I had a shoot with these two cuties a few days ago. Their dad wanted their pictures done as a birthday gift for mom. Hope she likes them!! They were so INCREDIBLY nice and patient when my camera broke and I had to drive 30 minutes one way to get a loaner!!! Thank you K. Family!!!!
Did you ever see so many cute freckles in your life??!!!
So here’s my attempt at regular blogging….As of today, every Sunday I will blog my Seven on Sunday list. Seven things in my list…….I know you’re all dying to see my lists 
!!!! The lists will range from the personal lists to the photography lists. Can I write the word “list” anymore in 3 sentences??? Say list 10 times fast…list list list list list……………..
OK……My first Seven on Sunday is this: Seven Things That I Love in Life. My husband and kids are excluded because they obviously top my list, but would take up the first 4 spots . I love love love them more than life itself…but you already know that. Here we go,
I LOVE:
1. Photography (duh)
I love to capture the tiny little moments that would otherwise be forgotten….the tear on my son’s cheek, the siblings who adore each other, the wrinkly, shedding skin on a newborn. Even more…I love to give these captured moments to the parents and see their faces when I’ve hopefully captured their child in a photo, in the real way that they see them everyday.
2. Chardonnay and REALLY stinky cheese (think Stilton, Gorgonzola…) – together. Need I say more?????
3. Giving Back.
In a way this is selfish, because I love the feeling I get from giving. If I could, I would give all my time, money and talent away for nothing, because I truly believe that the world is made a better place by helping others and giving selflessly. Don’t get me wrong. I can be as selfish as the next person. But if I can teach my children that giving selflessly of themselves is the single most important thing that they can do as a human being, I can die happily (but don’t worry…I’m not dying.)
4. Vintage things
I love all things old and ancient and reeking of history…furniture, books, photos, fabric, houses, art…etc……New things are freaky to me, in a way. They have no story. Old things have been touched by many hands and have rich history even if we don’t know it. I think my mother instilled this in me. Growing up, she furnished our rooms with refurbished antiques and had this amazing decorating sense that made our home feel like a vintage country house. Which leads me to #4….
4. My Mom
So many women that I know have these STRAINED relationships with their mothers and it’s so sad. Granted, I don’t know everyone’s history, so I can’t judge, but my Mother has done nothing but love me love me love me since the day I was born. She has supported every single decision that I have ever made, even the REALLY stupid ones. She just doesn’t care what I do, I’m her baby and she loves me!! Does it get any better than that? Her life has not always been easy, and yet she has always been able to rise up and be the strong, nurturing one. PLEASE let me be that way for my kids!!!!! PLEASE let my daughter someday say these same things about me………….Love you Mom!!!!!!! I would post a picture of my beautiful mother here, but she runs from the camera every time I get it out. I WILL get a great shot of her soon and post it!!!!
5. Real friends, no strings attached .
My life is so crazy right now…3 kids,( the oldest 6 yrs, the youngest chronically ill for the first 2 years of his life),running 2 businesses, tutoring 4 students weekly, trying to be a good wife, etc etc etc…. If someone gets mad at me for not returning their phone call…SORRY!!!! I have a decent number of true friends (some new friends, some from high school) who love me even if we haven’t spoken for weeks or months. These friends would be here in a heartbeat if I had a crisis, like when Gus was born (very sick) and we needed help on all levels. People brought food, cleaned my pigsty house, took care of my kids, on and on. I love these people who don’t think our friendship hinges on how many times I have them to dinner or remember their birthday. I hope I am as good a friend…….
6. Pedicures
I don’t care if it’s shallow…..I hate my feet and I hate feet in general. I’ve been known to yell at my husband, when his nasty, jagged toe touches me under the covers, “Get that Weapon of Mass Destruction away from me!” and I feel really sorry for anyone whose job it is to touch strangers’ feet all day…..but I LOVE to be the client. I’m not even a girly-girl and I only get my toes done in the summer, but it is such a huge treat to read a trashy magazine and have someone make my ugly toes look better. Ahhhh the simple things….
7. Books, words, sentences, literature (you get the idea)
I love anything to do with the written word. As a child, I would sit in my closet, where there was a cozy heating vent, and read all day. One summer when I was 11 and all of my friends were taking swimming lessons and playing t-ball, I camped out in the library everyday and read 100 books. I won the summer reading contest and decided to be a librarian. I ended up becoming an English teacher instead. I also married an English teacher. Together, we have passed our obsession with books on to our kids. They all had their cribs filled with books from the time they could turn a page. They still get freaky if they don’t have ENOUGH books in bed or in the car. It’s a little like an addiction. We have book shelves all over the house and I buy boxes of kids books at yard sales and never get rid of any of them. I am currently on a mission to collect all the books that I remember from my childhood to make sure that my kids get to read them…….
Here is a picture of the kids’ bedroom:
And here I am with my babies….doin’ what we do best!
I shot a birthday party last weekend and any mom who thinks kids can only have fun outside at summer parties….check out how much fun these guys had!!
Since I showed the love between mother and son last week, it’s only fair to do a mother and daughter this week! Besides, everyone knows that once you have kids, Valentine’s Day is all about them, not you and your spouse.
Here is my Wonder Blink partner, Diana , and her lovely Emma. These two have a very special relationship – as you can see!
