Sun flare -- I ♥ Faces

The theme at I ♥ Faces this week is sun flare..... and as you know, I love sun flare.... and I love this man.

While driving around the beautiful palouse countryside, we happened upon this old telephone booth....

...and as it happened, my biggest supporter and fan willingly offered his modeling services....

... he's a good man, wouldn't you say?

I know this isn't my usual post-processing style, but the photo just screamed 70's vintage to me....

...the only things missing were a butterfly collar, ginormous sideburns, and aviator sunglasses.

Ah well, I'll still take him....vintage or not.

(and no, the phone doesn't work...sad)

(click on over to enjoy more sun flare photos)

(P.S. You might be interested to see {one} of my other sun flare photos {here -- on PW's blog} -- made me smile ;)

Whitman County Sided Bridge

We live in Whitman county.... and at first you may think there is nothing but rolling wheat fields.... 

...but our county is actually quite diverse...

...here is an example of some diversity.

This is the combined forks of the Palouse River.  You can see the wheat fields on top, but in the gorge of the river there are steep basalt cliffs and Ponderosa pines, and scrubby brush.   This is just one of the beautiful places in our county that I just happen to love.  

And here is the sided bridge that we used for the backdrop to our family photos.  When I was scouting out a place for photos, I thought of this place, however I didn't know who owned it.  But if you live in a small community like we do, you know that somebody knows somebody who knows somebody.... and with one simple phone call to some friends of ours, we were able to find out the name of the owner.  (And luckily for us they had a land line that was listed in the phone book... so many people just have cell phones these days... how do you ever find their phone number?)  Anyhow, the lady on other end of the phone was so gracious and let us come on to her property to take our photos.  Isn't it a beautiful place?

Here you can see that the bridge is sided, but not covered.... and the bridge is showing some signs of wear.

Every big windstorm we have takes off more of the siding...

...and ....close your eyes....

....here is what it looks like as you walk over the bridge...

(or as I ran from the camera to stand with my family while the camera did it's thing via timer)

Let's just say, I did not look down as I VERY carefully ran....

Randy kept a tight grip on some little ones...and I kept a tight grip on my gear ;)

Some boys dearly wanted to climb around and explore.... but good clothes and borrowed time would not allow.

And.... here is my man.... carrying one of our living room chairs....

...all the way across the bridge and down through the grass to where I wanted to set up the shoot.

All I can say is:  what a MAN.  ;)

(and he's MY man......)

Another angle...

Not only did he carry the chair, he also carried a little girl all the way to and from..... 

(makes me tired just looking at this photo... or maybe that was a swoon ;)

Just a few more... and you're almost done....

...that's what I told the kids anyway...

...bribing with anything I could find in my bag, and promising supper at the local burger joint....

...they were really VERY good and I couldn't have been happier...

(I guess my kids are so used to having a camera in their face.... but they were exceptionally patient with me that day)

And just as we were leaving... the owner drove up...

and my boys, who have no shame, boldly asked to come back and going fishing...

...right here...

...they saw lots of "big ones" hiding out in the shadows under the bridge...

His love....

He said, "Come away and be my love....

....and share this life with me."

She took his hand...

and together... 

...they explored, and believed, and shared, and loved.

He took her face in his hands....

and kissed her breath away....

until their love exploded into great, rolling waves....
of unquenchable laughter.

{You + me = love}

{Happy Anniversary}

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

(one for each year)

all papers, frames, and templates from {Sassy Designs}

he.....she....they....and we

he...had a birthday
...wanted pie

she....had a delightful but dirty face

they.... were all together for a few hours

they...all wanted to blow out candles again and again

they...had to snuggle up for warmth....
(brrrr it's been cold)

we....had a wonderful time together
(together... isn't that a beautiful word?)

ps.....he wanted to make sure you saw {this....scroll down}...

We Did It!!!!! Bloomsday 2010

We did it! I can still walk today -- with a little help from my friend ibuprofen.
About mile 3, my knee started hurting (I knew this would happen).
About mile 4, my hips started hurting (I didn't know that would happen)
About mile 5, my lower body fell off and things were fine for a couple of miles.
About mile 7, my lower body caught up with a vengeance, but luckily we only had 1/2 mile to go!
Today, I am gimping around with a swollen left knee, and a sore right hip, but we did it!!!!
(In case you're wondering, my man is feeling just fine, and could probably have run circles around me,
but he lovingly stayed right with me)

((all pictures from Bloomsday taken with my cell phone -- not too bad!))

