i heart faces #20 silhouette

when i saw the category a few weeks ago, i instantly knew what picture i would enter. this is my niece, baba. we went to beverly beach, or a few years ago and baba had never been on the sand. she did not know what to think. when i took this photo, she was getting sand out from between her toes. this captures baba to a "t" she is silly, energetic, and non stop. notice she did not bother to sit to remove irritating sand...she is still this quirky girl today. just turned 4 in feb. and a bundle of fun. I heart faces is a great place to see other people's photos and to gain insight and inspiration. DO go there by clicking the button and check out all the great photos this week. you may wish to enter, but beware, it is addicting. =) after a few minutes of browsing, i have lots of great ideas for my kiddos.

interesting side bar here: baba calls me "aunt crazy" at first an innocent mispronunciation, but i asked her mom to let her call me this. I LOVE BEING THE CRAZY AUNT!

thanks for your comments and criticisms.

*EDIT*

as for sand in the toes, did you know that when you are done on the beach if you sprinkle baby powder on your sand covered parts, that it will fall right off? just rub on some baby powder next time, no chaffing or blistering from shoes. :) my kids love the beach, but the oldest reminds me to bring the "sand blaster powder"

“My Story In Photos: The Vacation Edition” Memorial Day Weekend-ish

this is my "vacation" edition for i heart faces. it is the most recent vacation we have been on. we will go camping here again in july, so come back and check for new pics then. i am excited for this week at i heart faces. it is going to be fun getting to know each other a bit better. just click the button to see everyone elses vacation pics.
yes we had memorial day weekend at our house. but it started on thursday and ended on monday. i had to go back to work, but the camping trip was lots of fun. daddy-o had several deliveries to make and all of us went too. then we camped in beautiful McCall at our favorite ponderosa state park. the first night it was just my family. Ehm read us a book. really she looked at the pictures and "talked." Jam and Yah liked listening to the story. we walked McCall. they have caution flags on the corners, there is lots of pedestrians and lots of crazy drivers. Yah got the flag from the holder and gave one to Ehm too. they both thought this was fun. walked out on one of the public docks, and set the camera on the stroller and here we are at Payette Lake. totally wrong time to take a picture, full sun and in our eyes, but we were there and the lake is beautiful. on the way to drop of one of the orders, there was on old meeting house. i convinced daddy-o to stop there on the way back and let me take some pics. Yah is growing up so fast. she will tell you that she is 6 and 5/6 and her birthday is in july.

isn't she just great?

we did a lot of bike riding. Yah on the hitch hiker behind daddy-o. i had the babies in the red trailer. Ehm loves to ride in her "bike." each time we went out, little Jam fell asleep. i asked Ehm if brother was alright and she nodded her head. i told her to keep an eye on him and she put a finger on his head and kept it there for the rest of the ride. she is little but still a good sister. when we got back to camp, they were both sleeping so of course i took a picture.

 yah convinced daddy-o to take the training wheels off of her bike. i was very worried. the only and i mean only time she rides is maybe once every two months. we have gravel driveway, making it hard to ride. well off came the training wheels and daddy-o chased her all over the campground. she did fairly well, much to my surprise. but when she fell, she was finished for the day. good thing we brought the tag along too.

there are biking/walking trails all around the park. along our walk, Mema found this fallen tree and went right up the hill to get a pic by it. sometimes my mom is kinda weird, not bad weird, just different weird.

all the biking and walking made my two boys tired. they took a nap at our site for quite a while.

the last night there, it thunderstormed and rained and poured. i am so glad we have a trailer. even at that, the trailer leaked right over our bed and daddy-o got up on the roof to put something over the vent so we weren't soaked. Yah was scared by the lightening and thunder, which is unusual for her. the babies were asleep when the storm started and were not affected by it at all. i felt bad for the tenters, they were dripping wet in the morning.

