Patrick invited me to lunch yesterday. It was like a real date. :o)

We went to a place called Quaker Steak. Which, of course, I call Quaker State.

These Cajun/Blue cheese chips are just fantastic.



So pretty with the bokeh.

I love to shoot with the camera sitting on the table.
It's my thing.


It is also my tripod.

(With four legs)



Next time we go there, I am going to ask to sit across from this map because I love it so much.

We are big 'License Plate" game players in the car when we travel so you can imagine how we love this thing.




I changed the setting in my camera from VIVID to NORMAL the other day.

I was noticing some redness in the face that I just didn't want to have to edit.



I have my camera set on VIVID since attending the Audrey Woulard workshop last April.

Gosh. That seems like a million years ago.

***


In the last three weekends we have seen three movies. (We download them right to TIVO.)

Ghost Town
Vicky Christina Barcelona
Burn After Reading


Burn After Reading was okay. Really was just a remake of Fargo in Washington DC. So similar in plot.
Dumb people doing dumb things.

Vicky Christina Barcelona was pretty boring. Just a whole bunch of messed up folks, messing up.
Smart people doing dumb things.



Ghost Town.

Who has even heard of this movie??

I don't know when this was released but it was just buried for some reason.

I liked it. I have never seen Ricky Gervais in anything before and I ended up really liking him and he did some things that really made me laugh! I always like Greg Kinnear. I think he is exceptionally talented.

Has anyone else seen this movie?

I think it is worth watching. It's sweet and made me cry.

We just get the one life, you know. Just one. You can't live someone else's or think it's more important just because it's more dramatic. What happens matters. May be only to us, but it matters.

What happens matters.



"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."
~ Einstein


Encourage one another,
Donna

Friday Five




Hand Me Down



1. Have you ever worn hand-me-downs? Who did you get them from?

2. Have you ever given hand-me-downs? Who did you give them to?

3. How do you feel about hand-me-downs in general? Do you like the idea of recycling things or does it bother you to have something used?

4. Do you ever visit yard sales? (maybe you call them garage sales, tag sales, junk sales, etc...)

5. If given $25,000 to buy furniture and decorate your home, would you buy new pieces or antiques? Why?



Horizontal or Vertical











Which do you prefer?

Isn't this a unique picture of Katie? I like the ones that don't look like her for some reason.

Actually I love the pictures that look just like her....and the ones that are totally different.

Guess that comes from taking so many picture of the same subject.

I know it must get tiring for everyone else....

but I guess that is what a muse is....

Katie's face inspires me.

So much.

I am thankful for that little face.



"You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink." ~G.K. Chesterton


...before I blog.
...before I take a picture.



Encourage one another,
Donna


UPDATE for Jody

So...if you like pictuers that don't look like Katie and you like pictures that do look like Katie...I guess it's safe to say that you like all pictures of Katie!
~Jody

Not really :o)
Let's say 99%

My pretty little drama queen is still having trouble with math.

Her big old drama queen of a mother is still having trouble with that fact.


We had a very bad drive home from school yesterday after Katie told me how many she missed on her latest test.

Minus 13.

(This time it was not concept, it was memorization.)

I told her she was grounded from Nintendo and that we will be doing math every day after school for the rest of her life.

Too much fun and not enough thinking.


*****

The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. ~Author Unknown

I've got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end. ~Larry Bird

God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest. ~J.G. Holland

*****




I love her spunk....but she is awfully lucky he did not have a gun.

Do we have any crazy criminal chasers in our midst?



Encourage one another,
Donna

Happy Winds-day!






Oh my goodness! What a blustery night.

Glad we survived that!

Patrick took Emma to the airport at 4:30 am. I am so glad I can count on him for that sort of thing.

He was the baker you know, so although he is not working crazy-bakery hours any more, it does not shake his spirit to the core to wake up that early.

Like it does mine.

I actually get nauseous if I have to wake up super early.

I will gladly pick Emma up for the airport at 11:00 at night when she returns.

Gosh, that works out nicely :o)


I can now send a text to a phone from my computer and I am so happy.
(I don't have a cell phone. I know, it's shocking.)

