Look and You Can See

When the day began I had no idea what picture I'd take. We were going to the library, something we do fairly often, so I thought a pile of books might be a fitting and fun reminder. I took a picture of my pile as we checked out.
One of the fun parts of having college students live with us is that I get to hear a little about what they're learning. In the case of Laura, who is an art major, I get to see her art projects, both the finished products and the works in progress. Today she used our daughters as subjects for photographic portraits for a class assignment. I didn't realize what was going on at first... heard their voices and giggles in the background, but as soon as I figured out what was going on I grabbed that nearby camera and headed to the room they were in to get a picture of the photographer taking pictures!
I didn't use flash and have only a point and shoot, and I think they're a bit fuzzy. But I want to remember the experience.

Our backyard as viewed from the carport. I enjoy our oak trees so much and so do the squirrels!

Reflected Light

The sermon was on John 5:30 - 6:1 this morning. "John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. I have testimony weightier than that of John.... How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" Lots of food for thought.

A Usual Friday

I rarely get everything I took to co-op on Thursday unpacked until Friday. I am teaching the toddlers this six weeks and so had a basket of teddy bears and books about bears to put away this week. (We played with shadows on Thursday, just like Bear in Bear Shadow.) Selah comes by 8 and then we go and wake Juli up.

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We play with Selah some, and get her down for a nap and then eat our breakfast and read aloud together.

After getting Juli going in school I wash up dishes. We spend most of the day at home: doing school, taking care of Selah, and I do laundry.

Selah's mom comes to get her around 3:00 and Juli and I head out to gymnastics. This is the on ramp to the interstate that I take at least twice every day.

I drop Juli off at gymnastics.
Friday is the day I run errands.

We always need milk, so I stop by Target. Somehow I also find time for a cup of coffee and some reading! Then I pick Juli up from gymnastics and we frequently run by Raising Cane's, our favorite fast food place, for some chicken strips and sauce.

Tea 'n Scones

Jerry is working nights this weekend and our ds's girlfriend was visiting, so I wanted to do something special this afternoon after dh woke up and while K was here. So we had Irish tea in my Irish teapot and used my grandmother's china and my pewter creamer and sugar. We piled the scones high with clotted cream, strawberry jam, and lemon curd. It was yum!

This is not the best picture., but I want to remember this time. I am not a diligent photographer... at least not diligent enough to keep taking til I got the ideal photo. I wanted to eat the scones too much!

January 26

I got this picture of Stephanie as she left to apply for a job. If I titled this with a song title it would be a toss-up between two Cat Stevens songs: Oh Very Young and Hard Headed Woman. This girl of mine is almost grown up and I like her so much!

I am having trouble figuring out how to post multiple pictures and have it load in chronological order and not in a long string of photos. So I may not get my "Usual Day" photos up. Time is the prohibiting factor just now.

Blue Skies!

The church where we meet for homeschool co-op has an unusual steeple - a hand with an index finger pointing skyward tops it. I couldn't get enough of the blue sky today, so took too many pictures.

Arghh! We were home all day today, but I was busy and I only took shots of Juli with Selah and these pieces of pottery Stephanie made in high school. I'm not happy with any of the pictures I took, but don't have the time to take others. I love these pieces! Sometimes our children amaze us with what they can do, and seeing her pottery was something that amazed me. The picture doesn't do them justice.

The land of Dixie...

I taught TOEFL today on campus and afterward walked to the lake just off the parking lot and saw pelicans! I don't have a very good zoom, but did the best I could.

The tulip trees (Japanese magnolia) are blooming and I thought the moss covered oaks with the tulip trees in the background looked Southern. It is still gray and rainy here and the first day the sun comes out I'm taking a picture of somthing with the blue sky behind it!

We had eggs for breakfast this a.m. and as I opened the carton I thought how pretty they were. I buy free range eggs every week from a friend ($1/dozen!) and they come in a variety of colors. The ones that look white here are actually a lovely pale blue.

I'm taking Donna up on the self-portrait challenge! At least one time, I am. I probably won't do this every week.

Playing Blokus

Here's much of the crew that lives here, playing Blokus tonight.

We Gather Together

I am happy to again be happy to go to church. It's wonderful to want to take notes, to love to sing, to enjoy the liturgy, to hunger for more teaching. I forgot the camera this morning to take pictures of the actual place and people, so this will have to do.

Still the One!

My husband and I were out and about today and I wanted (and tried) to get a good picture of him. I'm not happy with what I got. Even though I did get a few "artsy" type photos that were okay, I want to post a picture of Jerry today. So I'll settle with showing two bad shots: in the top one he's examining a camcorder we're considering buying, in the bottom one he's pulling our dd along on her new Heely's. I like the idea behind these pictures, because they show two different facets of his personality... the serious, engineer side and the fun loving, still-like-a-kid side.

