Oh the Craziness

As if life has not been busy enough... why must us wives always add more to the craziness?

Like taking group family photo with too-busy-to-pay-attention-children?  And I know that the natural impromptu photos are the best... but come on... just one where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling... is that too much to ask?

One out of 6,524,671 photos attempted by the blonde and brunette.

Taking up crazy hobbies with my good friends including blogging, gardening, photography, and what else can we add to the mix?



Or throwing in Tupperware parties into the blend of Thirty-One parties, Pampered Chef parties, Stella and Dot parties and so on.  Why must we torture ourselves trying to be over-achievers?

And sometimes when my kids are insanely bouncing off of the walls and I sit silently in the middle of a tornado... I ponder if they are the crazy ones or am I?

But what would life be like without all of the insanity?  How quiet would our lives be?  If their feet went pitter-patter instead of sounding like a herd of elephants--- would life not be the same? 

I dread the day when my boys grow up and do not drive cars around the house...making all kinds of truck-tractor-car noises.  In my minds eye, I can vision them being in their forties and me begging them, "Drive the little cars on the walls just one more time." 

So, for right now, I am learning how to bask in the craziness.  I am enjoying the insanity of raising boys in its entirity.  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

 

What I saw

{This is something that I want to publish just so I can remember it.}

The brunette blogger and I started a new photography project...

It started merely as a simple thought, "How do I get better at photographing people when my own children never let me take pictures of them????"  Even the cat was getting sick of having her picture taken.

I have always been kind of artsy fartsy and needed an outlet.  I used to paint a lot with water color and do charcoal art work...but after children...those hobbies got shoved to the backseat.  Then last year, I thought maybe I would look into photography as an outlet.  Aaron bought me a DSLR camera and I bought a couple of books on photography for dummies.  But then Aaron broke his back. It took me many months to compose myself enough to even attempt to put a little time aside for myself.

And then an idea struck me.  It excited me---- the kind of excitement that I have not felt in a long time amidst my everyday. boring. life.

What if we did short sessions, just with a few people at work?  Our coworkers have been talking about taking family photos for Christmas cards.  They complain about the prices of sitting fees and not having rights to their photos by professional photographers....  So, what if we charged a dirt cheap fee, did minor editing, and then gave them their photos on a disc?  What if we decided to take this seemingly simple project a step further and donate all of the money earned---100%--- to charity.

When the idea crossed my mind, I roped the brunette in.  She was all for it.  The blonde was eager to help too... but has been very busy traveling with her hubby and taking care of her children.

So, it began.  The feedback was overwhelming--- so many people interested in giving us a chance to take their photos.  Worst comes to worst...they do not like their photos and their money gets donated to a good cause. 

I was amazed at what I saw...

When I looked through the view finder of my camera, I saw more than a ward secretary or a nursing assistant's daughter-in-law or a cancer survivor's children or a nurse that has taken care of my own family or a supervisor with her family...

I saw a mother's unconditional love....

A child with dimples like no other...



The most beautiful blue eyes...



A ham in front of the camera...

Dad's who could not wait to leave (and actually walked home) and Dad's who were totally into taking family photos...


And oh the feet photos...




And a completely new perspective on lighting (it seemed so wrong---going against one of the golden rules from our previous class---but man oh man it felt so right!)


During these "Short Sessions" as we called them, I learned a lot about positioning people and also about my camera.    I shot every photo in manual--- which was my own personal goal.

Now girls, time for the next class:)

Sneak Peak

The brunette blogger and I have started a photography project...here is a sneak peak...

Any input from the blonde blogger is welcomed!

Thanks for the fun morning!

These Hands

These hands...

Yes, my mom puts pearls and lipstick on to sew.

The hands that raised me...

That scolded me....

That taught me everything that I know when I thought that I knew everything.

Carefully making quilts for each of her family members on the realization that life on this earth is too short and will come to an end.  A keepsake for all of us to remember her by.

These hands gave me confidence to embark on adventures when no one else believed in me.  They showed me that if you worked hard enough, you can achieve anything.  Even with the reality of 'life is hard.'

These hands that used to hold on tight to me, are holding on even tighter to my children.

And even though these hands drive me totally nuts most some days, they are always there for me...just a phone call away.

Thanks for all that you do mom!

Endings and Beginnings

Canning season is beginning to come to an end.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Preserving and canning and dehydrating and pressure cooking and burning food and myself is almost complete.  Just a few last things to can/preserve...

