The joys of having a six year old!

Our daughter Acilia is quite a delight!
She fills our days with goodness and light!



Acilia was born in June, what a great month! We have celebrated the last three birthdays by taking her horse back riding. Her true passion in life! It's been a joy to see her grow and change; her personality shine! She has two significantly different personalities. One is sweet, kind, sharing, compassionate, friendly, well mannered & funny. The other is one that only comes out when she isn't happy with what she's been told, or if she doesn't like the way she was treated (ex. if you tell her to do something without saying "Please" *ahem*). She has a face that we call the "frowny face" and she becomes ambivalent ( simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action). It's interesting to see her blossom! In the last year alone, she has really come into her comfort at school and her ways of sitting quietly and waiting for the teacher to ask her if she needs something, have been traded with confidently asking for what she needs and expressing herself through writing! She is expressive and she is gaining points in self esteem daily! I am so proud of my little shining star whom I must add, is a little girly, prissy clone of me!

The joys of having a toddler!

My little boy is so sweet and content by nature. We've been blessed to have him. In a few short weeks we will be entering the "2" stage and though we have seen glimmers of what's to come (tantrums, deciding to do something even though he was told NO, you know the "2 year old" things) I still believe that there will always be glimmers of his sweetness. Miles is speaking pretty much constantly now and I love listening to him put words together in his own language!
Cuck= Truck
Lub wew= Love you
Deeda = Daddy
Neeena=Grandma
Nunu where are you?= Where is my pacifier
Arf arf = dog
the one that melts my heart the most, is
Teek you mama = Thank you Momma. Even at the tender age of "almost 2" this child is displaying graciousness and to be honest, I am going to soak it up while I can, because I know not shortly after this sweet stage comes to "I won't say thank you even if you beg me" stage!
Miles passes the time playing with his Thomas and friends train set, reading books & pointing out any and all airplanes, trucks, cars, busses, etc! He laughs when he hears the adults laugh, he sings along when he hears music and he values his independence as he goes off and plays on his own!

You capture! - Faces

FACES!

Get up close and show us some cute, handsome, stubbly, soft-skinned, furry, adorable, beautiful faces! Even yours, if you’d like!

I got a few great shots, Miles my son, Franko my dog (Black and White) Acilia my daughter and Remo (Cream colored poodle) OH! And one of me, with some baby chicks on my shoulders :) Enjoy!

You capture! - Color

The challenge:
Show us some color during these bleak winter months! Extra credit if you can find it outside.

Outside shots first :)





















And moving indoors....














I am blessed to have a bright cheery room in my house, my daughter's room! Infact, when we first painted, looking at the bright green walls with absolutely nothing else in the room, some even joked about needing sunglasses! :)

You capture! - Love around the home

This is the last one I need to throw in here before I am caught up




I took pictures of all the crosses in my house, why? Because I love them and they are in my home! I also took a few of the stained glass light fixtures, love them!

Notice the stained glass window in my circa 1850's home! Love it!

You Capture! - Winter

I am excited to have found this little weekly challenge, I am going to give it a try! There was one from a week or two ago that I just can't pass up, so that will be my "first official challenge"
The theme was: Winter
Click the "You Capture" button on my sidebar if you are interested in playing along too!!

Without further adieu here is Winter here in Chicago, lot's of snow and lot's of cold!

My very first "Not Me Monday"

This is *not* my first time doing "Not Me! Monday" hence having no idea how to get the "Not ME!" Logo in my post.

I am *not* sitting here devouring the best Mexican Style by El Milagro bag of chips after just eating lunch!

I am *not* enjoying the peaceful silence in the house as Miles sleeps, Acilia is at her cousins' house where she spent the night and hubby is at work!

I do *not* feel boastful when I make a homemade dinner, since it *doesn't* happen on rare occasion! (Pot roast in the crock pot smells yummmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyy)

Ok, I believe that's a good enough start for my first "Not Me!" post :)