Mulberry Street

Eric started a blog.  (Insert *Gasp* here.) I've been after Eric for while to contribute to my blog (hmm, I guess it wouldn't be my blog anymore if he did), but he doesn't have a lot of spare time.  And, to be honest, when he has spare time I want him to spend it on me or the kids.  So I let it go. However, Eric discovered that he can blog completely from his phone.  What can't that phone do?!  Now Eric can blog when he's riding in the elevator or sitting in a cab.  It seems to work out well, especially since I get to read what is going on his head.  Eric is a great writer too and has a knack for articulating the mundane. His blog is titled "The Fourth Discipline" and to understand what that is all about, you'll have to go to his blog and read the right sidebar.  http://thefourthdiscipline.blogspot.com/   The one thing I didn't anticipate about Eric's blogging, is that it would give me peace of mind.  When he sig...

I have to constantly remind myself not to compare Emory's development, or the rate of his development, against Genevieve's when she was a toddler.  Emory is his own person and he isn't shy about sharing his boisterous personality.  Enjoy.

I'm really proud of these photos.  It's the first time that I shot in manual, like really took photos and not just messed around.  Even though I was nervous that my shots would come out blurry, I never once turned the dial over to P or AV or auto (I've done that a lot since getting this behemoth of a camera body).  I manually set the ISO, the white balance, the shutter speed, and even manually focused the lens for a handful of shots.  And, gratefully they turned out.  I have to admit that shooting outside on a cloudy day is the number one reason these photos turned out so well, but I did have a teeny bit to do with their outcome.   In case we don't get a massive snow storm this winter, we have to take advantage of any snow accumulation and play when we can. Even a half inch's worth of accumulation will do. We stuffed ourselves into snow clothes, tied a rope onto the sled and went sledding or skating, rather, over the crusty "snow." ...

A happy belated birthday to Eric.  It took three months and is over a month late, but I finally finished his birthday present.  I wrote up all my thoughts from our anniversary trip to the South of France, made a Shutterfly book, and bought a few of the staples we enjoyed there last June.  While he looked through the pictures and ate his pain o'chocolat, I read him my thoughts.  It was fun to re-live our trip. You can see the book I made below, but I'm not sharing my thoughts with anyone but Eric.  Enjoy! Click here to view this photo book larger Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

Los Angeles Temple   Photos by Alisha Photos taken on December 4, 2011

I think prison stripes should be more colorful.  Everyone would be a little bit happier.  Don't you think?

The kids had flashlights out so we turned out the lights and had some fun.  It wasn't until Emory melted down and headed to bed that I thought to pull out the camera, so Genevieve is the only light scribe here.  I set the shutter speed for 2.5 seconds, which was barely long enough to capture any of the light but terribly long for Genevieve's attention span.  Regardless, she had a great time dancing around and then checking on her shapes.  

It's mostly chatter and nonsense, but we can now identify more and more words (or repetitive sounds) from Emory.  He still signs a little and tries very hard to communicate when he really wants something, so we're making progress on the talking front.  Here's a sampling: buck-ooooh = buckle          kit-T = kitty          oooowt = out          mama = mama dadda = daddy          zhea-zhea = Genevieve          bAAh = ball          boooook = book peas = please          mwik = milk          shuz = shoes          by-poh = diaper booooots = boots      ...

Genevieve can be the sweetest girl on the planet and then in an instant morph into the sassiest, most unpleasant girl I've ever met.  Nobody told me that mood swings started up in the preschool years.  I thought the drama didn't jump start until age 13.  I've started daily explanations about how her attitude affects everyone around her.  I read this on babycenter.com recently "...though a preschooler is much more capable of rational thought than a toddler, she's still ruled by her emotions, and can turn on a dime from a happy-go-lucky kid to a flailing, wailing wild thing."  It makes me feel only slightly better. I get to pick out Genevieve's clothes for church and preschool.  All other times Genevieve gets to dress herself.  Her choices range from all one color (regardless of patterns) to all one pattern (regardless of colors) to wildcard days when anything goes.  Her dress certainly keeps things interesting and easy to find in public...

I wish it would snow more and actually stick to the ground.  All this cold with no snow it pretty lame.  We took advantage to the slight snow flurry this afternoon to catch snowflakes on our tongues.  It was cold so we didn't last more than 10 minutes.  Hmm.  On second thought, maybe our little excursion has satisfied all of us.

I have a little time to blog , before my self-imposed bedtime.  I have so many thoughts running through my head, that I'm not sure anything I write will be at all coherent.  So, be forewarned.  Every time I go for a run, mindlessly change the laundry or do the dishes, my mind races with all the things I want to write down.  I've treated my blog as a journal, well mostly a photo journal littered with a few thoughts here or there, but a journal nonetheless.  When I go weeks without posting any pictures or thoughts, I am filled with anxiety about all the details of my silly life that I'll manage to forget.  Do you feel this way too?  I'll now attempt to remember all those details.  (Remember I warned you that this will be frantic and perhaps muddled.) Every night I say good night to Genevieve two or three times.  Each time I say "good night" she responds or rather pleads, "But...I want you."  Most nights I'm too tired, ann...

I totally fell for it.  I bought this jug of syrup with the impression that it was in fact "All Natural" maple syrup.  Well, guess what?  It is merely "All Natural Table Syrup."  There isn't even a drop of maple in it.  Eric and I consumed almost the entire thing thinking it was 100% maple syrup.  We felt very silly when we realized the truth and inspected the label more closely.  Apparently I'm not the only one bothered by this sneaky advertising.  See this article on Vermonter's ringing the bell on Pinnacle Foods.  I'm glad to see that someone cares about fools like me.

I'm just going to say it.  My husband is awesome!  Eric installed the cupboards and built the wall of  bookshelves you see here.  I know.  Awesome. -Base cupboards to hide the toys -Book shelves for...well, books (and all those knick knacks) -Recessed can ceiling lights to illuminate this dark basement room (It's like the angels sing every time I turn on the lights!) -Fresh coat of paint on all the walls -New/old curtains that allow the light to filter in -Framed photographs of our travels -Colorful rug to bring all the colors together Yup. Our rec room is fantastico.  A huge thanks to Eric (and I mean HUGE!), my dad (he's quite handy), my mom (she can make any fabric work), and my back (very reliable) for helping me complete this room. It only took three years, but, it was well worth the wait! I've somehow managed to put off everything else in life to get this project done in the last month. And now that the room is done, I can finally move on. ...

We bring out our ugly sweaters but once a year - to attend a Neil Diamond party.  To "gain entry" you must wear a sweater and bring a mug for cocoa.  Each year the number of ugly sweaters has declined, as people would rather don the current trends.  Disappointing, I know.  Eliza and I always stand side by side and say, "I like the hearts on your sweater."  "Thanks, I like your hearts too."  We may only wear the sweaters once a year, but we look forward to wearing them all year long. Emory inherited a hand-me-down, one-piece-suit in Christmas plaid.  It is awesome.  He's as festive as an ornament when he wears it! We were sick for most of December.  There were numerous runny noses, coughs, fevers, and even an ear infection (on top of teething).  It was awful.  So, when we were supposed to be partying it up with Mike and Al, we opted to stay home rather than share our germs with the new baby.  Instead, we went to the ...