The Shadow of the Cross

Merry Christmas, Bloggy Friends ♥ ♥ ♥

2009-12-24T11:45:00.003-05:00

Well, most of the packages are wrapped. Christmas Eve dinner is in the works. And, the last gift arrived in the mail just a few minutes ago. All is on track for tomorrow.

Time to slow down, time to reflect, to think about Christ-mas.

"Christ"mas.

The birth of Christ.

The birth of our Savior.

The birth of hope.

The birth of a future.

The birth of wonderment, and peace, and joy, and love.

From my family to yours - we pray you have a wonderful, blessed Christmas-time and a Happy New Year. May God richly bless you in this time with your family and loved ones.

From the Hendons - - - Merry Christmas!

The Kiss

2009-12-22T12:08:00.003-05:00

This is the shot I posted a few days ago from Jason and Bobbie's wedding.
It has been dubbed "the kiss."
Today I was editing more shots and came across this one that Kali took at the wedding.

This is the picture Kali clicked at the same time I took the first photo. If you look at Tyler's position, you can actually match him up from shot to shot. In the first picture you can see his hand raised and his little face just under Jason and Bobbie's chins. I love it!

Merry Christmas Photo Cards

2009-12-19T17:43:00.003-05:00

The morning of Bobbie and Jason's wedding, we went to a local hair salon to get Bobbie's hair styled. The salon had done a lovely job of decorating and I ended up taking pictures of the ornaments in various locations around the shop. Now that I am back home, I've been playing with those photos, editing and seeing what I could do with them. I ended up making two photo Christmas cards that I plan to email out to a bunch of people. They were really simple to make. Here is what I did:

This is the original photo I took. I opened it up in Photoshop CS3.

Next, I opened up the Pioneer Woman Action Set I, that I downloaded for FREE from http://thepioneerwoman.com. I highlighted the lowly and ethereal action and ran it.

Next I ran the soft and faded action. I like the antique/vintage look it gives.

I brightened up the photo some with the slight lighten action.

Text is easy to add using your editing program. Place it wherever you want it on your card.

Lastly, I wanted to add some texture to my card. In PSCS3, I opened filter, then texture, and selected the mosaic tiles action. This is the final product.

Easy to do. If I can do it, so can you. Go to the Pioneer Woman's blog and download her two sets of FREE actions and get started.

This card was just as easy to make. For this one though, I used actions I purchased online from MCPActions.com.

Here is the original photo from the hair salon shop.

From my MCPActions, I opened MCP Frosted Memories and ran the gold locket action.

I gave the photo some texture by running the Next Monet action.

The faded edges - high res action, does just what it implies.

Then I ran the toasted edges - low res action.

I finished off the card with some text.

Easy to do and the results are beautiful! Let me know if you try your hand at a card - we can post your results here if you'd like! Merry Christmas!

Jason and Bobbie Get Married

2009-12-17T23:28:00.011-05:00

December 12, 2009, Jason and Bobbie got married. (I have been trying for the last couple hours to load pictures on facebook with no luck, so I am directing all those people here to my blog :)). So far, this is my favorite shot from the day!

We started the day before - at the grocery store. Bobbie and Jason wanted to have a barbeque at the house to celebrate their marriage. I think both of them were tired. They both work the night shift and aren't used to being awake during the day :). There was a lot of shopping and manicures/pedicures :).

Their wedding day started off at the beauty shop where Bobbie had her hair styled while Kali and I watched and took pictures :). . . .

. . . . then back to the grocery store for more shopping. As I took this picture, the cashier asked what was going on and we told her Bobbie was getting married. The lady asked when the ceremony was. I checked my watch and told her it was happening in 27 MINUTES!!! Run to the car!

Back at the house, lots of preparation was going on. The fellows were heating up the smokers for all the meat we bought.

Kali started filling balloons with helium and tieing strings to them . . . .

. . . . to decorate this.

Once everything was ready, and Bobbie and Jason were dressed, I sneaked them out the back door to get a few photos before everyone else knew they were ready. I didn't get them to myself for long, but I did get a few shots.

The two of them are a hoot together!

Jason was like, "yeah! let's do it!"

Actually, Jason and Bobbie met with a notary for a few minutes and signed the paperwork inside the house before they came outside with everyone else. They were technically already "married" at this point. That's the marriage certificate in Bobbie's hand.

