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swishing (or why best friends make the best Godmothers)

As someone who has known me since 7th grade, Jenni knew me before braces, during braces, and after braces. She became accustomed to my flashing an oddly huge grin at her after meals, and knew to give me a nod or a head shake. You see, I was paranoid about having food trapped in my teeth/braces. And people just don't tell you when there is something there! Wouldn't they much rather know than have people stare? I know I would! So I relied on my family and my best friend to help me out when a mirror wasn't available.

This has now trickled down to my son. One Saturday when we met Jenni, Leah, and Kaden for bagels, Ryan decided he would rather have a chocolate muffin. Needless to say, there was lots of chocolate stuck in his teeth! We both laughed when he smiled at us, and Jenni suggested he swish his milk around a little bit to help clear things out. This suggestion has since led to swishing each sip of any drink he has, much to my amusement. Some day I suppose I'll need to make him stop, but for now, I'm just enjoying it. And that is why best friends make the best Godmothers. :-) Enjoy!

a few shares

Just a few shares from the wonderful photoshoot we had with Lindsay Hand at IMA on November 2. I haven't decided which ones are going to be incorporated into Christmas gifts, so you just get to see a few for now. :-)

are you ready

for some new photos? Check back later this morning!

photos, photos, photos

Ryan and I got together with 5/6 of the Russell clan to make some spooky treats for Halloween - cookie baking and pretzel-hug making fun!




Leah and Kaden's Papaw stopped by, and he and Leah busted a few moves to some NKOTB!


Then on to trick-or-treating the next day! Here's my little pirate before we headed over to our first neighbor's house - where the crying ensued until it was time to move on to the next house. :-) At our third neighbor's house, they came out with a bowl of candy for Ryan to choose his own piece...he grabbed the whole bowl and yelled, "Thank you!" ;-)


And then on Sunday we met up with the Russels again, along with Lindsay, for a fun photoshoot at IMA! I think Ryan and I will be heading back there again very soon! Here's one shot I got before my camera battery died...I'll post more when I get my proofs from Linds!

There was a really fun new sculpture from Robert Indiana that was a bunch of brightly-colored numbers - I think we'll be heading back when its time for Ryan's b-day to get his picture next to the 3! :-) I'm really hoping the one of Ry giving me a kiss in front of the LOVE sculpture turns out - if so, it's going to be a Christmas gift for Tony! Shh....