Fix-It Friday

Fix-It Fridays at I Heart Faces allows photographers of all skills to practice and show off their editing skills and preferences.  This darling is the subject of the week.

Original

My Edit

I used PSE 8.  I cropped the photo.  Used PW's actions--"warmer" and "lovely" then "boost."  I loved me some Pioneer Woman today!  Check out what others are doing at:

5 Years and Counting

Today is our 5 year anniversary!

It's been a fast paced 5 years.  3 homes in 3 different states. 2 daughters.  just 1 marriage.

Do you think we can keep this pace of life up?  Who wants to give it a try?  (Kidding.  I'm all for slowing this life down.  Stop to smell the roses, right?)

I'm off to enjoy the day with the family.

This is what the eve of our anniversary looked like:

Lessons From Preschoolers

This morning we had a new friend coming over.  And I wasn't prepared, to say the least.

Last night I was too tired to clean.  Or, better said, I was tired of cleaning.  Alex fell asleep at 8pm because he was tired, obviously.  Apparently clergy people are really tired these days.  Just read this article from the New York Times, click here.  It says, Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could. (Paul Vitello, NYT, Aug 1, 2010)  Yikes!  Alex, please get the rest that you need.

And, on top of that, 19 Kids and Counting was on.  I couldn't miss a minute of sweet Michelle Duggar's cute high pitched voice.  And Jim Bob's humor.  And that little baby Josie.

I sit and sit and marvel at that show.  How does she do it?  It seems so ideal.  Could I ever be that capable/loving/nice/patient?  Probably not.

So back to this new friend coming over. . . I woke up in a complete fog.  Cordelia decided to fight sleep at 3am.  She fought it until 3:30 until sleep won.  So I returned to bed, relieved that she did it with minimal help from me, and I stared at the ceiling for who knows how long.  I'm tired.

This morning, I came down stairs and started picking up.  I do breakfast.  Clean that up.  Decide I need to serve a snack to our new friend, so I start to whip up some muffins.  Until I hear, "I WANT TO HELP!"

NO!  NO, you CANT help.  You take FOREVER, I thought.

Ugh.  Okay, come help.  I let her help and the process took about 45 minutes as she filled each muffin cup full of batter.  My (oh so holy) thought process went like this: "Ugh...this is terrible...I'll never get these done in time...oh please don't spill that on the counter...the oven's been ready for 15 minutes and now we're wasting energy...I have to brush my teeth, change my clothes, clean up some toys...can't you just hurry up!?!"

Eloise's process went like this: "Cool Mom!  Look at the sticky stuff coming off the spoon.  Feels funny. Tastes good.   This one is done.  Next.  Can I lick the spoon?  PLEASE!?!  This is awesome.  I like helping.  I like spending time with just you."

And because I know you love to help and that it's a wonderful trait to encourage and that spending all this time with you is precious, I will slow down, take a deep breath, and enjoy it too.  Because in just a few years, you will be doing it all by yourself.

I will cherish this now.

Thanks for reminding me to be patient, Eloise, and enjoy what I have right now.  You are such a wise (and enthusiastic) teacher.  I love you.

Life as a ...

"Life as a Priest"

or

"Life as a Dad"

or

"Life"

Showcasing

I'd like to showcase a few of my most favorite things.

1.  Do you see on my sidebar over there to the right of your screen?  Do you see the long list of my blog friends?  Do you see one called "Practicing Patience?'  Click on it.  It will take you to "Living with Healthy Hunger," a fantastic blog by my life long friend Dorry. 

Dorry and I grew up behind each other.  We were alley neighbors.  And any good Texas suburbanite will tell you that alley neighbors are the best neighbors.  Only a selective group of Americans get alleys and alley neighbors, and if you are lucky enough to have them, you will know what I mean.

I have fond memories of playing with Dorry and her sisters from a very early age.  We walked to elementary school together.  Were in the same Indian Princess Troop together.  Graduated every grade together until the 12th.  And now, I'm proud to say she is my bloggy friend too.  She writes about life, health, nutrition, and a positive outlook on life.  Giver her blog a click. (Oh yeah, and she has a giveaway going on right now too.)

