tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77073326306399334362012-01-27T20:47:50.825-05:00Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.comBlogger12931100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-75384190682668951402012-01-27T20:46:00.000-05:002012-01-27T20:47:50.836-05:00

I think this will be the final installment of my Shooting in Manual series. But don't worry! I will continue to post tips and tricks as usual.If you missed the first two lessons, they can be found here and here.In this lesson, we will be discussing how the camera meters (or reads lights) and what this means for your photos. I feel like this step is often overlooked by beginners. It was certainly

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-90787106728727124572012-01-26T20:48:00.000-05:002012-01-26T20:49:56.768-05:00

Infirmary update:Allie - Despite sharing living quarters with germy siblings, Allie has remained healthy. She has coughed a few times which causes me to hold my breath because I really don't her to have to deal with the whole asthma thing again.Anna - Anna's fever held low-grade status for most of Tuesday and then shot back up. A second dose of Generic Baby Tylenol later that night finally

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-89156644857125824672012-01-25T14:22:00.000-05:002012-01-25T14:23:47.114-05:00

It snowed here in Massachusetts all day Saturday. The girls loved it, of course. I wouldn't have minded it so much if the plows and sanders had been out. For those of you who live in non-snowy areas, you may not realize that 6 inches of snow to us is nothing but a minor hassle. We continue on with our normal routine and activities. Driving usually isn't an issue at all because not only are we

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-51046125521536057522012-01-23T21:38:00.000-05:002012-01-23T21:39:51.073-05:00

So I was sick last night and today. It started with an all day headache yesterday and turned nasty in the middle of the night. I don't necessarily think that it's a virus - I think it's just me and my weirdness. Earlier today, I heard Anna tell Grammy that her tummy hurt a few times and now she is running a low grade fever. She also told me that her forehead hurt. Awesome. Whenever this

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-68435060650558741432012-01-22T21:33:00.000-05:002012-01-22T21:34:55.862-05:00

Months and months ago, I began the process of separating all of the girls' clothes and clothing items, such as socks and underwear. I should backtrack here for a moment. When we first moved into our house, the girls shared a bedroom and a closet. The girls moved into their own bedrooms a long time ago but still shared a closet and a small bureau. The girls requested separate closets and even

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-63475588419892053632012-01-20T22:02:00.000-05:002012-01-20T22:03:51.773-05:00

TGIFandIdon'thavetoworkthisweekend.Rich flicked on HGTV for me tonight and Selling Spelling Manor is on right now. O.M.G. I can't stop watching it. Her closet is bigger than the first floor of our house! And I am drooling over her gift wrapping room. Not for gift wrapping but imagine having that space for a sewing room. Gah!The first significant snowfall of the season, excluding that freak

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-15944021543457462652012-01-19T22:00:00.000-05:002012-01-19T22:01:51.965-05:00

It was later in the evening. A Sunday. Close to the beginning of the bedtime routine. Anna and Allie were arguing over something trivial. Not physically arguing. Verbally. "It's summer." "No. It's winter.""No. It's summer.""No. It's- AAAAAAA..."Anna was holding her shoulders and crying. Allie had apparently grabbed the back of Anna's shirt and twisted it, which hurt and left red marks

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-82053726832214689392012-01-18T21:42:00.000-05:002012-01-18T21:44:02.123-05:00

We are currently experiencing a baby explosion in our family. My newest niece on my side of the family was born at the beginning of December. Since then, we have added baby twin girls on Rich's side. My girls have a billion cousins and they love it. So, yes, these pictures are approximately five weeks old but I still wanted to post them because who doesn't love pictures of a sweet two day old

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-43747728722512342682012-01-17T21:54:00.000-05:002012-01-17T21:55:45.546-05:00

Alternative title: Daddy, why did you bring your golf bag?Those of you who live south of Boston are probably familiar with La Salette Shrine in Attleboro. Each year for the Christmas season, they decorate their property with a few hundred thousand lights and invite all to visit for free. I hadn't been there since childhood and over the past few years, Rich and I had casually mentioned bringing

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-62810771229207948912012-01-16T19:10:00.000-05:002012-01-16T19:12:02.970-05:00

In the comments section of my last post, Lily asked if the girls understood the rarity of being identical triplets. They really don't. But I decided to ask them some questions about it.To be fair, we were all having a conversation about sets of twins in their classes when I jumped in with questions.What are you?Allie: People.Anna: Triplets.What kind of triplets are you?Anna: IdenticalEmily:

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-65187975653373295872012-01-15T16:49:00.000-05:002012-01-15T16:51:00.009-05:00

On the way home from Disney on Ice, we stopped at a Friendly's restaurant, one that had not been closed earlier in the fall, for lunch. Lunch that day was comprised of snacks because the show had taken place during the time that the girls normally eat. We like Friendly's because there aren't too many family friendly restaurants with a great ice cream selection around.I love this first picture

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-79208409769759797842012-01-13T22:17:00.000-05:002012-01-13T22:18:10.847-05:00

The girls each brought home a sealed envelope with their names scrawled across the front from school last week. What I didn't expect to find inside was a growth screening report. I don't recall the school doing this last year and while I don't necessarily think that it is a bad thing, I do find it interesting that the public school system does this. Back in April, the girls measured within an

