Hi All~
I am doing some light housekeeping online. Things I have put off until I have a break from the normal routine and a husband home to help with the kiddies. I will be back in the New Year!
Everyone enjoy your holiday, see you in 2009.
Here is a rare image of me in a coat, scarf and mittens taken by my wonderful husband. He is pretty handy with a camera too.
I spent some time with my better half and our stunning offspring the past few days, in a cold and beautiful campground in a rustic cabin just steps from the Suwanee River with no tv, no phones and no Internet access. We have started a beautiful and new family tradition. We hiked, and roasted marshmallows, went canoeing, sat on the fire hearth and warmed our toes, played backgammon and read long leisurely passages aloud of The Wind in the Willows. It was glorious.
So how is the weather where you are at? Give me your best shot.
Well, we are back from our family camping trip. It was a wonderfal time with lots of photos and stories to come. Until then, I just wanted to stop by and leave you the words to my FAVORITE Christmas Carol. Listen here on You Tube. It is so prophetic, and captivating and powerful. I get teary every time I hear it.
1. O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Refrain
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel1
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
2. O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free2
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave. Refrain
3. O come, Thou Day-S pring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight!2a Refrain
4. O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery. Refrain
5. O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might,3
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times didst give the law4
In cloud, and majesty, and awe. Refrain
We are living a beautiful story people. Peace to all who have been rescued this day!
There are days, I can’t get out to shoot anything new. My kids are well over me shooting them with my camera, but I still have an itchy trigger finger. At this point, I usually open my fridge and see what there is to see. I start to build things, usually out of food on my dinning room table and see what happens.
Here is my still life photo stream. You can find tons of still life groups on flickr and one of my favorites is Simply Breakfast and Before and After. It is amazing what beautiful art you can create right in your own kitchen.
Peace to all food stylists today~
Why spend gobs of money on fancy toys that fall apart 3 days after Christmas? Here are the best tried and tested gifts that will give them hours of imaginative play. Trust me, they are all kid tested and Mother approved, at least in our house. Give them a try, you will be pleasantly surprised.
There you have, an amazing day for under 5 bucks. Now, don’t say I never gave you anything.
apparently I have nothing pithy to say, so here are 5 little things about me, you may not know…..
Okay now your turn, tell me 5 little things about you and leave em right “he-ah” in that little old comment section. Oh you know I am silly today, I am even typing “slant”.
Peace to all Vikings and wanna be Vikings this day~
The older I get and the older our children get, the more I remember how much I LOVE to play. I got my SCUBA diving license when I was 10 or so and started my private pilots license when I was 16. I worked my tail off in high school to pay for those two things. I still need to finish my private pilots license. College, then marriage, then kids have taken all the extra funds needed to accomplish such a feet. There is still time. Some golf when they retire, I will fly…and I think it will be a lancair when I do.
One of the things I love about homeschooling, is how it gives everyone room to dream. Even Mommies who are relearning along with their children. We get a big do over, and we get to do it with our kids. It is just such a beautiful gift for those called to it. After watching this today, and seeing a lady tear it up, I thought, I want to do that. So I think I will. What new thing do you want to learn in 2009?
Show me what you are making this time of year. It is all sorts of handicraft craziness around here today. My flickr is uploading as I type.
Wishing you all a warm and sweet Christmas.
In all of the picture cacophony around here, I realized, I have no pictures of me and my beautiful works of art. I have them and everyone else in my family in their natural state, but I am kind of lost behind the lens. So I was inspired by my blog friend who has a stunning series of herself and her kids on her flickr. I just had to follow suit, and get a little bit of me in the action. I typically hate being in front of the camera, but it was fun to get my kids involved. Kinda….I will through the outtakes up on my flickr so you see we all are not airbrushed around here;-) I was stunned at how much they understood and some of the technical lingo they were throwing around. They really do pick up WHATEVER you have floating around in your environment.
This is our youngest, the future worship leader/comedian. He keeps me on my knees. Many say he looks like me, but that is because they have never met my brother. Good Night, this child takes me back to my childhood. It is fascinating to me.
This is our oldest, the spitting image of my husband in almost EVERY way. He does have my chin though. He longs for righteousness and wants to make sure we all are following the rules. I am learning how to give him more responsibility and treat him like a big kid. He lost another tooth yesterday. He is growing up and FAST!
This is my mini-me. She is like me in EVERY good and not so good way. God teaches me how to let go through her. She also lost her first tooth yesterday. She was so proud and finally felt like a big girl. I cried! They grow so fast. She cried when she thought she had to give it away for the possibility of money from the tooth fairy. She decided against it, and kept it, just like her older brother. She said later, “Mom the tooth fairy isn’t really real, is she?” I said, “What do you think?” She said, “No, I think it is just you who take my tooth and I want to keep it.” So, she did.
So there you have it, a little piece of us, now held fast in time, so when they are 16 and out and about working and such, I can look back and smile.
Go take a picture of you and your offspring today!
