Project 52 {20}

My favorite thing about you:

How much you crack me up!

Oh, lots of stuff... 

Yeah, seriously?  My kids are hilarious!  When they're not driving me nuts, they're cracking me up.  The things that come out of their mouths, the way they react to things... they're funny.  

Last night we were riding in the car and Kale has truly figured out every last one of Haley's buttons to push, and he was pushing each one with such adept little brother-ness over her it was all Jeff and I could do to keep a straight face.  I wish I could tell you exactly what the words were coming out of his mouth, but you kind of had to be there.  Suffice, it was awesome to witness.  His favorite one recently is "I AM?!"  you could tell him he was going to the moon or just that he's great and that's his reaction coupled with one of the faces above.  Or, we get "HU-WHAT?!" as his incredulous response, also with a face above, chosen at his discretion.  They're just fun (most days) and if you can't use your kids as portable entertainment, then why have them?!  

We took all of these pictures in a matter of maybe 3 minutes (since that's how long a session lasts with them these days).  And I even edited a bunch out.  I've been thinking that I need to cut back on my shooting, maybe not hold the shutter quite as long, but these faces, all of them, totally negate that idea.  I would have missed out on so much. Also, yes I realized there's a duplicate above (JEFF!), but I was editing at 12:00 at night.  I just can't think clearly.  My bad.  

Want to check out some other super great Project 52 eye candy?

 . Styleberry . Wicked Kate . Adventures in Mommyhood .  Lucas & Mahina . Heather Marie Portraits . Something Insightful .  

Can I link you too?  Leave me a comment.

Project 52 {19}

My Favorite thing about you:

Your need for exploration.

f/2.8 1/4000 ISO-100

You love to be an explorer, we've equipped you with much independence and a (very) healthy sense of curiosity.  Or at least I like to believe it's us, though it's probably more a combination of your age and the fact that you're a boy.  It's hard not to compare you to your sister, but at her age, and still, her hovering radius was and is, much smaller, she likes to be close.  Yours is HUGE.  Like, give-me-a-heart-attack-if-I-turn-for-one-second, huge.  Wide open spaces and holding your hand are my BFFs right now.  Crowds and parking lots are not (especially because you listen like a 3 year old <>).    

This day we took a exploratory trip to the park (to get mail).  Your sister convinced you You needed to have your backpack, a ruler and a yard stick.  Now, I'd like to tell you that I'd planned an educational experience where we measured things, and made observations, learned things, but in reality (if that's what you want to call it), they were your swords to fend off the bad guys.  You know the boundaries at the park, yet push them every chance you get.  You go down the hill, just out of my line of sight, you try to go in front of the mail boxes, and off to each far corner.  You know there's a climbing toy there right?  Just checking.

Kale loves to figure things out.  I get it, again, it's like I'm raising him or something, he's like me.  It won't be learned or absorbed if we don't do/find/observe/figure it out ourselves.  We question things.  A lot.  Right now he's exploring his world in a very physical sense.  It's a very age appropriate thing.  That doesn't make it easy.  Why can't they wait till they're like 25 and can at least fend for themselves before they go out and start pushing the limits of my safety bubble?  What?  It might drive me bonkers to have a 20 year old all up in my business?  All.  The.  Time.  Fine.  Fifteen.  I'm sure he'll be ready by then.  For now, I'm stretching myself to give him the (safe) room to explore his little world.  Before I know it, it'll be a great big world for him, and I hope he keeps exploring it.  I also hope he drags his mom with every once in a while.  

Want to check out some other super great Project 52 eye candy?

 . Styleberry . Wicked Kate . Adventures in Mommyhood .  Lucas & Mahina . Heather Marie Portraits . Something Insightful .  

Can I link you too?  Leave me a comment.

Project 52 {18}

My favorite thing about you:

Is that you're a girl.

f/1.8 1/250 ISO-200

When we first found out we were having a girl, the first thing I asked the ultrasound tech was "Like what percentage are you talking?"  I was certain that I was pregnant with a boy.  He told me "Like 97%."  "Okay."  I was over the moon excited.  I can be a girly girl - I love getting my hair done, my nails, shopping, all things chalked into the "girl" category.

But I love how Haley is a girl.  She's a running, swimming, tumbling, artistic, holds nothing back against her brother, dress loving, girl.  She's defining how she wants to be a girl, and some days that means making a mess in the sand in the back yard and other days it means going to the nail salon for mani/pedi's.  I'll admit that when I found out I was having a girl, I was excited about doing those things with her, picking out prom dresses, and planning a wedding someday.  But my job as the mom of a girl is to show her how to be strong, healthy, intelligent, able, and sure of herself.  The same things I'm responsible for with my son.  

Yes, the blog has been a little girl heavy lately, but that's just because she's the one more willing to sit still for the camera.  It ebbs and flows around here.  

Want to check out some other super great Project 52 eye candy?

 . Styleberry . Wicked Kate . Adventures in Mommyhood .  Lucas & Mahina . Heather Marie Portraits . Something Insightful .  

Can I link you too?  Leave me a comment.

Project 52 {17}

My favorite thing about you is:

You hair.

f/1.8 1/80 ISO-640

I love that you have long hair and you let me do it (most days anyway).  Long hair is just you.  We braid it, it goes up in ponytails, "Peek A Boo, I Love You" (pigtail buns), a half ponytail and about a hundred other ways.  I love all of our options.  I love that every outfit has a matching set of curly cue Gymboree clips.  But we've been lazy lately, gone are the days of pigtails every. single. day.  These are the days of "Do it yourself" headbands, and brushing it yourself as well.  I love that you are capable of brushing your hair yourself, but I'm sad that you look and act more like a big girl and less like a little girl (in this respect).  

This week my dad sent me a great picture of me and my sister from when I was (maybe) 7, so 1988(ish).  Great hair, huh?  I remember how much I loved my mom doing my hair (looking back, perhaps I should have taken the reigns a bit earlier).  To this day, having someone play with my hair, is the best feeling in the world.  Not long after this picture we cut my hair into a short Dorothy Hamill style (so short, I was constantly mistaken for a boy).  Obviously it was a long period of poor choices in haircuts.  My sister never seemed to love it quite as much, and who can blame her, my mom was famous for braids that were tight enough to give a face lift to a 6 year old.  I remember the day my mom decided to cut my sister's hair - she argued with my dad that if he wanted it to be long, then he should be the one to take care of it.  They cut around 18" off (still sits in an envelope in a filing cabinet somewhere).  Perhaps it's appropriate to note here also, that my mom's favorite hair color was always red, not auburn, R.E.D. Like a fire truck.  To this day, I don't know how, she totally pulled the color off.  Personality, I suspect.

But I digress,  I hope that someday when Haley looks back a pictures of herself she remembers the time we spent together brushing, and styling her hair.  Girls club doing what we could to pull the hair out of her face so that her beautiful eyes could shine without obstruction and that it stayed out of the way while she was trying to learn.  And I pray that her hair is classic enough that she never has to live with a picture like this up on facebook (or whatever the deal will be when she's 30), but if she does, I hope she's able to own it with a sense of humility and self deprecation, like her mother.  

Want to check out some other super great Project 52 eye candy?

 . Styleberry . Wicked Kate . Adventures in Mommyhood .  Lucas & Mahina . Heather Marie Portraits . Something Insightful .  

Can I link you too?  Leave me a comment.

Project 52 {16}

My favorite thing about you is:

Your helpful heart.

f/1.8 1/250 ISO-400

This week has been a practice in asking for help, saying yes when it's offered.  And I need it.  Help cleaning the carpets, cleaning the house, organizing the house, keeping the house clean, getting a garage sale ready, a place to hold said garage sale, someone to take the kids here and there, with laundry, with dishes, with an ear.  I'm not sick, or hurt, just the most overwhelmed with things I've ever been in my life.  We've moved before, sure, but I've never done it with two preschoolers mostly by myself.  It's a chance to prove to myself how resilient I am, how strong I am, and to truly rise to the challenge.  And little things like the kids' willingness to put their socks away, is one less task off my plate, and for that I'm thankful. 

