"I Will Follow You"

I love Desperation Band's version of "Rescue." This photo was inspired by that song.  I was digging through the recycling for something to write "This world has nothing for me.  I will follow You." on and stumbled upon the "What's Happening" section of the Eugene Weekly and thought it was the perfect medium.  Critiques are always welcome.

Bible Stories Continued: "Jesus and the Leper"

Mom:  "Who is Jesus?"
Caden:  "You know. . .He's in the Bible!" (in a "you-should-already-know-that" tone)
Mom:  "What did He do?"
Caden:  "He went up into the clouds to get away from the leper."
Mom:  "The leper?"
Caden:  "Yeah, the leper was sick and then he touched Jesus's clothes and then he was not sick anymore."
Mom: "And Jesus went into the clouds to get away from the leper?"
Caden:  "Yeah!"

Photography by Colby

"There's a Wommer!"

For quite some time, Caden has been afraid of "wommers." We don't know what a "wommer" is or where the idea originated.  He says they are all white with no eyes, nose, or mouth.  Supposedly, they live through our laundry room door that goes to our backyard.  This morning, while Caden and I were looking at Pinterest, he screamed, "There's a 'wommer'!" He was referring to the following pin.  He said, "See, it doesn't have any eyes!" Well, I guess we now know what a "wommer" looks like!

Source: amazon.com via Ernestine on Pinterest

Inspired by Pinterest: Hair Bow Holder

I saw several different hair bow holders on Pinterest and decided to make this one for a friend who is going to have a baby girl.  My mother-in-law gave me several frames to choose from and I chose this frame because I loved the details in the corners.

I sanded the edges and corners to give it a shabby chic look.

I am so glad I met Pinterest, but she has been keeping me rather busy : ). More to come. . .

Joshua, Two Fish, and Five Breads

One of the reasons we chose Caden's preschool is because it is a Christian preschool and Bible lessons are embedded in the curriculum.  I love to hear Bible stories told from a three-year-old's perspective.  Not long ago, I shared Caden's version of "Noah's Ark." Today, on the way home from the grocery store, Caden was singing "Go! Go! Joshua!" This is the conversation that followed:

Mom:  "Who is Joshua?"

Caden:  "Joshua has super powers!"

Mom:  "Really? What kind of super powers?"

Caden:  "There were two fish and five breads and not enough food for all the people.  So he got enough food for all of the people."

Mom:  "I think that was Jesus."
Caden:  "No, it was Joshua! God has super powers, too!"

Our ham

Caden's Getting Married

Caden:  "Mom, I'm getting married."
Mom:  "To who?"
Caden: "It's not a girl.  It's bacon!"


I think we are going to have a t.v. free Spring Break!

Photo Friday: "Surrender"

A much needed Spring Break is finally here! Woot! Woot! Let the spring cleaning begin! (I just used four exclamation marks in a row. . .I really must be ready for break!) Besides spring cleaning, I would also like to work on photography.  This week, I did not take very many photos, so I am going to post a photo that I took a couple of years ago when I first started getting back into photography.

This is a photo of my brother's beautiful girlfriend, Hannah.  If I took the photo again, I would change several things about it, but the two things that bother me the most are the lighting and the tangled  curling ribbon on the balloons.  Even though there are several things I would change about this photo if I re-took it, I love her outstretched arms.  To me, it looks like she is reaching out and surrendering to God in worship and prayer.

Please feel free to critique.  Happy Spring Break!

"Surrender"

Inspired by Pinterest: Lovebird Painting

Before Pinterest and I met, I had bought a canvas to create a painting to hang above our bed.  I am embarrassed to admit that the canvas sat in our bedroom for over a year.  I think the main reason it sat for so long is because I could not decide what to do with it.  One of the first things I pinned on Pinterest was this painting:  http://pinterest.com/pin/179651472605085316/.  It inspired me to paint the painting below for our bedroom.  I would still like to add the different colors in the corners of the painting, but I am afraid I will ruin the painting. I have never painted anything before and am surprisingly pleased with it.

