4x12 for February

I finally did it and it only took a tsunami to make it happen! I'd been wanting to take another family picture at the beach for my 4x12 photo project and between the rain and everyone running in different directions it just wasn't happening. With only 2 days left of our short month o' February I had almost given up hope. I really wanted to take it in the same spot each month but I figured I'll just take what I can get and I think it turned out OK. We actually had gone down to the beach to watch for the Tsunami that was suppose to reach our coastline after hitting Hawaii a bit earlier, an after effect from the horrible earthquake in Chile today. It was expected to hit us around 2:00pm and have a 2ft. swell . I was really hoping for a dramatic effect but alas nothing really came of it, except for my desired 4x12 picture!

Old Pictures

Continuing on with my theme for this month, I love looking at old pictures. Not that these are particularly old, they just do what all pictures do. Bring you back to a certain time. And I loved this time in my life, we were living in a 950 sq ft duplex. I could stand practically anywhere in the place and see the boys. It was perfect for us, I loved being so close to them. The boys were so much fun at this age. And I can't help but think back to how lucky we were that on any given day we could just go off to the beach or the zoo or the park or the rope swing across the street, we could bake cookies and pretzels or play in the rain and jump in mud puddles. Whatever we wanted to we did all because I was lucky enough to stay home with them. I don't think I squandered a minute of time with them, I loved it so much. In these pictures we had just hand made these pretzels, They were so excited and I think these pictures are priceless!

How are you going to top this?

I said "Seriously honey, How are you going to top this one"? Here are the before and after pictures of my "family" room officially finished today, Valentine's Day. You can see I haven't even put anything on the shelves yet. When we built the house almost 8 years ago we had no idea what to do with this space and it started out as more of a "living room" (because no one ever went in there) as the kids have gotten older we have started using it more. The TV in the corner on the end table was in the loft upstairs and the boys would use it to play games on and watch occasionally TV. Then on New Years Eve 2008 we decided to bring it downstairs for people to play the wii or Karaoke for the party we were having. But the TV is so heavy that it never got moved back upstairs and we started watching it more and more. Well you can see by the before picture that the room was just plan and ugly. So Wayne designed and built these cabinets over the last couple of weeks and they are gorgeous! I Love that man and not just because he build these beautiful cabinets for me! :) Happy Valentine's Day 2010

And these two too

Solid as a rock, steadfast and loyal, these two are the bomb! 49 years and counting. They still take care of me! Thank you!

Love these two

These two are full of life! So fun to be around, generous to a fault and "game" for anything! Happy Valentines to Grandma Di and Grampa Bert!

I Love Food!

I especially love the kind of food that's messy to eat and isn't always pretty. Fancy food is just lost on me. Maybe one day I will come to appreciate it, but for now I like things I can stand over the sink and eat, like a juicy orange or a left over piece of cold pizza. I also like things I can eat without utensils, things like hamburgers and burritos or this new recipe from my friend Lynn. Pork with Tzatziki sauce, wrapped in flat bread! I think I made it twice in one week and I tried it with chicken breast too! The recipe is so easy to make. Just cube a pork tenderloin (or chicken breast)and marinate in olive oil, red wine vinegar, red onion, garlic and lemon juice over night. Pan fry or put onto skewers and barbecue. I buy the flat bread and Tzatziki at Trader Joe's and serve with a Greek salad. It's so flavorful, you can eat it with your hands and the whole family loves it!

Little Blossoms

I love these tiny little pink blossoms. They are on the flowering plum tree in my front yard. This poor tree has no idea that it's only February and that another storm is coming in today. At least I can enjoy them for the time being.

I Love this idea 4x12

So after the last post (which was totally lame I know) I thought I should try and redeem myself with something more meaningful for my month of "Things I love". I saw this idea on my friend Lisa's blog lisadamrosch.typepad.com and It's basically a candid (stop what your doing and come here) photo of her and her family. One a month for a year, 3x12. So last night I picked a spot, the couch and set up the camera, programmed the timer on it and rallied the troops. What a mess, not only was the spot not good, lighting, back round etc, but the boys wouldn't sit still, they made funny faces wrestled on the floor in between shots and I was exhausted after running back and forth to look and reset the camera after every shot. I'm going to post some of them just to spite the boys! And because of my epic failure last night I decided to to post a picture from December (because I like it) and call it January then try again for a good shot for February. Maybe I'll try to get one at the same spot on the beach, I love it there! So here you go, 4x12.
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Amore #1

As promised, I will dedicate this month to the things that I love. And as you will soon find out these "Things", that I love will be in no particular order. I do not love my central vacuum more than I love my family. But while on the subject of central vacuum systems, mine rocks! Now I know there are many things that I love that I could write about, but I do love my central vac so it's as good a place as any to start. I'm sure most of you know what a central vacuum is, If not here is a brief description for you. "A central vacuum system consists of a power unit installed out of sight in a basement or utility room, and easy to store and use hose and attachments". The best part about the vacuum system is that the canister is outside in the garage so it's not only quieter inside the house but there is no dust or odor from the vacuum either, all of the "veins" or tubes are built into the walls of the house with receptacles through out the different rooms. You just have to plug-in your hose and it turns on automatically. They even have little jackets you can buy for your hoses so they don't mess up the corners of your walls. What solidified my love for my vacuum was when I decided to help out at my MIL's and had to drag her HEAVY, STINKY, and RIDICULOUSLY AWKWARD Hover around her very large, multi-surfaced (for lack of better description) house. All I was thinking as I was dragging this stupid thing around and sweating my a** off was "Thank god she doesn't have stairs"! Now this is no Oprah show, I won't be doling out vacuum systems today, but I can, with certainty say that I don't want to live anywhere that doesn't have a central vac! Call me shallow I don't care!