My first picture done in my home studio! 

Blessed

Tonight we had a Dinner For 8 group at our house. It's a thing that our Sunday school class does where four couples are grouped together for 3 months to do socials and dinners in order to have a chance to better get to know each other. We had SUCH a wonderful time. All of the couples in our group are absolutely lovely and have lovely children. We all had a fantastic time. We are SO blessed to have been put here in Tucson. God has SO totally seen to our needs. Not so long ago, we were in a really dark place as far as having our spiritual fellowship needs met. Then we walked into the Catalina Foothills Church and have felt God's blessings poured out on us ever since. God has truly planted some of the lovliest people you could EVER meet right here in Tucson. And we are fortunate enough to cross paths with them quite often. It is refreshing and truly filling to be surrounded by strong Christian couples who are so kind and fun and uplifting and encouraging. I have found such acceptance and love in this group of people and Chris and I both really look forward to opportunities to be involved with them. Every need we have had since we moved here to the desert has been met so fully and completely and so beyond our expectations. I sit here tonight and I feel so blessed that I cannot even begin to put it into words. It is a special feeling to know that God has His hand on you and on your life and is so willing to provide for you in every single area of your life...no matter how small the need or the desire. I can't even begin to put all of these thoughts into appropriate words...I just sit here tonight feeling overwhelmingly blessed. God has been good and faithful. He has richly blessed us with wonderful friends....more than we ever could have hoped for. I am grateful beyond expression...life is SO good and very blessed here in the desert.

Our Clara loved the dandelions at Big Lake, up in Alpine, AZ. 

Hobby

A coyote I was lucky enough to glimpse resting at the desert museum.

So....everyone who knows me, even just a little bit, knows that I am a bit passionate about my camera and pictures. So...lately, as my baby girl gets closer and closer to starting school, I have been entertaining the notion that it might be time to grow up and, you know, contribute to our family income in some way. Everyone keeps telling me that I have an eye for photography and that it is my gift, so to speak. I'm starting to think they may be right. I don't know about the gift part or having any special eye for photography...but I love taking pictures. I could do it day and night. I have also gotten a lot of comments on the nice graphics of this blog site. I take special pleasure in that, since they are not graphics, but my very own pictures, taken with my very own camera. It has been a huge confidence booster. And so....I finally ordered some professional backdrops and bought some lights and I hope to set up a sort of home studio and experiment over the next while to see just what I can do with it all. I have no idea if I can even begin to shoot anything worth looking at. But I at least hope to try. I am not an ambitious person at all....that is my husband's job! So my prayer is that God will really use this in me if this is the direction He would have me go. I hope to be set up by next weekend. I have a real passion for babies...haven't really shot any with my camera...but that is where my mind and heart always seem to wander to...so I am hoping to explore the baby, young child arena. I am blessed to be in a group right now where there are LOTS of babies being born. It is definitely a new adventure for me...one I am cautiously optimistic about. I keep getting bogged down in worries...like that my room is too small, or that the walls should be stark white and not the painted neutral that they are....or that the window in that room might be a bad thing...but hoping that it might be a really nice thing. You know....killing the whole thing before it even gets off the ground...before I ever shoot the first picture. That would be typical me. But I want to give it a shot....and for once, see just what I can do with it. Everyone else seems to have so much faith in me...I just need to find some it for myself. So....if you are reading this....you've seen the pics on this site....what do YOU think? I'd love any feedback from unbiased folks who won't just say nice things to my face because they know me...but from others who read the words and see the pictures of a stranger...as a stranger...what do you think? Life is good here in the desert. Exciting, unknown, hopeful....and very, very good.

Four

Clara creates her bear, "Samantha"

We celebrated Clara's 4th birthday at Build a Bear this past weekend. There were six little girls there and it was quite the noisy and energetic get together. Once they all arrived, Grace, our "party bear" helped them each to pick out the bear that they wanted to make. They had several choices and it took a few minutes of pondering before all six could make a final decision. Then, Grace had them all put their bears-to-be on their heads and they proceeded to march in a line, all around the store shouting at the top of their lungs, "Stuff my bear! Stuff my bear!" I think they all loved that part, getting to yell inside, and in a very public place no less! Next, they each went through a heart ceremony, which involved choosing a satin heart, rubbing the heart in their little hands to make it warm, rubbing on their legs to make it fast, rubbing it on their heads to make it smart, and then making a wish on the heart and stuffing it inside the bear. They all got to work the "stuffer" and push the pedal to stuff their bears to their own individual levels of fluffiness. Once all of the bears were stuffed and sewn together, they moved on to the fluff and brush stage. They all got to brush and clean up their little bears while fluffing them under these big air things, kind of like hair dryers. Next, it was on to the dressing phase! And here is where the fun began. Turn six little girls loose in a store jam packed with awesome outfits, shoes, hats, wigs, eyeglasses, p.j.s, etc and say..."pick one". A couple of the little girls knew right away what they wanted their bears to wear and were done in about 2 minutes with their selections. However....the other four had quite a time putting together just the right outfit, all the while having to work within their "budget"! It didn't help, of course, that four year old girls have NO CONCEPT whatsoever of what a budget is or how much things cost. But eventually, we managed to get all the bears stuffed, fluffed, and all dressed up. After we wrapped things up at the bear store, we headed to the food court for donuts and juice and presents. It was fun to watch all of them enjoy each other's company.

