Photo Project 2012 - Days 342 to 364

Day 342

For a majority of the past dozen years, we have celebrated Ron's and Linda's birthdays at dinner in Chicago on a Saturday night in December. The past two years, we have done so at Erie Cafe; this year's dinner was especially delicious. And, it's always wonderful to be with our former boating pals. (No, I didn't take this picture. I took one of the outside of the restaurant that wasn't as pretty.)

Day 343

Could Portia and Cinna have posed under the tree any better?

Day 344

It's pomegranate season. Annalee is in heaven!

Day 345

Ron proudly wears a necklace Zelda made him for his birthday. And, then we teased him that he was showing a little too much skin.

Day 346

Can you see Cinna tucked under Ron's arm while Ron edits a document for work?

Day 347

This was a gimme picture for the day.

Day 348

For Zelda's holiday party at school, she got decked out in her new Christmas outfit and antlers.

Day 349

On my mom's side of the family, we have six birthdays to celebrate between Dec. 7 and Jan. 4. We sang the Happy Birthday song six times and each birthday person got his/her own candle and cupcake. Ron, Zelda and Wyatt are among the celebrants.

Day 350

For the first time, I made an advent wreath. We had it on the kitchen table and would light it during dinner. (We missed at least the first 10 days of advent while I was sick and then went searching for blue candles.) We found dining by candlelight very calming; it gave us an opportunity to talk about history and to be reflective. Though the top image is rather dark, I love the glow of the candles with Ron just behind them. We all enjoyed looking at the shadows on the ceiling the first evening when we turned off all the electric lights.

Day 351

The flag at the park district remained at half staff following the shooting at the school in Newtown, Conn.

Day 352

After visiting with Santa at the Yorktown mall, Zelda takes a ride (make that six rides) on the little train.

Day 353

I came out from seeing my napropath/chiropractor to find Zelda upside down on the chair. I'm not sure this helped her adjustment all too much.

Day 354

For math class, Annalee had to do a project about a number. She chose 65 because the dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago. She worked really hard on the poster and all the data it contained.

The evening of the same day the poster was due, Annalee had her first band concert. She is the only person in fourth-grade beginner band playing the xylophone. At the start of the concert, the director invited one student to demonstrate each instrument to the audience. Annalee played a scale.

Day 355

Our elf on the shelf, Jack, hid in Zelda's stocking.

Day 356

I went searching for the kittens one day and found them sleeping together on the top of the dress-up clothes bin.

Day 357

Jackie displaced our handmade angel to hang out at the top of the tree.

Day 358

When I asked the girls which cookies they most wanted to have during Christmas, these (non-PC named) Arabian hats topped Annalee's list. I woke up early on Christmas Eve to bake them.

 During the latter half of our Christmas Eve service, we sing Silent Night by candlelight.

I neglected to take any pictures during our Christmas Eve gathering of friends and family. But, just before the Crowleys left, I got all five girls in front of the tree for this fine portrait.

Day 359

We have had an on-and-off tradition of popping British crackers as we start our Christmas dinner. Everybody has to wear their crowns. If we were to give an award for wearing the crown the longest, mom would have won. She had hers on into the evening.

Day 360

This is the last picture taken of Zelda as a four-year-old. After I took it, she began crying about not being four any more.

Day 361

She managed to be all smiles the next morning when she began opening her gifts.

I took the girls to Brookfield Zoo to enjoy the holiday lights display. It didn't have quite the winter holiday feel without snow on the ground.

Day 362

Rather than a traditional cake, I made birthday cake balls for Zelda's birthday party. I thought they looked as good as anything coming out of a bakery (if I do say so myself).

Zelda got to blow out candles twice on her birthday, one with her little friends and one with family. She had a Hello Kitty pajama party with her friends and kept on her pajamas for the entire day (and the next day, too!).

Day 363

We were very happy to be witnesses to friends Louisa and kClare's blessed union.

Day 364

It was 'Comfy Day' at church, so the girls wore their pajamas. Annalee was all smiles about it, though she did start to feel conspicuous when we went out for breakfast after the service.

Ribbons Flowing at the County Fair

I first entered some jam and photos at the county fair three years ago. I got the idea after reading a canning book of blue-ribbon recipes. It got me interested, so I did some research and figured out what kind of exhibits our county fair accepted. In the past two years, I won a few ribbons, enough to make it fun and keep me doing it each year.

This year, Annalee joined in since she met the age requirement for the junior competition.

Our friend John went to the fair on the day it opened and sent me some texts with photos of some of our entries. I could see some really cool looking ribbons, but I had no idea what they were.

When the girls and I finally attended the fair on the third day, we headed straight to the Home Economics building to see just what we had won. Here's where I'm going to brag about Annalee and me. So, if you don't like that, just stop reading now. But, I have just been so excited by our winnings, that I have to share!

This picture was entered in the 'reflections' class. It earned first place and a special award from the director. Truthfully, it was a total fluke that I found this picture in our digital files and thought to put it in this category. I was actually looking in the file from Zelda's recital to see about any pictures of her for the 'portrait' class. When I saw this one, I knew it had potential.

When I took this picture at the county fair, I knew I wanted to enter it in the 'best picture taken at the county fair' class. The lighting was just so perfect. This also earned first place and a special award from the director. Zelda was excited!

She also was excited to see the picture of herself sleeping with a flashlight tagged with a second place ribbon. This was in the 'humorous' class.

My sunset picture from our vacation in Michigan earned a fourth place ribbon in none other than the 'sunset' class, of course.

