Just about every Wednesday, my Dad picks up the kids early from school. He takes them different places, to the park, to the playground at Burger King during inclement weather. But many Wednesdays, he takes them to play tennis. This Wednesday, I joined them to capture some shots of the event. View my photos here: http://mariloujaen.smugmug.com/Lifestyle/My-Family/Tennis-with-Grandpa-2011-12/ Read More →

Me and foosball go way back. My love of foosball started in middle school. (Of course, we weren’t cool enough to call it middle school back then. It was just Jr. High.) I went to a summer camp at FIU for drama. There was a foosball table in the student area; my “crush” would play... Read More →

Tonight, Ryan loves mix-matched jammies! And sliding on the floor, making his socks dirty. And his new bracelet from Tyler Thompson. And smothering his dog, while his dog bites my hand.   Okay, he loves these things every night, but the bracelet is new. Thanks, Tyler!! He loves it! (And don’t tell Daddy that Ryan... Read More →

Photography practice sessions and strolls in the neighborhood. These are things we can’t do on a weeknight. Not anymore. Especially not the night before a presentation is due. And the night a homework agenda was left blank. But we did them anyway. Because life is too short not to enjoy every moment. (Well, that’s my excuse.)... Read More →

I’m taking Karen Russell’s online class, The Photographer’s Workshop, again – because I loved it so much the first time (and learned so much)! This week is on composition, so I thought I’d take the kids to the playground – because where better to practice composition? Really. Anyway, I wrote this up for the practice... Read More →

On Saturday afternoon, we got some great Aussie books from my long distance cousin. Thank you, Tanya! The kids couldn’t wait to read them, so they parked on the front step before we headed to Quizno’s. We usually go to Quizno’s once a weekend. Always the same one – Bird Road off of 72nd Avenue.... Read More →

Every once in a while, we are blessed with visitors from the North. My sister and her two kids, came for a long weekend in early August, and, as usual, we made it a point to get the kids together as often as possible. The girls are playing really well together, so they got to... Read More →

It was a lazy weekend alright. Just the kind we needed. Saturday, we went to the movies with Grandma. We went to Justice and The Loft while we waited for the movie. The theater was empty right until the movie started, when the smart, commercial-avoiding people showed up. Ryan and Grandma left Cars 2 after... Read More →

We were there the week before the earthquake hit, so we DID get to go up the Washington Monument – thanks to Rene, who woke up early to get us tickets! We came back the Thursday before school started and never really recovered from the staying up late and sleeping in we did in DC.... Read More →

Should we be packing? Maybe. But we spent this day doing completely frivolous things, like getting haircuts, washing the dog, and playing outside. Okay, maybe washing the dog wasn’t exactly frivolous. She stunk, and I wasn’t sending her to the dog sitter that way! And I was not going to spend a week taking pictures... Read More →

It feels like a long time ago – the first day of school. We have already spent many long nights doing homework. We have already gone into and out of a lice outbreak. We have already had crying fits, tantrums, and flat-out ‘No, I’m NOT going to do my homework!’s. This year we were ‘prepared’... Read More →

There was reading… Me – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Book 1), Isabel – The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5). There was A LOT of computer playing: Webkinz.com and PBSkids.org. When playing Webkinz on opposite sides of the house, one of the kids will run across and tell the other what... Read More →