me and Justin...

what? you didn't know we were buds!?

and he even likes the frilly, white curtains I pinned!

ok.
It's just spam....but in this case, spam is funny.


Off to a women's retreat.
I detest women's retreats....but I do not detest women so it should all be ok.

I'll be back with bookoos of pictures and a grand report on Monday, I'm sure!

ta ta for now..I'm gonna go spy me some Amish people!

S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. NIGHT!

here's how it goes down.

I have intentions of blogging every day.

I even think of cool stuff.

but it kills me to not go in order of real life.

which means I get stuck on things like this:

Saturday night we had a random group of people over for dinner and games.

(random just meaning they were from all corners of our lives)

We took a lot of pictures.

I didn't want to just post them all in a row, they needed to be in collages.

Which means I had to upload them three times.

Which annoys me.

So I just didn't blog.

And then I can't sleep.

'cause I'm weird.

It's Wednesday and I'm just now getting this done.

BUT done it will be because:

It was an AMAZING time.

Lots of laughter.

I'm pretty sure Melissa bruised the entire left side of her body jumping after spoons.

My abs were sore the next day from laughing so hard and the food...OH the FOOD!

 Thank you Melissa for capturing the essence of charades using...me:
1.  get your clue and turn to let the other team know what dorks they are.
2.  act like a dork trying to get your team to guess.
3.  laugh hysterically at yourself.
4.  do a victory dance and HUG your husband for being the only one in the room who could possibly guess that you were trying to act out Sloth from Goonies....

 (this was Frank's first time to play charades....15 seconds in to his turn Amanda guessed his movie...they did a little victory dance together ;-)

Italian food, friends, charades, spoons, Mafia, lot's o' laughin', a few movies and friends for the kids....sweet sweet memories.
I LOVE these nights.
It had been too long.
I don't think I'll be able to wait that long between the next ones....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the FOOD!!!!
Everyone brought something and it was all amazing but I don't have their links/recipes.
I do have the ones I made and I MUST share because you MUST make them ALL for yourselves:

Pesto Caesar Salad
(I did add the anchovy paste, I'm a fan.  I did not make homemade croutons, Trader Joes did that for me ;-)

Crusty Baguettes in 30 min's

with:

Herb Butter
(oh. my. gosh. YUM.)

Lo-Cal Fettuccine Alfredo
(uh..that didn't taste lo-cal AT ALL)
I added to the Alfredo:
Steamed broccoli
Fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
and my fav' Marsala Mushrooms (I have somehow figured out a way to incorporate these  mushrooms into every meal I've hosted for several months now ;-)

and of course Balsamic Reduction to drowned it all in!

Add to this Chicken Florentine, Sausage Spaghetti, Caprese Salad, Italian Meatballs with Ricotta and Herbs, Strawberry/Angel Food Cake/Chocolate Kabobs and homemade mini fruit pizza's....wow.
We were all STUFFED! Just the way I like my parties to go!

Laughing and Stuffed.

"you can go now mommy"

....I get told that once or twice a day.
When they are deep in play and are embarrassed by just how 'in character' they are.

but today Samantha put a spin on it.

She told me that:
"This is the Master Bedroom which means I'm the Master of this house and you have to leave this room".

To which I responded "Fine.  Here's the mortgage payment, car payment and utility bills!!!! Woo Hoo!!!"

She didn't get it.
But I thought you might.

BLEH...

just bleh.

I don't feel like being a mommy today.

I don't feel like being a girl today.

I don't want to feel today.

It's just not workin' for me.

bleh.

Funny thing is, in my line of work/stage of life/position/whatever...it don't matta'.

Love isn't a feeling.
Good choices aren't feelings.

Intentional, outward focused, living, isn't a feeling.

Good thing.
'cause otherwise we'd all be a wreck. (wait....are we? uh...I might be on to something here.)

"...He who began a good work...He'll finish it..." (Philippians, sort of...enough anyway)

It's not about feelings.
It's about Him.
It's about overcoming Evil with Good.
It's about being at peace.
It's about choosing those things even if I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT!!!!!!!

bleh.