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-40098972343427744122012-01-12T22:02:00.000-05:002012-01-12T22:04:03.065-05:00

Our scanner is from 1999 and messed up the exposure when we scanned these in. Before you look at these, keep in mind that I checked off the box for a "gray" background for all three.At first, I didn't even notice the different background colors because I was so focused on how softened and smoothed out their faces where. Rich said that we should have complained but it really wasn't worth my

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-19883164798621974082012-01-11T22:02:00.000-05:002012-01-11T22:03:49.882-05:00

I fully admit to being a snob when it comes to seating at events. I've been to approximately 100 concerts and it is my professional opinion that your experience at an event (concert, show or what have you) is dependent (in part) upon where you sit. When you are in the back, you are at an event but when you are up front, you feel like you are part of the show. Yes, it can be an expensive habit

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-33293457045368533282012-01-10T22:15:00.000-05:002012-01-10T22:16:28.128-05:00

I spent most of the day thinking that it was Thursday. I would realize within a few minutes that it was actually (sadly) Tuesday only to turn around and believe it to be Thursday again. When I sat down to write my blog post last night, I realized that I hadn't moved photos from my camera onto my laptop. Since Christmas. I don't want to say that I've stalled out or plateaued with my

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-53744844925108921902012-01-09T22:19:00.000-05:002012-01-09T22:19:49.611-05:00

Rich forwarded an email to me today whilst we were working. (By the way, I don't know why I sometimes use the word whilst. My fingers just type it out.) The original email was to him from the Chatham Bars Inn offering 25% off of his next stay. {sob} If you are a regular reader here, you know that Rich and I have only been away from the girls for two nights total. Our first night away was last

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-50631082717177135742012-01-09T08:47:00.000-05:002012-01-09T08:47:28.770-05:00

Classic little kid having fun at the beach portrait. Her hair is stringy from the salty ocean. Her face is speckled with sand. She's happy even though a big wave knocked her over...

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-45760591134084956872012-01-08T22:03:00.000-05:002012-01-08T22:05:04.377-05:00

The girls and I stopped for frosties after their gymnastics class. Their idea, not mine. I bought four of the smallest size (99 cents each) but we really could have gotten away with two. I had planned to add these photos to my other post regarding their class but ran out of time.Yes, Anna. I am taking pictures of you.Photography notes: These were all taken with my 85mm lens. My only edit in

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-15045132599474166772012-01-07T22:03:00.000-05:002012-01-07T22:04:53.331-05:00

What a way to make a livin'Okay, enough from Dolly. I actually did work from 9 to 5 today. It's Saturday.Accounting and I clicked when I was in high school. I have a degree in Business Administration but Accounting was my major. It doesn't matter if you work in tax, audit or general accounting, there is always going to be a busy time. I ended up interning for one of the Big 6 (at the time)

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-88371286214326533602012-01-06T22:39:00.000-05:002012-01-06T22:40:47.629-05:00

The girls are in the preschool level class at gymnastics. This is the first non-mommy & me level class offered and you need to be at least three years old to participate. The next level up is for kindergarteners, who are (at least) five years old.There is a kindergarten gymnastics class occurring at the same time as the girls' preschool level class. Grammy has warned me of the clique of "gym moms

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-44036151653752059712012-01-05T10:22:00.000-05:002012-01-05T10:23:32.246-05:00

The outside temperature was 13 degrees yesterday morning according to the Volvo's thermastat reading. Rich and I grudgingly drove to the train station only to discover train "issues." Mainly, the train that we normally take was a complete no-show, which forced us to cram onto the next train.My commute to work was an hour and forty five minutes long.My calendar tells me that it is a new year but

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-92137834507533612242012-01-03T21:56:00.000-05:002012-01-03T21:57:20.174-05:00

Do you ever feel like your brain is fuzzy and everything is moving in slooooow moooootiiiioooon? That's sort of how I feel about these posts regarding my week at home. I feel like I have been writing about it for a week already and I'm sure what I'm writing is boring to some but this is my life. Lately, I feel like I have something to say but I can't find the right words. Not to go off on a

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-1766717362427633522012-01-02T22:16:00.000-05:002012-01-02T22:17:08.427-05:00

Eeek! It has been less than two weeks since my vacation at home with the girls and I have already forgotten what we did on each day. So, yes, it would have been nice if I had been able to blog what we did during the week that I was at home but contemporaneous blogging and I don't seem to work well together. Anyway, the girls kept asking me if we could build and decorate a gingerbread house. (

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-51630874029919560242012-01-01T20:44:00.000-05:002012-01-01T20:45:43.082-05:00

I'm going to watch a movie with Rich. Without my Mac in front of me. As usual, I am behind in posting. I still haven't pulled my thoughts together for a "new year" post. I did want to take a picture of the girls together in front of "the door" so that I would have photographic proof of their growth but two of my children shook their heads no and stomped away. Ooookay. Maybe tomorrow?Tomorrow

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-71491002359391222732011-12-31T22:40:00.000-05:002011-12-31T22:41:43.459-05:00

Well. Not really. I just couldn't come up with a better title.(And yes, I know that it is New Year's Eve but we have no big plans here so I'm posting as I normally would. I have some thoughts swimming around in my mind regarding the new year but I haven't pulled them all together yet.) There were a few reasons why I decided upon the week before Christmas as vacation instead of the week between

