Category Archives: Project 365

Capturing October: a photo challenge

September 30, 2013 Molly 1 Comment

For the month of October, my favorite month of crisp, beautiful fall, I am challenging myself to get out my camera every day. And, be intentional to capture some of my favorite things about fall, as well as forcing myself to get creative with my camera. And, while it’s short notice… you’re invited to join me!

Each day has a simple, open idea to capture. Really a starting place.

You don’t have to be a photographer. Or even own a camera. You just have to have something that takes pictures and be up for some fun.

If you have a blog, you can share your photos on there, you can share them on Instagram with #capturingoctober , or on my Facebook page. If you have a blog, I will post a blog roll on my right side bar.

So, who wants to join me?

Anyone?

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.