(I'll be fine tomorrow...just havin' a day...and I homeschool...which means I get to make these 'good loving choices' even though I don't feel like it, all flippin' day LONG!!!!!  Really, it's days like today that my daily prayers of 'Lord, protect them from my mistakes' mean so much.)

bleh.

hm....wanna do something with me?

it's coming...still working on the details but here's a teaser:

You know how you hear a lot about clean drinking water?
You may have even helped build a well, or given money towards a new well, or bought some cool products to dig a well....

but did you know this:

Tragically, 1/3 of all wells drilled in the last 20 years are now broken. Often there's no tools, spare parts, or trained mechanics to fix them.


so...maybe let's do something about that?


wanna???

check.

White House - check.

Old Post Office Pavilion - check.

American History Museum (First Ladies Gowns and American Flag Exhibit) - check.

it was crazy.

it just always is.

embrace it holly...for reals, just embrace it.

white house tour prep

touring The White House tomorrow.

wanted to make sure they wrapped their little busy minds around what they were doing.

didn't have a ton of time to plan.

this has all been planned 'on the fly'.

I'm thinkin' that all my plans should be 'on the fly'.

we haven't done too bad!

White House Pop Up Cards:

(found here)

from left to right:

Samantha, Lydia, Sophie, Nora

they free handed the buildings - I demo'd step by step but never touched their papers.

they traced all their drawings with a marker, cut off the excess bottom and detailed the top.

um...I love these!

(I used this coloring page for my example to draw from)

 that sweet model behind Sophie was given to us as a gift a while ago.

I had been saving it for just the right time!

woo hoo!

perfect project!

took us like an hour to put it together (which is forever for us ).

I see it's also on Amazon.

 Nora...our #2 budding stand up comedian.

a little over the girls head but still neat.

and instant.

and perfect for my 'on the fly' plan:

and a book...of course!

my mom sent us this book forever ago, it was cute and helped explain a little:

(this was all done over several days by the way...ha! like we could do all that in one day ;-)

some fun facts:

• There are 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 levels in the Residence. There are also 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators.
• At various times in history, the White House has been known as the "President's Palace," the "President's House," and the "Executive Mansion." President Theodore Roosevelt officially gave the White House its current name in 1901.
• Presidential Firsts while in office... President James Polk (1845-49) was the first President to have his photograph taken... President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) was not only the first President to ride in an automobile, but also the first President to travel outside the country when he visited Panama... President Franklin Roosevelt (1933-45) was the first President to ride in an airplane.
• With five full-time chefs, the White House kitchen is able to serve dinner to as many as 140 guests and hors d'oeuvres to more than 1,000.
• The White House requires 570 gallons of paint to cover its outside surface.
• For recreation, the White House has a variety of facilities available to its residents, including a tennis court, jogging track, swimming pool, movie theater, and bowling lane.
• George Washington picked the site and helped oversee the building but John Adams was the first president to live there.

and a little 'extra' on the side:

George Washington LOVED dogs.

You may know that.

But did you know any of their names?

Like:

Sweetlips or TrueLove?

and it's 18 acres.

with the pool/tennis courts and putting greens.

Have you been to DC?

Um? Where IS that 18 acres exactly!?

it's freakishly small looking for 18 acres!

more scoop on what it's like to tour tomorrow.

no cameras allowed though :-(

shoot. I can't even bring my purse!

beautiful chaos

inching closer and closer to a 'real' photography business.

not there yet.

still 'free' for a little while but not much longer now....

updated the 'blog':
http://hollyannaphotography.blogspot.com/

soon...

they're baaaack!

the Brooks are BACK in our every day life baby!

welcome to DC!

mom and dad were unpacking their new pad today so we stole our best buds and took them to the park!

woo hoo for God's plan to put us back together for this small season in our lives!!

(it will be MAX five months, but hey, we'll take it!)

 Nora (pink coat)

Sophie (purple everything)

 I love that most pictures of Sydaliegh you still can't tell that she doesn't actually belong our family...the girls fits RIGHT in!

 me+Samantha playin' around with the beautiful setting sun..

spontaneous basketball camp

basketball camp must really take it outta ya!?