As I watched all of them laughing and playing and smiling, I was just struck by how blessed we are. How blessed we have been to have our little Clara these past four years. We had prayed and prayed for a little girl. And while she had a rough year of three...as she got closer to four, she has really been such a delight. She is girly, girly in every way. And she is so sweet and so eager to please. She loves children and craves their company constantly. She wants to be a ballerina when she grows up. She is simply a delight. It's hard to believe she's been with us for four years already. Before we know it, we'll be walking her down the aisle to the man of her dreams! But I try not to think about THAT too much. Right now, I just want to treasure the little girl. The sweet one who adores her mommy, loves her baby dolls, is her Daddy's little princess and the one who just fills my heart up to overflowing every time I look at her, just knowing she's mine. We are blessed to have this child. Blessed to be parents....and I thank God every day that he has allowed us the priviledge of being parents to our wonderful children.

Compliments

I have received several compliments lately on this blog site. So, thank you very much if you happen to be among those who have been so generous with their compliments. This site is just my sporadic thoughts and ramblings on about my life and the lives of my family members. All of the pictures are my own. I have a love for taking pictures and I am grateful to my children every time they stand still long enough for me to capture the moment! My husband has great faith and confidence in my picture taking skills...way more than I myself do! So he blessed me with a really cool and nice digital camera. I take a picture (or a couple of hundred pictures) nearly everywhere we go and occasionally, I will try to throw a couple up on this site...just because I like to see them pop up there. But thank you very much to those who were so kind with their comments. I appreciate it very much. You made my day!

First day of school! 

Grrrrrrr...Thursdays

So...Thursdays are turning out to be rough for me this season. I don't even know how we got to this point...no way to avoid it really...just bad luck I think. But my Thursdays are going to be long and lousy now for the next 12 weeks....at least. Our morning starts by having everyone out the door by 8:25 a.m. I drop the boys off at school and Clara and I head into the gym, where I have back to back classes. First, a turbokick class, followed by a BodyPump strength training class. The I rush home, grab a quick shower, giving Clara her lunch to eat while I shower. Then it's back out the door to drop her off at preschool at 12:15. I pick her up at 2:45. Then head straight to school to pick up the boys. We rush home, grab Max's guitar and head right back out the door within 10 minutes to get Max to his guitar lesson. Thirty minutes later, we are back in the car heading home. And this is where life will get fun. We have to be back out the door and on the soccer field by 6 p.m. We will not get home from guitar until right at 5. I don't know where soccer practice is going to be yet....but I have a sneaking suspicion that it won't be anywhere convenient! At some point, I have to feed my family dinner, not to mention, help Max get his homework done. Soccer doesn't end until 7:30. If we are LUCKY, which, believe me, I am SO not feeling right about now....but if we are lucky, we might be home by 7:50 or so. By the time we get showers...well...game over, lights out, bedtime! I asked Max's music teacher if he had any lesson openings on Monday or Wednesday afternoons...but of course, he didn't. THAT would have made my life too easy. If something becomes available, he's going to let me know. I won't be sitting here holding my breath...that's for sure. Despite the insanely crazy schedule, I'm thankful for the bustle of fall. I love to see my children's faces light up in smiles as they see their friends or learn something new and cool. I love to know that each day has a purpose and direction and a definite "to do" list. I appreciate and miss my babies more, now that I don't see them all day, every day. This year will be a huge adventure, for ALL of us. My prayer is just for peace and a desire to relax and see it all through. Life is busy in the desert...to be sure, but oh so good!

School Days

Well, summer is over, here in the desert. The school bells are ringing and our family, along with the rest of the desert dwellers, is back in the rush and routine of the school year. The calendar is staggering in the amount of activities and appointments that we are balancing right now. Both boys seem to like their teachers pretty well (which is nice). I think they will both have plenty of challenges ahead to keep them busy and plenty of opportunity to totally screw up as well! Clara has been making me crazy with the boys gone, as her school starts a week behind them. But she is off tomorrow to pre-school and from that point on will have either school or ballet three days a week. We head out to the gym the fourth day, where she has several little friends. And the fifth day will be "our" day to do some fun things, like shopping or the zoo (Clara's favorite) or the children's museum. This is our last "easy" week for the year. Next week we add soccer and ballet to school, preschool and guitar lessons. I have to admit, that I love the pace of the school year. No time to think about what you'll do....you just DO it. Almost like autopilot. I love falling into bed at 9:30 completely exhausted. I love waking up at 6:30 on a mission with plenty to do. I find myself to get much more accomplished in a day where I am so busy for some reason. On my busiest days it seems I manage to squeeze in my bible study (I'm only 4 chapters behind!), which I could never seem to get done when there was absolutely nothing to do in the day! I get things clean that somehow couldn't get addressed before. I thrive under pressure and a schedule. So....this is my favorite time of the year. I love to just go! So this morning I am thankful! Thankful for the great schools here and for the teachers working with my kids. I am thankful for schedules and activities and that we can afford things like pre-school and ballet, guitar and soccer. I am thankful for the busyness that somehow lends peace to my life and I am thankful for the feeling of accomplishment that I have at the end of each day. I'm thankful that somehow, at my busiest times, I find myself closer to God and Him, closer to me. Life is so good here in the desert!