I interrupt this silence...

to bring you the official end of Project 365. I'm making this decision after a visit to the Dr.'s office today that only confirmed, I'm NOT super mom and I CAN'T do it all...no matter how hard I try. (In case you doubted, I am human after all! ha!) So sorry to disappoint anyone, (another fault of mine - MAJOR people pleaser here!) but for my health's sake some things have got to go. And since none of my children are offering to leave, which means I still have 12 weeks of school left to teach and a 2 1/2 year old still waiting to be potty trained and I need my husband and I want my photography clients....things like 365's have got to be eliminated!

I plan to still share pictures, but it probably won't be real regular. This summer is starting to fill up with photography shoots (yea!), so beginning in the next few months I'll hopefully have lots of pictures to share with ya! I hope you won't weary of coming here and finding nothing new and stop checking in all together. I love having you all stop in and the wonderful comments have been and are such an encouragement! So without further ado.....more from the local artists......



This here is Cowboy Isaac, just in case you don't catch it. ;)

He is definitely a pistol packing cowboy with a deadly aim......I'll spare you the grim details at the other end of the chalkboard! Let's just say the four-legged varmint didn't get away!

Meet the "Smiley Brothers". (think The 3 Stooges)

And lastly another tough cowboy from a generation that is technology crazed and code word obsessed. He appears to be "laughing out loud" as he fires multiple rounds! :)

To further prove my littlest man is growing up all too quickly, this is his new bed. He is quite pleased with the arrangement and is the first of the boys to not fall out of it while sleeping. ***Please excuse the assaulting color of his room and peculiar blue line running down the wall. This room like many others are in a perpetual state of remodel and had previously been covered with wallpaper. It does nicely match the green stripe in his comforter though! :D

For those of you who aren't here locally or the surrounding area, after a week of beautiful spring like weather that melted all our snow, Monday greeted us with this! We are once again blanketed in a fresh coating of white stuff!!!



I'm curious if anyone has or has had one of these? A few posts back I mentioned my Grandma "Long Lane". Well she had a few dolls at her house, but it seemed there were never enough to go around. She did however have two or three of these monkeys that worked as stand-in babies. Quite a few years back now, my cousin found this little guy at a Cracker Barrel and surprised me with it. What good memories!!!!

And we come to our final picture. It just seems odd to finish with #49 and not have an even fifty, but you know what? I struggled with having five children. Odd numbers just don't settle in my even thinking mind real well, but I've had to get used to it. And so will you, cause this will be the last numbered Project 365 picture you'll see....at least for this year and a good chance forever! ;) Not because I don't love to share, but.......oh yeah, we've already covered that ground......I can't do it all..........humpf

So anyway, this here is my 5 1/2 year old who has discovered that he LOVES to wash dishes! It's incredible! We're talking the child who finds no satisfaction of picking up after himself and gets overwhelmed and grumpy when he has to go from one pile to the next to clean up, but he begs to do the dishes! Today he actually chose coming home with me to do the dishes over staying at his grandma's house with two of his brothers!?! Seriously?

I'm loving it! His face lights up and he delights in trying to make sure they are spotless. He feels so needed and thrives off the feeling of a job well done.....now if we could just channel that to other areas in his life, he could have some all around joy! Couldn't we all?!

Package Day

Today the boys got a surprise package in the mail. It came from Grandpa & Grandma Texas. Wow! What a treat! Cute "mugs" filled with a hot chocolate packet and candy cane to stir in some sweet peppermint flavor. Books, books, and more books! A few assorted school items and some yummy recipes. :) Buried way at the back was an adorable hat from Sweetle Dee Hat Company for Mr. Adie. It is just so cute and I LOVE the colors!!!! It is excellent craftsmanship and has a cozy fleece lining on the inside. If you've never heard of them, go and check 'em out, lots of fantastic hats! You'll want one of each! It just so happens Little Joe's head is small enough he could try it out too! ;) We all love package days around here!

Budding Artists or Boring Math?

(Vacuum courtesy of Noah)

Budding artists? Ha!

(Spreading Manure by Isaac)

I think not!

(Helicopter created by Ethan)

You see, none of the three students enjoy the art class they go to every other week. (Sorry Loretta & Marsha! No fault of either of you!) But obviously math loses their interest, definitely not that they're ever waiting on their teacher for help! Oh no! ;)

Certainly at times it is of more educational value. Case in point...

(I just noticed that it says systematic review at the bottom of the page.....can you blame him? Who in their right mind enjoys systematic review?!?)

What better time to practice misspelling spelling your brother's name and a brand that makes a big impression around here? See, it's not all bad! Ha!

Actually it gets better. :)

Practicing writing during Language Arts, now that's appropriate!

Never mind the time it took to write it! I call this using time wisely! ;)

*Today's 365 coming later* ....I got side tracked........hmmmmmm, where do you spose my boys get that from?!

Brrrrrrrr

it's cold outside!

