My creative children often surprise me by leaving culinary (experiments) creations in the freezer. One day I was getting some homemade popsicles out for the kids and I came across a unique concoction of cheerios and ice carefully disguised as a popsicle. I questioned the kids as to how it got there, and my sweet A. quickly claimed it as her own and proceeded to eat it.

So proud of her cheerio pop- A’s recipe: simply fill popsicle container 1/3 of the way with cheerios. Add water from the refrigerator dispenser and cheerios will float to the top. Insert handle and freeze until set. Enjoy. You may want to make more than one in case your family wants to sample one. I personally wouldn’t take one bite~ though the frozen cheerios probably taste better than soggy cheerios! Perhaps you could try filling up the holder with milk instead of water and enjoy breakfast on a stick in the morning!!

Yesterday we celebrated S.’s last day of school with a cozy book read in our big leather recliner. All three kiddos piled on the chair with me and we read the first three chapters of Charlotte’s Web. Snuggly and perfect? Yes. Until M. was completely bothered at having to share Mom with his two big sisters, and A.’s foot was in his face and then he and A. were just squabbling and crabby toward each other. Typical? Pretty much.

Then, to my sheer astonishment and utter surprise, M. held A.’s foot and said, “tickle, tickle, tickle.” Of course A. laughed and then we all laughed. We didn’t know M. knew how to tickle–but we continued to enjoy the rest of that chapter from that point on. Cute kids.

{This little guy is full of antics lately, I tell ya!}

Today was a busy day- we got the family up early and made the trip to Scoffield, UT to meet up at the cabin of a client of mine. We’ve been in the planning stages for a big project Big, as in very large scale and high up–yet I can work on it from home. What could it be? More details and pictures to come. I am excited to get to work on it. It will be spectacular!

I also tried and failed at my wannabe attempt as a National Geographic photographer. I don’t know how they do it–photographing wild, flighty animals with out being noticed. There were some lovely white pelicans on the Reservoir today. I thought surely they wouldn’t notice me sneaking across the muddy flats towards them– I only wanted to snap picture or two. But nooooo, they had to paddle away and then had the nerve to completely fly away to the other shore. C’mon, my lens is big . . . but am I really that threatening? Not so. The pelicans in my photos are so far away and tiny it is embarrassing, so I am not likely to post those pictures.

DH and I had a little better luck in shooting some pictures of the old, dilapidated buildings in the pseudo-ghost town that is Scoffield, Utah. (keyword: inanimate objects). It is a quaint little place with about 1/2 of a business open at one time. Don’t go there to find anything hustling and bustling . . . but if you’d like feel cool while driving on Myrtle Street this is your place. I spotted so many awesome backdrops I’d love to try with seniors or families or kids . . . only they’re a nearly two hour drive from here. Oh well.

It is no secret that photos are important to me. Perhaps my photography obsession in began the day I realized how few baby photos exist of me. I’ve got 3 from the day I was born, and about 2 or 3 more for the rest of my first year. There are more images of my older siblings . . . I think they must have used all of the Polaroid film up before my I was born. At about 8 years old I acquired my first camera and I’ve been making up for lost time ever since!

My Dad recently traveled to his home state of Texas. While there, he reunited with a brother he hasn’t seen for . . . hmmmm, 20 years (or more?). I have only personally met two of his siblings, and this particular uncle is one I have yet to meet. He also met a distant relative who is a lifelong photo enthusiast and genealogist (he also happens to be 91 years old and still driving!) This relative gave my Dad a disc of family photos of many generations of anscestors. Priceless!! So upon returning home, my Dad received a surprise package in the mail sent by his brother Frank. It was a family album, put together by my Grandmother! (I only met her one time before she passed away, and never really had any relationship with her). I didn’t know she even kept track of us, and yet here was the proof.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to look through this photo book with my Dad . . . there were so many images that were new to me (most of them before my time). I was floored to discover this little gem:

{Could this really be a baby photo of me? Yes! That is me at 6 weeks old with my cute 5 year-old sister Kim}

Along with many treasured photos, there were even a few homemade cards I had sent my grandma when I was a child. Wow. This photo makes me think: 1) My own babies were chubby like this at 6 weeks. 2) I always thought I was a bald baby and this photo would suggest otherwise. My babies were born with tons of hair . . . I never knew that was from my side of the family! 3) The serious-furrowed eyebrow look my kids give me can be traced back to me. 4) My Grandmother cared more about me than I thought she did. What a treasured photo!

Family is the essence of why I am a photographer. I feel such the sense of urgency to document and record life through my lens. Which images captured now will be treasured decades down the road? What stories will be remembered from the images I create? Hopefully plenty of them! Too many to count . . .

So my 5D was showing a bit of dust and I read up on how to clean the image sensor. It is a bit intimidating to attempt cleaning it, as my camera manual lists about 3-DO’s and 10 DONT DO’s for this procedure. I heard of people using those little snot-suction things (intended for infants’ noses) to blow air on the image sensor as part of the cleaning. A $2 snorter sounded like a much better deal than a $25 kit. So, I bought a NEW snorter and proceeded to clean the image sensor inside my camera. The fam knows that THIS snorter is not to be used for noses–READ: FOR THE CAMERA ONLY.
A few minutes ago A. picked up the camera snorter and offered it to me kindly, saying, “Look . . . can you snort YOUR nose?” Aaacck! Do I need a snorter of my own? Hope not! Hope I never do! It just made for a good laugh.

{Silly girl.}