He's still the one after 30 years of marriage!

January 19, 2007

A camellia in our backyard.

Everything I Do, I Do for You

There's someone around here who revels in the cold weather: our dog, Missy. She's the perfect dog for us and is a good watchdog, is great with children, and is "polite." She waits until we leave to eat and she has never jumped on people. She's getting older, but still has plenty of energy.

Someday I'm going to try to get a picture of her chasing (on the ground) the squirrels who run overhead on the phone and power wires!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

With the frigid temperatures outdoors, it was a day designed for a fire and soup. I made black bean soup for supper and the veggies sauteeing looked colorful and warm. . Can you smell them? And dd made a fire and we had school in front of it.

This Old Porch

I am not happy with this photo, or for that matter, any of the others I took today. Oh, well. I have to post one so this is it. I keep wanting to straighten that little rocker! I'll try again tomorrow.

She's a Flower ...

Pansies bloom in our backyard garden. The garden's been neglected lately and I'm hoping to get out there to work in it this week.

I Could Have Danced All Night...(post for January 13)

We attended the 20th birthday party for one of the students who lives with us, dancing outdoors under huge oaks, our only lights those of the stars above and candles circling us on the ground. This photo of our dd and her boyfriend is not the best, but at least you can see them. I tried taking a few with no flash to preserve the ambience, but I obviously have a lot to learn!

This one with the flash shows us doing a vintage dance called "Mairie's Wedding." It is active and lots of fun!

Back at our friends' house we had ice cream and cake and then sat around singing while a couple of the guys played the guitar. In the midst of it all we discovered an unexpected guest, a flying squirrel! I'm not sure who was more surprised, the squirrel or us. The kids had an exciting time getting the squirrel out of the house! But I managed to grab my camera and get a picture of him first!

I have others but won't subject you to them here. I'll post them in Flikr

For January 12... Baby Face... You've Got the Cutest Little....

We had a trial run with Selah, dd of friends, Friday. I begin taking care of her Monday. She's a cutie and a happy 4 month old. She just doesn't really like eating here, at least at this point.

Ebony and Ivory

Our house was much quieter when our dd was away at college last year. She sings, she laughs, she plays guitar, she plays the piano. Iow, she adds a lot of life and happiness. So now that she's transferred to the local university and lives at home we treasure her sounds. She got some sheet music for Christmas. This particular one is by Pachobel... the song you hear at weddings. I love to hear her play it so I sneaked in a photo.

So Long, Farewell...

Time to put up the Christmas stuff! (I'm probably the last one I know to do this! We always wait til after dd's birthday.) I gathered them all to one spot today and will box them up in the next few days. I was actually happy to dust today!

You're So Vain!

I was walking through the family room today and saw our cat, Froda, lying on this comfy throne! She may be shy, but she knows comfort when she sees it. The photo needs cropping, but I don't have editing software on this computer so will go ahead and post as is.

Don't Know Much About History....

Back to school time! We recently changed who uses what desk and this is how my new school desk looked this morning before I got organized. Actually, our whole house is in a sort of chaos right now with our regular homeschool schedule starting and Christmas decorations coming down.

Rainy Day People

Fun day today! Not only is it Juli's birthday, but it's our 30th (yes, 30th!) anniversary. We went out to eat after church. Here we are, minus our son who is in CA. From left to right: Juli, John (dd's boyfriend), Stephanie, me, Jerry.

And since I didn't actually take that picture, I'm posting one I took first thing this morning from our family room.. Not the best, but I thought the water pouring from the roof looked kind of cool.

Talking Bout My Little Girl

Tomorrow is her thirteenth birthday. Seems only yesterday we walked into a hotel room in Nanjing, China and saw a tiny little girl between the beds backing away, beginning to cry. I scooped her up in my arms and she burrowed into my neck and held on tightly while she sobbed. And my heart was wound up in hers at that moment. She didn' t let go in public the rest of the time we were in China.

I wasn't there at her birth. We don't know where she was born or anything about her first 2 1/2 years of life. I often wonder if she'll mind, if she will grieve over not knowing. We hate for our children to know grief, and yet she has a grief that is from the beginning.

She is strong now, not just physically, but as a person. She is quiet and deep and happy. I am glad and thankful that I've been given the gift of knowing and loving her, of watching my daughter grow.

Miniature Golf

We had fun today playing miniature golf. The gracefulness of this tree's branches stood out against the blue sky.

Like father, like daughter... trying to figure out where a ball went.