We finished Bloomsday 2010!
7.46 miles (12k) later and we're still smiling!
I didn't pee my pants (almost), but Randy did get spit on!


Our official time was 1:43:52 -- BUT (and that's a big but)
I had to stop and pee in the port-a-potty and we waited in line for over 15 minutes!!!!!
That was the longest 15 minutes EVER!!!!!
So, really our time was just under 1 hr and 30 minutes.
AND, I'm proud to say, I only walked about 1/2 mile up Doomsday Hill --
the rest of the time I jogged along.
(In reality, I was afraid if I stopped, I would never get going again!)

Bouncing balls while waiting to start.

Views of the river from Doomsday Hill

See all those teeny tiny people crossing the bridge?
No, didn't think you could!!!
Running Bloomsday is like being cheek-to-jowl with 50,000 complete strangers and a half-dozen friends you happen to see.

{Linked to Mosaic Mondays}
{Please feel free to go see the beautiful green and white mosaic Mary made for today}

A Rare Gift

Peace and quiet. A rare gift.
Time to sit and enjoy the lapping of the water on the shore without the chatter of little *loud* voices (if even for 15 minutes)
-- an even rarer gift.

For these little moments of creativity, reflection, and peace -- I am grateful.

These rare moments in a busy mother's life are essential for mental health, of that I am quite sure.
Quite sure. And quite thankful. (Thanks go to my man. I love you.)
Unwrapping the rare gift of peace and quiet today.

{Linked to Tuesdays Unwrapped}
{Would you like to see what other gifts have been unwrapped today?}

The Man and Boys

**Please note** Yes, I know such activities can be/are dangerous. Yes, I know. Boys will be boys, and the Man will be a man. Sometimes the Mom has no control over the Man and boys. The Mom has learned to keep her mouth shut and say "Be careful and HOLD ON!" only once......every few minutes.

For the record, the Man's tractor is a 1952 Ford 8N. It has seen better days, but it keeps ticking. Last fall, a very nice man who didn't mind little boys talking his ears off, came and did some work on the Man's tractor. It was needing work badly -- a little nip and tuck and a few organ transplants.

I love the smile on Walter's face. He is experiencing little boy bliss.

PS -- did you wonder about the portapotty in yesterday's post? The Man rolled his eyes when he saw that picture. I included that photo because of what the boys said when they came out. (Why is going potty in a portapotty so appealing to them? I try to avoid the portapotty if at all possible. Yuck!) Anyway, back to what the boys said...... "Mom, a cow pooped in there!" I did not investigate.

Date Night

Friday night, my man and I had the pleasure of going out to eat dinner.....just the two of us.

Amazing.........wonderful.........beautiful.
The babysitters even survived.
We might just have to try it again someday!

A Man and His Books

Our living room is in the final stages of being finished (cheering and clapping!!!) Randy was delighted (can't you tell) to put out *some* of his well loved old books on the new book shelves. His old books have been delegated to boxes and hidden away shelves for too many years.

By "old" I mean books dating from the 1850's and onward -- the older, the better. For Randy, heaven on earth would mean endless hours to peruse all his old beautiful tomes.

He got a little side-tracked....that's normal when you leave Randy alone in a room with books.

It's really hard to see, but the top book is a very detailed cook book from the 1880s. I need to sit down and read it more closely--it is very interesting.

Some of his most treasured books are his old veterinary and medical books.

I especially like the old poetry books, and books with beautifully detailed covers.

This book in particular is one of my favorites.

A Story of Thankfulness

I am thankful for my man. Have I told you this before? Of all the earthly things I am thankful for, he tops my list. Not only is he a loving and tender husband, a compassionate and actively engaged daddy, and a hard workin' man, but he is also a great breakfast chef. Lucky me.

