2/24/07

It has been a long time again. ....I have just been so busy and tired. My weeks are not my own anymore and by the weekend I am pooped. ha!

We have had some fun things the last couple of weeks. I was able to take pictures of my best friend's daughter at the Winter Court at school. The first pictures in the post today are of the pink rose her daughter held during the Court. She gave that to Mikayla and Mikayla was so tickled with it. I decided to do some creative photography with the rose. I like the first one the best for whole picture perspective but the second one is neat because of the closeness. I just wish my lamp hadn't been in the background. lol My friend was really tickled with the pictures. I had wanted to have crisper images but you can only do so much with flourescent lighting in a large auditorium and gym. I am just happy they were happy but I over-analyze my pictures. :)

We also had Valentine's Day...over a week ago! Steve gave me beautiful roses. He even brought them to school to surprise me. He was coming anyway to see Mikayla get the chapel award that day so he thought he'd do that for me. I have shown the pictures of them here today. They were just beautiful and were of all different colors. He was so sweet to do that for me. We gave the kids some large balloons and some Floam. Let's just say that FLOAM is a cross between slime and playdough times fifty-five and I didn't realize it was as messy as it was. They got it ALL over themselves. It was not the easiest thing to get off of hands and I was a bit worried it wouldn't come out of the clothes but it did. Little balls of this stuff were all over their bathroom. Oh well.... Overall we had a great time and enjoyed the day as much as our schedule allowed.

Speaking of my husband, have I said lately how much I love him and appreciate all he does for me? I am blessed and he is so precious to me.

Wesley has had serious issues with his health this winter. He just got over a sinus infection and two days later was showing symptoms of cold stuff again. On Monday I took him in and found out he had another ear infection!! I am taking him to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor in a couple of weeks. I am hoping they can shed some light on what is going on with him. Mikayla is getting over another cold herself but hers goes away with cold medicine.. Wesley's just lingers.

Last weekend we had our family pictures taken. It took us forever because there were some people who took quite a bit of time deciding on their pictures. lol I am a bit more understanding of that seeing as I know what it is like to try to photograph people but I know those photographers were ready for some of those people to get out of there. lol I was pleased with the pics and will have to send them out to our friends soon.

Yesterday we had a half day at school and so we went to eat lunch with Mom and Daddy. It was wonderful. I really needed a break from the busyness and stress of school. We went to Wendy's and then went back to the clinic to watch Daddy de-horn a bull and clip its hooves. (The bull had to be de-horned on one side because that side was damaged and broken.) There were actually two he worked on but the first bull was something. It was a cross between three very high strung bovines and let's just say he wasn't happy in that holding area. I rememeber Daddy de-horning calves when I was little and remembered the smell of it (yuck) but I never realized what all he did. I watched yesterday and was in awe. It was truly amazing. I also didn't realize a horn would cause bleeding. I always figured it was like our fingernails or hair that had grown out. I was wrong there, too. ha! I asked to keep the horn and will show it to my students on Monday and then allow the fleshy part to rot out so I can keep the outer covering of the horn. Like I always tell my students.... everyday is a learning experience. Mikayla and Wesley weren't grossed out by it but they were asking questions about it. Wesley wanted to see what the bulls face looked like after Daddy de-horned it. It looked kind of odd with only one horn, but the other horn was fine and because these bulls were in the rodeo.

The kids wanted to spend the night with Mom and Daddy again last night. After the week I had experienced that was fine with me. I could use some quiet but I must say I don't know exactly what to do with myself with ALL of this quiet. :) I cleaned up part of the house and folded some clothes. The kids have to do a lot of cleaning when they get home. I know they won't be happy about that, but, oh well. :)

I bought PhotoShop yesterday. I installed it last evening and found that I have SO MUCH to learn about that program!! I tried to play with it a little this morning but I had so much other stuff to do I didn't have the time to give it. What I have played with I have liked so that is good. :) I have to get one of my friends to help me out with it. I am also anxious to take more photos of other people's kids so that I can improve. I am just constantly realizing I have so much to learn and don't feel adequate in a lot of ways. The older I get the less confident I become in some areas. When you are young you think you can conquer the world but when you get older you realize there is more to conquer than you ever imagined. I also realize how small I am in this world and how the Lord is the only One Who can help me through it.

