The House That Built Me

When I was growing up, my parents moved around a lot. I was a shy child and the moves were uncomfortable and even a bit painful.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I had this notion that I wanted my kids to graduate with some of the same kids with whom they had gone to kindergarten. My firstborn baby eventually became a kindergartener. I registered her for school and away she went. In the blink of an eye, she was finished with high school. She attended schools in the same district the entire time. I was so thrilled that I had given her the continuity I wished for her before I'd even laid eyes on her. I have a son who also graduated recently with some of the kids who were in his kindergarten class. It really meant a lot to me.

A few weeks ago, my younger daughter and I were driving in the car. Kaitlyn is a junior in high school. On this particular day, she was so excited about a song she wanted me to hear. She looked it up on the internet and played it for me. It is a beautiful song by Miranda Lambert about a girl who grew up in a house and as an adult needed to go back and feel that connection. As the song played, I listened and I felt the tears well in my eyes.

When the song was over, Kaitlyn asked, "Don't you think that song is so cool?"

I said, "Well, it is a lovely song. But what I think is cool is that YOU think it is cool!"

She could see that the song moved me to tears. I explained to her that I'd fought so hard for them to have that deep-rooted connection. I told her that her enthusiasm for this song told me she has it....she "gets" the reason for my determination to stay here for so long. This little gray house is the only house every one of my children has known. I brought them each home from the hospital as newborn infants to this place. The colors on the walls have changed, the floor looks different, too. But this is the house that has built them.

Go ahead! Have a listen....click here!

The House That Built Me

by Miranda Lambert

Happiness is ...

The warm sun in the big, blue sky...

Happy, smiling, well-adjusted children...

green grass all around....

I have had the pleasure of photographing these siblings twice now. They are such happy, wonderful kids! We had a great time eating huge suckers and playing in the tall grass!

Thank you, Katie, for allowing me to record these moments of you and your children.

Duck Feeding 101

Step 1: Stand on the bank of the pond and say: "Heeeeeeerrrrrrre, Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck!:

Step 2: Say hello to the ducks and show them the leftover french fries from your lunch. Then toss them into the water.

Step 3: Giggle, giggle, giggle....then giggle some MORE because when the ducks eat those soggy treats and quack their watery thank yous, that is some funny stuff!

Five things for which I feel grateful today:

• Sunshine
• Flowering crabapple trees
• laughter
• photography
• I am their mother

An Outing

The lighting is fantastic!

If he tosses in a nickel, does that mean he gets five wishes?

He's pretty sure he DOES get five wishes. I wonder what he wished?

Tempting fate at the outdoor waterfall. He dipped the toe of his shoe into the water.

Even more temptation! Running on the rocks! No matter how much I threatened that he might fall in, he could not stop running.

TThis snap pretty much sums it all up. a trip to Starbucks, a trip to the bookstore and a recent purchase, sunshine, photographs, comfortable blue jeans, cell phone, relaxing, happy kid playing...

....life is good.

I just love falling water.....

...and shadow play....

I love Park Meadows Mall. I absolutely LOVE the lighting inside the mall. The light and the warm, rich wood and ironwork all play together really well for a treat for the eye. It really is a beautiful mall. I think not everyone goes there just to see the lighting...LOL

Sometimes, when I feel a need for inspiration, I love to just go there to hang out, get a coffee and people watch. Lately, though, I've had Little Bit in tow and his energy level is at an all-time high these days...he is constantly on high. His favorite thing is to make wishes at the water features. The water features in this mall are really lovely. They look like an outdoor setting. Well, one of the features IS outdoors in the open air part of the mall.

Seeing GREEN!

His birthday is on Saint Patrick's Day. He will be four. He is practicing holding up four fingers on his little hands. He's made a wish list...and has even requested cupcakes on his special day.

I wanted to knit another sweater for him to wear on his special day.

Everything lined up for a special birthday sweater...why not make it GREEN! My skills and confidence were stronger during the knitting of this sweater and I really enjoyed it.

The best part is...this picture was the result of Quincy putting the sweater on and buttoning it up all by himself. Capturing the photo was the most difficult part of this post! How 'bout THAT?!?

Happy Birthday, Alex!

Gramma Margie baked a chocolate birthday cake for Alex!

Happy Birthday, Dear Alex!




Gramma Margie and Alex

Alex and Quincy


YAAAAAAY! Yahtzee and birthday money!

Dear Alex,

It's so hard to believe that eleven years ago, you were just a tiny little peanut who'd just been placed into my arms. Even though you were the biggest of my newborns, you were so tiny and red. You had the biggest blue eyes. I loved to hold you and just snuggle you. I held you so your heart was next to mine. Your little head resting on my shoulder; I could feel your breath on my skin.

You were such an easy baby. You quickly filled out and had the cutest little round cheeks I'd ever seen. When you slept in your cradle beside my bed, you'd suck on your middle fingers and ring finger. It was so cute. I used to love to watch you sleep.

You have become a wonderful young man. I love your sense of humor. You amaze me with your love and enthusiasm for sports. I am eager to watch you play basketball on a team. I know you will have fun with that and I will proudly cheer you on from the stands!

I am so glad that of all the Alexes in the entire world, I get to be YOUR mom. I love you so much. I am really proud of you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZIGGY!

Love,

Mom

Oh, Christmas Tree!

THAT is a very large pile of tree ornaments!!

Ryan gives Quincy a boost.

What a pretty tree!

CHEESE!

Alex helps, too!

Kaitie and Amanda hang a few ornaments, too.

Kaitie hangs a few last ornaments.