Meet Tyler, Bobbie's nephew. I think he is maybe 7 years old, something like that. He wanted to say vows with Bobbie and Jason, and he wore his Mister Suit so he could do just that.

He's all good and ready to go!

Tyler actually had his vows written out in this book so he could read them to Bobbie and Jason. (You may notice, he had a run-in with some monkey bars the day before the wedding.)

Jason and Bobbie and Tyler head on over to the tent . . . .

. . . . where Aunt Bobbie made sure he had his page ready . . . .

. . . . and she and Jason helped Tyler up onto a chair so everyone could see him.

Bobbie's vows came first.

Then Jason's.

These are the vows Tyler wrote for them to use:

Bobbie, Do you promes to be awsome to Jason for InfineDy Beond with all your heart?

Jason, Do you promes to be awsome to Bobbie for InfineDy Beond with all your heart?

Followed by an exchange of wedding bands.

Then Tyler told them to kiss, which they did for some time :).

Then we moved on to CAKE! . . . .

. . . . which was very politely fed to each other - lol!

Removing the top layer was interesting. So, how many people do you think it takes to remove the top layer of a wedding cake?

Apparently a few - lol!

Lots of barbeque, potato salad, and Bobbie's wonderful macaroni-n-cheese was shared by all!

And we all played. This is Lucy - isn't she beautiful? What a great, friendly dog she is!

Good friends :).

I'm not sure how this guy fits into the family, but I sure liked his ride! All decked out for Christmas with antlers, red nose, Christmas running lights, ornaments!

Winding down.

It was a great day. Everything went smoothly and Jason and Bobbie seemed to have a wonderful time. They were both a bit nervous early in the day, but did fine as the day ran on. I will have more photos to post over the next few days. Especially ones of Mark and my "grandkids" - Bobbie and Jason have eight ferrets! which are all adorable! Pictures to come!

Flat Alice Meets Pioneer Woman

2009-12-16T16:57:00.004-05:00

On December 7th, Ree Drummond, AKA the Pioneer Woman, was in Atlanta conducting a book signing event for her new cookbook. Had I known about this ahead of time, I would have made arrangements to be there. I found out the night before - on Facebook, don't you know you can find out anything on Facebook - that my friend Charlotte was making the drive to get her cookbook signed by the Pioneer Woman! ... WITHOUT ME!

That night, December 7th, this is what I found on Facebook :). My dear friends Charlotte and Donna came through for me - Big Time! Here are the exact words they posted with their photos on Facebook. Gotta love it! I smile everytime I look at the pictures...enjoy!

This is THE Pioneer Woman.

She blogs and takes pictures a lot.

She just wrote a cookbook.

We are off to our adventure of meeting the Pioneer Woman with a few hundred of our closest friends.

We like to cook.

Actually we like adventures ...

This is Alice.

She blogs and takes pictures too.

She couldn't make it to the cookbook signing ... or could she??????

Meet Flat Alice!!!

Flat Alice is quite excited to be in line at the cookbook signing!

Flat Alice is very social and is even making new friends in line!

Oh My Goodnesssssss .... Flat Alice just met Bakerella ... while standing in line for the Pioneer Woman!

What are the chances???

Oh Bakerella blogs and takes pictures too! ( yes, they all have so much in common.)

Bakerella specializes in desserts and she is sweet.

LOOK AT THIS!

Flat Alice meeting Pioneer Woman!

Pioneer Woman was absolutely tickled.

Flat Alice was speechless!

Flat Alice moved over and made room for me in the picture.

This is my friend Donna.

She blogs.

She takes pictures.

And she shows up for our adventure in a fabulous scarf and fresh makeup.

Flat Alice always looks great.

I, on the other hand, judged debate all day. Unfortunately, I looked like I had judged debate all day.

Other than looking better than me, Donna is a wonderful friend.

Pioneer Woman's friend Hyacinth and her sister Betsy had some quality time with Flat Alice.

They liked her so much they gave her a gift!!

Even though it was a little large, Flat Alice was thrilled with her gift!

Although she did ask if it made her look too flat!

I told her she looked perfect!

This is Flat Alice with her happy face!

And this is Flat Alice embracing her exceedingly creative friends!