Today we had a little tea, these three and I. Our oldest read a part of the Christmas Story, I read some poetry about “tea time”. Our youngest poured hot tea for the first time successfully, our middle sipped through the new hole in her mouth were her first baby tooth used to be. We listened to Handel’s Messiah playing in the background.
This has been a family tradition since they were tiny little guys. We do not have it scheduled, it just happens spontaneously. We sit and read a little poetry, or invite Great Grandparents over to share a little time with us. We say please and thank you, we let the ladies go first, we try not to slurp our tea. We feel so special. You know how you feel when you put on a pretty shirt and fix your hair just right. It is the same thing. They feel so special when we put away all that darn plastic ware and give them pretty plates and tea cups and let them have a go at working with the adult things.
We got a full size tea set last year for Christmas, because the tiny play one we used to use, was just too tiny. They feel like grown ups, I feel like I am having a special time to just give them a lesson on manners without the rush of dinner, and tiredness falling down upon us.
Just 15 minutes, breaking up the day, allowing for a special space to open up right before us. Then they clean it all up and the normal roar starts up again, trucks zooming away, board games resumed, the “Mom can we….” converstaion about whatever thing they just can’t let go of. Oh how I love the tea that calms the storm. Now I have to go and sweep the dirt up on the back patio from the plant that has just been knocked over and used to fill up a dump truck.
Peace to all and a good cup of tea.
So I did it. I survived, I never looked back. I didn’t walk a step, I just started and never stopped until I saw the finish line and then I sprinted the last 100 feet to make it before the time clock clicked another minute, finishing at just under 2:25 minutes. Not quite 10 minute miles but who cares. At about mile 10 my knees were a little sore, but I knew at that point I am just training my feet and joints for longer runs. I just buckled down and pushed on, and by 12 they didn’t hurt anymore. I felt really great and strong the whole way.
At mile 3 Mike kissed me and said, “Go for it honey, I will see you at the end.” He slowed down to find our friend who was also running and then I was all alone, in a see of thousands, just plodding along one foot in front of the other. Some funny things I saw, heard and smelled along the way. A man behind me for about mile 4-6 I believe had turrets. He talked randomly to himself the whole way. It made no sense. It was strange. 2 women wearing pink lingerie on the outside of their running gear, someone else in a tiara, a European man who must of bathed in colon in case he was going to pick his next date up at mile marker 8.7’s wacky water stop, and lastly a whole crew of friends who ran and talked the whole way.
The running skirt was wicked fabulous. I will never run in anything but that again. The ipod tunes were nice but I almost didn’t notice, my mind was racing along and there was so much noise the whole way. Oatmeal was a winner, ibuprofen was super helpful and running with your own energy drink on board saves you time at all those water stops. Some people wear crazy belts that hold your bottles, I just carry mine in my hand, it feels better to me. Plus their gatorade mix was way too strong. The last mile, almost on cue the lost by cold play started its rhythmic tune, and I hustled in.
I wasn’t lost, I was right where I was supposed to be. I will race again, that is a given. It was way too much fun. I have no picture for you today, just imagine me… a hot mess, running along in my snazy skirt.
Peace to all athletes today!
Race begins at 6am, we should all be finished by 9 at the latest, hoping for 8:20 although with 15k people running this race, the first mile will be a fast shuffle so that may slow our times down, but honestly who the heck cares. We just want to finish. Mike and I were talking about tomorrow. “Are you nervous?”he asked. “Ya a little are you?”… “Honestly, it will be relaxing to just go run without anyone yelling at me, or deadlines to meet, or people wanting anything from me. I can just zone out with my ipod and run.” So now I am wondering, what kinda crazy life we live that we have to go run a marathon to chill out.
It has been so much fun just working towards this and even more fun that I get to do it with my husband. I have wanted to do this for almost 15 years, and just now I have the courage to give it a try again. Last time I started training, I got injured, then tried again and got pregnant, and tried again and got pregnant again and tried again and got pregnant again….well you get the drift. Now, a full marathon will be on the slate for next year and maybe a tri. Yeah I know I am nuts, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you are up at 4am tomorrow, pray for us, we would really appreciate it. So never give up on things you want to do. Just keep shooting for it, one day you will hit it.
See you all at the finish line~
Some of the most memorable images tell a story. They tickle your imagination, they take you to another place. One of the things I love about shooting portraits of people, is getting to tell their story. Show them who they are, little things that they can’t or don’t see in themselves.
Every time, I walk into a photography situation, where people have commissioned me to tell their story, I pray. I pray that God would give me his eye for them. That He would be present in a special way, and that those I am working with would feel a special sense of the one who made them, the original artist. Good photography takes a lot of technical skill, but takes even more letting go. The more you let go, the better you are. Then you wait, for just the right moment, and then “click” there it is, a story in just one image.
This family wanted a “secret garden” theme, with dress up and princess and glam galore for their 3 sweet girls. We did that, actually we hit that out of the park. Dang, I felt like I was on the set of Lord of the Rings. And yet, I watched their oldest, sweetly comply, to honor her Mom, yet sit right on the edge of saying good bye to dress up and fairy tales, looking forward. Looking past those fairy tale dress up moments, out into the big wide world with just a faint sense of wonder. She is growing up, and when I see this image I get a little teary. It is lovely and bitter sweet all at the same time.
