Budding Photographer

Monday, March 5, 2012

So yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, I was sending out some emails and Bethany was totally BORRRRED. So I gave her my camera and told her to have fun and go crazy. And she did. (I love an obedient child!) First, she decorated a headband with all kinds of flowers and had us pose. Move over, fashion models everywhere!

Mom, the "Surprised and Overjoyed to be Wearing a Flowered Headband" Look:



Bethany, the "Cool, Bad-to-the-Bone While Wearing a Flowered Headband" Look:



Daddy, the "Sure, I'll Wear This Thing Because I'm Wrapped Around Bethie's Finger" Look:



And if those weren't enough, she took even MORE pictures--stellar photography, each one of them, including things like . . .

Her chore chart:



Her pink polka-dot skirt:



The piano (albeit a little crookedly):



Me at the computer again (if you're wondering how I look as I blog, folks--why, this is it--mad scientist hair and all)!



Daddy reading a book:



And then she posed for a few herself:





Needless to say, 15 minutes later she had taken over 200 photos. I'll spare you the MANY shots of the carpet, the ceiling fan, the couches, the 20 pictures of her skirt, the walls, the close-ups of my shirt . . .

But she certainly had a good time! And I got my emails out. And then my memory card erased. And then the camera battery recharged. Hooray for the digital age! (Whatever did the pioneers do when they had to entertain their children so they could send out some emails? There's only so many times you can send a kid out to gather buffalo chips! :0)

Wednesdays with Tate and Jace

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Not to be confused with Tuesdays With Morrie. I assure you, Wednesdays with Tate and Jace are absolutely nothing like Tuesdays with Morrie!

They're a LOT more fun.



See, my wonderful sister-in-law works on Wednesdays at a dentist's office. So while she's there ("numb me . . .drill me . . .floss me . . .bill me . . .") we get to play with her darling, darling boys. We've been going at this for a few weeks now, and it's working out really well! Bethany gets the "sibling experience," (i.e., sharing her toys and my time and attention) and I get to bond with my adorable nephews, including lots of snuggles and smiles from two-month-old Jace. (AND I get a total biceps workout, since Jace's comfort mechanism of choice is to be bounced. Wow. I feel the burn.)

Anyway, it's been a positive experience for all. Bethie has enjoyed playing with Tate:



And snuggling with Jace (although I'm not too sure Jace enjoyed this particular snuggle):



Tate is the cutest big brother. Every so often, he'll kneel by the baby and rub his head against Jace's head. Then his (normally husky and low) voice goes SUPER high and he says, "Hi Jacey! Hi Jacey!" while he's nuzzling him. It's the cutest thing.



And I get to kiss THESE cheeks all day without once hearing, "Mo-om! Don't KISS me! I don't LIKE lipstick!" (Which I may or may not hear in my normal, day-to-day life.)



Oh, and in case you didn't catch those cheeks and want to see them again:



And judging from the kids' reactions, I'm a VERY exciting and entertaining caretaker:



Never a dull moment with Aunt Jenny. Nope. Anyway, the whole thing has been really good for both Bethany and me. I'm grateful for this chance to forge a stronger relationship with my nephews! And, although changing a baby boy's diaper is definitely a different experience, with the "outdoor plumbing" and all, I'm proud to say I've not taken one single shot to the eye . . .yet. :0)

Our (Thwarted) Valentine's Day

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Lest you get disheartened by the title, let me just say that our Valentine's Day wasn't ALL bad! Let's start at the very beginning.

Bethany woke us up on Valentine's Day morning, SO excited to give James the valentine she had made! So the first thing James saw on Valentine's Day (other than my crazy morning hair--he deserves more than one Hallmark for waking up to my hair each morning) was his sweet little Bethie with this card:



She made it all herself! Well, I typed the poem she wrote. And in case you couldn't read it, here it is again:



Okay, so that's a little fuzzy. Sorry. Anyway, that kid really loves her daddy! (So do I.)



