Category — People I Love

…a bit of an understatement.

Usually, when I work in my craft room at night, I take Nelly with me. She chews on her bone or bats a tennis ball around until she’s tired and falls asleep.
Sometimes she barks at me to say she’s bored and wants out. But, while she has learned not to use my house as a toilet, she still can’t be trusted not to chew everything to bits. (shoes, $150 remote controls, hats, telephones, books, carpet, baseboards, pretty much anything in her line of sight.)

The last couple of nights when she barks, I simply say, “uh-uh.” She stares at me for a minute to make sure I’m serious, and then lays down on the floor to sleep.
Somewhere trapped inside that crazy 6 month old border collie body, is a really good girl.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that my face hurts from smiling every time we leave karate class.

Four year old Beck wearing this get up, standing in ‘fighting stance’ while making ‘tiger eyes’ is just about all I can handle.

The baby of the family turned four today. He promised he would stay three, but the idea of birthday cake and presents was too much to resist, so he went ahead and turned four, but promised me that he will stay here forever.
I’m going to do my best to hold him to that.

We had a family party here today. His only requests were 1) His cousins would be there, and, 2) A carrot cake with a picture of an alligator eating a carrot on top. Oh, and his name. Oh, and fire on it.
I thought it would be fun to have a ‘make your own pizza’ dinner, so that’s what we did.

Beck was so excited for everyone to arrive and I think it made him feel like a superstar that they were all here for him.

At four, Beck is:
Full of personality. He is the only one of my boys that isn’t shy, and his lack of shyness more than compensates for the other two. He will talk to anyone that will listen, and, even some people who don’t.
He is independent, and stubborn. He is sweet and precious one minute, then full of spice and hell-fire the next.
He loves to cuddle in the middle of the day for no particular reason, loves his “soft” and his thumb. He’ll follow his brothers anywhere and fills our home with life and light (and noise).

I took these photos of him earlier in the day, and may I just say, he was utterly uncooperative.

Just before I took this one, he said, “This is too boring. You are taking too many pictures.” That pretty much ended our session. But he still looks cute to me. I love that little face.

Dear Josh (Fish, Fishy, Fish taco, Fish face, Sharky, Tiger Shark, Francis, Frenchy, Francois, etc…)
Yesterday you turned 9. NINE! Nine years and two days ago, I was in a car on my way to the hospital, crying. Crying because I was afraid of giving birth, but mostly crying for fear of the unknown. I wasn’t qualified then to be a mother. (still don’t think I am, but that’s another story).
But here we are.
I have never experienced such a range of emotions in my life since becoming your mother, most especially the head-over-heels, adoring, love I feel for you.
I know that I expect too much of you almost all the time, but it’s only because I know how smart and capable you are. I sometimes worry that I am damaging our relationship because lately it feels like we argue too much. I hope you don’t remember those times as much as you remember the good things, like when we just sit on my bed and talk about everything.
That is my favorite thing about you at this age. You are so fun to just talk to. I love hearing about things you notice in friends at school, or about what interests you in books you read. I love hearing your observations of the world and answering your endless questions. You delight me.

Yesterday we had a birthday party for you and some of your friends. Before everyone arrived, you sat me down and made a few requests.
One: Could I please take down that picture of your little brother playing the piano naked. You said you didn’t want to be known as “the kid with naked pictures all over his house.”
Two: Can we please leave the radio in the car off on the way to the laser tag place. When I asked why, you said, “Because I’ve never been to a birthday where the mom has the radio blasting and sings and dances in the car.” Already, I’m embarrassing you! But, just for the record, I wouldn’t have done any singing or dancing in front of your friends.
I asked you if you’d like to pick out my outfit for me, and you rolled your eyes at me. You’re good at that. But, then you paused and said, “Well, wait… what are you wearing?”
Then it was my turn to roll my eyes.

