Messing with a wolf

I'm totally loving the class over at Jessica Sprague.com and am learning quite a bit of Photoshop goodness. My last assignment was working with textures. First, the terrific picture that Michael took and second, the photo grunged a bit in Photoshop.

It's certainly fun to play with all the layers.

The heart of a servant

In the Christian world there are many instances when pastors talk about having a servant's heart. Some times they are simply trying to recruit new volunteers but that is such a small part of it. To me, having the heart of a servant is doing things for others without wanting or expecting anything in return.

One of my favorite stories from early in our marriage is one in which I was in the tiny bathroom of our tiny apartment and saw that there was no toilet paper on the roll. I called out to Michael who came in to look in the (rather) large closet where we stored such things. After looking through every shelf and basket, he turned to tell me that there was none.

It was in that moment that I realized that toilet paper didn't just appear in the closet.

You see, I lived with my parents until I got married and moved into an apartment with Michael and growing up, every single time I went to the closet to get toilet paper, it was always there. It's funny now just how naive I was about such things but it demonstrates in a very real way how much of a servant's heart my mama has. She did thousands of things for me and my dad. Every single time she washed our clothes, or cooked our meals, or vacuumed our floors she showed how she loved us. The flip side of that was all the times my daddy carried things, in the hot of summer or in the cold of winter, out to the front of his store and didn't sell anything or was told that it could be purchased cheaper at Walmart. And all the other things that he did for us besides just earning a living.

I really do think that I always knew what good parents I have but it hasn't been until I grew up some and became a parent myself that I learned just how good.

I still suffer a bit from not knowing my place in the world without a paycheck coming in. But I hope that I have a servant's heart. I hope that every time I take out the trash or wipe up spilled milk or change a dirty diaper that somehow my kids know that I love them.

It's a date!

Yep, a date. Last night, my lovely parents took the boys and Michael and I went to see the 2nd Transformers movie. Finally. After reading mixed reviews, I was afraid that I might be disappointed in it but we both liked it just as much as the first one.

And a big thanks to the woman with the Medusa style hair that sat directly in front of me in the non stadium seating theater. And your kids? What a treat! {that's sarcasm, people, heavy sarcasm}

Photoshop Lessons

To celebrate the 2 year birthday of her site, the wonderful Jessica Sprague, is having a Photoshop photo editing class. The class covers frame ups and special effects. The picture above is my results for the frame + word art challenge. I tried and tried to get the pinks in "happy birthday" to change but they wouldn't so I gave up. It's neat to learn new things. That picture is from his first birthday party. Hard to believe that's been almost 2 years ago!

A couple of pills a day...

I once had a friend who loved to say "a couple of pills a day and you could lead a normal life." Maybe he was right. Today I'm having one of those days that I talked about here. Although several of the things in that post have not come to pass, I'm still having a hate day. A red day. A day of rage. So I'm going to be logging off the computer and doing what always make me smile, no matter what - hug my kids, make them laugh, chase them around the house, play cars with them. They are light at the end of a dark tunnel.

Ian @ 10 months

At 10 months Ian is:

~into everything. He's a grabber and is very, very fast!
~loves to tear things up. Magazines, books, anything.
~is walking like a pro.
~hasn't added any new words. Says "hey," "hey there," "kitty," and "dada"
~has loved everything we've given him to eat. He'll eat anything and everything!
~doesn't like "baby" toys. He'll only play with Cole's toys.
~loves to splash in water.
~is wearing 12 month + clothes almost all the time now.
~is getting a bit of hair.
~doesn't have any new teeth. Still has only 6 of them.
~loves to wave AFTER someone walks off.
~does this mad throw stuff behind him thing when I try to take something away from him.
~has the new nickname of Moto Moto (from his dad after the hippo character in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - because of his chunky thighs).
~wants to feed himself. Won't let me put food into his mouth anymore, he has to do it himself.