Flat Alice was quite the Chatty Cathy and could not stop talking.

The kids were very polite!

Flat Alice was too energized to sleep so we played with the puppy for a while!

Ahhhhhhh ...

Another great adventure for Flat Alice.

Flat Alice drifts off to sleep dreaming of meeting ....

Sweet Dreams Flat Alice!

End of a fantastic, amazing story! What great friends I have been blessed with! I love them both!

Then, lo and behold, this shows up on the web! Lol! Flat Alice was featured on Alabama Slacker Mama's blog with Bakerella! You can check it out here.
Charlotte, you and Donna are the best! You really made my day, my week! Wow! I have gotten the most comments on your Facebook post of these pictures. Everyone loved it! Thanks :)!.

Away From My Desk

2009-12-09T23:27:00.003-05:00

Remember this picture from a couple weeks back? This is my son Jason and his girlfriend Bobbie. They decided very recently that they wanted to go ahead and get married :). We are very excited and can't wait for Saturday! We are heading out in the morning to go to the Orlando area where the wedding will take place in just a couple days. Bobbie has promised I can take all the pictures I want to. So, expect to see some of them next week. In the meantime, have a great weekend! I'll see you when we get back!

Sweet Dreams Photo Challenge at i ♥ faces

2009-12-07T20:23:00.003-05:00

What could possibly be any sweeter than this? The challenge this week at i ♥ faces is Sweet Dreams. This is the same little fellow I featured last week in the tooshie category :). We placed Jayden on top of the blankets and his little 4 pound body just cuddled right in and he got the sweetest smile on his face. Sound asleep, he never even stirred. He was totally comfortable as you can see by his one leg propped over the side of the basket. So sweetly dreaming. I wonder what about? What would bring that little smile to his precious face?

To check out a whole bunch more sweet dreams shots, head on over to www.iheartfaces.com and check them out. Better yet, put in an entry of your own!

Christmas - Garfield Style

2009-12-06T09:55:00.003-05:00

You know I seriously love me some Garfield! As I was sitting here working on the computer (gotta edit and post all those shots from our practice tournament last night *smile*), I came across today's Garfield. Well, it is definitely that time of year again, so I figured I'd post it here for all you computer-working-folks to enjoy :). Now, I know this is not the heart of Christmas, but it is definitely one small fun part of it :)! While many of my blog-world friends and facebook friends are posting words about the Gators and Tim Tebow, I am taking a stand on what's important and posting ...... da-da-da-dum! GARFIELD! Yeah! (And I am extremely tired, can you tell?)

If you want to see more cartoons that I have posted over time, scroll down in my sidebar to the list of labels, and click on 'cartoons'.

We ♥ Tooshies Challenge :)

2009-11-30T12:54:00.004-05:00

The challenge this week at I ♥ Faces is 'tooshies!' We usually focus on faces, but this week Angie and Amy decided to switch it up - lol! I immediately thought of this shot I took of Jayden. Jayden was born early. He weighed 4 pounds, 10 ounces. He was 12 days old when I took this picture. He was, without a doubt, the smallest healthy baby I had ever seen. I love the way both his dad and mom are cradling him, to keep him safe. Pretty much the way God wraps me up in His hands and keeps me safe. What blessings we have all been given. Even the blessing of tiny little tooshies! :O)

To check out other tooshie shots, head on over to I ♥ Faces. Even better ... join the fun!

Meet Sawyer

2009-11-29T23:18:00.004-05:00

This is Sawyer.

Sawyer is a palomino quarterhorse. Beautiful, calm, peaceful.

Sawyer, Gus, and Rascal all get along fairly well. We weren't sure what to expect, but so far/so good!

Of course, Gus is still the head dog! So to speak - lol!

Kali took this picture of me with Rascal :).

Gus, Kali, and Rascal. It's all good as long as there is plenty of petting and treat-giving :).

Mark with Gus. For those who have asked, Gus' foot is doing much better. It will still be some time before we can ride Gus again, but at least he's getting better.

And this is Lindsey with Rascal. Lindsey lives next door and she loves our animals. She spends a lot of time with them and with us and we are so thankful for her!