I Heart Faces #19 Blurb Book

well, i have looked and looked. part of the problem of choosing a photo was trying to detach from the memories and simply look at the photo for the quality. i think this photo gets my attention the most. my cousin, she graduated this last year and she paid me to take her seinor photos. i feel that i am still an amature, but according to the rules, i did get paid a little to take some pictures once upon a time. i am very legalistic, and am so scared of not getting considered for entering into the wrong section. so here is my entry in the professionals category. (my heart is racing and i feel sweaty) this is the first time i have used photoshop to enhance an image. i think it turned out nice. i burned the edges and took off a fuzz from her shirt.

i feel so inadequate, as there are so many others with far greater tallents. still, my cousin is beautiful and i think she is great.

i love i heart faces, they have some great challenges coming up, you should join! thanks for all your suggestions, i hope to learn a lot, i feel that i have. go over to i heart faces and see all of the breathtaking entries. just push the button below to get there, this is the required wording:

"I am submitting this photo into the http://www.iheartfaces.com/ Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites."

New Kitten

our just one year old kitty melanie, had a baby. yes, a baby, just one, which i thought was weird, but maybe because she is so young? she had baby under the storage shed. i came home and was getting kids out of the van when i heard a pathetic little meow. after getting kids inside, i looked under shed. the only thing i could see was a box. so she must have had the baby in the box. a few days go by and i check on baby, really i listened to see if it would meow. no nosies. i wait a few hours, still nothing. well, maybe melanie is not going to take care of her baby. i got down and pulled out the box, at first i didn't see anything in it, i moved the flap and there was one fuzzy, furry ball. baby was clean and had a full tummy. eyes and ears closed. must only be a few days old. put baby back and told kids it looks like baby is a girl. now there are no noises again and i have not seen melanie go under shed for a while. oh man, i should not have touched baby! well, i checked again, this time the baby is not in the box. melanie moved baby between house and picnic table. dog found the baby and stood there drooling, so gross. i know all she wanted to do was lick the baby, but yuck, what cat wants to smell like a dog? melanie moved the baby again. now in a little depression in the ground between the house and a piece of cement board. the space is just right for a cat to get in and the board is easy to pull back and check on baby. baby has lived behind board for about a four days now. the kids have seen baby and think she is cute. we have not touched baby again as we don't want to make melanie mad with us. Yee Yah makes sure to put food right beside the board so "if the baby wants some, she can get it too" well baby still has her eyes closed, but the dog loves getting the left over food when she goes out. horray for life and spring time. God has given mothers such wonderful instincts. i am glad He knows what we need, and is faithful to supply all our needs.

Mother's Day

happy mother's day y'all! I had a great day. Daddy-o took the kids to church while i slept, i got off work at 7a. everybody (read mom, mil, fil, bil, sil, 3 cousins, and of course my house mates) came over to my house for bbq lunch and then it was time for the games. it was a nice clear day with a high of 76. very nice, maybe a little too nice, i got a sun burn. you know how it goes, lotion up the kids and nieces and nephew, then i forget to lotion myself! this is not the first time i have left me out of the sun scream slathering, and i am paying for it. my face, chest, and arms are a beautiful glowing pink. i do have some after sun lotion and that soothes the heat from the skin fairly quickly. well, what did i do to get such a burn? we played baseball of course! very informal, but tons of fun. all the kids got into it, even little Jezz Man had a "turn" at bat (daddy-o held him). after that daddy-o set up the net and we played volley ball. i like that one, but it is more difficult for the little ones. finally, my favorite bad mitten. yes, we played for two hours. that is when the sun was most intense too. well it was fun, and i will try to put lotion on myself next time. daddy-o and the kiddlets got me a new charm for my family neclace, i will try to get a photo up soon. now my charm family is complete. a little man on the end.

