Is He Really Thirteen? How Did This Happen???

This morning I was fighting off a wave of emotion as I drove Austin to school. This kid of mine is growing into a young man right before my eyes and my heart aches because I know that in a few short years he will be ready to leave home and build a life of his own. It seems that every day his eye level creeps up closer to mine and I notice things, like how he no longer hugs me around the waist but can put his arm around my shoulders. I know that someday he will be amused when due to his increasing height, I have to look up to him. What he may not know is that I have always looked up to him. I have always marvelled at his intelligence, his work ethic, his strength of character, his integrity, his grasp of personal responsibility and his ability to do well at just about anything he tries. He is an awesome kid and I am so, so proud to be his mom.

What Next?

In the weeks following 9/11 I sat in my living room glued to CNN, trying to make sense of the fact that the world had suddenly gone mad. Hijacked airplanes crashing into buildings? Terrorist sleeper cells waiting for the call to strike? The deadly Anthrax disease travelling through the U.S. Postal system? The unthinkable was occurring and it was terrifying. Seven years later I find myself once again sitting in my living room, glued to CNN, only this time it is not buildings falling down, but the entire U.S. economy. Enormous banks, investment and insurance companies going bankrupt? $700 billion taxpayer dollars spent to buy up worthless debts? Another possible Great Depression in our future? Once again turmoil grips our country and anxiety is gripping my soul. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

An Afternoon on the Licking River

HERE is my third and final gallery to share from our Kentucky trip. My brother's property runs right down to the banks of the Licking River and we had a ball playing there one afternoon. Between the row boat, 3 kayaks, giant blow-up hamster ball and the surf board, we stayed plenty busy floating and splashing and swimming.

Mom and Dad

One of the best things about our trip to Kentucky was just getting to spend time with my Mom and Dad. We've always been so close to them and we've missed them so much since they moved away. Click HERE to see some of the photos I was able to take of them (thanks Mom and Dad for being good sports about all the picture taking).

Our Trip to the Holler

I guess I've been missing in action in the blogosphere for a while now. I don't usually go this long without posting but life has been crazy for several weeks and blogging got knocked down a few rungs on the priority ladder. The kids and I recently got to make a much anticipated trip to Kentucky to visit my parents, my brother, Aaron and my Sister-in-law, Sandra. I can't even put into words how much fun we had. It was great to spend time with my family and the whole week was packed full of non-stop fun activities. We went to the Kentucky State Fair, spent a day on the river, went to a park, had our own fireworks show, and built a HUUUGE bonfire to roast marshmallows. We shot guns, searched for an Indian burial ground on my brother's property, caught fireflies, spent lots of time on a rope swing and even ate squirrel. Okay, I didn't eat squirrel, but the kids did. Kentucky was beautiful. I've never seen that much green in my entire life. As you can imagine, my camera was pretty much glued to my hands. I snapped pictures of everything I saw and that's not an exaggeration. Don't worry, I won't make you look at all 415 of them. Only 410 (just kidding). I've set my pictures up in a few different galleries that I will be posting over the next few days.

To view my first gallery, click HERE. Be sure to click on the play button to see the slideshow. These are just some general pictures from the trip. I will soon post pictures of my parents and our river day. Hope you enjoy them.

Love It

Last week was awesome. I began my training as a photographer for Lifetouch and loved every minute of it. It was challenging and at times a bit overwhelming but I loved it. I am amazed when I think about how much I learned in only one week! I can now set up a studio, lighting equipment and all, all by myself. I am extremely proud of this because I am not a mechanically inclined person. If something needs to be put together I usually give it to Aaron or Austin and run the other way. We learned camera and computer operation, how to pose people, lighting techniques, how to properly interact both children and school authorities and much more more. Tuesday we begin photographing our first school and I can't wait to put all I've learned into action.

My New Hairdo