Happy New Year!

Cheers to a healthy, happy, creative and productive 2012.

Merry Sitsmas

I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas on this Merry Sitsmas kind of a day!

And of course a Happy 2010!

WW - Not following the rules

Braces Schmaces!

{PS: that is rock candy, not corn on the cob}

WW - Field Hockey Mom

After nearly 7 years of being a Soccer mom I can proudly say that I am now a full fledged Field Hockey mom.

Reid is two games away from completing her first season playing Field Hockey for her High Schools Junior Varsity team.

Their team was young and inexperienced, but despite that they played well and have improved tremendously since the beginning of the season.

The short clip below is of the two goals Reid scored in their game against La Jolla.

She is number 9 and is on the far side of the field. You can see her more clearly after she scores the first goal.

The person who scores gets to retrieve the ball from the goalie box and run it up to the mid field.

Reid certainly isn't shy about celebrating her victory. Maybe we need to work on her modesty!

This shot was taken after another game that ended in a tie. The girls lost their fair share of games this season, but it never seems to get them down. It is fun to win, but it is also great to enjoy playing the game.

This Field Hockey mom is certainly looking forward to the next season.

For more wordful wednesday entries visit Angie at 7 clown circus!

**If you want to see more of my shots, scroll down and check out my entries for the October photo hunt challenge.

Happy Halloween!

Here are my Halloween chickies!

Kate tried on 8 costumes before settling on the Polar Princess.

Reid tried on the Indian costume and was done!

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everyone!

Halloween of years past!

This week I am combining my Photostory Friday post with Alicia's Flash Back Friday over at More Than Words.

I'm not being very original this week, but I wanted to share snaps from Halloweens past!

Reid was a Dalmatian for her first Halloween.
The next year she was a Razorback Cheerleader.

My mom bought Reid this cat costume and she HATED it! She cried when I forced her to put the hood on and then refused to let me take her picture.

A bunny and a 50's girl (tiger is our neighbor).

Those things on Kates head were my sad attempt at making bunny ears. Pipe cleaners don't hold up well when an 11 month old is involved.

Blue and Cinderella!

Lunette from the Big Comfy Couch and a Genie!

Kitty Cat and Snow White!

Kate wore that snow white costume at least once a week for several years.

Flower Fairy and a Pirate!

Spiderella and a Hippie Chick!
Pirate and Goth Girl!

Vampira and Greek Goddess!
Pink Fairy and a Doll!

Goth Girl (Reid's costume from '05) and a Crazy Doll!

This year for Halloween the girls are going to be............

Hosted by Cecily and Carissa

Birthday games!

On Saturday I threw a slumber party for Reid's 14th Birthday.

I haven't thrown Reid a "kid" party since she was 11 so I wasn't sure exactly what to do with a bunch of 14 year old girls!

Did they just want to hang out and listen to music? Should we play games?

We decided to do a little of both and I thought I would share what was popular with our set of teens.

We are big fans of the show Survivor, so taking inspiration from the show we had ourselves an auction.

I let Reid pick out 15 small gifts and we put each one in a brown paper bag (more gifts than guest).

I gave each of the guest $400 worth of play money.

Then we let the bidding begin. The gifts ranged from really cool, to kind of silly. It was an absolute hoot to listen to the girls try to outbid each other. Watching their reactions to what they won was even more of a hoot.

It produced loads of giggles!

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Since Reid is so crazy about music we played "name that tune." Considering it was Reid's play list and there was no way anyone could beat her, she acted as the DJ.

For prizes, I bought a pack of 100 rubber bracelets to toss to the girls as they correctly guessed the name of the song. I gave each girl 4 bracelets at the start of the game and then I would randomly toss bracelets to the girls who weren't guessing as much.

The girls loved having "prizes" tossed their way.

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We also played musical nail polish. We had enough crazy colors so that each guest had one bottle to start with. Then we played music as they passed the polish. Each time the music stopped they girls painted one nail with the polish that they ended up with.

Again, another game that they enjoyed......just make sure to play this one in a well ventilated room.

So there you have it, a few Teen tested and mother approved party games for your next Teen birthday party.

WW - Meet Rusty!

What in the heck is wrong with me!
I almost missed a Wordful Wednesday over a
Seven Clown Circus!

Geeze, you would think I was busy wrapping up summer or something!

While the girls and I were on vacation in South Dakota, my husband bought himself a horse!

