Born To Ride!

My girl loves horses.
She draws pictures of horses.
She collects horses.
She hangs pictures of horses all over her room!


So she was ECSTATIC when we were invited by a local rancher to take FREE riding lessons.

This is my girl waiting in anticipation to ride while they saddle the lovely and gentle Autumn.

She really is a beautiful horse.

And she really is a beautiful girl!

Doesn't she look like she belongs?

Nothing like Pioneer Woman's kids, who were born ready to ride!

But, for this being the first time she ever rode, she did pretty well!
She is a natural!
After all, she comes from a farm girl!
Good Nebraskan stock!

And I would like to take this moment to say GO BIG RED!




Aww! Do I HAVE to get off!?!?!

So when can I go again, Mom?
Huh? Huh? Huh?
PLEASE can I go again?
When? Soon?
I REALLY want to go again.
When, can I, Mom?
Let's go again!!!!

Now?

How about now?

How about now?

Ok, Now?

Let's do it now.



Now?...

Favorite Things

I love red.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE red?

According to the fictitious "Dr Phil personality test", which is in no way related to Dr. Phil, that means I am "...the lively center of attention, the life of the party...".

Well, I never said it wasn't accurate! I just said it was in no way actually related to Dr Phil!

Any-hoo...

I love red, and you can tell this from my bedroom which you can see HERE.

And here is a picture of me in my favorite room, looking at my favorite nail polish.

Guess what. It is red.

Did I mention I LOVE red?

Here is something else that is red that I absolutely adore.

This is some amazing stationery that was given to me, and it proves the the giver KNEW ME! She appealed to both my loves of fashion and my love of red, and somehow managed to roll it into one amazing piece of paper! If I were to invent and design a pattern for stationery it would look JUST LIKE THIS!

There is something so lovely and charming about the beautiful dress (which I would LOVE to hang in my closet ANY day!) on a hanger.

And even the back of the box is a lesson in beauty!


And in an unusual stroke of paper genius, the dress is rather large, and a focal point in the design -giving it an air of luxury! You know, in a "I-am-pampering-myself-so-much-that-I-don't-even need-to-write-on-the-WHOLE-page-Half-of-it-is-DRESS!" kind of way! It has become more than paper. It is art!

Thank goodness someone designed it, because then I get to enjoy it! And though I love-love-love it, I just can't bring myself to open it and break out a crisp piece of paper and WRITE on it! That would be like allowing a child to scribble on a Monet!

I feel that fashion and shoes are high art forms!

Don't you agree?

You SHOULD agree!

But that is just me!

SO I will have to wait for something REALLY special to send a bit of this lovely vellum (word of the day).

So if you get a letter from me on this, the news is either really good or REALLY bad... let's just go with really good...for someone..probably me!

Hey! Did I mention that I LOVE red?

Younger and Younger All the Time!

Do you remember my post about the faces my youngest Monkey makes? You can see it HERE. I mentioned in that blog that kids are learning to make goofy faces for the camera younger and younger.

There is something ELSE they are learning to do younger and younger!

I thought that two was young.
The only reason Sweet Geek is smiling in this one is because he has his eyes closed and has NO IDEA what she is doing!




Well, check THIS out!


No words are needed.
SERIOUSLY! She isn't even 12 weeks yet!
WHY is THIS the thing she gets right on the first try?
It is only something I will have to help her UNLEARN! No progress has been made at all!

Do you hear that Emma! No progress!



*Sigh*
It is starting younger and younger all the time.

How Do I Name This Post?

Yeah...

OK...

So I need help deciding what lovely family picture taken by Julie I should have made into a print of an 8x10, and I need help.

Now my first decision -the naming of this blog. I thought about "Trouble", but there are so MANY other things that could cause a blog to be called trouble, that I really need to leave that option open.

Because I have four Monkeys!

I thought about naming it, "I Need Help!" only I was afraid that you all would think that was a reflection on my mental status.

(They are coming to take me awaaaaay...hoho...hehe...haha...to the Funny Farm!...)
(enough of that!)

And though I really DO need help (let's just keep that our little secret), I wished to keep up appearances of sanity and mental clarity!

(hoh...hehe..haha!)

So then, I thought about naming it "8x10." Dumb name.
But then I was simply so fed up with an appropriate name that I decided that I would let each of you use your imagination and simply think in your head whatever you want.

And we haven't even gotten to the actually help I require yet!

Whew! That was exhausting!

OK, here is the deal. My oober-talented sister took these really great family portraits while we were in Nebraska.

And I would like to take a moment to say GO BIG RED!