When I was growing up, my parents bought a 4 foot tall artificial Christmas tree from Sears. Every single year, my dad set up the tree on a hexagonal end table. My mom would wrap the same white sheet around the table and the metal base of the tree. She would tell us that it was supposed to be snow.

My dad would wrap the strands of multi-colored lights around the tree first. Then, he'd carefully... (almost in a scientific manner) place the silver tinsel in perfect swoops from branch to branch. The last step to decorating our tree was hanging the white satiny balls on branches.

When my sister and I were five and seven, I remember my mom covered our dining room table with an old shower curtain. All four of us would gather around the table and pick out roughly sawn ornaments that had black lines pre-printed on them. We painted these ornaments and when they were dry, we added them to the tree. It seemed like a LOT of variety. The smell of those tiny pots of acrylic paints remind me of that Christmas to this day anytime I open a bottle of acrylic paint for a project.

I still have the little reindeer I painted. When I see it, I chuckle to myself. I know there were several other families who had sets of ornaments like those...well...at least they weren't EXACTLY like ours...My little sister and I were just sure our Christmas tree was the prettiest in the whole world. Santa would love to see it for sure.

Now that I am grown up, and have kids of my own, I still love to make my own Christmas tree ornaments. I look for ornament ideas anytime of the year. Unlike my dad, I just put the lights on the tree....and the tinsel is certainly NOT measured out! I start at the top and then wrap it back and forth and then if I run short, I go back and stretch it to fit. It's quite pretty just the same...at least I think so.

My goal was to have each ornament be different from all the others. Over the years, I've managed to collect a large pile of ornaments. Most of them are unique. There are a couple of duplicates. When it is time to trim the tree, I carefully peel back the layers of tissue paper to see which ornaments are inside. Each neatly wrapped packet is a surprise. Every ornament has a special and unique memory. I love recounting those memories.

I think about my kids and how they will someday have their own trees and traditions and favorite ornaments and decorations. I hope the memories they recall are happy ones.

Comforts Handmade

I love this quilt! It was one of my first "big quilt projects." It's a lap quilt or a snuggle quilt, but I love that it is a star quilt and I love that it is so bright and colorful. It was made to become a Halloween "decoration" of sorts. I wash it and fold it up and tuck it away at the end of each Halloween...to make it all that more special. I think this is one of the things I can't wait to see when we pull out all that black and orange stuff.

My KaitieBug is happy to have it. :) She is never far from her cellular device...see it there in her hand? It almost looks like she'd just received a new text message as I snapped this picture of her with MY cellular device!

A Lovely Autumn Day

Yesterday, while the big kids were in school, Q and I packed up a few things and headed to the water park to feed the ducks. It was so good to get out of the house for a little while as I was beginning to suffer a case of cabin fever. The air was heavy with humidity and chilly; the sky was cloudy and gray. The trees were full of color and were beginning to shed their foliage. It was just a wonderful way to spend a little time.

When we arrived at the park, Quincy wanted to hold the red paper bag filled with buttery popcorn. So he carefully carried it to the water's edge without dropping even one fluffy piece.

As soon as the ducks saw us walking toward them, they happily waddled to us quacking all the way. I think they knew we had treats for them...or they were at least hoping we did. One duck flew from about 100 feet away to land in the water right in front of us. Quincy was so delighted. He even laughed and said, "OH! They can FLY?!?!?" He wanted so badly to hold one of the feathery fowl. I tried to tell him in simple terms that not everyone is kind to animals and it's best to let them be fearful of us.

When the popcorn was all gone, we decided to head back to the car. I held his little hand in mine as we walked. I told him his hand was warm...and he looked up at me and said..."Yeah! And your hand is COLD!" I laughed.

We stopped at one of my favorite craft stores to scuff up the floors a little bit. I lingered for a while at the yarns. I really wanted to pick up some yarn for a project for my mom. I couldn't decide on a color...and quincy was growing annoyed with my indecision. He started whining about it being time to go now. Finally, his suggestion: "Can we just go home without the yarn, NOW?!" was heard and we left.

We had a really great day together.

New Rules!

You may recognize these pieces from Monopoly, but Quincy has taken to building villages with all of the plastic buildings. This is one of his close-knit communities!

Let Them Eat Cupcakes!

Today seemed like the perfect day to bake up a small batch of something yummy.

A while ago, my Dad and his girlfriend, Karen, sent us a Cupcake Kit...which turned out to be the perfect solution! So we pulled it out of the cupboard and got started.

Here is what was included in our kit: One bag of Vanilla Cupcake Mix, One bag of Vanilla Cupcake Icing, One pouch of Cupcake liners, and one bag of Cupcake Sprinkles.
Quincy sure had a great time helping to mix up the batter.

He REALLY wanted a taste of the batter. He was a good sport about waiting to lick the bowl and the spoon AFTER we'd filled the cupcake pan with what we needed. Actually, he kept telling me, "Mom! You're gonna use it ALL UP! I want some, too!"

Next, we lined each well of my antique muffin tin with a cute cup liner. The strange thing about this tin is that there are only ELEVEN wells. Whose idea was it to bake one less cupcakes than a dozen??? Whatever the reason, Q and I were having fun. And the unsual number made it easier to fill ALL the cupcake wells.


We then set the timer and placed the muffin tray into the oven....




Fifteen minutes later....and a little time allowed to cool and decorate....this was our finished product:

YUMMY

Pretty Kait

Today was registration day at school for Kaitlyn. She will be a Freshman this year. It sure is hard to believe how quickly this day has arrived.

One of her friends curled her hair for her and we decided on a whim to shoot some portraits. These were a few of our favorites. Kait helped me with a few of the edits...she told me what she wanted and what she liked.

Take a peek!

This is the photo Kaitie likes a lot: