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This week's photo challenge theme at I Heart Faces: Contemplative.
I am not sure what spurred their interest in chess, but it makes my nerdy self very happy.

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This is a much littler Noah on a trip to The Children's Museum. Every time I looked at him, I smiled.

Okay, it was more like busted a gut!

Hmmm... perhaps I should use this tactic with my boys on one of our not-so-great days? I think it would be impossible to be angry if you had to look at a face like that all day long!

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For Melissa's Get the Picture Show and Tell Monday at A Familiar Path, she asks if we have learned anything new this week in our photography.

Oo! Ooooo! Mr. Cart-airrr! Mr. Cart-aiirrrrr!

It just so happens that the very brilliant Beth from Pages of Our Life shared this very handy-dandy tip with me.

"If you place the subject just inside the door of a house where there is no wall behind them, and you stand outside with your camera looking in, it creates dramatic lighting right on the subject."

Since I wanted a picture with my boys (as in a picture of ME and MY BOYS-- AT THE SAME TIME), I set up my camera on a tripod and used a remote. If you don't have a remote, you can try using your camera's self-timer feature and use the *gasp* auto feature. It's probably the only time you would want to hug the auto feature. Ahhh... room to breathe.

Then it got a little crowded. And I liked it.

Oops! Sorry about that Noah. We scooted over a little and tried to make a pirate face. Some more successful than others.

We laughed.

And then we got a "normal" shot.

I have decided that normal is kinda boring.

But it'll do, especially if we're all together.

 

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I saw this guy out in my flowerbed today.

I have no idea why that dragonfly (or damselfly?) flew from that vibrant rose over to this one...

Ewwww!!! Maybe there were more bugs to eat on the dead plant?

I have never been very good at bug or animal identification. Not even with a simple guidebook, y'all. Is there a studious entomologist out there that can help me?

It was fun to see that my sister Coco had the same idea today! But she was smart enough to keep it wordless. I have always been know to let my big mouth get me in trouble and prove my ignorance.

Oh hey, did ya find me yet?

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This is my little brother Stephen (pronounced Ste-fun) and his son Caden during our visit to Oregon this past May. I just can't get enough of Caden's kissable cheeks and those bright blue eyes! I think it's funny how Caden looks so serious while Stephen.... well, my boys call him Crazy Uncle Stephen for a reason. It just fits him.

I hate that my sisters, brother and I are spread all over the country. I have hopes that everyone will come back to Texas for good one day, but I won't hold my breath. ;)

You can find more "At the Beach" entries here.

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This week's I Heart Faces photo challenge does NOT involve faces! *gasp*

It involves FEET!

This picture of Christian kickin' back was taken last summer when my sister Coco came to visit. We had a grand time with her, BenBen and Emily!

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 This week's photo challenge is "Sepia Toned".

For the Children's Category, here is my cutiepatootie nephew making a funny face (and he isn't even eating prunes-- at the moment, anyway!):

And for the Adult Category, my new brother-in-law The Major:

 

 

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Which child did not obey their mommy when she said "Be normal!"?

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Waiting is boring when there is cake to be eaten...

 

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This is my first assignment for Hallie's Through the Lens - Digital Photography 101 group.

I just can't decide which one I like best... so I'll just enter both. :-)

 

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All week long (and then some!), Heart of the Matter is having a special Focus on Fathers.  From today's post:

Welcome to the Heart of the Matter Online meme: Father's Day Edition. By the way, what exactly is a "meme"? Anyone care to explain this concept and its origin to us men?

Anyway, today's theme is similar to the uber-popular Wordless Wednesday. We want to see your favorite picture of your husband and your kids, or your husband and yourself, or just your husband alone.

So here is my entry:

This picture always makes me smile! :-)  It was taken in 2005 when Dozer wasn't even big enough to walk yet.  My sister Lele got the boys these hilariously FUN t-shirts in New York City.  David and I laughed at the boys all day long!  The drawn in tie, sunglasses, cheesy pockets... man, it totally looked like the real thing!  So far, they all still say they want to be a pilot like daddy.  That's good and bad.  The bad part is the very scary learning to fly stage... I am positive that I will go completely white-haired and ulcered during that time!  So I'm just not going to think about that right now... or ever.