2.  Rwandan Coffee, "Land of a Thousand Hills."  Yum!  Not just a fair trade product but one that promotes reconciliation among the Rwandan people.  And an organization that my husband has embraced fully.  In fact, you should have been here yesterday because he brought a big box of coffee home and was selling it out of our house.  You should have been here and you should have bought some!

3.  This little girl's eyes.

And sheer determination.

She will be walking soon, people.  My life has just became 100% more difficult.

4.  And finally, I would like to showcase myself.  I'm an awesome blogger.  And I've almost reached my 500th post.  And just with my 400th post, I will give something extraordinary away.  400 posts brought you all gummys.  Ask KHS, they were really good.  500 posts will bring you something equally as exciting.  So, get ready.

Tagged

My child did NOT chalk up our entire deck last night. 

Coloring everything in sight.

While I enjoyed the cool air conditioned house.

And then get a good laugh about it and grab my camera.

And tell her I was proud and to keep on chalking (so that I could get some more peace and quiet in the cool house).

And then think "I'm glad I don't own this house.  I'd be much more anal if I did."

No, NOT me.  

(Oh, yeah, I do NOT plan to make the clean-up fun with the hose.  Not Me!)

Check out other great posts at MckMama's.  Oh, and check out her beautiful new baby son.  He's a beauty!

I Heart Faces

Surprise is this week's theme at I Heart Faces.  A fun emotion to catch on camera, for sure.

Here's our little buddy flying at me in the bounce house.  I think we were both surprised by how close she came to me!

Enjoy the other submission at the fabulous I Heart Faces.

Life as a Priest

People often ask Alex what he does all week.  I mean, other than Sunday mornings, what else is there to do?

Well let me tell you.

Today, Saturday mind you, Alex visited 4 new little babies and 3 sets of parents in the hospital before he performed a lengthy Nigerian wedding.  

All in a days work.

And what do I do when my husband works all day Saturday?  I eat donuts, go to the zoo, fix lunch, clean-up lunch, hug my girls, push Eloise on the bike while pushing Cordelia in the stroller (that takes talent, folks), kick the ball, pretend to be a monster, fix dinner, kiss my husband as he walks in the door at 5:30, head to the hardware store to get mouse traps, canning goods, among other things, head the grocery store, come home to help put the girls to sleep, clean the house, blog, and then (as soon as I move my rear that stuck to this chair) I will start preparing the lunch for your Young Adult luncheon that's happening here tomorrow after church.

All in a days work.

Cordelia Today

Today Cordelia is 9 months!

Whoa.

To celebrate we went for donuts this morning.  Well, okay, Alex, Eloise and I celebrated with donuts.  Cordelia got bananas.

Next stop, 1 year old.  My baby is growing up.  Time to get going on baby #3.

(Ha! Just checking to see if anyone actually reads these words.... :-)

Fix-It Friday

Fridays at I Heart Faces is "Fix-It Friday."  Everyone downloads the same photo and edits it in their own creative way.  For me, it's helpful to see what other people do and how they do it.

Here's the darling little boy.  So cute!

Straight of out the camera:

My edit:

Using Photoshop Elements, I ran Willette's "curves" and "colors."  Saturated the eyes just a hair and cropped.  That's all!

Check out the other submissions.

Baby Paul, Reflections on Photography

If you haven't noticed, my daughter certainly has.  I'm obsessed with my camera.  Ever since I brought her home, I've been reading my manual, testing my techniques, and hunting for online tutorials, advice, and inspiration.  

It's really been a lot of fun.  It's really a fantastic hobby for a stay-at-home mom who has played a certain puzzle one too many times.  The kids play, I grab my camera and play too.  Win-Win.

And, I get some really adorable images.  Like this one.  I must introduce you to this little man.  Mr. Paul.  

He's my friend's little man, and he's very well loved by all who know him.  

