Category Archives: Photography

Hugs, etc.

October 4, 2012 Molly 4 Comments

We spent most of our afternoon outside today. I don’t always bring my camera out, but as I watched the last photo unfold, I ran in to grab it. I am glad I did, because I love all these photos. The light was beautiful! And so are my kids. 😉

Reed can hold back his feelings a bit, especially towards me and Lena, I think. As animated as he is, he doesn’t always let on that he loves us. I had been taking photos of Lena, and I said “hey, Reed, run over here and give Lena a hug!” I don’t think he would have hugged her if I hadn’t asked, but his love for her is so genuine.

He’s 5.

R walked into this one.

R and I talk a lot about giving G personal space. R just kind of runs by Gus and gives him a quick hug all the time. Gus doesn’t always like this. R went in for a hug.

This time, Gus pulled back and shouted at R. R said, “he doesn’t want a hug, so I’ll give him a back rub instead.

That was fun and fine by Gus.

R hugged everyone tonight, after my initial suggestion that he hug Lena. I am not sure anyone else enjoyed it quite as much as L did, though.

I love this girl.

Reed is such an entertainer and story teller. Even as a parent, I struggle to get a word in sometimes. But, I reminded myself a couple of times today that it matters so much to him that I listen… when he talks, it is my time to build him up and make him feel loved, important and heard. The more I genuinely listen, the stronger our relationship grows and the more he’ll keep talking as he gets older, right?

For him, I feel like that is his most-needed gift– for someone to hear him. I do think listening to all kids is important, but it is #1 for him. (And no, I don’t normally have my camera out photographing it, but I have a feeling in 10 or 20 years, I will be glad I did it once!)

He climbed up here to talk to me. I asked him to smile for a photo and he said “you have got to show that one to Papa!”

Lest you think our afternoon was perfect,

We had some freak-outs, too.

And the cuddles that come after freak-outs.

And overall, it was a pretty great afternoon.

Everyday Life, Project 365

Full

March 15, 2012 Molly 3 Comments

Life in the summer always feels so… full. Anyone else know what I mean? Sure, it’s only March, still technically winter, but between Daylight Savings Time and the 83 degree day we had today, it feels like summer.

On Monday, we didn’t have a car. Aaron’s truck wouldn’t start, so Maurice the Movie Van drove him to work. It totally threw off my plans for the day. But it was a beautiful day, and I realized that I had everything for sidewalk chalk paint. Equal parts water and cornstarch, plus a lot of food coloring.

I didn’t have any paintbrushes, so they used old toothbrushes and sponges.

Can you guess what I did?

The kids also wanted to get out their trikes and had little races in our driveway.

I can almost hear her. “‘Es okay, Baby A. I gonna help you.” Don’t worry, we can buy a seatbelt for this trike.

They also decided to wash their bikes for awhile…

There’s a better video, but I’m too lazy to go upload it.

While the kids were busy doing that, I decided that I wanted to paint. They hadn’t painted in awhile. Of course, the second I sat down to paint, they wanted me to paint things for them. I had to demand some space to paint “I love Reed and Lena.” Then they each wanted me to paint them a heart, among other things.

In case you’re wondering, the dogs were out enjoying it too.

Eventually, Aaron got home from work. His truck wasn’t going to be ready that day, so I asked him to fix the stroller so that we could walk over to Lena’s speech therapy the next day. R&L were totally fascinated by this, but I love this photo of them in particular.

A few minutes later, I went in to figure out what dinner was going to be. And nearly right away, I heard screaming. Someone was running in the driveway and fell. Ouch.

We cuddled up for awhile and both fell asleep while the boys took the dogs out for a walk.

Everyday Life, Project 365

Lettuce, a Faucet and Tomato

March 7, 2012 Molly 4 Comments

Aaron is known for his ridiculous jokes. Here’s one he told me yesterday…

“What happened between in the race between the tomato, the faucet and lettuce?”

“The lettuce was ahead, the faucet was running, the tomato couldn’t ketchup.”

Anyways, this blog post is me trying to “ketchup” on Project 365.

Oh, here’s a Reed joke for you.

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”

“To get to the other road.”

