Kisses

It has been a while since my first entry at the I Heart Faces website; things were just too crazy around here for me to meet the challenges.  This week they are looking forward to Valentine's Day, and the challenge is "We Heart Kisses".  I knew right away that I had a picture I wanted to enter.

I'm no photographer extraordinaire.  I like to capture moments if I can, that's all.  Since the people I take pictures of the most are kids, and they move fast, the technical details might not always be perfect.  But in a picture like this one, the expression is.

My parents live far away from us, but the distance can't keep the girls from being close to Grandma.  How does my mom feel about being a grandma?  Well...I think the look on her face says more than any words I could write down. 

As you can imagine, there is a lot of smooching going on in the world...from engagements and weddings to daddies and their kiddos, and other fun takes on the kiss.  It's all pretty sweet...you can see more lovey-dovey at I Heart Faces or add your own picture to the mix!

From Yoda and Me...

I think there are some interesting things to be learned from the Jedi Master, Yoda.  Here are a few of the famous, and wise, things that he said.

Do or do not...there is no try.

Fear is the path to the dark side.  Fear leads to anger.  Anger leads to hate.  Hate leads to suffering.

[Luke:]  I can't believe it.  [Yoda:]  That is why you fail.

Named must your fear be before banish it you can.

Size matters not.

So certain are you.  Always with you it cannot be done.  Hear you nothing that I say?

Already know you that which you need...

See?  He was a pretty smart old guy.  I want to leave you with one final quote as you begin this new week; it may be the most well-known of all, and this is the one that is from the both of us (I took the liberty of paraphrasing a bit)...

May the force beat with you.

edited to add:  If you are paying very careful attention, you will notice why this post is funny.  If you are not paying very careful attention, you will just think I am extremely weird.  I also have to say:  Found things as they were, I did.

The Girls

We were able to thieve acquire some lovely flowers from the church last week, which thrilled Michaela to no end.  She loves all things beautiful.  Her appreciation for that which is aesthetically pleasing far surpasses mine...she loves house decor, sunsets, pretty birds.  She notices everything, details that my eyes skip over because they are always in a hurry.  Or more likely, looking down to make sure I don't step in anything gross.

When we got home with our flowers, she immediately found vases for them.  She had a bunch, and Eliana was clinging to the single gerbera daisy that had been given to her.  Michaela then directed me to take many pictures so that I could put them on the blog. 

All right, Boss!

Here is a fun fact.  The dress Michaela is wearing was mine.  I wore it in my cousin's wedding when I was eleven years old.  My mom, after storing it all these many years, gave it to me recently, and Michaela took it right away.  Now, for a picture which involved such lovely flowers, a lovely dress such as this one was required.  She also donned her new necklace that was a Christmas gift. 

She tried very hard to get Eliana to cooperate and pose for a "sisters" picture...but Eliana was busy being two.  When you are busy being two, there is little time for stopping to listen to instruction, sitting pretty for the camera, and holding your flower just so.  I like the picture anyway. 

Mike saw these pictures, especially the ones of Michaela, and his heart melted.  Right into a puddle on the floor.  While it was very sweet to see him turn to mush looking at pictures of his firstborn, I don't know if I appreciate the extra mess to clean up.  On second thought, what's one more mess?   

Speaking of mess...

Don't think it's all flowers and dresses around here for her.  She has plenty of fun making mud soup and chasing earthworms.  Which is fine, just as long as it stays outside.  Mostly.

Survey Says...

I want to take a poll.  Or a survey.  I wish I were handy with all things web-related, or blog-related, but the truth is, I'm not.  I type the stuff that's in my head.  I know how to do what I know how to do.  Brilliant, no?  But nothing more, until someone shows me.  And my shower (read: show with a long "o" sound - er) is occupied at the moment.  It's also late.  This leads to my version of a poll or survey on a blog.  One that does not involve a fancy keeper of all the answers, just a comment section. 

Hooray for simplicity! 

All right.  Here is my question.  Or questions...I'm still not sure where I'll go with this.  There will also be some statements, all of you grammar strictatarians.  I'm preceeding my question(s) with some relevant (hopefully) information. 