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-72991329413223664772011-12-30T09:22:00.001-05:002011-12-30T09:25:11.351-05:00

Rich has more holidays off from work than I do and a holiday for Rich is a holiday for Grammy. At some point during this past year, we dubbed these days "Daddy Days" because Rich usually incorporates a fun outing or two (such as a trip to the playground or lunch at Papa Gino's) into his day at home alone with the girls. (Rich really is a great dad.)With the end of the year rapidly approaching and

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-91007903099905596402011-12-28T21:26:00.000-05:002011-12-28T21:27:29.999-05:00

Our day was merry and bright. And LOUD. The girls (slightly amazingly) slept until 6:45ish. Although not slightly amazing was the fact that I was in Anna's bed with her for most of the night. After Rich and I fumbled around for socks, warm clothes and glasses, we cathed Anna upstairs and made Allie and Em use the bathroom upstairs. And then the festivities began!The girls LOVE opening

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-26742478152453046342011-12-27T14:48:00.000-05:002011-12-27T14:49:52.218-05:00

Earlier in the week, Rich and I had discussed our tentative plans for the day, which included bringing the girls to visit with his mom at her home, stopping by the cemetery where Rich's dad is buried and a visit with Abbey at her stone, as the girls call it. Without throwing my medical history out there on the internet for all to read, I'll just say that I have some minor medical issues and very

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-5487567699980310522011-12-25T21:20:00.000-05:002011-12-25T21:21:57.850-05:00

I realize that by the time most of you read this, Christmas will be over but I didn't have a chance to pop online yesterday. For those of you celebrating Christmas, I hope you had a wonderful holiday! (Little Lion, Emily, Bunny, Anna, the Grinch and Allie)And yes, this was our Christmas card photo. I call it "real life with triplets..."

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-41618442190336673552011-12-23T22:26:00.000-05:002011-12-23T22:27:25.312-05:00

Last weekend was Party Weekend for our little (ha!) family. The festivities began on Friday evening when we attended a first birthday party for the girls' cousin, Charlie, who was visiting from Virginia. I am so happy that the girls have many cousins close in age on both my side of the family and Rich's. What I absolutely love about those last three pictures is how Allie is holding Patrick's

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-7040072191270348042011-12-22T19:42:00.000-05:002011-12-22T19:43:32.798-05:00

Purchasing Christmas presents for the girls this year was somewhat easy with respect to what to buy. Finding time to sneak out of the house by myself was the difficult part. The girls basically want anything and everything. There are a few items, such as scooters, that have been mentioned over and over. They also seem very interested in and have asked for American Girl Dolls but they don't

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-20676806275865241672011-12-21T09:34:00.000-05:002011-12-21T09:35:55.999-05:00

My children have a slight obsession with Christmas tree ornaments. They couldn't wait to unpack them from the attic boxes and then play with them like newfound toys. Rich wanted to string up lights outside and then on the tree before allowing the girls to hang the ornaments. Oh. My. Goodness. Every five minutes, I would hear, "When can we decorate the tree?"So after some of thisand a

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-49318520386108410752011-12-20T22:34:00.003-05:002011-12-20T22:38:51.642-05:00

My Christmas shopping is complete. (I hope.)Absolutely nothing is wrapped.I'm drowning in a Christmas card nightmare (maybe a slight exaggeration) right now. (To be explained later.)I did finish Anna's Christmas dress in time for the party for Rich's side of the family last weekend. I still need to sift through and edit those pictures. Along with many, many others.Right now, I'm going to

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-14004995921587836922011-12-19T22:01:00.000-05:002011-12-19T22:02:27.389-05:00

I have a billion photos to edit and surprise, surprise, I feel as if I am behind with EVERYTHING. This is going to have to be a short one tonight. We still haven't mailed our Christmas cards. {sob}In 1978, my parents drove from Massachusetts to California (and then back again two weeks later) with me and two of my brothers. (My third brother was not yet born.) I was five years old and my

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-30711941076123365022011-12-18T09:41:00.000-05:002011-12-18T09:42:45.429-05:00

My wish finally came true this year and, last weekend, we visited a Christmas tree farm for the first time. I have to tell you that the experience was so much more pleasant than pulling over to the side of the road and patiently waiting in the van with the girls while Rich combed through the 'support Boy Scouts' lot the size of a postage stamp in search of a tree. (Not that there is anything

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-21455943902076845452011-12-16T20:40:00.000-05:002011-12-16T20:41:22.645-05:00

After an excited Emily bounced around like a rubber ball for three days, Rich was finally able to locate and hang our stockings. With care. I wasn't there for the event and hadn't really taken a good look at the stockings until the other night. There was Abbey's stocking dangling peacefully from a reindeer holder.My conversation with Allie post was a real conversation that I debated over whether

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-39392108761669829732011-12-15T20:52:00.000-05:002011-12-15T20:53:07.081-05:00

at bedtime whena) she (Emily) cries hysterically because she doesn't want to go to college.b) she (Emily) cries hysterically because she can't find Little Lion. (He was in her hand.)c) she (Allie) cries because she sees a shark in the heating vent.d) she (Allie) doesn't want to dissect a frog in science class.At least Anna just goes to sleep.

