Day 56

Day 55

It's a snow day!
LOL. like an inch out...
HAHA!

Day 54

Dress-ups and play kitchen!

Day 53

Meet Lumpy. Kenna loves her Huffalump and I ask her why she loves him so much and she says "because he's purple"!

Day 52

Oh my goodness...
Hudson is obsessed with Caillou. He goes crazy for him and for his sister, Rosie.

Day 51

Day 50

Week 8
TOYS! boy- we sure have a lot of these :)
Daddy bought Hudson some new boots- toy story of course! He LOVES them! They are a little big, but so cute on him how he tries to walk in them!

Day 39

Now, Hudson has croup. :(
This picture was taken with my camera phone for this 365 :)
cuddling with Mommy and his LOVEY- "bear-bear" and his "night-night" blanket.

Day 48

Addie and her LOVEY- "bear-Friend". Grandma bought Addie her bear-friend as a gift when she was born. She's been attached to it ever since...

Day 47

Day 46

Makenna's sick now. :( poor baby. double ear infection and croup.
All is wants to do is cuddle with her LOVEY- that we call "silky" and watch movies.

Day 45

Happy Valentine's Day!
Chris and I traded in our date night for family night this Valentine's Day...
and we wouldn't have it any other way!
Our Family is being hit by a nasty bug so we're resting and reading our new books!
Happy LOVE day!

Day 44

My 4 LOVES... they aren't feeling very well. Addie's getting over pneumonia, Daddy's throat hurts and is achy and feverish, Kenna is complaining that her ear's and head hurts and Hudson is starting to get a nasty cough.

Day 43

Week 7...
LOVE week!
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Day 42

My baby girl is sick... again.
She has pneumonia for the 3rd time in a year! We will be having to take her in for some other tests as it is very uncommon to get pneumonia this often!
Lots of movies, cuddles and fluids!

Day 41

well... come on in! It's a full house but lots of love in this home!

Day 40

mmmmmm.... crystal light anyone?

Day 39

my favorite low point snack! weight watchers cream cheese on wasa sourdough crackers! (aka- cardboard as chris calls them)-- I love em' :)

Day 38

So I'm not sure how I can incorporate this image into the white balance theme...
but today was our girls first trip to the dentist! Oh they did so very well! Kenna was a bit nervous but - daddy was there to comfort her and did amazing!

Day 37

ISO 1000
f/1.8
1/800

Day 36

Week 6! Theme is white balance.
What is white balance?
White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the "color temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, but digital cameras often have great difficulty with auto white balance (AWB) — and can create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts. Understanding digital white balance can help you avoid these color casts, thereby improving your photos under a wider range of lighting conditions.

For this week I'll be working with natural light- tungsten lighting and fluoresent lighting.

Day 35

Today my cousin, Becky flew into down from southern California! I love her awesome quick trips to visit and I can't wait to spend the next couple days with her!

Day 34

Since moving in with my Parents until we buy another house... Hudson has this HATE relationship with baths. I mean- HATE. He would hold onto the side of the tub and just scream! For Christmas, Papa Doug and Grandma Becky got Hudson these Thomas the train bath toys and THANK YOU PAPA AND GRANDMA! He LOVES trains and the trains are the only thing that will keep him from freakin' out in the bath!

Day 33

So I tried taking my kiddos Valentine's Day pictures today! HAHA! what a joke! In the middle of trying to get Makenna's attention- she says "HOLD ON MOM, I gotta read my all time favorite book". Oh really? Kenna? NOW? can't it wait? Oh. Makenna Rae. She's something else!

Day 32

Chris and I went out on a date tonight! We used our $20 groupon to GoGo burgers that we got for $10.00. We then went and saw the Green hornet thanks to Intel. We also got free popcorn, drink and candy! WOW! $10 date! AWESOME! Afterwards we went to Walmart and got the kids a few things for Valentines day and while just browsing around at 10pm with my hubby- AH HA! I saw it. Oh.My.Gosh. I HAD TO BUY THIS! my favorite candy EVER in a coffee creamer! YUM.YUM.YUM. I can't wait to have a cup tomorrow morning! I rather waste the calories in coffee then to have a candy bar :)