Today, when I was taking these pictures of you, there was one point when I was looking closely at your face to check my camera’s focus, and I almost cried. Your face looked just like it did when you were three. There it was, right in front of me. The same red lips, the same arched eyebrows that are like little rainbows above your sparkly, blue eyes. I know we mothers always say this, but seriously… where is the time going?
I love you so much Joshua. I am so lucky to be your mom.

And it’s just the sweetest thing…

 


 

My soft spot turned 6 today. This kid. Where to begin.
He has always marched to the beat of his own drum. He is odd, but in a delightful way. He makes everyone work for affection, except for me. For me, he gives it up freely. Because I think I am his favorite.
He is a funny, funny boy. But, mostly when he’s not trying to be. He just says the most random, funny things. But then there are times when he tries to tell an original joke… they usually go like this:
“Knock-knock.” so I say, “who’s there?”
“Apple.” “Apple who?”
“Apple on a mountain!!!”
(crickets chirping)
Spontaneous humor is more his strong suit.

He has a seriously amazing memory. He can remember what store we bought each of his toys at, and what I was wearing at the time of purchase. Even the number of the check stand where we paid for the toy.
It’s frightening. But also handy when I can’t remember where I parked the car.
He is such a great friend/brother. He is considerate of others, and just wants everyone to be happy. He’s the peace maker in our family.
He is the most tender-hearted kid I know. When he makes a sad, frowny face, it just breaks my heart. He is just so sweet.
I have never been able to put my finger on the reason why, but this kid has me wrapped around his finger like nobody’s business.
But just look at him….

What’s not to love?

My baby. My third boy. My last child (seriously…don’t give me crap about this either), is three.
At three, The Little Guy is spirited, hilarious, sweet, loves to sing, energetic, independent, precious, and just so cute.
He loves to follow his brothers around and tries his hardest to do everything they do and be a part of their lives.
He loves more than anything to have an audience. He loves to make people laugh.

He wants to do everything for himself. He loves Cars and Mickey Mouse. He sings in the car, he lets you know when he’s unhappy with things (quite well, actually) and he sometimes astounds me with his sweet and affectionate gestures.
I am head over heels in love with this boy and even though his antics frequently bring me to tears, I can’t imagine life without him.
In the The Fish’s words from yesterday, “I’m just so glad you had him mom.”
That pretty much sums it up.
He completes me. And our little family of crazies.

I’m so excited to share this day! We baptized The Fish.
He was really looking forward to this and I think it was just about as awesome as it could be. I remember how happy the day felt when Josh was blessed, and this day was just the same. I loved having all our family and friends come together to support and celebrate this special occasion.

When I showed Fish this picture of him in his whites, he said, “Look at me in that monkey suit! Psht.”
But, I think he looks precious. We got to the church a bit early to change and get things ready. This is when we gave him his very own set of scriptures. He was so excited.

I’m hoping that maybe these will make him less cranky and more excited about morning scripture study. (A girl can dream.)
Here’s The Fish with his dad, both in their whites.

They don’t really make those jumpsuits for 6′ 4″ fellas. Kelly D. had to keep his hands in his pockets to hold them down so they wouldn’t ride up in his business.

 
We had a lovely program complete with music and talks. I found a really cute idea online that talked about the three “bears of baptism”. Bear His name, Bear your testimony, and Bear one another’s burdens.

The Little Guy was more excited about the bears than anyone.

While Fish was changing out of his wet clothes, everyone in attendance wrote some thoughts for Josh on some cards I brought to put in a baptism book I will make later. We read them all tonight, and they were so sweet. I was moved to tears.
Here’s a shot of Fish right before the confirmation…

and then after…

(That picture melts my heart.)

 
To everyone that participated in the program and attended, THANKS! You made our day!

 
Afterwards, we came back to our place for dinner, which included three different kinds of soup, rolls, fruit and veggies, and cupcakes.


