A FIRST.... BEFORE & AFTER

Yesterday, I attempted something for the first time... and accomplished success. I modified a piece of clothing - a shirt.

I got this shirt last summer at Wal-Mart. I bought it because it was very full through the mid-section, which I felt I needed to conceal a post-pregnancy belly (sadly a year old).

Thankfully, that belly bump is finally gone, so I can now wear my shirts a little more fitted. I still loved the shirt, but didn't like the elastic it had at the bottom, which gave it the billowy effect.

So, I did a little modifying. I got my seam ripper out and removed the elastic at the bottom and I opened up the side seams....

And Voila...

I added a little hem at the bottom and took in the sides giving them more definition at the waist.

I'm really liking the fact that I'm not afraid of my sewing machine anymore.

"JOY OF LOVE" - DAY EIGHT

I know, I know, you're asking what happened to Days Six and Seven. Well, I've tucked those assignments away for later. Day Six was to capture "Who They Love" and Day Seven was to capture "Generations". Since we have no family nearby, those two will have to wait

Now on to Day Eight...

"Gift from the Heart"

Well, my husband has given me Many wonderful gifts, including the most precious - the gift of becoming a Mother, but for this prompt, I decided to feature the first gift he ever gave me.

When we first met, almost eight years ago, I was living in Tucson, and he was here in Virginia. We actually met in Iowa at a business training seminar, and basically, it was Love at First Sight. Just like out of a movie. The first time I flew to the East Coast to see him, was 4th of July Weekend, and we planned to spend it walking around DC and visiting all the Museums. I guess he wanted me to be comfortable for our two days of sightseeing, because he gave me these...

Last year ('09) for Christmas, he gave me a new pair and told me I could get rid of those old ratty ones. I told him "NO WAY". First of all, they're not ratty, and second of all, I will never part with the first gift he ever gave me. Out of the kindness and generosity of his heart, we wanted to ensure my comfort.

VALENTINES

Week before last, I spent a couple of minutes one day, trying to capture a picture of Luke holding a particular pose...

Grey was not to be left out. I got his shot with one take.

And why do you ask, was I trying to capture this pose?

Well, I guess these Valentines were all over Blog-land last year, but I didn't see them until this year... and as soon as I did, I knew that I wanted to make them for Luke's Pre-School class.

Are those not the cutest things you've ever seen? Of course, Grey doesn't have any classmates to give them too, but because his picture was so cute, I made a couple of them for him to give to some of our neighbors.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

"JOY OF LOVE" - DAY FIVE

Day Five of the "Joy of Love" Photography class was to capture...

"What You LOVE to HATE about them"

Well let me tell you, as soon as I saw this topic, I knew EXACTLY what my "HATE" would be - even though it wouldn't make for very exciting photography.

There are Two things that my Husband does, that absolutely DRIVE. ME. CRAZY!!

I LOVE to HATE this about him...

1. He NEVER re-hangs the dish towel - he always throws it on the counter.

... but more importantly

2. When using the microwave, he ALWAYS opens the door before the set time runs out, therefore, the "Clear" button needs to be pushed to reset the Message Screen. He NEVER. PUSHES. the "Clear" button. When I go to use the microwave, there is the never ending scrolling message, and "I" have to push the "Clear" button.

Trying to capture that scrolling message was a little difficult.

How hard is it to push that button? Or better yet, wait 'til the time runs out? However, if that would cause your food item to burn, then maybe a more appropriate time should be selected.

Do I sound bitter? I don't mean to. In all actuality, my Wonderful Husband does MOST of the cooking, so I will forgive him of this one minor flaw... and well the towel thing too. LOL!!

"JOY OF LOVE" - DAY FOUR

Day Four of the "Joy of Love" Photography class was to capture...

"What They Wear"

When I saw this upcoming prompt yesterday, I immediately knew what picture I wanted to take. I wanted to show what my Husband wears around his neck, as a Memorial to two very special people we have lost.

He wears two Crosses. The smaller Cross is for our son Max, Luke's twin, who passed away at the age of three weeks on October 2, 2007. The other Cross is for his Mother, Yvette, who passed away last March 4th after a ten year fight with ALS. He NEVER takes them off.

Now, since I haven't really shown the "Love" for my youngest so far, I thought I would feature him today.

What Grey "Wears" are Hats...

and he likes to wear them low. Usually covering his eyes.

This one is my favorite. I wish it was more in focus. Hard to capture sharp images of a little being always in motion.

And now just for FUN...

What They Wear...

Thanks to their Grandparents who live in New Mexico, the boys always have Cowboy Boots just like Daddy.

"JOY OF LOVE" - DAY THREE

Day Three of the "Joy of Love" Photography class was to capture...

"Then and Now"

I've only know my husband for about eight years, so we haven't changed that much - other than us both gaining weight. Since I don't think he would appreciate me taking pics of his love handles, for this assignment, I will focus on my children.

My oldest, Luke, arrived almost 3.5 years ago, Seven weeks early. It was a Tuesday... September 11th @ 12:33pm. He weighed 4lbs., 6oz. and was 15" long. He was SOO small. His head was about the size of a medium orange. I thought for the "Then and Now", I would capture the comparison of the Size of his Feet Now to how tiny they were Then.

We took this picture a few days after bringing him home from being in the NICU for three weeks. He was about the same size as his Mother's Heartbeat Teddy Bear.

He's now obviously much larger than that Teddy Bear, but still small for his age, and Totally Healthy!!

Another great thing about this particular photo, is that it documents his love of his brother's crib. We cannot keep him out of it. He thinks it is his own personal trampoline.

My youngest, Grey, arrived 21 months ago, after an easy full term pregnancy. It was a Thursday... May 14th @ 7:58am. He weighed 8lbs. even and was 21" long. We were shocked that he was as big as he was, and it took us awhile to get used to him being a "normal" sized newborn.

It's comical to me to see his footprints compared to his brothers. Plus, his "Now" feet aren't all that much bigger than his "Then" feet.