Ten on Ten: two. ten. thirteen.

February 10th. BSD's birthday. Perfect day for a Ten on Ten. Only problem? BSD is not home. So no birthday birthday cake. No decorations. No pretty wrapped packages in this set. Just a lazy Sunday at home. Doing laundry. Playing outdoors. Catching up on homework. Getting a haircut. Hanging with the puppy dog. Not the day it should have been. But a good one just the same.

January came and went in a flash. Every weekend was consumed with ballet summer intensive auditions. Four weekends. Four auditions. Driving either to Washington, DC or some city in North Carolina. It was fun. At first. By the fourth audition I was cooked. And so was BB. But the results are all in. The intensive has been chosen. And BB is already packing her bags. She's downloaded an app on her iTouch that counts down the days until she gets to go. Summer cannot get her soon enough as far as she's concerned. Exciting times.

Buster continues to be a major source of excitement in our house. He is bigger every morning. And smarter. And sweeter. He's already six months old. And wayyyyy too frisky. He's off to get snipped here in the next few weeks. Crossing our fingers that curbs his enthusiasm. I'm not used to having a boy. yeesh!

I am still waiting for the day that one of my family members is willing to get outdoors with me to let me play with my film cameras. I have a small stockpile of film and am chomping at the bit to explore with it. In the meantime, I'm trying to keep up with year two of my Project 365. But giving myself the freedom to use my iPhone as needed.

One of these days I hope to get back to this space more regularly again. But it's been a welcome break for me. I do miss it. But I also enjoy the freedom. Since I haven't had time to blog hop it hasn't felt right to post. I've been trying to keep up on Instagram. I'm mawlovesbsd. But I'm not sure I've found all of you. If you're on Instagram, and we haven't caught up, let me know how to find you in the comments.

 

 

  

 

 To see what others were up to today, take a peek over here.

twelve. ten. twelve.

And another month rolls around with barely a word from these parts. I've been consumed with other things. Like not Christmas shopping. Not exercising. Not eating right. Oh, and not blogging. Good thing I'm committed to these Ten on Ten posts. Or there'd be nothing but crickets around here.

We all managed to survive Nutcracker season. The ballerinas much more so than me, I must say. I am down with some type of sickness. That just doesn't want to give up. I thought I was at the tail end of it, but I guess spending two weeks in a theater holding countless germy little hands just before they puke into the trash can is not the best ounce of prevention. But it's all good.

I also started an online film photography class last week. It is fantastic! And I can't wait for my film to arrive so I can dive in and try out my dad's old cameras. I hope to post more about that soon. I think I'm onto something. Something that I knew was missing. But am just starting to figure out what it was. I know that sounds totally vague. But it's exciting.

OK...onto my day. Ten photos. Over Ten hours. On the tenth day. A boring sick day. I barely left the house. And I can't wait to crawl into bed as soon as I hit "Submit."

sleepy heads...

BB, don't go...

living room chaos...

watching over us...

chocolate eggs...finally!

and they taste goooooood....

afternoon siesta...

after school snack...

dance pickup...

night, night...

To see what others were up to today, take a peek over here.

Gifted and Talented: The Video

If this ballet gig doesn't pan out, I think the Big Ballerina has a future in the dog training world. Cesar Millan....watch your back.

Buster = 13 weeks old
Big Ballerina = 12 years old

eleven. ten. twelve.

These Ten on Ten post titles crack me up.

"umm....no, officer. I haven't been drinking."
"of course I can count to twelve."
"nine. ten. twelve."
"er...ten. ten. twelve."
"no wait...eleven. ten. twelve. Yes. That's it... eleven. ten. twelve."

And it looked like this....

8am - Saturday Morning Cartoons

9am - Gifted and Talented

10am - The view from up here

11am - The ride

high noon - play date

1pm - cheating on my Big Gulp    (hot cocoa with a shot of peppermint mocha. yum!)

2pm - little fishie

3pm - friendship time out

4pm - indian squaw (one of our hens is molting big time)

6pm - pizza on the porch

Yes. It was a gorgeous, lazy day with just Buster, my Little Ballerina and her buddy today. Such a nice break from the cold, damp weather we've been having.

Check out what everyone else was up to today here. If you participated too, leave me a comment. I'd love to peek into your day.

Ten on Ten: Ten. Ten. Twelve.

This Ten on Ten introduces a new member of our family. We got a new puppy over the weekend. Not sure how that happened. My family must have slipped something into my Diet Coke. Because we've been there. Done that. Before. And it didn't end well.

I think I was lulled into it by a gorgeous four hour drive into the country. And the prospect of a new model. Luckily, he's quite photogenic. And at 8 weeks, he already sits and poses for the camera. Who needs the ballerinas? When I've got Buster Brown now.

He's also quite the little helper too. This morning he helped me...

make the ballerinas' lunches.

clean up the cobwebs around here...

do the laundry...

dead head the mums in the garden ...

make some lunch...

and do the dishes.

When the ballerinas got home, there was homework to do...

followed by a little training session with his big sister...

Then it was off to see one of his relatives....

find some jeans to fit a skinny tween...

and finally... a little late night toy shopping.

Yes. It was a busy day. For a little pup. And an old mom.

Check out what everyone else was up to today here.

in an octopus' garden...under a new shade

Remember the art work BSD made for the Big Ballerina out of the old fence pickets? Well...we promised the Little Ballerina that she would get one too. We didn't want the same design so we asked her what she wanted. Her reply...

"a lavender octopus on a green background"

Alrighty then. 

A lavender octopus on a green background you shall get.

BSD is the bomb!

And you'll also get a new hanging lamp for some shade. 

A lamp that I originally bought on a whim for the Big Ballerina's bedroom from one of those online flash sales. I think it was Joss and Main. But BB vetoed it. Luckily, LB is not as picky. And she is happy with the cozy space it creates.

What I couldn't stomach was that nightstand. Splattered with Barbie stickers that don't simply peel off. And Daddy's cell phone number written on the side. 

While I would have loved to replace the nightstand with something a little bigger to fit the space better. I decided to just grab a can of paint I recently used on another piece in the house. That just so happened to be a shade farther down the paint strip from her wall color. (oh...which for the record. I still don't like. But it's staying. For now.) And went ahead and gave it a fresh coat of paint and some new glass knobs.

So we ever so slowwwwllllyy continue to work on the ballerinas' bedrooms. And every other room inside and outside our house. It's a process. Our motivation ebbs and flows. As do the funds to make it happen. But half the excitement is discovering what we can create for next to nothing. As in the case of the octopus art. It cost us nothing.

PS - The octopus is painted with all paints we had already. The green background is the minty green paint (mixed with a darker green) that I had Larry first paint the kitchen with. That made me want to cry. hehe...I like that it now has a happy ending.

in the park. after dark.

Today is Day 263 of my Project 365. Which is really a Project 366. Because it's Leap Year. Freakin' overachiever that I am. I chose a leap year to attempt this project. 

Some days the photos come easily. I'm done by 9am. 

Other days. It's not so easy.

 

SETTING: Tonight. 9pm. Our kitchen.

BSD: What's your photo today?
Me: I don't have one.
BSD: What are you going to do?
Me: I don't know. Take a picture tomorrow.
BSD: Isn't that cheating?
Me: Well...unless you'll let me take your picture now....

And so he did.
Such a good sport.
Until.
Just as I'm figuring out the camera settings.
He tells me he has to go home.
To poop.