Remember This?

Here's my updated modern Keller Family version of the above image:


This episode of Keller's Angels brought to you by the following:



Feeling nostalgic .... remember when a popsicle was JUST a popsicle? Exactly when did merchandising become the rule and not the exception?

In the Game of Life...

... the Middle Dude has grown so much in the last year.

He used to make his "woman" sit in the back seat.

A Maxim (y'know, a short, pithy statement). By the Big Dude.

This photo was taken of a bus stop across from the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Dana Point. My husband (who is also 'Short On Words') commented, "If that doesn't get more people to ride the bus, neither will $5/gallon gas."

Extravagant Generosity

My husband and I have both been blessed to be born into such loving, generous families. And both of our families have managed to be generous with us, while never neglecting to teach us the value of good, old-fashioned hard work and diligence. Ok. Now that I've laid that foundation ... let me tell you about a wonderful, extravagant, splurge of generosity I get to experience annually:

Remember back-to-school clothes shopping back when you were a kid? After I graduated college, Mom and I just morphed that concept into the annual Nordstrom's Pre-Fall sale. And now that I'm a mature (??), grown-up, 40-something mom with kids of my own who need to be taken on their annual "back-to-school" shopping expeditions (which really should be a blog post of its own. shopping with boys is NOT like shopping with girls...) ... well, Mom and I still head out annually and I buy lunch for us, and Mom buys everything else. :-)

Here are a few photos from our delightful afternoon last week:

We start with yummy lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. We've gotta have some sustenance to build our shopping stamina, after all...


And we're off. Such a pretty mall this is. See, here's the skylight I photographed right as the security guard came over and told me to stop.


Here's my Mom (isn't she cute?) out on the bridge over to the other gigantic part of the mall (the designer part, where you're supposed to dress the part. I don't ever go there. It's not my style. Or my spending preference. But, hey, we were on an adventure, eh?). Mr. Security Guard didn't tell me I couldn't take pictures outdoors; nonetheless, I snapped them fast and packed away the camera.


We finished our outing with fish and chips by the harbor. 'Twas a fine, fine afternoon.


Thanks, Mom (and Dad!) for a fun, fun tradition!

Numbers 6:24-26

The LORD bless you, and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.

Look Who's a Year Older More Aged-to-Perfection...

Mr. Smart Alek


Of course, now the Littlest Dude must get in on the action.


Poor Dude. Has to light his own candles. Cause I'm no good with fire. Or mechanical things.


So, anyone want to guess the Big Dude's age?


Hey! That's not right!!!

Photo Tip Friday

At the risk of sounding sophomoric... twilight is a really really nice time to go outside and take pictures. Everything is all glowy and warm and wonderful.

FYI .... these are all pretty much SOOC. I did lighten the exposure on a couple of them (my bad, not twilight's bad!). Now, go out and take pictures at twilight. :-)

More of my perspective...

The Livestock, The Smells, Oh My!!

There's a good reason the livestock and food concession areas are in completely different sections of the fairgrounds. That's all I've got to say about that.

Th Goat Whisperer...

See the theme?

Fairs, Flags and Food = Good Times

I'm sure this might sound sacrilegious, but we ate dinner at home BEFORE going to the fair. Call me cheap. But honestly... we went to the fair on Free Children day, and it still cost us $23 just to park and walk thru the entrance. The food was incredibly expensive. Those Australian Battered Potatoes below? $12 for a small tub. $9+ for a hamburger. The corndogs were relatively cheap, but the kids don't like corndogs :-(. We did end up buying a huge plate of curly fries with ranch sauce + a soda to share. Even that was $8. Geesh. Were fairs always this expensive??? Ok, I'm done being wordy and pontificating on the ridiculous price of family entertainment ...

Excerpt from The Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 7

"Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
So then, you will know them by their fruits.
Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

The OC Fair

So we went to The Fair this week and I dragged my big, heavy camera along with us. The Big Dude sarcastically remarked, with a mischievous gleam in his eye, that it was too bad that we didn't bring two cameras - a his and hers - because he bet that a man's (his) view of the fair looked significantly different than a woman's (my) view. He thought that difference was good blog fodder. Anyway ... the next few days will include images of MY view of the fair. I did snap a couple of gratuitous images on his behalf, and I'm still pondering whether I'm gutsy enough to post them. Time will tell ... (but if I do, you'll definitely know they're HIS perspective!).

Orton Effect

The Orton Effect (developed way back in the day for slide photography by Michael Orton) gives photos a dreamy, watercolor-like, glowy, soft focus appearance. I guess it used to be quite tricky and labor intensive to create. Fast forward a couple decades, enter the digital darkroom, and now it's just a simple one-click-action in Photoshop. Various Orton actions are available free as downloads. I like this one.