1. Lasagna Soup (2/21) 2. Reed’s Robot Drawings 3. What we thought was our final trip to Topeka for Apostilles (2/22) 4. Reed’s drawing of taking our dog Nina to the vet for a shot 5. Reed drinking all of his water before dinner (2/24) 6. Lena throwing herself on the floor (basically how I was feeling at that moment) (2/27) 7. Reed asking me to read him all of those books (2/28) 8. My apology to Aaron, in his lunchbox (3/1) 9. Lena’s ridiculous outfit, dress over skirt, athletic socks with dress shoes topped off with a bandaid… on her shoes (3/2) 9. Our cool book find (3/2) 10. …Used for $3.50! (3/2) 10. Reed and I accidently wore the same shirts (3/3) 11. Some napkins I was working on (3/4) 11. Our outing on a beautiful sunny day (3/5) when before two of our dogs got lost 12. Lena playing outside after a nap (3/6) 13. Same as #12

So, not a photo every day, but there should be enough photos to catch me up!

And, here’s a video. Lena singing along to a song that she’s probably never heard before…

And, here’s a short video of the Lena show, performed by Reed, a few days ago…

Everyday Life, Project 365, Second Adoption

Home and Project 365 Catching Up

February 19, 2012 Molly 2 Comments

We are home. Phew. We got home last night around 8:30.

It is so nice to be home, but I am emotionally fried. R&L seemed to do pretty well with us being gone, but they are understandably a bit more needy than usual.

For Reed, he seemed a bit indifferent that we were back, happy to see us, but kind of eh. Then, today, he was so needy. Constantly needing someone to play with, constantly interrupting conversations, just loud and kind of crazy. My patience was done was him by about 4pm. I told Aaron that I’d do all the dishes for the next 3 days if I didn’t have to have anything to do with bedtime.

Lena’s emotions have been a lot more on the surface. She was so happy she was almost in tears that we were back. Giggling and wanting lots of hugs. She slept for 12 hours straight the night we got back and then I climbed in bed with her for awhile, just to cuddle. I told her how I loved her and missed her. I said “I missed you soooo much.” L: “Too much?” “Yes, too much.” “I miss you too much too.” I love that girl. She has taken to laying on the floor with a grumpy face A LOT. She had been getting away from this for awhile, but it’s back in full force. A quick distraction usually remedies it when I can find the energy.

I am just exhausted myself. Not physically, but emotionally. A lot of emotions and frustration. Yesterday was Helen’s birthday. As happy and excited as we are about “Anderson”, my heart still breaks about Helen and the uncertainty of her future. Be praying for her, okay? Specifically that she gets to be at home with a family soon and that she does not have any medical complications that cannot be handled by doctors in her country, at any time.

Anyways, here is my photo catch-up.

Skyping. Fighting over camera space.

Reading to us from a children’s bible. This went on for ten minutes! “One time…”

Leaving the frigid north.

The little map showing where we are and the flight route. I took this for my mom.

Playing at their grandparents’ house. Please note that L DOES have clip in her hair… I just needed to fix it… again.

I forgot to take any photos today, and then everyone went to bed, but me and the dogs. So, here is Miss Nina, angry that I woke HER up to take her photo. Apparently even my dogs can’t do photos without blinking.

Project 365, Second Adoption

Goodbye, A :( (Day 47)

February 16, 2012 Molly 14 Comments

Before I go into our visit pictures, this is where Aaron sat while we waited for them to bring A in. Didn’t Makiivka have a bear just like this?

I took a video of him dancing. Are you ready for this cute?!?

Aaron and little A seem to be having a harder time connecting. I am guessing because A is a baby and Aaron is a man. Aaron doesn’t have much experience with babies. I doubt A has spent as much time with men as he has women. So, I just sat back and took photos and let the two of them play.

But, don’t get me wrong. I still had to get my smooches in.

The end.

I realized that I haven’t really blog about anything besides our visits during this trip. Honestly, we haven’t ton much else. This is the first trip where I’ve really felt jet-lagged and just kind of exhausted. And, obviously, this trip also has a lot of mixed emotions for us. But, we’ve enjoyed getting to know A and can’t wait to come back for court.