Jonah's EB auction

In the coming weeks, you will be hearing more about Jonah's EB auction , since I have something donated to help raise funds....here's a clue:

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~Em

A boy and his cat.

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When I was pregnant with J man, I became a little wary of how well my cats would adjust to him. There was a scary moment for me when my friend, Diana, came over to do my final maternity photo session. She brought her son, Sam, with her, and while we were taking pictures, he suddenly came screaming to his mommy, with two scratches on either side of his face.
Now, Sam is one of the most gentle little children that I have ever known, so I know he wasn't tormenting the cat. Diana thinks he was just giving the kitty a hug, and that freaked the kitty out. The cats are great around big people- in fact, the most social cats many people have ever hung out with. Really, the cats will come to any random person (as long as they are not a child) and snuggle with them. I mean REALLY snuggle. But they just don't like kids.

Needless to say, I was worried that the cats would be territorial with the baby. There was no question that if they got violent around him, they would be given to my parents or another home, but that would be difficult.

My worries were unfounded. This little boy LOVES the cats, and will come up to their sleeping spots, put his head down right on top of them, thumb in mouth, and "sleep" with the kitties. And he plays with them, and they play back. Usually. They will still run away if he gets too loud, but I'm perfectly happy with that.
They are good buds, and that's more than I could have ever hoped for!

~Em

Photo Challenge #49

This week's challenge was to find faces/expressions in inanimate objects.
To see the guidelines of the challenge, to enter, or to browse other entries, please click here.

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I had a lot of fun with this challenge, but now I'm seeing faces everywhere!!!
Comments are more than welcome :) Have a great day!

~Em

Weekly Photo Challange #48

The Challenge:

Do a Photo Demo

Rules:

1.) Feel free to demo any normal thing that you do throughout your day, or if your adventurous you can do an activity for the sole purpose of using it for this challenge. (Hint for those of us with children: if this seems a bit overwhelming just capture something you do with your kid..or for your kids.)

2.) Please try to limit the images to no more than 10.

3.) Tweaking is fine if you'd like to display the images differently.

4.) Have fun!


How to take a weekend vacation:

pack well.

leave on time.
(or a minute late)

stop for gas.

watch the landscape slide by.

make sure the one-year-old is happy.
ridiculously happy.

pay toll.

work on crossword puzzles together.

enter the hotel.

find your way to the room.

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follow ridiculously happy one-year-old down hallway.

enjoy the quaint features of the room.

watch the traffic outside the window.

walk into the waterpark.

play with daddy in water.

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to see the other entries of this weeks challenge, click here.


Have a great week, everyone!

~Em

A Simple Portrait of my Little Brother, Josh.

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The title says it all.

Sometimes Pooh is better than None.

I had a short photo shoot at my house (short as in 3 minutes)So I had to make sure that the settings were right on my camera and the lighting was good and all that fun stuff. Problem was, I had no model. So I had to be a little creative.

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But really, some Pooh is better than none.

Lashes

Please, oh PLEASE do not get sick of pictures of my baby boy. I sometimes am at a loss as to what to take pictures of, and he really is the center of my day/world right now, so it is SO much easier to get him on camera than anything or anyone else.

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Mall time!

An many of my close friends know, I mall walk. Yeah, I know, I'm like 80 years old at heart, but I actually like to meet up with my other mommy friends. We walk laps, and talk mom talk, among other things. We are sometimes called the "Buggy Brigade". Today we even had a random person doing play-by- plays as we were walking through the mall (3 strollers wide), as if it were a neck-and-neck race. I lost.Pretty funny stuff.
Recently, I went to the mall by myself (gasp!) along with J man, and did a bit of a photo shoot there. I thought it would be a stellar idea, since there is so much natural light in there, and a little different surroundings for the little guy (and warmer than outside). Well, he didn't really like it much, and really, only a couple of shots turned out. But, I need to catch up with my Project 365, so here is one of them.

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Those blue eyes get me all the time. Gotta love this little guy!

Em

Frost Spikes on Pine Needles

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Sadie.

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Contemplating Life.

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Minimalist #3

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To see the other entries for this weeks photo challenge, please click here.
Thanks for stopping by!

Em

Minimalist #2

My second entry for this weeks photo challenge:

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Rules:
Minimalism

No rules, just do your thing and tweak if you'd like! And post as many or few photos as you'd like!

Minimalist #1

This week's challenge is to take minimalist photographs. Here is my first of the series:

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This is three pictures of parts of a painting that is hanging up in my kitchen- the red is the wall.

Taking Notes

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My green-eyed little one.

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"I'm going to GET YOU!!!!"

My Little guy loves to play, and this series was taken while I was chasing him around the house- hence the really, really happy look on his face. Generally he doesn't smile a whole lot for the camera- since he likes to point at it and say "dah?" I try to distract him while taking his pictures, so I get a more natural smile :) that, and I like to play, too!

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Photo Challenge # 46

This week's challenge is:

a Self-portrait featuring a physical attribute that you find endearing or beautiful about yourself- something that you feel makes you uniquely "you".
Submit one photo.
This photo can be color or black and white.
Go ahead and "tweak" it if you feel like it!

To see this week's entries, click here!

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My physical attribute that I find endearing about myself: my super-pale (some may even call it pasty) skin.
Give me a break, though. It is the middle of winter in the upper midwest, and I come from some pale-skinned lineage. But really, I do like the fact that my skin is so white, since I like to wear black a lot :)


Any feedback is welcome, thanks for looking!

Em

Beautiful Bri

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After midnight.

This is another shot of the outdoors after midnight, so technically it is a photo for today :)
This was shot out of my bathroom window through one of the small areas where there wasn't any moisture built up on the window. You see, we don't have a fan for the shower, so ALL the moisture just sticks to everything in there for a really long time, even with the door wide open.
Anyway, this is 8 of 365:



Em

let it snow, let it snow......

LET IT SNOW!

Today we have been enjoying the sheer beauty of the midwest winter in the fury of a true snowstorm.
So far we have at least 10 inches of snow, and right now it's beginning to blow, so chances are there will be a big drift against our back door in the morning. Goody.
It is weather like this that makes me REALLY glad that we have a Jeep. I got to drive around on the nearly deserted streets of my town today, very slowly, of course, even though I have 4 wheel drive. I traversed through snowdrifts into ghosts of county parks, looking for the perfect places to take pictures at, since the snow was sticking perfectly to every tree branch. I found several pristine locations, and got some great shots, all without leaving the vehicle. And the little J man slept snugly and happily from his now forward-facing carseat. (note: I gotta get a picture of that to share with you, too.)
I had way too many to choose from, but here is my decision for the entry for today. Number 7 of 365.

Before midnight

Something I found in my bedroom that I could take a picture of.
good night!

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Em

at 3:23 today, it was.....

2922 days.


70,120 hours.


4,207,200 minutes.


252,432,000 seconds.*

Since we said "I do."

* in other words, 8 years.




And this is how we celebrated:

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and boy, was it GOOD.

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12
I love you SO very much, Jonathan. Happy anniversary!

Em

Good Morning, Daddy!

It is no wonder why little J man really likes it when Daddy wakes up for the day...

Wouldn't you be this happy?

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I'm pretty sure I would be this happy. In fact, I know I am this happy.
Good Morning, Daddy!