 

This week, while at the store shopping for the party, I was trying to include Fish in the decisions about what we’d have to eat. At first, he was playing along and answering my questions, but when I started asking him if he thought it was better to have white bowls, or red, he said, “You know mom, I really don’t care about any of this stuff. Just do what you want and let’s go.”

 
I think this will be a day that Josh will remember throughout his life. I know I will. I love that kid so much, and my heart was absolutely bursting with pride as I watched him take this step in his life.

 

Today was my the funeral for my grandma. She passed three months after her husband, and I can’t help but feel relief. It is how it should be, with them together again.
All week long, I was feeling guilty for not grieving more. But then, today at the funeral my uncle said something that explained what I have been confused about. He said that this wasn’t as hard as when my grandpa died, because with my grandma having dementia, we’ve already been without her for some time now.
I think he’s right. Whenever I would see her, I would catch glimpses of the spicy woman I loved so much, but for the most part, she had already passed.

 
Two of my cousins were among the speakers today and they did such a wonderful job of describing the best qualities of our dear grandmother.
She was funny. Always cracking wise. She never ran out of things to talk about and she loved to tell her life’s stories to anyone who would listen.

 
She was smart. It was quite impressive to sit in the same room with her while she watched Jeopardy. She was forever doing crossword puzzles, and as my cousin Cami pointed out, if ever you needed a question answered, no matter what the topic, grandma had the answer.

 
She was spicy. Always forthcoming with her opinions and attitude. Just ask anyone who knew her. You always knew just exactly where you stood, or what she thought about any situation.

 
She was frugal. McDonalds cups were washed and put in the cupboard, butter wrappers were saved (because it is a perfectly good piece of foil), and cracker boxes were cut up and turned into pencil boxes, or other useful items.

 
She was cuddly. Her skin was so soft and squishy, just like a grandma should be.

 
She had fabulous dress up clothes, hats and jewelry, and she always gave us free reign when we visited. Her bedroom was very feminine. Roses, and porcelain figurines, knick-knacks covering every surface in sight. And it smelled of floral lotions and perfume.

 
My grandma always saved scraps of fabric for my Barbies, and empty spice cans for me to pretend to cook with. She fixed me strange food for lunch that I looked at with suspicion but ended up loving. I always felt important to her, and always loved to visit.
Everyone should have a grandma like mine. Lucky, lucky me.

Am I old enough to have an 8 year old kid?
Apparently I am.
And, while I am getting older and less attractive, he is getting more and more handsome. Evidence below:

We had a small family party tonight because last year’s friend birthday was a doozy.
Fish chose the menu.


 

Below is a shot of my brother, (aka Uncle Chippy). Every time I see that guy he’s got something else going on with his facial hair. This is the newest thing. Mountain Man. He says he’s not shaving till Melanie gives birth to their baby. That’s not happening till May.

The Fish wished for $1000 right before he blew out the candles.


 
I’ll let you know if that comes true.

 
At eight years old, The Fish is curious, smart, FUNNY, sweet, emotional, loud, and just plain good company. One of my favorite things to do is be alone with him talking and listening to the inner workings of his mind. I love how observant he is, and how he sees humor in situations that I wouldn’t expect an 8 year old to see. He is the sweetest, most affectionate child I have. And I’m so happy I get to be his mom.

You know what’s fun? Talking about photography. Even though by the end of the class, I am totally sick of the sound of my own voice, I really love sharing something I’m passionate about with people.
Here are some of the pics from today’s class about lighting and composition. (check out my smokin’ hot friend!)

We practiced shooting in this area right near the house where the class was held. I think it’s an abandoned dairy farm, but we found some really awesome places to shoot!
We talked about leading lines…

Framing in quadrants…

We talked about backlighting…

Framing with foreground…

Using reflected light…

And balancing bright backgrounds with the subject in shadow…


 
But seriously? How cute is Shelby in these pictures? I’m thinking she needs an agent.