Emma texted me from the Milwaukee airport letting me know she had gotten that far.

I was so thankful to hear from her, I was imagining flipping planes in the wind most of the night.

I wonder if she can get a text while flying.

I will have to try that.

Ain't technology grand?


******


Well, let's hear what you thought of American Idol!

I have some strong opinions already.
And they are not so popular, I am sure.


My barometer for not whether or not a contestant is really good is that I do not change the channel to Biggest Loser during their song.

Here are the people I changed the channel on last night.

Scott. (I'm sorry, I think he is not super talented and I think he is a little boring)
Adam (Absolutely hate him as much as everyone loves him.)
Red headed girl (Hated her song and her look)


I liked Megan, Matt, Kris, Jasmine, and Danny.


Feel free to tell me I am wrong :o)





Katie sang this song to me yesterday. I had never heard it before. It's kind of cute.
The nice thing about older siblings is that they take Katie to movies I would NEVER want to see.
Matthew took Katie to see the Spongebob movie a few years back. Thank you very much.

This is a SpongeBob song.


****

This is from Winnie the Pooh


Winnie the Pooh: Happy "Winds-day", Piglet.
Piglet: [being blown away] Well... it isn't... very happy... f-for me.
Winnie the Pooh: Where are you going, Piglet?
Piglet: That's what I'm asking myself, where? W-Whoops! P-P-P-Pooh!
Winnie the Pooh: And what do you think you will answer yourself?



and this....


Roo: Look, mama, look! A kite!
Kanga: Oh, my goodness! It's Piglet!
Winnie the Pooh: [Being dragged behind Piglet] Happy Windsday, Kanga. Happy Windsday, Roo.
Roo: Can I fly Piglet next, Pooh?



I can hear it in my head. Can you?





In my head it is in English, tho.


Happy Winds-day,

Donna

Dancing with the Stars: Opening Night.


Whoa nelly!

What a good show last night.

My opinions?
Oh Sure.

Here they are...

1. Too many bad dancers to count!
2. A few great surprises.
3. David Allen Greir was robbed.
4. The Bachelorette, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, Melissa, is gonna win.
5. Jewels husband is gonna wish he was on a bucking bronco instead of on this show.


No where else does my opinion matter.

I like my blog.

:o)

P.s. For those of you who do not watch the show because of the women's costumes.
Bad news. They are not more modest this season.


P.p.s. Why were the judges so hard on the David Allen Greir? He is a beautiful dancer and they picked him apart and gave him bad scores. She feet were beautiful and he moved so gracefully. Okay, you don't like his faces...but that doesn't mean he should score as low as Mr. Apple or Jack*** guy or Cowboy-boy.
Sometimes I just don't get it.


Who did you love?
Who did you hate?

Who is going to win. Make your predictions now and see if you will be right at the end of the season.
I guessed correctly the last three seasons.


******


In which, I get a phone call at 1:43 am






It is especially hard to talk with out a prop ie Katie or the mittens.
Sorry for all the 'ums'.
I'm sure I will improve. Hopefully at a faster rate than my knitting and most certainly faster than my down hill skiing.

Have I told you that I skied for lots and lots of years and NEVER improved?

I guess my feet just were not made to be strapped on to long thin boards.





Katie says she is a tree hugger.



Happy Tuesday ALL!

Don't forget you DWTS predictions?

First to go?
Winner?


Encourage one another,
Donna

I really do lead a quiet life.
In general.

Some people would call it boring.

I don't.

When I was young, I thought everyone else was having so much more fun then I was.

Somehow I was missing the big party.

But I decided long ago to enjoy the happy little moments that make up a quiet day.

It may not make for fabulous blogging...

But I find beauty and so much joy in it.


SUNDAY

8:00am

CBS Sunday Morning.
Patrick and I love watching this show.
It generates a lot of conversation and that is a good thing.








We both loved this story.



Living Room
11:00





Family Room
12:00

The Women is on TBS.
I love this movie. Patrick has not seen it.

It is wacky and campy and sad and fun with a definite point of view about women and marriage.

Interesting. Another conversation starter.


