Scary

This morning at 7:15 I said goodbye to my son, telling him I love him and wishing him a good day. At 7:45 he called me with panic in his voice to tell me to come get him because someone is coming to the Jr. High with a gun to kill everyone in the school. Apparently a text message was sent out last night (to whom, I don't know) saying that this was going to take place today. Needless to say, I made it to the school in record time, boldly defying the 20 mph speed limits. At the school I was told that the threat was possibly just a rumor and that students could go home if they wished but classes weren't officially cancelled. Austin couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Today my heart goes out to all those parents whose children have become victims of school shooting sprees. As parents we trust that our children will be safe at school until they are returned to our care in the afternoon. I can't imagine what it would be like to be the parent of a Columbine student who never made it home.

Goofballs Gone Wild

Ever have one of those days where you are just stir crazy and can't find anything to do? Austin and I had one of those days yesterday. We were bored. We were silly. Bored silly and left to our own desperate attempts at self entertainment. My little point and shoot camera happened to be laying nearby and before we knew it we'd taken several good blackmail shots of each other.



Gosh, I love this kid!

Christmas Shopping

Yesterday was momentous. Aaron and I went Christmas shopping. Together. The last time we did that it was probably 1995. We decided then that considering Aaron's aversion to shopping and his ability to make any shopping trip quite miserable, that it would be easier for me to just take care of it myself. So for the past 12 years or so, Aaron found out what the kids got for Christmas when the wrapping paper was ripped off on Christmas morning. This has worked quite well for us all these years but in the last couple of years Aaron has begun to change. He's started to get more involved in the holidays and has the desire to take part in the memory making. A couple of days ago he told me that he wanted to help do the Christmas shopping this year. One more effort to be involved. I stared at him for a moment or two and said, "Umm.. I don't know about that." Visions flashed through my head of us arguing over what to buy and him throwing just anything in the cart to get it over with. I imagined that he would be growling about the cost of everything and complaining about the commercialization of Christmas the whole time. I had serious reservations about our ability to shop together and have a happy outcome but I eventually agreed. Today I am hanging my head in shame because yesterday we began the shopping and it went GREAT. There was no growling and complaining and Aaron really put thought into what we should buy. I found that I really liked having a second opinion on the gifts I was considering and Aaron had a really good feel for what our kids would like. What I thought would be an unpleasant experience actually turned out to be fun! I know that Christmas morning will be even more exciting for Aaron since he had a part in choosing the kids gifts. Heck, we may even try this again next year!

Oldies

Friday evening after our date, I was driving home our fifteen year old babysitter. We were making small talk on the way there and the subject of music came up. I asked her what kind of music she likes and she proceeded to tell me that she likes to listen to some oldies but not ALL oldies, like she really doesn't care for the 80's music. WHAT???? Since when has 80's music been classified as "oldies"??? I grew up listening to 80's music! Boy did I suddenly feel old.

Carving Jack-O-Lanterns!

Gotta love the ooey, gooey mess!
Hmm, I wonder what this tastes like...
Lauren carved her own pumpkin this year!
Hey Mom, you think my head would fit in here???
The final product!

Aaron and Alice

Aaron is a huge fan of music. He likes rock, he likes grunge and he likes it LOUD. Periodically he tries to rid himself of his rock and roll addiction by destroying his vast collection of music but before I know it he begins steadily rebuilding that very same collection of Cd's. He just simply can't live without it. I'm not kidding when I say he's probably bought the same Cd's at least four times since I've known him. One of the bands he has always loved (and purchased repeatedly) is Alice In Chains. I first remember Alice In Chains playing over and over while we were dating. I also remember how devastated Aaron was when Alice's lead singer, Layne Staley, died of a drug overdose not long after we were married. Aaron and I just had the opportunity to go watch Alice In Chains play an acoustic concert with new band member William DuVall. I personally have never been much of an Alice fan but going to the concert gave me a new appreciation for them. Aaron LOVED the concert, of course, but he also had some pretty exciting experiences to go with it.

*Before the concert started Aaron was able to sneak behind the scenes and watch as Alice In Chains did their sound check.

* He followed new lead singer William DuVall through the hotel and managed to jump into the same elevator with him. He shook his hand and spoke to him for a minute or so before William got off at his floor. Aaron was so excited and nervous he forgot to press the button for his own floor and rode the elevator several floors past our floor.

*During the concert we stood against the front of the stage, pressed against it actually, by the few hundred bodies behind us. We were so close we were practically spit on by the singers. Aaron's reward for making us stand like sardines for three hours against the stage was being handed not one but TWO guitars picks by Jerry Cantrell (singer and guitarist) at the end of the concert. SO COOL.

*After the concert as we were standing around regaining our hearing, Jerry Cantrell and his security guys walked right past us. Aaron was hot on their trail and followed them across the casino to the table Jerry sat down at to play I- don't-know-what. We stood there watching for the few minutes he was there, along with a group of other gawkers. When he got up to leave Aaron approached him and asked if he could take a picture with him. Jerry said he would like to but had to run. He shook Aaron's hand though and acted like he really wasn't trying to be rude.

