Week Nine

54/365
It's Spring, time for some color.


55/365
Just practicing shooting on 'manual' rather than automatic.


56/365
Artem and Bella are mesmerized by the moving truck out front.


57/365
My "assistant" while I pack for return trip to Abu Dhabi. I'll bet you can't guess what he's watching!!??


58/365
No pictures today b/c we were traveling.

59/365
Our little Jet Setter. In one year he has flown from Russia, flown to AZ, flown to Mexico, flown to FL, and flown two trips to Abu Dhabi. I will not be surprised if he grows up to be a pilot.


60/365
Moving sidewalks in the Khalidya Mall, Abu Dhabi.

Week Eight

47/365
Convoy! This is a daily occurrence at our house.


48/365
This is the reason we picked our lot to build on.


49/365
He is pure joy to my heart.


50/365
This is NO distracting him while Dora is on. It's the Dora Trance.


51/365
Bella's newest love...and don't think you are going to get it away from her.


52/365
Gardenia bloom


53/365
Just practicing post-processing with a landscape action in PSE.

Week Seven

40/365
Nana and Artem are on the lookout for a lost truck.


41/365
Who knew watching Daddy and Pops pressure wash the back patio could be so entertaining.


42/365
This is the climbing equipment at a local playground. Mama was not ready for Artem to go on it alone and since Mama does not like heights, Nana took Artem to the top.


43/365
This is just a shameless brag on Randy and his dad. They installed this indoor/outdoor carpeting for me on the back patio and did a great job. It's so nice for Artem to play on the carpet rather than on the cement. Now we just need the grass to green up for summer.


44/365

45/365

Artem got a stomach bug and puked all over Mama, yuck, so I gave him a bucket to puke in instead of on my lap and this is how he chose to use the bucket.

46/365

It doesn't get any better than this!

Week Six

33/365
Kisses for Charlie. Artem was so sweet when he met his new cousin Charlie. He wanted to rub his head, hold him, and give him kisses. I asked him if he'd like a baby brother or sister and he immediately said, "NO!"


34/365
I love how Artem finds such joy in the little things like collecting leaves.


35/365
I call Artem the "Mayor". He's always got something to do, someone to see, some place to be. I caught him in the pantry putting the fly swatter away. See #38 below to find out how come he needs the fly swatter.


36/365
We went to Nami's, a Japanese restaurant, and I thought Artem would be afraid when they lit the table on fire, but he stayed calm.


37/365
Artem could not wait any longer for mama to be finished with this train during photography practice. I caught the little thief in action.

38/365

Artem has discovered that the fly swatter can come in handy when his truck gets pushed too far under the couch. He saw me do this one time months ago, but remembered it when he needed it.

39/365

It's got to be a guy thing. He walks by the TV and automatically freezes.

Week Five

26/365
Nothing can distract Artem from watching "Dora".


27/365
His dentist will be so proud!



28/365
Trains, trains, trains. This boy lives for trains.


29/365
More practice with clear front features and blurry background.


30/365
Artem was too quite one morning and I found him stuffing Bella's toys down his pajamas. Squirrel, Chew-Baby, and a bone are in there.


31/365
This is what my boys do all the time...CHASE! Artem is running away from Randy with a nice drip of drool on the lip. I think the top 2 year molars are coming in.

32/365

We gave Artem a singing Valentine's card for his first Valentine's day with us. He would have been just as happy with just that card as he would with more gifts. He's a simple kid.

Week Four

19/365
Artem loves to talk on the phone and will use anything that remotely looks like a phone, as a phone. We went over to Auntie Wanda's house for the Super Bowl to watch the commercials and I caught Artem with someone's phone.



20/365
No pictures today and I have no clue why??


21/365
I have been working hard on taking a sharp picture in the front with everything else blurred around it. I've tried to use Bella and Artem for this type of shot, but the only thing that will stand still long enough for me is the tree. I think I got it in this picture.


22/365
It's only chicken people!! I love Chick Fil A just as much as the next person but these people beat me. This is only half the crowd that camped out waiting for the new Chick Fil A in our neighborhood to open.



23/365
Artem turned the camera on me this time.



24/365
I love this picture because of the lines.


25/365
I was decorating for Valentine's Day and put the singing gorilla on the table for Artem to play with, but he wasn't sure about it. This was as close as he would get.

Week Three

This was a scary week technology wise for me. My laptop died and I spent over 3 hours on the phone with HP support trying to get it running again. Luckily I was able to get it started in safe mode and managed to pull off all of my pictures from my Project 365 but more importantly our pictures of Artem since we came home. I did NOT want to lose those photos but thankfully after a few scary hours, I retrieved them all. Because of the crisis with my laptop, I didn't take pictures every single day this week. Shhh...don't tell anyone.

12/365

Just because he's Russian doesn't mean he is a gymnast. I've been taking Artem to open gym at the local tumbling school and each time he gets a little braver. This week he got up the courage to try the bar, well at least put his stomach across it, and ended up crashing on to the mat. To his credit, he picked himself and tried again.

13/365

No pictures today.

14/365

Get ready for the ice storm. Artem insisted on going outside even though I kept telling him it was could outside but sometimes you've just got to let them see it for themselves. I bundled him up and we walked 3 houses to the mailbox. As soon as we stepped into the street Artem told me, "Mama brrrr!" Told ya so!

15/365

No pictures today.

16/365

Artem took Bella's collar off, a daily occurrence around here, and was putting it back on as Bella was just getting that tongue out to give him a big kiss on the lips. Yuck!

17/365

No pictures today.

18/365

Artem is a great helper and is determined to do EVERYTHING by himself lately. For the past two weeks he has asked daily to feed Bella, which I allow him to do. On this day I was busy in another room and Artem came in and asked if he could feed Bella. I told him he could and off he went. A short time later I was in the kitchen and noticed Bella's bowl. Apparently Artem felt the dog was in need of a little extra treat.