Oh and if you haven't done so yet, check out all the great articles by different dads and fun giveaways they are having over at HOTM.  You have until the 18th to enter all the giveaways-- so please spread the word and by all means, ENTER!  Today's giveaway is a 1-year subscription to The Family Handyman magazine.  Even if your man isn't quite so handy dandy, this is an awesome magazine that has tons of useful and very practical ideas for the everyday.  We really *heart* that magazine at our house!

If I don't talk to y'all again, have a wonderfully happy Father's Day weekend!  And for you single momma's out there, Happy Father's Day to you too!  If you are pulling double duty, you deserve a big pat on the back, high five and a Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino too!

Love,
Marshie

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In Time of Silver Rain

In time of silver rain
the earth
puts forth new life again,
green grasses grow
and flowers lift their heads,
and over all the plain
the wonder spreads
of life, of life, of life!

-Langston Hughes

*All of these photos were taken at Great Grandma's house. :-)

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When I was little, my parents had this framed picture hanging on the wall.  My siblings and I would gather around it and whisper the implications of such a thing.

Mom and dad-- in JAIL!!!  Horse thieves!  I didn't know they could ride a horse!  And they robbed both a bank and a train?!  I wonder how they escaped. 

So many questions, such big imaginations.  It all had to be true too.  After all, we did live in Colorado for a short while and mom and dad never denied this actually happening.

I am also rather certain that the $4,000 reward must have crossed all of our minds... whether we'd admit it publicly or not.  That is a lot of moolah to a 6 year old kid.

I think it is also safe to say that none of us were very good at math back in the day.  Either that or we thought it fit in perfectly with the fact that mom and dad seemed very old.  Did you see the date of pardon down at the bottom?  Yup, that says 1896! 

Good times, people.  Good times... 

I am still so tempted to get a picture like that made of David and me.  Hmmm... I wonder if we'd be worth more reward than just $4,000.

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While we are a BOY house, we do have girls over to play... we don't discriminate when it comes to FUN!

And can you believe this is my third post today?!  Trying to make up for disappearing earlier this week, I suppose.

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Okay, we all know that I just cannot be truly wordless!  As to this picture, *I* never could carry off the cheapy-party-favor-glasses look.  Now cheapy-party-favor-rotten-buck-teeth look I can do...  But this takes a certain amount of klass with a capital K!  And he's got it!

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A picture of my mom from back in the day...


A more recent picture...



It's hard to believe that she's 61 years old now!  But she's as beautiful as ever!  Many people think she's my sister... And I'm okay with that so long as people think she's my older sister and not my younger sister. 

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!  I LOVE YOU!!!

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We really miss Tennessee... and our friends there.  It was one of our best family vacay's ever!  I think it's time for a repeat...

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We finally got our camera back and I was able to upload some pics to my flickr account.  To spare y'all the time of uploading an enormous blog entry, you can view the pics from the badge on my sidebar or by clicking HERE.

There are pics of our Californeee trip, Tank's Kindergarten Graduation and a few of ze new fixer upper of a house.

This is one of my favorite ones from our trip.  I don't remember exactly where it was taken, except that it is way north of Malibu off the Pacific Coast Highway. 

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I just have to share this absolutely beautiful picture of my niece Emily.  She is 5 months old, always happy and has the most adorable chunky-monkey-fat thighs!  I'm really sad that her and her brother Benjamin had to go back home...

 

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I just got back from having coffee with Amy (aka amada).  She is such a fantastically fun person and the short time we had together just flew by!  She's a chatty person like me and in the hour and a half we had together, we talked about tons of stuff-- kids, God, homeschooling, Peru, being perfectionists (and all the lessons that go along with that), being patriots and HSB (of course!).   Anyhow, I'm the one on the right and she's the beautifully blue eyed girl on the left. :-)

 

 

Thanks again, Amy for visiting me.  It was great fun and I hope we get to meet again one day!

 

And on a completely different note, yesterday we celebrated Dash's 7th birthday with a visit to NASA.  One of their current exhibits is a Super Hero school where you can climb a wall with magnetic boots and gloves, lift a car one handed, and look WAY COOL like this:

 

  

 

 

Don't we look like a fierce family?!  hehehee...

 

I still can't believe my baby is 7 years old!  Where has the time gone?  Dash is my momma's boy...sweet, sensitive, funny, smart and wears his heart on his sleeve.  I can remember so much of the first year or so of his life...but then we fast forwarded so quickly and it's been a blur since then.  *sigh*  But they do get even more fun and interesting the older they get.  He is such a blessing to our family and huge help around the house and with his little brothers.  I just love that boy!

