January 31

I am getting incredibly spoiled spending my days on the Serenity Deck!!

January 30

Prime Real Estate for a Beautiful Sunset

January 29

Having fun exploring the ship and acting goofy

We set sail today to celebrate our 20th anniversary!!

January 28

~A special and fun day spent with My Mom and My Daughter~

I really enjoyed being the middle generation as we shared time together.

And as the day turned into evening,

 I really, really loved watching my girl teach her Gram how to knit!!!

January 27

Extreme Makeover~ Dance Studio Edition

Day 5

The big project was put on hold while we waited on this super cool "Lift" to arrive.

It is essential for getting a 90 lb piece of Sheetrock from the floor to the ceiling.

My Dad drove over 10 hours today from their house to ours.

My husband worked hard for our family for many hours today.

And yet, late on a Friday night, here they are still serving and loving others.

January 26

Getting ready to celebrate Chinese New Year with some artistic Fourth Graders

January 25

"I went and washed that gray right outta my hair!!"

I love haircut day.

In the past 365 days, I've had several haircut days.

I've tried to be brave enough to take the picture sitting in my hairdresser's chair.

But my crazy lion's mane covered with hair color sorta scares me.

January 24

~Adventure Day~

My girls made the most of their day off school!

For Emma, it was the American Girl Store with friends,

while Bess spent many hours dancing at BSA!!!

January 23

If a picture's worth a thousand words,

I wonder how many musical notes it's worth?

 Rachmaninoff has been playing continuously throughout the past few nights.

Her audition is tomorrow.

I have a feeling she is rehearsing in her sleep.

Rest well, dear ballerina....

January 22

~A very fun afternoon with my girls~

January 21

~So magical to wake up to a Snowy Saturday~

January 20

Loved getting to watch Bess rehearse her audition solo~

Thank you, Ms. D'An!!

January 19

~Headaches~

 I do not love them so much.

Thankful for my cozy, warm, neckwrap

January 18

Extreme Makeover~ Dance Studio Edition

Day 4

View from the other side of the plastic....

D-U-S-T-Y!!!!!

It's coming together.... a piece at a time

January 17

We have had the BEST time listening to Scott laugh as he reads this book!

Thanks, sis and John for a perfect Christmas gift for our VOLUNTEER!!

January 16

Extreme Makeover~ Dance Studio Edition

Day 3

5 Faithful Friends+ 11 Hours Working Outside=1 New Roof

and an extremely grateful family!

THANK YOU,

Klas, Chris, Gary, Matt and Christopher!!!
You blessed us abundantly by giving your time and energy to this project.

January 15

Extreme Makeover~ Dance Studio Edition

Day 2

Roof Demolition

Scott, Chris and Bess (for a bit) braved the elements to remove the roof.

I'm not a big fan of heights. This does not look fun to me.

Emma and I chose to wait to get in on the action until it was at ground level.

Pitching trash into a dumpster...that's more like it!!

January 14

Extreme Makeover~ Dance Studio Edition

Day 1

Operation Ceiling Removal

Scott and Klas~ hard at work removing the ceiling and discovering a WET roof.

I opted to stay on the dust-free side of the plastic partition.

Good work, men!!

January 13

Dancing Feet 

In Flip-Flops...In January

(I do know that the plural of "foot" is "feet" and that this is a singular "foot".

It was late...on a Friday..and for some reason, I only focused on one.)

Perhaps I was overloaded on Plurals after this week's Spelling Theme...

January 12

What a beautiful sight after a long day at work!!

Not only was dinner delicious, it was a lovely gift hearing our girls cook together!

January 11

In the name of God, I, Lauren, take you, Scott, to be my husband, 

to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better for worse, for richer for poorer,

in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish,

until we are parted by death.

This is my solemn vow.

~Happy 20th Anniversary~

January 10

I just may have mentioned this before...

I LOVE finding notes from my loved ones!!

This one came tumbling out of my teacher bag this morning

 and put a big smile on my face for the rest of the day!!

Then after school, the other two members of my family showed up

 with a Diet Dr. Pepper and Milk Duds.

Do I feel loved or what?!?

P.S. Please, no judging my post-school day unhealthy nutritional habits....

January 9

4:15 p.m.~View from my driver's seat

Loved leaving school in a beautiful snowstorm!

January 8

Why is it much more fun to decorate the Christmas tree, than to un-decorate it?

January 7

Audition Day

January 6

~A New Beginning~

January 5

One daughter brought home an English essay filled with comments such as:

"truly superior", ""superb", "excellent word choice", "mature sophisticated prose".

Our other daughter's geometry teacher called tonight just to say

"She is a joy to have in class", "She is articulate","conscientious","a hard worker".

He said some other things about how wonderful she is.

But she's going to be embarrassed enough by this.

 I should probably quit bragging now.

My regularly scheduled photography blog will resume tomorrow.

Right after my bout of severe Momma-Pride subsides.

January 4

I had such fun putting all this year's Christmas cards in a scrapbook today.

Thanks to a creative friend for sharing this idea!

January 3

What do you suppose is hiding in those clouds?

Could it be S-N-O-W? Please, oh, please!

January 2

~Making the most of our last day of Christmas Vacation~

January 1

Happy New Year!!

There is something so fresh and promising about opening a new calendar.

Before any birthdays, appointments, celebrations, events are assigned their place,

I enjoy taking a moment (or two or three) to imagine what the coming year holds.

What dreams will be achieved? What disappointments might come our way?

What will make us laugh? What will make us cry?

How will we love others and how will we be loved?

Whatever comes my way, I'm thankful for the assurance that God gives me

"Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside!"

Here's to 2012!!