From Days Gone By

I looked through some lovely vintage toned wedding pictures today and was inspired. I like vintage. And I happen to have a few items that are real treasures to me. When I was 12 (if I remember correctly) my Grandma "Long Lane" died. Believe me, she came by her name honestly!!!! She was actually my great grandma and though I don't remember much of her today, I know that she was special to me and I loved her very much. Unlike many elderly people's homes, I loved going to hers and it was a sad day when she passed away. ....nothing has been the same since. This is why I'm thankful to have a few precious dishes that once would've been  found in her home all those years ago. Now they are snuggled in my china cabinet.

What do you have that's tucked away and all but forgotten that holds memories from an era long ago?

Just My Size

Hey! Look what I found!

Hi there buddy! Whatcha doin?

Don't you have anything to say?

Awww, come on, I wanna play with you.

Ok, so you don't wanna talk or come play, but I still think your pretty cool!

Don't you think he's pretty cool?

Specially when all the others are way bigger!!!

Wrapped in Love

Today's picture(s) was taken today, but was my alternative idea(s) from yesterday's I Heart Faces challenge.

Speaking of which, I should've done this yesterday, but didn't even think about it until my picture was spotted and then featured on I Heart Faces facebook page because I had used their "love" doodle on my entry. The doodle was a fabulous freebie and it was my first time using any of the set. Thank you I Heart Faces and sorry I didn't acknowledge that in yesterday's post!!!!

Brotherly Love

It's been a long time since I've joined in the weekly photo challenge, but this week I felt inspired with the theme Hearts. :) I had two ideas, but since you can only enter one, maybe I'll show you the other one some day soon just for fun.

(If you click on the picture, it looks much better larger!)

 Thanks for stopping by and be sure and click the button below to hop on over to I Heart Faces to see some amazing entries!

This is.....

getting humorous.....or annoying. I'll let you make the call! :) First I decided to try and do a picture a day this year and it's gone, well, so so. I was doing great at taking a picture each day, but not keeping up on getting them posted daily. So I've turned out to be a super "batch" producer! Well tonight's pics don't even qualify in the "daily picture" category! These were all taken the same day. So not only have I not taken a picture a day, but I'm also going to leap ahead and cover tomorrow's picture. How's that for cheating?! What a mess I've gotten myself in. :)

And while I'm on a roll, I've flunked two other themes. What happened to "Flashback Friday" (that has happened once) and I Heart Details (it got done three times)?! Oh boy, good thing I'm not getting graded! I just hope you all could care less what's going on here as long as you have something to read and look at! :)  Right?

Well enough tattling on myself, if it wasn't already obvious to ya, and on with the show.

***Teresa, ya you, I know how you've anxiously been waiting for this update, but you may as well go get yourself a cup of something warm and toasty before you look further because what your about to see.....well, I'm afraid you just might not appreciate it very much. Can we still be friends though? Perty please?!







As most of you know, we've been dumped on with snow, snow, and more snow and the boys have been loving it! We spent several hours the other day digging snow caves in the huge pile that's been formed from clearing our long lane. These here are in the snow drift that runs along our basement wall.

This last one is for Sunday, which it technically is now. :) This was to be my 4th I Heart Details shot, but my mind is so groggy right now that I'm sure I'm not going to do it justice! This little guy is a true one and only! I've never met anyone like him!!! Often times at loss to even describe him, but oh how I love him!!!!!! And that's all I'm going to say for now about this shiny eyed boy. :) My sweet 'lil Joe, he makes me smile!

Our Impersonator

Today's detail spotlight falls on a very willing, self volunteered Isaac. He bugged me most of the morning about when I was going to take his picture for today's 365. LOL! This son truly lives up to the meaning of his name, laughter. He either makes those around him laugh or he himself is laughing......even over things that are less than amusing..... Anyway, he loves to imitate and can do a pretty good job of it. He can watch a movie once and have the voice and several lines down and will gladly repeat them over and over till you can do it too (or are ready to scream)! Since we've been going through the Andy Griffith seasons he's got several characters under his belt, but in light of his love to dress up, even in his miss-matched suit (that he'll wear all day long, every day....(picture this at a school desk! ha!) and these new silly glasses.....here's day 31............

Yesterday was to be the first "I Heart Details" picture prompted by a fellow photog friend, Salome. I wanted to join in, because quite frankly, I need some direction on this 365 thing!

I've decided to kick off the week with a reminder I need daily!!! I CAN'T help myself!!!!!!!! No matter how hard I try, it becomes only a more complicated mess. The sooner I grasp where my help needs to and will come from the better off I am. It is a huge comfort to me to know that there even is help for me, I'm not left on my own! Praise Him!!!

In the next couple of days I'd like to highlight my boys and a special detail about each of them. Mr. Noah just happens to be my first subject because he was available at the time. :) He's my one who would rather not be in the spotlight and runs from the camera continuously. I have to beg, bribe, or otherwise force him to give me a good picture. Noah is a tenderhearted, quite young man. He has been blessed with amazingly long eyelashes and a "beauty mark"/mole that is completely unique to him. They are his "trademarks" and they are a special part of who he is. Love, love, love this precious son!






Speaking of Noah and pictures......I did get a fun one today that he isn't pleased to share with you all, but I think it just might bring a smile to your face and some cheer in your heart....which is totally worth begging him to be able to share it! :) .....not that you would ever know it was him anyway! hahahahahaha!