59/306

We took a trip to the camera store to try out a new lens.  They didn't have what we came for so we played with this lens instead.

58/307

Looking out the window on a rainy day.

57/308

My Sienna flipped 100,000 miles today. I felt an immediate rip in the security blanket with the flip of a few numbers because it meant my extended warranty is now expired. Thankfully it has been a really good van so I'm not too worried about a lot of future repairs.

56/309

I went on a very cold, wet and muddy field trip with Matthew today to learn all about maple trees and the makings of maple syrup.   Despite the two hours outdoors in the snow, it was a very informative and fun outing.

55/310

Today Emily turns 11!  These baking cupcakes are for her celebration tonight.

54/311

Yesterday was a trip to the grocery store.  This was taken with my iphone using a great camera app- Hipstamatic.

53/312

A photo to fill in for this day because I didn't take a new one.  This is Parker, my newest nephew when he was one week old.

52/313

Coming soon to a baby girl near me (and maybe you too.)  All those balls of yarn from my Jan. 10th photo was crocheted into this blanket for my new niece, expected to arrive this week.

51/314

During our adoption journey we learned that the Chinese regard ladybugs as good luck symbols so while shopping one day I found this ladybug garden stake and put in on our back patio to remind me of the good fortunes on the way.  It is still there and I caught the light of our campfire coming through.

50/315

Two weeks ago we had a foot of snow on the ground and the photo was of our fire inside the house to keep warm.  Now it's 70 degrees and we had our first outdoor fire of the new year; we must live in the crazy-weathered Midwest.

49/316

Dailyshoot.com suggested a photo today that had yellow as the focal point.

48/317

We've had unseasonably warm weather for February so the kids have been outside as much as possible. Claire was putting her Valentine bubbles to great use.

47/318

The moon made a late afternoon showing one day this week.

46/319

I got very lovely roses yesterday for Valentine's Day.

45/320

Happy Valentine's Day!

44/321

43/322

Today we took our oldest daughter, Emily, to the middle school to try out band instruments for next year. As good as she looks playing the trombone (her dad's instrument) she ultimately chose the clarinet. With her focus and determination it wouldn't surprise me to see her master more than one.  I think we are just as excited as she is; two band geeks finally getting to be around band again.  Bring on the band boosters!

42/323

A few bars of my latest batch of homemade soap; this one is honey oatmeal and has finished its 6 week cure.  I use oat flour so there are little scrubbies in it but nothing too large and scratchy.  I love the scrubbies to exfoliate but some members of our family don't; I guess that means I get to put on my scientist garb and turn the kitchen into a lab again.

41/324

Today Dailyshoot.com challenges to take a photograph from a different perspective than normal.  So there I was, laying flat on the floor right along with the dog.  Toby is fairly lazy and spends most of the day like this while the kids are at school.

40/325

This is a filler photo that I took last fall.  I can't wait for all this snow to end and the flowers to return.

39/326

A cold, snowy picnic by the lake.

38/327

This is a photo of Jacob and Claire from last fall.

37/328

This is an older picture I pulled out of the folders. This was the day before school started last fall and we made sure all the pencils were sharpened for the upcoming homework.

36/329

Today was a nice lazy Saturday afternoon watching TV, playing in the snow and staying warm by the fire.

35/330

34/331

For some reason I had this uncontrollable urge to take something brightly colored out into the white snow

33/332

Afternoon sun shining through my bottle of homemade vanilla extract; my husband says it looks like worms in a jar of formaldehyde.

32/333

Our cherry tree on the back patio is encased in ice, just like every thing else in sight here.