For fifteen years Aaron has been a big fan and never expected that someday he would be able to shake their hands. Life is full of little surprises.

It Wasn't a Bust After All...

I think my dad is right, I'm pretty hard on myself. Today I went through the pictures I took of my friend's family and discovered that they weren't ALL bad. There were a lot more bad than good but when I got done editing I discovered that there were about ten that I liked pretty well. I put them on a CD and took them over to my friend's house and it turned out that she liked them a lot! She said they were just what they wanted and that she was surprised I got that many good ones. How about that? Phew, I feel much better now. Tomorrow I am supposed to take pictures for another friend and I know now to stay calm, double check my camera settings, and not be so hard on myself.

Humbled

Well, last week I took "family pictures" for a friend of ours. I'm sorry to say, it did not go well and I came back quite flustered. First of all, I was really nervous and because of this I overlooked a camera setting which resulted in most of the pictures being out of focus. I also have no experience posing people which would have been helpful when photographing a family with 6 kids! The pictures I took that are not out of focus have at least one child wiggling, screaming, blinking or looking away. I came home feeling very foolish and frustrated and thinking about throwing in the towel. Aaron, good husband that he is, gave me a great pep talk about how it took him many years to learn to do what he does and that he made plenty of mistakes along the way. He told me to just keep at it and it will get better and better. That helped me feel a lot better. Then today I went over the pictures again and identified what went wrong and how I could improve my performance next time. Now that my pride isn't stinging so much I'vedecided to chalked it up to a learning experience and move on. I really hate to fail and when I do, I often want to quit doing what I just failed at so I don't continue to be a failure. However, I don't want this pattern to continue and let it keep me from doing something I really want to do! Maybe I'm not ready yet to play photographer but I'm going to keep working at it until I am.

Change

I'm feeling restless and in need of a change. Looks like I'm going to take it out on my blog. Don't know if this background is here to stay. We'll see.

One Handsome Kid

Last week I drafted Austin to be a model for my final class assignment. He was such a good sport, even when he fell into the river trying to get to some rocks I wanted him to sit on. I love these photos we created together. Thanks for your help Dude!

Tagged, I'm IT

Yesterday I checked my sister-in-law Michelle's blog and discovered that she had "tagged" me. Most blog lovers will know that this has been quite rampant lately. For those of you who don't waste half your day in blog-land, getting tagged means you have to answer a bunch of personal questions on your own blog. Since Michelle is one of my all time favorite people I will be a good sport and play along. Here goes...

What is his name? Aaron

How long have you been married? It will be 14 years this month.
Criminals serve less time. I'm totally kidding!!!

Who eats more? Do I really have to admit to this??? I'm pretty sure it's me!

How long did you date? We double dated several times throughout High School but we got married exactly one year from what we considered our first "real" date.

How old is he? He just turned 33 in August.

Who said I love you first? He did, followed quickly by me.

Who is taller? He is, by about 4 inches, I think

Who sings better? Hmm...with the radio or at church? Aaron is awesome when it comes to singing along with the radio but I probably do a little better with a hymn.

Who is smarter? Neither. We are different types of smart which really comes in handy.

Whose temper is worse? Depends on the day.

Who does the laundry? Me, me, and me.

Who does the dishes? Me (and whichever kid gets drafted that night).

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I think it's more important who gets up on the "wrong" side :)

Who mows the lawn? Aaron, that's one chore I want nothing to do with!

Who cooks dinner? Me. I love to cook dinner, especially when Aaron's home to eat it.

Who kissed who first? He did. He was so shy, I thought he'd never get around to it. That's okay though because it was worth the wait!

Who asked who out? I asked him. What a forward girl I was!

Who proposed? He did. We were 18/19 and couldn't live without each other. We still can't.

Who has more friends? I have lots of friends that go way back but Aaron makes friends everywhere he goes.

Who is more sensitive? Believe it or not that could be a tie. Looking at Aaron you wouldn't probably guess him to be "sensitive", but he is. I remember in high school telling my mom that I wanted to marry a macho/sensitive guy (as opposed to a wimpy/sensitive guy). That's exactly what I got!

Who has more siblings? Aaron, he has 6, I have 1.

Who wears the pants? We each take a pant leg.

Moving Forward

Well, my photography class is almost over. One more assignment to go. I feel like I've really learned a lot and I'm looking forward to spending more time practicing these new skills on my own until they become second nature. At times I felt like I became so wrapped up in completing the assignments, committing the information to memory seemed to take second place. That kind of misses the point, I think. Each week after turning in our assignments the instructor critiques everyone's photos and then picks a few "photos of the week" that best illustrated the lesson. He has picked one of my photos all three weeks! Please excuse my shameless bragging. I have just been so excited and encouraged by this. Today two of my friends asked me to take their family photos which took me by surprise. I wasn't planning to do this quite yet but it will be good experience and if I mess up I know they will forgive me. I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy Fall Y'all!

