some more pics from that one weekend i keep sharing. i would like to state that these moments were a lot less awkward than they came across on film. darla was happy that she and fruncle james were dressed as “samesies” for our holiday photo shoot:

she’s a very lucky girl to have so many great fraunties and fruncles who will pose for awkward family photos with her. what more could a girl ask?

this was one of my favorite gift projects i put together for some special ladies this past christmas gift exchange. it was my fave because it was comprised of all earth friendly products.

the first part being this upcycled soda bottle soap dispenser. if you need an excuse to drink Boylan’s natural soda then let this be your free pass. their bottles are so pretty, i knew i had to do something with them. so i pilfered an idea from a friend’s kitchen, that she had pilfered from a friend’s kitchen. so on and so forth, the cycle continues. that’s how neat ideas work, see?

anyway, by purchasing liquor pour tops you can turn any left over bottle into a pretty and economical, ecological soap bottle. how? it’s the same idea as foaming soap dispensers. a little bit of soap does the same job as a lot of soap. pump in about 5-6 shots of soap and fill the rest with water. it will extend the life of your soap supply.

i paired the bottle with meyer’s clean day natural hand soap in basil scent – the best smelling hand soap i’ve had yet – Butter’s 3 free nail polish and Aveda hand therapy lotion.

if you can’t tell by my rampant bragging right now, i was pretty proud of my purchasing power with this gift. put your money behind companies that create products in earth-mindful ways.

Darla’s enjoying the beautiful day on our new back patio. I think she’s gonna like it here.

i was just going to do a short one photo for each month but then i realized i don’t have any pics for march & april on my computer and i love so many of the pics of last year i’m just throwing them in one post. enjoy our year!

looking back on photos of this year i realize two things: the first being i did a damn fine job on darla’s wardrobe and the second being what a simply glorious, crazy good life we have. very thankful for all my days on this wonderful planet with a spicy girl and a salty sailor.

i’m hoping that this is our best year yet. mostly because the mayans say it’s the last sooooo i’d like to go out with a bang. hope you enjoyed this mostly repeats visual wrap up of the year.

we’re on our fifth day of moving. the day that i’ve come to the point of finding other stuff to do instead of moving. like dusting and washing all the window valances because they really REALLY need to be clean before we stuff them in a box….

anyways, if you’re in need of procrastination too then direct yourself to dadisthenewmom’s 12 reviews of christmas. funny funny.

i’m gonna go organize my sock drawer before i pack it up.

2012 sounds like a nice even year. i think we’ll give it a shot. lots of love from the wruckers.

pssst this one is my fave from our session with claudia

more from our spoonful photo session

spoonful spoonerism: hense of sumor

and this one makes me giddy because the nice pattern of the coat mike’s mom made for darla photographed so beautifully. fashion. fashion. i love fashion.

photos by claudia of aion arts

this is going to be my new catchphrase for when i need to remind myself to stop buying things. running the words “don’t be like the griffin” through my head will probably have a better effect than just saying “you don’t need that.” at least for me it will. anything involving mythological creatures will probably work for me.

this was taken at the children’s fountain in batelle riverfront park. we explored the park a little on friday morning and i’m already envisioning picnics and pictures in warmish spring days. the park is filled with statues of beings that tell the local lore of pickaweekee: a myth of discovery. we shall return again to learn more another day.