Top 10 photos of 2011

I had this idea when I woke up from my nap today. Since everyone else is doing top 10 lists, I decided I would, too! Here are my top 10 favorite photos of the year! (Photos I have already posted on my blog at some point)

Enjoy! And once again, Happy New Year!

#10

There are several elements I love about this. I love the angle of this shot, and how you can see Lou's toes spread out. It is so summer-y.
I also love her orange dress with the turquoise chalk and the the fish sticker on her cheek :)

 #9

I was so pleased to get this shot at the zoo of the peacock with his feathers OPEN for a change!
I believe I 'softened' this shot on Picnik. I'm not sure why; either it was slightly blurry to begin with and I wanted to mask it or I just felt like editing it for fun. Though looking at it, it's a pretty stunning picture (in terms of natural beauty!) so it probably didn't need any editing.

#6

When I took these pictures in a little mini photo shoot, it was just after Josie started sitting up unassisted. I love how her little orange dress looks with her purple bow, and how the light catches her sweet baby hairs.

 #7

In another mini-photo session, we took the girls out to pose in front of this wheat field in Banks, Oregon right before a wedding. It was a HOT day. It was so scenic around this area though, golden wheat fields, little family farms, rusted out old tractors, cows and chickens and barns. I was having a field day with my camera ;) It was hard to choose which my favorite shot from this day was, actually. I do love the ones with both girls, but I choose this one because of the composition and the way Lou's dress is caught on the stiff wheat.

#6

Here is my handsome husband wearing one of his typical "do not take a picture of me right now" faces. I believe we were getting ready to go out on a nice date. We had a nice evening, and it felt a little like back when we were dating Yes, the shot cuts off his head somewhat - but when I take photos of people I tend to do this. I guess I like getting the face as the main focus, and don't mind if a little bit of the top of the head is not in the shot. How interesting are the tops of people's heads compared to their lovely faces, anyway?

#5

Ah, the saga of getting a puppy, then losing her, but really 'keeping her' at grandma and grandpa's! I love this shot because Tessa is really the FIRST puppy I found cute and actually even fell for. This shot makes me smile because I think it kind of captures her personality.

 #4

I posted this one recently. Of course it's pretty obvious why I like it. The girls look so sweet and happy together, and the Christmas lights make it a festive, interesting scene. Plus, you gotta love the matching outfits!

#3

This is the top of our Byzantine Catholic church. I have come to really appreciate and embrace my church home, as many people know. I like the composition of this shot and the colors. I like how the Byzantine rite has managed to maintain so many of the ancient traditions and visual experiences of the centuries. While an onion dome might make some people scoff because it reminds them of some foreign country - it makes me smile because I know I am part of something bigger and older than myself.

#2

Ah, this is me and my girls trespassing! In the lovely evening setting sun I was able to take some nice shots. That's Lake Sammamish in the background. I also picked some huge bunches of Queen Anne's lace and other wild flowers. I love how Lou is bending down to pick a flower.

#1

If I were to name this photo it would be called:
"Just Another Day in Paradise"
I love it so much. And that is why it is #1!
Obviously I love what this picture represents, but I also love the composition; with Kelly's green rocking chair and Lou's vintage nighty. I only wish Josie had a big bow in her hair - I think that would have topped things off nicely :)

 ***

Mary and Christmas

Hey! I was trying to think of a post I could write that would possibly be the last one of 2011 and I realized, it's Christmas time! For many non-Catholic Christians, this is the time of year where people are actually allowed to talk about Mary! How exciting! I realized I need to capitalize on that! :) (You know you have a nativity set and you know it would look pretty silly without Jesus' mother in it)

So, in order to help you delve into some questions you may have about the Virgin Mary, I have included a few articles (and videos!) for your viewing pleasure. Go ahead and take a look. I mean, what have you got to lose? If you are convinced that Mary's role in the church shouldn't be what Catholics say it is, then you will just have more fuel to help you out when this discussion arises, because you'll really know what the church teaches. If you aren't sure of what Mary's role should be, these can help you get started. If you think all the Christian stuff is for the birds...well, are you willing to bet your soul on it? I'm just saying.