I receive comments from some commenters who do not leave contact information, since it isn't necessary on this blog.  This is fine, but I sometimes wish that I had a way to get in touch with people about their comments, in order to respond to a question, or to say,"That made me laugh," or "I'm sorry to hear that," or whatever.  I have read elsewhere that it is good blog etiquette to respond to a person's question either in your own comment section where the question was posted, or in an email to the person.  My question is:  Do people come back (for example, you) and read the comments/response on a post that they have already read in order to see how the particular blogger responded to the question that was posed?  Another question is:  Do you as a commenter want to be validated for each comment that you make, or when you make a comment do you not really expect a direct response each time?  Whether it be a comment back, or an email.  Does that make sense? 

I like to have conversations with the people who take the time to read the blog and comment on it.  Some of my friends just email me, without leaving comments.  That's great.  I love knowing that there are people out there who enjoy, get a laugh out of, relate to what is going on here.  Please tell me what you think regarding these things.  I want to do the right thing without seeming like a weirdo (like I could fool anyone for long)! 

I look forward to hearing what you have to say about this.  It's been perplexing me for a while.  And depending on what you tell me, I may or may not get back to you.

(That's a little joke.)

This Is It. And It Ain't Much.

Looking for order and logic?  Then leave now and forever hold your peace.

I have not had a soda for a week.  Not one.  Not a sip.  This is a big deal; I had been drinking 2-4 cans a day.  I don't know exactly when this started but it had been a long time, and I drank the last one in our fridge last week and determined not to buy more.  Mike brought some D.P. in (be still my heart), but I left them out of the refrigerator.  I won't touch a warm soft drink.  Except to put it in the back of the fridge.  He put one in the fridge (what's he trying to do to me?) and it sits there still.  I don't have a lot of self-control, so I'm feeling pretty good about this.  That was a lot of extra calories in a given day!

I discovered the blog of a young couple, Ben and Katie, (in their twenties) who went to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to be missionaries December 29, 2009.  That's right-about two weeks before the earthquake.  They had no idea just how much their lives were about to change.  I have been reading their updates since the middle of the month; they are nothing less than inspiring.  They went to be teachers at a school there, and their school is the only one that remained standing in Port-au-Prince.  They both write on the blog, and their stories are touching, humorous, amazing, sad.  It's reality and surreality all rolled into one existence.  I can't imagine their life right now.  They, along with the entire nation, need prayer.  It is worth your time to visit their blog.

While I have cut out the soda (for now!), I have not cut out the cake.  Well, I actually have cut out the cake, a very large piece of it, in fact, and I eat such a piece each night after my children are sleeping.  Once Christian's birthday cake is gone I will slow down with the chocolate, for my pants are no longer fitting.  One of the kids at Christian's party asked for more cake and I told him that we were sticking with one piece for everyone.  He pointed out that there was plenty, as we hadn't even touched the Brontosaurus' body.  I said to him,"I need something to eat later."  He looked at me with eyes that were a little wider than usual.  I was kidding!  I didn't eat it all at once.  I even gave some to Mike.

I have a pile of laundry to fold that is bigger than my piece of cake.  It is bigger than me, to tell you the truth.  Why do I have this putting-away-clean-laundry problem?! 

I am running our dishwasher tonight even though it doesn't seem to be working 100% properly.  I am hoping that this time the dishes will come out looking clean, without a weird residue on them.  Do you know what it means when a person does the same thing over and over, but expects a different outcome each time?  Once someone asked me that question because I continued to try to put an entire handful of popcorn in my mouth again and again, but dropped several pieces every time.  I kept thinking I would get the next handful in my mouth, but no, I kept dropping the popcorn.  When asked the above question, I suggested that it meant one was optimistic...but no, the answer was quite different.  It actually means a person is insane.  Encouraging!

Do you ever find weird things around your house?  Like binoculars behind your pots and pans?  What?  Are they spying on me?

I was thinking of starting a separate section on the blog just for things like this...just for weirdness.  It would get filled up pretty quickly.

I...

love...

them...

24 gives me nightmares.  But it's too late now.  I have to see it through to the resolution.  Blast that show!

Bagpipers played in the traditional services this morning.  I actually missed the services, but heard the pipers afterward as they left the sanctuary.  They stood in front of the church playing, on this cold, gray January morning, and as I moved through the small crowd that remained to hear them it was all I could do not to let the tears stream down my cheeks.  Why were there tears?  Who knows.  It's a good thing I don't live in Scotland; I would be a blubbering mess all of the time.  Or at least whenever someone played the bagpipes. 

I'm done.  Good night.