personal project \\ six people twelve times \\ 03.10

This is a hill around the corner from our house. I have had my eye on it ever since we moved here, six years ago. Why do I let things go for so long before I do them? I don’t know, but I am really glad I started this project, to give me the push to photograph all of the things in my area that I have wanted to for years.

It was a little tougher to get this shot compared to the past two. We had to shoot on a steep incline, so a tripod wouldn’t work and neither would my ghetto version of a tripod. (That is, put your camera on anything and use the self timer.) So I had to use some photoshop magic. (We weren’t all photographed together at once.)

I love the blue sky. I love how everyone is standing. Mostly, I love that I have these shots.

This month started off with a BANG! Drew broke his wrist in PE at school. He came home telling me he hurt his wrist, and I had this gut feeling it was broken, no matter how much my head tried to tell me it was just a bruise. The strange thing is, he has been obsessed with talking about broken bones all of this year. Asking questions of Jeff and I about the breaks of our childhoods, about what happened, and what the cast feels like. And then he goes ahead and does it himself.

Mckenna has worn St. Patrick’s day beads every day this entire month. The cheap, plastic, Mardi Gras type beads. They have become her signature look.

March is my favorite month of the year, because of the weather we have. EVERYTHING is in bloom. Any natural area that is not professionally landscaped (ie: with sprinklers) is filled in with lush tall green grass. The yellow flowers are starting to pop up. The trees are blossoming. The clouds are big and white and puffy against a blue sky. It is just PRECIOUS outside. There is really no better word. Soon it is going to get hot. And that green grass will die as it gets starved for water. And the heat of Summer will bake the pavement and the seats in my car. For now, I am reveling in Spring.

Anna decided to cut her hair, and has the cutest long bob, with side swept bangs. She chose the haircut completely on her own, based off this photo she found in a magazine of Katie Holmes.

The girls and I headed up to Los Angeles one Friday afternoon, for a live taping of the Hannah Montana show. A past client does hair on the show and was able to get tickets for us. I surprised Anna and Kenna by picking them up from school early and heading into LA without telling them what we were doing. We got to go into the hair/make-up trailer and see the actual Hannah Montana wig. Both of them had eyeballs big as saucers. It was classic. The taping took about four hours, and they sat enthralled the entire time. Mckenna would get irritated every time they had to repeat a scene, which surprised me, seeing as how she rewinds the same thirty seconds of television for five minutes straight until all of our heads explode. When the taping was over, she cried.

Our favorite dinner of March was probably these, which I served with mashed potatoes (clouds) and broccoli (trees). On Jeff’s recommendation we called the meal “cloudy with a chance of meatballs.” He is so good. (The photo does not look appetizing, but they were yummy.) If we were REALLY good, we would have had a viewing of the movie or at least read the book that night, but we didn’t.

We had to head back to the hospital for another scar/skin procedure. Mckenna is going through a series of steroid injections directly into the scars, meant to break down the scar tissue. It was outpatient surgery, but still hard on her to have to go through. Gratefully, we have seen a big improvement in the thickness and painfulness of her scars over this process and hope for continued improvement.

The community pool opened! You know where we will be on a hot day if we aren’t home in the afternoons. We are a family of fish.

Our favorite albums to listen to in the car have hands down been This is Ivy League and Weezer. Weezer was definitely Jeff’s introduction. I have never had much love for them, but my heart has opened. Our favorites are ‘The Richest Kids’, ‘Love is Impossible’, and ‘Til the Day’ off Ivy League and ‘If You’re Wondering If I Want You To’ and ‘Put Me Back Together’ off Raditude. Anna sings lyrics from all of those songs during the day, with no music on, and I sit as quiet as I can and listen to her without her finding out or else she will stop.

Mckenna has started expressing discontent over being left behind when the other kids go out to play. Up to this point, she has never even noticed. It is one of the saddest things to try and help her understand why she isn’t allowed to go outside without an adult when they are. And yet it is exciting, because for her to even notice or want to play with someone else is a major milestone for her. This is another step forward for her, another step we didn’t know she would ever be interested in making. Another step toward independence. And toward whatever she will become as she grows into an adult.

Anna is trying mightily to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels.

Nathan shared with us at dinner one night that in his circle of friends, the guys have all been given girl names as nicknames. We all thought it was so funny, we took turns coming up with what our names would be if we were the opposite sex. I don’t think we have all laughed so hard in a long time, trying to figure out what Jeff’s name would be if he were a girl. Here is what we came up with, and you probably had to be there, but we still laugh like crazy when we use them on each other.

Jeff: Christina
Tara: Miguel
Mckenna: Murray
Drew: Bridget
Nate: Melissa
Anna: Eduardo

Our photo this month was taken on the second weekend in March. I would like to thank Jeff for helping me kick procrastination in the face and get our photo done with no stress AND at a convenient time for everybody.

xo

Tara

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