mon, 1/11...day 11

Happy third birthday to my youngest nephew, Rolly! This photo is from Thanksgiving, when it was as chilly and drizzly as it is today.

(And I recognize that jacket! Love that Garland's family has been able to use and enjoy so many of the gently-worn clothes that we've sent their way.)

sun, 1/10...day 10

A flashback to yesteryear: My first two sons, enjoying some cuddle time with Mom. Check out that dazzling smile on my eldest and those chubby cheeks on my (then) youngest!

(Side note: my three brothers are featured in the photo just above us on the couch.)

sat, 1/9...day 9

Scenes from a neighborhood walk.

The water in this puddle was so still, it made a perfect mirrow. Loved seeing how the bare branches of the trees made patterns in the reflection.

The road we walk down to see the goats (the first goats - not the ones we just found :D). Locking mailbox stations have slowly replaced individual mailboxes around here due to rashes of mail theft.

fri, 1/8...day 8

This is Cory's fish kite from the May Day parade last spring. It now lives in my office, peeking over the top of an unused monitor.

Love having bits and pieces around to remind me of my kidlets when I'm working away in the office.

thu, 1/7...day 7

At Carissa time yesterday, Niall created a "Carissa sculpture" in one of the stretchies. Very artful, hmm?

wed, 1/6...day 6

The goat kids we discovered in our neighborhood over the holidays are so cute. Makes me want one! That's what I need, right? Goats to take care of!

Actually, it's tempting sometimes. Maybe not right before we head off on multiple travel adventures this coming year, though.

tue, 1/5...day 5

Cory is peeking out to see what I'm up to in the backyard. If I'm "gone" too long, he's compelled to come look for me. I might have been whisked off by aliens - you never know! :D

mon, 1/4...day 4

The Daily Dish (Andrew Sullivan's news/political blog) has a feature called "The View From Your Window" where readers send in a photo that is, as it says, the view from their windows, wherever they happen to be all over the world. It's fascinating. They even published a book of these photos before the holidays.

This isn't the most compelling "view from your window" (even in my own life). But it's the view from my office so I see it every workday.

sun, 1/3...day 3

Every year I make photo calendars from photos of the kids taken the previous year. It's a big project going back over all the 1000's of photos (especially this past year, with Project 365!), finding a good assortment of horizontal photos or cropping pictures to make a horizontal out of a vertical, including some of each kid, paying some attention to birthday months, holidays, etc.

Uploading the photos and creating the calendar (I use Shutterfly) is the easy part! :-) Though this year they have colored borders to choose - that added a bit of challenge (they've always been just white before).

I always make one for my dad and Marian, one for Candi, one for me, and then sometimes other people whom I think might enjoy them (without getting tired of Another Kid of Stacia's month after month :D).

I love having mine up in my office. This is the first photo of the year.

sat, 1/2...day 2

Today is my sister Sieglinde's 50th birthday! Wow. Even typing that just blows me away. One of the great things about having a sister just 20 months older than you is that you have a little over a year to slowly get used to the idea of the next birthday. I need that time to get ready for 50, believe me! :-)

This photo was taken by my grandmother one year when we were visiting for Christmas (as we usually did when I was young). You can see me trying to sneak into the side of the picture (groan), and then my cousin Tanaya and my beautiful sister!