Budding Pen Pals....

What a bright and beautiful way to start the day! This painting is from the talented and adorable Nadia, the star of Momology.

It says, "To Ella, From Nadia: This is a picture of a clown to make you laugh."

Ella's always one to play along! She immediately got down on the floor and started laughing as she rolled back and forth.
After that, it took all I had to get her to sit down and let me take a picture of her with the painting. As I told Christina, she wanted me to fetch her watercolors right away so that she could start making something for Nadia.

It's on its way! :0)

Fortune Photo Friday

When I read this fortune, I totally thought of all of the creative people I have met since blogging.

I purchased this wallet when Jen opened her Etsy shop. I love it! I initially bought it so that when I go work out, I could just put my cell phone, my bank card and my keys in it and go. But it turned into some sort of a picture holder. I found a bunch of old pictures from when I was little. I had shoved them in the wallet to protect them when I went to show my parents and I just left them in there. Now they sit out in the open for anyone to peek at, protected beautifully by this wonderful wallet! I would also love to snatch up one of those owls she makes....Can I request one Jen? :o)

I also admire Stacy and ALL of the things that woman does! I don't know how so much creativity and talent could be inside one person, but she proves it over and over in every post she does. As a matter of fact, I found it hard to decide which links to post here to show off all of the things she does, but one of my absolute favorites is the fairy dress. I would still love to have one of the swimsuits she makes for her daughter (no pressure....). ;o)

Another talented little lady, whom I adore, is Christina. She is a great photographer and we have so many things in common when it comes to our little munchkins, I'd swear they were separated at birth! But lately Christina has been showing a crafty side. All of a sudden she whips out this beautiful head wreath. What little princess would not just die over that? While I'm at it, I'd purchase one of those too if you ever made an Etsy store Christina! :o)

So, in naming just a few of my faves above, this weeks Fortune Photo Friday is dedicated to them and all the other talented people I have come across. Keep it up ladies!

WW - Learning To Ride

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Taking All of My Precious Internet Time - BSM

I have been on the Internet a WHOLE LOT this past weekend. I know you hear all of these stories about how people inherit antiques and things, but this one is true.

My parents just moved out of their house (Thank you real estate God's for getting their house sold in this market. It was simply a miracle. More on the reason they sold at a later time). I found this camera in their closet and my Mom told me that my grandfather had given it to my Dad about 10 years ago. My Mom said I could have it if I wanted. It had just been collecting dust for the last 10 years.

I started looking on the Internet to see if I could find anything more out about the camera. I also went to a local camera store and asked them to give me a value for it in case I wanted to trade it in for a new lens or something. Currently, I am craving this lens....(really bad). Anyways, The guy at the store told me he would give me $425.00 for everything I had (camera, 50mm, 35mm, (2) 135mm and viewfinder). He even told me he could cut me a check right there. Not thinking or knowing anything of it, I told him I would have to think about it. I didn't even know if my parents would mind if I sold it or not. He gave me his card, I thanked him and me and my patient little monkey were on our way.

As I said, I have been on the Internet ALL weekend researching the camera and looking for possible places to post it for sale if that's the road I chose. I have figured out that it is a Nikon M from 1950 (give or take a year). the second series Nikon next to the Nikon One. I'm wondering if the guy at the camera store under bid me a bit....

In any case, it has been very exciting reading about this camera and all of its accessories. Since I have actually been thinking of this camera in my sleep because of how much I have been reading about it, I am calling this my best shot.



If anyone knows a good place to find approximate values on vintage cameras (besides ebay) I am all ears!

For more Best Shot Monday images, head over to Tracey's.

Fortune Photo Friday

I think this is our third potty board....We are almost there! She has been VERY good in the last week or so. Hopefully it wont be long before the sight of her standing there with her legs crossed, leaning against something with a beat red face and watery eyes is just a faded memory.. You just never know when or where its gonna happen!

