365 little things *24-31

Is anyone else watching Sherlock?


Ahhhh! I love this show! But now I am bummed that Season 3 is already over (all 3 episodes of it.) I guess I will just have to rewatch the old seasons. Thank goodness for Amazon Prime and a VPN.

And now onto the rest of January's photos...


January 24 - Little Monsters. We had a no school day, so to keep the boys busy, (and for us to watch some Doctor Who together) my neighbor, Ashley, and her son, David, came over and we made Valentine crafts. We all made some of these furry creatures, and the boys made heart ninjas. Monsters and ninjas = Life with boys.


January 25 - Like father, like son. So cute. It's like mirror image, time travelling technology!


January 26 - This house eats glass. I can't even tell you how many things have gotten broken since we've lived in this house. With marble counter tops and tile floors, we've had many, many casualties. These broken bits were formerly a bread pan. Argh!


January 27 - Cloudy day. This time of the year is typically the rainy season here in Turkey. This was one of those rainy days, and the clouds were doing some funky stuff, too.


January 28 - Hello, Mr. Snail. Snails are EVERYWHERE and plentiful here.  Escargot, anyone? Ha ha. This gigantic one was making his way in the grass beside our patio.


January 29 - I like owls. I had forgotten I had this one, and found him the other day when I was going through some craft stuff. He's hanging out on the mantel now. He makes me happy.


January 30 - Oxidized chocolate. When you pay for Ghirardelli, it should not look like this. Just another quirk of living in Turkey, and believe me there are many!


January 31 - Multi-Tasker. It was apparently a play Connect 4, Potato Heads, and do science projects all at the same time kind of day. If only I could do the same with laundry, PTA, housework and blogging. I think I need more hands.

365 little things *17-23

Hello. Has anyone else had a super fast week? I guess mine was quick because there was only school 3 days this week. That means we had time to get up to some fun stuff on the other 2 days, and you know what they say, "Time flies when you're having fun!" Haha. I had to.


Jan 17 - Clothes Bal. Chloe seems to have a revolving list of nicknames, Clothes Bal being the most recent one. Of course, she answers to all of them with licks and exuberant happiness.


Jan 18 - Dondurma. Dondurma is Turkish for ice cream in case you hadn't deduced that. :)
On Saturday, a few ladies and I from our squadron spouses group went on an outing to the Women's Market in Adana. We had a fun time shopping, and then afterwards we had lunch, and then made a stop at the ice cream shop. Turkish ice cream is tasty. This is the Kup Amaretto from Mado.


Jan 19 - Skyfall Bridge, James Bond Bridge, German Bridge, Koca Köprü, Varda Viaduct. i.e. A Bridge With Many Names. Jason, Brennan and I went adventuring on Sunday to go check out this bridge, and a canyon nearby. This is the train bridge in the chase scene in the beginning of the James Bond movie, Skyfall.  It is also the tallest bridge in Turkey. That became quite obvious as we walked across it. I'm glad there was a guard rail.


Jan 20 - "It's Starting to Look Valentiney Around Here!" Or according to Brennan, "Yay, gumballs!"


Jan 21 - Oh No, Two Decorating Pictures In A Row. I couldn't resist though, the mercury glass candle holders Andrew got me for Christmas finally made it through the mail (and unbroken!), so I had to put them out right away. Can you tell I love them just a little bit. :)


Jan 22 - A Growing Collection. Brennan picks up "treasures" almost every time we walk home from school. These are the things that haven't blown away or got knocked off by the neighborhood cat.


Jan 23- 12 minutes. That was about the amount of time that all of the laundry was done this week. That never happens around here, so I had to document the occasion.

365 little things *10-16

January 10 - Sick Day. Jason hardly ever gets sick, but when he does, he's down for the count. Our couch was Sick Central for a few days over this one. Poor guy. Thankfully, he's much better now.


January 11 - Goofiness in 3D. Brennan loves looking at 3D books, and taking selfies on my tablet. Combine the two, and throw in Mommy as a willing participant, and you have lots of giggles and goofy faces.


January 12 - Scooting Around. I'm sure that technically he's too big for this scooter, but he still likes it, so we're good. This was Sunday, and since Jason was feeling a little better and a bit claustrophobic, we went for a drive and then came home and spent some time hanging out outside.


