I love finding old photographs.

I love finding old photographs. They're always a little worn, but you can still see the memory as if it were yesterday. Photos break down—they fall apart; and very few things from this life last forever. But when I look at Pearl now, I still see this little cutie: smiling, full of life, curious, exploring. She may be all grown up now, but I still remember when all she could do was blow raspberries at me from her exer-saucer. You'll always be my little girl.

P.S. If this sounds a little weird, it's supposed to. This is supposed to feel like a look back from 2028, when Pearl's graduating high school, all growed up and everything. This is me turning in my assignment Maleen gave me: use a texture to add something to a photo. Well, I added about 18 years to this photo.

Textures

I am married to a designer. I love it. He makes everything I think of look better. I come up with an idea, he makes it shine. We are a good team.

Tyler is constantly looking at the world through designer glasses. (And I don't mean Gucci.) The other day he asked to borrow my camera. He wanted to take shots of texture. That may sound odd to some of you and others will just nod knowingly. Textures can be added into pictures to give them cool effects, sometimes making them feel grunge or vintage. Personally, I like both.
So, for his viewing pleasure, (and maybe your own) I chose my top five favorites from his shoot.

Maybe we will incorporate one of these into a photo shortly, so you can see the master at work. Stay tuned.

The Tongue

Blessed day, time is slipping away. Just last night I was looking through my old pictures. I found goodies like this.

Darn, they grow so fast. So quickly, that I am forced to spend all my spare time playing, teaching, disciplining and loving them. When can I blog? Oh right, when I'm supposed to be sleeping.

Anyway, Pearl has been killing me with her little tongue that she sticks out. I promised myself that I would catch it this week. Enjoy.

p.s. Is anyone else hating the new blog editor. I feel like I am back to square one, trying to figure out his stupid program and where to put pictures. Blat, I say. BLAT!!!!

Take Me Home, Country Roads

There are definite signs that not only has elementary school started, but also the upper echelons of schooling. I mistakenly headed to Wal-mart on the Saturday before school started. It was a zoo of students restocking their shelves with binders and twinkies. (Okay, I may have noticed some fresh fruits and vegetables as well.)

The largest sign or should I say smallest sign (license plates aren't that big you know) was the plethora of out-of-town vehicles. My mother and I used to have a competition. We would see who could spot all 50 license plates before the other. It wasn't much of a competition since my mother commuted an hour to Seattle each day and I...drove a few blocks to school. Even when I came out to BYU, I couldn't keep up. Apparently I did not know about the secret weapon of Wal-mart. I wasn't even looking that hard and this is what I came up with. (In no particular order.)

California
Nevada
Wyoming
Iowa
Washington
Georgia
Colorado
Oregon
Alaska
New Mexico
Arkansas
Montana
North Carolina
Texas
Oklahoma
Michigan
Kentucky
Missouri
New York
Virginia
Kansas

And at least three others that drove by too quickly for me to see. (Grr.) Oh, and I did venture down into the heart of Provo, so we can't give all the credit to Wal-mart. Regardless, I should have won this game a long time ago.

Up for another go, Mom?

Does it bug you?

Is it really anal that I am bugged when Answering Machines are grammatically incorrect. As in:

*chime*

Jake and Karen (spoken by a real person)

is unavailable (added by the machine)

It just bugs.

Soap Box?

I was going to make a Wordless Wednesday post with just the kids' backpack pictures, but as usual I have something to say concerning the matter. (Oh, and I never posted this I guess. I had it all queued to go and then I forgot to hit publish. Classic Maleen.)

Apparently I have issues with the first day of school fashion trends. I was like any other child, and I carefully picked my outfit for the first day of school. We didn't have a lot of money growing up, so I only got one or two new outfits each year when school started. I picked the one I liked most and would wear it on the first day of school.

Fast forward twenty plus years and I am sending my little chicks out the door. We don't have money to finance new duds for everyone. Most clothes are passed from one child to the next, and like I have said before, they don't mind. So I have been very careful NOT to make a big deal about what you wear on the first day. I haven't mentioned clothing at all. We talk about books, and pencil boxes, where you will sit and what bus to take home, but never what to wear.

Robyn was the first to wake up. Tyler, trying to get her up and rolling (and not knowing my opinions beforehand) says to her first thing, "What do you want to wear on your first day of school?" I held my breathe and then smiled as her sleepy reply came, "A shirt and pants." Good choice Robyn.

Both girls dressed on their own as usual and I approved of both simple outfits. Robyn went off to school and then a neighbor girl came to get June. I kid you not, that the first words out of her mouth when she came in the door and saw June were, "Is that what you are going to wear?"

"Sure," June said and didn't seem to care either way, or even notice that her friend was dressed in a new ensemble complete with matching sash. If only that attitude would last forever. Sadly I know that the older they get, the more influenced they will be by their friends 'casual' comments. I hope they can always feel comfortable being themselves and not wearing a label or a name brand. On the flip side, I don't think I would mind if they want to dress up special for school as long as they realize that clothes don't make the person, that what lies beneath is inherently more important.

But enough of my soap box. The girls had a great day. Robyn left earlier.



I wonder when my kids will finally grow into their backpacks?



June on the other hand didn't even have a backpack because the neighbor girl had already taken it to save her place in line. (Twenty minutes early.)



I guess we will have the lesson about 'it-doesn't-matter-if-you're-first' next week.

May all your kids enjoy their time back at school.

Um...School

Yep, it's that time of year, where every blog seems to stop for a moment and mention that the kids are back in school. Mine are going back tomorrow.

Granted, I still get to keep three at home, so it is not like I will be lonely or anything, but I always miss the older ones terribly so. Well, I miss them for the first few days and then things fall into a routine. So much so, that when there is a holiday and all the kids will be home, I wonder how I am going to entertain them all. I need to remember this moment; this feeling of loss. I probably am not the first to admit that I am often tempted by the idea of all FIVE in school. What would that be like? Sadly I don't have long until I find out. Okay, I can't decide whether I like them going back to school or not, but since I don't have a choice, we will just vote in the positive.

YEAH, SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW!!!

Whatever.

I signed up for the PTA again, but I haven't ever attended a meeting. This may have something to do with the three little ones still at home. When Pearl is in school, I'll probably run the PTA to keep myself busy. (Just kidding. I'll have to bust out my 'list-of-things-to-do-before-I-have-children' that I made when I was 18. See if there is anything on there I can still sneak in. Or cross off for good. No bungee jumping for me now.) I do have to give the PTA some props. They had some excellent coupons this year for signing up. Like a free tie from Missionary Mall, and free Asphalt Pie from Wingers. (So my weakness.) I guess I will keep signing up, as is my duty.

Off to bed. Cute backpack pictures tomorrow to complete the whole back-to-school theme.