Happy Thanksgiving, 2009

2009-11-26T10:58:00.004-05:00

Today is Thanksgiving. As I think about all the blessings I have been given, and all I have to be thankful for, my wonderful husband is at the top of the list. A quiet, unassuming man. He loves me, he loves our children, and he loves us as a family.

Jason was our first born. He has grown into a responsible, dependable young man that I am so very proud of. Jason has established himself in a career and is building his own life, apart from our household, just as the Bible instructs children to do.

Kali would have been our 4th born had the two in between her and Jason survived. As it is, she is our girl. Set in her ways, firmly knowing where she is going and what she believes God wants her to do with her life. If you had told me 11 years ago that we would now be closing in on our 11th year of homeschooling and be busy traveling all over the country giving speeches, debating, and helping at conferences - I would have thought you had lost your mind.

Bobbie is new to our family. She loves my son, my son loves her, and I love her because she loves my son. Sound hokey? Not at all. Bobbie is part of our family, she fills an important role. And, she's funny and willing to try new things...like teaching a donkey to walk through a hula hoop :O).

Something new I am thankful for this year is our ranch and critters. We are fewer in number family-wise this year, as Mark's dad and step-mom passed on since last Thanksgiving. Their blessing to us made this ranch and all our critters possible.

I am thankful to God for the opportunity to be in this wonderful family. I thank God for the opportunity to travel with my daughter as she stretches her wings as a leader and commands the platform for Christ. I am thankful that my son is becoming the man I always prayed he would become. I am thankful he has a young lady in his life that loves him just as he is. I am thankful that God has blessed us with our church home and our friends there. And also for our wonderful youth group who accepts me as one of their own. Who would know I'm 56 years old when you look at my kiosk on a Wednesday night?!? Thank you God, for being so good to us, even though we don't deserve a day of it! And thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus.

Thanksgiving Is Almost Here

2009-11-25T10:25:00.002-05:00

Only Garfield! lol! Seriously, so many things to be thankful for. So many family members and friends and blessings. Think about it. Be safe. More tomorrow.

I ♥ Faces, Solar Flare Challenge

2009-11-23T23:44:00.004-05:00

The challenge this week at I ♥ Faces is "solar flare." Yes, I know I'm supposed to include a photo with a human face, but I really liked the way this one turned out! So, I decided to share it anyway :O). Gus and Rascal eating as the sun was getting ready to set. To check out the other solar flare shots (the ones with human faces), visit I ♥ Faces.

And, I'm going to cheat and also count this as my You Capture entry for sunsets :). To check out other sunrises/sunsets, just visit I Should Be Folding Laundry here.

Lead the Escape, 2009 CFC Conference Tour

2009-11-17T00:56:00.010-05:00

The 2009 Communicators For Christ Conference Tour is titled Lead the Escape. Kali and I have been to two of the conferences, and leave for the last conference of the year tomorrow. The twelve-member intern team came to our church last week and presented their drama by the same name. We love the interns and have learned and had a fun time with them at the conferences and here at home.

This is Josh. He teaches Team Policy and oversees Model U. N.. He is also the tournament director, along with Robin. They even do a little ditty called: Josh and Robin, to the tune of Rockin' Robin. :O)

Robin :)

Robin and Kelsea during Gecco, a global environmental, economical, and financial simulation.

Kelsea in Lead the Escape.

This is Eric. He teaches media track along with Katie Mac.

Katie Mac and Socrates :O).

Tim - reminiscent of the A.N.N.O.U.N.C.E.MENT Song :), which he sang with Janie.

Janie doing a snippet of her interp.

Phil - the man of 1000 faces. . . .

. . . . and juggler extraordinaire.

Kristen. She was pretty much everywhere!

Here is Austin. He collects gnomes, but I can't recall if they are Garden Gnomes or Lawn Gnomes . . . .

. . . and Gerald, Austin's gnome!

Hannah taught a lot of classes and was a vital part of the Greenies, during Gecco.

The Greenies consisted of Katie Anne, Kali, and Hannah.

Katie Anne was really funny! and also did some dramatic bits.

Justin held the new position of Tour Manager. I know he was invaluable to the team.

And I couldn't make a post regarding anything to do with Communicators For Christ without including a photo of the beautiful Mrs. Moon, the founder and leader of CFC.

