a list of ten things

Write a list of 10 things

that are sure to put a smile on your face

when you are not happy

Jessi

our babysiter and

(perhaps more importantly) my ‘go to’ model.

Shoshi

and our new kitten

that looks like it was scared out of its mind

thenand still now.

Darn it.

We are scary. Kaish

and mango water ice.

yum.

those two things totally make me smile.

Oh my.

Look who is back again for the summer.

Naji.

I think he makes me happy.

He is awfully full of spunk.

I heart him and his little mischievous self.

Juan

and his cool skateboard moves.

We miss him. Look how fabulous he is.

I think he gets two pictures : )

His skateboarding moves make me supremely happy.Jessi again because she is so pretty…

and this picture is illustrating

pretty light.

Pretty light always makes me happy! What makes you happy when you are in a funk?

Oh,

and here is something that makes me SO happy!

My friends Rosina and Sarah

(who just happen to  be

2 of my favorite photographers on the planet!)

are giving away an ENTIRE wedding photo shoot.

It is worth $5,000.

And they will travel anywhere!

Now, I am so old (34 now)

and all my friends got married a zillion years ago

so I don’t even know who to tell about this!

Do you know anyone?

Will you help me pass this on!

This is too good to keep a secret.

farewell to the fourth grade

September 2009  June 2010

‘The whole purpose of education

is to turn mirrors into windows.’

~Sydney J. Harris

Tuesday was their last day.

They did not want their pictures taken.

Look how much they grew.

Do you make marks anywhere in your house to document growth?

I was just thinking today that a good Mom would do that.

I don’t.

One thing I know though,

even without marks on the wall,

time flies.

‘Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.’

~John Dewey

 We would love for you to join us for Tuesdays around the World

at Communal Global!

Just link whatever your Tuesday post is.

You will get lots of nice visitors 

from all around the world.

Pets, Pets, Pets! {With a few bad jokes thrown in for good measure!}

Why did the farmer put his cow on the scales?

He wanted to see how much the milky weighed!  What is the golden rule for cows?

Do unto udders as you would have udders do to you!

 I Heart Faces is celebrating teens again!

There is an awesome judge this week who is a

‘Supah Stah’ teen photographer,

Emilee Fuss!

How exciting is that?

Next week teens get to enter.

Only teens.

Juan is making his selection this week of his favorite picture.

He is so excited!

I am trying to get him to make a blog while he is in Columbia.

With my superb technical skills that should happen quickly….

or not!

How many pets do you have at your house?

We have one kitten.

Remind me to show you a picture of it soon.

You have no idea how far behind I am in blogging.

Like eleventy eleventy million days!

Can not wait to see your pets.

Or creatures.

Or random farm animals.

Your pictures always make me smile.

Q: What did the scientist say when

he found bones on the moon?

A: Looks like the cow didn't make it!!

vay-kay-shun = fab-u-less!

We went on a little vacation this week.

We went with my Mama and my Papa!

My super sister Betsy and her family!

And my Super brother Johnny and his family!

We had so much fun it was ridiculous.

If I was a cool blogger I would put some pictures of our vacation up.

I am not cool!

I am tired : )

So I am just going to put some leftover pictures up I never shared!

And hope you can wait until Monday

to see some of the sites we visited.

I know it will kill you to wait : )

Or not!

I missed you.

Gary keeps saying he is going to put me into rehab for bloggers.

I promised him I would not blog while I was gone.

And I did so good.

I didn’t take my computer.

I only visited one site (via the hotel computer)

it was the lovely Miz Booshay’s blog at Quiet Life.

I love her blog.

I love her pictures.

Here is to a happy weekend for one and all!      An ardent traveler named Joan spent most of her vacation sunbathing on the roof of her hotel.

She wore a swimsuit the first day, but on the second, she decided that no one could see her way up there, and she slipped out of it for an overall tan. She'd hardly started when she heard someone running up the stairs; Joan was lying on her stomach, so she just pulled a towel over her rear.
"Excuse me, miss," said the flustered hotel manager, out of breath from dashing up the stairs. "The hotel doesn't mind you sunbathing on the roof but we would very much appreciate you wearing a bathing suit as you did yesterday."
"What difference does it make," Joan asked rather calmly. "No one can see me up here, and besides, I'm covered with a towel."
"Not exactly," said the manager.

