Archives for November 2010

Oh. My. Goodness. I had a serious picture panic attack last week. serious. I . Tell. You.

When Kenimer was a little over two years old, we had family pictures taken at Goulds Inlet.  I was pregnant with Tucker so the main focus was to get a two year pic of Kenimer. We managed some fun family shots and a great pic of Kenimer! I had a 16 by 20 canvas framed and it is hanging in my dining room.

That precious little white jon-jon was put aside and I always planned to photograph Tucker when he was two at the beach frolicking in the water in that same outfit.  I was gonna do it last December ( when he turned 2). but it was a bit cold. Then it became March and warmed up but we were entirely too concerned with getting C.D. photos and family pics for other purposes.  Then Tucker decided he hated the camera for a few months. The seasons turned and last week while cleaning out Tucker’s closet I panicked to find the white jon-jon. I double panicked when I realized he would be three in two weeks.

However-The stars did indeed  all line up…

1.  We were able to get pictures this past Saturday. Never mind that he will be three in two weeks.

2. I was thankful for a summer day in November ( 80ish degrees that is!)

3. I must pay honorable mention to my sewing skills and the ability to move the buttons down on the jon-jon two inches

so it would fit him!

When I saw a sneak peek at these pics, it truly brought tears to my eyes. My baby is growing up. Long gone are the days of Jon jons- ! These pics really captured who Tucker is; full of life, extremely happy and always smiling and giggling.

So, without further ado please check out the outstanding work of Mrs. Sarah Deshaw

I can remember October days when I had a room full of kindergartners in my care and I often imagined what it would be like to have my own….  One thing I did every year with the class is buy a pumpkin or two and we would get all the ” goo” out.  Since Shannon andI have been married we’ve had pumpkins, toasted the seeds,  and enjoyed a jack o lantern the week of Halloween every year !

This October did not pass without emptying the pumpkin of all the “goo”, separating the seeds, drying them and smelling the tasty treats toasting while Dad and the boys carved the pumpkin. This year I tried out a new recipe using worchestershire sauce, salt, pepper and butter.  They turned out really great!

Kenimer was extrememly intent while carving. Tucker on the other hand just wanted to turn the oven light on and watch the seeds cook! I bathed the boys and they ate every last toasty pumpkin seed while watching the jack o lantern through the window!

Every fall, I welcome the colors – orange, red, yellow, brown. There is something about seeing pumpkin patches everywhere that feels warm and inviting. I’ve often thought about what God’s favorite colors are. Certainly he favors blues and greens. He knows how to insert orange so artfully! Sunsets and sunrises have the perfect mixture of oranges, reds and yellows. Oh and we can’t forget the pumpkin, what a beautiful burst of orange the pumpkin is!

We visited the pumpkin patch as we do every year. The boys love to run around and touch as well as pick up as many pumpkins as possible. This year they wanted to stack the pumpkins like snowmen.

Kenimer also tried to pick up as many big ones as he could to demonstrate his strength. The pumpkin patch attendant was not too fond of this. We quickly selected smaller pumpkins and went to Publix to buy an “ affordable” ( 5.99) pumpkin. Really? Why would a large pumpkin cost $42.00?? ……….. But still, the pumpkins are beautiful!

A few weeks ago we had a rare occurance in these here parts. That would be my entire family gathering together for a few days. We tend to be scattered or rarely in town all at the same time. My brother and his new wife rolled– or rather flew into town. The plan was to send them off and load up the truck before they trekked to Pennsylvania!

The weekend was laced with fervent prayers for my brother and sis-in-law and their new job. I like to call it THE SEND OFF PRAYER! We first gathered and prayed at our Saturday night dinner. The next morning we all attended North Island Church where we assisted our brother in worship and heard our dad preach. The sunday service did not end without another send off prayer!

Then to fulfill my brother’s request we lunched at Grandy’s!  We managed to gather outside for some family pics. When I was reviewing the pics I noticed this hilarious succession of shots. My kids are something else. They were running after Brent!

Then…. what do you know? yet ANOTHER send off prayer. I didn’t get the first prayer time on camera. The second was caught at church and the third was shot kind of in- a -papparazi- manner. A friend who was with us nudged ( and graciously took the family pics) me to grab my camera. My brother had a huge Penske moving truck and had parked in the next lot. I looked in the direction she was pointing and noticed the parents, Mckendree and Rachel huddled yet again! It was quite beautiful! I crouched down to inconspiculously document this special moment. Im thankful for a praying family! And this is how I will always remember the day we sent Mckendree, my little brother and Rachel off to Pennsylvania!

We have just completed the third song in our kids virtue collection: UNIQUE

To listen to Septembers virtue: Respect click HERE

To listen to Octobers virtue: Initiative click HERE

Before proceeding, please allow me a short disclaimer: After a long sabbatical from the blogging world, I am back!  We have been stranded and stuck in a plethora of new website implementation problems. It was like a snowball, one thing after another. The main obstacle is that Shannon and I combined with our creative ideas make using templates a nightmare. Or rather, we are a nightmare to the tech friends trying to help us. We always want to manipulate the template to do something just a little different!

So on to more productive things…  Our November Virtue song : UNIQUE is just that – Unique. It is so unique in fact that we chuckle at the realization that it is kind of a country song fuzed to a rap number. I have to admit we did put this together with a little haste. This song may very well make the rewrite list at the end of the year!

I dropped Kenimer off at choir the other night and the director used the word unique in a sentence. Kenimer stated “I know a song about unique” and proceeded to sing the whole song to him.  It was really neat to watch!  Anytime I start to think “maybe I’m a little weird” or “I don’t do things like everyone else” I hear this song running through my mind.

Because I WAS MADE TO BE UNIQUE! And so were you. Please give it a listen and be encouraged!

Unique – Hope Farm Kids by SaintLewis