January 13 - There Will Be Days Like This. This was one of those days, I was busy all day, and didn't even think about picking up my camera until it was way past dark. This Dreamlite puppy is part of Brennan's bedtime routine. **♪ Dream Lite, sleep tight, starry night with Dream Lite.... ♫** Just in case it's been awhile since that song has been stuck in your head. You're welcome.


January 14 - Bunting in Progress. I've been working on some Valentine crafts this week. This doily bunting was easy, and it consisted of stuff I already had. The best kind of project!


January 15 - Bye, Bye Banana Tree. - Well, at least temporarily. Our gardener let us know it was time to hack down our gigantic banana tree for the winter. Boo. I know it has to be cut back, and that it will grow back fast, but our backyard looks so barren without it in the meantime.


January 16 - Artsy Organization.  I've been in house fluffing mode,so today I gathered up all of the art supplies we use most often, and put them all together in a tray on the dining room table. It makes sense, since that's where we use them the most, and their colorful togetherness makes me happy. (For now.) :)

Anybody else out there doing a photo project this year? Let me know...I'd love to follow along!

Photo Project -The 2014 Edition: 365 little things *1-9

If you've been hanging around here for awhile, you know I'm not much on making and keeping New Year's resolutions. You may have also observed I am a big fan of photography, and like to start off the year with a photo project. This year will be no exception. Maybe I will get further through the year with this one.  And maybe, since I was the world's worst blogger of 2013, I will get back into the groove of blogging two or three times a week. This will hopefully guarantee at least one of those times. :)

Alrighty then.

Photo Project - The 2014 Edition: 365 little things begins now.


January 1 - 12:02 a.m. (Ok, so obviously I didn't take this picture. But, since I have no rules for my photo project, I'm going with it. I don't remember who did take this picture that night, so thank you picture taker, and welcome to the project!) This was how Jason and I started 2014. Having fun with friends, decked out in 1920s style! Here's to a great 2014!


January 2 - Reality Bites. Back to Reality. Time to unpack all of our bags from our trip to the States. I really detest unpacking. I may or may not have lived out of this suitcase for a few more days after this picture was taken, and Jason may or may not have put this stuff away for me in the end.


January 3 - Reading Divergent. Has any one else read this series yet? I was engrossed, and had to read all three books, back to back. Thank goodness the series was all written, because I hate to start a book and then find out I have to wait for months or years (Diana Gabaldon. Grr.) to see how the story ends. It didn't end how I thought it would, but it was still a good read.


January 4 - Goggle-y eyes. Brennan still loves to play in the bath tub. And, yes, googles are a requirement.


January 5 - In the Cartoon Zone. I'm not sure what show he was watching so intently, but he wasn't missing a bit of it! I like that he's holding Darth Vader's lightsaber. Stars Wars and Legos are his current obsessions.


January 6 - Makin' Mayo. Back in December, Jason and I decided to go Paleo. We took a break while we were in Indiana, and now we are back on the wagon again. One of the things I do every week is make a batch of mayo. It is a bit time consuming, and sometimes it doesn't turn out. This was a good batch, and later helped to make some Ranch Dip and Honey Mustard Sauce. Yum!


January 7 - Tiny Daisy. Brennan and I walked home from school this day, and he picked me a little flower on our walk. I love that he can be such a sweet boy.


January 8 - Legos, Legos, Everywhere. I mentioned earlier that Brennan's newest interest is Legos. I did not realize before now how Legos can fully infiltrate your life. These tiny plastic bits end up everywhere! This is the pile that is perpetually on the bar in our kitchen. Brennan likes to sit there and play with them while I'm chopping and cooking stuff. Thankfully I haven't stepped on one barefoot yet, but I'm sure that day will come.


January 9 - Snowflake Ring from a 5-year-old: Priceless. Back in December there was a Christmas Shop set up at school for the kids to buy gifts for their friends and family. Brennan bought me an ornament and this snowflake ring. He asked me to put it in my jewelry box with my other rings. You know I had to say yes to that. :)

The Deployment Project {Week 9}

So has everyone "sprung foward" today? I switched our clocks as soon as I got up this morning, though it wasn't without some grumbling. Daylight Savings Time...yeah, I'm not a fan.  It messes with my internal clock something fierce. It takes me weeks to adjust. I guess that stems from growing up in the part of Indiana that didn't observe Daylight Savings Time.  Well, they didn't way back then...they do now...they gave into peer pressure, darn it!

