The Wright Brothers

Some day I will be an old woman and will look back at these and bawl my eyes out--so many of these pictures say "childhood" to me.  There was a time before any of the kids were born where I had the notion that my kids would be serious and all very deep all the time...and then I was introduced to reality.

We went to the Wright Brothers' Museum in Kitty Hawk, NC,  and they did not stand in solemn silence, taking in the great history of it all.  Jeff did read all the informative signs, but other than that they were 100% kids.

When we were inside the museum listening to the ranger talk, a jet flew overhead.  Steve and I smiled to each other..so amazing how far we have come in just few short generations.

This was the second time Steve and I have been there and we both agreed that is is always, always inspiring.  The Wright brothers said:  "If we give up now we will never accomplish anything."

Anytime they needed to learn something, they would take a correspondence course.

They had based their first flying machines upon the knowledge passed down from other experimenters, but they eventually found out that all their predecessors were wrong, and the brothers started again from scratch.

In 1969, Neil Armstrong went to the moon--he brought some wood and cloth from the Wright brothers' plane with him.  It was a mere 66 years after the Wright brothers' first flight.

"Conceived by genius, achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith.  In commemoration of the conquest of the air."--inscription on the monument.

Eti had the idea of lifting Coco up behind the sign ("Mom, it will be a great picture!").  The funny thing is that I can see his head.  And then there is Coco flying in the air by the monument. 

No sugar involved, just pure Coco.

Maybe we should not have bought him the pirate bandana.

"Again Daddy, again Jeffy! again again!"

Summer with pigtails

This is the most reproduced photo of the the Wright Brothers (I took it from the Wright brothers website).  Here is the cool thing: in a new addition at the museum, they recreated the photograph--even what cannot be seen in the photo: the men behind clapping, and the man who took the photo.  So so cool!  It was so well built it felt like a historical playground.

My Dad Mom and I were walking around taking it all in and the rest of the bunch were, well...

I heard tell-tale laughing and turned around to find them like this.  I am sure Chloe was talking to the statue, telling him all about her day and asking him to be her friend.

Do you see in the picture below the third man in from the right?  Eti had fun with him

"Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so that we could discover them?"  --Orville June 7, 1903

My buddy

At exactly 6:45 AM, the light turned on in my room.  It was still dark outside.   I was sleeping in the guest room at my friend Shanda's house, but it was also the room where her four year old Caleb had his dresser.

Caleb had forgotten that I was there and stood for some time staring at the bed alarmed.

I covered my head with the comforter and thought "Maybe if I lay very still, I will fall back asleep."

A few minutes went by, he turned off the fan, and opened some drawers and then I thought he was gone, but the silence broke with his soft voice asking me,

"Do you want to see my blue shirt?"

I pretended that I was still asleep.

That sounds terrible, as I write it I know it sounds like I was being so mean, but it WAS 6:45 in the morning and I was sooo tired after the big wedding I had shot that weekend and was trying to recover some lost sleep.

A few minutes and then,

"Do you want to see my yellow shirt?"

He stood as quiet as a mouse...so still that I peeked out to see where he was and found standing right by my face and he asked "Can you button this?" 

I let just my hands come out and buttoned his clothes, and then went back to my cave.

A few minutes later I was sure he was gone, but no, he was standing by my bedside again, just waiting for me to peek out.

This time he said, "Here, you can sleep with this,"  and he handed me his little well-loved metal Thomas the Tank Engine.

He left.

I fell asleep.

Some time later he was back by my bedside.  I don't know how long he waited because I was asleep but when I did see him, he said "I guess I am going to sleep with you now."

I lifted the covers and he crawled in with his back up against me and we both feel asleep.

And that is the story of how Caleb became my buddy

The next morning when I woke up, he was asleep on the floor next to me, I have no idea how early it was when he came in, but there he was with a pillow and blanket all curled up on the floor, as soon as he woke up I invited him to cuddle with me again.

He spent most of the day chasing Joanna the Chicken around, (yes I have the very proud honor of having a chicken named after me).  I watched Caleb out the back door trying to feed her water.

My favorite--and what gets me laughing just thinking about it--is when he kept trying to sneak the chicken into the house.  At one point when I went to the door, I could barely see "Joanna"--I could only see her feet sticking out through his fingers and she was hanging upside down behind him.

(She did not get hurt and is still alive and well.)

While I was there, I was missing my kids so very much but my buddy and Shan's other kids helped, I fell in love with each and every one!

