Okay, this post catches me up on my Project 52, thank goodness. Last week’s theme was “Pretty Ugly”, or finding beauty in the unexpected. So, let me explain a little. When you become a mom, playing in the snow means something very different from when you were little.  When I was a kid, my biggest worry was getting a little snow down in my glove or boot and having to fight that cold burn until it melted. Other than that, playing in the snow was easy-peasy. But as a mom, playing in the snow is hard. It means things like five extra loads of laundry, a sopping wet kitchen floor, missing gloves, wet boots, tears after a kid takes a snowball to the face…you know how it goes. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love snow days, but they create a bunch of ugly, extra work. So, there’s the ugly in this week’s theme. The beauty…it is so,very.worth.it. There just isn’t anything better in a kids’ world. And for that, I’ll take all the extra ugly work. To be fair…Sam actually took on all the extras yesterday…even standing out in the cold with the kiddoes. He’s a good guy. A good husband and a good dad. I got to sit inside and catch up with my friend Pam (and drink coffee and eat this cake-which was out of this world) and snuggle with my baby girl…and take a few pictures from the porch. Sam did all the grunt work yesterday. So, thanks Babe!

I’ve lost count of the weeks. I’m a little late on this post (just like last week), but I haven’t given up. Not going to. This week’s theme was chaos. When I heard it, I thought…oh, I got that. Everyday of my life. But when it came to photographing chaos, I really wasn’t sure which direction to go. Then, on Saturday afternoon, the boys and Sam scooted the big ottoman to the side of the living room and started WrestleMania XIV. It’s pretty much a daily thing at our house. You can tell from the pics that Job is more into it than Joseph. Joseph always gets hurt, so he’ll wrestle a bit, then play, then sit with me. Mommy doesn’t wrestle. I’m a party-pooper. And yes, Joseph did change clothes during the course of the event. Not sure why. Obviously, he felt the need to slip into his swimming trunks.

I’ll admit it…I hate being in front of the camera. It’s much easier to be on the other side snapping away. So, I wasn’t super-thrilled when I read that this week’s challenge was to get myself in the frame. Adalyn was about to get a bath a few nights ago, and she was so happy just to be chatting away with me…her silly, ol’ momma. It ain’t always gonna be that way. One day, she’ll be a teenager, and I was a teenage girl once. I know she probably won’t always like me. I was getting way ahead of myself and thinking about 13 years down the road, and Job walked in. “Whatcha doin’?” And he said it just like Candice from Phineas & Ferb too. I asked him if he’d like to take a few pictures, and he agreed to help me out. I sat the camera on the bed, adjusted the settings, pointed my flash so it would bounce nicely off the wall, switched the lens to manual focus, focused on Adalyn, then jumped back in the frame to play with her. Job snapped while I played. So, the shots aren’t perfect, but I love them anyway. My girl is smiling at me, and my boy snapped the shots.