Meet Rusty the Wonder Horse!

He is a 6 year old buckskin Draft/Mustang mix, which means he is a big boy.

The family is over the moon excited about our newest family member.

Want to know what I am most excited about?

The totally cute Tack room we are renting!
We can dress it up anyway we see fit.

Tell me, is that not the cutest little ole tack room you ever did see??

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I participated in a Photo Hunt last month.
Scroll down if you want to check it out!

PSF - Just a name!

Do you have a name that is easy to recognize and spell?  Or are you like my daughter and have a name that every time you say it the person you are speaking with says, "Excuse me?" 

My daughters name is Reid, and for some reason the name doesn't seem to register with most people.  I realize it is a surname, but it isn't like her name is Orangejello!

What really amuses us is when people pretend to hear her name and then proceed to misspell it.  Here are just a few renditions; Reaha, Ritz (that's our favorite), Rita, Weed, Red, Rea, Teed, and Read (that is at least close).

Today however was a banner day!  As my daughter reached for her Double Chocolaty Chip from Starbucks she squealed with delight.  The Barista actually spelled her name right!  A first!

It's the little things in life!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

WW - Coincidence!

Last month my daughter, Reid visited Washington DC with her 8th grade class.  One of the stops on their whirl wind trip was the Vietnam Memorial Wall. 

There are 58,260 names craved on the black granite wall of the memorial.  While looking at all of the names Reid became intrigued by the tiny plus marks (that look like crosses) that she saw next to some of the soldiers names.  She wanted to remember the tiny crosses so she zoomed in for a close up.

Not only did she capture the plus sign, and her reflection, but she also captured the name of a solider that was the father of a friend's friend.

Our friend Matt's college roommate was the son of one of the names in this picture that Reid took.  Matt's daughter Erin was looking at the picture when she recognized the name. 

A few degrees of separation, but out of 58,260 names on the wall, Reid finds the one name that her best friends dad knows.  What are the odds of that happening?  I find strange coincidences like that so twilight zone-ish!

Want to see more Wordful Wednesday Post?  

Just click the 7 clown circus button!

The pluses marks that appear next to some of the soldiers names indicate that they are missing.  The diamond's mean that they have passed away and are accounted for.  The pluses can be turned into a diamond if the soldier is found.

WW -Easter.....Southern California Style

We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather on Easter Sunday.  Knowing the day would be nice (because it is always beautiful when my Dad has us over for lunch), Dad heated the pool and fired up the Jacuzzi so that everyone (the girls) could go swimming after we ate lunch.

The girls had an egg hunt before jumping in the pool (with all of the plastic eggs).  I was taking pictures of the girls jumping from the upper ledge of the pool when someone (my mom) suggested we throw eggs at the girls for them to try to catch.

(click on any picture to see larger)

Ahh, Hello......Grandma got a little aggressive with this "toss".  Don't call CPS, she was having fun. Who doesn't like to have a bucket full of plastic eggs fly at your face?

I must have asked Reid to flip her a billion times in order to get one good shot.  Her hair really isn't that red or two toned.  Just highly edited on the color.  

Ahhhhh, finally.......the delicious lunch that my dad made. When I picked up my camera and started taking pictures of my food I heard someone (my mom) say, "Michelle, stop blogging and eat."  I lowered my camera and said, "Sheesh people, I'm not blogging I'm just want to preserve this beautiful food with a photograph!"  I wouldn't put that picture on my blog!

Want to see more Wordful Wednesdays?  Just click the lovely logo!

Wordful Wednesday -My Heart

If you were too look at my heart, this is what it would look like.

They are my sunshine!

They crack me up on a daily basis.

Reid makes me laugh by making up new lyrics to her favorite songs.  One of her current creations is to the Kan Ye West song "Heartless".  The new twist is all about two parents that wouldn't get their 13 year old texting.  "How could we be so heartless."

Kate has an incredible quick wit.  The other day I walked by her room and saw her laying on her bed, phone in hand, making a call.

I asked, "Who are you calling?"  

Kate's response, "Child Protective Services."

For more Wordless Wednesday post click on the icon!

Wordful Wednesday - Cowgirls

Want to know what my city girls sometimes do when they are bored?

Why they rope each other.

Yes, I said rope....like the thing that real cowboys do with real cattle!

More often than not, it is Reid (big sister) roping Kate (little sister).

