I Heart Faces - Hearts

I Heart Faces is getting into the spirit of Valentine's Day a little early this week with their challenge topic--Hearts! Check out what others are doing with their hearts here.

On Pin Trading and Theme Selection

Our Disney Pin collections were always themed as follows:

Jenny kept on the lookout for Tinkerbell and other fairies. Ford let the kids find Pluto, Goofy, and other dogs for him. As for me, I searched for pins that reminded me of my own Disney days, scuba diving, and memories of my kids. Having a theme made it fun and easy to decide when to make a trade.

But, Heller’s was always my favorite theme. It still makes me smile. He never seemed to have a problem finding the perfect pins for his lanyard. The day he made his theme decision, I knew I had a smartest kid on the block.

“So Heller?” we asked. “Did you decide what pins to collect?”

“Yep.” He responded without a bit of hesitation. “My theme is pins I like.”

The Yellow Wall

When life hands you a giant, yellow wall of sunshine...

I Heart Faces - Smile

Oh for those sticky pink lips, delectable cheeks, and eyes that sparkle with sinful delight...

In just a few, short weeks, I Heart Faces will offer us the soft and sweet challenge. I almost hesitated posting this one now. Almost.

But, with a smile this delicious, I could just eat him up!

Wanna see more sugary goodness? Check out other smiles this week at I Heart Faces!

Twenty-Eleven - Ready or Not!

Twenty-eleven snuck up on me when I was totally looking the other way. I am not certain how it happened, but I think it all started with Santa. See, I was good last year. Santa knew it. He checked his list. Good/Very Good/Hayley/Photography/ Thingamajigs and Doohickeys. Santa’s list was in order. But, somewhere along the way, Santa forgot to stock the sleigh. Enter Christmas morning. “Dear Hayley”, the notes began, “here is your IOU.” Well, not exactly, but you get the idea.

Add to Santa’s slip, a New Year’s Eve bon fire turned forest fire. Where was my camera? Tucked neatly inside its bag. FAIL. No neato photos to share or remember it by. (In truth, I am thankful it was put out before I could even consider attaching my lens.) And, kudos to hubby, who is proud to say, "I was a first responder!"

Did I mention my external flash broke a few days prior to Christmas? No? Good, because I would have been lying. It wasn’t my flash at all. No, it wasn’t until I ordered, paid for, and received a brand new (though undeniably better) flash that I discovered it was my camera that was broken. Ugh. So, I entered the New Year without my doodads from Santa, and a broken camera. Happy New Year!

Before you start to get teary-eyed from my stories of woe, I am here to tell you that things are looking up. Just take a look at these baby browns.

I took this shot, today, with my broken camera, just before we traveled to the repair shop—yes, the repair shop—where they fixed my camera and shined it up like new. I can't wait to try it out with my new flash.

And, while we are enjoying the brown hues of this photo, I’d like to mention a new journey I will be taking with Marta Locklear, as she explores hues and textures in a 52 week project. This week's hue is brown. Check it out.

Finally, I want to share some exciting news. Lola is here! Santa delivered on one of his IOUs! My beautiful camera bag just arrived and she is as marvelous as I knew she would be. Take a look.

We're ready--Lola, sparkly camera, more amazing Santa gifts, and me--to take on Twenty-eleven. Great things await us. I hope you will join me.