Day 31

WOW! last day of January! Sure has gone by so fast!
So I often scope out killer blogs and websites that have amazing offers on products. My biggest "HIGH" that I can get is saving money on diapers. Stupid diapers! We've been buying them for 6.5 years and I CANNOT WAIT TO BE DONE WITH THEM :)
A few months ago I discovered Amazon Mom's. Not only do they have great deals on a bunch of different products but they offer 30% off diapers. In a few magazines there have been some extra coupons that you can stack making diapers nearly 75+% OFF!!
So I ordered a box of Pampers of 156 on Thursday from Amazon and they came today!
This what kind of deal I got :)
Normally on Amazon without being an Amazon Mom- would be:
$40.88
for signing up to Amazon Mom's you get 30% off.
in my free American baby magazine (I got at BabiesRus) there was a 20% coupon
in my Parenting magazine there was a $10 off amazon order.
Shipping is FREE

So this is what I paid-
Item Subtotal: $40.88
Shipping and handling: $0.00
Subscription Discount: $-12.26
Promotion Applied: $-8.18
Promotion Applied: $-10.00
Amazon clip coupon: $-1.50
Total: $8.95

Ahhhh.... getting a deal like makes me smile :D

Day 30

Oh my Mr. Buzz. Addie and I went to the store together and she picked out Toy Story crackers for her brother! Notice Hudson's jammies and sippy cup are the famous buzz too :)

Day 29

The start of week 5! This weeks themes is the "Rule of the Thirds". For many this will not mean anything to you... :)
It's a Photographers term-
One of the first things almost every photographer is taught early on is the “Rule of Thirds”. This is a very simple rule that will transform your snapshots into works of art.
Basically put, a piece of art, in this case a photo is more interesting when the subject is not centered, but instead off centered 1/3 of the way into the photo.

This is a typical 4×6 photo divided into a “Tic-Tac-Toe” grid. In this case the vertical and horizontal lines divide the photo into “Thirds”. One set, is a left, middle and right thirds, another set is top, middle and bottom. We will refer to these as the Rule of Third’s Lines. The for points where the lines cross each other, we will refer to the Rule of Third’s Points.

So as a rule, your photo will be more interesting if your subject appears at one of the 4 points or uses the lines to divide the photo.

This was just a quick shot of Makenna talking on her play phone to her "other mom" so she informed me! Notice the spacing? Another alternative to dead centered images :)

Day 28

Last day of my repetition week!
buckling in my children is very repetitious :) It's been nice- Addie and Kenna can buckle in most of the time by themselves and we just double check!
So If you know me- I'm a bit of a carseat safety patrol :) I'm extremely anal on carseat safety and read probably too much on carseats etc...
The only thing I do not skimp on is safety for my children. Carseats expire after 6 years- and here's an article to read if your interested.
safetysquad.typepad.com/safety_squad/2007/08/why-do-car-seat.html

InMarch of this year- The seat Makenna is in- was Addie's seat and it will expire then. So it's time for her to get a new one! BabiesRus is having a the Great Trade in right now- where you can bring in your old carseats and get 25% off a new one! We decided on the Britax Frontier 85. I love britax for numerous of reason... but love them even more that they've made a smaller seat vs the Britax Regents (what Addie was using) where we can continue to having Addie 5 point harnessed for another couple years.
Here is just a couple videos that made us decide to keep our kids 5pt harnessed for longer. I've seen a ton... but here's just a few.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kO8AxKbrM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2LFo8vVi04
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

Day 27

Well this is pretty repetitious for me...
after school pick up line! It's been nice living with my parents for the last 2 months- I haven't had to wake up the other 2 from their naps to get sister!

Day 26

Okay... so Hudson is an extremely picky boy. He has a texture issue with food or even with random things too- sand, dirt, rocks etc...
Hudson doesn't eat very healthy- he'll eat a few selection of fruits- no veggies, no rice- some different kind of noodles- but mostly he won't touch it. Oh and cottage cheese- he acts like we're feeding him poison. So needless to say- the boy doesn't eat very healthy. He has never like baby food... but he sure loves these- we call them squeezies. Hudson loves to feed himself and better yet- its packed with no added sugars and has a serving of fruit/veggies. He loves them! They are a bit pricey- so we stock up on sales at target and my brother found them on amazon for a fantastic price too!

Day 25

pretty much sums up what is probably the most repetitious for me. This is a family of 5's laundry for a week. 6 loads to be exact and actually I didn't get to Hudson's hamper today :)
Oh and the basket in the middle is the socks... the dreaded sock sort.

Day 24

"CHOO! CHOO!" We were given a train table from a friend- THANK YOU KIM! and Hudson just loves it! Hopefully Hudson will put down his sisters dolls to play with trains!

