I Heart Faces: Pets

 I'm getting brave and submitting this photo (along with 100's of other fab photographers) to I Heart Faces for their "pet challenge."

This is Louie --aka Lucy Lou-- our little Himalayan who believes she is human.

Her eyes are as blue as the sky, but sleeping-while-sitting-up is her natural pose.

I shot this photograph indoors as Louie was sitting perched on the windowsill basking in Alaska's winter sun.

Enjoy!

Third.

Once or twice a week I take a day to sort and edit photographs, and reflect on the happenings that has been going on in our household. Today however, was such a big deal that it couldn’t wait a day longer.

My girl --my little girl-- started third grade today. My feet stood heavily cemented to the front door step not wanting her to leave. I want to hold her and shield her and keep her in a bubble. I want to bake cookies with extra sprinkles and color outside the lines with crayons and have princess dress-up tea parties with dolls. But, I knew she had to go. And as a parent I rejoiced for her and gave her the confidence that she needed as she embarked on her own journey in a new school, with new kids, and new teachers.

she was so nervous!

My heart twisted and turned as we entered her new classroom.

Oh boy, here we go. Keep it together. This is your fourth year dropping her off on her first day of school. You’ve got this.

And I did. And she did as well.

After today, Krysta will be inches taller…and I’m okay with tall.

Summer Sweetness

Mrs. Mother Nature wasn’t showing us any summer lovin’—the soil was cracking and the grass broke off to the touch and …the heat? The heat was simply unreal. Walking barefoot was nearly impossible without going, ouch, ouch, ouch with every step. But, as the old saying goes, “good things come to those who wait” proved to be true. We got our storm, baby!

Ron and I watched as the clouds swelled into heavy clusters of gray fluff and lightening zigzagged with quick vertical flashes of light. There was no doubt that she was a showstopper, leaving us oohing and ahhing when the loud bursts of thunder boomed and crackled around us. We’ve been waiting a long time for an earth pounding showdown such as this.

Don’t you just love the smell of a good storm? Relief never smelled so sweet…or clean!

 

We may or may not have performed a rain dance earlier this week. I’ll never tell.

Before the rain quenched the grounds, making the rain/sun ratio a little more balanced –and I say “little” very loosely— we made the most out of our summer heat…

{Ice Pops}

These mini rainbow pops have become a staple in our freezer. Seriously, we can rarely endure an afternoon without opening these bad boys.

“You can’t beat the heat without a cold sweet.” I just made that up. Funny, no?

Err, moving on…

{Watermelon}

Need I say more? Hellllooo, water?

If you look up “summer” in the dictionary, you’ll find the word “watermelon”. They go hand in hand, like peanut butter and jelly. Salt and pepper. Macaroni noodles and cheese.

…You get my drift.

Our house is fully stocked with watermelon if anyone wants to come over for a slice or four…just putting it out there.

{Mud Baths and Sprinklers}

Remember when you were young and thought adding water to dirt to make mud was the greatest thing ever? Well, I do! And apparently so does Wills.

He’s practicing his Jackson Pollack moves.

When mud runs its course, there’s nothing like a little sprinkler action to cleanse and hydrate sweet baby skin.

{Home Comforts}

We’ve had many days were it topped out at 112 and that didn’t even include the heat index. This goes without saying that ice pops, watermelon, and sprinklers couldn’t bring us relief. We huddle indoors, and that’s ok with us. It’s good to be huddled around the comforts of home. And although I haven’t quite accepted Oklahoma as my home, I’m working hard to move in that direction.

Lately I’ve been sewing curtains and throw pillows, organizing, and brainstorming décor ideas. It’s starting to come together. Starting to feel like home.

More photos to come.

And last, but not least, a Panda Party! That's right, my girl throws down shindigs for even the tiniest of folk, which includes but not limited to Panda Bears. Mrs. Pandy to be exact--Krysta wanted to make sure I got her name right for my blog.

Anyhow, we lived it up and all got sugar highs --including Pandy-- in the middle of the afternoon, on a Wednesday. We party hard over here!

So if you’d please excuse me, tomorrow is a BIG DAY for my girl. She’s starting THIRD grade. I’ll say that again, THIRD grade! I know, gasp!

And you can bet your hiney there will be photos!

Until tomorrow, big smiles from OKC!

Em

Honey for Honeybees

It’s hot--reaching well into the triple digits. Farm crops are drying out, cattle are dying, and no amount of water will keep my flower beds hydrated. Everyone is praying to God for relief.

This heat puts a huge damper on our summer outings, so we make the most out of our early mornings and late afternoons, which leaves our mid-days for hibernating indoors in an Alaskan Grizzly Bear fashion…with the AC on full blast.

The light blue sky dims his lights to the perfect shade of tangerine orange and pillow fluffed clouds lazily draw back their curtains into long thin spaghetti-like horizontal lines, all in efforts to join forces in making way for the golden light rays to spotlight the string quartet of strumming crickets and the tis-tis-tis-tiiiiiiiiiiising beat of water sprinklers. It’s a Summer Musical Production and we have front row seats.

I love this time of day. The evening light shines down coating everything it touches with a golden glow, like a pot of honey. And when there’s honey, honeybees aren’t far behind. My little honeybees are equally attracted to the golden light, as I am. As soon as I see wisps of the sun shining through the windows, we drop everything we’re doing --dishes, laundry, picking up toys, and vacuuming cracker crumbs-- to bask under its glow.

Sometimes we hang out in the front yard with sidewalk chalk and sprinklers. Sometimes we head over to the right-beside-our-house park. But on the really good evenings, we trek a mile to the “big” park, where there’s a zip-line for my girl and several twisty slides for my boy --which by the way, he thinks he’s ready for, but ends up tumbling down head first.

We stay until our water bottles are empty and the outlines of my honeybee’s features form into silhouettes.

The quartet lingers on its final musical note, and the curtains are drawing to a close as the sun slides into a slumber through the blackened outlined trees. The show has dramatically come to an end, like two symbols thrusting together.

It’s a thing of beauty, and it is good with my soul.

“When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.” Gandhi

Until tomorrows musical…

I’m off to finish sewing curtains for our living room. Possible tutorial in a future blog post?

Now this is sweeter than any pot of honey

Em

PS I realize that some of you guys have asked me a few questions—I promise I haven’t forgotten! AND thank you all who have left us wonderful words of wisdom and best wishes…we truly appreciate it!