i waited 2 weeks.

it was worth the wait. 

i’ll share more over the next week or so.

hope your day brought some surprises too.

xo

A

hasselblad 500 cm, kodak ektar 100.

always knows how to make me laugh.

the other day,

i was trying to get everyone out of the house for a lunch out.

the girls were all upstairs

taking too long,

of course.

B came over to me,

and whispered in my ear,

“let’s leave without the sisters.”

they’re not individuals,

rather they’re a collective group to him.

“the sisters.”

i love him and his sense of humor.

have a great weekend.

share a laugh with a friend

and make your

friday funny too.

xo

A

First, breakfast in bed.  Incredible.  And delicious.

And then?

A whole DAY of NO plans.  No sports.  No birthday parties.  No playdates.  Nothing.  Nada.  No how.

What to do?

What to do?

After a little research, we decided to take the kids to a Flying Circus ~ of the old airplane variety.

It was a drive of a little over an hour, but Virginia is beautiful (it’s for Lovers, have you heard?), and a drive in the country with some lazy fun afterwards sounded just great.

We arrived though and were dismayed to find the sign:

“Air Show Canceled Due to High Winds.”

Change of plans and FAST was necessary.

The whines were starting (“Are we there yet?” “I’m hungry.” “My bottom hurts.”).

Good times.

Thanks to my handy-dandy iPhone though, I was quickly able to locate all kinds of fun within a 1/2 hour radius.  But only one thing caught my eye:

WooHoo!  It’s Mother’s Day!!

The rest of the day we had fun.  Or at least I did.  Which is most important on MOTHER’S DAY!

My crew.

K-Lo came.  She cracks me up.

B skipped stones into the lake pond.

Love his little hand on dad’s back for support.

There was a large chess board.

Unfortunately, two former members of the Oakton Chess Club battled it out on where to put the king.

I enjoyed this:

And these little people:

This one is a little like me in some ways:

I had a grand time.  And it only took about 70 shots to get a picture of my kids and I looking at least 1/2 way decent.

A little history about the Old House Vineyards.

On Mother’s Day 1998, the Kearney Family found the 75 acres and abandoned farm house at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  They restored the 1800′s farmhouse and the formerly overgrown alfalfa fields are now a vineyards, producing six different grape varietals.

I loved this place.  Lots of character.  Beautiful setting.

And the Wicked Bottom red is really quite good.

May all your wishes come true today.

xo

A

Christmas would be here, and they would celebrate Jesus’ birth.

And, Santa would come,

delivering presents

and returning the elves to the North Pole.

The little boy didn’t understand.

Why couldn’t the elves stay?

Mommy explained that the elves needed to return to the North Pole to start making toys for next year’s Christmas.

With tears in his eyes, the little boy said, “I don’t want any more toys.  I want my elf.”

Merry Christmas dear readers.

May you have love in your heart and in your soul.

Peace,

Aileen

So, the snow.  It came down.  And down.  And then came down some more.

My kids loved it.  Truth be told, so did I.  I love being inside with the snow blowing around outside.  I like cozy and warmth and hot drinks.  My husband, not so much.  He shoveled.  And shoveled again.  And then shoveled some more.  Tomorrow?  More shoveling.

But, the kids?  Oh, how they played.

And sampled.

And played some more.

The snow is beautiful.

And it’s still coming down.

And then it was time to come in.

And they were sad.

Oh well.

I’m thinking the snow may be here for a day or two… or ten.

Smiles,

A

{bottom row. 4th from the left.}

He was excited.

And then the candy came out.

He ate it all in one sitting.  Chewing one bite after another.  Who chews a candy cane?  Anyone?  Not me.

So, in between getting my kids dressed to go in the snow, getting them undressed from being in the snow, dressing them back up, and then undressing them, and then dressing them to go out yet again, well, you get the point, in between that, I’ve been figuring out my cataloging in Lightroom and trying to become a bit more organized.  For you non-photographers, that just means I’ve been playing with my photos.  Something new, eh?

As a result, I found I have some catching up to do around this here blog.

Last week, my little guy turned 3.

He was surprised with many “Diego” items.  He loves Diego.  Unless you have a 3 or 4 year old, you may not know who Diego is.  He is the boy-counterpart to Dora.  Well of course.  Still don’t know what I’m talking about?  Oh well, your loss.