One of my Christmas presents!
A statue for my garden :)

What did the early Christians (and church fathers) think of Mary?
http://www.catholic.com/video/how-did-the-church-fathers-explain-the-perpetual-virginity-of-mary

Mary, the Ark of the Covenant?
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/mary-the-ark-of-the-new-covenant

Mary, the Mother of God?
http://www.catholic.com/tracts/mary-mother-of-god

What does the Catholic church teach about Mary?
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marya1.htm

Do Catholics Pray to Mary (or the Saints, for that matter?) Fr. Baron explains!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6qCBNHCZkc&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL08BBC082C87E1DDF

Finally, remember what Kayleen said about Mary a little bit ago? (My personal experience with her)
http://www.whenkayleengrowsup.blogspot.com/2011/08/virgin-mary.html

(I'm in a Latin kind of mood :)

Have at it my friends! And have a happy, blessed New Year! Maybe 2012 is the year you have YOUR conversion and come into the church?! Harden not your hearts. God works in mysterious ways...

Peace on Earth and Mercy Mild

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

 Glory to the newborn King!

I love the Christmas season. It's all so beautiful. 

Thank you God, for your Providential plan. 

-God and Sinner Reconciled-

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

This n' That

I promised my friend Laura a little bit ago that I would show a picture of our angel tree topper. I got her at Michaels, of all places. I like her a lot. In the past few years we just had a big ribbon at the top of our tree. So, here she is in all her angelic beauty:

Although, I have to mention, one time I thought I heard our priest say that all angels were male. At least, all the ones mentioned in the bible are. Maybe it's not important what an angel's gender is...since they are not earthly creatures. But are they still created in the image of God? I'm just not sure. Does anyone know anything about that?

 This is how I choose to hang up the Christmas cards we receive this year. I think it's pretty simple/sweet. In years past I would just tape them to a cabinet in my kitchen. I love Christmas cards. They make me so happy to glance up and see the smiling faces of all the people we care about. I just hope we get a lot more this year - so far it's been a bit sparse! I hope if anyone needs our new address, they will ask, since we aren't in the same place as last year. If you read this and you hesitate about if you should send me a card or not - don't! Just send it - it will make me especially happy :)

I am still in the process of writing our Christmas cards. I am including personal messages along with our Christmas letter this time. I realized how much I enjoy getting a small little message from others, so I thought I would do it as well. Of course it is much more time  - consuming, but I figure it's worth it. I'd like to get those out by...Wednesday at the latest?

 And here are the two little munchkins I live with. Josie, as you can see, is really catching up to her sister in terms of her size! Well, this picture is a little deceiving, since she is in the forefront of the picture, but she is actually pretty tall and big for her age. I have really been enjoying dressing them alike these days. Louisa has those same Oshkosh overalls, she had just taken them off earlier. I found some great stuff there last time at the outlet store! How I love shopping for little girls.

Let's see, what else is going on around here? Well, I am happy to say I am all done with my Christmas shopping this year (a week early is extremely early for me.) I actually did much of it on Amazon. Let me just say: I don't know what took me so long to discover the glorious nature of shopping online. Of course, I discovered some of the pitfalls as well, but man, it still made life easier for me. I guess it's because now that I have two busy little kids so the idea of shopping all around wasn't as appealing (though I do somewhat enjoy shopping, normally) Anyway, Amazon really makes it easy to browse for stuff, choose your price-range, add and take things out of your cart, etc. etc. The biggest problem of course is: you see so much that you potentially want to get! And it's all right there at your fingertips! Yikes! I must keep a certain detachment from 'things' and of course keep in mind that 90% of what's on there is not a 'need' but a 'want.' But you know, as far as buying my Christmas presents it really worked out nicely (and I really didn't buy a lot. Between my family and Mike's though, we have three different gift exchanges!) Oh, and I also buy diapers on there...they are cheaper than Costco!

