She's still here.

She's been a little overlooked recently. But she's still here cute as ever. Gotta love the eyelashes. :)

She'll be 9 months old (sniff sniff) Oct. 6. She is not walking but on the verge. She is cruising furniture & standing alone in the middle of a room. She now has 3 bottom teeth, & throws a little tantrum if you take something away. If you make her mad, she's gonna let you know. ;o) When she's on a hard floor (anything other than carpet) - she'll do the "crawl & push". Her left leg is on the knee (normal crawling position), the other leg she is dragging behind her, pushing off with her foot. LOL She makes me smile! Ü

My blessing.

I am so thankful he's going to be ok. Ü

Camping.

I am sooooooooo ready to go out. Camping. Fun. Play. Relax.

Hubby & I used to camp years ago before our miniatures arrived. We fished in a bass club & camping was a ritual. Back then, though, we camped in tents. I think I'm over that. :)

I can't wait for the kids to experience camping. This time, though, in a camper. We are on the hunt to purchase one. Hopefully soon we can find a good deal.

With all of life's happenings lately I'd love to get out & get away. Soak up...nothing. Nothing but good times & dirty kids. My kids are never dirty. It's time. :)

My new favorites.

She takes my breath away.

(Photos manual, outside, no flash.)

Happy Friday! Ü

Kidbits.

Last week @ school Bentley had to complete an "All About Me" poster page & a Robot poster page with photos & information that best describe him. What his favorite foods are (that was a short list ;o), what he wants to be when he grows up, his favorite things to do, family members, etc.

Yesterday I asked him if his posters are displayed & how they look. His response:

"Oh yes, they're up! I keep looking at them to remind me of myself."

Ha!

I think I may make one for myself. LOL Ü

Cupcakes.

These are the cutest pajamas ever. On the cutest baby ever. Ü

I have always been a faithful Carter's customer. For many years, actually. Lately, not so much. I have been so disappointed in their clothes, particularly pajamas. So, I picked some up at Target. They're oh so cute!

Notice the pigment variation on her face in the above photo? I'm noticing this in all her photos. I think we've rubbed the pigment off the front of her face. :) If I would use a flash, that probably wouldn't show up. She's asleep now but tomorrow I'm going to have to scope her good to see if this is pigment issue is fact or fiction. :)

Love my baby. She's getting fiestier by the day (by the minute, rather) & she's displaying some serious attitude! But she's precious. Ü

(Photos are manual, inside, no flash. The timing was bad & the lighting not good so I really had to fight with these.)

We are rich.

I haven't posted about Galveston. I haven't posted about Ike. Like you, we too sat & watched in horror. I was actually up @ 2:00 a.m. faithfully watching FOX news when Ike hit. It's unbelievable what Mother Nature is capable of. Her power. Her destruction. Her devastation left behind. I see the photos & videos & it's hard to believe we were just there a month ago. We vacation there frequently & it's most definitely one of our favorite places, not to mention close to home. I love Galveston. I always have. I always will.
Every day @ 12:00 I watch the news while I feed lunch. They typically have updates on Galveston & surrounding areas. Today I sat frozen while they interviewed a mother & her teenage mentally challenged son. Today I cried in front of my children.

They stayed behind. They didn't evacuate. On one hand it makes me so angry & I just want to shout at the tv "LEAVE!" On the other hand, I could see the love in her eyes. They live in a government housing apartment. It is her home. She just kept repeating "but it's home". My heart broke.

The water rose to chest level in their apartment. Daily they are walking 6 miles to the Community Center to receive ice & a little food. She pulls a grocery basket. Her son rode his bike, but his tire blew out so he abandoned it on the side of the road. Today they received enough food to last for today & 1/2 day tomorrow. So tomorrow they again walk the 6 miles to get more. Her health is not good. She carries a small inhaler in her pocket as they walk to & fro. They have no water. No electricity. No air. No anything. Just each other. ABC's reporter kept telling her "but you can't stay here". She replied "but it's my home". They offered her assistance. She said they'd "be ok".

I wish I could go get her & her son & bring them home. To our home. I would. We could do it. We could take them in. We could help them. But of course I couldn't get to her & she wouldn't come anyway. And that makes me even more sad.

It's a good thing we are not wealthy. Monetarily speaking. I would give probably 75% of our riches away. To those who need help. To those that are hurting. To those who have lost everything due to situations such as Ike. And Katrina. And the list goes on.

But we are rich. So are you. We have homes. We have electricity & the necesseties we need to live. It doesn't take a lot of money to be rich. If we have what we need to live, we are rich. We are so, so rich.

