Valentines Day Preview

Just submitted our annual family Valentine for production and, while the pics were handy, I thought I would join in the I Heart Faces fun this week.  A first!






I started our annual Valentines Day greetings (in lieu of Christmas cards) when Allan and I were first married. I borrowed the idea from a very hip chick in Charlotte and we've been sending out love notes ever since.

As our family grew and as  I benefited from one less responsibility during an increasingly hectic holiday season, the tradition took on an air of ingenuity.  Over the years, though, I have continued to push the envelope (pardon the pun) by waiting until the last possible moment to decide on a theme, figure out photos and move the project into production.  And this year is no exception!  Here I am at the 11th hour and the photos went straight from the camera to the production house.

Someday I'll figure out all the cool editing software that my husband treated me to.  Add a little twinkle to the eye...brighten the background...enhance the skin tone... 

Until then- who loves you, baby??!!

My Readers

I LOVED reading when I was growing up (and still do). I would stay up late with a flashlight under my covers secretly reading after "lights out."


My grandparents had a whole wall of built-in book shelves that were packed full of books..."War and Peace", encyclopedias, my mom's yearbooks, Time-Life "How To" books and hundreds and hundreds of others. But across the room was a smaller built-in shelf tucked behind the door.

The bottom shelf was filled with children's books. One of the first things I did each time I visited was to settle myself behind the door and read every single book.


Here's a peek at our book nook.

I love when it is messy, crammed full of books stacked the wrong way and with books spilling out onto the floor. That means someone's been reading!

2011: A New Year and...

...a new dog!   Meet Rusty.  Or "Rustin" when we need to use a more formal version like when he is getting scolded as in "Rustin Foster!" (reference Special Features below).

 Rusty is a our "new" dog.   Rescued from a shelter, we were able to save this cute little dachshund.  We know very little about his past but have discovered several good qualities already.

He likes long walks...

And lounging (on the couch) in the sun.  And chewing (guarding his extra-durable chew toy below).

He is EXTRA long...

And gets along fabulously with our ORIGINAL wiener (pronounced "ween-air"), Peanut.

Rusty has some "special" features that we are monitoring:
- He doesn't recognize his new name so its almost like he's deaf at times.  We have no idea what his original name is and have had fun trying to guess by shouting out random dog names like "Spot" and "Billy" and "Cujo"...
- He jumps.  Up.  Onto chairs.  And then onto table tops.  And then opens a bag and eats an entire bagel.  Ugh.  We haven't dealt with a "scavenger" before.  We are hoping he is just trying to come up to his fighting weight and then will ease up on the enthusiasm for food.
- He is tireless when playing fetch with his chew toy.  Hopefully better weather will mean longer walks and less obsession with indoor fetch.

But overall he is a wonderful addition and it feels like he's been here forever.

And 2010 Ended With Snow!

Welcome 2011!

Wrapping Up 2010: Christmas Day

Once again we completely and totally overdid it! But boy...was it fun!

Overstuffed stockings...

...and a new bike for Maclaren.

1,000,000 Legos for Angus...

...And warm, woolen mittens.

There was magic...

...and music.

And relaxing...

...and laughing.

It was the best day we could hope it to be!

Wrapping up 2010: The Night Before Christmas

Aunt Johanna hosted a cocktail party.

Where the drinks flowed...

And the conversation never dulled...

And we all felt festive in our holiday attire...

(Styling for Maclaren by Maclaren)

And the lights twinkled in anticipation of Santa's arrival.

2010 Lookback: A Christmas Tradition

We have a Christmas tradition/adventure that we share with a friend and her kids. It started as an adventure a few years ago when we ventured to Fort Mill to see a colleague's church production of a Singing Christmas Tree. For the past 2 years we've minimized the adventure component and settled for the Oven's Auditorium production.


Here are a few snaps of the girls (this was the first year we included the boys). Maybe more of a flash-forward (to the teenage years) than a look back?