An American Mind

I'm decluttering again. I have this big black filing cabinet that we have been toting (hauling)around for the past 10 years full of stuff we never look at. So today I decided to tackle the project. In doing so I have come across a lot of neat odds and ends. In many ways it's a history of things I felt were important-things I thought I may need to reference to in the future-things I would want if libraries and the Internet were no longer available. Basically if I had to flee to a cave but had time to bring along this filing cabinet and had to teach elementary school science and art and almost every church auxiliary program- I would be prepared. Well, after ten years I'm ready to part with the contents in this filing cabinet. (Did I mention I have a decades worth of warranties too). YIKES! On to my great find...I have a chapter on women from the book Theodore Roosevelt: An American Mind. The chapter ends with this statement:

"The woman's task is not easy-no task worth doing is easy-but in doing it, and when she has done it, there shall come to her the highest and holiest joy known to mankind;and having done it, she shall have the reward prophesied in Scripture; for her husband and her children, yes, and all people who realize that her work lies at the foundation of all national happiness and greatness, shall rise up and call her blessed."

Did I Mention...

BRADEIGH LAUGHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was like the sound of angels descending upon or home. Really!

I was tickling and kissing her and just being goofy, and she gave out the sweetest little laugh you can imagine.

I threw my arms up and yelled out SHE LAUGHED SHE LAUGHED!!!!! She got startled and hasn't laughed since...

Fave pics of the week

Having fun with Lightroom...

Ruby having fun catching the water...

Hannah giving Malea the blanket and burp cloths she made.


A little foster baby I took pictures of. Hopefully she will be with her adoptive parents permanently after this week.

Little Lucy SO SWEET!!!

I have a million cute shots of this baby. SHE IS SO ADORABLE!!

CRAZY Fun or just plain CRAZY?

What do pretty tutus, hallucinations, Marble's, a whirlwind trip to Utah, Bird's, a dog named Ruby,newborn smiles, 16 hour car rides, He-Man and rattle snake rabbit sausage sandwiches have in common. Answer: Our week!



Our whole week has been pretty full. Full in a great wonderful crazy way. Malea had a beautiful baby girl Lucy last Tuesday, so we drove to Cali to see the new addition and steal James and Sadie away for some Arizona fun. But I'm getting way ahead of myself.



The Marbles came to visit(I have ZERO pictures)! It was wonderful to see them. It helped to lessen the blow of not going to Utah this summer. We had a great time and only wish we could have had them longer.



Jared went on an overnight trip to Utah for work. (They flew)



That night I was startled out of sleep by the sound of air conditioner blowing up. The motor was so loud it was making our entire house vibrate. I turned the air off and the sound went away. The next day everything was fine. Crazy!



I had three photo shoots. I'm getting lots of use out of the tutu's!



We are dog sitting for our neighbors. Ruby is really very easy to get along with-and she loves water. LOVES IT! Bailey,(our dog) doesn't even mind the company.



We drove out to LA Friday night and spent Saturday with the Bird's. It was great to visit. I just really wish we could have spent longer catching up and enjoying some of our favorite LA sites. While we were there Jared and Morris went downtown to a sausage deli of sorts. They had Rattle Snake Rabbit Sausage- Chicken and Veal- and one or two other "different" types of sausage sandwiches. Little Lucy is adorable-I'm so grateful we were able to make the trip. It has been so fun having James and Sadie here with us.



Jared is awesome-he did ALL the driving. We had fun catching up on the week and musing over our future. I really love long car rides with Jared. We also had fun listening to hours and hours of He-Man episodes. They are hilarious!



Well-here's to a week that really couldn't have been busier. Somehow I feel great satisfaction in that.

Baby Couture

I had fun today. SO MUCH FUN!!!

I used Bradeighs crib for a mini studio-the natural light that comes from the window worked great. The tule was a whole new sensory experience for her. It was hard to keep it out of her mouth. :)

I love the tutu's!(came today) I love my new camera lens! I love my new ADOBE LIGHTROOM program!(both came a few days ago). I was silly with anticipation everyday-watching out the window for the mail carrier. I would track the packages online-(don't you love how you can do that now).

Hannah had her last sewing camp class today-it was fun-but happy it came to an end. Let me clarify-I am happy it came to an end. (Hannah is reading over my shoulder...)

Time to feed baby and go to the library.