I am now realizing there will probably be no snow for us again this year. I really can't count those small traces we received although I am tickled we actually saw some. I am beginning to feel the need for spring. I love all seasons and appreciate them for what they are but now it is time for me to stop looking for white and start looking for the new growth. I mean that in my life as well. I know the Lord continues to prune me and make me depend on Him more and more for my responsibilities in life so that I can bring forth color and fruit for Him. I look forward to more photo ops. :) I am sitting here looking out the window realizing the maple tree is budding. I have now closely watched the landscape around me for a year and it is amazing to watch how the Lord shows us the seasons. There is no stopping of them... God is faithful and that continues to help me know God is in control.

I guess I need to go scrap some. I still have lots to do to get ready for the kids birthday party in late April. I am listening to The Ten Tenors again(and soon Il Divo) and loving it. Those CD's really are great and I look forward to the weekends when I can hear them again. It is not common for me to listen to them throughout the week because of being so busy.

Have a good one. :)

2/11/07

I am finding I am having a time letting go of the uneasiness of our fire we had the other night. I was in a bit of a "funk" yesterday and part of today. I just continue to thank the Lord and also still see His hand in all of it, but I just can't get past the emotional part. Of course, anytime you go through something traumatic like that you don't get over it in a day. I guess it is a natural part of the process we go through in times like this.

On to happier things.... I went around this afternoon and took some more photos of the kids. I had quite a few that turned out really well. I sent them to the new place to have the printed and can't wait to get them. I have to have some proofs for my auction area so people can see my work. I figured some of these would be nice. I am still nervous about it all.

I have been reading another blog of a woman who is a professional photographer. I have been learning some things from her. I began taking photos of everyday objects today to see if I could make them interesting. These definitely won't be printed out, but I thought it would be neat to try. The photos of today are of Wesley's bike. I'll show more on the next blog. I am really trying to work on thinking outside of the box. That is hard for someone like me who is duct taped INSIDE of the box. hee hee I just love holding that camera in my hand and taking photos. It is also neat to learn something new with it. I guess that is why I wanted to take these photos.

I scrapbooked a lot yesterday. I am now on December 23 Christmas festivities so I am getting there!! I really do need to start journaling, though. I have so much of that to do it isn't even funny. ha!

I need to go get some laundry hung up and dried. Another week is getting ready to go full force so I need to get to bed as well. Enjoy my "out of the box" pictures. :)

2/09/07

My photo from today was taken during our first ice/snow encounter. It is of a pansy in our flower barrel out back. I enjoy some snow but let's just say I don't want to be like upper state New York and have 8 feet of it!! Bless those people's hearts. I would be going nuts. ha!!

Today was a better day, I must say. I still had thoughts of the fire and all, but nothing like yesterday. I am thankful for the peace that God pours over us in times like these. Only He could provide that kind of peace. I slept very well last night.

The Insurance Adjuster came out today and they are going to get things rolling pretty soon. I think our den and kitchen will get a full cleaning... carpets, walls, draperies, furniture. I am thankful for that. The whole underside of the house is going to have to have new insulation because of the smoke. They will also clean out all of the duct work.

On a funner note, we celebrated Mom's birthday tonight. Her actual birthday was this past Wednesday. We went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants and then went back to their house for her to open her gifts. We gave her a pair of Birkenstocks!! :) Daddy called them "Burpensocks".... he cracks us up with his sayings. She really seemed to like them and I am glad. I now know what she is getting for Mother's Day! ha!!! Kevin gave us all another trip this year for our birthdays!! We are going to Savannah, Georgia in June. We are also going on a short trip to Charlotte in July to see The Lion King and we will ride the train to get there. I am excited about it all. I am looking forward to some new photo ops. :)

One of my friends told me about a website she uses for her photography prints. She kept talking about how awesome they were and so I decided to try them out. WOW...I just got the first five test prints today and I love them. I won't do the website right now for everyday prints, but for my special prints and for any I take in my photo sessions with other people, I will use them. I am just amazed. I can't wait to go take some more photos and send some more to them!! I am still working on catchlights in the eyes and the right lighting.