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-50779124463558886722011-12-14T21:03:00.000-05:002011-12-14T21:04:07.057-05:00

So here's what happened when Emily tried on her custom Christmas dress...(Anna is currently about an inch - inch and a half - shorter than her sisters so I am making her dress three inches shorter. I want her to be comfortable and not worry about tripping.)

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-81308461233991641872011-12-13T21:47:00.000-05:002011-12-13T21:48:56.886-05:00

I need this day to end. It has been extremely crappy and not in the the train was late/the kids are driving me crazy/I'm wearing light colored pants and I sat on a runaway chocolate chip kind of crappy. I'm talking about the kind of crap that comes in dealing with mean people. And that's all I can say about that.Part of why I like blogging is that it forces me to sort through my photos and

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-13099912335828181332011-12-12T20:05:00.001-05:002011-12-12T20:07:11.812-05:00

The girls have been asking a lot of tough questions lately. Like this one from Emily at 6:15 this morning: "Why are people alive?" My response was a grunt and a "that's a hard question." She followed up with, "Maybe it's because of God. And Jesus. That's why we go to church." Except that we don't go to church on a regular basis so I have no idea where that came from.She has also asked where

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-43339727182516492112011-12-11T21:54:00.000-05:002011-12-11T21:56:02.496-05:00

Five minutes ago, I finished sewing Emily's Christmas dress. I basically spent any spare moments this weekend sewing it so I didn't do any laundry, which meant that I had to scrounge up pajamas for Em and Allie tonight. (Anna had a clean pair.)Maybe it's because Christmas is on a weekend, but I feel like I am losing a week here or something. The BIG Family Christmas Party for Rich's side of

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-16828544084388511022011-12-09T21:17:00.000-05:002011-12-09T21:18:10.949-05:00

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-9295203237697446082011-12-08T21:43:00.000-05:002011-12-08T21:44:18.626-05:00

taken from Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. SeussThe Waiting Place...for people waiting.Waiting for a train to goor a bus to come, or a plane to goor the mail to come, or the rain to goor the phone to ring, or the snow to snowor waiting around for a Yes or Noor waiting for their hair to grow.Everyone is just waiting.Waiting for the fish to biteor waiting for wind to fly a kiteor waiting around

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-24659577467547086412011-12-07T13:10:00.001-05:002011-12-07T13:12:34.236-05:00

Allie (already bathed and in jammies) to Emily (in the tub with a funky hairstyle): "You look like Justin Bieber."Grammy: "WHAT? How do you know who Justin Bieber is?"Allie: "I just do. He was on the valentine card Danielle gave me last year."Mommy's note: It may seem a bit freaky that she remembers this but a few months ago, the girls pulled out projects, etc. from their school bins in the

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-77090688408789800402011-12-06T13:03:00.002-05:002011-12-06T13:09:20.598-05:00

Much to the girls' delight, our elf, CeCe Fluffy, made his first appearance on Black Friday. The girls had been asking about him for weeks and during the week leading up to Thanksgiving, we told them that he would probably return to our home soon. I guess Anna and Em were in the kitchen for awhile that morning and never spotted him. I was upstairs beautifying for work and heard Allie discover him

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-12536941849069703072011-12-04T20:47:00.000-05:002011-12-04T20:48:39.403-05:00

Channeling Punky Brewster.(All photos taken with Nikon 85mm, f/1.8 lens.)So let's talk about depth of field for a quick minute. In trying to figure out what f stop to use, you need to understand what depth of field is. I used an f stop of 5.6 for both of these photos.You can easily see bokeh (or out of focus) area in the first photo. In the second photo, notice how the car behind the girls is

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-89899517186166763862011-12-03T21:02:00.000-05:002011-12-03T21:03:15.571-05:00

The girls were playing with a cardboard box a few weekends ago and asked Rich to cut out a section so that they could do puppet shows.What we didn't realize is that they had to position themselves in the box like this in order to play the part of the puppets, which is this case were paper heart doilies.Random cute pictures of Anna wearing my glasses.Those of us in the Boston area just experienced

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-74020563196179919042011-12-02T21:22:00.000-05:002011-12-02T21:23:12.701-05:00

A few nights ago, Rich and I attended our first parent/teacher conferences of the year. I must admit that there was some nervousness swimming around me with respect to Anna and her progress. We are still unsure if the hydrocephalus and resulting shunt will create any bumps along the way with her ability to learn.After meeting with the girls' teachers, I am overjoyed to be able to write that all

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-52201692514834942722011-12-01T21:58:00.000-05:002011-12-01T21:59:23.989-05:00

A very long time ago, when I was in my twenties (yes, it was emotionally painful to type that out), my mom and I spent a week vacationing and visiting my brother who lives in San Diego. One morning, we checked out a photography exhibit in Balboa Park. (Someone is going to comment that there is nowhere in Balboa Park to view any exhibits but that's what I remember. It was in a small building.)

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-30480783868696644542011-11-30T20:38:00.000-05:002011-11-30T20:40:58.200-05:00

Bedtime. We are alone in her room, cuddling.Allie (playing with the birthstone charms on my mother's necklace): "Which one is mine?"Me (holding out the first clear crystal charm): "This one."Allie: "Awww. I want the purple one."Me (purposely not telling her that it is pink, not purple, because I know that she will insist that it is purple): "That's your sister's."Allie: "Is it Abbey's?"Me: "Yes."

