Last week was full of mixed emotions. My Uncle Bill passed away on Sunday. He was my mom's brother. We weren't close but I was sad for my mom. She's the oldest of the three kids and now the only one left in her family.
On Monday I went with a group of ladies from church to Kraynak's, a Christmas display and toy store, and Daffin's Candies (chocolate!). It was a really nice day. We had a good time. Although I wish we would have had more time to spend at Kraynak's because I didn't get to see as much as I would have liked. A good reason to go back!
I also spent some time at Panera with my friend, Laura. We don't get together too often anymore, so it was nice to just hang out and talk. She makes awesome custom hats (find her on Facebook) and is incredibly busy this time of year, so she crocheted while I worked on something for our Wednesday night kids' class at church. Thursday was parent visitation day at school and then our church hosted a blessing party for a family who lost all their belongings recently in a house fire.
On Thursday night I also learned that the brother of one of my friends from high school died. I had just taken their family portraits the Saturday before.
I also learned that my dad's brother, Joe, passed away Thursday. My dad has been gone for many years and I hadn't seen Joe probably since my cousin's wedding 20 years or so ago. But again, my heart was breaking for the family.
On Saturday, after doing some things around the house to prepare for company coming on Thanksgiving, we had a family date. Doug suggested we go to a railroad museum. There is a huge model train display that he knew Alex would love. Keira and Nick liked it too, even though they may not admit it. :) While we were there I saw this woman that looked familiar to me. So I walked up to her and asked her if her name was Lori - she said yes. Turns out she was the midwife that caught Nick when he was born 10 1/2 years ago! I hadn't seen her in many years. She's retired now, enjoying her grandchildren. Once we found Nick, who had gone downstairs with Keira, I introduced her to him. Of course, being the curious 10 year old that he is, meeting the woman that caught him when he was born sparked a whole slew of questions about pregnancy and childbirth. Doug and Nick will have to have "the talk" very soon!
Another thing I did last week was watch Becky Higgins on CreativeLIVE talking about Project Life. I didn't watch all the segments but I did manage to catch quite a few. And my spark is reignited to get busy working on my Project Life books. I still have to finish my 2012 Project 365 book. All the pictures have been in it but the journaling needs finished. So while watching Becky, I worked on my book. She also reminded me about how important it is to capture the little every day details of our lives, which is what this post is mostly about. I used to do this a lot, but when I got busy photographing other people, I stopped. Time to get back to doing that!
So after that long-winded introduction :) let's get to some photos!
These photos were actually taken on November 16 but they are of the family who just lost their dad/brother/son to cancer. His funeral is today. He was just 39 years old. His wife asked me to take them for her. She thought Terry would think she was crazy if she asked him to make his hand look like an L. She made the heart for the O. They have 2 kids who made the V and E. Knowing that I was able to help them preserve the memory of him makes what I do even more rewarding. (More photos of this session coming soon.)
This is the group of ladies I spent the day with on Monday. I knew all but one of them. I asked one of the women that works at the candy shop if she would take our picture so I could prove that I was there too. :) She took one look at my camera and said she would if it was on auto. I chuckled and told her that my camera has never been on auto and that I would set it up for her. She agreed and I think she did a great job.
I had to stop at Michael's on Thursday to get poster board to make a sign for the house blessing party. So while I was there, I picked up a Project Life corner rounder. I love that the craft stores are carrying Project Life now!
Capturing the every day little things ... like these tiny rubber bands that are all.over.my.house! :)
I moved up slightly in the world of cell phones and got a T-mobile prepaid phone. I now have unlimited text and talk and can get online too. I haven't tried that yet, but hope to figure it out this week.
I think I mentioned that Keira lost her cell phone during Kourtney's photo session. She's been without one until now. Since I got a new phone, she gets my old one. Here she is customizing it to meet her needs. And, taking advice from Becky Higgins, I did not move the stack of towels that were sitting behind her head, because life isn't always perfect. That stack of towels will no longer fit in our linen closet because I just bought some new towels so I set them on the back of the couch. I need to find a new home for those - possibly a shelter or something.
Something we do on a regular basis is visit our local public library. I had never taken pictures there until now. Alex loves to pick out a movie or book while we are there.
On the drive home from the railroad museum on Saturday, we drove right into a snowstorm. We could barely see the cars in front of us. We didn't end up getting much more than a dusting though. Although the forecast shows some significant snow coming tomorrow into Wednesday. My kids are pumped! (Doug was driving - for those of you worried about me shooting while driving.) :)
Before you go, I wanted to tell you about two giveaways I have going on right now.
The first ends today. It is for a Christmas story called The Sparkle Box.
The second ends tomorrow ... a music CD for pre-teens, teens, or young adults called 1 Girl Nation.
Check them out and get entered to win. The music CD doesn't have any takers yet, so your chances are good! :)
I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving full of time with family, friends, and yummy food!
