Valentine's Photo Sessions with G and N

I posted these pics on my d'Lifeful site, but I thought I'd share them here as well. During the shoot we were locked outside of the house (without my reflectors). But I still got a couple shots I'm REALLY proud of. Like the last one of Gideon!!

Enjoy!













Cheers!

More Picutres

I had not uploaded these photos to iPhoto, but to LightRoom. Therefore, when I put together my previous post, I totally overlooked these. And they happen to be some of my favorites. :)

I have a deal worked out with Abbi from www.heartsmiles.etsy.com. She is designing a hat for Naomi in return for the photos I take of Naomi wearing the hat. I got to come up with a custom design, so for inspiration, I put N in G's hat and snapped away (in our dining room which means the light was less than horrible). But N is cute, and so, therefore, so are the photos.







Since Gideon has almost completely outgrown his batman pjs, he requested that Naomi wear them so they could be super-heroes together. Here they are goofing off.





(and my favorite)


Aren't they hilarious!?!
-Daisha

Life at our house (right now)

So we've lived in Memphis for 2 wks. now. You've seen our "Snow Day", the photos of my works of art, our first day of HomePreschool, and not much else.

This will be the post of the random things I've taken pictures of along the way.



The kids love their new room. And they are playing IN IT! (Until now, they always dragged their toys into the main living spaces to play.) Space is abundant in their new room (thanks to the bunk beds) and everything has it's own spot. We are trying to re-enforce the rule that before you get out a new toy, you must clean up the toy you are playing with. (It works most of the time.)



The other night, JR was reading to the kids in their room.



Instead of painting the kid's room, I ordered these (and these) removeable stickers. They are great (except that Naomi has already destroyed the 2nd G and H). I HIGHLY recommend them. They are a great alternative to painting. Plus, the quality is good.



Here are G and N playing together again. (I love to see this!)



The last 3 shots are of Naomi's pony-tail. She looks like such a big girl with her hair like this. I can't believe she's almost 2!!







And, speaking of almost being 2... has anyone out there ever tried THIS? I'm thinking, if it works, then I wouldn't have to buy another box of diapers in a few weeks ($35), so I'd actually save $10 and be DONE WITH DIAPERS! If anyone has experience with this... LET ME KNOW! :)

Have a great weekend!
(JR and I have a date to see "Avatar" tonight!!!)

Just Wondering...

I've been trying to brainstorm ideas on how to help earn some income from home while JR is in school.

I have taught myself a lot about Blogger blog customization (if you hadn't noticed by the ever-changing look of our family blog).

Would anyone be interested in me doing a completely custom look for your blog (for a reasonable rate)? This would include a background, header, favicon.

Leave a comment here if you'd be interested.

Thanks.
Daisha

Help a girl out...

I'd love to win some free hats from this store on Etsy.com.

They are adorable.

I'm actually working out a deal where the owner/artist is sending me a hat to use in Naomi's 2 yr. portraits in exchange for cross advertising.

Well, I'm going to start advertising now b/c she is running a promotion to help get her facebook page to have more fans.

The more people I refer to her site who become fans and leave a message that they were referred by me, the better chance I have of getting more hats. (And what better way to stock up on photography props than to get them for free, right?) :)

So... sign into your fb account, type in:

Heartsmiles.etsy.com

become a fan and leave a comment mentioning I sent you.

Thanks!

I appreciate it.
Check out her shop here.

Snow Day!!

Gideon has been praying for snow every week since he found out we were moving away from Florida, and today, when I pulled back his bedroom curtains he said, "
I prayed for snow!"

We all ate breakfast, got layered up, and headed out the door.

This was the kid's first experience with snow. (I mean, our apt. complex brought fake snow to the parking lot when G was 19 mon. old, but that doesn't count. --and apparently I only took a video of it and never got it up on the blog--)

So, back to today...

We used the box from the photos I ordered (see post below, or check out www.DLifeful.com) as a sled. It worked ok... But then JR remembered his snow board. And, boy, was that fun! I even got on it myself.

