Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Not Great In '08

This past March my family realized that we have had some not so great things happen in 2008.

  • Aunt T. found out that she has cancer, however she has gone through lots of treatment and is now in remission. 
  • My Mothers Aunt M. A. fell and broke her hip.
  • Aunt M. got frozen shoulder after first snow storm in Jan.
  • My mother also hurt her shoulder.
  • As did I.
  • Aunt S. had her first cataract surgery
  • Aunt P. died and was brought back (cardiac arrest)
  • Aunt M. had issues with gallbladder.
  • Aunt M. panicked in the MRI machine when pictures were being taken of shoulder.
  • Aunt M. A. got hip fixed but now refuses to walk
  • Uncle W. tripped over the dog and has a black eye
  • Tansy fell off a horse and broke her arm
  • Aunt S. had her second cataract surgery
  • Grandma was waving at an old guy down the hall of her facility and tripped over her cane and bruised her arm, but nothing was broken.
This is what Aunt M. had to say about all of this,

"Let that be a lesson to you....
walking and flirting with old men when you are 83 years old will just land you on your face!!!
shoveling snow is for youngsters to do!
don't read too much...it ruins your eyes!
if you die...come back
keep the sludge out of your gallbladder
don't go in the MRI machine if you have claustrophobia.
if you teach your dog to lie down make sure he knows to put up traffic cones
stay off of horses especially if everyone else in the family has had some bad luck"

Since March these are some more things that have happened.

  • David was getting Jacob out of his crib and dropped him on his head.  He had a cat scan done.  They were going to make him sleep through it.  However I nursed him to sleep and asked if we could try with out the sleeping medication.  We tried, he woke up, but I got up on the table, laid on top of him, held his head straight and sang a song trying to keep the tears back.
  • David cut his hand really bad with scissors
  • Jacob fell off the couch and busted his lip
  • David had his tonsils removed
  • We went to the mall, loaded the kids in the car and forgot to load up the junky stroller, and some really cute red shoes that were with the stroller. Went back to get them and they were gone!
  • Emma had to face going to ALL day school.
  • Emma has had run in's with kids at school.
  • We had ants bite our children like crazy
  • Abby wrapped a rubber band around her finger and it was on their for at least 2 1/2 hours, her finger was a deep purple color.
  • Emma got a thorn in her head
  • Jacob gets burned with hot water
  • Emma has been getting strange headaches 
  • Jacob fell off of a tall chair, on his head again
  • Pa's Grandmother passed away
  • We went on an unplanned road trip got stuck in a K-Mart parking lot many miles away from home for a couple of hours
  • On the same road trip it felt like something was wrong with the alignment, turned out our tire was bubbled, it could have popped
  • A family member is going through a very ugly divorce
  • Pa's mother found out that she has to deal with health issues, including cancer.
Yes, there were some difficult times this year, even things that I wouldn't want to relive, or wish that family members would have to relive.  However, everything that is listed above, they are getting better, I am thankful for that.

I am thankful for family and friends.  I think that is the only thing that is keeping us here in AZ.  If it wasn't for Ya'll then we probably would have moved to PA when Pa graduated years ago.  I am also so grateful that I have a family with such a good sense of humor, it helps when things are not so great. Thank you for being so good to us. -Ma

Monday, December 29, 2008

I Lost Another Tooth!!!

Emma has been holding on to this tooth for weeks and weeks and weeks.  Telling us about how it hurts when she bites into things, or how she can make the tooth go sideways.  Then finally on December 22nd she wiggled it just enough and the tooth came out!

Then she remembered that the tooth fairy comes and her little mind started to think, and think and think.  So she decided that she needed to write the tooth fairy a letter.  This is how it went.

Dear Tooth Fairy,
Where do you live?
Love, Emma

The letter was put under her pillow along with the tooth, shortly there after the letter was ripped into pieces by a younger, less understanding little sister.

Emma did not know this happened because she got sick before going to bed that night and didn't care much about anything except having her puke bucket close by.

However, the Tooth Fairy knows ALL.  So she wrote a tender letter back to Emma.  This is what she wrote.

Dear Emma,
I am so proud of you!  you lost your second tooth.  You are getting so big.
Thank you for your letter.  So, you want to know where I live?  I live 
with all the other fairies, all around  you. We watch over you.
I love to see you smile and laugh with your brothers and sister.  It is so 
great that you have a good family.
I can't wait to visit you again when you are dreaming and you lose 
another tooth.
I Love You Emma!
Love The Tooth Fairy

Emma also received  a cute fairy duck and a One Million Fairy Dollar Bill.  Very cute stuff that came from Grandma, don't know where she got them but they are loved.  Thank you Grandma. -Ma

More New Photos

More photos from the photo shoot at Goldfield in Apache Junction. Thank you for all the great feedback! I created the borders with onOne PhotoFrame 3 plug-in for Photoshop. I saved these as 24bit PNG's to preserve the transparency for the web. Shot originally RAW+Jpeg with my Nikon D300 and 17-55mm 2.8 - Pa








Sunday, December 28, 2008

New Photos

We've been wanting to update our family photos. So on December 20th, after Ma found matching red shirts for the kids, we headed out to Apache Junction. It turned out to be a really fun day. We rode on the train, went out to lunch and did a little window shopping. These color photos below are the ones we're having printed on stretched canvas (11" x 14" for each of the kids, and 16" x 20" for Ma and Pa). The header image, with all the kids looking away will be printed on canvas as well but in color (24" x 36"). Soft Light Photography is my freelance business that I've been doing for several years now. I save 40% off my regular price when I order studio samples. The canvas is printed with the word "sample" and my logo. The kids did really well! - Pa





Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Christmas Questions and Answers

So my sister in law sent this to me via e-mail, thought it would be more fun to post here.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?  This year we are wrapping with paper bags.  It is fun bringing home our groceries in paper.
 
2. Real tree or Artificial?  Real, our fake trees keep breaking.

3. When do you put up the tree? After Thanksgiving sometime.

4. When do you take the tree down?  After Christmas sometime.

5. Do you like eggnog? Depends on my mood.

5A. Favorite drink for the holiday?  I love water... all the time. 

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The one thing that I keep remembering is the plaque that Mom made for me, ballet slippers and my name.  I thought that was great.  It was hard to pass on, I hope who ever got it likes it as much as I did.

7. Hardest person to buy for?  Pa, but now he buys his own presents.  Works better that way.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Emma

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, I love it.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?  We intend to mail them every year and many times we will take the picture and then never get them printed, or life just happens and they never get sent.  I work on getting better at that every year.
 
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?  I don't know if I ever received that bad of a gift to remember.   

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?  Hu, I guess I don't have one.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Too late.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Most definitely.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I love stuffing.

16. Lights on the tree? Yes

17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night, What Child is This.  So many good ones.
 
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Depends on the year.  

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? No, I don't think I ever could.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Currently nothing.  Kids want a star I keep telling them we will make one, but we just haven't.

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? One personal family one on Christmas Eve. 
 
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The crowds.

23. Favorite Ornament?  Ornaments overwhelm me.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?  Ham

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A Happy Family and peaceful day.

26. Favorite Christmas memory?  The first one with Pa and Emma, so much more fun with kids.

27. Favorite Christmas cookie? Anything with CHOCOLATE!!!

28. Are you going to make any gifts this year? Yes, if I make time to do it.  I spy bags for all of the nieces and nephews... sorry guys if I don't get it done.  I do have them cut out, just need to drag out the sewing machine.  That is the hardest part. -Ma

Friday, December 12, 2008

Yeah!

HALLELUJAH!

Neighbors took down the trampoline today!

We can now rejoice! -Ma