Kate may be smaller than Reid but she is one sassy little cowgirl.

Just look at the sassy determination on her face!

That look is why I love this picture so much.

Yee haw!

Now go check out the other Wordful Wednesday additions over at 7 Clown Circus!

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My giveaway is still going on if you haven't yet had a chance to enter.

PSF- Balance

Finding your balance and having a plan while visiting the tide pools is very important.

You must map out your every move.

You must test every rock for it's stability and slipperiness.

And you must make sure not to step on anything that you can hurt or can hurt you!

What does all of this mean for a picture taking mom?

It means loads of pictures of you in unnatural poses!  

But that's okay, because it is pictures like this that tell a story.  

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Tuesday Tribute!

A Jay and Deb Production.

For the ladies in the peanut gallery, you probably remember playing dress up with your mom's high heel shoes.

I remember putting on my moms too big for me heels and teetering around the house.  I loved the way the heels made me feel more like a grown up!  

Sadly, this is an experience my girls can't get at home!  Their only heels they wore were the plastic princess heels that they had as little girls (we call those clicky shoes for the noise they made on our hard wood floors).

Why have they not had the pleasure of wearing my high heeled shoes?  That would be because this six foot tall mama doesn't own any high heel shoes. 

So my girls must find their fun in the self serve type shoe stores.  You know.....the kind that have all their shoes out on rack for you to try on? No pesky sales people laughing at your size 10 feet.

Ever since the girls were little I would let them try on a boat load of high heel shoes.  I can't tell you how many times I have almost peed my pants laughing as they parade up and down the aisle in their frilly heels (they aren't funny unless they are super ugly).  And it is only really funny if one of them falls (without snapping an ankle of course).

So my Tuesday Tribute is to self serve shoe stores.  Without you my girls would have completely missed out on a very common girlhood tradition.

By the way......I try on high heel shoes and admire how good they make my legs look.  Then a shopper walks by and I realize that I'm able to see the part in their hair so I kick them off and go back to trying on shoes without so much lift.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to the ER we go!

Teen + spooked horse = trip to the ER!  This is the equation that defined the majority of our Saturday afternoon.

The story goes something like this.  It was a beautiful day in our neck of the woods.  Sunny and warm.  A perfect day for being outside with the horses.

I had my camera in hand and was looking forward to catching the perfect picture for my 365 photo a day project.  Around here, Saturday's are about horse back riding lessons.  So there was no doubt in my mind what today's picture would reflect.

Reid and Jim were first up to ride.  Reid was on Newton.  He has the reputation of being a really mellow horse.  As Reid came around the arena towards me she said that Newt was acting really weird. He was snorting and was really jumpy.

A split second after I took this picture, Newt jerked his entire body to the right and took off like a bat out of hell.  The sudden movement caught Reid off guard and she went flying off of Newt landing on her butt in the arena dirt.

She was pretty shook up by the fall and complained that her butt hurt too bad to walk.  As Jim carried her out of the arena her face went white and her head flopped down onto his shoulder. As I realized that she had passed out I felt my heart sink towards my feet.

She came back around fairly quickly (even though it seemed like forever at the time) but she seemed a little disoriented and she kept closing her eyes saying she wanted to sleep. She also complained she couldn't hear.  Heart continuing to sink!

We called 911 and even though she seemed better by they time they arrived, they suggested that we let them take her to the hospital just to be on the safe side.  Who were we to argue?

Reid was rather mortified by all the fuss and was not happy that she had to wear a neck brace and be taped down to their back board.  I on the other hand was relieved that if anything was going to go wrong that their was an army of paramedics there to care for her. 

At the hospital they got her in a gown, asked a bunch of questions and then whisked her off to x-ray where it was revealed that she had broken her tailbone. 

This is a picture of a young girl that has no idea how much it is going to hurt having to sit in school all day on a broken tailbone.  But hey, she is just thinking of the stories she can tell......her first ambulance ride, her first x-ray, her first time fainting, her first broken bone, her first time drooling over a hot paramedic. 

The only thing she is allowed to do a second time is drool over a hot paramedic!  The rest can be one time only events.

For those of you who have had to deal with serious medical issues or injury with your child, my heart goes out to all of you.  Reid will be fine, she is fine....but for that split second when we weren't sure what was going on with her, it was the worst feeling in the world.

Now I have to figure out how to convince the three of them that they really don't love horseback riding!!

Right, like that will happen.