hot tub man

so, here i sit eating chili cheese fritos...how i love them, but i only eat them once in a great while when there is no husband or kids in sight or within smelling distance...which means i eat them at work. i eat my fritos in a nice way, i just hold it in my mouth until all the chili goodness is sucked off. this, i think, prolongs the enjoyment. and also means i will stop with just one small snack sized bag. if i just horked them down, which i have done, i will eat a family sized bag in one sitting! this is not good for my waist line or my cholesterol, but who really keeps track of that until it is life or death? i run the night audit shift at a wonderful hotel...so there is some down time which needs to be filled and tonight the vending machines were calling to me. well i was on the fourth floor any way. a guest came in and said "i want your penthouse suite." i said very upbeat, "sure thing coming right up"...it was then that i realized he was serious...and that he was slightly (or maybe more) intoxicated. i quoted the rate and he didn't blink an eye, just flipped me his card and waited for keys. well i checked him in and wished him a good night. a while later, phone rings "front desk this is christina, may i help you?" hot tub man was on the other line. he says "there is something wrong with this tub in here" i asked what was the problem. "the jet covers keep blowing off" well i have never been in a hot tub that is in a room since my wedding night and i don't remember any thing about the tub, so i offer to move him to a different room. i ask if he wants to get the key or have me bring it to him. he says "well, i'm naked so could you just bring it to me?" ahh...sure. i take him the key and stop by the vending room while waiting for the elevator to come back up, why do they put that room right next to the elevator? oh yeah, convenience, right. so i wilt under the pressure, i am doing a good job at my job so i can have a little treat, a mug root beer and fritos. ahh bliss. phone rings again, hot tub man..."this tub is doing the same thing! i want you to come up here and look at it so you can see what is going on. give us about ten minutes so we can get dressed and then come look." first of all i am freakin out! i have never gone into an occupied guest room. are they planning to murder me, or hurt me? ahhh! deep breath, things are going to be all right. people only do psycho things like kill the desk clerk in the movies...right? right. off i go, still shaking. now to the third floor and in to the room. hot tub wife is on chair, visibly intoxicated. "hi there!" now i know something is wrong...do i stay or do i go? around the corner to the hot tub, full of water. now i get it they are going to drown me and the housekeepers will find me in the morning. "see that right there? that thing keeps coming out" sure enough it is a jet cover. i reach in and screw it back into the tub. "well lets try it again." hot tub man starts the tub and the thingy flies off again. :well sir i an very sorry. i will go and check the tub in a different room and you can move there if you like?" "i came here for a romantic night with my wife and now it is ruined. i don't want to move again. this is just wrong, i want you to comp my room." "well i will have to call my manager, i don't know if i can so that without a manager's code. i can move you, and i will make sure the tub is working before i move you." "no you call your manager and get my room for free. this is not your fault i am not taking this out on you. but i want this to be fixed. this is wrong." "yes sir, i agree, i'm sorry for the inconvenience to you and your wife. i will call my manager and see what i can do to make this right. i will call you back in ten to fifteen minutes." "yeah, you talk to him and get this fixed. and you need to call me and tell me what he said." first of all my manager is a gal. i call mrs h and tell her situation. she says "offer to discount the room. give discounted rate and let them move again if they want. if they choose to stay then charge them for a regular king room since tub is not working." "okeydokie, by the way, sorry for ringing you at 1:00 am, sleep well. see you tomorrow" call hot tub man and tell him what manager said he is very and i mean very upset. "i want this to be a free room, i am trying to have a romantic night with my wife and now it is ruined!" "well, i can move you again, or you can stay where you are and i will give you x rate." "i want to stay where i am. do you think that $40 is going to make a difference? i will not move again. do not change the rate of my room, i will come down in the morning and talk to your manager face to face and i will work this out myself." "ok i will leave your rate the way it is and you can talk to my manager in the morning. have a good night sir." wow now i am really glad that i got these fritos. i did need some comfort food, i know that you aren't supposed to turn to food for the answers, but it is 1:30 in the morning and everybody that i would normally talk to are all sleeping, it seems selfish to wake them. oh no, the phone is ringing again! hot tub man again! "hey, how do i get this tv to show me my dvd?" *sigh of relief* "well sir, simply push the source button and blah blah blah." "sure 'nuff there it is, great." i am now out of fritos...maybe i will get some more, it has been a stressful night. ok i will write out my experience as a way to distract myself...right, good idea. this is the responsible option right? interesting side bar: my relief in the morning is a guy, j. hot tub man will think the manager is a guy...hahaha.

just for the record, this is an older post, but it is true and i thought it was funny. join in the tst fun click on the button to see other stories and to add yours as well.

I Heart Faces #17 Hats

this week's challenge at i heart faces is hats. this is my father in law, we were on the oregon coast. what a great vacation. dad is a great guy too. nice to have such nice family. we went to the zoo last year and our cute baby got a new hat the she left on for quite a while. she was very interested in all the animals.

jump over to i heart faces and check out all the other hat entries, i know they are great. always an inspiration to me.