eye candy

Just a little eye-candy. This is Romie Boy today. Isn't he just soooo cute?

scrapbooks etc.

I've mentioned my photograper niece Mindi before. Well the following post is directly from her blog. I wanted to humbly bask in the fame of my niece and great niece. This is too cool.


Mindi writes:
guess who is on the cover of October's "Scrapbooks etc."????? my annabelle!

i've been keeping this a secret for SEVERAL months, in fear of it falling through and me looking like an idiot. you have no idea how hard it's been! but i finally picked up my copy at my local scrapbook store tonight (they should hit the shelves at Wal-Mart/Hobby Lobby/Michael's/other bookstores, sometime around September 11th, i think.

aside from the fact that they seemed to "edit" my photo and make it incredibly over brightened, i'm happy. (as a photographer, the editing is really making me cringe, i have to admit, but hey, what can you do?)

annabelle is so over the top excited and can't wait to take it to school. dustin went out of town tonight for business, and took the copy with him to show everybody.

as soon as i can, i plan to buy a few more copies and probably frame one!

so here's how it went down:
i have a few pictures of my kids posted on a scrapbooking website (under photography) and one of the editors for this magazine (which is put out by Better Homes and Gardens) emailed me back in December, asking to use a picture of Julian as a possible cover idea for March/April. She wanted the picture in color, not b/w which is what i had posted. i sent them a copy, and they all debated it, and ended up going with a different photo.

however, for the next couple of months, i started getting submission requests that they sent out to a slew of photographers/scrapbookers, which you have no idea how excited/honored/flattered that made me.

then, a month or two later, another editor contacted me about possibly using Annabelle's soccer photo for the Oct. issue, since it was "sports themed". I told them yes, but didn't really get my hopes up. But this time, they voted to use it, and finally, months and months later, I have it in my hands!


There is a little write-up about the photo on one of the first few pages of the magazine, that gives photo credit to "Mindi Bartell", and talks about what we were doing when we took the photo. so neat, because 2 years ago, i added to my list of "goals", to
"Have SOMETHING published. anything. a story, picture, scrapbook page, anything."

finally, something to cross off the list. although, tonight julian made me promise that he can be on the cover of a magazine next.
we'll see what we can do about that...

Monday's question

Last week's question was a lead balloon. But thanks to Sue and Jill for taking the lead balloon and giving it air. I think their answers were very good. But in the interest of participation, I will drop the philosophical jazz and be a bit less airy and more down to earth. Please play along. This week's question is,

What is the best book you've ever read and why did you like it so much?

Feel free to name more than one book.

lipstick

Saturday while walking downtown I saw a lady approaching with something bright red in her mouth. It wasn't until she was right up to me that I realized that bright red something in her mouth was actually her lipstick. She had full round lips and an unusually pale face. I smiled; it reminded me...

When I was a teenager, my friend Susan was going to introduce me to her nephew. I had grandiose ideas of him falling in love with me and sweeping me away to bliss-dom. Before he came over to her house, I brushed my hair and went through her enormous selection of lipsticks. Finding a light pink gloss, I applied it, confident I looked cute. When I heard him arrive I went into the living room for her to introduce us. With creased eyebrows Susan grimaced as she looked at me. Her nephew was noticably uninterested. I knew something wasn't right but hadn't a clue what it was.

The nephew left a few minutes later, clearly not swooning. When the door was closed behind him, Susan wasted no time turning to me and yelling, "What on earth were you thinking?"

I was totally in the dark and didn't know what I had done.

She yelled, "Your lips!! Why on earth did you do that?"

I ran to a mirror. My lips were as red as red gets and my skin was its usual pale color. I looked like a clown. I was horrified and grabbed the lipstick to show her.

Moments later she was howling. That light pink lip gloss I'd chosen was actually a "mood lipstick."

nasty slang

Rachael is in Junior High now. This has brought a few challenges to our home. Last week in a fun-loving way she said "screw you" to a friend. I told her not to say it and she said it didn't mean anything bad. I told her it meant the same thing as "f---you." She said it didn't either.

I guess they went to school the next day and asked what it means. That evening they told me I was wrong. "F--- you" means what it says. "Screw you," means "hump you." This was supposed to comfort me and make me willing to let them say it.

I told them that all those expressions mean the same thing. They were amazed at my ignorance yelling, "Mom, no they don't. Everyone says 'screw you.'"

I countered with, "I don't."

They let out wails of unbelief. I defended with "I know what humping is, I know what the 'f word' is, I know what screwing is; they are all nasty expressions for the same thing. Can we respect sex between a husband and wife enough to call is something besides any of those words?"

Hannah let out an exasperated sigh, "Mom it's been 8 years for you. Things have changed."

"8 years?," I said.

She said, "YEEESSS! 8 years since Deborah was born. Things have changed."

fostering

Hi everyone. Nothing all that noteworthy happening here. I'm thoroughly enjoying this life I have. It's a wonderful life. Quiet and savory. That isn't the case much longer though. I've given notice at my little job and will be quitting at the end of September. Then I'll be headed to Arkansas for October to see my adorable grandson Roman. (I'll see a lot of other people too but at this moment Roman is the drawing card.:-)) Gordon is taking some time off work and since the girls are in school, he's arranging his schedule to be both Mom and Dad for a few weeks. Bless his heart, he is good.

When I get back home from Arkansas, things will pick up enormously. We are going to start foster parenting again. We did that from 1998 - 2002 (with lots of breaks to maintain sanity). There was a straight up learning curve, so I'm happy to be familiar with and fairly aware of what it will be like. For the most part our experience was good. Our hearts were broken in 2002 and we got out of it saying we'd never do it again.

Several months ago a baby died in foster care in Edmonton. The foster mother was charged. The media was all over it and it awakened the desire to foster in me again. Despite our own heartbreak in 2002, I know that every child that came through our home left better than they arrived, many left very noticeably improved. It was hard work, but enormously fulfilling. We had 19 foster children in that time frame, most of them short-term. Our longest stints were 1 year. We had 3 for a year or nearly a year.

Back then we were more open to what ages we would take. We took mostly teenagers and babies and we had an 8-year-old girl for a year. But now we're committed to only getting children younger than our own. We're thinking 4-8 year olds.

The girls are pretty excited about it. We have given them a lot of veto powers. When they say "no more" we will comply. I know of people whose natural children got emotionally hurt in the fostering process and we don't want that. Deborah and Hannah can't wait to foster. Rachael is happy some days and against it other days. We shall see where she levels out.

That's the most exciting news around here.

Thursday Thirteen

My children are back in school and I am happy and gleeful. They are in new schools this year and so far it's been a wonderful experience. I drive them. I was spoiled as they have walked to school for the past three years. No more. I leave with them every morning at 8:15. But it's good for me. It jump-starts my day and I'm having very productive days.

This morning I read a quote from Helen Keller. "The best, most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." It got me to thinking about the invisible great things in my life. So fittingly, here is my Thursday Thirteen list:

Invisible Beautiful Things in My Life (in no particular order).

1. prayer; talking to God
2. sensing God's presence
3. love
4. commitment
5. discipline; self-control
6. knowing God is in control
7. joy
8. acceptance
9. peace
10.grace
11.forgiveness
12.thankfulness; gratitude
13.thinking

Monday's Question

Well it's getting late on Monday and I've not posted a question. So I will now. I am curious on your take on this question. So please participate. Give me some fun.

How does one live a life well?

blue brain

Your Brain is Blue

Of all the brain types, yours is the most mellow. You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles. Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

What Color Is Your Brain?