**I've been bitten by the snow boarding bug. If any well-to-do family would like to send me and JR on an all-expenses-paid snow boarding trip (we'd prefer Loon Mt. in New Hampshire where JR learned), we will be willing to accept your generosity. :P**

We had a great time goofing off in the dusting that for us was a "big snow". After Naomi had had about all she could take, we came inside for hot chocolate with marshmallows and sat in front of "Transformers". (G got the old-school first season on DVD for Christmas.)

Fun was had by all... I'll let the very long slide show show you.

They Came In!!!

My photos came in (finally). I LOVE them. On my photography site, I have pictures posted. Check it out:

www.DLifeful.com

-Daisha

First day of HomePreschool

This morning began a new chapter in our family. HomePreschool (yes, I'm typing it this way on purpose). I thought about calling it "One-Day-at-a-Time" school... so, we'll see how it goes. But today was pretty good.

We started out talking about preschool at breakfast, where we spent half of our time making elephant noises.




(trying)


"I'll show you, Naomi!"


Give me a moment!


(Naomi's elephant noise face)

We went up stairs and got ready (including shoes, which stumped Gideon). Then we headed down stairs for our first-day-of-HomePreschool pics.





Gideon grabbed Naomi's hand while I was taking their pictures.


Class Picture:


After pictures we started out with circle time where I greeted them and told them how excited I was to begin preschool with them. Gideon asked if I was his teacher. When he found out I was, he started referring to me as "Teacher". I explained how the day was going to go, and then we kicked off our first activity.

SORTING BOXES:

I have put together 4 different sorting games. Each unit can be played in multiple ways. Gideon's first task was to separate his fluff-balls (for lack of a better term) by color.





Naomi's first task was to get the pipe-cleaners into the holes punched in the lid of the Pringles can. She loves this game.







Gideon's next task was to line up the fluff-balls from biggest to smallest.



Naomi's next game was to sort the glass pebbles into the right jar by color. She did an EXCELLENT job at this.



The kids, hard at work... (G is separating out all the blue fluff-balls)





She how she has put all of the pebbles in the right jar all by herself!?

For our transition times, we had "Book Time".


I let them read by themselves while I tidied up from our Sorting Boxes, and then they both picked out books that I read out loud to them.

Then, when our timer (which I was using to help me regulate our schedule) went off, it was off to our next "center": Color Hunt!

The color we are concentrating on this week is Blue. (Gideon's favorite color. And N even calls it "Didden's cudder".)


(during the hunt)



After we picked this up, we headed back down-stairs for book time. While the kids were reading, I fixed them a little snack.

Post snack-time, they had 20 min. of free play.

Our next "center" was supposed to be Alphabet Time. However, I wasn't quite as on top of my game as I wished to be. So we hooked the computer up to the tv to play some alphabet games on www.pbskids.org. Which turned out to be kind of frustrating since some of the games wouldn't load for us. Be we kept moving on. (hey, the kids didn't know that I had loftier goals)

Next we got bundled up to head outside for recess. (they were both so excited) Gideon is really good at riding his scooter. It is really cold here (below freezing), and there is a biting wind. So I bundled up my Florida babies well and we walked all over campus until JR got out of class.







And thus ended our first day of HomePreschool.

So far, it's do-able. I'm learning as I go, and we've got more academic-y things planned during the week. We will do preschool Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Stay tuned for all the fun.

Happy New Year!

We begin our year in a brand new state... "brand new state!... OOOOh-K-lahoma..." (wait, that's not right)

We have all the boxes unpacked and curtains hung. We ARE, however, missing a box for the kitchen which has our silverware and cutting boards... so cooking/eating is interesting. Hopefully, we'll figure out which parental home we've left that box in and be able to get it soon.

The kids LOVE their new room. G feels like such a big kid in the top bunk. And he and Naomi both call out to each other make sure they are where they are supposed to be.

This townhouse is the perfect size for the amount of stuff we have left after all the moves in 2009. And we have no plans to leave it any time soon. :)

JR's classes start on Monday (he is really pumped about them). And when Naomi's shipment of water-proof (reusable) underpants come in the mail, we'll start pottty training. (will you join me in prayers for patience?) :P

We are reading through the Bible as a family this year. And I am back on the weight-loss wagon. So I've been thinking of 2010 as a year to work on self-discipline.

Enjoy your new year!
Daisha