Source: lh4.googleusercontent.com via Heather on Pinterest

Yep, I have to agree.

Jason and I have also realized that the time change will give us less time to IM each other everyday. It will be a bummer, but I'm not going to complain (too much) since we do get to communicate at least a little each day.  This deployment is so much better than past ones because of that. Thank goodness.

Well now that I got that rant out of my system, I can proceed with this week's pictures.

 
Remember in my last post I told you about Brennan's Parent Day at school? I found this Sunday evening.  He put all these guys in his chairs so they could listen to him practice his songs.  He had their undivided attention. :)


*Sigh* Some form of this happens every day around here.


While helping me purge my craft stuff, Brennan found a "magic hat," and a wand. He spent the afternoon turning himself and me into frogs, robots, balloons, and foxes.  "Presto, presto..."


Being in the desert, Jason is missing the snow.  Here ya go, my love.


We've been working on learning Turkish.  Yep, I said "we." Brennan has been right there with me listening to the CDs. He calls them "Turkish Letters." I don't know how much he's learning; as for myself, trying to learn a new language with a squirmy 4-year-old in tow is proving interesting.  You aren't supposed to move from one lesson to the next until you feel you've gotten 80% of the previous one. We are still on Lesson 2 and most of Lesson 1 was an Intro. I'm glad we have a lot of time before we have to move.


Brennan has been wanting to see a train all week.  Of course, I came upon this one...right after I dropped him off at school.


On Saturday we tried a jicama.  Brennan didn't like it at all. I found it to be like a cross between an apple, a potato and a water chestnut. Not terrible, but not something I will buy often.

The Deployment Project {Weeks 7 & 8}

How about a special treat today?  Seeing that I got a week behind on The Deployment Project posting, I'm going to post two weeks at once. Is that a treat? I'm going to just pretend that it is. :)

We've been doing pretty good. The weather has been up and down, thankfully nothing like some parts of the country have been getting though.  Late last week we were shoveling snow, and today it is 61 and I have the doors open. I'm sure the warmth won't last, but we're enjoying the fresh air while we can.


Brennan's last day being three.


I'm sure your tired of seeing this picture, as I have shared it in a post or two already. I told you it was my favorite. :)


Jason is a bit of a fan of history. If you know him, you realize that is an understatement, so when I found the actual colors of Mount Vernon, I had to get them.  There are so many colors! So now, as long as I stick to the swatches, I can paint any piece of furniture I want, right Honey?


She apparently thought we left that stool there just for her.


Our sink has a hole for a soap dispenser.  There is no dispenser, so it's just covered with a circular plate.  The  plate isn't attached to anything, it just sits on top.  Once Brennan figured out that he can just take it right off, the fascination began with what was in that hole.  I tried to explain he's just seeing the stuff under the sink, but in his mind there is some great treasure waiting to be found down there.


Swim trunks in the bathtub? Why not?


One of Brennan's birthday presents was a star projector.  We have astronomy shows every night.


Apparently, me taking a shower this morning was a bad idea.  While we were upstairs, Chloe was downstairs doing this.  Brennan found hiding in the curtains much more fun that cleaning up the big mess.


One of Brennan's presents from Grandma Brenda.  Who is that masked Little Man?


Living with a boy...  I made my latte this morning, and didn't realize until I was finished that Brennan's Battlebot was right there overseeing the whole thing. Just part of the scenery around here.


This is our newest fun project; growing grass in this little froggie pot.  Brennan checks it every day to see if it's grown. :)


Brennan loves Play-Doh. I love that he loves playing with it, but I do sometimes feel the aggravation of Play-Doh outweighs the fun.  Don't get me wrong, I loved it as a kid, too, but as a Mom, I can't say I'm a big fan.  It's a mess, the containers are hard to open, and the tools it comes with either don't stay together or are hard for a 4-year-old to use. Anybody else feel this way?


My roses went kaput, so when I saw these tulips at the store for $4, they just had to come home with me.  I love the cheeriness they bring to the kitchen.


Brennan checking to see if Daddy's combat boots fit him yet. I think you have a way to go Little Man! Notice that the boots don't match each other. :)