She

When she was a little girl she was attached to me at the hip or legs or feet. She was a Mama’s girl (and still is, but shhhhh).

She loved her babies, just like her big sister. Her favorite was Rosie, who was almost as big as she, when she first got her. When Rosie’s arm could no longer be repaired, I drove to several stories to find a duplicate. Old Rosie was retired to the attic and New Rosie found her place of honor. I still have both.

From an early age she always had to know how to do something before she did it. From gymnastics to school stuff. This even carried through to her first job at 16. She worried because she wanted to know how to perform the tasks before she even started the job. She worried for no reason. She did great!

She is quiet, but she certainly has a goofy side. See?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She makes me laugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She has faced some adversity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course with that face above, adversity turned tail and ran!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She is very intelligent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well…..you’ll just have to take my word for it.

She left high school at the start of her junior year to attend a middle college high school at our local community college. She says it seems like she has been in college forever. She’s right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now? Now she will be graduating this Saturday. I am so proud of her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s hope she finds her happy face before graduation!

I love you Kayla.

His Story

We acquired him a few years ago. He came into our family a little scared and with only three legs. The only thing we knew about him was that he was probably a little over year old. He joined a cast of two kitties and an old lady dog. I wouldn’t say he and the old lady dog were best buddies, but she was his only companion as they spent their days together in the laundry room or in a run at the vet whenever we would go out of town. Sometimes, when we weren’t looking, they would actually play, up until the past year or so. She just didn’t want to play anymore. Right before Christmas she decided it was time to go play in the sky after 13 years here on earth.

Not only do the humans in the house miss her, he misses her. Every day.

Happy Easter

And The Winner Is…..

It was late. Sweet Cupcake Girl was here last night for a sleepover and was nestled in her little bed. The Captain was down in his cave and I, well I was trying to keep my eyes open. I felt a little out of sorts, but attributed it to tiredness. As I glanced through blogs on my favorite iPad App, Blogshelf, I saw that iheartfaces had posted the winners of the Wind Challenge.

I really love this website and even had the opportunity to meet Amy & Angie last year in Nashville. Week after week these ladies offer up photo challenges and tutorials for all levels of photographers. It doesn’t matter if you have a point/shoot or the big, fancy mega-bucks camera. That’s what is so awesome about iheartfaces. Last week the photo challenge was wind. I had the perfect photograph, so, I posted it on my blog then entered/linked it up to their website.

When I glanced at the iheartfaces blog on my Blogshelf, I thought, what the heck. Let’s see who won. The winner? It was a beautiful photo and definitely deserved 1st place, but it wasn’t mine. Sigh. As I was making my way through the Top Ten finishers, I stopped. I saw the words Ninth Place then I read the words: Ninth Place: Lulu Loves. What? Are you serious? Then I saw the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE PICTURE! And it was mine! I placed #9 out of 503 entries. My heart was overjoyed! It was midnight, but I called both my daughters and my sweet Captain (via the phone intercom).

There really isn’t a particular story behind this picture. It was taken on March 11, outside at Cupcake’s house. It was a beautiful sunny day, but was certainly windy. She happened to be standing in front of me, looking down at something in her hands and I saw her long, blonde hair blowing across her face. But the really captivating thing that took hold of my heart was her beautiful, long, dark eyelashes (just like her Daddy’s). I wanted to capture those gems and capture them I DID! I truly love this photograph. It may not be “technically” correct, but it speaks volumes to me.

So a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to iheartfaces founders Amy & Angie, for ALL that you do and to Guest Photographer Judge, Rosina Waszaj. Thank you also to Traci and Zak for “producing” such a beautiful and most of the time, willing subject. I do love her with all my heart. And finally, a great big ’ole kiss and hug to my Cupcake Girl. You tolerate/indulge Nunu’s camera in your face, all the time.

On a recent trip I saw a quote by Joseph Bruchac, an Abenaki Indian author. He said, We teach our children our history through our stories. Our stories remember when people forget. The only addition I would like to make to Mr. Bruchac’s quote is to insert the word photographs after the word stories. Our stories and photographs remember when people forget. We are so busy being busy, we sometimes miss the moment. For me, photography captures that moment. Photographs are pieces of life. Moments in time. It’s how we remember.