One of the main reasons I wanted to create something for our bedroom is because all of the pieces of "artwork" that I had been looking at were around $100.00.  I created this piece for approximately $45.00:


Canvas ($15.00 on sale at Michael's)
Paint ($5.00 at Michael's)
Gesso (two bottles) ($15.00 at Michael's)
Gesso spatula ($10.00 at Michael's) (I'm sure a cheaper kitchen spatula would work just as well, but I found a spatula that I think I will use for many other projects.)


I first painted the canvas without using Gesso for texturing and was unhappy with it.  Gesso is a little expensive, but I love the texture it added to the painting.  I had never used Gesso before but learned how to do so by watching a You Tube video.  The video I watched said it really does not matter what brand you use, but I found the Gesso brand to be a lot easier to work with than the cheaper brand.


Since being introduced to Pinterest, I have not only pinned almost 2,000 projects, but I have tried many new recipes, painted a few paintings, and have created several other crafty projects.  I would like to begin posting a Pinterest project once a week just for fun.  


What has Pinterest inspired you to create lately?

Second Day of Spring: Snow Day!

When Carter woke me up at 4:00 a.m., I was surprised to look outside and see snow blanketing our lawn.  Not knowing whether or not I was going to have to drive to work, I couldn't fall back asleep.  At 5:30 a.m., when I found out for sure school was canceled, I fell back asleep until Caden woke me at 7:00 a.m. excited about the snow.  I was able to keep him inside until 8:00 a.m. and then we had to go outside to measure the snow.  We had 5 1/2 inches on our back deck!

Don't let this innocent face fool you. . .

"Go get Daddy and tell him I have a surprise for him!"

  
Daddy is a good sport. . .

We are all ready for some nicer weather, but we might as well enjoy the snow while we have it.

Photo Friday: The Pickett Family

While I was on maternity leave, a few different friends asked me to photograph their families.  They gave me permission to upload their photos to my blog, but I got busy and never did.  The following photos were taken for the Pickett family's Christmas cards.  The Pickett children are the easiest children I have ever photographed; as soon as I pulled out the camera, they started posing.  Please feel free to critique.

Christmas 2011

"Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

I used to post a photo every Friday for "Photo Friday." Because photo class has started up again, I want to challenge myself to post a photo every Friday again.  Photo Club also started up again this week and this photo was taken for the first activity.  The student who is running Photo Club challenged all students to find a quote or saying, put it on a unique medium, and take a photo of it (inspired by Pinterest).  I was trying to think of a photo that I could actually use somewhere.  Since my sons' room is decorated with Dr. Seuss, I thought it would be fun to create a photo with Dr. Seuss's book title, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Cart

seven-months-old!

says dee dee, duh duh, dada

scoots everywhere

can go from crawling position to half sitting position
can also sit by himself, hold his own bottle, and wave (to himself. . .minor details!)

loves to get in to things that are not his 

sleeps through the night. . .sometimes

loves his family. . .and we love him!

18 lbs. 10 oz. (55%), 27 1/2 in (80%)

Best Friends Forever

Caden asks Carter almost everyday, "Cart, do you wanna be best friends? Best friends forever?"

Bath Time Fun!

To save time, I have been bathing Caden and Carter together.  Caden loves it--Carter tolerates it.  In this photo, I can really tell that they are brothers.  Can you, or is it just me?


Carter prefers a five minute bath.  Caden, on the other hand, has to be persuaded out of the bath tub.  Nana and Papa bought him a shaving kit for Valentine's Day and he loves to shave his face, chest, and legs (don't tell Daddy!).

Caden (3 1/2), Carter (six-months-old)

Teething

Proud of his freshly "shaven" face!

Fauxhawk! 

Such a sense of humor!

Shaving his chest hair! haha

You Carry Us

This school year has been difficult for our family.  Balancing work and family with two little ones has been so challenging.  This song has helped me through many days:

Thank You for carrying us!