2:00
Katie goes to play practice.
Speaking parts attend from 2-5.

Patrick and I stop by Millers on the way home to buy groceries for dinner.

We have steak bites again.

5:00
Pick Katie up from practice.
Take more pictures.





Edit pictures and post them to Flickr.

6:00

Make a talkie blog with Katie.




That's long enough.

We could talk for days.



6:30

Make dinner.
Eat dinner.
How delicious.

7:00

Watch The Amazing Race!

How long do you think it took to stack the wood?

So sorry to see that young couple go. I liked them. I thought they would win the whole thang.

8:00

Katie heads off to bed. She calls her big sis to ask when she will be coming home.

9:30
Emma arrives! So good to see her!
Katie comes downstairs since she has not fallen asleep yet!
She has finished her book, tho.

11:00
Time for bed.



Daylight savings and Spring break have arrived...

Will you do anything for spring break this year?

We will be sticking close to home due to Katie's play.
Emma is going to visit her big brother in Washington.

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands...."
1 Thessalonians 4:11

I wasn't kidding around when I chose that for my blog verse five years ago :o)


Encourage one another,
Donna

Nothing is perfect.

The longer you live, the more that you own.

You learn that...nothing is ever perfect.

Accepting this fact makes life so much more enjoyable.

Patrick and I had the most imperfect lunch yesterday.

But it was still lovely and delicious and fun.




Patrick's hamburger was delicious even tho they made the wrong one and had to remake it.




My Mediterranean Pasta was delicious even tho I bit an olive pit.




And this beautiful pie was not so good. But it was free. Because of the hamburger mistake.
Ree's chocolate pie is much better. This pie had the texture of....clay.




But we will go back. It wasn't horrible. Just imperfect.

And that's the way it goes.



On the way home I drove by an Indian Scout.
He is big like a Chief, but the single feather makes me think he is a Scout.






Do you see him?
Or is it just me?

He is always there for me. Always watching.



New homes surround this corn field.

But each year, the corn is planted and harvested on this plot of farm land.

I can't help but think that the Indian Scout has something to do with it.




Encourage one another,
Donna


P.s. Thank you for the delightful comments yesterday.
I am looking forward to doing another talkie blog soon!

Miz Booshay's First Talkie Blog

aka

Here goes nothing....



1. I have wanted to try this for years.
2. Ross Matthews, Jay Leno's intern, coined the term Talkie Blog.
3. I didn't think I would be able to talk.
4. The glasses helped.





A. Blocking the mittens worked beautifully.
B. Last night, my husband yelled to me from another room, "The cat is sitting on your mittens."
C. One take. This was my first attempt. I sure crack myself up.





Friday Five


Five in a Row


1. Name one thing you do everyday.

2. Name two things you wish you could learn.

3. Name three things that remind you of your childhood.

4. Name four things you love to eat but rarely do.

5. Name five things that make you feel good.





It was 60 degrees yesterday!
Oh! it felt so great!


See ya in the comments!

Encourage one another,
Donna


Oh dear. I'm nervous about hitting 'publish post'.

Look! A pink dolphin!



Hello! Dolphin.


***

Lost!


Who is the baby that was born last night?
I am sure it's someone of consequence?


****

American Idol


Emma called so I didn't pay enough attention to have an opinion.

What do you think?
Are you happy with the choices so far?

Is the Wild Card show on tonight?



*****






I may not have other children to shoot....

But I have different rooms in the house!





We are sitting on my bed.
I am squished against the window.
She wants to bounce.


***


Here is a news story that I just loved and wanted to share with you.
I saw this young man on Bonnie last month.



Here is his website. Looks like we just missed him in Wisconsin. Making Cheese, of course.

50 jobs in 50 States


***

UPDATE

Ree is giving away a camera! It is the newer version on my camera.

Go and win it. Please.

The Pioneer Woman/Photography

Encourage one another,
Donna

Last night my husband found and activated iMovie on my Mac.

I didn't know it was there...thought it might be, but as I have told you before, I have NO clue about the inner workings of a computer.

In fact, it is quite miraculous that I was able to make this little movie this morning and get it uploaded here at the blog.