Tomorrow I am planning on scrapbooking. I am going to work hard to get through Christmas pictures. We'll see how far I can get.

It is late so I will close for now. The kids are spending the night with Mom and Daddy. Mikayla called Mom this afternoon and said "I know you are probably going to get some presents tonight, but Wesley and I would like to spend the night with you and Pappa and that will be your present from us!" It was so sweet. Mom ate that up and immediately said yes. I am glad they could do that. :)

Have a wonderful day!

2/08/07

Last night was horrible. We woke up at 1:00 am to find that the area outside our bedroom windows was on fire. Steve had put out ashes from the woodstove and thought they were all safe! Well, apparently in the middle there were still some hot spots and that caused the area around where he spread them to catch on fire. It caught the pinestraw on fire and by the time we woke up it was at our foundation! Steve ran out quickly and hooked up the waterhose. Thank the Lord it was not frozen! He began spraying the whole area and I poured a bucket of water on an area that was under the deck. We kept using the flashlight to see if there were anymore hot spots. There was smoke all in the house and underneath the house and we were doing all we could to get the smoke OUT of the house. We finally got the fire out and then Steve kept checking all around. The thing that made me sick on my stomach was how CLOSE it was to burning down our house as well as how close the fire was to our main gas line. I don't even want to think of what it could have done if it had totally hit that.

My nerves were shot all night and when we finally did get back to sleep around 3 or 3:30. I dreamed about fighting the fire and smelling the smoke. The inside of the house still reeks of smoke. We have called the insurance company and they will send out someone tomorrow. The people who help clean out the smoke smell were here when I got home from school and are wanting to start work tomorrow. We'll see what the adjuster says. I was a wreck at school this morning but I know that God woke us up and helped us through this. We really could have all been gone but He held us firmly in the palm of His hands. I know it will all work out. I have had to think on the BLESSINGS of how the Lord kept us safe instead of dwelling on what COULD have happened.

I still cannot believe it happened. Tonight when Steve started a fire in the woodstove, the crackling of the fire which used to bring me a warm comfort caused me a moment of hair- raising stress. I just kept picturing what I had seen early this morning when I went out on the deck and saw that "ring of fire".... it was so surreal. I truly could not believe it was happening.

On top of the fire we had another interesting thing this week. Steve's truck "died" on him on the way to work Tuesday. When he went to see how much it would cost to get it fixed he found out there were even more problems and it was going to cost almost what it was worth to fix it!! Steve said he wasn't pouring that much money in something that was 11 years old. I had to pray that day that the Lord would guide his steps. He found another truck that is actually bigger for all of us to fit in. It is a 2003 Chevy Silverado. He was able to get a good deal on it and his brother helped him with the details of the sale. I just put it in the Lord's hands and asked Him to lead, guide and direct. Steve is really enjoying his new truck and it really is nice to be able to have all of us ride with him. It is also an automatic so I can drive it if I need to.

God has blessed in so many ways this week. I am humbled by what He has done. I give Him the total glory for it all. I think the pictures above speak for themselves....

2/4/07

It is Super Bowl Sunday. We are watching the game right now and I think I am worrying Steve to death with all of my questions. hee hee There are some weird named men on that field. I have been analyzing that and the weight of some of those guys. WOW....glad I am not on a football team. I have a hard enough time with what I am trying to lose. ha!!!

Anyway, it was amazing to me how Steve couldn't remember who won last year's Super Bowl. It made me think of how many sporting events have been through the years and no one remembers the outcome. Even in other events in life it is like that. It just made me realize that the events in my life are the most important and should be cherished. The trophies of this world will fade one day but my family and those I love are what is precious. Even more precious is God's Word to us and that will never fade. I am thankful I have a fadeless home waiting for me in Glory where I can spend eternity with Who is most important.