1.  Canning potatoes (something I have never done but am ever willing to try)

2.  Finishing the beets---pressure cooking some, freezing a few quarts, and trying to keep a few in the fridge---we will see how it goes

3.  Carrots--- Freezing some and keeping the rest fresh (or attempting to--- according to Aaron's grandma keeping carrots fresh in the fridge all winter is easy.)

4.  Squash--- Most of mine are moldy and icky from all of the rain.  The few that are left I am sure will get eaten quickly.

My to do list for wrapping up our garden has shortened quite a bit.  Now that our garden had a second heavy frost, it is time to let go of the tomatoes and peppers and anything else that was holding on by a thread.

The boys were warned that all of our tomato based canning this year would be yellow because of a vicious fungus our tomato plants encountered.  Our yellow Roma tomatoes were not affected.  But, a kind coworker of Aaron's gave us quite a few red tomatoes which helped us out alot.

Four lugs of pears was my last canning project and they turned our delicious and beautiful.

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Because summer has officially ended and fall has made its presence, our farming community has come out in full force.  Which makes for long hours for Aaron to work.

So, several weeks ago I reinstituted family night.  And the boys love it!  I have found that some of Noah's friends have even mentioned to their parents that they would like to start a family night. 

We have gone biking and eaten ice cream and of course had our signature candle lit dinners.

 I was attempting to ride on my bike and take photos of the boys...while in motion.  I can barely walk without hurting myself.  The expectation of being able to multitask while in motion was craziness.  I totally ate dirt.  Got back on my bike.  And continued on without any of my boys noticing!  Now that is pure talent.

I am always about a half a mile behind my boys.

At the end of every family night...the boys always exchange a simple but meaningful sentence, "Happy Family Night!"
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My blogging girls and I are beginning an exciting new project that has to do with photography--- more to come on that later!

My Poky Little Puppy

One of my favorite books to read to Noah (when he was little) was the Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey.  It is kinda a cute book about a puppy marching to the beat of his own drum and ending up in a wee bit of trouble.  Little did I know that I would end up with my own Poky Little one. 

The other night when we were working through homework and piano and kid stuff... I was slightly annoyed with Noah.  I always feel so guilty when I get annoyed at my children but from what I hear, it happens to us all.  They are the front and center of my life.  But still, that slight annoyance manages to creep into my nerve endings. 

He is so poky at everything and always has been.  When he was little, we used to call him our "Poky Little Puppy."   He spends more time in the bathroom grooming than I do. Bedtime always becomes a long drawn out affair because he looks in the mirror and brushes each tooth individually, styles his hair, and takes forty minutes in the shower----every. single. night. 

And could we do homework without dinosaurs or dragons or Army men present?

So, in an attempt to suppress my feelings of annoyance---and then guilt---I tried to search myself for the best way to deal with this child.  How do I encourage him to pick up the pace?  How do I teach him to put his drum aside and start listening to the beating of my drum?  Then, it hit me.  I realized why this child was given to me.

Life moves so quickly now-a-days.  There are only a short couple of hours between school ending and bedtime beginning. 

I feel like Noah was given to me to help me slow down.  Instead of being annoyed that he has to line up a couple of dragons in order to do his homework, I need to take a step into his world.  At his eye level.  I need to sit by him and talk to him and listen to him.  To slow down with everyday life and just be together.  To leave the laundry in the dryer and the dishes in the sink and let Noah have his own pace.  He has the rest of his life to rush around and multi-task. 

I have decided to slow my own pace down to his pace.  To listen to his drum.  He is a gift to me and I plan on cherishing every minute we have together.  It sounds so simple, but it is a difficult thing to do.

 Big and Little brother look foreward to our candle lit suppers for Family Night.

He is honestly and truly one of the best sons a mother could ask for.  I am so lucky that he was given to me.

End of Summer

Well, I guess I haven't blogged in a while.  The last several weeks have been busy with funerals, surprise birthday parties, scheduled birthday parties, pressure cooking and hot water canning, and tying up the loose ends of summer.  Not to mention, school starting...

Trying to get a decent "first day of school" photo was nearly impossible.

Although Abram looks happy in the photos, he was a bear to get onto the bus.  Being cooperative has not been in is vocabulary in the last couple of weeks.  Noah, on the other hand, could not wait to get onto the bus and hang out with his buddies.

I am sad to see summer ending but autumn is one of my favorite times of the year.

The grape jelly is calling me from the canner on the stove.  I better get to it!