Day 57

057/365

Does this picture need any explanation, or am I the only who seems to constantly be surrounded by a pile of laundry? I chose to take this photo today because, of course, there will never again be a pile of laundry this big. From this point on, I will always stay on top of it. Always...until next week!

Day 56

056/365

With winter drawing to a close, we are squeezing in a few more of our favorite winter recipes. Rachel Ray's Smoky Sweet Pototo Chicken Stoup...YUM-O! I probably could have taken a better photo, but I was hungry!

Day 55

055/365

Attack of the Dinosaurs!!! Could this be the next Godzilla??

While looking around for something to shoot, I spotted this dino on top of Will's train set and it made me laugh. I am trying to teach him to keep like toys together, but in his mind, dinosaurs and trains go hand in hand. I love the way children think. I wish I were more like that.

Day 54

054/365

One of my beautiful birthday flowers still hanging on. It's a good thing roses are so beautiful, because they sure don't last long!

Day 53

053/365

An appropriate expression for a Bad Hair Day. I tried to mess up Gemma's hair in honor of her shirt, but you just can't mess up peach fuzz. On the other hand, I don't remember the last time I had a GOOD hair day!

Day 52

052/365

35 sounds old.

I didn't take this photo, but I did give the instructions. The actual credit goes to my talented hubby. This was by far better than my cupcake pics.

Day 51

051/365

My little Mozart.

Day 50

050/365

Sleeping like babies.

Day 49

049/365

Some friendships last a lifetime. I am so thankful for our college gang. They introduced me to a whole new world. They have had such a positive influence on my life. I know I can always count on them. Love you guys!

P.S. Todd and Stacie, that's a little Froyo cup on the table for you. We missed you! (And we missed you too, Greg!)

Day 48

048/365

Happy 4th birthday! We love you!

Day 47

047/365

I thank God every day that they adore each other so much. I pray that it stays that way!

Day 46

046/365

Don't judge a man by the shoes that he wears. But if we are judged, at least we are in good company!

Day 45

045/365

Day 44

044/365

Day 43

043/365

We are among the few that are sad winter is almost over. Every year we wish to get snowed in with at least a foot of snow, but it never seems to happen--at least not since we've been together.

This year we have a new reason to be sad about winter being over. Gemma has the cutest little snow suit and hat that will never fit her again. Aunt Jo (aka Pam) knitted this hat on a loom. I guess we need to go ahead and put in an order for next year.

Day 42

042/365

The same cupcake a day later...

Day 41

041/365

Pre-birthday cupcakes. Oh to be a kid again. Multiple celebrations rock!

Day 40

040/365

While at Kroger, I noticed this unusual fruit, a pumello. Thanks to the wonders of the 21st century, I googled it on my phone. I love having the world literally at my fingertips! When I found out it was an Asian citrus fruit, I had to get it. What a perfect way to wrap up Chinese New Year! By the way...YUMMY!

Day 39

039/365

My sweet hubby brought me flowers today. :)

Day 38

038/365

Thanks to Gymboree for doing a free preview class for our MOPS group! Will had a blast. He's trying to grasp the concept of time and, after an hour, said, "But we were only there for 5 minutes!"

Day 37

037/365

I obviously didn't take any great pains with this photo. It was shot in a hurry with the point and shoot camera I keep in my purse for photo "emergencies." Will came bounding down the steps after an "episode" which called for him to go put on a new pair of pants. This is how he was dressed. I had to chuckle out loud. I definitely needed a photo to remember the moment, and to remind me to relax and not be so uptight after regular childhood "episodes."

I adore posed photos of my children, but I don't want to look back and not see any of them just being themselves. I doubt we have any pictures that are more "Will" than this. So in my book, this photo is a winner.

Day 36

036/365

No, we didn't celebrate Easter early.

My good friend Amy and her family came to celebrate Chinese New Year with us today. We try to do a little something together each Chinese New Year since they went through the adoption process about the same time we did. This year our families went to the performance at the library and then came back to our house to cook Chinese.

Although we like to cook, when it comes to Chinese, I am a big fan of Wanchai Ferry mixes or frozen dinners, as well as frozen egg rolls and potstickers. But Amy is ambitious enough to set a goal of learning to make one new Chinese dish each year. In honor of our dinner together, she accomplished her goal for the next few years! On the menu...tea eggs(pictured above), noodle soup, egg rolls, and mu shu. All (with the exception of the soup) was super delicious. We are so excited that when we are hankering for Chinese, we now have some tried and true recipes to make at home instead of laying out a small fortune for the Chinese buffet. (Though I know we will still do that from time to time.)

The tea eggs were the chosen photograph for the day because they are a specialty from Will's part of China, way up north. He first ate them a year ago at a missions festival and looooved them. Will ate 4 at one sitting today--egg whites that is. 4 balls of yellow were left sitting on his plate. My little picky eater!

Day 35

035/365

The Challenge: Word Photography

I may be cheating a little here, but in honor of Chinese New Year, I chose to photograph one of the earrings I got in China that translates, "Blessing." I used some of our Valentine props since red is also the color of luck in China. Every time I wear these earrings it reminds me of how blessed I am to have Will as my son and how much we enjoyed our time in China!

Day 34

034/365

Here is our adorable Will eating "Chinese New Year Food," as he calls it even when it's not Chinese New Year. But today we do happen to be ringing in the Year of the Rabbit. Tonight it's Chinese food, tomorrow it's Kung Fu Panda, and Saturday it's a celebration downtown at the library, then cooking Chinese with friends. The Chinese definitely have the multi-day holiday right! Why limit the fun to just one day?

Day 33

033/365

My dad and my baby. This picture choked me up when I first saw it. What more can I say?

Day 32

032/365

My husband is a man of many talents. These are 2 of the guitars that he has made. Not only do to they look awesome up close and personal, but they sound amazing too!

Day 31

031/365

Northeast Christian Church has a fabulous little playground that is open to the public on Mondays during the winter. What makes it even more fabulous for Will is that it's train themed! Today I made up my mind that I wasn't going to ask Will to pose. But,lucky for me, most of the time, he has reached a cooperative stage. When he saw the camera, he started cheesing--for a split second before he ran to play with something else. The result was quite adorable. If you had seen how fast he was moving, you would know why I like to call this one "Boy in Motion."

On a side note, look how big he is. We don't have a toddler anymore, we have a little boy. sniff, sniff