Project 365... week two!

Another great week of photos!  

Delicious food...

SNOW and RAIN...
New Goals...
Hardworking kids and hubby...
Beauty...
Working on projects...

2014-01-06

Comfort food... 

A few of the members of my family have been feeling a little under the weather... Bowls of brothy, Chicken Soup make anyone feel better!

OH and yummy flat bread cooked up on our grill!

2014-01-07

First piano lesson of the new year. 

Thanks to the great confidence in my ability, 

from my awesome piano teacher, 

I'm going to learn and perfect "Clare De Lune" this year! 

My 11 year old son is going to be in heaven when I accomplish this goal because this is his favorite song!

I just love Susan! She is so motivational! When she asked me today what my goals for piano were going to be, I said I would love to learn Clare De Lune, or, Malagueña, but, they had 6/4 and 9/8 timing (one had 5 flats the other 4 sharps) and that they would probably be way too hard for me. She responded with: "Tell me what would you be gaining to put off learning this song for one more year? You grow and become better and more accomplished by stretching and pushing yourself"! I chose Clare De lune! Susan is truly a blessing in my life! She makes me come away from piano each week feeling like YES I CAN do anything I set my mind to!

2014-01-08

It was a dreary winter day today. 

The frozen water that was at the opening in the downspout of our rain gutter looked like cool art sculptures to me!

2014-01-09

The snow came down and down and down!

 Recess is never cancelled when it's snowing, so I got to enjoy the big beautiful flakes on lunch recess duty!

LOTS of snow today...

I had to run some errands after work

 and I came home to two boys hard at work shoveling the driveway!

I seriously have the BEST life, hubby and kids!

Those amazing blue eyes!

My hubby hard at work trying to solve a problem!

2014-01-10

Beautiful sunset as my husband, the Scout Master, headed off to go on a winter campout with his Scouts tonight!

Tired...

Good Morning after a cold night of 

winter camping with dad and the Scouts!

2014-01-11

...And today it rained! 

It should have been snow, but, it rained instead! 

Hopefully, we'll get another good snow storm soon. 

I love the snow!

Tracy and I enjoyed some time in the workshop...
Being married to a wife who's the Cub Master, during the month of Pinewood Derby means making awards and stands!

2014-01-12

Chipping away the rest of the ice from our driveway after the rain and thaw that we experienced yesterday.

Only two weeks into the new year and I can't complain!
Life is SO good!

Project 365... week one!

 I've decided to try another year of Project 365.
I did this challenge back in 2012, but took a break in 2013.

While it can sometimes be a little overwhelming, it's so rewarding to try and capture the day in a photo AND it's fun to look back and see a years worth of photos and memories and especially see how much your kids grow up in a year.

I've captured a few more photos than "one a day" 
(mainly, because some days were more exciting than others).

Here's to a GREAT year of photos and memories!

2014-01-01
Freshly fallen snow...
a clean slate for a new year!

 2014-01-02
I SPY...
the face of a sweet hubby 
staring back at me through the hole in the snow pile!
(noticed this cool place to take a photo when we pulled up to Tracy's work)

 "Take your wife to work day"!
Our boys had to go back to school today
(BOO...no fun for them!)
and so Tracy took me to work with him.
SO much fun... we had a ball!

 

Goals for 2014...

Simple is the best!

After taking care of some things at the office,
 Tracy and I went and splurged on lunch at Chiz's.
Delicious shrimp & the boiled egg on my Chef's salad 
was even a "double yolker"!
 I'm quite certain that's a sign this is going to be a prosperous year
2014-01-03
We've had a warming trend the past few days.
Noticed this as I was stepping out of the car in our driveway...
love how the snow, ice and rocks looked together!
It's like a piece of art! 

 Weekend sunrise...

Weekend sunset...

2014-01-04
The sunshine lit up our room beautifully Saturday afternoon.
Best part about this photo? The sweet guy in the background that's washing dishes while I dry them!! The sun is shining brightly in the window while we stand and talk and work! This is one of the many benefits from having a broken dishwasher.
Life is SO good!!

2014-01-05
First Smith family snapshot of 2014!
The first time we dressed up and my men donned shirts and ties for the year!
I love these handsome men!

SO my friends, I encourage you all to get out there and capture your world through photos!
You won't regret all of the wonderful memories you'll preserve by taking a photo a day!
Life's too short not to capture each and every moment that you can!

Happy New Year!

WOW! 

It's hard to believe that another year has just flown on by! 

2013 ended with a little bit of crazy FUN!  

Here's to another year of great opportunities,

LOTS of fun and adventure

 and LOTS of great memories!

Bring it on!

Our month of December...

It's the most wonderful time...

of the year!

I guess before it gets any more into January I'd better get our December blogged about.
While I'm a perfectionist and like things to be done PERFECT and to a certain level, this post will be anything but that.
Mostly just an overload of photos from our month (without much text), so I can at least have the memories preserved.  Sometimes, just getting something done on a less than perfect level, is better than NOT having it done at all! 

OUR Tree...

Christmas Wonder...

Decorating...

Putting on the star...

The outside lights... 

Our holiday cards this year...

Delicious freshly caught trout
 that our good friends shared with us!
I could eat fresh fish every day and never tire of it!

SO excited that our favorite 
Gingerbread boy cookies are in the stores to buy!
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without them!

While it was a hectic month, I never miss an opportunity to enjoy our tradition of enjoying Chili and Cinnamon Rolls with my Ethan.


PIANO recital for Ethan!
(his sweet profile just makes me smile every time!)

The gorgeous view I got enjoy while I recovered from surgery!

Such a fun day!

SANTA BABY!!

 

These two boys are such great friends!

NATIVITY production that our local friends put on for our community...
Such a sweet night!

Silent Night...
Holy Night...

Santa Came to the Smith House...

 

Best dad EVER!!!

 (Tracy's thoughts on Christmas that he posted on Facebook) 
My 11 year old son, Ethan, spent close to 13 hours recording his voice reading the ENTIRE first book in the Hunger Games series since he kept asking me to read it and I never seem to take the time. He was hoping now I could listen to his custom audio book (made with love by him), while I commute to work. I also got a couple flannel shirts to go with my really ugly beard... although they aren't Pendelton's, they are very nice. My sweetheart got me some neat backpacking odds and ends and a Maxpedition Fatty. It's a really cool organizer for my daily carry things. I've always been a "be prepared", Boy Scout, kinda guy. I'm really excited to get it all loaded-up with stuff I've been carrying loose in my man-purse. Also, each gift I opened from Kimberly, included a little love-note with something clever about the gift I was about to open. She is always so thoughtful in her gift giving. I did a super-naughty thing and bought both Kimberly and I, new motorcycle helmets but I'm not calling those Christmas gifts since we were really attempting to simplify Christmas this year, haha!

I LOVE our REAL tree!

The Smith Family siblings, 
spouses and other fun photos...

Travis, Tracy, Lisa, Shelley
Tom, Lisa, Kimmie, Tracy, Cheryl, Travis, Shelley, Joel
10 second hugs make life better!

Cheryl and Isaac...

Proud Grandpa Tom with cute little Macie

December 2013 was 

magical, beautiful...

abundant in family, memories and love!