 

Oh and we did finally use the chocolate fountain while we were at my parents' house.  And believe it or not, potato chips are DELICIOUS with chocolate on them!!!

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Yesterday I spent half an hour composing a clever and fun entry to Canadagirl's Family Nature Photo Contest...but then my computer locked up and I lost ALL of it.  I even had some extra pics and hyperlinks and everything!  *sigh*

 

But alas, 'twas not meant to be.

 

So here is my entry to Canadagirl's Contest:

 

 

This is a pic of David and I in Beijing, China this past February.  Ironically, behind us you will see the lake at the Summer Palace-- completely frozen over.  Yup, we're smart travellers-- next thing you know, we'll decide to go snow skiing in August!  (seriously kidding...sorta)

 

Since I hate to leave y'all with boring winter pics (there's not even beautiful snow...just a frozen over lake), here are a few bonus pics from our fateful but fabulously fun trip to Tennessee last year.

 

    

   

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Regarding my fender-bender (that didn't really bend) the other day-- I was framed, I tell ya!  Framed!!!

 

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Just wanted to post a quick pic taken of me and my boys before church this past Sunday.  I just LOVE them!!!

 

PS Did ya notice all that hair?!  Believe it or not, they are waaaay past due for a haircut!  And yup, that little blonde-hair-blue-eyed one in the middle is mine as well.  Weird, huh?

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This is what happens when you get coupons for free portraits again (free sitting and free 8x10)...you end up with a ton of family pictures in a single year.  Oh well, they are awfully cute!

 

They want to be just like daddy when they grow up!

Aren't the t-shirts sooo cute?!  Two of my dear sisters got them for the boys while shopping in New York City.  We've been cracking up ALL DAY looking at them with their drawn in ties, sunglasses, and wings!

 

 

My muscle men...my protectors.

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Now, don't let this picture of two innocent little boys fool you.  They are in reality superhero mechanical engineers!  Even as I type, they are creating a massive amount of "traps" throughout the house to catch any bad guys.  And all I did was give them a big ball of yarn and some scissors to cut it with (hopefully that's all they'll cut!).  What is it about boys/men and the love of string??? 

 

I'll be walking through Home Depot with dh and he'll see this big thing of string and say "Oh!  I should get this big thing of string!!!"  And when I laugh at him, he looks at me and says that I'll appreciate it one day when that string comes in handy.  Since then, we've used that dusty ball of string for only one or two purposes...and boy, did he ever GLOAT about it!  "You were laughing at me then...but you're glad I got that string now, aren't you?!"   So I just sigh and  at him.  Yup, he's really just a kid in a man's body...that's why I love him-- he really balances out the overly-serious me... 

 

Now back to the subject of my fortress...I will give the little boys a little credit though.  While I can barely walk through the house with these snares all about, at least they are not following the footsteps of my little brother.  He and his friend John used to make similar traps with string all across the room but put TACKS and PINS on the floor!  So if they fell or tripped they'd get hurt.   What weirdos...I guess they watched too much Kung Fu theatre or something. 

 

 

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Here are a couple of pictures from Dash's first soccer game.  It's funny how it is an Under 6 game, which is non-competetive (they don't keep score).  But everyone knows that all of the dad's were keeping score in their heads!  This being the case, our little man's team The Jets won their first game 7-4.  Although Dash didn't score any goals, he played great defense, ran really fast, got some good kicks in, had the best attitude and was the only kid cheering for his whole team.  We couldn't be more proud of our little super-star!

 

 

And here's the bonus pic of the day. 

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Dh has mentioned that there is not a picture of him on my blog...so lest he thinks that I'm trying to portray the image of a single mom...here ya go, baby!  What a handsome man!  Too bad I have the come-on-and-get-this-pic-over-with plastered smile on my face...or is it the my-arms-are-tired-and-babies-are-lots-of-work plastered smile?....

 

 

And since I'm posting a pic, thought I'd throw in another fav...

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This was taken after my dad's 60th birthday party this past weekend.  I grew up in a family of 4 girls and 1 boy.  Can you guess which one is me?  I think we all look very different but we've been mistaken as twins, triplets and even more before.