"You're lying on the dining room skylight."

This joke was found here.

Don’t worry.

This did NOT happen to any of us on vacation!

That sure would have been a good blog post though!

Juan

  I love this week at I Heart Faces.

They are celebrating teenagers.

Our family was blessed this year because Juan

moved into our neighborhood.

Juan is from Columbia.

He spent his Junior year learning English

and going to a local public school.

Juan taught us about his culture.

He taught us about being thankful

to live in the United States of America.

He played with Shoshi and Kaishon

and treated them like brothers.

Today we hugged Juan goodbye

as he headed back to Columbia for the summer.

He is going to try to earn enough money there

so he can come back for his Senior year.

He will be greatly missed.

How many teenagers do you have in your life right now?

What is your favorite thing about teens?

A young boy had just gotten his driving permit. He asked his father, who was a minister, if they could discuss his use of the car. His father said to him, "I'll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up, study your Bible a little, and get your hair cut, then we will talk about it." A month later the boy came back and again asked his father if they could discuss his use of the car. His father said, "Son, I'm real proud of you. You have brought your grades up, you've studied your Bible diligently, but you didn't get hair cut!" The young man waited a moment and replied, "You know Dad, I've been thinking about that. You know Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair." His father replied, "Yes son, and they walked everywhere they went!"

dangerous left hand turns

There is this road

where I have to make a left hand turn

on my way home from Philly.     My Dad does not want me to turn on this road.

He wants me to drive 20 minutes out of the way to avoid it.

He brings it up all the time.

All.The.Time.

Now, if you are a girl like me,

you totally know what the end of the day is like.

You are racing home from work

-thinking about what you can possibly throw together for dinner

-preparing yourself for the dreaded math homework session with your kid -feeling guilty about the laundry

and the cleaning that really need to get done

-and [perhaps most importantly}

planning your blog post for the night

You totally need that extra 20 minutes.

So often, I make the turn.

{The dangerous left hand turn.}

It’s true.

I turn left on the busy road that my Dad abhors.

And then, sure enough, that is the day

he stops by on his way home from work to do something or other

and somehow that stupid left hand turn comes up.

Of course I tell him the truth. 

The truth that I NEED the extra 20 minutes.

I can’t possibly spare them.

‘Everything will be ok, Daddy.’ I say.

And then he fusses.

He says that my life could be lost.

He gets grumpy and mad.

And of course that makes me grumpy and mad right back.

Quickly it is time for him to go home to my Mommy

He hugs me extra tight

He says

‘I just worry about you Becky.

You are my girl.’

There might or might not be a tear in his eye.

And suddenly I get it.

I totally get it.

That love you have for your kid.

It defies all logic.

So.

I go the long way now.

I grit my teeth.

I shake my head.

I sit in traffic.

But I do it.

I do it because I am loved.

Loved by my Daddy.

{The absolute greatest man on Earth.}

Happy Fathers Day to someone

Who makes me drive the long way home.

Who tells me he loves me every day.

Who answers the phone when I am lost or scared or worried.

Who thinks I am the absolute greatest thing on the planet.

And Happy Fathers Day to Gary.

He loves us much.

We are richly blessed. ‘Are we not like two volumes of one book?’

~Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

How are you celebrating today?

embracing the blur

Please don’t come here to see perfect pictures!

Occasionally I might hit the mark.

But more often than not,

there will be blur!

there will be lack of sharpness!

there will be problematic editing…

You know what will always be here though?

As long as this blog is alive : )

Happy Children.

I can see why people would only want the best pictures on their blogs.

I mean, knowing that for all the rest of time, you have a picture out there that isn’t 5 star quality can be a little nerve wracking.

But to tell you the truth…

a lot of my pictures aren’t perfect.

These are our real, every day memories.

And to me, they are just beautiful.

Blur and all!   

‘Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,

we must carry it with us or we find it not.’

  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson