Thematic Photographic - Happy

I'm thinking of making Carmi's Thematic Photographic Challenge a regular post each week. I appreciate his encouragement to look at and capture life's moments in a different ways. This week's theme is "happy." So many ways to look at happy.

My photo's from last week's Photo Hunters actually fit pretty well. But with Carmi's challenge in mind, I looked through my recent photos for some that spoke "happy" to me. These are the photos I've chosen.

Last Sunday afternoon my oldest daughter, Sweetanlo, celebrated her Sweet 16 Birthday with four of her dearest friends and her younger sister, Sweetly. We planned an old-fashioned candy-making party; complete with taffy-pulling, fudge making and homemade lollipops. While the fudge was cooling, there was time to go out in the backyard and take some photos. Here are just a small sampling of the pictures I took that afternoon. I suggested some poses and then let them decide what to do. Once they got started, I just kept snapping photos. There was much giggling and laughing. I love how I can "feel" the laughter in these photos, especially in the photos that were actually "in-between" the posed photos. These girls have know each other for nearly their whole lives and love each other deeply. Being together makes them happy. Seeing them together makes me happy too.

(click on a picture to make it bigger so you can really see their facial expressions!)

Photo Hunters - Family

It wasn't hard to decide what to choose for the Photo Hunters theme this week. We were looking for photos of "family." In this, I am richly blessed.

How could I choose anything else?

Photo Hunt - Family

More family photos here.

Thematic Photographic - Blur

This week I was intrigued by Carmi's Thematic Photographic 20 - Blur. The photo he has posted is amazing! This challenge sounded like fun. Things don't always have to be in focus. In fact, sometimes it's better if they aren't.

Photo Hunters - Lazy

This week the Photo Hunters were looking for "lazy."

This photo is nothing special but around here this picture just screams, "LAZY!" to me. I mean, would it kill ya to change the roll?

Photo Hunt - Lazy

Stop by TN Chick for more lazy.

Too fun to pass up!

Saw this one over at Owlhaven. It looked too fun and too easy to pass up. If you want to play along, it's easy. Just open your computer photo folder, go to the sixth folder, pick the sixth picture and post it. Not too tough, right!! If you decide to play along, leave me a comment with a link to your post so I can come take a look at your choice.

Here's the photo I found. I love this one.



Here are (from left to right): Sweetly, JoeCool(peeking through), Shorty and Bear. They took this photo using my MacBook's Photo Booth.

Thanks for the challenge Mary! So much fun.

A New Gig

For the two or three of you who come visit me here - now you can also catch me over at the terrific online magazine Blissfully Domestic.

I'm writing for the new channel, Inspired Bliss. So much fun.

Come visit me over there. My first post is up. Come read A Taste of Heaven and tell me what you think in a comment.

Photo Hunters - Sad

Photo Hunters were looking for something "sad" this week.

These are photos of drawings done by my 11 year old boy, #1Son. His God-given talent amazes me. All of these characters express our theme to me in some way. Be it their mouths or eyes or just their faces, they all express sadness to me. (Don't worry - he draws plenty of "happy" too!)

Photo Hunt - Sad

We enjoy warmth because we have been cold. We appreciate light because we have been in darkness. By the same token, we can experience joy because we have known sadness.

David Weatherford

Thanks to TNChick, there is more sadness here.

Jumping in a little late

September's Poetic License Challenge over at Robin's was to write a Fall-themed cinquain. I'm a little late jumping onboard because even though Fall officially began over a week ago, here in the sunny southwest, the grass and leaves are still green and it was 85 degrees today!! It's just not feeling like Fall here yet.

You're in for a treat! I made my three older children write a cinquain as a part of school today. (They moaned like I was killing them.) Actually my 16 year old daughter had to write three cinquains - one in each style that Robin listed here.

#1Son. He's 11 (and a real melancholy - can you tell?)

Autumn
Dark, Cold
Crying, sighing, moaning
Summer's over and it feels so lonely
Sadness


Sweetly. She's 13 and loves the Fall.

Autumn.
Cold, crisp.
Running, watching, falling.
A new season is here! It's all wonderful and exciting!
Colorful.

Sweetanlo. 16 and an aspiring writer (which is why she had to do all three!)


#1
Leaves
Colorful, beautiful
Morphing, drifting, falling,
From green to orange and yellow, awe inspiring difference
Change


#2
Crispness
Frosty, Chilly
Freezing, shaking, moving
Hoping for eventual warmth
BRR-RR


#3
September 22 is the very first day of fall
The cripsness in the air just goes to show
That colder times have come to call
The leafs have fallen oh so low
And soon we shall see snow


And it's only fair that I write at least one myself. Here's mine

capsicum
red, green
roasting, flipping, tumbling
it is fall when the smell of their fire-roasting goodness is wafting through the air
chile

Photo Hunters - View

I had so much fun visiting all the different roads of last week's Photo Hunters.

I can't wait to see what we come up with for this week's theme - View. So many possibilities!

Do you have a good view? Let us have a look too!

As for me, I couldn't settle for just one view.

Photo Hunt - View

Mesas in southern Colorado



North Rim Grand Canyon Arizona



Sandia Crest New Mexico


And finally something a little more close to home...


the view from my kitchen window


Go by for a great view!

Photo Hunters - Road

We're going places this week as Photo Hunters. The challenge? Our theme: Road.

Got a bit of the wanderlust yourself?? Grab your camera and come along with us!

Photo Hunt - Road

Impart as much as you can of your spiritual being
to those who are on the road with you,
and accept as something precious
what comes back to you from them.

- Albert Schweitzer

On the road again

A Shout-Out from Martha

Some lucky bloggers are going to get reviews on Martha Stewart's Blog.

Leave a comment on on this post and you could be one of them.

Photo Hunters - Wild

What a fun theme for this week's Photo Hunters. We're looking for a picture of something WILD! So many possibilities. I've already been perusing the entries and there are some really interesting takes on the theme. My post is two-fold.

Photo Hunt - Wild

Here is a lioness that we saw last August at the "Lion Zoo" in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We were pleased to view her from afar.


And here is the Ethiopian lioness that I was glad to bring home. And no! You can't have her.


More wild things..

Seven Years

Because we really shouldn't ever forget.

Photo Hunters - String(s)

I'm late posting for Photo Hunters today, because I had such a hard time coming up with a photo for "string(s)." Finally settled on this. Plenty of string here.

Photo Hunt - String(s)

Beautiful beaded necklaces laying on a lovely woven scarf, all from Ethiopia.






I love TNChick's photo for this week's theme.

WFMW - Backwards Edition

This week's Works-for-Me Wednesday is a "Backwards Edition". That means instead of coming up with bright ideas for you, I ask a question and you come up with bright ideas for me. I like the sound of that.

So here's how you can help me. I'm all out of ideas. I need new recipes that work for this situation:

Two or three nights a week we have to eat dinner in shifts because parts of the family are gone at dinner time. I could really use some recipes for meals that I can cook for those eating at our regular dinner time and then put on the stove on low until my other kids and my husband can come home and eat. And please, kid-friendly recipes would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Don't Miss This!

Fall always makes me a bit melancholy. Fortunately for me, Laurel is doing something to welcome fall.



Ahhhhhh. I'm feeling better already.

Photo Hunters - Beautiful

Photo Hunters will be posting pictures of beautiful things. So much room for interpretation with the theme! Can't wait to see all the diverse choices.

Here's mine.

Photo Hunt - Beautiful

My oldest and my youngest






Beautiful things here.

Photo Hunters - Wrinkled

Tough one for me this week as the Photo Hunters were looking for something wrinkled. Looked through and settled on this photo.

Photo Hunt - Wrinkled

Here's my brother hanging up his clean laundry to dry when he was in stationed in Iraq a few summers ago. He said no amount of ironing got all the wrinkles out of his clothes.



More wrinkles here.

Photo Hunters - Dark

Photo Hunt - Dark

Think she got her wish?



Check out the darkness here.

August 6th

August 6th...

One year ago today, our "paper pregnancy" came to its end, when we walked into an orphanage in Ethiopia and a nanny put our daughter LemLem into Pastormac's arms.

That day forever changed our lives.

Adoption experts say that it can take up to a year for life in the adoptive family to settle down to the "new normal." The addition of Bear last February has made this process take longer for our family.

One year has past and I can say, with feeling, that August 6th 2007 ROCKED MY WORLD.

Now that I can breath again, albeit shallowly at times, I'd like to share some of the things that I've learned and experienced over the last year. I've learned a lot about adoption and perhaps more importantly about myself.



So come back soon. I hope to have my first installment up next week.




Join the Blog Train

Photo Hunters - Clouds

This week thePhoto Hunters are in search of clouds. Should be a fun week. The sky is truly the limit.

Nothing fancy about my photo this week.

Photo Hunt - Clouds

More clouds here.