For the first time this year, I entered two baked goods - in the layer cake and dietary dessert classes. I baked my nearly famous chocolate layer cake; it's both gluten- and dairy-free. In the layer cake class, it earned a second place ribbon. But, better than than, it earned the People's Choice ribbon. That's voted on by volunteers and others working in the Home Ec building once the official judging is completed. A note on the back of the tag said it was 'great! wouldn't know it was gluten-free.' I entered a slice from the same cake in the gluten-free dietary dessert class. It earned a second place ribbon as well.

Here's what all the awards look like:

Then, we checked on Annalee's entries. She earned blue, red and white ribbons. I think I was more excited for her than she was for herself!

Her heart-shaped candy pops earned first place.

A weaving she created in school earned her second place.

And, decorated cupcakes earned her third place.

My guess is that she was disappointed that none of her three pictures received a ribbon. But, we have about 11 months to work on her photography skills before entries are due for next year.

After all that, I was geared up for the Ghiradelli Best Chocolate Dessert Competition, a free contest that was held on Sunday, the last day of the fair. I actually baked my s'mores cookie bar recipe twice, trying to get it just right. I made it gluten-free; I couldn't make it dairy-free since Ghiradelli chocolate has milk in it - yes, even the dark chocolate. So, I didn't really get to enjoy it, but that's ok. We waited and waited while the judges tasted each of the entries. When they got to my bars, I could lip read enough to know they were surprised that it was gluten-free and one said she never would have known that. In the end, three other desserts won the great cash prizes and gift baskets. It was a fun and educational experience. And, even though I don't eat Ghiradelli, I'm already considering what recipe to work on for next year's competition. The cash prize is calling my name!



When all was said and done, it cost us $51 for all our entries; then, we received checks totalling $60. So, you could say we are money ahead. But, the entry fees are just the cost of entering the competition, not the cost of creating our entries themselves. When you figure in the cost of baking and canning ingredients, photo paper, mounting materials, etc., it cost us money. But, hey, that's not what this is about. For us, this was about doing things we love, sharing them with others who have an appreciation for these things and then being recognized for those efforts. Actually, then, I guess we came out ahead.

Next year, I'm aiming higher. I would like to win the most points for entries in a single division to earn a champion rosette...

Photo Project 2012 - Days 126 to 139

Day 126

Our sole poppy bloomed on May 5. I have a sneaking suspicion that Ron killed off the many others I planted last year when he was hitting the back beds with weed killer.

Day 127
 

  

On May 6, we celebrated - officially - Annalee's 9th birthday with family and friends that are our family. When all the party festivities were done, it was time for dress up!

 Day 128
 

After all the birthday festivities from the previous few days, it was time for Zelda and I to relax and play with Play Doh for a while.

Day 129
 

Zelda prepares to leave for preschool - where they were having crazy hair day!

Day 130

Watching Chopped on the Food Network has given us all new ways to enjoy our meals together. I've branched out in my cooking. And, Ron and the girls (especially the girls) have taken it upon themselves to critique my dishes. On May 8, I plated the top dish, which I thought would look much better than it did. Then, Annalee took a stab at it (bottom), running out to grab parsley from the garden even. I think hers looks much better. Despite my failing in the presentation, the taste was wonderful and fulfilling. The girls gave me a 10!

Day 131
 

After 2-1/2 years since our last trip to China, I finally broke out these Chinese headpieces for the girls to play with. Zelda needed a crazy 'hat' to wear at a park district event.

Day 132
 

Annalee has been working hard to master making a fried egg, not too runny and definitely not too cooked. This day, she excelled.

Day 133

  
Zelda and I hung out at Lowe's while Annalee attended a Harry Potter Festival. I loved the look of these flowers, whose name totally escapes me now.


Day 134 - Mother's Day

  
We celebrated Mother's Day at a local pizza place that had a special buffet. Here's my mom and dad Bob. Mom's wearing the special corsage I bought her. We're trying to bring back the old tradition.


Day 135 

 

This is the corsage my mom gave me for Mother's Day.

I thought I had my picture of the day when I took the corsage, but then Annalee brought me this little bunch of flowers that she wrapped tightly with a leaf. They were too picturesque not to include. I love the water droplets on the petals.

Day 136
 

We were getting ready to go to sleep when Ron told me that Cindy, my sister-in-law, told him over the weekend that she's been enjoying my photo-a-day-project on the blog. With that, I remembered that I hadn't taken a picture this day. So, I hopped out of bed and ran to the kitchen. I have always loved the way our kitchen glows from the nite light on the microwave. Thanks Cindy!

Day 137
 

I love our chalkboard wall in the kitchen. It is such an integral part of our daily lives.

Day 138
 

I was only going to post  Annalee's pictures from her third grade music show, but I couldn't pass up Zelda's twirl picture as we were getting ready to leave for her dance recital pictures.

Annalee is in the third row from the top, second in from the right, between the huge afro and the baseball cap.

Here are the girls with friends Alaina and Madison after the show. Annalee was going for the hippie look of the 70s since the music show was celebrating the decades - as the school has been doing for the past couple of months while honoring its 50th anniversary.


Day 139

My family has a new addiction - rock climbing! We recently rejoined the local YMCA. We're trying to make use of their many programs and facilities. Friday night is open climb night. So, up they went....over and over and over and over again. It made for a great night of sleep for everyone!


Follow-up: I have been reminded that the pretty flower from day 133 was foxglove. Thank you, again, Cindy!