His big sis was over playing this morning and as they were trying to leave (really bad timing), I grabbed my camera to get a few shots.  At the same time (like I said, really bad timing), Eloise starts grabbing puzzles away from her friend.  Not sharing.  Tears start flowing.  Hmmm... maybe I am spending a little too much time behind the lens.  But I digress...

So I took some more shots of this guy.

And I think they turned out pretty well.  Isn't he cute?

Which gets me thinking about my photography trek.  I'm loving it.  And I'm convinced that if you want to take great photos, you can.  It's amazing what kind of resources there are online.  

I'll leave you with the #1 easiest way of taking better photos: turn off the flash!

Oh, and one more of Mr. Paul.

Living a Fairy Tale?

My princess today lived her fairy tale.  To the fullest.

And at first, at my dismay.

I said, "Eloise, I want you to play by yourself while I do some chores please."

"I want to do chores too, Mom!!!"

"But sweetie, you don't.  You want to play.  I promise..." Talking my kid out of chores?  Am I crazy?  NO!  Do you know how long it takes to unload a dishwasher with a preschooler?  Do you know how long it takes to do laundry with a preschooler?  Do you know how long it takes to cook with your kiddos?  Sure it's fun and educational to do all those things but it takes FOREVER.  So, yes, I pleaded with her.

"You don't want to do chores....you want to play!!"

No.  She would have nothing of it.

So here is our Cinderella.

Acting her part to the fullest extent.  Doing her chores.

Until she took the camera away from me and took some photos of the "evil  super duper mommy!"

I'm peeling a sweet potato.

And in the end, I was pleased that the job was finally finished.

Garden Update

My garden update is a sad one.  You've heard and read of my excitement of growing a garden from seeds. (Click here.) Of eating straight from the plant.  Of having endless fun watering and weeding and harvesting the plants with my daughter.  And it has, for the most part, been a good adventure.

The green beans and peas were successful.  And Eloise and I did eat them straight from the plant.  Ahhh...my rural-living dreams are being fulfilled right here in this big city.  Alex always washes his food first.  He is the son of a doctor and nurse, after all.  He knows better.  And Cordelia, well, she didn't eat anything.

Our sunflowers were pretty!  (Click here. And here. So pretty.)  But I made the mistake of planting them too close together.  And then the deer came and ate them all.  And now they are ugly, dead, and depressing.

And finally, our tomatos.  Sweet little plants. (Click here.) Attacked by the city deer.  Sending me into a RAGE.  Well, they have rebounded.  A second round of tomatoes are coming in and they are monsters.  I can't control them.  It's a scene from The Little Shop Horrors.

So here is my garden at present.  I call it...

Garden with 2 Small Children.


Gardening is fun but I just can't keep up with it!

(Weeds, weeds, some nice basil, dead/decapitated sunflowers and MONSTER tomatoes in the back.)

(Monster tomatoes cascading over the wall inviting the deer to come eat them up.  They must be 12 feet or more.  Unbelievable.)

Now, let's move on.  

Let's move on to the most beautiful garden I've seen this summer.  We call it...

Garden with 3 Grown Children.

This is the Lalley's annual vegetable garden that they eat from everyday during the summer.  It's so perfect.  We so enjoyed our time there and wish it was our own.  I hope you too can get a glimpse of the beauty.

Good Morning, Beautiful

One of my favorite things about living here is that I'm close to this beautiful woman.

Well, I don't live as close as I wish I did.  She actually lives hundreds of miles away and many of my readers get to enjoy her presence on a daily basis.  But at least, I live close to her parents!

And they are the best.  And they cook really delicious food fresh from their magnificent garden.  And when this beautiful lady, is in town, I get to see her!  Which is more than once a year. Not too shabby for a nomad like myself.

I miss saying good morning to you every morning (wasn't living together in college fun?!? don't really answer that :-).  You are a beautiful woman and an even better friend.  Thanks for dinner tonight!

Love, Emily

My Work Space Today

Today this is my office.  The place where I work.  And get things done.

(And take deep breaths so that I don't explode in the madness!)