EKjourney Backup

Holding my newborn baby, my first born, my son, those 8 years ago. I love birthdays, if for no other reason, because it is a day of reflection.  I think back to the day we met him and remember of his birth only the joy of meeting him and being his mother.   I think nothing of the hardships that I experienced  those first couple of years, only the amazement at how this big 8 year old boy was once my teeny tiny baby and then my toddling little boy.   I am grateful, for the chance to keep him near me, to school him at home, to spend every hour of the day with him under my care.  I rejoice and lament that I still have and yet only have (Lord willing) 10 more years with him before he will be a young man ready to establish is adult life.  I wonder how I will let go of him.  I wonder what kind of man he will be.  I think of mothers who have lost their children and I anguish for them because I can't imagine it. I reflect on the job that I am doing as his ...

Evi's dinosaur.  I love love love the feet! Turkey personalities.  I love how each turkey represents the artist.  We have Sawyer, who asked to see pictures of turkeys so he could represent true colors and likeness.  Evi with her random colors, whatever she likes at the moment.  Jubilee's princess turkey in rainbows. I slipped outside at about 8 in the morning to watch the early morning lighting through the clouds.  Photography for me, is mostly composition and capturing life's moments but true artistry is capturing light whether it be filtered, shadows, reflections, or highlights and as they play about the composition.  Even if I can't capture the image, I really enjoy being in the moment of breathtaking beauty!   Instead of our traditionally scheduled school day, I put together packets of color sheets and activity pages  for the children to work on. Self portrait  Entertaining the baby  Love this picture!!  Thanksgiv...

My oh my we had a lovely weekend!  Just hanging out at home.  No big lists, no obligations.  No pressure, stress.  Lovely!  We actually got a lot done!  The week before was unpleasasnt and there was some sort of intestinal bug that worked its way through the family.  Poor Glorielle got the worst of it at both ends.  Rain rain rain....pitter pattering on the skylights all weekend long and today, delightful noise from soft whispers to drums!! Brighton loves to get into the middle of the shot.  Homemade noodles  The doctor is in!    Down with the crochet bunting and up with Christmas lights   It was rainy and dark so early that 3:30 literally looked like dusk today and the street lamps were already on.  I took a picture of these rain splattered squash hybrids that are decorating our front porch. Outside, the only thing still pretty is the fish pond. Everything else has died or lost its leave...

(He he he) Phil found this darling little owl as he was getting ready to leave for work this morning.  Obviously, something was wrong since she was just sitting in the middle of our road and he was able to scoop her up and bring her in the house.  She didn't appear to be injured so we guessed maybe stunned by a car hit or having flown into something. I put her in a bucket and looked up some numbers for wildlife rescue.  I found a place that was a 2 hour drive away and was an actual tour-able facility but I wasn't sure I was up for four hours in the car.  The second place I called, sounded promising and much closer although it wasn't an educational/touring facility. This owl was the tiniest I had ever seen!  She was probably about 5 inches high.  A quick internet search of Pacific Northwest Owls identified her as a Pygmy Owl. The children and I took her to a facility called Turtle Ridge Wildlife Center.  She will be examined and trea...

We kicked off the Holiday Season for the Kelly family.  This involves my birthday, 3 of my children's birthdays, 2 extended family birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christams all in 2 month time period.  November 8th was my birthday and I turned 38.   How blessed am I!! At 38 years old, I am married to my best friend, the mother of 5 little ones (with hopefully a few more years of babies still to come - whatever the Lord wants for us!), and a stay at home homeschooling mom.  At 38, I am doing what many do in their late 20's.  It hasn't been easy but I can look back and see how the Lord has drawn me nearer to Him in the last 6-7 years than all the years prior.  Baby sweetness!  Tooth pulling The tooth was so loose that the "grown up" tooth was already half way up behind it.  After many failed attempts (mostly because of chickening out on Sis's part), I grabbed that tooth, ignored the protests, and pulled it out!  I lov...