My true obsession---

As I sit here blogging on All Hallows Eve, I ponder where my Whedon obsession has led me. First, Serenity, the movie that introduced me to Firefly, which remains the ultimate in my ranking of t.v. shows. Then, I ventured into the world of vampires and demons...with Buffy and Angel as my guides....I have come to recognize that people aren't black or white, by this I mean that there is good to be found in (almost) everyone, we just need to be able to take the time to discover the real person inside! Outward appearances can be deceiving! Well, I have looked beyond the epidermal layer and fallen in love!!! I now take this opportunity to reveal to the world the father of the love-child that I am carrying.............

Erin's Fab Photos

We recently gathered our brood of chickadees together for an adventure in family fellowship. With special attention paid to the couture & coiffeur, we met Erin Summerill (of ES Photography) at the appointed location and hour. We knew the challenge we were about to take on. Namely, the simultaneous coordination of seven individuals in a pleasing, well composed manner. I have to say, I found the experience quite pleasing, but I wouldn't necessarily say all of us were composed. After an initial set-up and snapping of the first group of photos, Cameron decided he had had quite enough. No more sitting still and smiling for him! After all, he was outside, which is never conducive for sitting if you are a two-year-old. Nicholas departed for his daily quest to find the perfect stick, and Shelby became distracted by the abundance of leaves at her disposal. Erin, recognizing a losing battle when she see's one, decided to get some shots of mama & daddy. I think Jason slipped her some green in order to get some shots for his own personal collection (if you know what I mean!).

After the offspring had burned through some extra energy, we gathered together again to try some group shots. Cameron still retained his non-cooperative state, but we pressed on. When about an hour had elapsed, the light beginning to fade, and Erin (bless her heart) obviously exhausted from her day-job duties of demolition to her newly-acquired home, we called it a wrap. I drove home pretty tired myself, thinking about how much effort it takes to pull off such a feat as family photos, and concluded that if Erin could find ten good photos in the batch, I would consider the effort a smashing success.

So imagine my surprise and delight, when Erin showed up at my home two days later with an entire disk full of great photos!! I mean like, over a hundred!! And a super-awesome DVD to boot!! This was completely unexpected. Although I never doubted Erin's photographic abilities, I did understand the limitations of a family of seven.

Here are some of the beautiful pics of my beautiful family. I thank them, and I thank Erin for such a treasure!!

Work in Progress

O.K. If you know me at all, you know that I loves me a good home improvement project. It doesn't even have to be mine. I especially get excited if I see DEMOLITION!!!! I love before and after pictures. I love the smell of Home Depot and drywall mud. I love watching a semi loaded with trusses headed up the road; I often have the urge to chase it like it were an ambulance to see where it stops! Now, I'm not saying that LIVING with remodeling is a load of fun, in fact, more often than not, it SUCKS!!! But, other than that, I dream of changing almost every part of my home. And I LIKE my home. If you could see into my brain and get an idea of the "dream" version of my house, you'd probably give me a look something like Jason does when I start "expressing" my ideas. Like I just asked for the Hope Diamond or something!! So I try to give it to him in little pieces. Or better yet, wait for it to be his idea! I have occasionally thought of starting a project myself and looking totally inept on purpose, so he'll finish it, but I haven't dared. I'll maybe save that for when things get drastic.

Anyway, it's been awhile since we tackled a project around the house. My husband is great at building and remodeling. I can't think of a type of project he hasn't taken on, except maybe masonry. So far in our house, we've knocked down walls, ripped up & replaced floors, moved cabinets, added heating and cooling, repainted & replaced several doors. So now what? Well, we got this idea. It's kind of crazy, but we think it will work. It's going to add something totally different to the plan of our home. So we have a preview video to show everyone, to see what you think, although, we are going to go ahead with it regardless, so click away.....

I decided Spencer & Nicholas also needed haircuts so here are my three, freshly-cut boys!

Well, despite the objections of Jason, (I'm still not sure what he was thinking), I gave Cameron his first haircut yesterday. I have issues when it comes to this: I am torn between excitement at the outcome, and sadness that yet another stage has passed in my baby's life.




When Sidney was a baby, my sister-in-law, Pat, used to say "doesn't it just make you sick when they grow up so fast?" I used to think, "I am relishing in each and every new stage and this is how it is supposed to be--babies grow and we should be happy about it!" I never wished any one of my kids stages away, I feel that time moves at the pace it is supposed to, to wish it to go faster or slower is robbing you and your kids of the present moment. Now, however, I know what Pat was talking about. With each child, I have wanted more and more for each adorable stage to last and last. I could cry right now when I think of the first 2-3 weeks of a baby's life. It is so fleeting! If I could somehow capture those feelings and moments and hang on to them a little longer I'd give almost anything. They are the sweetest imaginable! But when I think of all the cute things Cameron does now, I swing back to my original thinking---"THIS is the cutest stage so far!"



I delight in each stage and try to hold on to the feelings of the one that came before. My idea of heaven is to be able to rewind to any moment in your life and re-live the feelings the same way you did the first time--as many times as you want.


So despite my feelings when I took the first cut (you can see the sick look on my face) I'll try to focus on the sweet way it felt when Cameron gave me a smooch and the giggle I feel every time I look at his double crown in the back! It's perfect!!

Today my friend, Judy and I went to an actual store where you buy "special" shoes for walking/ running. ( who knew??)

Actually, I have been known in the past to claim an allergy to exercising. I have watched friends of mine be quite athletic and thought to myself "I wonder when the time will come when I feel the need to start treating myself better and exercise?"
Knowing that whenever this time was, it would probably spell the end of all the things I hold dear to my heart like; eating yummy, fat-filled, creamy or chocolatey foods, sleeping past 5 a.m., breads of all shapes and sizes, etc., I held it off as long as I possibly could.

Well, it became apparent that 2007, my 37th year on this earth, was the year when my body was starting to scout out the perfect way to betray me. I weighed more than when I delivered my first baby, my muscles and bones were always aching, I was always tired, and I actually became interested in the PREVENTION magazines that my thoughtful father had been gifting me with for three years. I started to notice a definate difference in my stamina, how I slept, and my ability to control my body---I FELT OLD!!! So in January I decided I would start to use my 7-year old ( but practically new if you know what I mean) treadmill and walk three days a week.

Now, I realize that this is a minute step in the road to a healthy body, but I know myself well enough to not set myself up for failure by trying to do it all at once, also, I don't want to send my body into permanent shock by attacking too many healthy changes at once! So, I walk my 2-3 miles three times a week (I've only missed once for a twisted neck injury) even braving 39 degree sleet at the track one night, having great conversations with friends and sleeping better than I have in a long while. I'm sure I will add new, healthy behaviors eventually, although I vow to never completly cut out all sweets, and in hopes that I have created a new, good habit for myself, I bought a pair of really good walking/running shoes. My commitment to this new me is measured by the fact that all my other shoes combined didn't add up to the cost of these little babies!

So, here's to all my inspiring friends (you know who you are) and really expensive shoes!!

In an effort to be able to post comments on TheSummerillSurf, I created a blog for myself, promptly forgot about it, and moved on with my life. Well, through an unfortunate series of events that resulted in the wasting of my entire morning trying to remember my username and password, I have rediscovered my blog. Now I embrace my blog. I will post on my blog. Hopefully people will read and comment on my blog. This is my quest. So enjoy this cute picture of my son, Nicholas, as I try and pick up the pieces of my day and turn it into something productive. Oh, and you should definitely check out TheSummerillSurf. My friend Erin is truly unique and funny.