February Photographer's Choice

Photo 52, Week 9:  Photographer's Choice

(a.k.a.  outtakes from our month)

The photo above got the nod for my photographer's choice because it was Lee who noticed the soft light sparkling on the snow while he was shoveling and came in and told me to bring the camera.

He loves me.

And even though I gave Valentine's Day a bad rap, we had some around here...

and I got to have this flashback.

Bethany has wanted to go geocaching forever, and while Lee has not been enthusiastic,

he was willing to document the adventure, which was sweet of him.

Especially since he hates cold toes.

I could get hooked on this.

Since we were downtown St. Paul, we visited the newly renovated Union Depot

to have a look at the world's biggest light bright display.

We stopped to look for one last cache

but we got "darked on".

We'll have to go back for that one later.

February is supposed to be a "laid back" month with "not much" going on.  

But this isn't even (remotely) the half of it.

Whew, I am a little nervous for the busy months!

Busy Big Brother

You've met this boy before.
Goodness, he was just a little guy then.

Not anymore.  He's a big boy with a big job.
I got to spend a little time with him on the day he became
a Big Brother.

He showed me his new big boy bed.

I heard he liked garbage trucks, and I noticed a big one, so I asked if he could show it to me.

Apparently his favorite is a little one that maybe has more of a track record. 

He was more than happy to dump out the big bucket of toys to find it for me.

So we played with it and put the toys back in the bucket

(and dumped them out a few more times because that's what's fun when you're 2)

and then we realized we had worked up an appetite.

Congratulations Big Brother!

Hoping to let you introduce me to Little Brother very soon!

Candid

Photo 52, Week 8:  Candid

 

These days candid is about the only way to get photos of Bethany.  

She was in the kids' choir production at church last weekend (her last), with a major part.  

She was too busy remembering her lines to worry about her mom with the camera.

She is so much fun to watch and listen to,

but it is always the little ones with all their enthusiasm who steal the show.

Gotta have the big kids who can lead the way

and the little ones who just beam.

We are blessed with plenty of both.

Bethany had a lot of fun, and was relieved when it was over and had gone beautifully.

She was even willing to smile for a photo with a friend.

What a great bunch of kids!

I really meant to get out and do some "street photography" for candid.  Hopefully soon!

Distracted

It's not easy to get anything accomplished

with this going on outside our window.

It's like Grand Central Station out there,

and at any moment I might need to perform the Heimlich Maneuver, don't you think?

I better keep an eye on things.

Treasure

Photo 52, Week 7:  Treasure

A box full of treasures, actually.
Pieces of my story.

Like pieces of a quilt.
An ocean waves pattern, to be exact.
A pattern that mirrored the life that had arrived
back to an old new home after many travels.

Stops in Turkey.

Liberia.  To visit a brother, a sister-in-law, and nephews who were scarcely old enough to remember me.

The elephant from Thailand that returned with me
 to meet a horse from home.

(A few years later my husband would use them to introduce our newborn
to the animal kingdom, amid my protest that THAT's not what an elephant and horse look like!
Don't tell him that, he doesn't know ANYTHING!)

The Russian metryoshka dolls that reveal more of my heritage,
as well as my two years of life in a place with a strong Russian presence.

Ahh, yes.  The Uzbek chai drinkers.
Just to the north of my Turkmenistan home, they drank on a Turkmen carpet.

And from Pakistan, a bell made by Afghans.

I've been going through our guest room this week, tackling the bulk of our storage,
 and rediscovering many treasures with memories both sweet and bittersweet.
It's time for some of them to have new homes.
But not the ones in my shadow box.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal.
Instead store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Matthew 6:19-21