The Faces of Vacation

Three days of laughing at the snowy outdoors, donning swimsuits and defying the elements. One indoor beach. An artificial hurricane. Many slides...a river. The air warmed and even tanned our skin under the glass dome. Twelve families lounged together, kids playing hard. Memories are easily made with these friends. Here are a few of their faces.

 

Is hosted by I Should be Folding Laundry. 

Every week is a new photo challenge and this week's theme was faces.

Not me: Camera purchase

Last week I purchased a new camera. I searched the internet, researched models and found some deals. After a whole morning of reading reviews I found a steal of a deal and clicked order. The price seemed almost too good to be true.

Two days later. A guy calls from the internet site I ordered from and says there may be a problem. I think it is strange to be getting a phone call, but I do not see what is coming. Not me. I am not trusting and naive. Not me!

The man says they may not have the camera in stock. He asks what I know of the camera. He attempts to upsell me. But I am not about to buy his pitch. Not me. I begin to see his scheme. He claims the battery with the camera I ordered is no good and that I need to spend $150.00 more on a longer lasting battery. I state that I am not interested but he will not give up. Neither will I. Not me.

I state honestly that I need to do some research. I agree to call him back to update my order. I quickly scan the internet for information on Canon batteries and find he is charging twice the price for the upgrade battery. I am not about to fall for that. Not. me.

I call the seller. I refuse the upgrades. He in turn claims the camera is on back-order for 18 days. I cancel my order. He says he hopes he can help me in the future. I don't doubt that. But I won't be helped. Not me.

I begin to research sellers. I probably should have done this earlier. But I didn't. Not me. I'd never had troubles ordering online, so I am not as careful as is prudent. I find the seller I dealt with has a reputation that proceeds him. Phone calls, pressured up-sells and delayed shipping. I am so glad I canceled my order when I did.

Meanwhile, I order a lens from a more reputable company. A salesman calls me from this company too. He tries to sell me an upgraded filter kit and warranty. I am not spooked by my previous experience and following research. Not me. I refuse to be fooled again. Not me. Not gonna happen. I decide to cancel that order and buy a used lens from a friend.

I order my camera for $80.00 more than the too good to be true price from a  reputable company my family has ordered from in the past. I am not about to take a chance. Not me. There are times when you get what you pay for. And I will not succumb to my mistaken belief that the cheapest price is always the best deal. Not. me.

For more denials, head on over and visit Jennifer. This post has been shared on her site with others participating in:

Easy as Pie

Easy Pot Pie

1 c diced turkey, chicken or leftover beef roast

1 c peas

1 c chopped carrots
(I always keep a bag of mixed peas and carrots in the freezer for this recipe)

1 c diced potatoes (or frozen hash browns)

1 can cream of chicken soup (Cream of mushroom if using beef)

1/4 c milk

generous sprinkle of pepper

generous sprinkle of onion powder

1 homemade pie crust, unbaked

(Of course, I realize, this pie is not really easy unless you use a store-bought crust,
but I prefer the taste of my homemade crust. :)

Crust recipe:
2c flour
1 t salt
2/3 c Crisco shortening, cut in
add 5-6 T cold water a little at a time

Bake 1 hour at 350 F

I'm not really a recipe girl, but wrote this out for you who like to follow directions. I take that back. I love directions. (I have put together every piece of furniture in our house that required assembly.) But I love flexibility too! I throw in whatever I happen to have (within reason, of course). For example, when I make a pot roast with carrots and potatoes in the crock pot and have a few leftovers, those get chopped up and made into pot pie. You could add beans, but I prefer not. Also, leftover gravy can be stirred in with the soup. 

Yum!

Colors, boogies, and boy

You Capture this week is about colors. I didn't have to look very far to find some. My living room floor has been covered in primary colors all week. Drat those legos. Thankfully, I haven't stepped on one yet, or they would all go in the trash. You know what I'm talking about. Nothing hurts like the dickens more than tripping on a pile of these plastic blocks.

Anyway, I also found these lovely pictures of Mitchell sporting color on himself. What, you say? You don't see any color? You've got to look a little closer to see it. Here's a hint. His nose. Guess what that is? UmmmHmmm. He has nearly daily bloody noses in the winter and hasn't yet learned to look in the mirror after one. Nice. I need to introduce him to those Boogie Wipes I received at Cupcake '10.