Where Does the Time Go?

Yesterday our little boy turned 12 years old. Aaron and I can't believe we are the parents of a TWELVE YEAR OLD now! It doesn't seem like all that long ago we were that age ourselves. Austin is such an awesome kid and Aaron and I are just so proud of him. We enjoy him so much (except when he teases the heck out of his sisters) and have really been admiring what a smart, responsible, good humored, mature, respectable young man he is. I think typically this is supposed to be a rough age (or maybe that's just for girls) but Austin seems more mellow, even tempered, confident and comfortable with himself than ever before. He is sooo excited about being twelve, about going to Junior High, about going to Mutual (youth group) and about the new activities he gets to be a part of and that excitement is rubbing off on me. I think I feel just as excited for him to do these things as he is to do them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN!!! YOU ROCK!!!

Man Oh Man...

Last night Aaron managed to make it home before dark and I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of him as he flopped down on the lawn to enjoy the evening. WHAT??? Is that an actual smile I see on his face? Aaron has been very supportive of my new photography obsession. So supportive, he even gave a rare smile for the camera.
Then he quickly replaced it with this face. This face we see quite often. It's his "staring into space, thinking about work" face. I know when I see this look on his face he is thinking about all the people he needs to call, the estimates he needs to give, the bids he needs to break down, the material he needs to order, the delivery trucks he needs to unload, the fences he needs to build, and the bills he needs to pay. When all those thoughts get to be too much, this "deep in thought" face is replaced by this face...
Who can blame him??? Just looking at that last face makes me exhausted!

Just to Brighten Your Day...

Photo 101

It's been a fun week. Last Wednesday I started an online photography class that will help me learn how to use my camera manually instead of shooting in automatic mode. At first I was a little overwhelmed and began second guessing my ability to do this photography thing but the more pictures I took, the more I seemed to "get it". Of course there is so much more to learn but after a week of carrying my camera around and taking pictures of everything in sight, I feel like there is hope. Our first lesson was on shutter speeds. If you use a fast shutter speed you freeze action. If you use a slow shutter speed you blur the action. Click on the photo and you can see that by using a fast shutter speed, I was able to freeze the motion of the water fountain. By slowing the shutter speed, the motion becomes blurred.

Frozen. Blurred.

Another thing that made this assignment interesting is the fact that the people in these photos are complete strangers and I had to step out of my comfort zone and ask permission to photograph them. Not an easy thing for me to do. It really surprised me how enthusiastic people were about having their picture taken. Everyone I asked was more than willing to show off for the camera and it was such a "high" for me to play photographer.

Look Ma, No Hands!

Over the weekend Amanda, Lauren and their friend Hannah decided to up their bike riding skills and learn to ride with no hands. After a bit of practice Amanda became a pro. She could even go around the corners without touching the handle bars. Lauren learned to let go of the bars with one hand which was a huge accomplishment for her. You don't know how many family bike rides we've been on where we all had to stop because Lauren needed to scratch her nose. I admire the girls for bravely attempting this new feat. Riding a bike with no hands is not a skill I could ever force myself to acquire. Believe me, you couldn't pry both my hands off the bars if you tried.

Hello There!

I guess it's time to check in and let you know that I'm still alive. It's been what, ten days now since my last post? I don't know what got into me. Actually, part of it is that I have really been cutting down on my computer time and trying to be more productive in the real world. I suddenly realized how much time I was wasting sitting at the computer getting lost in cyberspace and decided that needed to change. Since then I have been re-organizing, cleaning, painting the girls rooms, and trying to spend more quality time with the kids.

As I mentioned, last week I painted the girls bedrooms. Amanda's is a beautiful aqua blue/ green. It's a very peaceful, restful color and I am very happy with it. Lauren wanted me to paint her room lime green. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong shade. It is so insanely bright you feel like you need sunglasses on to enter the room. When the door is closed, there is a green glow emanating from the crack below. Lauren loves it. I hate it. The vibrant, nauseating, eye assaulting green must go. This week I will be repainting. I will still go with a lime green, just a much more muted shade. Wish me luck. When I get the painting done and finish decorating their room, I'll post picture for you all to see.

1st Day of School!

Today was the first day of school and of course I had to take the kids pictures before they took off on their three separate ways.
Austin gave me a hard time about taking his picture and we had to do it really early before anyone could come out and see us because that would just be "SO EMBARRASSING". Gosh, he sounds like a Junior Higher or something. Probably because he is! Austin loved the first day of 7th grade! Hurray! I'm been so stressed about this day coming, feeling like I was preparing to throw my baby to the sharks. It went great though and he can't wait to go back tomorrow. I'm sure that will wear off as the homework starts rolling in. The girls also had a really good day and they both got excellent teachers that are known for being super nice and lots of fun. I think it's going to be a great year!