Happy day

Happy 4th of July! We're spending the day relaxing and getting ready for tonight's fireworks show. Hoping the city puts on a good display now that Cole is old enough to really enjoy them.

He's two and he's good at it.

OK, so he's almost 3 but I just love that line! This is what happens when you leave a 2 year old alone with a pen. He decorates his brother and himself. And the kicker? He was in TIME OUT when he did this!

Both of his legs plus Ian's head in the time it took me to go to the bathroom. At first I was getting upset but then I just started laughing and told Cole I needed to get the camera. That little boy is something else!

Shocked

Shocked that both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson have died.

Bonds of Brotherhood...

I love this picture that my mom took last night. It seems like such a simple picture of two little boys playing while their grandparents watch but I see:

~Cole strategically keeping his cars lined up on his side - away from Ian.

~Ian wanting to be just like his big brother. He wants to be a big kid so bad!

~Ian waving. One of his favorite things right now. He says "hey!" or "hey there!" and throws that little hand up into the air.

~a grandfather who loves his grandsons so much. He's never more than a step or two away. He'll stay out in 100 degree weather to make them happy.

~a grandmother that is a bit like the celebrity paparazzi. She takes so many pictures because she loves those little boys so much that she wants to show them off to anyone who will take a look (or that happens into her office!)

~a bit of land that was great to grow up on and that now my kids get to grow up on too.

~great people who were great parents but are turning out to be even better grandparents, if that's possible.

Weighing in...

Last night's show announcing their separation came as no surprise to anyone with a TV or access to gossip magazines. I haven't watched that often but I was saddened to see a family fall apart on national TV. There are two sides to every story but it sure seemed like someone wanted to be a free man. Talk about having your cake and eating it too...having your girlfriend on the side while you let your (ex)wife take care of your 8 kids seems very cowardly to me. No one is perfect and Kate can be quite bossy and shrill but I felt sorry for her last night. So sad for those kids.

Phil once said "there was an us (he and his wonderful, beautiful wife Evie) before there was a them (his two absolutely adorable kids)." I always tease him but it is so very true. Having the kids as the center of your marriage will make it like those houses the Gosselin kids got last night...crooked.

Headache today

Blog tomorrow. Have a nice Thursday.

That went well...

Each Wednesday AMC has a special kids movie where the tickets cost just $1. We went today to see how Cole would do and we lasted...10 minutes. Yep, 10 minutes. Ian was sleepy and I didn't have my cover so I couldn't feed him. Cole got off to a bad start because of all the kids and a preview for a new Tim Burton film (that scared me too!) so he was ready to go. A rude woman sitting down a ways from us kept looking over at us while glaring every time Ian made a peep. I really wanted to ask her what the #(!*# she was looking at seeing how the 5 billion kids she brought in were practically swinging from the lights on the ceiling. Then again, maybe she was just wondering how my children were just acting like little angels while the rest of them acted like little...well, that's what I'll tell myself anyway.

A quick trip through the mall to the bookstore and then on to Mickey D's for fries topped off our big day out.

Cleaning out the closet...

means finding old loves like my Antonio Melani shoes. I have several pairs and still love them. Hard to believe there was a time when I couldn't pass by the shoe rack without wanting to drop $90 for a pair of these bad boys. Oh how times have changed!


And my love for all things Brighton. My hockey girls were in love with these shoes and when we went to the Mall to watch movies we had to go through Parisian to look at the newest ones. I have a fire engine red pair that have never seen the outside world. Got them for a fabulous price but had (and still have) nothing to wear with them. Again, oh how times have changed. Now "dressing up" is making sure my tshirt doesn't have drool on it, that my jeans were washed sometime this week and that I grab my newer pair of tennis shoes.

Funny how your list of must haves changes. Now I'd be lost without a diaper bag, a teething toy and a handful of cars. I'd take those over a whole closet full of Antonio Melani's anyday!