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-67629647228941998962011-11-29T21:34:00.000-05:002011-11-29T21:35:09.928-05:00

In Part I of my easy series on shooting in manual, we discussed the functions of ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Today, in Part II, you will learn how the three work together in order to properly expose a photo. In Part I, I had you think of ISO, aperture and shutter speed as a triangle. These three functions are connected to each other and do not work independently. So you can't just say,

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-84445101375464147512011-11-29T08:03:00.001-05:002011-11-29T08:05:01.590-05:00

Glow in the dark star stickers adorn Allie's bedroom ceiling. Rich and I placed them there when the girls were babies (sharing that bedroom) and we were willing to try anything to distract them from crying during bed time. Last night, after bed time stories, the girls were delaying a bit from climbing into their beds. All of a sudden, Allie cried out, "Look at the stars." She had turned off her

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-68020835449695697322011-11-27T21:54:00.000-05:002011-11-27T21:55:22.652-05:00

Rich and I hadn't planned on a visit with Santa excursion for this holiday season for several reasons. After the girls' reaction to him during our trip to Santa's Village in August, we pretty much knew how they felt about the big guy. Although Emily had shown some interest and was the one who insisted that we return to Santa's house for one more quick chat before we left.The week before

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-50774038667723627142011-11-26T22:17:00.000-05:002011-11-26T22:19:51.609-05:00

two to go.I am working on a "visit with Santa" post (I promise) but, for tonight, you'll have to settle for pictures of Allie's Christmas dress that was finished this evening. (Doorknob in focus. Child not. User error or lens focus issue? I hope user error.) That's Anna's arm. She was half-dressed and kept chasing after Allie and jumping into all of the pictures. Anna tried on Allie's dress

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-58055403353439924642011-11-25T10:49:00.000-05:002011-11-25T10:50:37.635-05:00

My brother and sister-in-law hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year. It was nice to spend the morning at home and the afternoon with family. (My dad has been sick and decided to stay at home so as not to spread germs around. That part was not so nice.) The girls sort of watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which they refer to as the parade in New York, and then had some play time with their

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-90051902946841579562011-11-23T22:03:00.000-05:002011-11-23T22:04:53.332-05:00

I tend to be more of a glass is half empty type of person. That's my personality and I shouldn't have to apologize for being me. So I do have grumpy days or weeks. That's my life.But for tonight and tomorrow and maybe I can extend it until Monday, I want to throw stress (mostly non-bloggable) out the window and focus on the good. So here are some of goods that I've been thinking about lately:

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-85442277183794939852011-11-22T21:14:00.000-05:002011-11-22T21:15:10.842-05:00

For four year olds, by four year olds. Because, really, who cares what I wear.Each and every night, the girls insist on choosing their clothes for the next day. We started this little routine for the nights before a school day to save some of Grammy's sanity but now, deciding upon outfits has to be completed each and every night before bed. Even on the weekends. So a few Saturday nights ago, when

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-67492215071025915572011-11-21T21:25:00.001-05:002011-11-21T21:28:16.470-05:00

The scale to fine tune the auto focus for a lens ranges from -20 to +20. I had to adjust by -10 for my 35mm lens. -10!Here's my unsophisticated set-up:Here is the first picture that I took with an f stop of 2.0. (I enlarged the picture for your viewing pleasure.) I was focused directly on the 5.As you can see, the focus fell on the 6 and into the 7.Here's the same shot (f stop was 2.2) with

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-80933527071652279732011-11-21T14:04:00.000-05:002011-11-21T14:05:58.798-05:00

When I arrived home from work Wednesday evening, Emily informed me that a special Dora show was going to be on Sunday night at 7:00 and she really, really wanted to watch it. "Please can we watch it?" There is something so refreshing about the innocence of a child so Rich and I conferred and agreed to allow the girls to stay up a bit later to watch the special, which I'm sure will be replayed on

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-3646111055348693752011-11-19T20:39:00.000-05:002011-11-19T20:40:54.366-05:00

I experienced a bit of an epiphany the other day regarding Anna's handwriting. She is left-handed, which adds awkwardness to the positioning of her arm. When working with her a few weeks ago, I realized that something was not quite right about how she was holding her arm and hand but in the chaos of early evening, I couldn't place my finger on it.Earlier this week, I was working at my cluttered

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-86770905479681157132011-11-18T21:12:00.001-05:002011-11-18T21:15:37.097-05:00

I've been meaning to post this for 9 months or so now. One of our Richard Scarry books had been hidden away in the basement with the toys and books on rotation and when it finally appeared, the girls had me laughing at bedtime when we reached Things We Do page. When I read the question, "What's the one thing we can't do?" they responded with:(Note that I have marked the corresponding letter in

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-20495985187730483312011-11-17T22:13:00.000-05:002011-11-17T22:15:09.246-05:00

Remember this post from many (too many) months ago when I promised to teach you all how to use your camera in manual mode. Well, time obviously slipped away from me. Recently, I've come across a few photographer bloggers offering online photography lessons for a fee or selling e-books for a fee. One great aspect of the internet is that there is a lot of information out there that is FREE.Don't

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-38033442446818622792011-11-16T13:18:00.000-05:002011-11-16T13:20:31.077-05:00