I don't know what good will come of this knowledge.

But I do know someone who will enjoy it very much.






Just a few comments about this masterpiece.

1. It was 7:13 am
2. She is an active child.
3. Does this remind you of Little Miss Sunshine by any chance?
4. When Katie tried out for "Once Upon A Mattress" I suggested she sing this song.
5. She laughed very hard.
6. What is wrong with me that the only song I could think of was YMCA?



Bye! Happy Wednesday!



Encourage one another,
Donna

My response to THE MOST DRAMATIC ROSE CEREMONY IN BACHELOR HISTORY.

(In which the bachelor asks Melissa to marry him and then changes his mind and breaks up with her on national television.
(Which I really don't believe she didn't know this was coming) He then declares his undying love for Molly.)


Here is what I think...

I think Jason fell in love/lust with both girls.

He thought he HAD to choose.

Remember the backlash when 'what's his name' didn't choose?
Deanna's bachelor?
Oh! everyone hated on him.


I think Jason couldn't choose but was all caught up in the televisionation of it all.

So he chooses Melissa.

This is the big mystery to me.

Surely, he had super strong 'feelings' for her.
(Don't call me Shirley)

But immediately after the proposal, they are separated. Phone and text only.

("Don't phone or text me, harrumph!)

Then it's the holidays. Jason said it wasn't going well already.

What did she do to turn him off so quickly?
Why do more than 50% of the couples break up before the finale of the show?
Why has there only been ONE wedding in about 20 tries?

It's just a game. It should be called "Dream Date".
Come on a television show and pick your favorite date.



It is not unusual that they would break up.

It is unusual that Jason admitted that he wanted to change his 'vote'.

And then he has the nerve to tell Molly that he's in it for the long run with her.


Exsqueeze me?


*****

All of us old married persons know that feelings have very little to do with true love.

Love is I give.
Lust is I want.

"She's everything I want."

It's a crazy show at best.

Unbelieveably, the bachelor show was on it's last legs. It was failing.

Jason and Ty for some reason brought people back to the show.
It had it's biggest ratings in years!

The nation's tool-o-meter is just not as tuned in as Wendy's :o)

***

In the same article that I read the spoiler about the show (which was accurate), the writer said that Molly has moved to Seattle.


Of course, I will be more surprised if they stay together than if I hear they too have gone off to find what they want...
for reals.

When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving oneself, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.
~Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

*****


And how ugly were both of the girls dresses?

I have seem prettier, better quality dresses at the homeschool prom!

****




On the way to the dentist, Katie and I stopped at my favorite magical light spot.







This look.

This tough little look.
It's not what you think.



What do you think is really going on here?





Encourage one another,
Donna

HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake


Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.





Let's just call this...

Donna's Favorite Frosting



5 Tablespoons flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook 5 T. flour and 1 cup milk over a low flame-stirring constantly- cool.
Cream 1 cup butter add 1 cup sugar and 1 t. vanilla.

Add cooled flour/milk gradually to the butter and sugar.

Some flour/milk. Beat five minutes.
Some more flour/ milk. Beat five minutes.
Last bit of flour/milk. Beat five minutes.


......

You see. I love this frosting more than anything else in the world. It is just the best.

So I bought a boxed spice cake mix and was going to have some spice cake with this frosting.

My mom used to make spice cake and I liked it. But I have not had it in ages.

But just as I was about to make the spice cake, I realized that i would be the only one who would eat spice cake.

Patrick and Katie really like chocolate cake so I decided to do that instead.

Now, I am not a fan of chocolate cake. I do make it for my family, tho.

I have Ree's recipe for chocolate sheet cake and I pondered using that one. But I didn't have buttermilk.

This led me to see if the Hershey's cocoa container had a cake recipe on it.

And it did.

I had every ingredient on the recipe so I decided to make it.

It was an easy recipe to follow but I was a bit concerned when I added the boiling water to the batter because it was SO thin.

But I guess that is the magic trick. Wet, wet batter makes a moist, perfect chocolate cake.

This cake is extremely moist.

Top it off with Donna's Favorite Frosting and you now have the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted.

I would not lead you astray!



Katie gave up cookies for Lent.
But she did not give up cake :o)


Funny thing. The relatives told me that little Catholic children do not have to give up something for Lent until they are 12 years old. Well....what do I know?

I told Katie this morning that she could be released from her fast....and she said she wanted to keep it up.

Oops.


***

Finale of The Bachelor tonight.

They promise, "THE MOST DRAMATIC FINAL ROSE CEREMONY IN THE HISTORY OF THE SHOW.'"

Molly or Melissa.

Who will it be?


I don't think it will be Molly because I saw Jason interviewed and he couldn't think of any of her good qualities.
He thought of a lot of good things to say about Melissa.

Oh the drama!

I take that back.
There is a big switcheroo rumored....
I just read it on the Internet when I was looking up Melissa's name.

Can't wait! Ooooooo.....


Have a great week, everyone!

March is here and the sun is shining and it's a day closer to May :o)

"I wonder if the sap is stirring yet,
If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate,
If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sun
And crocus fires are kindling one by one:
Sing robin, sing:
I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring."
- Christina Rossetti

Have no doubt, Christina....

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn."
- Hal Borland

Encourage one another,
Donna

Practice, practice, practice.

And no, it is not warm enough to be without a coat.

I tried some picture in the back yard earlier in the day and the light was harsh. (south, snow reflection)
So then we tried a few shots later in the day in the front yard. (north)

People ask , "Miz Boo, what's your secret?"

I say, "Take a lot of pictures. Everyday. Practice and learn something new about your camera."



****



Just got this in the email this morning.
My far-from-mad scientist.



****

Linzie Hunter



I wanted to share this a few links that have inspired me lately.

Linzie is a graphic artist. I know about her because Tara Whitney has a little poster by Linzie hanging in her office.


It says:

Don't put off your happy life.


Linzie's stuff for sale



I love the sentiment and the whimsicality of it. (Hey! that's a word. Spell check even helped me out with it!)


Linzie Hunter blog

Linzie recently did an ad for Sonic. It's very cute. Check it out at her blog.



****

And Tara Whitney.

She inspires me because she is so ahead of the game with her photography business....and it's totally organic.

I have looked at her archives, from when she just started her blog (2006) and the things she was doing then are becoming mainstream now.

Most professional family/children's photographers don't sell the digital files.

Tara decided to do it her way. She created packages that included the digital files.

Just this month, Tara came up with another amazing idea.

She has created a home movie and photography package idea.

No one else has thought of this. But Tara did. And I think it is brilliant!

That is just so inspiring to me.


Tara Whitney

In order to see the professional home movie package information you must click on 'details' and page past three pages until you get to the home movie.

It is so special. You will want one.

And the song. It is so sweet.

"It's always better when we're together"

Let me know if you have a hard time getting there.


And NO, this is not a paid advertisement for Tara. She is just so cool.



And one last bit of inspiration.





I have loved this scene from Babe for a long time and remember writing the words and telling about it on my blog years ago!
Now, it is on youtube.

Enjoy!

Thank you youtube :o)



Encourage one another,
Donna


And hey! Don't put off your happy life.
Linzie Hunter

Friday Five



What are you looking for?
What are you waiting for?
What is someone else waiting for from you?
You know you have a long wait ahead of you at the doctor. What do you bring?
Where can you expect always to wait in a ridiculously long line?


Found at Friday Five.org




*****

Speaking of 'What are you looking for?'....
Lynn, we need to finish up with Hannah Coulter. Soon.
She is waiting. She is suspended in time.

What does Hannah want?

Let's talk soon.


*****

I am reading The Shack.
I am not bothered by how the Trinity is represented.
I thought I would be when Emma mentioned it to me.

I'm skimming it. Haven't read anything very important yet.

It's a little like Lost.


*****




Why it is very important to learn....



How to shoot a backlit shot.

Here is a link to the tutorial I wrote for The Pioneer Woman.


Backlit-photo-in-full-sun



Hey! Katie's science fair went beautifully yesterday!
Each child had to give a presentation to each person who stopped by their 'station'.

Katie said she probably gave her speech thirty-five times.