I played around with some pictures today. I am still trying to work on something called "catchlights" in the eyes of those I am photographing. It is where you can see spots of lights in the eyes to liven them up. Dark eyes show no life. This is another reason I still feel I have so much to learn because I just am not getting these like I had thought. Let's just say that taking photographs is not as easy as you think. ha! You are constantly looking around you, surveying the scene, as well as the person and how they are looking before you even think of doing what needs to be done to your camera to get the "perfect" shot. I am trying to really work on my manual focusing to get better with that. I like manual focus over automatic when I am doing certain things because automatic focus gets lost in the picture sometimes and doesn't know where it wants to focus. I am also trying to train my eyes to be better at the focusing. That can be tough for someone like me with horrible eyesight. ha!!! Anyway, the pictures from today are some I took of my sweeties. They were so gracious to allow their mother more photo ops. :) Wesley showed me some sillies as well as serious. Mikayla was just sweet all the way.

Mikayla read out of a difficult book for her tonight and did an awesome job. She is at the top of her class in reading now. Wesley is doing great, too, but reading isn't quite *there* yet for him. I believe it is because he is a boy and not as verbal. He read great tonight, too, though. He read easily through a book that has caused him some difficulty even a month ago. I can see a lot of growth in both.

I am now addicted (in a sense) to Triscuits with Pepper Jack cheese. I cannot have a ton of cheese, mind you, but those Triscuits are something great! We tried a new one tonight...it has cracked peppercorn and olive oil. Super....just wonderful. I am digging my healthy snacks, can you tell? ha!! Oh, and crunchy peanut butter with an apple is quite wonderful. That extra crunch adds an extra surprise in there. hee hee

I guess I should go back in there and enjoy watching the Super Bowl with my sweetie. I actually am not minding watching it and I am sure I will ask more questions. :) Maybe I'll go read one of my photography books my brother gave me for Christmas.

OH...and don't be surprised if you don't see a post in the next few days. Tomorrow is going to be busy from the time I get up till I go to bed and the week proves to be that way, too. I'll try to do one in the middle of the week this time and not wait until Friday. Aren't you proud, though.... THREE days in a row this weekend. :)

2/3/07

The picture from today was actually taken when we had that icy snow the other week. I didn't get any icicles this past week. They are something that really amaze me. I love to look at them.

We got our taxes done today! Glad to get THAT off my back. :)

I got to scrap today and I got finished through Thanksgiving. Now I'll be working on a zillion Christmas pages. lol At least I am that far, though. I just have to work on journaling all of those pages, though....eek.

Steve took Mikayla with him this morning when he went to pick up Wesley from his cousin's house. They were gone about 3 hours so I had some down time. I enjoyed listening to my Il Divo and The Ten Tenors CD's and scrapped a lot of the time. I also began looking for telephoto lenses. I have no idea what I need, though. It can all be confusing sometimes. I need to figure out what would be best and then go from there. I will have to save up for one. I want something that will allow me to get closer to my subjects without being close myself. (I am thinking mainly of things in nature...) I love to get close ups best of all. I find that landscape pictures seem "boring" to me sometimes. Maybe I am just not taking them correctly. lol I was reading another blog tonight of a photographer and, boy, do I have a lot to learn!!

I watched a squirrel hanging upside down eating seeds from one of our feeders today. It cracked me up. Unfortunately, when I went to grab my camera and raise the blind slowly it was spooked away. Amazing that my slowly raising the blind caused it to jump down immediately when earlier this morning Steve banged on the window a few times before it finally got down. lol I wanted to get a picture of him! I know they are annoying to most people but I really do find them fun to watch. I just love their faces when they nibble. The way that one was hanging on upside down was too funny.

The kids are watching a movie tonight before they go to bed. I believe an apple and peanut butter are calling my name. (not TOO much peanut butter, though.. hee hee) It is amazing what you feel is such a treat when you can't have what you used to eat! lol I am definitely learning to appreciate foods that are better for me. I am glad about that at least.