For those who don't have Photoshop, I know this effect can be replicated in Gimp (free online photoshop-like program). Just Google to find a work around. I know they exist.

Because the Tide Came In...

Get ready (throw that clothing over)...

Set...



Jump!!



And he makes it. Oh yeah. That lifeguard over there was NOT well pleased and read him the riot act.

Nothing but the Finest around here...

... the finest books to read ... and the finest, most nutritious meals for lunch. Yup, that's us.





For the record: The Littlest Dude is the one who picked this particular book from the library (and giggled uncontrollably while doing so), but the Oldest Dude is the one who quickly commandeered it and read it cover to cover. And the Cocoa Puffs? I have no excuses - I chose the path of least resistance. And don't think for a moment that the irony of eating round brown balls while getting the "Inside Scoop on Ancient Poop" passed me by! I am, after all, the mom of three boys.

The Post in which I do not crop heads off...

Hey! How'd that lifeguard sneek into my blog? Oh yeah, it's the post about not cropping heads off. His head is still on, so he qualifies for the post.

And then, there's the crazy head shot where I probably should have cropped the head off!!...

IKEA wasn't all drudgery for the boys...

The Eldest Dude described those holey chairs as "Croc Chairs".

The Middle Dude struck a deliberately solemn, dignified stance by da Vinci's Vitruvian Man drape.

The Youngest Dude tried out all the tunnels and misc. furniture (funny aside: the bed he test drove is called by the name I originally wanted to give him. I still like that name. But the BIG Dude is adamantly opposed to any hint of alliteration in our children's names. So Kaden was a no-go.).

Oh look! The Eldest tried out the tunnels, too. :-)

What a place!

Isaiah 41: 28-31

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
he gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD
will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Urban Maternity?!?

So, Leslie and I decided to share gas and brave IKEA with four kiddos (all of whom are NOT fond of shopping). During the "planning session" (oh yeah, we had a plan.) we had the following conversation:

Me: Hey. Can I pretend I'm a "real" photographer and we can take some funny Urban Cranky Toddler and Exasperated Prego Mommy pics?? Y'know, it'd be, like, a new twist on the typical maternity shoot?

Leslie: Ummm, that's not a shoot, that's my life....

Oh yeah, we're total rebels. We blocked that emergency exit for about a whole minute... Isn't that a yummy yellow wall???







Oh? Our Plan? It included purses full of snacks to be freely dispensed throughout the aisles. Hot dogs and frozen yogurt and cinnamon rolls to be bought & consumed at the end. And the bribe positive reinforcement of the privilege of viewing SpiderMan if everyone refrained from whining behaved properly.

Photo Tip Friday

Be unintuitive. Chop off those darling faces. And concentrate on hands, feet, whatever...

And one I couldn't resist...



And because I can't stop playing with this scrapbook software...



Stop by tomorrow to see our IKEA shopping adventure with the lovely Leslie and her daughter Rylan.

The Fly and I

Boys and TNT...

Come, Walk with Us...

This is near the top of the hill that the Dog Dude and I walk. It makes us both huff and puff. Poor beast. I don't walk him as often as I should. Oh, and for the record ... he only gets to walk in front of me like this when I'm trying to take his picture for a silly blog post. The rest of the time, he has to walk BESIDE me - just call me the disciple of the Dog Whisperer.

So, the Big Dude asked the Eldest Dude...

to find a picture of how he wants his hair cut. Because the Big Dude insists it IS time for a haircut.

So the Eldest Dude asked me to take his picture.

Apparently he likes his hair just the way it is. And yes, I did suggest that perhaps using a comb might help his cause.

The Colors of Nature

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
Say to God, "How awesome are Thy works!"

Psalm 66:1-3a

Fireworks!

We walked over to the local fireworks show. I was too lazy to haul along my fabulous camera, so these were all taken in the dark (thus the blurry, noisy rendering) with our point & shoot camera and then lightened in Lightroom. This collage was also created with my demo copy of Lumapix. So. much. fun. So easy. Just one photo to download to Blogger instead of seven. Gotta love that.

4th of July

For anyone who might be wondering... I created the collage using Lumapix.Com's demo software (available to everyone). What a nifty little piece of software! This collage took less than 2 minutes to create!! I will NEVER mess around for hours with scrapbook pages ever again.

More Daisies

Meet My Window-Washing Crew...

They were quite a cute crew. And the windows looked great when they were done! I think I'll use them again...

A Very Busy Bee