Mia puffy hearts her Ita

I guess with all the holiday craziness, I forgot to post some photos of our fun filled visit from Ita (my mama). I found these photos while looking for bokeh shots in my flickr photostream...I wanted to add some of mine to the Shutter Sisters post on the subject. Out of it I also get a lovely Love Thursday post.

This marks their second year of their holiday tradition of building a gingerbread house. Mia showed how she vibrates, gets frustrated and then finishes off with angry when given too much sugar. Between the icing and all the candies, Mia didn't stand a chance. Ita decided that next year, she'll be much more vigilant on her sugar watch :) They did have a lot of fun and came away with a super fab gingerbread house!








I love when I can relax and just watch my mom make some wonderful memories with her granddaughter. Mia brought book after book to Ita, scrambled on her lap and nestled in for storytime.

chookooloonks and friends have much more love to share :)

skillz - baking & emotional

I've been so in awe of Mia lately...well I always am, you know what I mean. Like at the Heart-bakers playdate last Friday, it was way more than 'I want to do it myself'....she DID it all pretty much herself. Measured, poured, mixed, rolled, cut...used the spatula like a pro..in all she needed very little guidance. Who is this three year old who can do so much?

At the dinner table, she reminds Daddy to 'thank mama for dinner'. Is incredibly empathetic. I had a rough day yesterday that resulted in some tears. Mia came up to me, snuggled me asked me if she could help...then later asked if I was feeling better. She knows the difference between a happy or sad cry :)

So, even though, Mia isn't 'in' the shot below, I LOVE that she's wielding that spatula, and it's a reminder to me how much she's evolving into such a great little girl, who does indeed have skillz!

for more love hop over to chookooloonks and The Land of K.A.

if this ain't love....

...then I don't know what love is!

for more LOVEly images, hop on over to chookooloonks and Specialness at the Land of K.A.

love is good

We were driving along. I was quiet, mellow, thinking....Mia was in her car seat, exhausted from swimming (there was a glorious break in the rain) also quiet, in her own world. Then she softly said something that I thought I heard, but wanted to make sure...so I asked what she had said. 'Mama, I love you so much.' Ahhhhhh I had heard right. 'I love you, too, honey.' Mia ended our short but oh, so sweet conversation by answering, 'love is good.'

Yes, it is, mija. Yes, it is.

for more lovely goodness, visit Shutter Sisters and for some wonderment visit Stacey at Land of K.A.

Happy Birthday...to ME!

Today's my birthday! I'm 38 (ask my mom and she'll tell you 'not till 10:33 pm), and for some reason, I totally feel today is all about me. Daryl showered me with kisses. Which is actually something he does everyday, but this morning he ended it with a super wonderful birthday kiss. Mia got me up extra early today...to spend some extra time with me...that's what I'm going with. The sun rose, I'm so sure of it, just for me...the sunrise was gorgeous, and something I usually miss, because Mia lets me sleep in. There was a bird tweeting for me.... Ok. This is getting to be too much, even for me :) just one more...Hellooooo it's Love Thursday! That has to be about me :)

I wanted to include some of my favorite shots of, well, Me and those who shared such fabulous moments with me. As I was going through them, I realized that I was didn't have with some of my dearest friends and family. If you don't find yourself in here, that means you need to be all lovey with me when a camera is around :)

by Bonnie

by Bonnie

by Andrea

by Melanie

by Melanie

by Bonnie

by Bonnie

by Melanie

by Melanie

by Andrea

by Stephanie

by Bonnie

by Bonnie

by Melanie

by Bonnie

by Melanie

by Daryl

Me & my Mama - by Daryl

by Daryl

by Me

by Bonnie

I have had a FABULOUS year!

Some more love can be found at Love Thursday

And at Theme Thursday...were today's theme is Antique-y. How appropriate it THAT?!?!

A bit of love

A bit about love. I LOVE this shot of Mia. I know it's soft, but I love it so. This is the look that I fall in love with every day, but not the look I capture often enough.



Today, when asked how many chongos (ponytails) she wanted (the answer is usually one or two) she said '5.......or maybe 11' How random was that? I LOVE that answer, and I LOVE that little girl. You can't see them all, but she's sporting 5 :)

For more love, head on over to Shutter Sisters

The Princess Angel and her Daddy Charming

The Princess Angel and her Daddy Charming

First Daddy Charming helped his Princess Angel with her pink crystal heart slippers....then to stand up.

well, she NEEDED a pony!

ahhhh happiness....for both princess and trusty steed

what you don't see her is the FALL. The trusty steed got a playful, and somehow, the angel princess FLIPPED over his shoulder...onto her left eyebrow (how's that for precise..the bumps always tell). The princess cried big fat princess tears and her steed was scrambling for anything to help..M&M? Hug?

no M&M or hug would do...the steed was dressed up!

fluffy tiara, pink fringe and all!

His little angel was happy and that's all that mattered to him.

I LOVE this man!!!!

Ride on over to Shutter Sisters for more Love Thursday

there's more fashionable dressing up at The Land of K.A. with Theme Thursday