Al rescate, “to the rescue”!  The favorite item was his very own “Rescue Pack,” the exact replica of Diego’s.  I filled it with a Diego telescope, a Diego watch, a Diego flashlight, a stuffed baby jaguar (Diego’s sidekick), a Diego book fashioned as “Click” the famous camera that helps Diego (and it actually makes the shutter-click sound!), and a Diego phone.

This Diego phone actually says his name.  Oh my gosh, the thrill this brought to his little face.  “Hola Brendan.” “Brendan, you’re my friend.”  Precious.

This is him hugging to pieces his little stuffed Diego and the baby jaguar.

We also got him a couple DS games.  He doesn’t have a DS (come on, he’s only 3!), but all his sisters do, and he loves to play around with it.  So, of course, we got him a Diego DS game.  This is his sister trying to help teach him how to play.  A calm moment rarely seen on film, or in person for that matter.

And then he was off ~ crown on head, Rescue Pack on his back, and a big smile on his little 3 year old face.

Gosh I love that kid.

Speaking of kids I love, after B’s birthday I took my youngest daughter K to see the Nutcracker.  Just she and I.  So rarely do the daughters get one-on-one time unfortunately (of course, the little guy has me all day).  K was pleased as punch to have a “date” with me.  We went shopping earlier in the day to choose her outfit and her new shoes (heels!).  Isn’t she precious here?  This is our “little” tree (we have two trees).

I caught her sneaking a peek at some of the ornaments.

And I have to include this, well, just because.  The little guy became quite smitten with K’s dress-up winter coat.  The night before, B wore the coat for about an hour after his bath and then he wanted to sleep in it.  He loved the glamor of the coat, the red, the length, the fur, well, darn near everything about it.  When he saw the coat come out of the closet for my date with K, well, he just couldn’t help himself and put it on again.

What is so incredibly funny about this is that once he knew the coat was available to put on, he ran upstairs to get his sister’s red fleece slippers to match.  Yep, he is growing up with girls.

{Note the sports pjs though.  Note the sports pjs.}

{Just sayin’.}

Until next time, which will probably be later tonight,

A

So, to give myself a bit of a break, I decided to work on my blog.  Not that I consider it work.  This, I enjoy.  Playing with my photos, writing words, telling the stories.  It’s relaxing, it’s where I process, it’s bringing everything full circle.

Last weekend, we finally got around to celebrating my oldest daughter’s tenth birthday.  She and one of her great friends decided to celebrate their birthdays together by having some of their closest friends (and their own siblings) join them in a recording studio where they would learn a track, play instruments and sing, record it, and take home a CD of their song.  It was so much fun, and what a great concept for a birthday party.  If you’re in our area, make sure to check out Bach2Rock.  All the girls had a blast.  Initially, they planned to do Jet’s “Are You Going To Be My Girl?”  But, the riffs proved too difficult for even the instructors in the short time available.  We moved on to the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.”

What follows are some shots of my kids enjoying the instruments.  Following this night, Christmas lists were revised, from DSi to bass guitar.  From clothes to an amp.  For the little guy, from a blue scooter to a full set of drums.

Here are my two oldest.  What a pair.  Number one on bass.  Number two on lead.

Number three on keys (in the middle) (with number four looking on).

And there he is, number four, on drums.

He was a natural.

And he enjoyed them just “a little.”

Oh, wait…there’s a big pedal down here!  Hello loud noise.

This one has eleven…

Overall, a great time was had by all.

Hmm, maybe college education CAN be financed with an all sibling band?  What do you think?  The Osmonds.  The Jacksons.  The Reillys.

I may be on to something.

Or not.

So out we went.  In pjs.  And got wet.  And jumped in puddles.

It was a great day.

But he has found a pal in Little Miss A.  She batted her long eyelashes at him, and he was hooked.

The two of them, B and A, go together like A and B in the ABC’s.  If one is around, the other is nearby.  They love to laugh together.

They love to play amongst the front porch posts.

When something goes wrong and something needs to be fixed, Little Miss A calls her Mr. Fix-It Man, my dear B.  He is happy to oblige.

While he fixes, Little Miss A stands by patiently and waits.

She had him at “hello.”