Dear Carlee

I decided it was high time I update the blog with some new Carlee Claire eye candy since I have not done so since she was born.  I have just been keeping my Facebook updated so more family and friends can see her.

Excuse me while I write a little personal note to this sweet angel

who has overtaken our hearts. 

 

You my dear have left me with a feeling in my heart that I cannot express in words.

I know....you are not my blood granddaughter, but that does not matter to me and I hope it won't matter to you, because becoming your Grammy has been the most delightful thing! 

It absolutely pleases me to no end to watch you and see what in the heck you are going to do next!  

You totally crack me up and when I see you or talk about you I know my face lights up with PURE JOY! 

The expressions you have are just too funny and your personality is already larger than life!
I could just sit and watch you for hours! 

Well, I could if you would stay still long enough!!

Let's just say you are a tad bit high maintenance! 

I mean this newborn shot of you was taken at 2 weeks old and you wallowed yourself right off the quilt and turned yourself over!
You even lost your umbilical cord during this little photoshoot!  Crazy Girl!

You never stay still long!  

Always have those arms and legs going....so incredibly strong for such a little munchkin!

That pretty red hair keeps getting more red!
A trait from your paternal grandmother, Nana Hall.
Who would have thought you would come out with red hair with two blond headed parents!?  I love it though, it just fits your personality at this point! 

And your eyes continue to stay blue and you always have a little spark in them!  

Another trait that totally matches your disposition at this point of your life. 

You have been pretty fussy so far...colic... (BOO)
and I think you have learned how to work the system just a little bit. ;)
You have such a wonderful Momma though and she takes every measure to make sure you get some relief and works so hard to keep you happy.

We all like to take turns dancing, jumping, moving, and patting to try to keep you content. I prefer to hold you upright and bouncing you up and down while pacing; and of course I love to sing to you!  I am pretty sure you love my singing voice...especially when I make up songs about you or sing "I found a little baby bumblebee."
(It can be our little secret though you don't have to admit outloud that you enjoy my singing)  
wink*wink

Your Daddy really gets wild and crazy when he's trying to make you content...but you love it!  

You sleep pretty well at night...however, you don't take many naps during the day AND you prefer to fight sleep!  You don't have trouble eating and again, your Momma takes every measure to keep herself healthy so she can keep you healthy!   

There are days that I just can't stand not to see you!!!  

Your Momma has been so good to send me and your Grandma Cindy phone pictures though, which I like to call my "Daily Carlee fix".
Those have been the highlights of my days the last month and a half and I like to show them off to my friends.  :)  

You, little angel are truly a piece of Heaven and I just adore and love you to pieces!  

I do hope we can be friends.  

I have tons I want to teach you and do with you and for you. 

Mostly, I want you to learn about God. I want you to know that you are ultimately His child and that with that in your life you will live to your fullest potential.

A most deserving and happy little family.  

I'm pretty certain your Momma and Daddy love you more than life itself!  

They will make sure you are safe, happy and secure.

You are one blessed little person who has enough love surrounding you to fill the ocean!

Sexy tractor

AND I AM Back!
Go me!

I really don't know that I would call tractors sexy per se, but anything that is weathered, used and still functional is!  <--Yes, that could be me I'm describing!  

Just a few photos of a weathered Ford tractor that caught my eye.

Speaking of eyes...the old Ford is looking pretty wide-eyed from the front:

Still showing the brand on one side:

But the other side...not so much!

If this tractor could talk, I wonder what he'd say!

I'm feeling like my camera and I need to rekindle our old flame, so I am hoping to bring more randomness from behind the glass real soon!

5211-24 through 26

So, I'll admit it....I'm officially a horrible blogger!
I mean, it's bad when you cannot even post once per week.

I seriously don't know why my interest in blogging has not been there. I have gone back to older posts to see what used to excite me enough to blog about...and I loved some of those posts that really were for no other reason but for me to read.

I think blogging has gotten to the point of worrying about who is going to read my posts or how many people are following my blog to see if what I say is interesting...That's really not why I even began blogging in the first place! Why do we as humans get so caught up in what others think?  *sigh*


I want to start blogging again for one person and one person only: ME! If anyone else reads it, well, that's okay, but I'm going to vow to quit worrying about such things!

NOW, for the real post...the last three weeks' 52 Week Project photos.
Each one of these photos have been for challenges on the 52 week Project blog. These have been so much fun and a nice change of pace from just trying to think of a new idea each week.

This was for the Message Challenge

And this one was the Dad Challenge

And this week's challenge is Multiplicity!

I hope to be back before mid July with more. :)

The Chalkboard Wall

So back to this monster chalkboard wall.  I must share this awesome work from these two budding artists - This is exactly why I thought painting them a huge chalkboard in their playroom would be better than any toy I could buy them at Wal-Mart! 

These two are so gifted and our family has encouraged them in every way with music, art, and their schoolwork.  (You may recall Joe's Elvis impersonations...he's sort of famous for it locally). We are very proud of them and are enjoying watching them blossom into wonderful little dudes!

I hate to admit this but I erased this entire wall so I could set up my Week 23 shot. They were cool with it though.  This mural has been up for many months, so once my little project was over and erased, I'm sure they started a new masterpiece. 

 

I love the little details they have included.  Joe (the older one in white) has his stuff on the left and Jake's is on the right.  They are so clever, they traced the shape of the guitar from a real guitar!

The only part of the wall that I was not allowed to erase was "Crazy Man" which is Jake's piece.  He said he really liked "Crazy Man" and really didn't want to lose him.  (obviously, Cousin Kim obliged!)  

Excuse the quality of this one, it was a quick phone shot.  

I totally recommend the chalkboard wall - I would however use a wall that doesn't have as much texture as their sheetrock.  I purchased my paint at Home Depot and went through almost 2 quarts after a good primer (there was a painted mural on the wall). 

I gave them each a box of white chalk and colored chalk and I think it has really inspired their creativity on a large scale. 

5211-23 - Inspired Image challenge

This is a challenge I've had on my mind for awhile - well, since Jen posted her week 3 photo waaaaaaaaay back in January. (which feels like it was just yesterday, by the way!)
Here it is:

Isn't she just beautiful!?  

Yes, I knew you would agree.  Well, although I have never met her in real life, I think we'd be great friends.  :)
I have linked up her blog, but she is going private for the summer so she can journal for herself.
Anyway, this photo has been in my mind and I knew I wanted to do something similar utilizing the huge chalkboard wall that I painted as a gift to Joe & Jake for Christmas. {sidenote: They are my young cousins who have a huge playroom and tons of stuff - so I thought this would be a clever gift for them. I was right.. I'll post some of their artwork in another blogpost.}

 Here is my shot which was completely inspired by Jen's:

Join the challenge this week - you don't have to participate in all 52 weeks, just be inspired to take some photos! :) Here are more details: 52 Week Project.

In other news...I got some wonderful happy mail today!!!  It may or may not be something from >here<