Day 23

My new favorite cheerios- Cinnamon buns! 1 cup = 2 weight watchers points! Sadly... a box goes so quickly here, as my kids like it too! :)

Day 22

Start of the 4th week... This theme is "repetition".
My life.- diapers. I've been changing diapers for a straight 6.5 years. The day will come that I will no longer be buying diapers... and I CAN'T WAIT! :)

Day 21

last day of the "winter" theme. This is what Oregon's winter has been for a little while! Where is the cold? where is the snow!?!?

Day 20

So the start of this new year brought many resolutions and one major one for me is to drop all this baby weight! I've added to each kid and my goal is get to what I was when we were married 7.5 years ago! So I've tried some pretty good weight watchers recipes... and I've been so proud of everyone for trying them! Addie is by far my pickiest eater -- and she's thrown quite a few fights at the dinner table. The other day Addie asked Auntie and Grandma when I was going to make a "normal dinner". So tonight I thought we'd eat left overs and made the kids macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets! She was one happy camper tonight :)

Day 19

Pretty typical for Oregon :) blue skies accompanied by dark grey nasty looking sky!

Day 18

Day 17

So today was actually a gorgeous Monday! I just never got outside to take a picture of the delightful "winter"...
So instead... after dinner I went to Gap for-40% off. If you know me... I LOVE gap clothing! They wear so well and fit my kids perfectly! It's hard finding clothes that hang good on all 3 different body types! Mr. Hudson is growing so fast- it's insane! He is in desperate need of clothes- and WOW! did I score! I was able to get Hudson 11 shirts and 4 pair of pants for--- GASP- $41.50!!!
I love good deals :)

Day 16

We stayed home today...
it was another gloomy raining day!

Day 15

Start of the 3rd week of my 365 Project! This weeks theme is winter.
I wasn't going to go follow the theme this week as it isn't near as fun to photograph winter this time of year in Oregon as in other states! A ton of other Photographers have these amazing snow 365's and I love em'! Not here though!

So I had to run to our storage unit to get a few things and on top of the storage unit while finding what I was looking for... the sound of the rain was so intense that I guess this would be a great first winter 365!
Winter in the Great Northwest!

Day 14

The girls had a game night with Aunt Gail and our cousins! What fun!
As my last Resolution for this weeks theme-- I will do my best to spend more time with my Family. My girls just love spending time with everyone!

Day 13

day 13 of my theme Resolutions...
I was going for "don't sweat the small stuff"... but his feet aren't all that small anymore :)

Day 12

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Day 11

7.5 years of marriage 3 kids, Husband working nights, small business to run... needless to say- we lack much of a dating life and sadly in our busy hustle and bustle I tend to put my husband on the back burner. I love you Chris and I promise to make more time for just the two of us from here on out! Wanna go to the movies on your next day off?

Day 10

We are determined to clear away our debt! In order to do so- having a budget is the only way we'll clear away what we got ourselves into.

Day 9

It's Sunday! It's menu and grocery shopping day!
My biggest problem with eating healthy is making meals! :) Chris, Addie and Hudson can be very picky- but I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! We're eating healthier- so deal with it!:)
It's a lot easier to stay on program when I'm cooking with my mom and sister!
We make a menu on Sundays- go grocery shopping and then- go off the menu each day of the week! Last week we tried 3 new weight watchers recipes and they were big hits- especially with our 3 picky eaters- Papa, Chris and Addie!
This week our Menu is:
all weight watcher recipes and 10 pts or LESS meals!
Monday - Chicken teriaki steamed with broccoli, carrots and green beans served with steamed rice for the non brown rice eaters and a tossed salad.
Tuesday - 3 bean and veggie Chili and whole wheat roll
Wednesday - lean steak fajitas, black beans with whole wheat high fiber tortillas fresh salsa Spanish rice and tossed salad.
Thursday - weight watchers chicken Parmesan tossed salad, garlic bread
Friday - lean beef stew with mixed veggies and red potatoes! (this recipe looks sooo good)

Day 8

So... The 2nd week the theme is Resolutions! I generally do not have resolutions as I generally do not finish them- but I'm determined this year! :)

So if you know me- I'm a coffee, flavored creamer and cracker/cereal lover. I could just snack and drink coffee daily instead of eating meals. This is bad- and I know it. I'm not willing to completely stop drinking coffee, but I'm limiting myself to 1- maybe 2 cups of coffee a day and to choose healthier food to snack on instead of the crackers I give my children! Starting this past week I've even gotten Kenna to ask for carrots for a snack instead of the crackers!

Here's to a healthier start of 2011!

Day 7

Last day of music! My dad has so many guitars and basses and this one is my favorite! Love the look! maybe someday I'll learn? eh dad?