Pink! Pink! Pink!

There has been a pink glow coming from our upstairs for a few days now. It is not a new nightlight or the beams of a beautiful sunset. It is the reflection of light off the walls of Hailey's new big girl room.

After over ten years, the nursery is no more. The yellow paint has been covered with pink. The flashcard border has been removed and thrown away. The ABC themed accessories have been packed into a box in hopes that Hailey or one of the boys' wives with exquisite taste will want to use them in their own nurseries some day. And just for the record, I wasn't sad - it was time - our four and a half going on twelve year old needed a space that was her own.

We bought two colors of pink. The one I call bubblegum and the other can only be described as fuchsia. My vision was two walls one color, two walls the other. The painter (Daddy) and the little girl that would inhabit the room had a different idea. At the end of the job we had one wall a sweet bubblegum color and three walls fuchsia-riffic. It looks good - just a bit on the dramatic side.

Little by little we are trying to get the room completely together. We don't have anything on the walls yet. I have a couple of projects that I am working on for that. I am looking for a new or upcycled bookcase for her. We went through her books and I was very impressed at how many "baby-baby" titles she was willing to part with. Today I have been painting a dresser that I bought at an estate sale white and spray painting the clothes hooks that were on her door and closet door pink. I still want Daddy to make her a platform for her bed.

She is thrilled with it and is so proud to show it off to anyone that comes over. Little by little we are making progress - finding things here and there. The fun is in the hunt anyway!

On a whim...

My "to do" list is a mile long and growing.

Our list of summer projects that we wanted to accomplish has one thing crossed off of it.

We are rapidly running out of time in the summer of 2011 and that is exactly why we didn't worry about any of the "lists" and decided on a whim that an afternoon at the beach was in order - black paint all over our bodies be damned!

I am so glad that we did. The breeze was just enough so that you never felt hot. The waves were just big enough that the kids had a ball playing in them and I never feared that they may be in danger.

I promise that Evan really does eat. Even though this picture makes it appear that he doesn't.

Ev was his old self today. He has had some issues this summer. At times he seems to be becoming more of an introvert and I have no idea why. But today, he was laughing and getting along with his siblings and smiling for my camera every time he saw it pointed his way. The two of us even went on a short walk to scout out some locations for a shoot I have later this week. I snapped shot after shot of him and he would ask me "Did I look good in that one?" So funny.

The kids are in love with my old boogie boards. I am so glad Trent never convinced me to sell them. Now I am on the lookout for a third! Hailey wants her own!

Hailey has not taken a nap for the past three or four days. I fear our napping days are behind us. She was tired today though. She crawled up on me with her towel and her yummy fingers.

On our walk Evan found a piece of a bike tire tube. Of course he brought it home with him. Some things about him will never change!

Oh Summer! Why do you have to go so soon?

Her eyes...

Sometimes when I see her eyes all I can hear is Bruno Mars' song in my head. I still have no idea where those eyes came from.

The theme this week at i heart faces is beautiful eyes. Head on over there and check out some stunning photos by some amazing photographers.

Trick of the trade

I was editing pictures today from a recent photo gig and was very excited to learn a new photo trick. I have noticed that when I look at the pictures that I put on my blog, they don't look as crisp on the blog as they do in the pictures folder. I found out today that there is a little trick known as sharpening for web.

I decided to try it on two of my favorite photos from our vacation. I know I will have many more favorites. I haven't even begun to sort through the over seven hundred pictures I took on our eight days away from home. Gulp! How many rolls of film would that have been back in the day? I used to shoot mainly rolls of twenty four - so we are talking about around twenty nine rolls of film. A little excessive? Maybe.

Anyway here they are. SOOC shot:

Sharpened for web shot. I don't see a lot of difference here. I am wondering if it was because I had such a long exposure to catch the waterfall. I still love this shot.

I loved this picture the instant I took it. It is so hard to catch moments like this between these two. SOOC shot:

Sharpened for web shot. Holy smokes what a difference! I almost think it is too sharp. Hailey's hair looks a little "solid" or something.

Another thing to add to my pile of stuff to do. It is always fun to learn something new!

Refuge in the river

"Eventually, all things merge into one and a river runs through it."

-Norman Maclean

We spent an overnight last week at the cabin. If I claim Lake Michigan as my "strength" - this would be Trent's - the Pere Marquette river. Though the water only gets to fifty something degrees (in the summer) he has walked in this river from the months of March through October.

And his children are following in his footsteps.

It was over cast and over ninety degrees outside and the water was so cold that there was a layer of mist above the river. As the sun started to come out and burn off the mist, Spencer noticed it was disappearing. When we asked him why we thought that was he answered "Because we are getting too close to it?". We all had a good laugh.

Evan is always on the hunt for "treasures". Even treasures covered with algae.

Little sister is getting brave in the water.

In the evening Trent casted off the dock a few times and Evan was thrilled to run into the cabin and let us know that for the first time ever (debatable...) a fish was caught off the dock.

Since no one was around, little sister thought running around in her unders would keep her cooler.

We brought up a little TV that the boys could use for their plug n' play games. This kept them very entertained in the late evening and early morning.

For additional morning entertainment, Spencer performed some cereal balancing tricks on his sleeping brother.

It was so hot up north that we couldn't stand the thought of another night without our air conditioning. Neither could Dickens and Hailey.

We also took an awesome rafting trip on the river. It was the first time we had ever done that with the kids and it was a great time. I bought a disposable camera at the rental place for $16.50 (gasp!) and took some shots on the river. If I ever figure out how to get them developed (does anyone even do that anymore???) I will post them.

Pickles are good and so are days spent at the cabin!

Bounty

We picked some beans from our garden today. Ten beans. Ten beans is all we have to show for all of our work so far. I had to put up more netting today because now I think the rabbits are getting in and nibbling on the budding vegetables. I think we have managed to keep the deer away with our net system, but the whole thing looks like some complex fish trap and it is extremely hard to get near the plants and weed and do whatever else we have to do on a daily basis. Inspect for remains of what critters ate the night before is what it seems like we do mostly.

I keep reminding myself that this is the first year we have tried this and eventually we will figure out what we are doing. I hope we get more than our ten beans out of this garden or I am not so sure.

The beans were really good. The kids and I each devoured our two and a half beans a piece. I guess that makes it seem pretty worth it.

Bike time!

Look who learned how to ride a two wheeler! He was so close last year, I really thought that he would get it before Spencer did. He just lacked confidence in himself. He still mastered it two full years younger than Spencer was.

My kids are not that crazy about bike riding. Except for Hailey - she is loco about riding her bike. In fact, I think I may try her on the two wheeler this summer. I bet she will almost be able to do it.

We gently "pushed" him into practicing two wheels by telling him that if everyone could ride bikes, one of these nights we could pedal to the ice cream place.

Isn't the teaching of bike riding traditionally a "dad" job? So far I have taught both boys how to ride. I have been the one running in the street with my hand on a kids' shirt. A mother's work is never done.

Once he mustered up his confidence and got his balance, he was riding around like a champ. It also didn't hurt that I told him if he could ride it I would run down the slip and slide fully clothed.

He still has some practicing to do with getting his balance when he first gets on the bike, but once he gets going he cruises. We are so proud of him and he is pretty proud of himself too.

I had to include this picture of bikini clad sister riding her bike. Who dresses these kids anyway? Did you catch what Evan had on? A Hawaiian party shirt, mesh shorts and orange Crocs. Cutting edge.

So I had to go on the slip and slide fully clothed. The boys were so excited. They asked if they could tape it and put it on YouTube. Hailey was just afraid I would break the "slippy slide". Can you feel the love?