Anyway, then she gave James the gift she'd picked out for him: a box of animal crackers from WalMart. (Hey, we spare no expense on Valentine's Day!) He loved it, of course, because it was from her. And then I gave him my card (also homemade and very romantic, if I do say so myself). He liked it. And then James surprised both of us girls with these gorgeous roses:



And I'll just say it right here, right now: no matter how old I get, I'll ADORE getting roses. It just never gets old for me! (Thanks, honey!)

Then I made heart pancakes:





Mock my hearts and die. I'm perfectly aware that they resemble a kidney more than a heart! But we knew what they were supposed to be and had fun eating them. (And, actually, hearts aren't technically "heart-shaped" either . . .) Anyway, Bethany dressed them up with red and white sprinkles, which looked very festive. Then we discovered, upon tasting them, that those sprinkles were peppermint flavored. I'm not sure peppermint is a flavor of choice for pancakes, but they sure looked pretty and the whole thing was a unique culinary experience!



Then James went to work and Bethany went to preschool. It was a BIG day at her preschool: the wedding of Q & U. See, the letters "Q" and "U" love each other so very much that they're rarely ever apart, so Bethie's teacher, Mrs. Turner, threw a big wedding for Q & U on Valentine's Day. She went all out--it was SO cute! She had decorations and wedding cake and a ceremony--and all of the little girls got to be bridesmaids and the boys were best men. They all had to bring a wedding gift that started with "QU" (show and tell) to celebrate. Bethie brought some Australian money with a picture of the "Queen."

Anyway, they all blew bubbles and then exchanged valentines. Bethie came home with so much candy--I really don't know when we'll eat it all. Especially because we haven't even really touched her Halloween candy! But she had so much fun!



And when I picked her up, she and I spent the afternoon planning a special Valentine's dinner for James. We made heart-shaped pizza:



We set the table with candles, chocolates, and presents:



And I put together a playlist on Grooveshark of all of our favorite love ballads. When James came home, he was so surprised! And then . . .

He got sick. (We later learned it was an inner ear infection.) Anyway, the poor man was so dizzy and nauseous that he couldn't even eat a bite of dinner. So he spent the evening on the couch, trying to keep from puking, while I put Bethany in the bathtub and did the dishes. Plans totally thwarted.

But the good news is that James is feeling better now and we're determined to have lots of make-up dates to compensate. Last week, we went to Who Shot Juanito Bandito? http://picklevilleplayhouse.blogspot.com/2012/02/who-shot-juanito-bandito-available.html which was fun. A good start. But we need lots of dates to compensate for a bummer Valentine's Day night! (You have to pay back the I-Was-Gypped-On-Valentine's-Day Bank back with interest. They charge lots and lots of interest!)

The right thing to say is that I guess the important thing about Valentine's Day is that we all got to be together. And that's true. But equally important was that I didn't have to eat any of those chalky conversation hearts, which I think taste terrible (right up there with Circus Peanuts and Necco) . . .

We'll look forward to next year!

Jace's Blessing Day

On Sunday, February 5th, 2012, Jace Gary Higham was blessed by his father (my brother), Benjamin Joseph Higham.

And that just sounded very formal, didn't it? Let's go back to the normal, casual tone of my blog, shall we? Anyway, isn't Jace just cuter than the dickens?! That little nephew of mine is such a sweetheart, I tell you. The blessing was wonderful. And afterwards, we all gathered at Jamie's parents' house for a yummy dinner and pictures! (Pictures are the M.O. at Jamie's parents' house. You do learn to brush your hair before showing up there. :0) And I love that they're so picture-takey, since I'm sorta picture-takey myself! (In case you haven't noticed.)

Grandpa and Grandma Higham with Ben, Jamie, Tate and Jace:



Three Generations:



(Tate was THRILLED to be having his picture taken. :0)



Proud Grandpa and Grandma:



And here's the whole group--more or less. We're missing a few (James was sick and at home, Ruby didn't want to be in the picture, and others weren't able to make it, etc.) But those of us who were there were happy to be there!