Well now I better scurry off (hehe; what am I, a mouse? :) and write Christmas cards and fold laundry and play with Josie which Lou naps. I hope all the Christmas preparations that are taking place at your house are going smoothly! Of course, remember what exactly we are celebrating - the birth of our Savior! All the decorations, gift giving, and feasting is about God's gift to us in the form of a perfect little baby.
Blessings!

Pretty Happy Funny Real - Almost Christmas time!

{Pretty}

There are just so many pretty things around the house right now,
as most of my Christmas decs are up. It's hard to choose!
The first pic is of some felt trees I made (got the idea from here)
{Okay, so who else is in love with Pinterest? So many ideas, so little time!!!}
I like my rosemary bush, too. Not only is it pleasing to the eye, it's useful!
Rosemary chicken tonight, anyone?
Thanks Trader Joe's!

{Happy}

So, this makes me happy because I found the frame at a thrift store and wasn't sure what I wanted to put in it.
I didn't want to have to buy a matte, and I didn't have many 5x7 pictures hanging around. So my
idea was to make it into a Christmas decoration.
 I was scouring my Catholic magazines, looking for something that would do.
Well, then my husband's Knights of Columbus magazine came it the mail, and what was on the cover but
this perfect icon-style image! He was a little disgruntled at first, but I reminded him he could still read all the articles in it,
even without the cover :)

{Funny & Real}

Ahhh, the annual fun of taking a Christmas card photo.
I am one of those who likes a 'perfect' (or at least close to it) looking shot
I like our family to look like the definition of "Christmas Card"
hehe; I am making myself seem really artificial and silly right now...I know.
But you know what, that IS what I like in a photo for Christmas.
So, the quest for a great shot commenced yesterday. (We used our tripod)
Needless to say, it took a while.....

Mike accidentally had the date and time stamp on...
A little off center as well.

There are Oh So Many more of these. 

Of course I know most people realize that when they get a Christmas card in the mail that there is a  whole other story behind getting that 'perfect' family shot. I still maintain that it's nice to have a nice shot of everyone. Also, one last thing: it's a pet peeve of mine to get a card with ONLY the kids. No no no no, I need to see the whole fam. The parents NEED to be in it. Think about it! The one receiving the card usually doesn't only love and care about your kids, but you as well!!! Let's see everyone's happy, smiling Christmas faces please!


See more HERE!
(I love her Christmas Stockings!)

Christmas kisses

I knew I married a good one!

I've always wanted to take photos like this...

I love it!

 I just need a little more experience with my camera to really get the lighting I'm looking for. But yeah, they are just so cute. The next picture I have, Josie has the lights in her mouth. I thought I'd leave that one out lest anyone think I was an irresponsible parent ;)

I'll post more pictures of our day of decorating the tree later. Right now I've got a friend coming into town and I'm pretty exhausted from preparing! Hope you are all having a peaceful Advent so far....only two more weeks 'till Christmas!!!

and here is one of Michael with a nose ring...

She's one!!

Nativity play set

Lou got this nativity set as Christmas present from her grandparents two years ago and even though she's picked it up from time to time, lately she can't get enough of it. I think she is just at that stage in her development where she is truly growing in her imaginative play. She likes to build things with her blocks, then use the little people. Or she will talk about Jesus and Mary and Jesus (She likes to have one of the wise men be 'grown up' Jesus :) Another favorite thing to do is to tuck them into bed and tell them to say their prayers and go to sleep. I think this is a great set for any toddler. I would definitely recommend it. Actually a lot of my 'mommy friends' have gotten it this year for their kids. It's super fun, thanks again nana and papa C!

Isn't it interesting how some toys are just 'hits'?

Even though Josie isn't quite to the 'imagination stage' - she still has a good time :)
Also she does do a good job mimicking her older sister (moving the little people around, talking to them) which I don't recall Lou doing at this stage. It's really amazing to see how much younger siblings learn from just observation.