(An interesting side note * * * the homeschoolers that follow my blog may recognize the name Teresa Moon. She wrote a book that I used when Kali was in elementary school - years before we heard of Communicators For Christ. Mrs. Moon wrote the book Evaluating For Excellence: A Handbook for Evaluating Student Progress.)

Thanks to all the interns, Justin, and Mrs. Moon for a great conference experience! We are praying for God to bless your efforts as you encourage young people to step away from artificial communication to authentic communication for Christ. Love you all so much!

Finally in Naples

2009-11-11T21:10:00.003-05:00

Kali and I finally made it to Naples late this morning. We started out last night after her class was finished and drove a couple hours before stopping for the night. Then up early this morning. Not my favorite time of day - at all. I don't typically do six o'clock in the morning. Six o'clock at night I can do all day, just not six o'clock in the morning. Interstate traffic was bad. A light rain caused big trouble. We came across a total of six major accidents. Traffic was backed up literally for miles in both directions. Not good. Needless to say - we were late arriving to the conference. At least we got there before lunch, and that was a good thing. I say "good" because today's lunch was from Panera Bread. Yummo!

We had fun debate classes today. Lots of high energy kids...whoa! Should be an interesting week :O). Tomorrow we work on Public Forum debating.

You probably won't get any more posts this week. And you definitely won't get any photos. Sorry. We are staying in a lovely hotel. A lovely hotel with stinky internet service. I am not lieing - it took over a full minute just to open my hotmail account. That didn't even include trying to read any mail. I'll be thankful to click submit on this post and just say, "have a great week! I'll be in touch Monday!"

A Visit to the Ranch

2009-11-07T13:06:00.015-05:00

A couple days ago, Jason and Bobbie came out to eat lunch and visit the ranch. Once we got in past the horses, we fed treats to Mona and Hershey.

They seriously love treats! And they will eat treats as long as you will feed them.

Bobbie was funny. When we told her you could lay on the donkeys, or hug on them, she just plopped right onto Mona's back! The donkeys love the attention! They are so sweet and loving!

Somewhere about here, Bobbie wanted to know if Mona and Hershey knew any tricks. I told her I wanted to teach Hershey how to walk through a hula hoop. So, Kali went out to the car and got my hula hoop that I use as a prop on photo shoots, and we began.

The first thing you do is to select your target. Sorry, Hershey, but you are the smallest and most likely to fit!

Next, you terrorize, I mean catch your target so you can teach her this really cool trick!

Just look at my baby run! :O) Cracks me up!

Hershey: Save me, Mona!

You may have to practice a little diversionary tactic while your partner gets set up with a handful of treats.

Zero in on your target . . . .

. . . . bribe them with treats . . . .

. . . then begin the process!

The thought is to "treat" your way through, one body part at a time!

First leg through . . . .

. . . . second leg and torso through . . . .

. . . . come on, Hershey! . . . .

. . . . and, she's through the hoop! Whoo!Hoo! (Not as easy as it looks here, but not as hard as I figured it would be, either!)

After all that hard work, you need a little down time to relax. I know! Let's wrestle Jason to the ground! hahaha! Sorry, son! Actually, Jason can give as good as he gets, I just didn't get a picture of him doing it. I was too busy laughing!

Mona: Hey, Heshey! I think that Bobbie-girl is OK! Look at her put a good one on Jason!

Gus: I wonder if Jason needs help??? Neigh! He can handle it! but I'm here just in case!

Rascal: I don't care, just stay away from my food! and that means you, too, Mona!

Well, everyone's been loved on, played with, hugged, kissed, petted, fed, and treated! even tricked!

So let's head on home! It's time to call it a day.

This week's You Capture challenge was Photographer's Choice. To check out a whole bunch of cool photos and stories, click here.

I ♥ Faces, Balloon Theme This Week

2009-11-01T21:05:00.005-05:00

The theme at I ♥ Faces this week is Balloons. What a fun topic! Recently I did a photo shoot with Alexis (you can see her pictures here) and we used balloons. Until . . . she accidentally let them slip away, into the sun - lol! I love this picture of her, it shows her excitement about the balloons, you can see her reflection in the purple balloon, and I caught a little solar flash of color across the balloons. We had a great time that day! To check out other balloon shots, head on over to I ♥ Faces!

A Bad Day To Be Gus

2009-11-01T12:38:00.006-05:00

DISCLAIMER: there's a whole lot of blue and brown in these photos. I hope you're partial to blue and brown, otherwise you might want to turn back right now :).

You might be asking why it was a bad day to be Gus. (If not, that means you didn't read my title :).) A couple days prior to these photos, Mark was at the ranch doing some work and, for whatever reason, Gus kicked the trailer hitch on the jeep. Not a great move on Gus' part.

The next day we noticed limping, which continued to get worse. So, we started the process of calling in the vet, Dr. Bruey. Above you see him examining Gus' hoof.

Gus had a good bit of damage to the back of his front hoof. (There's probably a technical term for it that I don't know.) He split off a good chunk of his heel and it was twisted out to one side. As you could well imagine, Gus was not crazy about Dr. Bruey lifting and poking and prodding that section of hoof. Which leads to the above picture of Mark trying to catch Gus again :O).

Gus: Hey, Doc! Are you sure my leg's supposed to bend that way?!? Whoa, Momma!!! that hurts! (Immediately followed by some serious head-slinging by Gus!)

Gus: Well, that's a little less painful! Hey, Doc! What's that big thing sticking out of your boot?

About this time, Dr. Bruey decides some good meds would be appropriate.

You'll notice Gus' eyes start to droop. And, Dr. Bruey's little dog Tipper decided it was safe to come around.

See that big bolt cutter looking thing in the doc's boot? That's what he used to cut off the chunk of Gus' hoof that was broken. Up into the skin, not a good thing.

Before we knew it, Gus was all bandaged up and feeling no pain! Did I mention those painkiller/meds the doc gave Gus? Check this out:

and he's going . . . . . .

. . . . going . . . . .

. . . . gone!

Did you know with the proper amount of medication, you can play with a horse's mouth all you want and not get bitten? Pull on the lips, flop them back and forth, sandwich them back and forth like a clam opening and shutting its mouth, you get the general idea - lol!

Oh! Sorry, Gus!

Seriously though, Dr. Bruey was great! and Gus is feeling a lot better now. Still limping, but definitely better!

Jaslynn, What a Sweetheart!

2009-10-31T22:08:00.011-04:00

A lot of babies have come into our lives recently. And they keep getting cuter and sweeter! Doesn't this mom look as happy as can be with her precious four month old daughter?

Jaslynn is already trying to sit up, so laying down in my basket was not her favorite thing to do that day - lol!

OK, everyone. For those of you who admired my burgundy streaks, this beautiful lady is my hairdresser, the one responsible! I wish I was brave enough to get pink streaks like she has, she looks great with pink streaks!

I have to stop here and point out the big lipstick kiss on the side of her face! You can definitely tell Jaslynn is loved - lol!

She was interested in the flowers. Isn't she adorable?

Mom and daughter both wore purple :).

Jaslynn let us lay her down on her back for a minute, so I shot a whole bunch of pictures because we knew it wouldn't last long - lol!

(And, Jaslynn wasn't really asleep. She was just pretending :O).)

We did this photo shoot two days before Halloween. Jaslynn's mom was so excited to find this little ladybug outfit. Jaslynn, on the other hand, was not excited about wearing the fleece outfit in the 84 degrees temperature - lol! Can't say as I blame her. Again, we shot fast!

Just another shot of mom's hair :).

Isn't she beautiful? And, I leave you with this thought . . . . . . . .

Fix-It Friday, Week 34, I ♥ Faces

2009-10-30T11:49:00.003-04:00

It's Fix-It Friday at I ♥ Faces. This is the original they gave us to work with.

Here is my first edit. I used Picasa and PSCS3 to pop up the color, edit out bruises and bug bites, smooth the skin, pop the eyes, and blur the edges.

Next, I reversed the image and added a bit of solar flare, which in this particular case softened the picture a bit.

For this one I cropped in and focused on her face. In the original she had a lot of purpling around the eye. I smoothed this out in PSCS3, then used mcpactions.com's Magic Skin action.

I like to play around with settings in photoshop. I changed up the contrast and got the photo on the right.

Then I put the picture through mcpactions.com's Coloring Book, Cocoa Twist action. I love how this last one turned out! Why don't you join in the fun and post some edits of your own? To see how others interpreted this week's picture, head on over to I ♥ Faces.

