Little Mermaids

Bob, the duck, was a constant companion to the girls as they took their first "big girl" swimming lessons with Mrs. Angie. Angie is truly awesome! Mel & I stayed indoors while watching. For the first three days there were quite a few "have to go potty" episodes because Danijela wasn't so sure about swimming. For Danijela, the last two days rocked. She did so well. These are images from their last lesson with both daddys watching.

Hold You

Auction

Moon Cookie Photography donated a free photo shoot benefiting the SPCA. I was all dressed & ready while my friends took an image of me. I was very insecure about going to this closed party alone. I think it turned out well.

Baby on Board

1st Client

Thank you to Devra, for being my inspiration. You have always wanted me to do something with my photography & it is a blessing that you are our first client. Hold you!

Everything Abbott

Casey, Heidi & Abbott left the weekend we had such a bad storm. They stayed behind an extra night (yeah!). The rain let up right as they were leaving & soon the sun came out. Danijela, Luka and I went outside to play in the light rain & sun. The excitement was unbelievable when they discovered a snail out & attached to its shell. We named it Abbott. It's all about Abbott!

First Fruits

June 9th we picked & shared the first fruits of our community garden with the Wyatts. The beans were roasted as part of our dinner that night. I also used some fresh basil the same week for a sauce. Yummy!

Pajama Party

We all woke & celebrated Abbott's 1st birthday (6.10.09). We moved the high chair in the front yard so I could get some good images. We were all in our pajamas. You won't see me as I'm behind the lens (as usual). Danny had left for work. God bless this sweet family.

Happy Birthday, Abbott!

This has been one of the most incredible weeks of my life. To celebrate Abbott's birthday (two times!) was awesome. They arrived at our home late Saturday. Sunday we went to the Arboretum to get everyone out in the fresh air. Then Tata & Casey went to an FC Dallas Football game. Heidi & I spent the day knowing each other better. Both of our boys slept well beyond usual which was just another blessing from God. It was an incredible day for me personally. That night we ate dinner at Pappadeaux for some good seafood & pre-birthday celebration for sweet Abbott.

Then the "real" party planning was started by Danijela. These are the things she wanted for Abbott: (1) a rose because he is such a good baby, (2) a homemade cake made by Baba, (3) a school bus, (4) a big balloon, and (5) lots of kisses. He received those and more. Here are some wonderful images of that sweet boy.

As a side note, Abbott really liked the #1 candle. He would dig it into the cake & basically come back with frosting. Heidi & I are pretty sure he got some candle wax on this morning adventure.

1st Crush

Danijela has her first boy crush. I'm amazed & horrified that at the age of 4 a girl would talk about marriage & giggle when "the" boy enters the room. Grayson is a great kid. However, I explained to her that girls do not call boys. Girls do not ask men to marry them. She sat quitely in the car. She asked why I married Tata & I explained. Then she asked why she couldn't go to Florida with Grayson next week because she will miss him. Oh, ... then the story was repeated.

Tata drew the image above at Danijela's specifications. It seems so cute & way beyond her years. He & Reece are coming to her ballet / tap dress rehearsal tonight. She can hardly stand it. She has made cards for both boys (lots of princess involved). Right after Grayson left yesterday she talked & talked & talked about when she could have another playdate with Grayson. It is wearing this mama out.

Passion

My sweet Aunt Anne died. I posted about her. Less than a month later her husband, my Uncle Ebly & my Daddy's only living family member, died. Ebly died this last week. It actually occurred when my parents returned to Denver to care for him after Anne's death.

I took the image above about a week or less before Anne died. I huddled on the floor in a corner & started snapping. It was just the three of us, but really just them. I've never seen them be so passionate all my life. After they got their wits about them, Ebly turned to me & with his dry sense of humor snarled, "You didn't get my tongue did you!" I confirmed there was so smut recorded. It is a beautiful picture of passion & life long love.

More passion continues. Sweet Abbott is the son of my cousin, Casey, and his wife, Heidi. Abbott will turn one year on June 10th. They were flown from Amarillo to Dallas because Abbott had a brain tumor. They are currently at Children's Hospital in Dallas. Abbott is making great progress.

I was blessed to visit with all three Tuesday night. Casey is not the boy I once knew. He & Heidi are parents & fighters. They have grown in their relationship with Christ & one another. They have encouraged me & countless others. God's arms are wrapped around this situation. It is amazing the miracles that have already taken place.

Free

She is gone. It is 2:34pm.