I bought my camera and two lenses.

I left the memory card at home, attached to the computer.

Katie asked another mother to take her picture.

Good thing for other mothers.

The main emphasis was on learning the scientific method;

Question
Hypothesis
Materials
Procedure
Results
Conclusion
Facts

"There you go" says Katie.


And public speaking.


The teachers involved were so enthusiastic and engaged with the children.
It showed it the children's attitudes. They were having fun and took their presentation seriously.
Every child I visited acted in a mature and poised manner.

Very impressive!


****

Happy End of Feb. all! I know many of you are dreading March....
But just think....it's one month closer to May!


Yes. I am waiting for May. I like May.


Encourage one another,
Donna

In the land of self-felting socks




Once upon a time, I knit a pair of little woolen socks for my girl.
She wore them in her boots. Every day.
They got damp. They got stomped upon.
And they felted so unevenly.

Yet. In the boots they stayed. To warm those little toes.
Not pretty anymore. But ever so useful.

Not unlike the velveteen rabbit.






****

Now down to business.

LOST!?

No doubt in my mind.
Locke is good. Ben is bad.

Widmore, I am not sure. They messed with my head on that one.


Idol? Any faves from last night?

The sixteen year girl with the horrible red hair can SING!
She was impressive.


***

Help in class, science "share" and final (I pray) crown cementing today.
My nose is stuffy and my ankle is healing.

I think my system was so busy working on my ankle,
it forgot to protect me from germs.

Oh! One more thing.

I have a clever friend who mentioned that Nancy Pelosi jumped up and down like a Jack-in-the-box clapping for the Prez on Tuesday night. I could see it. It was spot on. I suggested she photoshop a little tribute to the Pelosi-in-the-box (her title for it).

She did :o)




How funny is that!?



Encourage one another,
Donna

This is actually how I feel about Facebook.

Pretty much.

HT to Tara Whitney.

Are you dieting?




Well. I'm not.
I should be.
But I'm not.


But last night I ran across a good resource for any of those who might be dieting.


Chantel Hobbs


She lost 200 pounds. That's mighty impressive.




Now. Back to my "King's Cake".


This is the Southern Wisconsin version of a King's Cake.

I had never heard of a King's Cake. And actually, all things Mardi Gras-Fat Tuesday were way off my radar until a certain lady joined our quilting group. She had just moved to Marinette from New Orleans and with her move she brought some of the Southern traditions.

We always quilted on Tuesday afternoons and it just so happened that she hosted the group on Fat Tuesday.

She ordered a King's Cake from a bakery in N.O. and we continued the tradition every year after that!

You see, the person who finds the little baby in their piece of cake, must bring the cake the following year.

We thought of the little baby, as baby Jesus.

(Baby Jesus, why are you in a cake?)

But the internet says the original 'baby' or trinket had something to do about the three Kings.


So yesterday after picking up Katie we journeyed to Millers where I bought some dinner and a kings cake.
(The best grocery store in the world.)
I told Katie that they are usually decorated with purple and yellow and....

and I couldn't remember the other color...

and she said green.

How do you know that?

Well. Some of the teachers and students had on green and purple beads.
And some children wore masks!

Well! Par-tay at Blessed Sacrament.

I wonder if I missed the memo?

We have stepped into a world with some new traditions this year at Catholic school....

Today Katie will come home with Ashes on her forehead.

I always thought that was fascinating as a child.

We talked about the ashes in the car too.

It's a good thing.

"Where do they get the ashes?" she wondered.

"I think traditionally the ashes are the burnt palm leaves from Palm Sunday the year before." I reasoned.

"Oh. good. I'm glad they are not from dead people."


Poor thing. I'm glad we covered that.
What a terrible thought.





Here is my friend Drenna and her daughter Molly!
I snapped this shot yesterday as they were leaving after a way too short visit!
But, I am so thankful they had a chance to stop by. You know how hard that is when you are traveling to fit in all
of your old friends.

Katie and Drenna's son Calvin were gymnastics buddies before they moved away.
Katie gets along very well with boys. She likes how they play.
Emma, too.

Anyway.

