Yellow. {POTD}

Our front door is red. Bright red. And I am a little bit (okay, maybe a lot bit) funny about colors.

You see, I love pink flowers. And purple flowers. But they aren't in the same warm color family as my red door, so I can't plant them. I'm sure there's a rule somewhere that says so. And if there isn't, there should be...

So I plant flowers that are red, or orange, or sometimes white.

But mostly? I plant flowers that are yellow. They make me happy.

And they don't clash with my red door.

Which makes me happier.

Busy Little Birds {POTD}

Every time we would open our front door over the past week, we noticed birds flying around our porch.

Today, Kevin discovered their little secret in our wreath:

Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes - Recipe

Our friends have an annual St. Patrick's Day party at their home that we so look forward to each year. We write limericks, and bring food, and laugh. A lot.

I like to bring something in the food department that somehow relates to the theme of the party. One year I brought an avocado corn salsa (it's green!), and I've brought a hot reuben dip, and even a Guiness chocolate cheesecake (ah. maze. ing.). This year I stumbled across this little recipe, and it is a real keeper! I made it using mini red potatoes so that they would be bite-sized.

Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes
2 boxes of mini red potatoes
8 slices of bacon, cooked and really crispy for crumbling
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
4 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 cup shredded, sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
8 green onions, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake the potatoes in preheated oven until tender.
When the potatoes are done, remove them from the oven and let them cool for 10 - 15 minutes.
Slice the potatoes in half and scoop the flesh out into a large bowl. SAVE THE SKINS! I like to scoop just about all the potato out since they're so tiny. The skins are a bit fragile, so practice with this a bit.
Cream the insides of the potatoes with the sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 the cheese and 1/2 the green onions. After it is well-mixed, stir in the bacon by hand.
Gently spoon the mixture into the potato skins. And maybe a little bit into your mouth...
Top each with remaining cheese and green onions, and then bake for another 15 minutes.
Try not to eat them all before you get to where you're going! (I double-dog dare you!)

Boys Will be Boys - {Capture the Flag}

My house runneth over with nerf-gun bullets. Every place I look there is bound to be at least one of those bright orange sticks lying around. Not only is Ryan obsessed with them, his sisters gladly join in the nerf wars around the house.

Parents are not safe from being ambushed either. But now the weather is nice outside. And I have moved the nerf wars to the great outdoors.

The boys in the neighborhood are having a great time joining in the nerf madness, and the game has morphed into capture the flag.

Kevin is often commenting that perhaps the kids are old enough to take down the play set (which I am not even remotely ready to accept). Now, thanks to this newest game, I can point to the fact that it is still being regularly used by even the older kids...

Even the most camera shy will allow me to stalk them during capture the flag.

The shouts and laughter as the kids play actively outside fill my heart with gladness! I love that they are having so much fun just being kids.

And I really love that the nerf bullets are now raining down outside for the next few months...

Growing Up {POTD}

We tend to measure our children's growing up by the big milestones: first smile, rolling over, crawling, walking, talking, potty training, etc. But so often the tiny moments in their lives that represent maturing are lost on us.

Today my girls have asked to please have more "grown up" panties. With flowers on them. Or peace signs. Or polka dots. Or days of the week. Or just, gulp, plain.

So while I rejoiced the day(s) that we moved from diapers to big girl pants, today I'm feeling a little sad to leave those days of princesses and care bears behind.

Twenty Tiny Toes

A picture can relay so much information about its subjects. For instance, when I look at these little toes I see:

1. Katy's personality shining through with her choice to paint her toes lots of different colors. In a pattern.
2. Livie's love of order with a single color choice (and her current favorite color is blue).
3. Katy's toes are sticking straight out, with confidence, and she's having a hard time keeping them still (see that one big toe that's in mid-tap?).
4. Livie's little toes look a little shy, curling back and under just the tiniest bit.
5. Katy's feet are shaped a lot like mine (and my mom's, and my sister's, and my maternal grandmother's): kind of wide at the front, and narrow at the heel. But she got lucky with nice toe nails that just beg to be painted (mine are really itty bitty teeny tiny).
6. Livie's feet are shaped a lot like her daddy's (and his mom's): somewhat narrow at the top and more narrow at the heel, and her first 3 toes are all even in height. She also got lucky with those fabulous toe nails!

And this is what I love about photography. That so much information be captured, and preserved, at the touch of a button.

Picture of the Day {POTD} - Project 365

Looking back over my first Project 365 from 2009, I can only feel grateful for Becky Higgins who was with Creating Keepsakes magazine at the time (now she's got her own amazing business!), for introducing the concept to me.

While I was an avid scrapbooker for about eight years, I was always behind. And while I continued to scrap regularly after the birth of my twins, I really just kept getting further behind.

Now, I still love spending time scrapbooking with friends and being creative with paper and adhesive and photos, but I was in desperate need of a way to get a little caught up; a new way to look at my hobby; a way to capture and document those everyday moments that tend to fall through the cracks. Project 365 was my answer: a picture a day for an entire year. Now, I still take WAY more than one picture a day! And I will still make individual scrapbooks for my kids with photos and ideas that are more specific to them, but our family scrapbook will be done like this.

The best part to me? When you pick up your camera every. single. day. for an entire year you become much better at taking pictures, and you start to capture those things that make up your actual life.

And today? On February 22, 2010? We're grilling out for dinner. Yum! So here's my picture of the day, so that I can always remember that tiny little detail:

Loyal Fans?

As the younger sisters of an athlete, the girls have logged lots of hours in gymnasiums "watching" basketball games and practices. Thank goodness for these little game pads that I found in Wal-Mart this year! They love to play the boxes game where you connect the dots and try to make as many boxes as possible, and these pre-printed sheets are wonderful!


They also regularly raid my purse for gum, mints or lollipops. And this is my Picture of the Day (POTD) for my current project 365.



Miss Bella

My mom was very allergic to cats when I was growing up (fortunately this has improved over the years). And my dad did not like cats when I was growing up (still doesn't, for that matter). So I didn't really know how to love a cat.

Kevin grew up with cats in his home. And in his aunt's homes. And at his grandparent's farms. And in his dad's home. And he loves kitties. A lot.

So soon after we became an official couple, we adopted two little kittens who had been born on his grandma's farm. Oreo and Airy soon worked their kitty magic and I became smitten. And eventually they broke our hearts when they crossed the rainbow bridge to kitty heaven.

It took some time until we were ready to invite a new kitten into our home, and into our hearts, but last year we took the plunge. On Valentine's Day. We adopted Midnight (sweet, mushy, lovable boy) and Bella (tiny, skittish, but lovable on her terms little girl).

And it turns out that Miss Bella is my kitty. She looooves me. I am the one she chooses to sit with, and it is my lap she curls into (especially when it is quiet around the house because the kids are at school or in bed). And with a face like that, she has me thoroughly wrapped around her tiny paw.