Day 200/365 - We Had FUN Today!

And here's proof:

A. and her friend. 

All of us. 

Yes, we're classy. 

And everyone's favorite - especially the middle photo, entitled "What Happens When We Tell EJ to Look at the Camera"

Day 199/365 - Daily Posting, What?

I'm trying to get back into this groove, honest. I even remembered before dropping A. off for a day at Yale!

So here we all are - at 8:30am, after checking her in for the day. We're adorbs. We know. 

Here's a gratuitous EJ shot. At the Peabody Museum this afternoon. He LOVES visiting the dinosaurs. 

Day 198/365 - Rocking the Vote!

Election Day, 2014. 

My kids come with me each time I vote. They learn about process and participation and get cool stickers!

We voted!

Day 197/365 - Playing Catch Up!

I may still be bad at posting, but I have been taking more group photos! 

Case in point:

Our family photo on Thursday. Ready for bed, immediately following!

Our family selfie on Saturday!

And finally:

Today's brilliant shot!

I did miss a family photo on Halloween - though I got photos of the kids in their costumes:

 A. was Levy McGarden, a character from the anime, FairyTail. EJ was Rocket, a character from the movie, Guardians of the Galaxy. 

I did take a selfie with my computer, but no group shot. Oops. But I didn't dress up - I let the kids star in their Halloween. 

My favorite Halloween shots were a bit more close up:

and

But I also snapped shots of what they wore to school that way:

and 

And now we're into November already. How has that happened?

A month for gratitudes - and I like to make sure my Novembers express that. 

So, because I missed yesterday, my two gratitudes for today are in alphabetical order:

Alex

and

EJ 

I am beyond thankful for these deranged mackerel every day. 💕💕

Day 196/365 - Not All the Days are Lovely

And yesterday, Monday, fell into that category. 

For anyone unsure, let me make this clear - parenting a teenager is challenging. Also, parenting a preschooler is not without its difficulties. 

Finally, I need to reevaluate my budget and be sure to include money for boxes of wine. 

So, yeah, I did get some knitting done, but there was no family photo. 

Honestly, though? I'm okay with not photographing (and remembering years from now) the tense interactions between us all from yesterday. 

When I'm senile, I'd rather not remember the yelling, the grounding, the exasperation. 

Instead, I'll look back at the photo from today, taken after dinner, after watching my 13yo and my 4yo play a rousing game of Life. 

I may not have played the game, but I enjoyed watching their interaction - and all of our conversation. 

The grounding will last for another ten days (at least) and won't be the last time. I'm sure. And the little one will continue his share of annoying me. I know. But there are moments, sometimes exceedingly rare, that are good. And those are the moments worth capturing and worth remembering. 

 

Day 195/365 - Autumnal Adventures!

I took so many photos today. I took a LOT of the kids:

(trunk or treat after church this morning)

(getting lost in a corn maze)

(ignoring me)

(demonic, with alpacas)

(waiting for a hayride)

I even took some selfies:

But I'm happy to announce that we got family shots with GUSTO. Not only were random strangers willing to snap a photo when asked, we had a couple of people offer to take some for us, too. And, you know, our ubiquitous group selfies...

Picking out our pumpkins after church. 

About to start our first ever corn maze!

Being flying monkeys. Kinda?

On a hayride. 

It was cold. And A. pretty much hates that I've restarted this project. 

Bam.

 

Family. 

Together. 

And we even had FUN today, too!

Day 194/365 - One Day In...

And we missed another day already!

Sort of - there was a decent reason we didn't do a family photo for Friday. We never saw each other, together.  The kids have different wake up times, so EJ doesn't get up until A. is already gone. And I had to work in the evening, so Grandpa got them from school and the bus stop. By the time I got home, they were both asleep!

I got a couple of awesome photos for Saturday, though. 

The first is my costume for work: Dr. Waldo. 

Be jealous. 

For some reason, the kids were reluctant to be seen in the same neighborhood as this costume, let alone photo...

But I did get one!