Off for that apple and peanut butter. Enjoy the evening!

2/2/07

February....I cannot believe how fast January went by. Life is just too fast sometimes.

Yes, I have failed to keep up regularly with my blog since school started back. Oh well...what can I say?

Yesterday it snowed here again. We missed school again....over a little bit of snow. Now, it was great to actually go out and play in some actual snow but if I hadn't of taken the kids out at 9:15 we would never have done it! By the time we played outside for 30 minutes or so it began to sleet and rain. So much for having that winter white for a whole day. I did manage to take a few more photos. I shared some of the kids today as well as one of the Johnson grass with snow on it. I will share more photos later. Notice the Walmart bags on my children's feet... you have to love that!! We used to do Wonder Bread bags on our feet when I was growing up. Oh, the memories....

We had as good of a time as we could with less than an inch of snow. You know you're in the south when..... your school is cancelled for the day because of the "threat" of snow and the roads stayed clear all day long. We now have another day to make up. ha!! I am surprised there was any milk and bread left in the grocery stores. I must say, though, I could settle for a few days of being snowed in. That would be quite neat again. I don't think we've had that in a few years. It definitely snowed more here when I was little. I must It was so sweet watching Wesley and Mikayla looking at the snow coming down and being excited because they didn't have school. I remember those feelings very well. While the snow was falling I couldn't help but think of how still and quiet everything gets when it snows. That is a quiet like no other. I enjoyed the moment while I was out taking photographs.

Speaking of photographs, I have agreed to put my name in our auction at school to do a photography session. I am quite nervous about it all... as you know I still feel I have so much more to learn. However, the photo shoot from last weekend, where I took the pictures of my friend's daughter, turned out great. Out of 230 pictures I took we liked around 240 of them!! I was very pleased. It was neat to be able to capture some of the looks of the child that the mother said she has never gotten in a photograph before. It made me happy to see how happy she was when she looked at the photos. I have no idea where this will lead but I will allow the Lord to make the moves. I don't want to act like something I am not... know what I am meaning?

Wesley is spending the night with his cousins tonight and was so excited. I pray he remembers all we taught him to do when he goes to someone else's house. I hope he is having a good time. It has been weird just having Mikayla tonight. It has actually been calmer. ha!!

No fireplace tonight... Steve didn't have time to get wood in before we took Mikayla out for her "night on the town" (aka... Walmart and Mexican food!). I am missing it but know I'll have it tomorrow. I just can't believe how much I love that woodstove. I am so thankful for it each day. We said this past week we wished we had got it 10 years ago when we built the house! ha!!!

The diet still continues. I blew it today, though, with Mexican food. lol I haven't had it since I started this thing and I couldn't believe how stinking good those chips and salsa tasted to me tonight. I really tried to behave and not get the most cheesy thing on the menu so at least that is a plus. I just left there feeling mighty heavy and that isn't a good thing when you are trying to teach your body otherwise. lol I have lost 3.4 pounds. It surely doesn't seem like a lot but when all I have changed is what I am eating I would say that says a lot. I know I need to exercise but I don't even have the energy to think about it when I get home. ha! Maybe I'll fit that in *somewhere*....

We did manage to clean the house yesterday. That made me feel better. I also got some things taken care of for the kids that were coming up in their class. I was glad to mark another thing off my list. Some days I feel quite overwhelmed with all I have to do, but God is good and always makes a way for me to get it done.

I have papers to grade but do you think I am going to do it tonight? Don't think so. :) I'll get to them this weekend, of course, but not tonight. I am really hoping to get some scrapping done this weekend. I am now up to November of last year but I also have Wesley and Mikayla's school books to get caught up. I have a lot to do before their birthday party in April!! I just have to keep thinking "Little by little...."

Well, I am going to go spend time with Steve and Mikayla Girl. I will probably fall asleep on the couch the way I am feeling. ha!! Have a good one and enjoy the snow pictures!