If you use any of these pictures without my consent, I will hunt you down and cut you. Got it? Contact me as necessary.

Monday, February 08, 2010

 


Toby in the Snow
Originally uploaded by Manda.
Twenty-three inches of snow here, folks, and from what we hear that's less than what other areas of the DC metro region received during Snowmageddon. Sophie is off school today (and probably for the next couple of days) and I've been off work since noon on Friday. Cabin fever is setting in. However, thanks to Sean and the county plowing efforts, our driveway and road are clear. We are free to roam!

# posted by Amanda at 10:49 AM | 0 comments

Sunday, December 06, 2009

 


Donating her hair
Originally uploaded by Manda.
Entirely of her own volition, Sophie decided to give a shorter hairstyle a try. It was basically an aesthetic decision but the amount cut off was enough to donate, so there's a nice fringe benefit to it. She looks older with her new haircut...pretty, though.

# posted by Amanda at 12:22 AM | 0 comments

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

 

Should I Be Worried?

Sophie: I know what I want for my 10th birthday party.*
Me: Oh yeah?
Sophie: A bar theme.
Me: ...Excuse me?
Sophie: [enunciating] A. Bar. Theme.
Me: ...you said BAR?
Sophie: Yeah, you know, decorated like a bar.
Me: ...FOR YOUR 10TH BIRTHDAY.
Sophie: Yeah, because that's what older people do for their birthdays.

* We sure do like to plan ahead here.

# posted by Amanda at 6:15 PM | 0 comments

Saturday, August 29, 2009

 

And It's Not Even the Miley Cyrus Fashion Line

Okay, tell me what this girls' shirt graphic looks like to you.

# posted by Amanda at 7:58 AM | 2 comments

Friday, July 24, 2009

 

Strange but amusing wedding processional.

# posted by Amanda at 9:17 PM | 0 comments

Thursday, July 16, 2009

 

A couple of days ago, I handed Sophie the latest Hanna Andersson catalog and asked her to circle the items she wanted. This morning I checked out her selections.

Turns out she circled lots of pictures of babies (girls, of course) and clothes for them.

Umm, no.

# posted by Amanda at 7:19 AM | 1 comments

Thursday, July 02, 2009

 

Only in the UK: a workplace morale boosting initiative known as Naked Friday.

# posted by Amanda at 7:45 PM | 0 comments

Saturday, June 27, 2009

 

"Granddad said he had some *unusual habits.*"---Sophie, aged 6 years and 5 months, describing what what she's heard about Michael Jackson.

# posted by Amanda at 12:14 PM | 0 comments

Thursday, June 25, 2009

 

Big news day, huh? I was starting to put together a really nice reflective post about The Gloved One, but something else is taking precedence.

You may have noticed that I like to take photos. This web site links to my Flickr photo account. However, by design, the converse is not true: there is no link from Flickr to this site. There were a number of reasons for that decision, at the root of which is privacy. And underlying that is safety.

Sophie is, by far, my favorite photography subject. As she gets older, she's becoming much less cooperative about having her picture taken. I try not to wear out my welcome and limit the "photography sessions." When I do manage to get a really good shot of her, I make it available for family and kind friends by posting it on Flickr.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Flickr system, folks with accounts can "favorite" other users' photos. Favorited photos are essentially bookmarked for ease of repeat viewing. Flickr also notifies the owner of the photo that it has been favorited, and by whom. A brilliant feature, indeed.

When someone outside of my Flickr contact list favorites a photo of Sophie, I check out that person's profile, including their other favorited photos. Sometimes it's okay: ballet instructors favoriting photos of dance costumes, Renaissance Fair fans favoriting pictures of braided hair styles, etc. Other times, what I find in peoples' favorited photo collections raises my hackles and I block them from being able to add photos of my child to their pervy little collections. Tonight I blocked some creep whose favorite photos---including four of Sophie---fit exclusively into two categories: 1) young kids and 2) scantily clad women.

So it comes back to issues of privacy and safety and a decision about how to address the problem. I could stop posting photos of Sophie...but then the legitimate visitors to this space wouldn't be able to see her grow over the years. (And let's face it: Sophie has a way bigger fan club than I do---I know she's why most of you read this site!)

Or I can continue to monitor and block when necessary. The fringe benefit to this method is that the Flickr administrators can be alerted to the pervs and the decision of how best to handle placed in their court, so to speak. Personally, I like the idea of a bit of ROUGH handling in these cases.

# posted by Amanda at 9:29 PM | 0 comments

Sunday, June 14, 2009

 


Week 25: Showgirl
Originally uploaded by Manda.
This was Sophie's fourth year of dance classes, all with the same dance company. She's had really, really awesome teachers who make the classes and dances fun for the kids. Sophie has danced with some of these girls since she was two years old.

They had their revue this weekend: a show on Friday night, and the final show this afternoon. This year Sophie performed in four different numbers.

Four dances to learn, four costumes to change in and out of QUICKLY, and four separate and distinct heart attacks for this backstage mommy.

After a few years of this routine, I feel like I'm starting to understand Sophie's particular quirks regarding performing. For example:

1. If you watched her during the dress rehearsal, you'd think that the kid had no clue whatsoever about the dances she's supposed to be doing. (Queue a mini-coronary for me.)

2. However, by the end of that event, she always picks up a lot of the steps from several dances that she's NOT performing. (Last year she paid a lot of attention to the set directions and learned phrases like "tap mics" and "spotlight" and "fade out.")

3. Don't try to "pep talk" her before a performance. It just makes her surly.

4. Every year, without fail, Sophie nails her dances during the performances.

So, four dances for my little diva, and as usual, she was amazing! This year she added something: a smile for the audience. I am so proud of her!

# posted by Amanda at 6:14 PM | 0 comments

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