A Day at Grammy's

I'm posting older pics of Hannah today because my mom hasn't seen them yet (can't neglect my number one reader!) For those of you on Facebook, I apologize for the duplication. These are from about 3 weeks ago. I'm so fortunate that Jenny and Hannah come frequently to spend the day with me! On this particular day, Hannah was great to take 2 naps and in between we had plenty of fun together! Hannah loves music and got her first "piano lesson"! (If she's crying and we hold her and sing, she stops fussing...gets super quiet...and then she "sings" along. SO sweet!)
She's not overly fond of tummy time, but is getting stronger all the time. I love this pic of her studying her fingers while Jenny's relaxing behind.
Since it was Hannah's 3 mo. old birthday, we naturally had to take her monkey pics to see how much she's grown. She's such a happy girl....usually very content and cheerful, but when she's done...she's DONE and we get pics like this. "No more pictures Grammy!"

Grandmommy's Hands

A couple of weeks ago I had my first opportunity to try shooting a little girl outdoors. Meet Ella! She's the daughter of a former piano student and currently my neighbor. (You know you're getting old when you start having "grand-students")! Ella just turned one and is naturally curious about everything in her world. I was happy with these pics for a first attempt, but know I have so much to learn. In hindsight, I think I should have used my polarizing filter. It was a bright day and the sun was high. I also need more practice shooting a moving "target" before Hannah is mobile! I did love having my new longer lens though, because it allowed me to just hang back and let Ella "do her thing"....no need to get in her face.
What really struck me that day was Ella's "Grandmommy" and her loving protective hands. Ella wanted to wander, but Sandra was always there to gently lead her from the street to a safer place. I know my sweet friend will be just as attentive to guide Ella's heart in the future. What an awesome responsibility and privilege we have as grandparents!!! I'm challenged by Deut. 6:6-7 - "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your HEARTS. Impress them on your children (and grandchildren). Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." I pray that God will help me be a good example for Hannah and to consistently, lovingly guide her in HIS way!

Chocolate Covered Blessings

A few weeks ago Jenny and I got to have lunch with a dear friend and her little boy (who'll be 3 in a few months). We missed seeing Luke's big brothers who were at school, but loved getting to know this little guy!! What a cutie!! After lunch he stood at Jenny's front door chanting, "I want to get in the car. I want to get in the car." Carolyn was so confused by that and then she remembered....

She'd promised he could have some candy after lunch and (you guessed it)....the candy was in the car! ☺ I loved watching Luke meticulously unwrap his slightly melted Hershey kisses. In fact, I've decided I'm pretty much in love with pics of kiddos from the back...
...or from the front (especially with chocolaty smiles)... ♥ ♥ ♥
I don't think I got the exposure right on the following pic but included it anyway for two reasons:

• I love the side lighting and want to experiment more with that!
• I cherish these sweet friends! ♥ ♥ ♥
  

God brought our families together 10 years ago for a very unique purpose...one I still don't fully understand. Yet I consider it one of the greatest blessings of my life to know them! Through disappointments and joys, they are living by faith and not by sight. Carolyn said it well: "...worry and fear aside, we delight in standing in the middle of God's sovereignty." What a heart! God must be smiling. . .

Hearts and Kisses and Sweet Toothless Smiles

One day last week, while Jenny and Hannah were visiting, I was experimenting with my new lens. We were all sitting on our cranberry sofa...Hannah was dressed in red and everything I shot had this overwhelming reddish cast to it. I was thinking I would wind up dumping most everything, until I came across this shot. Somehow all that red and Hannah's heart headband along with most of Jenny's face being accidentally cut out of the frame just worked! Hooray for happy accidents! (I think I was supposed to keep my mouth shut and let you believe I planned that!) At any rate, Hannah gets plenty of love! Can you tell?
She is SO well loved that sometimes we get pics like this! Enough kissing, Mommy!
Hannah really does love her mommy tho' and is giving her more sweet smiles every day (complete with drool).

Arboretum (Pt. 2)

I have more Arboretum pics to share today. We've had such an unusually cold, wet winter that I've had spring fever in the WORST way! It was good to finally be outdoors, but wow....it was WINDY! . . too windy for a 3 mo. old baby. Hannah could only take so much and then she was DONE, so we made a fast exit. Here are a few of my favorite people pics. I'm sad I didn't get any shots of Kara, but it just didn't happen.

Now that Hannah has discovered her fingers, they are ALWAYS in her mouth. I think she's practicin' her flirty pose!
I know the focus is too soft below, but I love it anyway. You can see how WINDY it was! I'm drawn to the swirling motion in this pic... also love the colors and the background...reminds me a little of an impressionistic painting.
I have no idea who this little boy is, but he was SO adorable! He stumbled over me (literally) on his way to smell the flowers and I couldn't resist a quick pic. LOVE the monkey harness too!

Drum roll please....

OK...I have a confession to make. I've wanted to start a blog for a long time, but couldn't justify any real reason for doing it. Here's why:

• My kids are grown
• I don't travel much
• I work at home
• I'm not facing a health crisis
  
• I have no desire for any sort of platform.
• My day-to-day life is, for all intents and purposes, rather mundane (a.k.a. boring)....which is how I LIKE it!
  

PLUS, there was my fear of looking like a copy-cat. . . But cue the drum roll!...I've decided it's time to get over myself and just try something new! I don't know that I have anything original to contribute to "blogdom". There's a good chance I'll be copying someone (Kim), but hopefully they'll (she'll) be more flattered than annoyed. ☺ I don't know how often I'll post. I may start out like gangbusters and fizzle, but I'm at least taking the first step!

One disclaimer: I tried to come up with a clearly defined purpose for this venture, but I'm not really sure how it may evolve and couldn't narrow my focus (hence the blog name). I think I'm a little ADD (my kids are thinking "a LITTLE?"....remember the dogs from the movie UP?....."Squirrel!!!!")... Anyway, I'm giving myself permission to set broad parameters. I'm hoping this will be a good venue for sharing photography attempts or stories of our quickly changing granddaughter with my mom who doesn't use Shutterfly or Facebook. But who knows? I may also write about things I've read/observed or journal about what God is teaching me. There's a good chance I'll go down a few "rabbit trails"! Still, I think I'll have ONE reader (thanks Mom)! To anyone else who may follow... thanks for that and I'll try to keep future posts shorter!

Finally...a few pics. Jenny, Kara, Hannah and I went to the Arboretum last week so I could experiment with my new camera lens. LOVE it! I took a TON of pics....ALL manual (big step for me), experimented a lot with depth of field, made a BUNCH of mistakes, but had fun and learned a little. Here are my favorite "isolating" shots (Click on any picture to enlarge):