Four Feet More

This week, she whose pants never touch the bathroom floor wanted us to capture the ugliest creation that was made just for us. As a teacher and a mom, a lot of crayon drawings from kids come my way. I've been fortunate in that none have been terribly bad. When Vika and Eamon make something especially "interesting," I usually encourage them to give it to my mom or Vika's teacher.

However, when Vika was 4, she went through a paper cutting and gluing phase. She would write letters and squiggles on random pieces of paper, glue them onto a larger scrap of paper and call it art. Then she proceeded to tape these little masterpieces all over the house. Here are two that she hung in the bedroom.


Recently, she looked at them and said, "Oh Mama, those aren't good. You can take them down now." But I've kind of gotten used to seeing them there. So up they stay. For now.

Here is Eamon's artistic creation. It's supposed to me a portrait of me. In a Leprechaun hat (from Eamon's leprechaun phase). The letters above either spell "Mama" or "Eamon," depending upon when you ask him what they say. I guess I shouldn't complain though. This drawing is much better than the glob of squiggly lines he put together as a portrait of his "Russian Mama."


I expect that as my kids go through school, my collection of art that only a mother could love will grow bigger. In fact, if I don't get a macaroni necklace somewhere down the line, I'm going to be disappointed!

Happy SPF! Did you play?

I'm back to SPF this week. The assignment from Kristine, who recently went on a house-cleaning binge, is your air freshener. How do you keep your house smelling good?

My house, with the cats and the kids, can get a bit funky at times. Once the house is clean, and all the windows are open, the way I make my house smell good is with candles. LOTS of candles. Seriously, I should buy stock in Pier One. My favorite scent: Harvest Spice. It always puts me in mind of the holidays, family and good food.


Happy SPF! Did you play?

For some reason, this week Kristine is interested in our tresses. More specifically, what we use to brush them.

So now I present to you - my brush.

I was talked into buying this by a former hairdresser, and was more than a little annoyed when I saw the same brush (without the Aveda name) for half the price less than a week later. Oh well, live and learn.

I was also tagged by Suzanne to reveal 8 random things about myself. You can see my list here (from a few weeks ago). Thanks for the tag Suzanne, and for the nice comment about my blog!

Happy SPF everyone, and have a great weekend!

In honor of the newest member of the Random and Odd family (Baby Ariana, who is 2 days old today), Kristine asked us to shoot something "pink and little."

These are Vika's fingers. They are covered in pink chalk because she and Eamon spent some time this week creating sidewalk art - an abstract underwater scene, complete with an upside-down whale and a shark that looks like a parrot.


I must say that I absolutely love Vika's hands. The little fingers are just so delicate and cute, and her hands are completely feminine and graceful, making an altogether adorable package. I could hold and play with her hands for hours. Of course, she would be squirming to get away from me after 5 minutes, but that's besides the point. :)

Congratulations G-ma Koo Koo and Pappy Shaun on the newest member of your very extended family! She's beautiful, and you have every right to be proud (both of her and Jen).

Happy SPF! Did you play?

This week's SPF assignment: Put something you own in your hand and take a picture of it. A handful of something.

Here's a handful of Elle's Sweet Hope Truffles. She sold these on her site a while back, and made them just in time for Mother's Day. I ordered the mixed variety box, and while I wanted to eat this entire handful last night, I managed to limit myself to just one. One wonderful, heavenly, scrumdillicious truffle. The proceeds from the sale of these candies go to help adoptive families in the U.S., so I'm eating chocolate for a good cause! :)

Also this week, I was tagged by Melissa: (Cath, I'll get to your tag soon too, I promise!)

2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

In honor of SPF's 2nd birthday, Kristine is taking us back to the game's roots. The first assignment was "Show us what's in your fridge." The two twist comes in that she wants a self-portrait, in front of the open fridge, flashing the number 2. I decided to give her two people as well (mostly because Eamon insisted on jumping into the picture). And yes, my refrigerator is that antiquated and ugly.


Happy 2nd birthday Stuff Portrait Friday!

I can't wait to see what assignments you throw out during the "terrible twos." Be gentle with us please. Keep the tantrums and shouts of "No!" to a minimum, if you will.

This week's SPF assignment was an interesting one. Kristine asked us to throw a bunch of stuff together that shows who we are. Stuff that when people see it, they think, "That is SO Jenni!" Well, before I got started on this assignment, I gathered a bunch of stuff that I thought represented me: books, art supplies, funky knick-knacks, etc. Then, I asked my mom, my brother and Jeff what kind of stuff they thought represented me. I was dismayed to see that their view was quite a bit different than mine (although still accurate). So, what I wound up with is a combination of their ideas and mine.

Here you have paint brushes (I love to paint, but so rarely have time), the desert landscape where I grew up, an open road (I love going on road trips) and a pair of Uggs (I know they are not attractive, but I live in them in the winter). Also in this mosaic are my favorite movie (Pride and Prejudice), books (Harry Potter), beverage (tea), and retail outlet (Old Navy). I also included Pez dispensers because I used to collect them, and have a bunch packed away somewhere in the garage.

My favorite tech items are my Mac Powerbook and the TiVo. Honestly, I don't know how I lived without a DVR. For those of you who have not yet invested in a TiVo, go out and do it. Now. Unless you are one of those "Kill your TV" types. Then, never mind.