Urijah - Take Two

2009-10-29T18:30:00.009-04:00

And so began a love story.

And then, this man and this woman got married under a gazebo.

Their love resulted in this little fellow:

Three months ago I took the above photo. You can view Urijah's newborn shots here.

Fast-forward three months and this is what Urijah looks like now :).

My understanding is that Urijah was named after a well-known fighter, thus the Tapout shots :O).

Isn't that the prettiest smile you've ever seen?

We took these shots in the same gazebo Urijah's mom and dad were married in.

What a beautiful family :).

His Aunt Lindsay got him these cute little flip flops :O).

Isn't Urijah's mother beautiful?

The three of them make a fine looking family!

Glamma and Glamson :).

Thanks for letting me take Urijah's pictures! I had a great afternoon with your sweet family!

You Capture Thursday - Several Days Late :)

2009-10-25T23:09:00.003-04:00

This week's You Capture challenge is technology. I wasn't going to post this week because I hadn't taken any appropriate photos. As I was looking through the other postings, I noticed that no one had posted shots of a Kindle.

Currently this is my favorite piece of technology. My son got me hooked on the Kindle. It is a digital book reader sold at amazon.com. You can purchase books online and download them direct to your Kindle. It stores up to 1,500 books. Amazon has many free books, such as most of the classics, that you can download for free. I have the complete works of Shakespeare.

I just finished reading this (for the 3rd time). The movie is coming out in a couple weeks, so I wanted to freshen my memory :O). Kali and I are going to the opening with a group of friends from Kali's work. Who do you vote for? Team Edward? or Team Jacob?

To view some awesome technology photos, head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Just Cover Your Mouth :)

2009-10-25T21:32:00.003-04:00

You know Garfield's my favorite!

It's that time of year. Cold season. Flu season. Now, it's swine-flu season.

Be safe, take precautions, cover your mouth, flu shots, hand-sanitizer.

You get the picture. If not, just take Garfield's lead! He's my favorite, you know?

Playing on the Beach With Alexis

2009-10-23T18:06:00.007-04:00

We did this photo shoot at the lakefront/beach near where we live. Alexis was a hoot! She ran and played and twirled and laughed and kept wanting to swim, even though it was like 54 degrees - lol!

These flower shots were my favorite from the whole morning :).

I had never used balloons in a photo shoot before, but thought they'd be fun for Alexis.

I hoped to get 5 or 6 great shots, then let Alexis take the balloons home with her when we were finished, but, while she stood by this railing . . . .

. . . . something happened, and the balloons got launched to the wind - lol! At least I got a couple good shots of them floating away :O). What a hoot!

This beautiful butterfly came from the same place the balloons did - Sweet Peas.

The butterfly idea was a keeper! I'll try this again for sure :O).

The wind was a little strong, so the bubbles didn't last long. I love how the sun is shining on each bubble like a tiny little solar flare!

This brought a smile to her face! And some running and dancing and twirling to her feet! I loved it!

Alexis loves the color pink. She brought this bright pink hoodie with her.

Family shots.

By this point, we were cold and ready to leave, but not before a couple more shots. (I can see myself in Alexis' eyes in these next two photos - lol!)

Isn't she beautiful? I had a great time with this family. I hope they love their photos :). This last one just kind of sums up the day - at least for me :O).

Fix-It Friday, Week #33 @ I ♥ Faces

2009-10-23T16:28:00.003-04:00

It's Fix-It Friday at I ♥ Faces. Above is the original they gave us to work with. You can see there is some serious light coming in from the left side of the photo, which caused the opposite side of his face to be in extreme shadows.

To start with I cropped the photo in tight. Then I used PSCS3 to lighten and sharpen the face. Doing this caused the shadows under his eyes to really be prominent, so I painted a little color there and brightened his eyes up a bit. I smoothed the skin tones down with mcpactions.com 's "magic powder" action, added a little catchlights in the eyes, then . . . . . .

. . . . . to distract from all the light on the back and side of the little fellow's head, I added a solar flare pop and made it look like i wanted all that light in the shot - lol! Isn't photoshop great!

PSCS3 also allows you to turn the whole completed affect into black and white! These are my renditions for the day :O). To see what everyone else did, head on over to I ♥ Faces!