Next Up. A boy who is tired of having his picture taken, but not tired of playing with his sister's Stawberry Shortcake stamps from her McDonald's Happy Meal. Thus the color on his fingers.

Without further ado, this ends the rather pathetic, interior design lacking, tour of color in my house.


To see more interesting pictures of color visit I Should Be Folding Laundry. Drat, now I just remembered what I'm supposed to be doing right now.

My prayer this morning

Blissful Quiet

We went to the library today. This is my reward: a few moments of peace.

Maybe my dreams of blissfully quiet afternoons spent reading will soon come true.

One can hope.

Been playing with my camera. Top one, lighting not so good. Bottom: getting better. :)

Just Lunch?

The table is a mess. Paper plates and hot dogs. Ketchup smears from messy children finger painting from the globs that fell from dog and bun.

"I declare you are the messiest children I know."

Madison grins, "Or the messiest children you've had." As in mothered, I suppose.

But there in that mess sits a seeming anomaly.

A teacup or two. English china. Gold rimmed. Filled with tea and sugar and milk. The English way. Or at least our attempt at the English way.

They are not "special teacups," though we call them that. Really, I found them at a garage sale for a dollar apiece. Each child has their own for everyday tea parties.

This is not high tea. Just lunch. With tea filled china cups.

These moments will be remembered, I am sure. Everyday tea parties where the table was messy and the English accents were too. They need not be perfect moments. But the moment must happen to be remembered. Because lunch, even a hot dog lunch, is more than just lunch when tea is served.

This post is a part of  Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky.

Cowboy Texture

Between laundry and schooling the kids and blog book editing, I am carving out moments to learn new things! Yesterday Robb worked late, the kids were busy watching movies and I had time to check out the texture tutorials on iheartfaces in preparation for this week's challenge.  I think this photo of my father-in-law is great with a couple textures, adding to the rough and tumble cowboy theme he had for our visit to Rawhide in Phoenix back in October.

I am also excited to report that I will no longer have any excuse for taking bad pictures! Any error from here on out will be operator error! I ordered a camera yesterday! Thank you Grandparents and Mom and Dad for the birthday money (way back in November) and Christmas money!

I learned a lot in that process too: be careful who you buy from online. That should be a, Duhhh, but  I've never had issues before, and tend to be trusting since we owned an internet store a few years ago and are currently developing another. I am for the little guys. But not everyone out there is worthy of my naive faith in them. Thankfully I ran into a few reviews of some sites I was contemplating buying from, but I won't give away any more than that! Look for the story soon, though!

Thanks iheartfaces for the challenges and tutorials and resources! I can't wait for my camera to arrive and begin playing and practicing!

Scripture It!

God's voice thunders in marvelous ways;

he does great things beyond our understanding.

He says to the snow, "Fall on the earth," 

and to the rain shower, "Be a mighty downpour."

So that all men he has made may know his work...

Job 37:5-7

'nuther blogger event

These MN bloggers helped pack enough meals at FMSC to feed 38 children for a whole year.

This event was planned months in advance of the Haiti earthquake, but the timing was perfect. We were ready to give, itching to make a small difference, to busy our hands after bearing heavy hearts from the news.

All week I've thought of and followed the Livesays in Haiti.We happened to attend the same college. Her cousin leads worship at our church. Yet I only know them through their blog. People I love, love them. So I love them too. They are real heros, before and after the quake. I'm sure they would protest they're just ordinary people.  But they were willing to give up everything for a crazy commitment to follow God's leading no matter the cost. Now the cost is greater.

Maybe I care more about this disaster because of this loose connection. Maybe I'm getting older and more compassionate. Maybe I'm just weepy. I don't know. (Goodness, my children can testify to my recent inability to read about George Washington or MLK without getting emotional.)  But I do know that I have come to carry my heart on my sleeve and live each day full of whispered prayer.

What I offer the masses of hurting is minuscule. I have given what I can to ministries I trust: Compassion and World Vision and the Livesays. I gathered my children around a globe and introduced them to Haiti and they watched news clip after news clip. And then they gathered the part of their allowance that is set aside for giving and they gave too.

If you haven't yet, please give.

And pray. His heart breaks for a broken people,  but His back is strong for the burden.

Photo by Carrie.