Moving on...

So I need to decide on one for an 8x10! The problem is that there are so many good ones, I am having a terrible time making up my mind! I know that there are some of you out there a little jealous! I mean, how often does THAT happen? Usually you go to Walmar..uh-hu-hum... a retail chain. Or someplace like Sear..er..a department store, and someone is there to snap photos.

"Say Cheese!"

And then you get the JOY of deciding which one is the least terrible out of truly horrendous choices!

So let us join Karen and Randy Fictional, and listen in!

"Well, Randy, in this one Bobby is not making the WORST face I have ever seen, but Sue looks like she just rolled out of bed and smeared soot on her cheekbone, and WHAT is this on Billy's FACE! I don't even WANT to know what that is! So which one will we be least embarrassed by hanging on our wall? *groan* There is not a single picture here that doesn't translate into YEARS of therapy for our children!"


You all get to leave comments and tell me what you think! I can't wait to hear ...er... READ your thought on the photos!

There are some of my sweet monkeys that will make it into 8x10-hood without even a second thought. There they are:




Would you like to see those in Black and white?


WHAT? Wait! Now I have to decide between them! And thought these were the easy ones! Aaargh!

OK, Here are the first three. It is all the same photo with different effects and filters. Thank Julie from JB Photography for both the amazing pictures and the photoshop work. You are a wizard, Julie!

Here they are:
What do you all think? Which colors do you like? I tend to be really partial to black and white, and decorate my livingroom that way, but I love all three of these and each filter has its own look and high points!

Or there are also these:

And then there is this one!

And these:

Decisions!

Let's go back to the Fictionals and listen in once again to Karen and Randy as they talk about the delema(sp?) before them:

"Randy, there is not a SINGLE picture that all three kids look good in! And you and I look like zombies in EVERY SINGLE ONE! So we need to decide based on the kids."

"Which one do we want to make mad, Karen? Let me rephrase that: Which child, when angry, will be angry for the least amount of time and will work less to make us miserable?"

"I have NO idea. Not Sue! She would walk around with a bag on her head! So it is between the boys. Which picture has a boy looking least terrible! Randy, my brain is fried!"

I can sympathize, but for OH SO DIFFERENT reasons!

My brain is fried.

I hope it did not damage my hair follicles.

Because then I would have bald patches all over my head.

One last thing. I had to add this photo. Though it is not in the running for obvious reasons, I love it because everyone is laughing! Just look at Monkey Shine's face! Just look at all of us! We were having fun, and that is the best part about the pictures. We were having fun!


What do you think?

Pure Bliss

There are some perfect moments in this life, and if you don't breath them in when they occur, the bliss of the moment will pass, and the intoxicating beauty of it will be gone forever. The sweetness of a baby's smile -and smell, the first kiss with the love of your life, the moment your realize that you are going to marry that man!, a personal epiphany, a moment of clarity, an answered prayer, and unexpected blessing, a hug that gives you strength, a time when you clearly hear God's voice.

A kiss.

However,

If you are a VERY talented photographer like my sister, sometimes you can capture a moment -simply press a shutter and GRAB that moment!

That is how I feel about this series of photos taken of Monkey Do and my nephew at my Baby Sister's wedding (she will always be Baby Sister!). My other sister was the one behind the shutter, and I LOVE them. You can see more of her incredible work HERE.

Monkey Do has always been especially affectionate...

Which you can tell by the look of rapture on her face and the obvious pleasure she takes in the kisses.

Thank you so much, JB! I am so glad you grabbed this moment of bliss so that I can enjoy it again and again! Something about these pictures makes my heart sigh!

Oodles of Talent

Big thanks to Julie at JB Photography for letting me post her amazing work!

Some people are just dripping with talent.

Just to be sure we understand one another, when I say "Some people" I am not referring to myself.


I am referring to certain people (Julie) who just seem to do things (Julie) that I just could not make work (Julie). She makes it look so easy! I am simply ecstatic with the family portraits she took of all my monkeys when we were in Nebraska. See for yourself!

Do you think Monkey Shine is having fun yet?


All the little monkeys!

Say "Fuzzy Pickles!"

Real smiles!

Perhaps I am completely vain, but you know what I like about these pictures? I look good in ALL of them!

Gotta love sisters! They are always looking out for you! They tell you if you have lipstick on your teeth, toilet paper on your shoe, or your skirt tucked into your pantyhose.

And they make sure, if they are taking family pictures, that you look decent before that shutter flies! Thank you, Sister Julie! I owe you one! Big time!

Now, how am I going to decide?...