Sunday Sunset

I've Been Busy

If I could marry this wedding, I would.

Okay. Well, not really, but it almost makes one wish one could when one actually captures a photo like this:

Inheritance

If I could

but inherit

my father's tenderness,

my mother's determination,

I will be

rich

indeed.

Not Quite Right

My mom is in surgery right now.

And my life is continuing just like normal. Just like every other Thursday. Just like nothing else is happening 180 miles away. Just like her life isn't altering in the least.

Weird.

And not quite right.

History

Every family has a history. Every family has a past.

Hair color, eye color, height.

Pedigree, nationality, wealth.

Alcoholism, abuse.

Illness.

My family has a very old history of blond hair, blue eyes, European ancestry.

But now my family has a new history, a recent one, a scary one.

Cancer.

Yes, cancer has wormed its way into my family history, threatening to overcome us, to tear us apart. But it won't; we won't let it. Because with this history comes another one, a stronger one.

Survival.

Looky Looky!

Look what I did!

Lulu Photo Book--A Review

I love photo books.

I love the opportunity to document and preserve events.

And since I can't bear to delete the thousands of extra pictures I take, I especially love that I can take the best photos, put them all together, and print them in one pretty book.

Since I have a Mac, I usually do all of this through iPhoto, but I'm always open to exploring other options.

Like Lulu. Lulu offers self-publishing and book printing, from books to eBooks, photo books to calendars.

Lulu graciously offered to let me put together and print a photo book of my choosing, and since I owe my mother-in-law one for last Christmas (hi, Mom!), I said, "Yes, please!"

My Review

I like pretty, and I like options; Lulu has both. While Lulu doesn't offer a huge variety of themes, I liked the ones they do have, from holiday themes, to simplistic, to funky.

And Lulu is so easy to use! I just uploaded my photos (which took awhile, due to my slow high-speed internet), rearranged them, and voila! Lulu's program is very straightforward, too. Every command is easy to find and easy to use. There's even an option to save your work, so you can come back and add/edit more later. This busy momma likes that a lot!

I also had a great personal contact at Lulu, too, who answered all my questions, previewed my book for me, and even suggested a few changes. Thanks, Taylor! You were a wonderful help!

I have to say, though, that shipping took an inordinate amount of time. Although, that was probably due to there being a few more shipping stops between Lulu and me, since they gave me free shipping.

And while I love the layout and the background and the photo matting of my book, the print quality of the photos was, honestly, disappointing. I have a DSLR; a nice one. And it takes very high-resolution photos. But the images in my photo book were grainy and the edges of the objects in my photos were distorted. The colors, however, were vibrant and true to the originals.

Overall, I'm pleased with my photo book from Lulu, but not ecstatic. It is pretty and well-bound, and will make a lovely gift.

This post was written for Family Review Network and Lulu who provided the complimentary product in exchange for my honest review.

Grade One, Day One

Somehow, this happened:

Somehow, my little girl, my firstborn, grew up.

And I'll admit, that no matter how excited I have been for her to reach first grade, no matter how ready I have been for her to be in school all day, no matter how thrilled I have been that she gets her kindergarten teacher for first grade...

...my eyes welled with tears when this happened:

Sew Big

On Tuesday, while mending some of E's "new" school clothes that we bought at Goodwill (score!), I taught E the basics of sewing.

On Wednesday, she decided she wanted to make a shirt.

Fortunately, I talked her down from making herself a shirt to making one of her dolls a dress.

Phew!

Then I had to talk her out of buttons and zippers.

Yikes!

(Looks like this momma is going to have to teach herself some intermediate sewing, and soon!)

So, I drew her a simple dress pattern, which she promptly cut out, traced onto a pillowcase scrap from one of my previous projects (skirts! for little girls! out of pillowcases!), and cut out again.

She already knew where she had to sew and where she shouldn't sew (smart girl!), so I threaded her needle, tied off the thread, and off she went!

She sewed her dress and then embellished it.

Six years old and she's already completed her first sewing project.

My heart is just bursting with pride!

August 25

August 25, 1970-something.

Mr. Einstein was born.

He came into the world, though not willingly.

(This explains a lot. Trust me.)

And though the bond between mother and child is strong, the bond between Mr. Einstein and his mother is even stronger.

For not only was Mr. Einstein born on August 25, he was also born on his mother's birthday.

Happy Birthday to my handsome husband!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother-in-law!

A Good Day for a Fight

A water balloon fight, that is.

The rules were simple: no heads, no faces, no mommy.

That probably wasn't necessary, though.

The balloons mostly just bounced off of tummies and broke on the grass.

Unless M had them. Then they just broke under the pressure of his fingers.

New Hobby

I have a new hobby! Check it out!

All God's Creatures

Me, killing flies with a maniacal, gleeful expression in my eyes: "Ah ha! Got it!"

E: "You shouldn't kill flies."

Me: "Why not?"

E: "Because they're God's creatures. You shouldn't kill any of God's creatures."

Me: "Where do you think hamburgers come from?"

E: "I don't know. Pigs?"

Me: "No, you know hamburgers come from cows. So, do you want to stop eating hamburgers?"

E: "No. But you're not the one killing the cows."

Me: "True."

E: "So, you shouldn't kill flies; they're God's creatures."

Potty Training Fail

C is three.

Three.

T-H-R-E-E.

And she's just now figuring out this whole pee-and-poop-in-the-potty thing.

Grr.

Actually, she's been doing a wonderful job lately. If she's bored.

Otherwise, she simply pees on command. You know, like she can (mostly) hold it between times when I tell her to go.

Anyway, since she has been finally willing to (semi-)cooperate with this, she's been dry at night.

Yippee!

So, I put her in underwear last night. Training underwear, but underwear. I didn't fully trust her, but it's been at least two months since she's had an accident at night.

Until last night.

Sigh.

Back to pull-ups. Again.

Our Summer, In Pictures

windmills

cartoons in bed

Grandpa's boat

inner tubing

niece/cousin

dream park

spinning

marina

waterfront park

science center butterflies

friends

zoo

beach

family reunion

leavenworth

hiking

wenatchee river

So, what have you been up to this summer?