Week 7

Dolphins, Cowboys, Saints, and Ravens: which team do you root for when your own team isn't playing? We chose the Giants… I told the boys I wasn't feeding them until they let me take their picture with all of us in our jerseys. I love their expressions. I used the timer and set it took a bunch in a row. I took a nap earlier, and wish I'd checked my hair, and could lose 30 pounds overnight, and the light isn't great: but this is us, and I'm looking forward to forcing these guys in to some more family pictures throughout the year. Day 43

This is the fabric postcard that I have been sending out as a part of my Month of Letters challenge. Awhile back I had made these "starter" postcards -- I layered the postcard, the batting and blue fabric, and did the edge stitching. I fused on the stem and hearts and am using some embroidery floss to very carefully do a asimple running stitch that just goes through the top layers and doesn't poke through the paper postcard on the back. When I made the starter cards, I wasn't intending to stitch, but these didn't look "finished" without a little bit of thread. I mail them in a clear plastic envelope and use a regular First Class stamp. Some people are purists and mail them "naked," but I like to give the fabric a little protection, it's a harsh world out there! Day 44

Even though they are twins, and people have trouble telling them apart at times, the boys are not identical. Will can roll his tongue, but Joe cannot. I wanted Joe to be sticking his tongue out at his brother, but he had a better idea: he suggested that he be rolling his eyes, which was an accurate representation of his opinion of the situation…Day 45

Even though the moon is full, we haven't seen the wacky behavior at school that we sometimes notice around a full moon. Watch, tomorrow will be ridiculous… I wish I had Googled "how to photograph the moon" before I stood out there for 10 minutes freezing my fingers off, because I was nowhere close to the right settings and as it turns out, was getting further and further from what I needed the longer I stood out there. I came in, Googled, and then ended up back out there 3 more times and finally got this shot, that I did crop for composition's sake… The settings I finally ended up with were: f/11.0 ISO 100 1/125 sec 300 mm. It could be sharper, but I did get quite a bit of really cool detail. Day 46

Miles and I were both trying to catch the drops, he was a little more successful than I was.

Will: Can we watch the Simpsons? Mom: I don't know, can you? Will: *May* we watch the Simpsons. Mom: {waiting} Will: Please…. Mom: {snap} {snap} {snap} Will: STOP TAKING MY PICTURE day 48

If I were smarter, I would have had the camera ready when we handed them their very own cell phones, but I didn't think of that until afterwards. They are no longer they "only ones" in their class that don't have a cell phone. They were completely surprised, so it was kind of fun to see the expressions on their faces as they began to understand. It wasn't untiL after I took this photo that I remembered that our mistletoe is still hanging. Also, yes, Will is wearing the same sweatshirt he was wearing in yesterday's photo. Day 49