My friend Shanda

"A Godly mother, their guardian angel, and dear to all as their own soul."  -Pg35

"Let God be supreme there (in the home): let His will preside, and streams of joy will emanate from that fountain head- streams ever deepening and fertilizing as the flow."  -Pg40

"...The necessity of training up a child in the way in which he should go; and to fit parents for doing so with calmness and consistency, the heart should be kept at peace with God;  the conscience should be pure; the life should be holy, the affections warm." pg51

"A mother is both the morning and the evening star of life." Pg 87

"The influence of a godly mother spreads like daylight over life." pg94

Rebecca emailed me and asked me if I could travel to do a wedding, and then she told me where the wedding would be and  I said "Yes"..Yes I wanted to go and see my Great Aunt Audrey and take Grandma with me so she could spend some time with her sister.  Yes I wanted to see my wonderful friend Shanda who lives there, yes yes yes.  I am so glad for all of it..I will do separate post later on the incredible wedding and my time with Grandma, for right now I wanted to show a few pictures of my time with Shanda and all that I loved about being there:

• When I arrived all the kids came spilling out of the house--most of the kids were barefoot when they gave me the tour of their property. They are "home grown" kids full of fresh country air, homemade foods and imagination.
• When she made me ham soup, she stepped outside to snip chives from her front garden to sprinkle over my soup!
• I laughed almost constantly.  I am so happy for her, for where she lives, she is truly living a dream, her life is so full and filled with joy.
• I want to bring my kids the next time I visit.
• We spent time out in her rocking chairs and when it was too cold, we would move over to the little table where the sun shines, and we would sip chai tea and talk about how if we ever become widows we will live together.
• One time when we were playing Pictionary her daughter Grace had a rabbit on her lap and then Ethan brought in Parker the dog, and Seth (the baby) was crawling around and the cat was somewhere and Caleb was sneaking a chicken into the house.  She has six kids and one more on the way and it reminded me of the happy business of having that many siblings growing up.
• I noticed the face drawn on the pillar of her front porch, I am trying to remember exactly what she said but it went something like this "Oh, I hope it doesn't fade--look how happy this face is, whoever drew this must have been feeling very happy!" I love her perspective on life!  She is like a pair of rose colored glasses, that I get to call friend.
• She took me to her favorite spots down at the creek, the clearing by the dam, the woods, after all these years I was able to take in her views, and to get a feel for how she lives, in her home.  Home is so private to me, it was so so nice to meet this home.  I have known her since college, but the last time I was in her home, Jeff was a baby and it was a different house.  Isn't it true that you know more about a woman after you visit her in her kitchen and stay for a few days and see her life behind the scenes?
• Since starting my own family I have struggled with finding a "new normal" I feel guilt where I feel I am lacking and not reaching the level of Godliness my parents had and also feel insecure in the areas where I am paving a new path and doing it different.  It is an  underlying feeling of "Am I doing this right?" and being with Shanda was wonderful because she sets a pattern to follow and gives encouragement just by her example.  I came home with courage to be the mom I already was, and to relax and enjoy it more!

"It is not merely by speaking to children about spiritual things that you win them over. 

If that be all you do, it will accomplish nothing less than nothing.

It is the sentiments which they hear at home,

it is the maxims which rule your daily conduct

the  likings and dislikings which you express-

the whole regulation of the household, in dress,

and food, and furniture-the recreations you indulge

the company you keep-the style of your reading

the whole complexion of daily life

this creates the element  in which your children are either growing in grace, and preparing for an eternity of glory

or they are learning to live without God, and to die without hope."  (Quoting Rev. W. B. Mackenzie) Pg 78

I feel like I should just have this quote hanging in front of me all day so that it can be a constant reminder and conviction, especially for the influence of my kids but also as a reminder that I am still growing and who and what I surround myself with effects my outlook, my choices, my awareness of grace and the deep deep love of Jesus in our lives.  It is one of the reasons Shanda is precious to me.

* All quotes are taken from a very old  Book,  the pages all look tea stained and are falling away from the sewn binding so as I read it, it is more like a loose leaf than an actual bound book. It smells like the attic, and on the first page there is a small quote "Home, sweet home, there is no place like home." The title is "Home" by Rev. W. K. Tweedie

Sarah and Dan

They had a friend who knew a friend who owned a mansion.. so that is where we did the "fashion shoot"  the owner had classical music spilling out of the windows.  It was a dream location!

 Little miss excited in the front row caught the bouquet!