So show me a story today. Give me your best shot. Leave it on your blog or flickr and tell us the story.
Peace to all artists today!
Today, I woke a few minutes before my run to get my head screwed on straight. I mean come on when you wake up at 5:20 what is the big deal waking up at 5. Really is 20 minutes more sleep all that helpful?
20 minutes early to just breath deep, pray, lay my day at the one who made me. Quakers call it “centering down”. Dang new agers co-opted the term and now you say that and people think you are chanting omes or something. For the past few months I have been up early, running, listening to worship music and praying all throughout my run, but it just isn’t the same as taking the first 10 minutes before your do anything else to sit still and listen…lay it all down before you ever pick it all up.
I have a fun day planned and a neat Advent activity. The kids are settling down, I am settling down, life is good, all is well, cinnamon is simmering on the stove….You’d almost think it is getting close to Christmas around here.
Peace to all who need to “center down” today!
Song to listen to while reading this post: Enya Silent Night
I am in the midst of learning to be still…rest…..listen. Dagnabit, if I am not ALWAYS in this season to one degree or another. Isn’t it beautiful how Advent takes you right out of the commercial mess of this season, into the quiet place of waiting? All of this turmoil I have been feeling with homeschooling and somehow messing up our children, has FORCED me to lay down and rest before the Good Shepherd. For that I am so thankful.
Daddy rescued our little flagging ship last night with a wonderful family meeting. He laid down the law in a splendid way with these young charges around here. Funny thing is, he said the exact same thing to them, that I say over and over daily, and somehow, they got it in a deeper way. Isn’t it beautiful how a Daddy can just get it done in only the way that He and no one else can. When the Mommy is with the children 95% of their daily time, you start to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher, but when Daddy says it, it breaks through those little skulls of theirs and registers somewhere in their grey matter.
I have revised what is expected in the way of house chores. They are no longer young toddlers who are not capable of certain things. They can and should do more, and now thanks to our family meeting…they are. Good grief in pioneer times, 7 year olds were hunting and junk, so ya think they could clean the toilets without mishap. Part of the problem is, you get into a routine and then you forget that as they grow you need to revise it.
Thank you sweet heart, for coming to our rescue, for seeing that we needed a little tune up, for jumping in and tightening down the rigging of our little ship, setting us back on course, for saying you believe in us, and for showing our 7 year old that it is okay to do older things. Somehow it took the pressure off of me in all the right ways, letting me rest and enjoy this process of training up this little punks children.
Maybe we should make a very unobtrusive signal to each other so that you know when I need it. Like, waving a white flag as you walk in the door. I will make it all cute and stuff. I may even put some music on and dance right up to you as you walk in the door.
Peace to all who need to wait and know what it means to be rescued today!
I have been in a home school tailspin the last 2 weeks. There are days you feel like you are not moving forward, like you are standing still, repeating yourself over and over again. I loose a little focus, combat thoughts of irreversibly screwing my kids up, and wonder if I am giving them enough food for thought. This is a VERY common phenomenon among homeschooling moms. I steered clear of this my first year, but mid way through my second I have walked headlong into the “swamp of despond”. I used to hear Mom’s who homeschool say this, and wonder about it. From my take, their kids were great, well adjusted, and well rounded, from their take, they were missing the mark.
Little clue phone about me. I like doing things “right” and I like it even better when I do them well. So lately I’ve been hearing the Holy Spirit knock on my heart about this whole homeschool thing. Would I be willing to lay it down, if He said so. What? That was a something shocking for me to hear. Then over the past few weeks, God has been reminding me that this is his journey with the kids that is a gift to me. NOT something that I can “hit out of the park” so to speak.
I get to be a part of watching them unfold before him, I get to pray into it, I get to let them make mistakes, and learn how to be okay with things not being perfect. I get to listen to the Father every day, and follow his lead, not my plan for them. I let go of having a clean house years ago, marriage and kids forced me to do that, but now I am letting go of having perfect kids, and the reality is, there is NO perfect homeschool.
Ahh, yes I said, I am not perfect, they are not perfect, my lesson plans are not perfect. I have loud kids and my boys are ALL boys. They climb, they wrestle and punch. I have no yard for them to go dig, we don’t live on a farm, so the hours of day that are not filled with school time, are filled with me working on how to engage them without having a farm to do it in. Most days I fail miserably at it. A girl can only drive around so much taking her kids to a park to play. I am tired of the pressure I put on myself for how my kids, especially my youngest should act. It is hard being the youngest in every situation he is ever in. Church, family life, school etc. The further I go down this home school path, I realize it is so much more about me than it is about them. If I am willing to be stretched and change and trust God in this whole process, then we all will be better for it on the other side.
I am re-reading my homeschool philosophy and letting God speak to me in those places I want to control. Ouch! I am letting go, I am giving myself grace, I am loving my kids right where they are, and I am trusting that God has my back.
Grace and Peace to all Homeschool Mom’s today.
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