Footsteps in the Snow

The Santa Claw

This one's for you, Michelle.

So, you're looking for a way to pass time... maybe you're bedridden and have 314 minutes to spare...

Well, why don't you use that time to play The Santa Claw game at thesantaclaw.com?

This is the game that my daughter always asks to play whenever we pass it in Walmart... and I tell her no because no one ever wins and it's a waste of money.  Well, this game is free and if you capture the right ball, you win a real prize! 

The anticipation is crazy, especially if you're six years old.  There's a maximum of 500 for the line, and the first couple of times I tried to get in line it was full.  The first time we played, we were in line for six and a half hours, only to have a slight malfunction (ummm... my daughter dropped the claw before moving it.  Oops!)  Anyway, we tried again today, and this is how it went.  I'll start with the positive reinforcement at the end...

Yeah, so thanks for that.  Obviously, we didn't catch a ball.

This was us at the beginning of the line. 

Yes, that's me... soulenergy. There are 309 people ahead of us, and we'll play in 314 minutes.  You can pick your own character, and change their clothes, to a certain extent.  The time is pretty accurate... trust me, we didn't hang around for this.  I just kept the computer on and checked back periodically.  Oh, and usually when you watch it "live" on the screen in the middle, you're actually watching other people play.  For some reason, today the screen was dark.

We're almost there, we're next, we're next!!  Can't you feel the excitement?!

This is it!  We're on the move!  The view on the right is birds eye into the balls.  Looks like a good place to land... I see a prize ball below!

And, it looks like we came up empty handed.

And the claw is headed back to it's starting point. 

Seriously, this is why I won't let her waste my money at the store.  Although we did see one person grab a prize ball, out of all the other people we saw play, only two others even got a ball, period.  And the colored balls aren't even worth anything.  Bah.  Humbug.  Especially after the ever-so-comforting "sorry you're a loser" message at the end.  Not what my six-year-old, who's just waited hours to play your game, wants to hear. 

But, she's tough.  And she wants to get in line again tomorrow.  And if you have a good internet connection, and you're going to be near the computer anyway... I guess it doesn't hurt.  And you never know... you could get lucky!

Project 365: Week 1, December 31-January 8

Add me to the one of millions that is doing a 365 project! My intention was to start on January 1, 2011 but the first photo of my two girls on December 31 was just too precious for me to leave out. So, I'll either end on December 30, or this will be a 366 project...

Day 1: December 31, 2010... My Girls are walking hand in hand towards the playground

Day 2: January 1, 2011... It was raining, and I was on my way to work.  Happy New Year!

Day 3, January 2, 2011:  I don't do this often, the girls were matching with their pigtail braids.

Day 5: January 4, 2011... Time to pack up Christmas

 

Day 6: January 5, 2011... This little guy and three of his buddies hang out over my kitchen sink

Day 7: January 6, 2011... This was Younger Daughter's first night in her "Big Girl Bed".  When I checked on her, I found them both in Older Daughter's bed

Day 8: January 7, 2011...Younger Daughter is reading herself to sleep

Day 9: January 8, 2011... Don't mind the pants, it's a Saturday and I let her dress herself.  She's looking out the balcony door at the snow falling!

 Somewhere along the line, Day 3 disappeared.  It's still in my flickr photostream, but it's disappeared from my folders.  It was pretty uninteresting anyway, just a shot of us going through the car wash, finally getting the salt off from the Christmas snow.  


Thanks for stopping in!  I'm really excited to do a 365 project... while I am an amateur, I do love photography, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of this project.  


Please click on the buttons below to see the photos of others doing a Photo  a Day!

Readers Are Leaders!

I grew up hearing this quote from my parents, and my children are growing up hearing it from me!  My younger daughter (above), who is two, is "reading" to herself before going to sleep...

And my older daughter (below), who is six, has read herself to sleep...

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.  ~Anna Quindlen, "Enough Bookshelves," New York Times, 7 August 1991

TV.  If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six.  Open your child's imagination.  Open a book.  ~Author Unknown

Ready for the Big Girl Bed

We decided from the very beginning that we were going to co-sleep with our daughters.  They were both in a bassinet attached to the bed for a couple of weeks, then into our bed they came... and stayed.  Older Daughter was about three when it was time for her to sleep in her "big girl bed".  Younger Daughter is two-and-a-half, and I've been preparing her for the move.  It's funny how the younger children start some things so much earlier (she's already almost fully potty-trained, and at this age Older Daughter was barely starting).

Anyway, last night was the big night.  The Daughter's are sharing a room, and I tucked them each into their own beds.  We read a story, and then it was time for hugs and kisses.  There was a little bit of resistance, so when the Older Daughter asked if she could continue to read to her sister, of course I said yes.

Younger Daughter apparently climbed into Older Sister's bed to listen to the story.  And they fell asleep.  This is how I found them.

I moved the Younger into her own bed, covered her and kissed them both.

And there she stayed.  My baby, who has slept beside me for almost a thousand nights, stayed in her own bed all night, on the first night.

She might have slept better than I did.

"Angels around us,
angels beside us,
angels within us.
Angels are watching over you
when times are good or stressed.
Their wings wrap gently around you,
whispering you are loved and blessed."  
- Angel Blessing

My little angel is one of four that I've hung over the kitchen sink. 

It's nice to have them looking over me.  

You wouldn't know it from the photo above, but they're only 2" high! 

SOOC-- I posterized the photo, then added a matte and vignette frame. 

Packing Up Christmas...

Today was the day...

It was time to put away Christmas.

We put up early, before Thanksgiving (!), and it was time to take down the tree, pack up the lights, fold the stockings, and store it all 'til next year.

Older Daughter did not want to see it all go.  Truth be told, if it were "politically correct", I might stay decorated all year (and I know some people do).  I compromised... the red glass bulbs now adorn the wall shelf, surrounded by white lights.  Because of course, Valentine's Day is next, and we need to keep the red theme for that.

It was very, very hard for Older Daughter to pack up "the mouse".  The one my Mother gave her at Christmas several years ago.  It sings the "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" in a very, very annoying voice.  Very annoying.  OD cried, sobbed real tears for this mouse.  Even after I explained that it's just more special when you have it only at Christmastime... oh, no.  She was having none of that.  Mouse was not going in.

I continued packing, and grabbed my camera because I still needed a photo for my 365 project.  OD tried to stop crying and asked me to take a picture of her and the mouse, so she could remember it through the year.  My poor baby tried to manage a smile...

Oh, this picture just breaks my heart.  Her nose is red, her eyes are teary... But I'll tell you what.  We continued putting Christmas away, and after a while, she handed me Mouse.  She said she was ready to say goodbye until next year.

That's my big girl.

I have a question for y'all.  When you pack everything in their bins, very neatly like this...

...does it seem like your stuff has a party and you're not invited?  For me, it never looks as good coming out as it did going in! 

This is the photo SOOC (Straight Out of the Camera).  In the first photo, I boosted the color a bit and gave it a vignette frame so you couldn't tell so much that it was packed inside it's plastic storage bin.

 

My favorite shot of the week... my Girls walking together towards the playground.