The past three evenings he had to add "stay-at-home Daddy" to his repertoire as well. Sure, there are the occasional shopping forays to the mall or grocery store in which Daddy has been known to hold down the fort with ease. But three evenings in a row? I think we may have set a record in this little family of ours. I felt bad last evening as I was getting ready to go out ... yet again....really I did. Evenings are such a central part of family life (and a sometimes very difficult time of the day with 4 youngins') that being away from home is hard on everyone. Now before you start shaking your finger at me, let me make it clear that the first night I ran to Pullman to pick up a petite 100-year-old armoire for Nona's room that I found on Craigslist that most definitely would not be around for another day. It is perfect -- will have to show you pictures soon. The second evening, I worked on my booth at Grady's Corner...finally. And the last evening I attended a Scentsy Party at the neighbor's home. So I am thankful that my man can not only fish around in the womb of a man-eating cow for 125 lb bull calf that does not want to leave its warm cocoon, but that he can also get 4 youngin's fed, bathed, pajamed (is that a word?), and safely tucked in bed with only half the effort of the calf fishing. He's just that good.

I was thinking of how thankful I was when I stepped into the shower last evening to get ready for the Scentsy party. Mmmmmm..... nice...... warm...... shower........ no kids screaming or banging on the door. But, hello? What was that awful stench? I know I didn't smell that bad before I stepped into the shower. Had I accidentally stepped back in time and landed in a steamy midwest outhouse in the middle of summer? No, still in the shower. Quickly, I checked my breath --could it really be that bad? Maybe I needed some breath salts from Wyatt. He is afterall the "bad breath police" with his little tin of chunky salt grains guaranteed to ward of bad breath. (I have no idea where he came up with the salt cure, but he does come from a long line of bad breath police on his mother's side of the family, that I do know.) Nope, no bad breath -- at least not that bad. I looked down and low and behold -- there was a well-macerated turd neatly hidden in the lid of a shampoo bottle lying on the shower floor. No -- it couldn't be! But sadly, yes it could.

After gingerly picking up the lid with the turd safely contained inside, tossing all in the trash to be taken out after my shower, and spraying down the shower floor with Lysol --- I continued my shower. And I continued thinking how thankful I was that it was not on my watch that the stinky turd got left in the shower all night and all day (at least not this time.....;). And you know what else I was thankful for? That I had my contacts in so I could actually see the macerated turd before I stepped in it! See, there's always SOMETHING to be thankful for.

With My Favorite Person

I do love this man, heart and soul. He is my favorite person to go on long walks with, to lay around reading books with, to cook food with, to just BE with. (Reid had to comment, "I saw that!" and declare he was done taking pictures after he took the picture of us kissing. He he.)

This is the same man that was hamming it up while I was showing Reid how to operate the camera. This is the same man that is wearing a pink and purple plaid shirt today in honor of breast cancer awareness day -- he is secure in his manliness. Of course he called it "breast awareness day" as he was giving me a hug and kiss before he left to spend all day working cows with a bunch of manly men. (I can only imagine the jokes.) And now, my readers, I must draw a veil over the following scene to spare your innocence ......

Brrr.... It's Cold Outside, Baby!

Funny how it seems so cold in the fall when it first starts getting cold. At least it does to me. It's only 30-40 F at night, but it SEEMS cold. Come January, I will think 30-40F at night to be a heat wave --the signaling of spring -- and will start breaking out the seed catalogs.

Do you like Nona's coat? It's the best kind of coat because it once warmed another little baby girl (and lived to tell about it!). While we were staying at the luxury Harborview Hotel, a lovely nurse who just happened to LOVE Nona, and who just happened to have a baby girl of her own, gave us a whole bag of baby girl goodies. At the time, the clothes seemed SO big. Guess what? They don't seem so big now! This Baby Gap coat is 18-24 months, and it is a little big on Nona, but she definitely won't be wearing it come next winter. The best thing of all, the shiny gold is a lot better at hiding dirt, snot, and leftover lunch than the light pink coat that Nona currently has. Thank you.

Possibilities?

How is it possible that it has been 8 years since we said "I Do"?
How is it possible that in those 8 years, we have made 4 beautiful children?
How is it possible that you are still my best friend, my twin?
How is it possible that I love you more today than I did back then?

I love you.
Thank you for loving me.
Happy Anniversary.