My dad has been in jail now for 3 weeks. I have tried so hard to 'handle' it. But I don't know how much longer I can. He's 68 years old. His health is bad. He can't walk well due to back issues. And he's in a place with 4,000 other criminals. The thought of someone hurting him is more than I can stand to think about.

I think my emotions are running high. When I watched the news today it all came to a head. I feel defeated. And right now I may be defeated, but I am oh so blessed. And I will not lose sight of that.

Much needed break.

From our flowerbeds! We have worked on these huge, nightmare flowerbeds since we moved in almost 3 years ago. We have lived in this house almost 3 years! That's mind boggling to me. :) Anyway, we have run out of time, patience & energy. Serious burn-out. So we had someone else come & put down the colored mulch I wanted. Looks beaut-i-ful! :)

Flowerbeds complete! Yippee! Now we get to resume updating the inside. And that's ok 'cause the inside has air conditioning! Ü

Another fad?

I really have mixed emotions about these. On one hand I think they are so stinkin' cute; on the other hand, I think they are ridiculous & send a creepy message. These baby shoes are intended, I do believe, for babies up to 6 months. It's a good thing Mercedes is now 8 months old, 'cause I probably would have ordered some just for kicks. :)

Happy Friday! Here comes Ike! :(

Take a moment.

I hope you'll take a moment today to think of those so greatly devastated on 9.11.01. Today especially I'm sure they could use our extra thoughts & prayers.

(Photo manual, inside, no flash.)

RAW - Rebecca.

"Doesn't it take quite a while to transfer and edit them on the computer? I'm not a photographer, but to me, I'd rather let the camera do the work for me :)"

Rebecca I like your thinking. :) Yes it does take quite some time to edit RAW images. Thus, some people don't want to mess with it. I found your comment interesting because I emailed 3 pros, asking them if they shoot in RAW, & all three said "no". Ha! I have the software to process RAWs downloaded, but that's as far as I've gotten. I still want to try it because I may find I love it; however, I may also find I don't have the time or patience. Hence switching back & forth from JPEG to RAW - which also takes time. :)

It's about fad.

We can't be left out, can we? Thus, lots of new headbands. With, of course, big ol' obnoxious bows (or in this case, a flower). LOL Bonus whimsy. :)

Below is original photo softened. I think this feature makes certain photos so pretty. :)

(Photo manual, inside, no flash. Not a RAW image.)

RAW. Update.

I am possibly going to begin shooting my photography in RAW. Ohhhhhhhhhh the possibilities. I know RAW isn't for all photographers (not that I'm a photographer...I'm certainly not at this point) but I shall see if it's for me. I hope it is. It will take lots of practice time so I may switch back & forth (RAW/JPEG) for a while. :)

I know none of you care about RAW, but I made that note for my own little reference. :)

And...I really could stand to have 32 hours in my days.

Back soon! Ü



**In response to emails - at this time, no I do not plan on taking photos professionally/opening up my own photography studio in the future unless it heads that direction with no intent. Photography is just something I'm fascinated with - I've grown to love it & I'm learning just for me - for fun. Thanks for the emails! Ü

+2 diamonds.

Tada! Two diamonds. :)

Remember I removed the earring that was too high? That night (I may have mentioned this) the back of the remaining earring fell off! So both earrings were out. Then I decided to stick the 'good' earring back in. We decided to repierce the other ear @ 3 weeks because we knew we were not going to pierce over the original piercing. And we didn't. We brought that puppy down. They still aren't perfect - the girl who did the repiercing got hers absolutely perfect, but the original one is spaced a little further over, if that makes sense. Not going to fix it because a.) it's no big deal & b.) no one but me will probably notice. :o) Her bitty ears are going to grow anyway so we aren't going to worry about it. But hey, they aren't crooked! Those puppies are lined up perfectly! Ü

There you have it, Mama Lioness. Thanks for inquiring! :)

Anger Management.

Someone needs to attend some classes on the aforementioned subject. Some little I'm-almost-8-months-old-in-two-days miniature person. But I won't mention any names, Mercedes. Ü

This adorable, tiny person puts her little hands in fists, straightens out her arms, & does one mean mini, loud, blood curdling scream & then she's done. I think she gets that from her daddy. ;o)

In the below photo, doesn't she look like a little girl versus a baby? Oh she's just growing way too fast. She is absolutely a dream come true.

At almost 8 months old she can drink out of a sippy cup like a pro, she can stand alone without support, she says "dada", she can spit like nobody's business & she's beginning to cruise furniture. Grow my little flower, grow. Ü

(Photos manual, inside, no flash.)

I thought I'd brush her hair.

And then I thought...maybe it's time we get a professional involved. Ü

Red light cameras.

Does your city/town have these? Ours does. They are new. And they work.

Don't ask me how I know. Ü