At lunch today Abe laid down on the bench and heaved a huge sigh, “I wish I lived in a NORMAL family.” Now, let it be known that nothing weird was going on. We were having a nice, family lunch. And even more, we just got a dog, which adds to our normalcy, doesn’t it? Check out Mr. Wish Maker below:
And speaking of the dog…..I have NEVER been a dog person. I’ve always been slightly afraid of them and confused when people treat them like people. There have been a few dogs that I’ve really liked, and one was my in-laws greyhound, Casey. That dog was so sweet and just followed me all over house, beggin’ for love. So when Steve suggested that we get a rescued greyhound, I weirdly got all excited and couldn’t stop thinking about it. The next thing you know…..we’re the proud owners of Maeve, a 2 year old greyhound. She is also very sweet and just wants to be adored. So now I have a dog and I can’t even believe that I just wrote that…….but I promise that I won’t treat her like a human. Steve won’t allow it. On her first night with us, she was very timid and sad, so I insisted that her crate be put in our room. Well, it lasted about 5 minutes because she kept whining. She probably wanted to get in the bed and Steve probably thought I would let her….so he took her back downstairs. As I protested he said, “She’s a DOG, for god’s sake!” So now I know….
Isn’t she cute?
A little known fact about me is that one of my obsessions in life (besides photography) is vintage ephemera. What is it, you might say? Vintage is: characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic. And ephemera is: paper items (as posters, broadsides, and tickets) that were originally meant to be discarded after use but have since become collectibles. I (and many others) include old buttons, photographs, pieces of fabric, do-dads, and anything antiquey and old-looking as ephemera.
I have BOXES of stuff that I have picked up at yard sales, bought off e-bay, and acquired while living in Minneapolis (the vintage capital in the 80’s). I also can’t resist an old magazine…sometimes I just page through them and marvel at the ads – the impeccable 50’s housewife singing the praises of Spam or her new laundry detergent. Anyway, I think I once thought that I would venture into the world of Mixed Media Collage Art, so I also have canvases, paint, gel medium etc… I have made a few not-so good things, a joke-collage with a HILARIOUS pic of Isabel (see below)…some things for friends, but let’s face it – Do I really have time for another hobby? No, but my daughter does.
(ok..I know that is NOT art, but it’s pretty freakin’ funny.)
I finally decided to stop hoarding my treasures and one day threw a big box of STUFF in front of her and told her to go to town. Isabel has always shown some talent in artistic endeavors, but I was pretty impressed with what she did.
So, I still collect old useless things, I still love the musty smell of and old book or mag, I still peruse my favorite ephemera site Alpha Stamps, and sometimes buy cool trinkets, and I still get the AWESOME “Cloth Paper Scissors” magazine, but it’s quite clear that she’s the artist and I’m the mom. Well, I’m the photographer too, but she recently started taking some pretty good pictures with my point and shoot, and now she wants to have an exhibition at her school talent show…..nothing like stealing my thunder……
Here is her most recent collage masterpiece:
(remember – she’s only 6)
Well, all this “Love Thursday” business has made me think about the relationship between my 2 oldest children. I’m sure I’ll regret writing this next Thursday, when I can’t think of anything to post for the love fest…but I have to grab these moments when they come..
If case anyone is wondering if your kids should share a room or have their own, I say, it depends on the kind of relationship that you want them to have. If you want them to spend years yelling, “Get OUT of my room!” go ahead…give them their own little kingdoms. Abe moved into Isabel’s room when he was still in his crib – 19 months – when his baby brother was born. It really wasn’t because we didn’t have space for his own room – we just sort of wanted to put them together (Gus’s crib will be going in there soon..it’s a big room).
Anyway, they have been going through this phase lately – after we say goodnight and close the door, they jump up and play like crazy for about 2 hours. We have a monitor in the kitchen so we can hear every word. We put all 3 of them to bed at 7pm, no matter what (to preserve Mommy’s sanity), so it’s not a big deal if they don’t go right to sleep. Steve and I sit in the kitchen and listen to them, snorting and snickering. They have incredible imaginations. “Abe! You be the camel who’s taking a nap on the trampoline and I’ll be the baby who crawls up beside you to slap a mosquito!” Recently, though, we had to put a stop to it because they were REALLY losing sleep and everyone got sick, so The King of the Jungle (daddy) said that they could not get out of bed. They could only play games with words…so I don’t really know what they talk about because they whisper a lot, but last night I heard this:
Isabel: (sleepily) I think we should snuggle up and go to sleep now, Abe.
Abe: Mmmmm, ok….I love you Sister.
Isabel: Good night.
Abe: I SAID, I LOVE YOU ISABEL!!!!!!
Isabel: I love you too, Abe (slightly exasperated.)
And they’re only 4 and 6….
Then my personal favorite. The conversation that made my husband want to invent a device that you put on baby monitors that has a “record” option.
Abe was just barely 2 (still in his crib) and Isabel was not quite 4. She was VERY upset because we only sang one song to her before bed. One has always been the limit, but for some reason it hit her hard that night. So we left the room and she was still screaming about it. A few minutes later we hear this in the monitor:
Isabel: A.. A.. Abe? (sniffly voice)
Abe: Uh-huh
Isabel: Will….you..(sniff)..sing me a….(sniff) song?? (remember, he’s a BABY!)
Abe: Sure (pronounced “shuwa” ) Sista! Goes like this…”Winkle, winkle, yittle TAR!!!!” etc…etc…
…and when he’s finished…
Isabel: (sniff) Thanks (sniff) Abe.
Siblings sharing a room is a beautiful thing. There is all kinds of bonding that goes on without adult interference and I think I’ll keep them together until they’re 19 or so…
So here are my little lovelies…