Molly is a photographer and I get to follow her on Flickr. She has a unique eye and I hope she sticks with it!

Thank you both, for stopping by! It was wonderful to see you!




This is how I feed the cat.



She finds me rather curious.




Will you do anything special this Lenten season?
Will you give something up?


For the first time ever, I am giving something up.

Eating after dinner. Nothing. Nada.

Katie is giving up cookies.

She is already suffering. There is a cookie with the hot lunch today and she says 'they are sooooo good!'.



Encourage one another,
Donna

I borrowed this little button from my sister's facebook page.

I don't do the buttons...but I do fall and hurt myself.

Yesterday, I missed a step and turned my ankle terribly coming out of school.
I was light headed and woozy but made it home.

I do not have any pain when my foot is still, just when I put weight on it.

It is not bruised or very swollen so I am sure it will be just fine.

But it is a shock to almost wipe out and hurt yourself, isn't it?

Just think of little children, they fall down and run into things all day long.

Perhaps older people are just out of practice.

(In my klutzy defense, I did not fall over. I caught myself and landed in a full squat; feet flat on the ground.
It was very dignified.
I actually thought the ole muscles would be much sorer today.)


****


I love playing with black and white editing. I have not decided which is my style yet.




I really love the high contrast look.




And I adore the soft, gentle black and whites too.


Which do you prefer?

I'd love to know.


Encourage one another,
Donna


P.s. I am a total novice at Facebook and really only use it to keep in touch with family and look at pictures.
All seven of us have Facebook pages. I am so delighted about that.

And the Oscar for best dressed goes to....



Taraja Henson in a lovely Roberto Cavalli.

Yes, it is very much like the pink dress I chose on Sat.
But, I likes what I likes ;o)

This was the second dress I saw last night and I just loved everything about Taraja's look!
Her hair and make up, her jewerly and that pleated, feminine, dress.

*sigh*


I really had fun watching the Academy Awards last night.

Most of the stars looked stunning.



The premise for the opening number was that there wasn't enough money to have a big flashy opening number,
so Hugh whipped one up on his own.



Totally fun and delightful opening number! Great job Hugh!
And wait til you hear Anne Hathaway sing!

Fun :o)




Here is Diane Lane, and some guy, (just kidding Josh).

I love the tiny bit of ruffle at the top of the bodice.

Black never shows up well on television, I don't think.



Oh! Penelope. Maybe I choose you.

This is an amazing vintage dress.





Yes. I even liked this. I have a thing for Sarah in her tutu inspired dresses.
This is Dior Couture.

O la la...



I bet you didn't think you would see any COLOR.

Virgina Madsen was the first to arrive and I really loved this geometric red dress.
I like the shade of red, the fit and the silhouette.



This one is for my sister Cindy.

When I first saw the dress pass by, I just loved the color and material.
The bodice is not my best tho.

I do not care for her hair and makeup at all. Too hard for that springy dress.
She looks angry.




Marisa was beautiful in her ornately pleated gown.
She looks happy. And look, right behind her, Natalie.


I appreciated this one for it's workmanship.
Marked it down for the neckline.


Listen to me. I just said to myself in my head,

"Who do you think you are?"


Best hair went to Kate Winslet.





I said last night in the comments that I loved her Grace Kelly inspired hair....



“My inspiration was Grace Kelly,” says Campora. “I wanted the hair to be sleek, classy and modern and for the style to fit the neckline of the dress and create a little volume around her face.”

Campora’s steps to achieving Winslet’s Oscar hair: “I started on wet hair and worked in Frederic Fekkai All Day Density Styling Whip. I then blew-dry the hair with a round brush for smoothness, but still with volume underneath. I used a 1-inch curling iron to make waves and then let it sit for 20 minutes. I used Frederic Fekkai Coiff Magnifique Ultra-Light Finishing Creme to brush through the hair and then rolled the hair underneath and pinned it with long bobby pins. Finally I sprayed sheer hairspray over the hair to hold it.”

L.A. Times

Ugliest dress of the night.

Beyonce.

But, sweetie, you have the prettiest face :o)






And to all of that I say....

Jai hoooooooo!



Encourage one another,
Donna