Memorial Day & A Monarch

What a memorable day, for many reasons. Ariel is checked at an almost obsessive rate, daily. Tata & the kids returned from Austin last night. This morning, at first glance, Ariel looked pitch black! As we moved the container around we could see the monarch wings through the, now thin, chrysalis. It was & is amazing.

Because she hangs from the top of the container it was difficult for everyone to get a good glimpse. Danny held the lid while I shot images outside. We put her back. I called Melanie asking how long it would be. She said anytime. Well, the above image was taken at 8:24am. We kept a close eye on her minus the various distractions. At 9:10am I looked at the container & this is what I saw (below). The image is not too clear because we were inside. Her "feet" were still stuck in the outer casing. I cannot believe we missed it. It must happen really fast.

We turned the lid down outside to see what would happen. Girl wanted to move. "Her" wings were definitely not cooperating as they are too wet. To fly might take hours. She liked to climb on me. It felt pretty strange. Monarchs are big. It was almost like having a beautiful roach climb on me. I could see all kinds of amazing detail. The wonders of God.

It is now 2:29pm. She is peacefully sitting on a deck chair. Her wings are definitely drying now. I would love to get an image of her before she takes flight. We'll see.

Pupa (Chrysalis)

"After awhile, the caterpillars attach themselves head down to a convenient twig, they shed their outer skin and begin the transformation into a pupa (or chrysalis), a process which is completed in a matter of hours."

No kidding! It's crazy & we missed the move from caterpillar to pupa by going to the Galleria for two hours this morning. How cool would it have been to actually see it happen. I did locate the outer skin at the base of the container. Now we wait two weeks as it changes and the Monarch emerges.

My Beloved

Anne Keys Chapman died at home April 23, 2009, after a long illness. Born August 24, 1930 in Erwin, Tennessee, she was preceded in death by her parents, Tom and Anne (Bogle) Keys. She is survived by her husband, Elbert F. Chapman, Jr., and many relatives and friends who all loved her deeply. It was her wish to be cremated and have her ashes scattered in the Colorado mountains she loved so much. Memorial contributions may be made to the Denver Hospice or a charity of choice. Our deepest thanks to all who helped, loved and cared for Anne. The Chapman, Bogle and Keys families.

Above is the obituary notice in the Denver post. It cannot in any way define the love she covered over hundreds of people throughout her life. I was blessed to be her niece -- to share special time with her alone. Oh, how I miss her. She died exactly a week after I returned to Dallas. I thank the Dear Lord above for that blessing of time to see her as her, just much skinnier.

She said she would tap everyone on the shoulder when she was gone. I wasn't going for that. I said she needed to be a butterfly. The irony is her burial plan was managed by the Monarch Society. Here, in our home, we are watching a Monarch emerge. Butterflies will have a unique significance to me the rest of my life on this earth.

Ariel

Miss Danijela decided to name our caterpillar "Ariel" from the Little Mermaid. I want to state here I've never seen the movie myself. And at this point there is no way to determine the butterfly's gender. I've read you can when it moves into the pupa stage & certainly when the Monarch emerges based on the wing design.

After church on Sunday I was concerned. Ariel was chomping away & the milkweed was running low. In our pajamas Danijela & I drove to a field to find more milkweed. The sun blessed us and we were able to find more. Thank goodness because that chomper, Ariel, ate through the night. I swear that stinkin' caterpillar has grown 200% in a few days.

Thank you, Sundee, for making this possible for our family. I never would have gotten around to finding the egg in a field with two screaming children. Each day we are amazed by God's design. If He put this much effort into the design of a single type of butterfly, think of what He has done for you. I need to remember this minute by minute.

She's just getting bigger. We cleaned her container & put in all the new milkweed. Girl's been going to town overnight. Need to keep a close eye so I get some good images of the next stage. How cool!

These Boots

Mother's Day 2009

I'm a 42 year old mother of two sweet kids. Danijela is 4 and Luka is 2. I'm married to a wonderful man. I wonder if I'll ever truly understand why he chose me to live life with as I am quite a handful.

Yesterday Tata was in charge of the day. He made that quite clear. I enjoyed it! First, we headed to Home Depot for the kids building project (1st Saturday) only to realize it's not the 1st Saturday. Luckily we were told there was a children's gardening project in the garden center. We hung in the garden center for a while & decided to ditch it. We were relatively far from home and discovered Danny left his wallet & the diaper bag at home (he was also in charge of the diaper bag). So we travelled back home.

Danny was dead set on taking me / us to lunch. We did, but luckily settled on an "undiscovered" hole in the wall near our house. It was good Mexican food & we had a great time together. I have images to post.

Jessica