As a child, I always enjoyed painting and drawing and I imagined that I was a fantastic artist. By the time I entered junior high, I realized that I had zero raw talent. This fact was reinforced by attending school with kids who had amazing artistic abilities. My mother and her brother can draw and paint and I obviously did not inherit any of those traits.So I then decided that I wanted to play

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-52361630033724059362011-11-15T07:25:00.000-05:002011-11-15T07:25:00.468-05:00

Well, I'm glad we made the parenting decision to have Allie and Em visit the pediatrician today and not play the "wait and see what happens in a few days" game. Allie has a rattle in her lungs so she has been prescribed a stronger antibiotic (a Z pack for babies) and needs to puff off of her inhaler once or twice a day (as needed.)She felt well enough to stretch out with Sprout last night.By the

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-44900849662954509292011-11-14T08:46:00.002-05:002011-11-14T08:52:09.495-05:00

Sunday night. (Here's the post that I started last night after the girls were in bed and I had eaten dinner:)Allie's cough has returned. She has a wicked runny nose so definitely in the cold category this round. I hope she feels better soon. Her little face is all red and chapped.We are currently experiencing a major shift in the girls' sleeping habits. Allie and Em, for the most part, have been

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-69785814432373964452011-11-12T21:05:00.000-05:002011-11-12T21:05:00.037-05:00

Rich and I are finding that there are new challenges with each age but in general, life with four year olds is fun. The girls continue to learn and grow at an amazing rate. I came home one night to find that Allie had written out the alphabet on the chalkboard. Before I could take this picture, someone went and made a horizontal line through each letter. Not sure if Allie was pretending to be

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-51825409841394970672011-11-11T22:20:00.000-05:002011-11-11T22:21:18.583-05:00

I had an interesting conversation with my dental hygienist the other day regarding the challenges that we, as mothers, face in trying to do it all. It's human nature to strive to be the best and as mothers, we struggle to be the best at many different aspects of life. The challenge arises from the impossiblity of being great at everything.My hygienist has found that comfortable spot in life. I

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-49171116788114369242011-11-10T08:14:00.000-05:002011-11-10T08:15:40.161-05:00

Sunday morning, Rich brought Allie and Anna to a mass at his high school (he graduated from a Catholic high school) while Emily and I spent some time together. Although the girls are genetically identical, their personalities are not. When separated from her sisters, Emily can be very quiet and giggly.Not often is there only one child in our home but when this does occur, the difference in the

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-42748438800374852162011-11-08T21:11:00.000-05:002011-11-08T21:12:05.065-05:00

I had an appointment this morning to have my teeth cleaned. Yes, having your teeth cleaned isn't really fun but I like the people who work there so at least that part is pleasant. It took me an hour and twenty minutes to drive to the dentist office after dropping Rich off at the train station. After my appointment, it took me another half hour to drive into the city for work. To give you some

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-32860104615105528472011-11-07T21:16:00.001-05:002011-11-07T21:49:50.194-05:00

I was able to get a bit more sleep last night. Although, I spent more than half of the night in bed with Anna. And then Emily found me around 4:30 so I had to sneak out of Anna's bed. I think constantly having disturbed sleep cycles is draining. I was doing okay at work until a meeting at 1:00 and then tired found me.This morning was one of the days Rich was scheduled to drop the girls off at

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-4358866762852906672011-11-06T20:01:00.000-05:002011-11-06T20:02:33.016-05:00

Rich set the clocks for the new time - one hour back - last night before we went to bed. He told me not to freak out if/when the girls came into our room at 6:00 in the morning because it would really be 7:00 to them. I asked, "What if they come in at 5:00?" I should have known better.Anna was the first to arrive at my bedside at 4:00 AM. Followed three minutes later by Emily. And then there

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-45283686657362551122011-11-05T22:14:00.000-04:002011-11-05T22:15:54.584-04:00

Allie and I embarked on a mother-daughter (ONE daughter) shopping trip this afternoon to the fabric store. Unfortunately, there is always some drama surrounding these outings. Apparently, Allie told Emily that we were going to Target and that I was going to allow her to pick out a toy. She must have imagined that little scenario to the point that it became reality in her mind because I

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-48208653034517762552011-11-04T22:08:00.000-04:002011-11-04T22:09:32.809-04:00

When Allie craves attention, she acts up. Sometimes naughty. Sometimes crazy. She's been in "attention mode" all this week so I hope to spend some one on one time with her over the weekend. She needs to be able to gather her thoughts and speak her mind without the fear of being interrupted. Rich is taking three classes this semester in addition to working a full time job and commuting 2+

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-74887359946193030542011-11-03T21:33:00.000-04:002011-11-03T21:34:20.506-04:00

So, yes, I did finish sewing Allie's Halloween skirt before Halloween.It was supposed to be ruffled but my measurements weren't quite right so I remade it into a super twirl skirt. Yeah, super twirl. Here's what it looks like plopped down on the floor.You don't even want to know how long that bottom layer was unruffled. Allie loves it and it is long enough to be worn next year. (And maybe

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-12162655864860243212011-11-02T21:25:00.000-04:002011-11-02T21:26:31.422-04:00

CommentaryThe girls were dressed (including coats and shoes) and ready to go before the adults. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.Because I was unable to take any good pictures of the girls in their costumes, I'll have to tell you what they were. We had Ariel, Minnie Mouse and an autumn fairy. It was interesting to discover that a handful of neighbors had opted to leave bowls of candy out on their front