The stack of books is also very me. I always have a pile of books to be read right next to the bed. When I finish one book, I grab another from the pile and keep right on reading. The problem is, I buy books so often that my TBR pile never quite goes down. It's been hanging steady at about 20 books for the last few years.

A couple of other items it the photo are sort of like my hallmark. These two items can be found on or near me, ALWAYS: a wadded up kleenex and a tube of Aquaphor. The kleenex may be clean or used, and my mom says she can always tell where I've been by following the trail of tissue. The Aquaphor is from the numerous sample packs I received while working at the Children's Hospital. I use it for my lips instead of chapstick, and it helps to keep them nice and supple. :)

And finally, I had to include pictures of my kids. Vika and Eamon are the most prized “items” in my household, and to have a representation of me without them just seems wrong.

So, there you have it. A quickly constructed mosaic of the things that are me.

Did you play?

For SPF this week, Kristine wanted us to capture "Behind." It could be something you are behind on, something you hide behind, your behind, whatever!

First, the literal version of this assignment - the rear view of an elephant as seen on Kilmanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Quite a nice behind, really. For an elephant.


Or, if you want something more artistic, here's a shot Jeff took of Eamon behind the wall of a doll house during the fire station's pancake breakfast (I believe this was an exhibit showing how to escape a burning house). The boy was fascinated.



Happy SPF!

Did you play?

This week's SPF assignment is "Two." Kristine mentioned that this was her favorite age with her daughter, Kara (whose birthday it is today), and she got me to thinking about my own kids. I did not know them when they were two years old. They were living in an orphanage in Russia, not knowing that there was a whole family waiting for them out here in California.

While I do not regret adopting "older" children, I do find myself wishing that I had known my kids when they were babies and young toddlers. Vika is so stubborn now, that I cannot imagine how she must have been during the "terrible twos." Was Eamon more quiet and subdued, or was he as crazy and goofy as he is now? I'll never know, and sometimes, I feel quite sad about that. However, I am grateful that the orphanage had pictures and videos of the kids as toddlers. It gives me a connection with them during that time that I otherwise would not have had.

So, here's my "two" for you - Vika and Eamon at age 2.

Eamon in his group room, and Vika as a dalmation in an orphanage show. Photos taken by the mamachkas at the Specialized Baby Home in Murmansk, Russia.

















Happy Birthday Kara!

Did you play?

This week's assignment from Kristine was letters. I could have gone so many ways with this. Different ideas kept flitting through my head, but every time I went to the fridge, I was confronted with this set of letters, courtesy of Leap Frog Fridge Phonics, and decided to go with them as my subject.


Before I had kids, I swore my refrigerator would never look like this. Never would I have plastic letters stuck all over the door, in jumbled disarray. Yet, there they are, colorfully mocking me, every time I go into the kitchen.

What's worse is that these letters sing. When we first brought Vika and Eamon home, they loved the alphabet song from this little fridge unit, and played it constantly (dancing along as if it was the best rock song ever!). Nowadays, the letters are used for spelling practice, to hang various works of "art," and when Vika plays "teacher" (with Eamon as her student).

Someday, our kids will outgrow these letters, and the fridge will once again be alphabet free. But you know what? When that time comes, I think I may might feel a little sad. It seems the letters have grown on me after all.

This weeks SPF assignment from Kristine at Random and Odd was "Leftover." It could be leftovers from dinner last night, leftovers from an old relationship, etc.

Well, here's my left over:
This big, hairy spider was just to the left and over my head yesterday. I was in the kitchen making lunch when I noticed it, and obviously, everything had to come to a standstill while I got a wad of tissue to kill the thing (sorry to all you arachnids' rights activists out there - I'm certain this was a matter of life and death). But, first, I decided to take a picture. While this shot is not actually life-size, it is pretty close.



Here's my second leftover (keeping a little more in line with the actual assignment):
Can you tell what this is?

It's leftover parmesan cheese sprinkles from the last pizza we ordered.

Apparently, I need to clean out my pantry a bit more often.

This week, Kristine wanted us to capture something free. I chose to capture the Panasonic camera I got for FREE last month, after winning a sweepstakes on Shutterfly. It's actually not a bad little camera. Can't beat the price either. :)


Did you play?

This week's SPF assignment from Kristine is Something Red.

My "something red" is a firetruck from our local fire station. Jeff, the kids and I attended a pancake breakfast hosted by the firefighters, and Vika and Eamon had an excellent time climbing through the truck and trying on all the gear. Unfortunately, there wasn't much eye-candy in the way of firefighters at this event (such a disappointment!), so I had to content myself with soggy eggs and rubbery pancakes.

As a result of this excursion, Eamon has added firetrucks to the list of vehicles he wants to drive when he gets older - the other two being a garbage truck and a tractor (he's under the impression that he will be able to drive once he turns 6). Vika is just happy prancing around the house in the red plastic fire hat she was given at the station.

This week's SPF assignment from Random and Odd was Buttons. It could be a ‘button’ nose, butterscotch ‘buttons’, clothes buttons, button/pins, button flowers…anything really.

Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too creative, so here's what you get: a quick shot of a Bucket O' Buttons from Michael's. This was taken while shopping for craft papers with Vika. They must have one heck of a security system at Michaels' because within minutes of snapping this photo, 3 sales representatives came into the aisle and began "working" around me. I'm not sure what mischief they thought I was up to (do thieves usually take pictures of an item they plan to steal?), but it was quite amusing to see them pretending to be busy, while covertly watching me from the corners of their eyes.