Pride

I had a hard time figuring out what to do with today's challenge of "pride." I started thinking of how three of the four states I have lived in have now approved gay marriage. I didn't have a good idea of a picture I could take to go with it. I could have taken a picture of one of our rainbow flags we have left over from a gay pride parade a couple years ago, but it didn't feel inspired to me. It just felt too staged. Later in the day, I was attempting at redecorating our dining room table. I am overall happy with the end result, and I felt pretty proud of finally getting it (almost) done. Since it isn't quite done, I didn't want to use that as my photo either. Three opportunities came up later in the evening for me. The first was at dinner: A was making a creation with her dough while we waited for a table. When she was done, she proudly showed it off to us.

The next two opportunities arose when we were getting ready for bed. While reading the bedtime story A noticed some of her sight words in her book. She very excitedly (and proudly) showed them to us. It was a very exciting moment!

The final moment was when S was pretending to tuck me in. She brought me a couple blankets and some stuffed animals. She was so proud that she got me tucked in! She would get a huge smile on her face, and then do it over again. 

Art

A drew a picture of me earlier in the week. I was tempted to use it for my "self" photo/post earlier in the week, but decided not to. I decided to use it for today's theme: art. 

Comforting

People can be comforted in many ways; by a friend, by a family member, or maybe even from a pet. It can be as simple as a touch and an understanding look, to a hand hold, or a fierce hug.

Being a parent to two young ones means I get to practice the art of comforting a lot. My girls love hugs and/or kisses when they are hurt or upset.

Over Four Inches Of Ridiculousness

Ridiculous. That is the word of the day. 

Over four inches of junk mail. Now, to be fair, we are horrible at getting the mail. This is not one day's worth. This is possibly 5 days worth; I am not really sure. I know there are ways to opt-out of some mail programs, but I just haven't gotten around to doing that. And, it always seems I get suckered into looking at catalogs I didn't even know existed. Though, I do always find it amusing when I get a catalog in my name for a store I have never even heard of. Ridiculous.

Self

I missed a day on the photo challenge. "Self" was supposed to be yesterday's theme. I tried. I did. But, every picture looked like I had just pulled an all-nighter. My eyes looked all red, and I looked very tired. Not sure why my eyes looked so red; they didn't look that red in person. I then tried to take a picture of my reflection in my daughter's eyes. They didn't turn out, either. Too dark. By that time I decided to throw in the towel for the day. So here we are.

I never liked tea. I still can't really drink the bag tea (sometimes I can do the apple cinnamon spice kind, but I usually would rather just have water or something else). My husband really got into tea, though. For Christmas last year I decided to get him a Breville loose leaf tea maker. It has been wonderful; super easy-to-use and he enjoys it. An added bonus? I actually like tea! I can't say I love all flavors, but so many I have tried are really good. My favorite tea is the combination of the maharaja chai/samurai chai blend from Teavana. Perfect amount of spice and flavor. The only downside is we go through it way too fast! So, here I am, staring into my quickly disappearing mug of tea.

Nature/Outdoors

Normally, I would be excited about this theme/inspiration. I love taking outdoor and nature shots. Today, however, was not a day for me to get out and explore. Homework and studying called. All I had time for was to take a picture from one of our decks.

Meal

My oldest and I had a mommy and me day. I brought her to dance and gymnastics, we went to a friend's house, and then she had a birthday party. After the party, we decided to go to dinner with friends of ours that were also at the party. We had delicious Pagliacci Pizza. Afterwards, we went did a little shopping, and then we went home. It was a great day!