Though it's a delicate balancing act, making sure she gets to join in the play at the same time not letting her destroy Lou's carefully placed scenes....it's hard work for this mama sometimes!

Saint Nicholas Party

Yesterday was our church's big party of the year in which we celebrate the life of Saint Nicholas of Myra. Mike and his family have been going to this party for many years, since he was little. This was only my second time going. In the years we have been married, we were in Pullman one year and I had Josephine last year just three days after the party, so I wasn't really in a condition to go. This party is a lot of work to put on, as it takes place at a big hall downtown as opposed to in our social hall. Actually this year Mike, as president of the men's group, was more or less responsible for putting it on. He did an excellent job and though there was a little crisis of not having any serve-ware, it all seemed to work out nicely. I know I had fun, and so did the girls! So what they do is have the children of the parish do a play where they act out some of the scenes from the life of Saint Nicholas. Then, "Saint Nicholas" himself comes out and gives presents to the children! Well, first he asks them an age-appropriate question about the faith, then they answer and receive their gift. Louisa's question was "can you do the sign of the cross?" She did it without being too shy! We were worried she might freeze up :) It was very cute, and today she keeps talking about Saint Nicholas. She asked me last night, "Where did he go mom?" I love that although the children do get gifts from Saint Nick, unlike the culturally-in-your-face- Santa Clause, Saint Nicholas taught people about God's love for us. He was generous with people not because of the nice feeling he got, but because of his love for God. This is the message our culture needs right now! Not pure consumerism, or worse, a Christmas disguised as an altruistic holiday with no basis in tradition or revelation of God's Incarnation.

I know I've mentioned before about how much I love my church home. One of the biggest reasons is that, because of our pastor, and the culture of life he has promoted, our parish is full of large families. Children are looked upon as an absolute blessing, no matter what. There are babies being born every year, and our parish isn't that big in terms of number of families. We are truly dedicated to the church's teaching on contraception and family life. (Check out this document for a little reading on the Catholic church's perspective on contraception - Humanae Vitae. It is actually quite good) Anyways, this post wasn't going to be about Humanae Vitae, but somehow every time I consider reasons I appreciate our church home is that I truly accept this teaching and believe it is God's plan for humanity. I am always touched to see the generosity in our families. It inspires me to be a better mother and a better Christian. Of course this isn't the only reason we are choosing to raise our children in this church and this tradition, but it sure is a big motivating factor. We love the liturgy, the historical significance, and the emphasis on prayer and devotion to the Christian ideal of living.

Saint Nicholas (patron saint of our children) Pray for Us!

My little Christmas tree baby!

Uncle Pat was there and helped watch the girls
as daddy was busy running around taking care of things!

Hello Saint Nick!

"Louisa, can you do the sign of the cross?"

Very pleased with herself :)

Long afternoon with no nap = two tired girls.
They are our precious gems
***

Prepare....

Fresh air

I have been working really hard to get us back on schedule over here. And part of that entails getting out each day for some fresh air. Even if it is rather cold, wet, and all around yucky out. Just a half an hour does the trick. Now we are home and have about two hours to wait for daddy to arrive home (he has to work on something at church after work) I can't wait. I've been really missing him while he's gone at work lately (even more so than I usually do.) I think part of it is that I'm preemptively missing him since he will be leaving us for a business trip soon (four whole days away!) Yeah, I'm so not looking forward to that. : / 

Well anyways, here are a few pics of those two cute girls that keep me so busy during the day (and night!) I cannot believe Josie is almost one! I got this coat out and it reminds me so much of Lou because she wore it at this age. It really feels like Lou just turned one! I would have taken many more but the space was out on this memory chip and I cannot locate the other chip we had (I am very frustrated. I believe it was Lou who took it out of the computer and put it somewhere.....)

I love her smile. Thankfully she seems to have ditched the teeth grinding habit (even though it kind of looks like she's doing it here, she's not; just smiling big!)