Absolute Poppycock

Sometimes, I’m amazed at how completely disjointed the things I do each day seem to be.  Yesterday, I woke up and did a little work.  My company, amazing as they are, gives us a Family Holiday for the day after Thanksgiving.  I am so grateful for that.  I have a report that needs to be run daily, so I needed to log in for just a few minutes to start it.  Then,  the girls helped me make a chewy chess pie for their Uncle Craig.

Then the girls rode their bikes down to a friend’s house to play while I finished packing for our trip to New Orleans.  When they came back, we did a little work on Gracie’s Science Fair project.  Her experiment is what type of bread will grow mold the fastest.  I can honestly say I never thought I would hang bags of bread with pink polka dot shipping tape in my bathroom window. 

Finally, we loaded the van up and headed out.  We had to make a detour back when I realized I’d forgotten my wedding rings.  I took them off when I made my North Pole Breakfast.   We enjoyed Thanksgiving leftovers with my sister’s family, my mom, and my niece and listed to five girls laugh.  Then, I fell asleep in my brother’s old bedroom with my big girl right beside me and my little girl camping with her cousins down the hall. 

This morning, our elf found us here (apparently her tracking skills work even when we’re two states away from home!)

I can remember the days where I pretty much did the same thing all day every day.  Those days are long gone, I think!

Okay, I realize that I could be talking about myself since I haven’t been here in a while.  But, I’m actually talking about our elf, Angelina Selena.

She’s back from the North Pole, ready to spread a little Christmas cheer and more than a little Christmas mischief.  Last year, she brought snow and a mini ice skating rink for her friends, cleaned up the girls’ bedroom one day, painted on the bathroom mirror, made a huge mess in the kitchen, and even brought north pole seeds that grew into lollipops.  I can’t wait to see what she’s got up her sleeve this year!  She’s sporting a new skirt from Claus Couture.  I thought it might be because her old skirt was getting a bit tattered, but Abigail says it’s because her old one was getting too small because she sneaks so many of our snacks.  Come to think of it, she does look just the tiniest bit plumper than she did last year!

This morning, she was sitting on the girls table when I woke up, so after welcoming her back from the North Pole, I put together a little Welcome Back Breakfast.  It was fairly simple and the girls woke up before I finished putting everything on the table, but they were thrilled with their Snowman Kisses (powdered doughnuts), Reindeer Treats (peanut butter balls) and Elf Snacks (mini pancake sausage rolls).  I much prefer spending my morning like this than with the masses of humanity crowding Target and Wal-Mart.  That many people scare me!

Abigail is so excited that Angelina Selena is back for another year!

This little guy is hanging over our front door.  I just couldn’t resist him!  Talking French Mistletoe!  He says things like “In France, we do everything in French…do you know what I mean?”   “I wish you a merry Kissmas so pucker up now!”  all in a totally cheesy French accent.  I love him!  And, he makes Steve laugh, so that’s a definite bonus!

My blogging seems to ebb and flow like the waves of the Gulf Of Mexico.  Some times I’m here more often than others.  Wherever I am, though, I always have my camera with me!  I am so blessed to be able to share in other people’s memories.  I am blessed to be creating my own memories with my sweet little girls.  So, blogging?  Sometimes, it creeps way down on my priority list.  I have so many sneak peeks to share with you and I can’t wait to do that.  I’m not sure how long it will take me!

Here’s my third grader – I can’t believe how time flies!   I took the girls with me to the fort with me for a light check.  Sometimes, my favorite pictures of my own girls are from light checks!

My dad loved macro photography. I remember the Christmas before he got sick that I went to visit my mother and him at their home outside of New Orleans. One morning, he told me to call walk down the long driveway and said about halfway down I’d see a tiny little pine tree sprouting up between the cracks in the concrete. I headed out with my camera and got a shot of the seedling…it was less than a quarter of an inch tall. I showed the picture to my dad and he smiled. “You know the thing I love about macro pictures?” I didn’t answer and he continued….”When you look through the camera for a macro picture, you see things that the rest of the world misses…” I think that sums up my dad – he often saw things that the rest of the world missed. Sometimes, I think that was a source of anxiety to him, but at least in the world of photography, it was a source of joy for him. I love taking pictures with my macro lens, but I never seem to take it out that often. So,I’ve decided that a least once a week, I’m going to put my lens on my camera and head out, searching for things that other people might miss.

This week’s picture is my little girl who is not so little any more.  How many times have I watched her sleep in the last almost nine years?  Even when her eyes are closed, her mind is going a million miles a minute, always dreaming, always planning.  I love those eyes of hers – the things they’ve seen and the amazing things I’m sure she’ll see in the future.