Weeding Children

So I just spent about an hour weeding our yard by hand. This was an hour of bending over in the hot sun, doing really meticulous work. It was slow and tedious.
And it is just like parenting.
As I was out there, I realized that I kept having to step back and look at the big picture of the yard to really see where the weeds were. If I stayed stooped over with my head down for too long, I lost vision for what was being accomplished and for where I needed to focus.
I had a rough afternoon with the boys. I was overly-zealous, and decided to take them grocery shopping at 11:30 (lunchtime), right after playgroup at the park. I forgot the coupons, so ran home first to get them. Holden had an accident in the car while I ran in for the coupons, so that added on lots of time of changing him and cleaning the car seat. Once at the store, Turner screamed and Holden continually disobeyed until I eventually ripped open a box of chocolate chunk cookies and started shoving them in mouths (3 mouths, to be exact). We check out, get to the car, dropping shoes in the street along the way, and finally head home. When I reached the stoplight to leave the shopping center, I realized I forgot to use my coupon. Awesome. I felt like giving up, so defeated.
But when I put the boys down for naps and began to weed the yard, parenting surprisingly bounced into perspective for me. It is in these moments that seem tedious and back-breaking and like such hard work that the work is actually being done to prune and "de-weed" these precious little lives. I just need to remember to step back every so often to not only look for problem areas, but also to admire the strides that have been made. And thank you, God, that I have Jesus raising these boys for me--doing the really hard work and speaking into them in a way I will never be able to!

Yard before:



And after:

Blurb Book Photo Contest

I think that the theme of this week appeals to me most because there will be LOTS of winners! I'm pretty non-competitive (is there another word for that?), so I really like when many people can win. Although it will probably not include me, considering I am still using a Casio Exilim camera! :) Anyways, here is one of my favorite pictures of all time. It is Holden practicing wearing a tie before Easter Sunday.


I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb book photo contest. If chosen, I grant I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites.

My First Fix It Friday

This is my first "Fix It Friday!" I can't wait to read what all the professionals did to the picture. (Come to think of it, that probably would have been helpful to get some tips before I started editing on my own. Oh well.) Anyway, here is the original from I<3Faces:


And here is my edit:

Go shorty, go shorty...

…it’s my birthday, it’s my birthday.
A couple notes about my birthday.
First of all, it falls on the 13th and I’ve been told my mother was in labor for 13 hours. Subsequently (or coincidentally), the number 13 has followed me around the rest of my life. My street address is 1300. I always have 13’s in license plates and whatnot. 13 is my lucky number.
Secondly, (and I know everyone says this, but…) the older I get, the less exciting my birthday becomes. So far this morning I have unloaded the dishwasher and made a gourmet breakfast of Special K for my son and myself. Woohoo! My husband actually did give me some presents when I woke up, but all the things I asked for are so practical: a watering can and a new push-up bra. (The other idea I gave him was a new set of melamine mixing bowls.)
Last night I went to a joint birthday party with my “Ya-Ya’s.” These are three other girls that have been my best friends for years (one since birth, one since we were 15, and the other since we were 18). All of our birthdays fall within 8 weeks of each other, so we always try to do one big dinner to celebrate all of our birthdays. During dinner, I asked everyone what was the best part of the past year. When it came to my turn to answer, I had no immediate response pop into my head.
And then I realized. I realized that the best parts of life and the best parts of relationships are not made up of the grandiose gestures, but rather the daily bits of connection, love, and laughter. Great strides have been made in my marriage over the past year. Strides achieved not through a huge trip or diamonds, but through many late-night discussions (which is really hard work for this “peace-at-all-costs” girl) and through giving up my marriage to the Lord on a daily basis. This last year has been so much fun getting to know my children, studying them and learning their personalities. And this past year has seen the growth of some great friendships. I have had friends stick by me through my darkest times, encouraging me and loving me, but most of all accepting me unconditionally, in spite of all my messiness. I love my husband, my children, my friends, my life. And THAT is something to really celebrate today.

Laughing

When looking for a picture to fit this week's theme of "Laughing," there was no shortage in my archives. My oldest child (Holden, almost 3) loves hard, laughs hard, and generally lives hard. His emotions are pure and they are saturated. So when Holden is loving you, the hugs and kisses are endless; when he is upset, it is as though the world is ending; and when he is laughing, it sounds like a joyous bubbling over from his soul.
I love Holden.
And his laugh.

Face Forward

So it’s been a few days since I began this blog, and I’m yet to explain this “making faces” title. It’s not an allusion to mirror practices done in private, nor even a reference to photography. My passion in life is to help women discover how beautiful they really are, and then to (secondly and subsequently) help them author a look that really reflects who they are, who they want to portray.

So I make faces for a living. (Actually, it’s not much of a living right now. My 3-yr-old and 16-month-old occupy most of my “living.”) But it’s what I love. Here are a few faces I’ve made…

Can you give critiques to someone who doesn't understand what you're talking about?

So like I said, I am new to I Heart Faces, new to photography, and new to blogging. These three things combined put me in no position to receive critique. But I guess you have to start somewhere, and you'll NEVER even start learning if you don't leap in. I downloaded some Photoshop actions from Pioneer Woman (with technical help from my BFF Becca) and have been playing around. Here's one I did this morning:
Original:


Doctored:

I'm pretty sure that all I did was use PW's "Lovely and Etheral" action, then took out little red spots and bits of food on his face with the clone stamp tool, then blurred his splotchy irish skin a bit.

Let the commenting begin--it's Greek to me, so I'll have to have Becca translate. :)