The Little Notepad

Sydney

Sydney Lane Photography

On Christmas morning, Tommy surprised me with a little envelope sitting in the tree.

Inside was a tiny slip of paper with this on it:

He said her name is now a registered domain,

so that in 20 years when she becomes a photographer, she'll be ready.

He's mostly kidding, but I do have to admit that when pregnant and choosing a name,

I might have said her name sounds perfect with "photography" added to the end. :)

And so her journey as a photographer has begun.

She's already stolen my little point-and-shoot on several occasions,

surprising me later with dozens of abstract art for me to interpret.

poor Haley has to put up with being the favorite subject.

She's even experimented with color filters...

It took me a second to realize this is her little finger.

So keep an eye out for this up-and-coming talent!

Pretty soon Sydney Lane Photography will be a household name.

3 comments

, by Aria

What LOVE Looks Like

Love is in the air, and romance on our minds.

I've been thinking of the days when Tommy and I were first dating,

totally twitterpated and trying to impress. Our dates were creative and romantic.

Like this particular one that comes to mind.....

We went out and bought blank canvases and paints and sat down to paint each other's portrait.

We thought it would be fun to see how the other person viewed and interpreted us.

I love anything to do with art, even the areas I'm not very good at (as you'll see below),

and Tommy (who hasn't had much exposure to the world of art),

was always encouraging and happy to join in.

(...due to twitterpation and eagerness to impress, I'm sure).

After a good while (we were serious about this),

we finally finished and revealed our paintings for the other to see:

Tommy probably had to strain his eyes to see my faint and timid attempt,

but he showered me with encouragement.

But when Tommy turned his piece around,

I was taken aback by his confident strokes, his use of vivid colors, his attention to detail!

Let me remind you that he had a very limited background in art....

yet his finished masterpiece was totally dead-on.

.............are you ready?

....wait for it...

okay...

Happy Valentine's Day to all you love birds out there.

9 comments

, by Aria

Sydney

The Glamorous Life

Today was one of those days where you think,

"wait a minute...this isn't what I signed up for."

A few days ago Sydney came up to me with something dirty on her finger,

and out of laziness & exhaustion, I wiped it on my pants.

And ever since, I have her little finger running at me all day,

wiping boogers, earwax and dog food on my clothes.

Tonight as I was finishing feeding Sydney some yogurt before bed,

she dripped a big glob on her fist....

and then instantly smeared it all over my pants (adding to the colorful mix on my clothes).

It was almost the last straw of the long day to leave me in tears.

But then, as I tucked her into bed

and finished singing the, "Mama's Gonna Buy You a Mockingbird" song,

she looked up at me with a big smile,

and said, "AGAIN?"

And then I remembered why the food/boogers/dog food-covered clothes

is all worth it.

3 comments

, by Aria

don't judge us

I promise I didn't raise my child to do this. She was doing something cute, so I pulled out the camera, and the next thing I know she starts showing off her feral side.

...and it doesn't help that the house looks like it's been through a natural disaster. While Tommy was away on a trip last week, I let Sydney run the household.

4 comments

, by Aria

growing up

This week Sydney went to nursery for the first time.

And poo-poo on the big potty.

my little girl is growing up!

11 comments

, by Aria

merry christmas!

merry christmas from my little sweet-toothed elf!

4 comments

, by Aria

Tommy

The other day I asked Tommy why he didn't ever post on our blog.

He said,

"I write in my personal journal.

I don't like to cast my pearls before swine."

I've been laughing ever since.

3 comments

, by Aria

Haley

We've been carrying on the Dec. 6th tradition in our family. But this year I didn't know what to do, since "Mrs. Clause" didn't get a chance to run out to the store last night. But this morning as we all went downstairs, sleepy and groggy, there on the steps were our shoes filled with goodies! St. Nicholas came through for us after all!

I must have been a good girl this year, because he filled my boot up to the brim!

Sydney can now open up doors by herself. This was helpful for her this morning, since I was taking too long with my camera, and she was eager to get her goodies.

she caught on very fast

Unfortunately, Sydney's not as fast as her big sister, Haley, who decided Sydney's toys looked more fun than her own. She snatched up her little doll and ran off at full speed.

A sneaky elf left some cinnamon rolls and a crown on our doorstep late last night. (I would've taken a picture of the delicious treat, but we were too excited to dig in this morning). This is another St. Nicholas tradition. The person who finds the little king (in this case, the penny) in their roll gets to be king for the day and wears the crown all day long.

I was the lucky king this year! But too bad I woke up sick this morning, so the only people that will see me in my crown are Sydney, Tommy, and the dog. It's a shame Tommy didn't get it since he's ushering for Stake Conference this morning. :)

3 comments

, by Aria

Tessa's Tree

Tonight we got to see the Festival of Trees. It was very special this year because our sweet little niece had a tree dedicated to her. The kind and thoughtful people at Matt's work put it together, and it received a very generous donation, and all of the proceeds of the whole show went to Primary Children's Hospital. Tessa's tree was by far the most impressive! The theme was "Candy Land." As we searched down every aisle looking for Tessa's tree, I saw it from far away and thought, "Wow, I hope it's that one!" I think it's the child in me...all those toys and goodies. :) They did such a great job, and I know Tessa would love it, too.