Three Hundred and Sixty Five...

Happy New Year from the Shinkle Family
(I might be doing a great big happy dance as I click the publish post button on these last few blog entries)

Three Hundred and Sixty Four...

When I was traveling from Utah to Oregon I took this self portrait. It is something that I will be doing more of in 2010. I am already taking photos for 2010's blog entries. I can't wait to start posting under the new challange.
I hope those of you who stuck with me throughout this year have enjoyed it and maybe I have somehow inspired you to do the same or design your own challange.

Three Hundred and Sixty Three...

So it won't be right to finish up this 365 challange without reviewing my word for the year. Potential! I feel like I did some things this year that I might not have done unless I had this word to focus on. Here is a little list:

• I tried to be more thoughtful and follow through with it. Sometimes I am think of something nice to do for someone and then I don't follow through.


• I tried not to be such a home body. I opened up my home to lots of people throughout the year. At one point this summer we had the boy scouts in our pool tipping canoes.


• I really pushed myself to get better at photography. I was maybe a tad too focused in this area.

I think I could have lived up to my potential more in some areas. I would make steps forward and then fall back on those goals. But that is life, I suppose. I have 2010 right?

Three Hundred and Sixty Two...

I sort of put myself throught photography school this year. I started by reading in books and on-line about photography.

I attended a one day workshop in Utah. Leah Wright taught the workshop. She a super talented photographer. This trip was two fold. I wanted to go to the workshop.

And I really wanted to see my friend Kim. We had not seen each other for almost two years. It was great fun!

In August I hosted workshop here in Oregon taught by Michael Andrew.

My friends joined me there too. Photography is better with friends.

Then my trip to Georgia. Again two fold. Learning and a little R and R. It was great timing I boarded the plane on my birthday. It was an awesome week.

Three Hundred and Sixty One...

As 2009 ends and we start a new decade I thought it would be fun to do 10 random things about me:

1. I like bean burritos but don't eat beans just to eat beans.
2. I am addicted to soda pop.
3. I count stairs when I go up and down them.
4. When I get out of the shower it goes contacts, lotion on my face and then hair product in my hair....if I did it in any other order it would require washing or rinsing my hands in between steps and that just takes too much time.
5. I had a tag fetish when I was a kid...I think Rowdy does too!
6. I feel old.
7. I wish I had better writing skills. I am sure that some of my readers cringe at my sentence structure and lack of commas.
8. I wonder what my life will be like in 10 more years. The thought that I have some control over what it will be like is strange to think about.
9. I miss my Dad.
10. I hope 2010 is a good year!

Three Hundred and Sixty...

BUBBLES 101:
We do something fun during bath time that my Mom did with me. You take a little bit of shampoo and rub it between your hands and then make an ok sign with your fingers (this is your wand). Make sure that you make a film of soap in the "o" part of the ok sign. Then blow a bubble like you normally would when you are blowing bubbles with a wand. Seal the bubble onto your hand by closing the "o" in the ok sign. You might need to turn your palm up to keep the bubble on your hand if you blew a big bubble or it will be too heavy and pop. Then if you wipe some of the soap from your free hand onto your bathing beauty's hand you will be able to transfer the bubble to theirs. We do this before we shampoo hair and when I grab the shampoo Bodie says "Bubbles" without fail every single time. I have found that Johnson's Baby Shampoo makes the best bubbles.

This little game as evolved into me doing other tricks with the bubbles...what can I say, it's one of my talents I suppose.

Another, fun one is to put soap on one side of a wash cloth and blow through the other side. You have to put your mouth on the wash cloth when you blow. It makes a huge waterfall of tiny little bubbles. Try it out, your kids will not be disappointed, but you might be adding a new step to the bathtime routine.

Three Hundred and Fifty Nine...

NOTE: This is long, but if you want to get to know me better read on....

The blogging world is strange. I think a blog will fall into one of three groups:

Fluffy: The ones that make you think, "Is this person's life real?".
TMI: You read them and think "Wow, did they really just post that and put a photo to go with it?".
Keepin' it Real: Then there are the ones that seem to be a balance of both and just seem real.

Sometimes I think mine leans towards the Fluffy side. Not because I go to Europe four times a year and brag about it, buy a new home with all the bells and whistles before the age of thirty, dress my kids in only Gymboree or end all my sentence with "the best ever!!!

The reason I feel like I lean towards fluffy is because I think you will be hard pressed to find a post about what is really going on in my mind. I hope my blog doesn't give the impression that my life is all rainbows, roses and tied up in a pretty bow. It is not! Sometimes I wish I was brave enough to write more openly. But I don't want to be a TMI blog. So I keep writing about the rainbows in my life....So in an effort to post something in the Keepin' it Real blog group I want to write about Motherhood.

