera with no smile.

Day 1 of 365 Days of Pictures

Today I sat around tried to decide what to take a picture of.  This preoject is going to be harder than I thought.  I will need to take a picture of something everyday and sometimes this will require some thought.  I prefer to take pictures when ever the opportunity arises.  This project is going to require me to have my camera with me at all times. 

Today's picture was taken after dinner.  I couldn't think of anything to take a picture of except the kids since we didn't leave the house today.  Now if you know my kids they like to push all of my buttons and after 2 weeks off from school I have no more buttons because the kids have pushed them so much they are broke.  So this picture is how I am winding down tonight after a very long 2 weeks