Mama got a new lens

The point of this blog is to share pictures and stories.  I haven't been very inpired, Christmas was so busy and then now I have a case of the winter blues!  But I got a new lens recently and that has made me want to pull my camera out more and take pictures.  I wanted an every day lens that would do better than the kit lens that came with my camera.  After much debate and research (if you know me at all, you know I'm a disaster at making decisions...) I settled on the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8.  My old lens only went to 4.5 and boy do those extra stops make a difference!  Here are some of the first shots I took - I actually think it's fun that some of them are distorted a little with the wide angle.  I'm hoping this lens is just waht I need to jumpstart me into 2012.

   

Dear 16-year-old me

This is a great video.  Watch it, share it, learn from it. 

Avoidance

I keep telling myself I'm done.  All presents purchased, wrapped and even (well, today they all will be) delivered to the houses where they will be opened.  But I've been kidding myself.  There is one last present not bought.  One I've been trying to forget about-and I'm not really sure why.  Kate asked for 2 things for Christmas.  A Rapunzel dress (in the bag, I know my girl, she didn't even have to ask for that one!) and a hairdryer.  A hair dryer??  What on earth does a 3 year old need with a hair dryer?  She knows I have one but it only gets pulled about about once every 2 weeks.

Here's my crazy train-of-thought coming out:  A hairdryer?  I don't want her to have a hairdryer.  I don't want her to feel like she needs to blow her hair dry to look nice (and if you know me, you know I don't believe hair dryers are necessary objects....although I sure do get more comments on my hair when I use them...).  What on earth is she going to use the hair dryer for?  I don't want to spend a lot of money on something so strange.  So, there must be toy hair dryers, right?  Because I can't have my 3 year old have something that plugs into the wall - she will electrocute herself!  But is there really such a thing as a toy hair dryer?  Why would the world need a toy hair dryer??

So I'm finally biting the bullet.  It's 3 days before Christmas.  Time to buy that last gift.  So I start my search online.  Why join in the store rush when you can check stock online?  Perfect.  First stop...Target.com.  Only plug-in dryers.  Toysrus.com, same thing.  Ok, ok, I could go to Walmart.com, kmart.com, etc, but if you're a mom you have amazon prime, right?  So I check amazon and their wonderful 2 day shipping site.  Bingo.  I knew somewhere in this messed up world there was a beauty set for a toddler.  My biggest choice now, is Disney Princess or Barbie.  Lord have mercy.

 

 So, here you go, my little girly girl.  I'm going to ride this wave because I'm not sure where it came from and a secret little part of me wants to know how long it will last and what it will develop into.  And you sure are cute when you strip down as soon as you walk in the door and put on your dress up clothes.   If I thought it was hard to get you out the door in the morning before, now you have all this primping to do.

Excuse me, Santa Claus? We're not ready yet.

 It's not that we aren't ready for Christmas.  Believe me.  We've been ready now for weeks.  It's just that we are having too much fun.  More Christmas carols have been sung, sugar has been consumed and the tally of total hours that our twinkle lights have been on are bigger than previous years.

Summer's new favorite phrase - "HO HO HO"

 I have been missing from blog-posting land and I blame it whole-heartedly on Christmas.  I barely have enough time to blog-stalk these days, let alone post.  Why sit in front of my computer when I can sing and dance along to Mariah singing my all-time favorite version of "All I Want for Christmas"??

Kate doing her full volume version of Jingle Bells

We are all decked out here and patiently awaiting Santa.  Eric, our resident house elf has been diligently reporting back to the North Pole each day, and the reports have been good! 

Latest Christmas project: Turning race medals into ornaments.  I've had an obsession with road races for about 10 years now and I have a bunch of finisher's medals to show for it.  Until now, they have been sitting in the back of a drawer collecting dust.  But thanks to dear Rebecca, who my mom and I pushed for Team Hoyt in the Surf n Santa 10 Miler, I've given them new life.  Great idea, Rebecca!!!
 

 

But that still doesn't solve my problem.  I want Christmas go to on for another 3 weeks or so.  Or better yet - until spring.  Because then there won't be any dreary winter blues.  Just twinkle lights, peanut butter balls, and Christmas carols.  Most people probably think I'm crazy.  But I love me some Christmas.

It's Here

"When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness."
- Bob Hope

waiting for Santa

Lost in Halloween...

...and everything that comes with it! I feel like we've been doing a ton, but I keep forgetting to share.

This is what we've been up to.

Visits to pumpkin patches (Yes, plural). Why go just once when they are so much fun?

wearing Halloween colors all day, every day. Well, except while at home-at home we wear our costumes at all hours.

Get amazingly excited on dress-up day at pre-school. This day also marks the day
we get to wear our costumes during meal times, and out of the house. It's a big day in
the Fine family, as you can see by the above picture :)


watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" over and over and over.
Teach Kate to look in her Trick or Treat bag and say "I got a rock."

carve jack-o-lanterns.

be grossed out by pumpkin guts.

give our jack-o-lanterns hair (obviously)

Then we went to our now annual Halloween playdate.

Peter Pan!


and Tink!

loving the bounce house


have you ever seen a tiger, a pig, peter pan, Tinkerbell, Spiderman and 2 Firefighters all sharing
a meal peacefully before? Must be those chicken nuggets. Or the promise of cupcakes if they
clean their plates.

And finally, create and eat/drink as many pumpkin-y and halloween-y goodies as possible. On our list this month so far we have: pumpkin bread, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting, pumpkin beer, apple cider, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin and witch hat sandwiches, mummy juice boxes, mummy pizzas, and mummy hot dogs! We got a little greedy and ate most of these before we could take pictures, but I have some mummy ones to share. Everything we made was so easy and the kids LOVED it!

made with googly eyes and white electrical tape

made on whole wheat bread with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese cut into strips and olives for eyes! toast the bread, assemble mummy and broil for 2 minutes.

It's safe to say that this family doesn't like Halloween. WE LOVE IT. It rivals Christmas. Seriously. Stay tuned for more costumed pictures from tonight. We are going for tricks or treats. Watch out, Ditchley Road!!!

Time flies when you're having fun..

October 17th, 1998 was the night of the Homecoming Dance in the Norfolk Academy Refectory.

**note: this is not the homecoming dance, or the NA Refectory! This is a picture from Jr Prom at Nauticus. If it had been the Homecoming Dance I would have most likely been in an oversized t-shirt tucked into jean shorts. Caught in a snapshot dancing to "Summer Nights" from Grease. Ooohhhhh, high school.

October 17th, 2011 I have 2 beautiful girls and have been married to my wonderful husband for 6 years! We will be enjoying a most romantic dinner at home, accompanied by an emotionally charged 3 year old and a 15 month old who would rather feed the dog than herself! Life is good :)