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-90066766428147808592011-11-01T21:35:00.000-04:002011-11-01T21:36:25.833-04:00

With the rain gone and the sun shining, Rich and I had Friday morning to see some sights before hitting the road ahead of the dreaded afternoon traffic in Connecticut. We decided to save time (and money) by not eating breakfast at the hotel and picking up something to eat while we walked. Honestly, I would have been happy with an egg McMuffin (or a bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle) but as we

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-89390626365573989962011-10-31T21:33:00.001-04:002011-10-31T21:34:26.214-04:00

Back to NYC.I learned some important lessons from this trip. First, all women should have a little black dress. (I prefer short sleeves.) And you shouldn't wait until 48 hours before the event to dig your lbd out of a bin in the basement because you may discover that after giving birth to four children in 10 months time, that lbd just doesn't fit right. In addition, all women should have

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-30790364250385856172011-10-30T21:21:00.000-04:002011-10-30T21:22:36.479-04:00

Minor interruption in NYC posts due to this.Ack! Snow in October.Anna is still fighting a cold and decided to sleep until almost 8:00 this morning. Half on top of me so I was stuck in the bed with her. When we finally made our way downstairs, this is how we found Em.The unexpected storm caused some excitement in our house amongst the preschool crowd. Luckily, we didn't lose power like friends

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-35292410150232009672011-10-29T22:13:00.001-04:002011-10-29T22:17:20.851-04:00

Rich and I are supporters of First Candle, which is a non-profit organization with the ultimate goal of eliminating stillbirth and SIDS. The organization hosts a charity gala each year in New York City and Rich thought that it would be a good idea for us to attend this year, which meant an overnight stay away from home. We had considered spending two nights in New York but we didn't want to

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-27096820688951452342011-10-28T21:49:00.000-04:002011-10-28T21:50:50.215-04:00

Rich and I returned home this afternoon after spending the night in New York City to attend a charity gala. Thankfully, Rich drove both ways because I was exhausted and fell asleep a few times. I woke up this morning with a dull headache that continued to grow with the day and turned into one of my mini-migraines. I ended up resting and then falling asleep for over an hour while Rich watched

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-90119053842450980082011-10-27T21:21:00.001-04:002011-10-27T21:21:00.662-04:00

Oops. I didn't realize the mirror was that dirty.(Stealing photos is unethical and violates copyright law.)

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-54335621373486000492011-10-26T21:47:00.000-04:002011-10-26T21:48:56.983-04:00

AllieAllie has most definitely improved from one week ago. Her cough and runny nose are basically gone. She has used the inhaler, which was an exciting experience for sissies. Emily was constantly asking us when Allie was going to "use her mask." (Please note that this photo was taken after the fact to show Allie what she looked like.)When I arrived home from work last Thursday night to a

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-66482517316159194312011-10-25T20:45:00.000-04:002011-10-25T20:46:44.291-04:00

From time to time, I bump into another baby lost mama on the internet in a spot not related to baby lost. Like a sewing message board. Or a forum for triplet moms. There is always an unspoken understanding. We've been in the same hellish spot at one point in our lives and so we can relate. It connects us even if we have nothing else in common.Today, I found out that the sister of one of my "

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-48097460235307373632011-10-24T21:16:00.000-04:002011-10-24T21:17:40.057-04:00

We bathe the girls every other night unless they become filthy on a non-bath night, which happened yesterday. Between the chlorine from swim lessons and playing in the sandbox, their hair was gross. Grammy braided Allie's and Em's hair on Friday. She must have sprayed it with water first because when I took the braids out at bedtime, their hair looked like this.(Love Anna looking at herself in

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-64160798382212244092011-10-23T21:41:00.000-04:002011-10-23T21:42:41.349-04:00

So it's not like I don't have anything to blog about. I'm tired. And I'm about to throw my sewing machine out the window because the tension is all out of whack, which seems to happen when I use the machine for an extended period. We had a busy (with some fun) weekend. An online friend of mine, who has twin girls the same age as my girls, is visiting family in the area and was able to come

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-75380117057552603972011-10-21T21:34:00.001-04:002011-10-21T21:36:12.549-04:00

I haven't mentioned it here but Allie has been sick since the second week of school. Yes, that was a month ago. It all started with a bit of a runny nose. And then she started coughing. Whenever Allie has a runny nose, she coughs this barking seal (but not that bad) cough. Mainly when she runs around and at night.Then she threw up for half a day. And then she was okay but still had a bit of a

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-23214134741327659062011-10-20T21:39:00.000-04:002011-10-20T21:40:45.356-04:00

Do I even need words? Real life kitchen counters.This is when they started pretending like they were going to eat the raw cookies.So after that last picture, Rich asked the girls what was the next step listed on the box. He pointed out that the cookies needed to bake in the oven and Allie said, "Bor-ring." We jumped ten years into the future for a few seconds and it was scary. Photography

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-37059502042248135862011-10-19T20:23:00.000-04:002011-10-19T20:24:26.515-04:00