The dress

The very fun bridal party

I LOVE shooting a wedding where my sister made the cake, LOVE it!!!  I am trying to figure out a way to give my clients a discount when they hire Julie so that I can see her at more of my weddings! 

I shot this picture with the people behind on purpose to show you the scale of this masterpiece, so many people around me were talking about how it was the very best cake they ever had, and they did not know I was related to her. They also did not know that I am officially one of her top three cake -tester- outers so they should all be very jealous, ( I have tiramisu in the fridge from her right now as a matter of fact). 

We are both doing things we have been doing since childhood, she started out making coffee cakes and snicker doodles when she was about Jeff's age and I was busy filling the walls in our room with photographs.  

I will catch her eye across the room at a wedding and we will smile, and I know we are both thinking the same thing, "I can't believe this is us, all grown up, getting to do what we have always loved to do"!

The beautiful bride, I am posting these for her because she moved twelve hours away from her friends and family and I wanted her to be able to share the images with them.

Sarah and Dan were a great couple to work with, even when it started to rain they waited it out to make sure we got all the shots we needed!

The rings.

Ocracoke

It was SUCH a good day!  I knew it was going to be good weather and that I should get the kids out of the house and walking but by the time the boys got off the bus I was NOT motivated.

I am so glad I went.

Here are all the reasons why:

One, all the leaves were full, full, full of color, and the light shining through was so pretty

Two, Eti asked if he could lead, because he said, and I quote, "I really want to get us lost".

Three, Jeff held my hand.

Four, the elderly man who lives two houses down, who I have been trying to "thaw", smiled and talked to us, and even brought his dog over and let us pet the dog today.  All this after five years of me smiling, waving, and saying hi and him ignoring us.  I know he is a widower and is "hibernating" since her death.  How wonderful this interaction today!

Five, Eti led us to the little country market a few blocks over.  I have been wanting to check it out since we moved here, inside I found...brace yourself, PENNY CANDY.  The elderly lady who has been running the store corrected me, it has gone up in price in the 45 years she has been there it is now 2 cents!  A row of candies behind her that the kids can look forward to picking out and have some of the memories I had growing up. 

We had decided last year when I first booked the wedding in Norfolk to have our family vacation in the Outer Banks N.C. since it was only a few hours away.

We found a great house that was perfect for us, and this time around we invited my parents to come with us, we have never been on vacation with them before and really wanted the kids to have  memories with them like we do with Steve's parents.

On one of the first days there we took the ferry over to Ocracoke island.

My favorite coffee shop on the island has a wall with magnets all over it and you can make up poems and quotes, above is the existential quote/poem that evolved after letting all the children add their own words.

There is an old old house (now a museum) on the island where many of the things are preserved and you can walk through the rooms and see what it was like on the island many years ago.

Steve was reading my blog and when he got to these pictures I found him fake sleeping in the most dramatic fashion with his arms hanging down at his sides and his face on the key board and I think there was drool.  I guess country cottage pictures, just aren't his thing.

This pattern is called the Ocracoke pattern, one of the inside stripes is always red.  It was most popular on the island during the 30's and the 40's.

I love the colors, even the pot holder was cool, it reminded me of something you would find in Anthropology today!

Eti looking for fish out on the small pier

My first introduction to a passion flower.

I had to talk Steve out of buying these foam Wright Brothers' flight goggles! 

I was squinting through the viewfinder trying to get a shot of this lighthouse when Steve decided to be funny..maybe he was paying me back for not buying him the glasses.

Steve's idea for the light house shot.

Steve and his boys.

My Jeff, this is a sweet shot for me,  after I took it, we walked along and looked for shells together and he talked to me about all the adventures he has on the playground at school, during recess.

My mom walking with Coco

Hatteras lighthouse taken late that same night.  It is HUGE, the tallest brick lighthouse in the world.

Jeff took this shot of Steve and I, we are standing out on our little deck.

This weekend was a little get together with my family and it was at my brother Joel's house, he was showing me a collection of old books he has.  Among them I found the Bible my mom used when we were all little.  Joel would not part with it but I did copy out some of the notes she had written in the cover they inspired me thinking that they inspired her when she had six little ones running around.

"An excellent disciple of a singular master"

"We cannot change our hearts; that is the exclusive work of the holy spirit.  But we can and must avail ourselves of the means He uses."  -Jerry bridges.

Titus 1:1

 ^"Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness"  Next to this she had written " My job description/my kids"

One more thing, something Steve's dad said last night, Spurgeon started his sermons with "O, Lord have mercy on me a sinner", so humbling and beautiful. I have thought about it all day.