This week we had the where with all to bring Jeff's mom out "for her birthday" (don't feel too bad, we did get her a great present).  This week she helped me with the kids, took on two back to back leader days (talk about exhausting), helped me get the house ready for pictures, set up with the garage sale, and so much more.  Without her and some really great friends, I couldn't be doing this - there's a white padded room reserved for me, just waiting, and without my incredible support system, I'm certain that's where I'd be right now.  This coming week is looking better, more manageable, and I'm ready to tackle it, one day at a time, with my little helpers.

Want to check out some other super great Project 52 eye candy?

 . Styleberry . Wicked Kate . Adventures in Mommyhood .  Lucas & Mahina . Heather Marie Portraits . Something Insightful .  

Can I link you too?  Leave me a comment.

Project 52 {15}

My favorite thing about you is:

Your adaptability.  

f/2.8 1/60 ISO-3200 (full disclosure:  Used the flash and shot auto)

We're in the full throws up a life upheaval.  Sounds more dramatic than it is, we're getting ready to put our house on the market and move.  We've done a lot of talking with the kids about the move, and a lot of prepping of the house (the only house they've ever really known).  They roll with the punches so well.  Including this weeks big one, right to Haley's gut:  Her room had to be painted back to boring beige from powder pink.  We did this late in the evening and with the fumes we just didn't feel comfortable letting her sleep in there, so she and Kale had a sleep over.  They just zonked right out.  Then the next morning begged to have a sleep over every night.  Little do they know that Grandma is going to be at the airport tomorrow, and they'll get to have about a week of sleep overs.  

This adaptability is something that I pray they hold on tight to.  Life throws so many curves at you that to be able to just accept the situation and figure out the best way to deal with it or change it can completely alter how you live it.  You can either complain, or figure out how to fix it.  Mope around about the change, or look to the bright side:  make lemonade from the lemons.  You may not be able to control each aspect of your life, but you are able to control how you react and your outlook.  Make the choice to make the best of each and every situation.  Mope for a minute, then find the best part of the situation and focus on that.  There's always a bright side, find it grasp hold, and roll with it.

Want to check out some other super great Project 52 eye candy?

 . Styleberry . Wicked Kate . Adventures in Mommyhood .  Lucas & Mahina . Heather Marie Portraits . Something Insightful .  

Can I link you too?  Leave me a comment.

Project 52 {14}

My favorite thing about you is:

Your amazing imagination

f/2.8 1/250 ISO-4000

When we wake up in the morning I never know what's going to end up in my bed... lots of days lately it's been a Kale kitty and his owner.  Sometimes I get a little mama, and her baby or husband.  And throughout the day we have many kinds of family scenarios, lots of princesses, kids who run marathon laps around the house, professional painters, rock stars, police officers (who ride motorcycles), cowboys, and the list could go on for days.  

I love the different personalities and personas you act out (and not just because it occupies you with little assistance from me).  You're figuring out the world through your dramatic play, an incredibly vital part of growing up.  What's especially fantastic about this is that you rope Kale in every chance you get, you're teaching him to be a part of these things much earlier than you were, and that's going to serve him well in life.  You have no idea the many, many things you're teaching him through this.  I know one day these will quit, but for now, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you're successful at every. single. thing. you pretend.  You have the supplies to be a painter, the shoes to be a marathoner, bicycles for motorcycles, instruments for rock stars, costumes for everything.  I'm thankful I get to be around to see what you come up with - we're never bored, that's for sure. 

Last weekend we went to a fair and they had face painting.  There were lots of options, butterfly, ninja turtle, robot, fairy, pretty much anything, and for an entire afternoon (until nap), we hung out with a beautiful princess and her knight, they even got to ride their horses.  

Want to check out some other super great Project 52 eye candy?

 . Styleberry . Wicked Kate . Adventures in Mommyhood .  Lucas & Mahina . Heather Marie Portraits . Something Insightful .  

Can I link you too?  Leave me a comment.