Our new bedroom furniture was delivered over the weekend and I guess I had some unrealistic expectations. When you place new furniture in a room with all of the other stuff that was already in the room, it's just a room with new furniture and old stuff. Am I making any sense? I want my bedroom to be a relaxing, cozy, organized room. It needs some work.As I've mentioned before, because we moved

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-78257838655757292982011-10-18T20:47:00.000-04:002011-10-18T20:48:07.611-04:00

I want to work on Allie's Halloween skirt tonight seeing as it is almost Halloween. She'll most likely wear it after Halloween and it will fit her next year so in the grand scheme of life, it's not a big deal. I really just want to finish it for her so this will be my mind dump post for the day. Okay, I am admit that sometimes taking the train, which I abhor, has its advantages. Like blogging.The

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-24576770802683222002011-10-17T21:57:00.000-04:002011-10-17T21:59:00.271-04:00

The girls had their semi annual teeth cleaning and dentist check-up this past weekend.Who says a momma can't bring her big camera and big flash to the dentist office?The girls, particularly Emily, were fairly excited for this appointment. I'm not sure why other than it is something different. Emily likes to tell us what she did at school in excruciating detail and I think she was planning on

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-39750792343110037152011-10-16T21:27:00.000-04:002011-10-16T21:28:25.537-04:00

Rich and I both come from non-pumpkin carving families. Now that I have kids, I can understand why. Our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch adventure are too small for carving so we decided to allow the girls to draw faces on their pumpkins. With a sharpie.Anna drew a little person on the bottom of her baby pumpkin and then said that it was me!Rich did pick up a larger pumpkin later at the grocery

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-37931281173013713852011-10-15T22:02:00.000-04:002011-10-15T22:03:14.476-04:00

I can't fall asleep at night unless I tip toe into the girls' bedrooms and check in on them before I crawl into my own bed. I listen to their breathing, still so much like that of a baby. Sometimes my thoughts wander and I wonder if they would be here if Abbey hadn't been taken from us. Some have told me that they wouldn't be but really, how do they know?Sometimes I have to turn my brain off

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-65236712346564235122011-10-14T22:30:00.000-04:002011-10-14T22:31:07.348-04:00

I've had this blog for almost three and a half years now and while I very well know that my photos can be stolen, I never expected it to actually happen. I have a friend online, Pam, who has (adorable) identical triplet boys. She doesn't watermark her pictures and I can't even count the number of times pictures of her cuties have been lifted. One person even went so far to not only post

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-38094120536099077102011-10-13T21:41:00.000-04:002011-10-13T21:42:40.422-04:00

My Spanish is a bit rusty.I don't even know why I'm trying to write in Spanish anyway. Well, seeing as it is Thursday, I should probably get around to discussing the exciting events of last weekend before a new weekend is upon me. Have you ever been able to tell how a day is going to be based upon the night before? At approximately 11:30 last Friday night, Allie came barreling down the hall

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-89674534047624133212011-10-12T21:44:00.000-04:002011-10-12T21:45:33.679-04:00

This weekend was rough. I was simply exhausted, there was so much to do and the girls were all go, go, go. Throw in a few epic meltdowns from Anna and I was mentally drained. I brought Anna with me to Target Sunday afternoon for some one on one time. I'm not sure if it helped as there was no immediate change in behavior. Every bit has to help. Right?Shortly after we arrived home from Target, the

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-770659220654760612011-10-11T21:55:00.000-04:002011-10-11T21:56:33.768-04:00

Ah, yes. The new name for our (fake) online boutique. We are here to debut our Boo to You Collection for Halloween 2011.First up are the puff skirts. So cute and versatile. Here's Anna wearing hers to search the pumpkin patch for the perfect baby pumpkin.Next up is a long, swing dress.Apparently, the only way I'm allowed to photograph the dress is if Baby Zebe is hugging Anna and there's a

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-35073791457386811002011-10-10T21:35:00.000-04:002011-10-10T21:36:12.254-04:00

Hi, my name is Anna. I am four and a half years old and I have spina bifida. My identical triplet sisters, Allie and Emily, do not. I don't really know what spina bifida is. My Mommy and Daddy tell me that right after I was born, the nurses brought me to the NICU so that a doctor could fix my back. But I don't remember that.I have a shunt too. It's this little bump right here on the side of my

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-69368308480321263372011-10-10T21:11:00.002-04:002011-10-10T21:14:25.862-04:00

The theme this week is hands. I am entering this photo of Allie's little hand seeking reassurance during the balloon ride at Story Land.

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-61401302077373843562011-10-09T21:08:00.000-04:002011-10-09T21:09:22.619-04:00

I remember lazy Sundays before children, before Rich, spent watching movies from the comfort of my couch. Now, I feel like I never really sit down. I can't. And it is exhausting. There shall come a time in the future when I will be able to sit on the couch and watch a movie. I really don't want to wish time away. Maybe I just need a break. A vacation. {snort}A weekend update will have to

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707332630639933436.post-59812305212675802792011-10-08T22:09:00.000-04:002011-10-08T22:10:45.399-04:00

My father's older brother passed away shortly before my birth. Cancer took him at an age when it shouldn't have. I have three younger brothers and we had our fair share of sibling arguments growing up. My father would always say to us, "These are the only brothers (and sister) that you will ever have."As a parent, I have said this to my girls. (Believe me when I tell you that you will repeat

Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09856102708963900512noreply@blogger.com7