Fun In The Sun With A Little Camera

I always try to carry my point/shoot camera wherever I go. I can tell that the quality of the pictures are slowly headed down the path of blurriness. But, you know, that’s okay. It’s small and convenient. Most of the time I like what I see and occasionally, I really wish I had the big ’un.

On this particular day, I was very happy with the pictures that little PowerShot produced. They’re just what I was hoping to achieve. A little off, a little grainy and actually, just perfect!

Of course, the food and my companion made it complete!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In some of my older posts I usually ended with a parting shot. Since it’s been a while, here goes…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Captain. Just gotta love that face! By the way, this was not taken with the point/shoot.

A Package for Me?

Thursday afternoon, after a great day of riding the local trolley 3 times (a.k.a. electric shuttle), a visit to the downtown library, sharing some cheese pizza followed up by her favorite “chakit” ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s, we arrived back at Cupcake’s house to a package at the door. It was a small package, but we could clearly see it from the street.

Cupcake: Look Nunu, a package.
Me: Yep, I see it. Must be for Mommy or Daddy.
Cupcake: Let’s “yook” and see.
Me: Okay.
As we are unlocking the door I pick up the package and discovered her name on it.
Me: Well, looks like it’s for you. It has your name on it.
Cupcake: Really? Can we open it?
Me: Sure. I don’t think Mommy will mind. It see it’s from you Mimi and Papaw. Remember where they live? (Mimi and Papaw are my parents and Cupcake’s great-grandparents)
Cupcake: Georgia.
Me: That’s right. Okay. Let’s get it open. Oh wow! It’s a book. And it’s about Easter.
Cupcake: Will you read it to me now?
Me: Sure. Go get on the sofa and I’ll get you some milk.
A few brief seconds later while I was in the kitchen, she comes running in.
Cupcake: Nunu, Nunu. That book has Jesus in it. I saw Jesus in it.

Now, I hadn’t looked at the book, except for the cover, but assumed it was about eggs, bunnies and the such. I didn’t even notice the little church on the cover and Cupcake had been flipping through it, then toward the end, she found a picture of Jesus.

We sat on the sofa and read this wonderful book together. I love how it talked about all that happens at Easter from eggs to bunnies, chicks and baskets. But the most important thing it talked about was how much God loves us. And as the end of the book says, “That is what Easter is about.”

Thank you Mimi and Papaw! Thank you for loving your great-granddaughter!

Wind in My Hair

I love the feeling of the fresh air on my face and the wind blowing through my hair.
~Evel Knievel

 

 

 

 

Be sure to visit iheartfaces to see more breathtaking wind photographs.

Can We Fly the Kite Today?

Trees previously covered with blooms are now multi-shades of green. Flowers continue to burst through the dirt. And the winds are whirling around, even though it’s April. One day as we watching the wind blow dandelions and “helicopter seeds”, Cupcake Girl remembered that I had a kite in the back of my car. We had only tried to fly the kite once, with little success.

As the wind kicked in a little today, we tried again and we had success! It was beautiful. Seeing that kite flying high in the air and the smiles on Cupcake’s face and The Captain’s face as he hoisted it. Just beautiful!

Here’s a little slideshow from today. Enjoy!

Egg-citing Weekend!

What a nice weekend. A little bit of play time at the park and then some Easter egg goodness! A bit of traditional dying and then some fabulous tie dying! Love that tie dye look!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Little Bit of Goodness

I know, I know. I still need to finish our Utah trip post(s) and I will. But just for now, just for today, here is a little bit of goodness.

Beautiful day, a precious granddaughter who asked to “spend the night” and lots of hugs, laughs and kisses goin’ ‘round all day! Sweet love!

Some park play, leaf throwing, carousel rides, hand holding, and sandbox love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following this great afternoon we made some yummylicious dinner of pasta with asparagus, peas, chopped olives and turkey-roni with a side of fresh fruit. More time spent reading and snuggling! What a day, what a glorious day!