I can't believe how quickly time flies. It was just yesterday that we were all there in front of that same fireplace, taking pictures at Tate's blessing. Wasn't I just blogging about that? http://lymantime.blogspot.com/2009/04/picture-says-thousand-words.html

And now Tate is three. And Grandpa isn't with us anymore. And Julie and Chris have moved to Arizona. And there are a few more kiddos in the family. How quickly things can change! And now I'm waxing philosophical, sorry.

Anyway, back to the point: it was a great occasion. Love that little Jacer!

Not Only Tired, but RE-Tired!

This winter, a major thing happened in my family: my dad retired after over 30 years of working for Utah State University. And I don't think he's stopped smiling since!

The university had a big reception/open house for him and it was very well attended. Here are some pictures from Dad's big day!

Greeting His Public:



And His Posterity:







Here are Uncle Bill and Aunt Teri--and some guy whom we don't know at all whatsoever. But he has a nice smile. Welcome to my blog, Dude.



Did I mention Dad was VERY happy to be retiring?



And we were VERY happy to be eating that yummy open house food. They had quite a spread!



A big "Thank you!" to all of the friends and family who traveled from near and far to support my parents in this big milestone in their lives! (Although I don't think any of them read my blog.) And a big "Thank you!" to Dad for retiring. It's been nice to see more of you. We're proud of your great career; you definitely have an "A" in our books!

Snowflakes In, Snowflakes Out. Snowflakes, Snowflakes, All About . . .

Okay, I'm a little behind on my blogging, but never fear! I have the memory of a steel trap (a steel trap that's just a little rusty, and may or may not have a few holes in it). But I can remember this event as if it was yesterday, instead of sometime in January-ish!

The fact is, folks, that it's just not been a very snowy winter. In fact, if we had a few palm trees about, I'd swear I was in Santa Barbara. (Well, not quite, but you get the idea.) That's why James, the Bethie-Boo and I decided to take matters into our own hands and make some snowflakes of our own. We had a blast making these little babies and hanging them from the ceiling in Bethany's room:





And we were feeling mighty proud of them, let me tell you. THEN I walked into the city library and saw THESE:



It was then that I realized I shouldn't go into the paper snowflake-making business because let's face it--the library's snowflakes were way better. (It's okay. I'm over it.) And before you think I'm too weird for taking pictures of the library's decor, I'll have you know the librarian who made them was VERY flattered. She has since added lacy valentine hearts to the snowflakes on the ceiling--I like to think I had a hand in encouraging her talents.

Anyway. After we had our day of snowflake making, Heaven decided to join in on the fun! We woke up to see the REAL THING outside! And the Lord definitely does a better job at snowflake making. (He's even better than the librarian.) Anyway, Bethany was thrilled with the fresh white stuff. And I thought I'd better blog about our fun afternoon in the snow because that's probably the only one we'll have this winter! (Sigh.)

Sledding in the Backyard:











Okay, I realize that's a lot of photos. But I just thought they were all too cute to choose from! And, having said that, here are some more:

Snow Angel #1:



Snow Angel #2:



And if you're wondering whether or not I'm one of those moms who lets her kid eat snow from the backyard . . .



I AM. As long as it's clean-looking, I'm good. It's the American way. And part of a happy childhood, I'm certain. You may have noticed that there are no pictures of me in this post. There are two reasons for that:

1) I was taking the pictures, and

2) I'm a little hesitant to launch pictures of myself in my 1980's pastel pink snowsuit into cyberspace. Call me vain. Call me insecure. But let's just say that it would have to be snowing in a MUCH hotter place for me to even consider it!

Anyway, we had a great time during our one and only major snow day! And if it doesn't snow again, well--there's always good ole paper and scissors!