It's hard to be a Mom! I really struggle sometimes. When I have good moments I feel really good. But I feel like I mess up on an hourly basis. I wake up thinking this will be the day that I don't mess it all up! Sometimes I get so tied up in the details of being a mother that I feel like I am not stopping to enjoy all the snuggles, quit times, soft teaching moments and telling my kids that I love them. I tell them all the time, but can you say that enough? I know my kids are thriving, smart and are growing up to be great little human beings. But one of my biggest fears is having them look back on their childhood and think that their Mother was one of the most highstrung people in the world. I am terrified that during my impatient moments I am embedding that in their memory and they will just hate me for it in the future. I know I am guilt of not letting them do kids stuff because it doesn't jive with me trying to micro-manage everthing they do. I feel like sometimes the only thing I am telling them is "Stop it", Don't, Quit it!"

Sidenote: This will illustrate what I am talking about with the memory thing. One time when I was about 7 we were out on a sand dune. I was with my Dad and some of my siblings. The vehical that we were driving got stuck and I started to cry because I was scared. My Dad told me to be quite in his mad voice. I remember being so hurt by that. Hurt that he didn't understanding why I was upset and offer my some comfort. As I look back at that incident as a parent, he just wanted me to shut up so that he could concentrate on finding out what was wrong with the car. I get it as adult why my Dad was so mad and needed me to be quite right away. I have other memories like this too. But I get it now as adult why as a kid you think your parents aren't listening to you or don't understand you. But they do.

So return to me and my role as a Mom. Sometimes I look at my kids and think, "Oh, my word there are three of them and they look for me to solve their problems or at least teach them how to solve their problems. And do you know what goes through my mind...."I'm not qualified for this!" Although, I am 37, in sooooo many ways I don't feel like I any more mature than I was when I was 14!

So there it is when you talk about confidence and my ability to handle Motherhood I am about a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. I'm just talking about my confidence. The product I am producing as a result of my effort being a Mom is of course a 10+ !

Rowdy made my day last night when he said "Mom, I'm never going to forget the promise we made. The promise that I will never be to big or grown up to hold your hand!" I told him, "Me neither, buddy." So, I guess I'm not doing to bad

Three Hundred and Fifty Eight...

Two Sundays ago one of the messages we heard in church was about how love is a verb.

Love is an action word.

In our relationships with our spouses, friends and family

we should be showing our love first and the emotion will follow.

Three Hundred and Fifty Seven...

We were at home on Christmas morning. My Mom was here. In the these photos you will see our oldest son Tim (or Dim as Bodie says). Tim is staying with us and going to school. He is here to learn English and then will go onto college. The kids adore him!

Here is a small peek into our morning:

Bodie opening a present from Tim.

Bodie telling Dim thanks!

Rowdy opening a real cartooning kit from me.

Santa came through with the Hello Kitty loot!

Friends!

Bodie helping Ron open his present from me! I stumped him this year, finally! I didn't ask for any hints and kept it a surprise the whole time...Ron really likes to be surprised!

Three Hundred and Fifty Six...

Since I started with this photography thing I don't do much scrapbooking. Lately I feel like I want to start again. More goals for 2010! As you can see I don't have a shortage of paper.

Three Hundred and Fifty Five...

I had hoped to be done with my 365 by now but my computer was in the shop for about a week. I don't know what I would do without their help...so grateful that people know help when your computer doesn't work.

.

Ten more posts and I am done....I am looking forward to using normal titles again!!!

Three Hundred and Fifty Four...

He is a three word sentence guy lately and when he counts he says one, do, wife. He skips three and four and pronounces five like wife...Awesome!

Three Hundred and Fifty Three...

The heaters in our house are the kind that are in the wall (you can see one behind Avery). You turn them on seperately from one another. In the morning when the house is cold downstairs the kids are usually snuggled up in front of one of them getting warm. When they add some furry friends and a blanket or two it turns into a "nest". Bodie likes the idea and often askes for "ness, peas".

And I wasn't sure if I liked black and white or color better...

Three Hundred and Fifty Two...

Santa brought Bodie a new helmet. He needed one. He is always trying to do all the stunts that he sees his brother and Dad do on their bikes. Plus, I think he feels more like one of the gang now that he has one of his own.

Three Hundred and Fifty One...

I took this photo of Missy to show you the power of photoshop and why it is so fun to play around with it. Photoshop alone has many, many options that help you improve a photo. Also, you are able to buy actions that you install into Photoshop. Actions are simply a set of steps taken in photoshop that were recorded and with the touch of a button will play for you and alter the way your photo looks. I am able to make my own actions too. Here are some samples of some that I ran on this photo. These are all actions that I bought. Some of them I tweaked after I pressed play. Enjoy...oh and this may or may not be why my house isn't spotless all the time.

Three Hundred and Fifty...

Ron had to get rid of this truck. So sad! I loved using it as a fun place to take photos. And why does Rowdy look 14 in the photo?

Three Hundred and Forty Nine...