Fun in the Mud

Its been really nice up here lately....like 55-65 degrees. And it has been happening on the weekends! Which is an even better bonus. Though I probably shouldn't even talk about it because it did snow over night, but it was just a dusting and was melted by noon.

I am totally craving Spring this year. I just started noticing the buds on the trees were a little bigger and a little brighter. And I cant wait to see the flowers start to peek through the ground and bloom on the trees. Needless to say, we have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather. :o)





We live at the bottom of a slight hill in our neighborhood, so when the snow melts it flows right past our driveway. It is now Ella's River. Ella found mud in our yard (which is actually dirt and seed we layed down last summer but is gone now.....) and shoveled it up to go plop it in the river. She was like a little worker bee. Back and forth, back and forth.....Talking the whole time! I honestly don't even remember what she was saying. She lost me so many times. But I gotta say that she stayed so clean! Just a few swipes of dirt on the shirt.




These shots were processed using PW's Seventies Action. I have been into actions like crazy lately. Bear with me. I am sure it is just a phase. :o)
I cant remember if I answered you or not Christina, but my last shot for BSM WAS with PW's sunshine action. I just LOVE that action and have probably over used it a few times....but....I cant help it. I just love it!

WW: Zooming In

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Fortune Photo Friday

WW - Warm Weather, Backyard Beauty

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Just A Little Friendly Advice.....

Life with a toddler is a walk in the park. We completely respect each other. We really take the time to hear each other out and resolve our problems in the best way possible. We sit around like a couple of girlfriends laughing the good laugh with our pinky fingers in the air as we drink tea and snack on biscuits and flatbread.


We reminisce about the old days when she was a baby while we play the Dora version of Candy Land and agree on completely everything that should happen or need to get done that day. She respects my authority and I respect her need to be an individual and make decisions on her own. I have even provided her with her very own chair where she loves to take time outs and just be by herself for a while to stew in her thoughts (for some reason, she prefers that I set a timer for 3 minutes though). Strange I know! But we all need our alone time, I guess....


Yup, I got it pretty easy over here. And if you believe a word of the way I just described my day, then you ain't met MY TODDLER!

Yet, I'm so glad she's MY toddler! :o)

Best Shot Monday...

Not much to it.....Just my everything.



For more Best Shot Monday images, head over to Tracey's.

Random Shots

Spring cleaning for my folders, I guess. It seems like I have some shots here and there in my folders that I just never posted on the blog. I actually have so many that I can make a couple of posts.

I picked up this stone the same time I bought the compassion figurine. I liked the simplicity in both of these shots and I couldn't decide which to post...so you get both!



Ella gives me many opportunities to get shots of her and Lulu. Ella tortures her with love. But I get a kick out of how it almost looks like Lulu is looking directly at me in this shot. Help Me!


This is a dress that Ella wore at 3 months old. My sister in law used to baby sit Ella when I got off of maternity leave and her and my mother in law secretly took pictures of Ella and Jack at Christmas to surprise us. They were so adorable and I loved the dress.



But I saved the sweetest for last. When the bar of soap in the shower gets down to it's last bits, Keith always blends it in with a new bar of soap. When I got in the shower the other morning, he had blended them together in the shape of a heart. It was such a nice thing to wake up to first thing in the morning. It's the little things in life that mean the most. :o)

Fortune Photo Friday

I've been eating a lot of Chinese food lately. Yum. But LeeAnn Chin has their fortune cookies at a dozen for $0.99. That for some reason sounded like quite a deal. So I bought two bags.

Initially I bought them so that Ella could use them for her tea parties. It was a big hit with her and her "imaginary friends" as long as we broke them up into little pieces. When I started reading the fortunes though, I felt inspired to take pictures of them. So I set them all over the place and started shooting. I have a few lined up and will be posting them on upcoming Fridays....as long as they last.

Why not start the day on a positive note!

WW - Splish Splash, It Feels Like Spring!

I love how you can see the grass trying to break through.





For more Wordless Wednesday images, click here and here.