Words for Wednesday

I am trying to start a few new things on my blog- I think if I have some sort of form/organization it will help me become a more regular blogger. On Wednesdays, I hope to publish a good quote (I love a good quote!) with an image.

This week I am heading into Christmas prep full force, so my quote is about planning.

"Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning." - Winston Churchill

New Holiday Class- and it's FREE!

Jessica Sprague- I love her- is offering a free class for the holidays. She is the guru of all things digital for scrapbooking, and she is an awesome instructor. You can get an account for free if you don't already have one. Join up- I plan on it. The great thing about her site is that all of your classes are available to you FOREVER- so if you can't possibly add one more thing to your holiday schedule, this class will be there for you whenever you want it- even if it is next spring!
Enjoy!!

Lutes Family

Here are a few images from the Lutes family shoot- it is so easy to take pictures of good looking people!!

Photo Shoot 3

Here, finally, is the third sibling photo from the other shoots I've shown. Christina is a beautiful girl as well- very nice looking family as I've mentioned. Their mom chose the sitting down pictures, we printed them as 16x20s, and they look really good. She has taken them to have them framed and I can't wait to see them when they are done.
The mom and dad are moving this summer (soon!) and all of their kids will be in college or living here on their own. These photos will be priceless in a quiet house.

I love taking photos for people, because I love taking photos for me. I am working on a collage of framed photos for my basement. I am having a hard time picking the pictures and everything. I will post photos when I finish it (don't hold your breath).

Tony is Home

The college boy is back. He (and all of his friends) are having trouble finding work. Aren't we all? This leads to a boy with nothing. to. do. So far, this has been o.k.- he is working out, helping a litte around the house, etc. His biggest accomplishment of the spring, apparently, is the beard. It has inspired jealousy in many of his guy friends. It doesn't bother me too badly, but I am looking forward to it going, now that I have some photos to look back on.

It is good to have him home, but the grocery bill has already gone up. The milk especially is disappearing at the rapid rate. Funny how quickly you adjust to a new normal, and now I will be adjusting back to this for a few months.
So much going on right now with the ending of school for another year. Many posts to come on spring activities.

On Mothers

For finding your mother, there's one certain test. You must look for the creature who loves you the best."

From "Little Miss Spider" by David Kirk

I like this quote, and I certainly find it to be true in my own life and the lives of my children. I have the world's greatest mother (who doesn't even know I have a blog lest you think I am buttering her up!) who always made me feel as if I could do anything. I still think that most days. I try to remember all of the things she said to me that made me feel that way, but I can never think of anything specific. The things I remember her saying are things like, What a life, what a war! and Life's not fair. Hardly the inspiring you to do anything quotes. I suppose it was more in the way she lived, then, always believing in me. She was always happy for my successes, and she never acted surprised over any accolades I might receive. Believe me, I have thought about it in an attempt to recreate that feeling of confidence for my own children. Hopefully, they have gotten a bit of it through osmosis. I remember the day Tony was about 5 or 6 days old, and I was in Hawaii, and Mama hadn't come out to see me yet. I called her and told her I thought I was wasting time, that I needed to be teaching him something. (can you believe any of my children turned out semi-normal?) She told me I was teaching him that I would always be there when he cried. That is a pretty awesome responsibility, that being there whenever someone cries. I know my mother would still be there for me if I were crying, and I hope my children know the same thing when they are parents, too.
Happy Mother's Day- tell your mother that you love her if you still can.

Georgetown Cupcake

When Alyssa and I spent Friday of Spring Break week in Georgetown, this was the motivation for going. I had followed the "Cupcake Wars" in the Washington Post Food section during the fall, and Georgetown Cupcake had pretty much wiped the floor with any competition. I had been wanting to go ever since- finding time to take such a small trip took a lot longer than I thought.
Alyssa was lured by the prospect of shopping in Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie- and checking out this successful cupcake bakery, since she would really like to own one one day. The cupcakes were indeed lovely and delicious. We brought these 6 home, after having one each sitting in Georgetown. So we tried 8 flavors- our favorite was the coconut and for me, the chocolate squared came in a close second. My only complaint was that most of the vanilla frosting is all cream cheese, and I prefer buttercream. I think the cherry blossom had buttercream. We split every cupcake we brought home so we could both taste all of the flavors.
The bakery didn't open until 11- we passed by it around 10:45- already a line forming. I thought it would die down after they opened. Wrong. We waited in line for about 25 minutes to get in to the tiny place to order our cupcakes. Definitely worth the wait- no fake frosting, or tough cake mix type cakes. yum...
Shopping in Georgetown was a lot of fun, and I wish I had more time to do stuff like that with the girls. Alex was on her way to Myrtle Beach with the school chorus this particular day. Those Saturday dance classes really mess with our available time for fun. I would like to plan more fun (I am starting to realize that if I don't plan it, it will not "just happen" like it did when they were smaller and unscheduled.).
I have photos to edit,and I must get ready for my day and start thinking about more fun to be planned.