She told me the other day she is too smart for Kindergarten!

Three Hundred and Forty Eight...

I don't know why I started doing this but for quite some time Bodie has been taking his naps in Ron and I's bed. I do know however, why I haven't gone back to putting him down for his nap in his crib. Because the nap in our bed system works like a charm. This is how the drill goes:

I tell Bo let's go read some books.

I tell him to find his cozy. We call for cozy. "COOOZY, were are you??" Looking from room to room and I act so surprised and excited when we find it. Greeting cozy with "Hi, cozy".

He usually hands me the cozy and we go upstairs. Me walking up and him going up the only way two year olds do, the same foot steping up the steps one step at a time.

At this point I usually chase him to our bedroom and say "I'm gonna have to get you" and he goes squealing down the hallway, his little blonde head bouncing the whole way there!

We pick out a book and we get on the boat (bed). He likes Dada's side of the bed. I tuck him in, if he hasn't done it already. And I climb in on my side.

We read the book.

After we are done reading he likes to review the book by pointing out all the things he knows. At this point my eyes are feeling heavy and I just let him jabber on and I say "yes, good job Bo, good counting or yep that is purple."

When he is done doing that he says to me..."End, leep, dime" or The End, sleep, time. This is new to the routine.

He puts the book down.

Rolls over onto his left side and covers up with the cozy.

I say, "Mama, loves you Bo, Bo." He has recently been saying it back...melt heart into goo!

He usually yawns onces and drifts off in about 2 to 3 minutes.

I usually take a little recharge 15 to 20 minute nap at this point and it is heaven!

I wake up and sneak out.

He used to cry when he wakes up and take a long time to settle down from being asleep. But I told him that when he wakes up he doesn't need to cry...just come down stairs and find Mama. Well, the other day he did just that, no crying. I made a huge deal of it and he has been doing better about not crying when he wakes up.

One day we were already upstairs and I told him I was going to go downstairs and get his cozy and when I got back up, he was all tucked in bed waiting for me...

Three Hundred and Forty Seven...

This is the face he make when he hears something. He puts his hand up to his ear and shakes his head a little bit as to look around for what is making that sound...so awesome I caught it!

Three Hundred and Forty Six...

Ron on his 40th Birthday. We made him a big breakfast and Avery made him a party hat to wear! He had a great morning opening presents and having breakfast with the kids.

Three Hundred and Forty Five...

One last one from Hawaii. Rowdy with water bottle and binoculars in hand at the top of our hike...After I edited the photo, it quickly became a favorite of him.

Three Hundred and Forty Four...

On our hike in Hawaii the kids had fun touching the Shy Grass. It is little fern looking plant that folds up when you touch it. It is folding up to expose the thorns under the plant...pretty cool huh?

Three Hundred and Forty Three...

While we were in Hawaii, my nephew, Roger got married to this beautiful young lady. Her name is Sharay. And Sharay has a very cute little girl named Raya. And we just absolutely adore them all....

...and are so thrilled for them and their cute little family!

Three Hundred and Forty Two...

Do you want to hear something scary? I will be registering this little boy for preschool in February.....YIKES! He will start fall of 2010! He will just have turned three on August 22nd. He's just a baby! Deep breath...I will be fine. But I swear I just took him to Avery's first day of preschool and he was two weeks old!

Three Hundred and Forty One...

Another, goal of mine is to get more shots of this young man. He goes to school when it is dark outside and we seem so busy after school that I haven't taken as many photos of him. And most of them are when he is riding his bike and he always has his helmet on.

He is quite the little artist lately. He has come up with his own comic book called "Hot Smot". I have no idea where that name came from. The main character's name is Jack. The first comic he wrote had too much potty humor in it for me to share here. I told him that I loved the drawings and detail of the story but he needed to try to focus on some more appropriate topics. He even signs the last box of the comic. He told me he did that because that is what Charles Schultz does.

Three Hundred and Forty...

Although, this was taken the same day as the post below. I thought the photo really deserved a post all on it's own. When I took this shot I didn't mean for the number "5" to be in the shot it just happened to be there. And since she will only be five for two more months, it is so fitting. She stopped and posed like that on her own. I think it is great that her cute little pink reflection showed up on the side of the train. I love everything about the picture...right down to her goofy little outfit.

She can't wait to be six because all of her girl cousins her age turned six in the fall. She has started the count down until her birthday and makes plans daily about her party.

Three Hundred and Forty...

My kids and their cousins didn't have school the week of Thanksgiving. So I thought it was a perfect chance to get them together. When they are in school they don't see each other as much as you would think even though we live close.

I took them to Applebee's for lunch. They have kids meals for .99 cents on Wednesdays. And yes I am crazy for going to a resturant out numbered six to one. But they did great! And I didn't have to make them lunch!

Then we headed to Avery park for a little fun on the big black steam engine.

It was a great time and something different than just hanging around our place.