She's like a new girl with her sweet, sassy cut!

Lock your windows...bolt your doors...

the Kissing Monster is on the loose!

A few more of our Pixie Li...

Oh yes we did!!

Thank you all for your opinions regarding Lia's hair. (I know...I know...not REALLY earth shattering...and perhaps a bit shallow...I have no excuses...) We were out this afternoon...and we just took the plunge! I have to say my heart skipped a beat or two after that first snip...but soon I saw how cute it was going to be and then it was okay. Lia was very serious throughout the entire haircut...but she smiled when she saw herself in the mirror at the end. I wish I would have gotten that on camera...priceless!

This is the official "before" photo:



During her haircut...she kept a close eye on the work being done!



Near the end...and just the hint of a smile...



The "after" photos:

Flowers anyone??

I have to say...it felt really....liberating...to come clean about my shyness via the blog. So much so that I thought I would also like to divulge that I am not a gardener. I DO love flowers...but caring for them doesn't really interest me. Sadly. I love to photograph them, fill my home with them, give them to people...but weeding, watering....pruning...not so much.

I've been able to exist perfectly well in this world, as a non-gardener, my whole life. I hid my gardening aversion very well in college by keeping a small African violet alive all four years. No one was the wiser to the fact that I knew nothing...I mean nothing...about flowers.

My ability to get by ended when we purchased our home last fall. A serious gardener lived here before us. At the signing she spoke of her flowers like one would a child. She had no children...so I think her garden really was her passion. She gave me tons and tons of advice about caring for the flowers...but I only listened with one ear because I thought Jim knew about flowers. You can imagine my dismay when I learned that he DID NOT know about flowers. Apparently he has just been getting by all these years too. We really were meant for each other. It's nice to get a sign once in awhile, you know??

For most of the summer we were afraid to weed since we couldn't identify weeds from actual flowers. Now the flowers are beginning to overtake us. It seems like we are going to have to eventually pull everything and re-plant some low maintenance type plants. I just hope the previous owner doesn't decide to drive by to check out the old homestead...I'm afraid it might be a huge shock...and she is elderly. I seriously hope she doesn't ever drive by.....

But...we have had three seasons of fabulous perennials...and fall has brought some colorful new blooms! Lia's favorite thing to do is to pick a flower or two or three each time she leaves or enters the house...and her little bouquets...usually displayed in a small juice glass...always make me smile. So for now, we are enjoying the small forest-like gardening scheme we are rocking...and reading every gardening book we can get our hands on! It's never too early to start thinking about next year!

Make a wish...in black and white... :-)

Make a wish...

The moments that matter...

Remember those two, refined, ladylike gals from my last post? Here's what happens after bath time...a big case of the giggles...brought on by a rapid disintegration into...ahem...potty humor. At the dinner table no less. I am not sure who laughed more...them...or me. Is that wrong?? In my defense, I did try to steer the conversation to appropriate topics (albeit very feebly)...but those giggles were just too contagious...and honestly...I may have instigated just a bit for added hilarity...

A few more pictures from Saturday...

Lia was not really in the picture taking mood on Saturday like her cousin Willow was...but I did steal a few...

Can you read sweet Willow's mind?.....hurrry up and take the shot and get me away from this crazy kid with the nonsensical knock knock jokes asap...

My niece Willow (my first non-Lia photography victim :-))

Fresh from her bath...and at her most snuggly!

Oh yes she did....and I have the pictures to prove it!!!

So somewhere along the way Lia inherited this kickin' black guitar. Trust me when I tell you that you are totally losing something in just viewing the pictures....because this bad boy can put out a killer riff like nobody's business. And we can't figure out how to turn it off...so if you even so much as breathe in the direction of the black guitar...you are in for 30 seconds of heavy metal heaven. Whether you like it or not. This afternoon, Lia was really liking it apparently. She dressed herself in this get-up...and proceeded to rock the house. She has a hip shake to rival The King...and the moxy that will forever and always tickle her Mama pink.

A gal and her Daddy...or why I love my husband a little more today than yesterday...

Still doing a little photo housekeeping...and I came across a few GEMS I thought I would share!

I have mentioned in previous posts about Lia's lack of need for sleep. It just isn't her thing. Never was....and I am giving up hope that it ever will be. So you can imagine how delusional I must have been to snap this picture and risk waking her up when we were still in China. I believe this may have been the only day she took a nap for us there. We had been out doing some paperwork and Lia fell asleep on the bus ride home. I was giddy over the fact that I got her up to the room, took her coat off, and laid her down without waking her. And apparently I was still suffering exhaustion and cloudy thinking to risk ruining the sleeping with a flashing camera...but as it turns out, this photo is one of my favorites from our early days with Lia...and makes me smile every time I see it.




We like to dance in our house. Crazy, playing instruments, making up dances with names like The Jimbo and The Lia Shuffle, kind of dancing. The goofier, the better...whoever makes the others laugh hardest wins. We listen to a wide variety of music...from Ralph to Laurie Berkner to Queen and INXS. Anything with a strong beat will work...lately we have been lovin' Donny Osmond's "Soldier of Love" (please don't judge...I know his foray into rock music was ill fated...but this IS a great tune!). One recent Saturday morning I captured Jim and Lia busting a move...not sure who was having the most fun!!



Which brings me around to the reason for my post. Watching Jim with Lia has deepened my love and respect for him so much. This morning, he brought Lia outside to wave good-bye to me as I left for work. In the process, she picked a few little flowers from the bush out front. When Lia and I got home from school this afternoon, I found this:



Jim had dutifully placed the flowers in water...a small act...but one that made Lia so happy and proud...and well...made me love them BOTH just a little more today than yesterday. My life is blessed with abundant love and laughter...what more is there???

A few (more) of my favorites...

I took a LOT of pictures this summer. What? You didn't notice?? Well...it's true. In fact, a lot may be an understatement! :-) I learned how to wrangle my camera a little better and Lia seemed to enjoy taking part in our little photo shoots. It was a dreamy summer...full of fun. And pictures. Did I mention the sheer volume of pictures I snapped??

Well...I am now beginning the task of organizing said photos...helped by the beginning digital photography class I took last night. It may take a while...but I am determined to organize, categorize and BACK UP all my photos with an external hard drive. (see how official I sound already? And it was only a three hour class! I'm not even kidding. :-))

As I started going through some of the photos, I found some previously unpublished pictures that I love! I'm hoping our lives settle down soon and we can get some new ones...but until then...I bring you some of my favorite pictures from our summer of (camera) love!