The Calm After the Storm

About a month ago, we had crazy weather here in Manatee and Sarasota Counties.  Two tornadoes touched down, coming from the gulf.  Tornadoes are extremely rare in Florida.  One of the tornadoes killed two grandparents while they were watching their grandchildren.  The rest of the day was extremely windy.  Our windows whistled with the winds whipping at them.  I went out to Lido Beach, a beach I don't usually go to, but isn't that far from us.  I was hoping for some different types of pictures to find.  The waves off the Gulf of Mexico were so big there were actually surfers out on the water.  I haven't seen that here yet!

Even these sea gulls were having a tough time with the strong wind.  They were all facing into it.

The Selfie Project Finale

I had lofty intentions of taking a selfie a day with the kids in 2015.  I am not at all into selfies and I am not sure I understand the infatuation with them, but I really wanted to be in more photos with the kids and I thought, "Hey!  Let's take selfies!" No selfie stick involved in this project!  In fact, a few times, I set up my good camera on the tripod and took some pictures, but that was exhausting trying to get the settings correct and focus just right.  And besides, I really wasn't going for the perfect moment, perfect picture shots.  I just wanted pictures of me with the kids.  I only ended up with about 70 for the year.  Here are 64, only because the fit nicely into a square.  This project was a lot harder than I anticipated.  I thought the kids would love taking pictures with the iPhone.  Turns out they just want to be in the moment, and that is just fine by me.  Those make the best memories anyway.

They are 3 and 5

I should have written about this months ago, but here are Colin and Amy's 3 and 5 year old pictures.  This was no easy assignment.  In fact, I have only one of Colin.  I was no match for the flying sea gulls!  But here are some of my favorites:

Rise and Shine

I have been wanting to write about this little story for awhile and I am now just returning to it. This is from our fall trip to Ohio back in October.  Colin is a very early riser and I always worry about how early he will get up when we are staying at others' houses.  On this particular morning, he awoke at 5:30, which awoke his cousin, which awoke Uncle Dave, who was not thrilled to be up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning.  So, he told the two of them they had to help him do work in the yard.  The assignment:  Install the invisible dog fence.  I am not sure how his cousin felt about this "punishment" but Colin was more than thrilled to be doing work in the yard.  I followed the three of them around for awhile and it is safe to say that Colin and his cousin found more play than work between the two of them!

Christmas Countdown

I actually have one more story to share from our fall trip, but this week I am sharing an activity that I have wanted to do for a long time with the kids, but never had the energy! Haha!  Everyday in December, I will hide a Christmas book for the kids to find.  I have written all of the clues for the month and I think the kids will have fun searching for the books.  Thank you to J.B. for wrapping all 24 books!