Old Photos, New Twist

In an effort to learn more about editing photos in Adobe Lightroom, I re-edited some old photos I took of Toby almost a year ago.

I still have tons to learn about editing photos, but I've definitely learned a lot in the past year.

And, boy, has Toby grown like a weed! I can't wait to compare his one-year photos with his two-year photos (scheduled to be taken in a week or two). Stay tuned...

Gettin' Hitched

Congratulations, Ryan and Ashley! I can't wait to hear the whole story (because you know the girl's version is always better than the guy's)!

We're so happy for you two :)

Stranded

So...

I'm on vacation until Tuesday and had lots of plans for hiking, camping, and participating in other fun activities that involve driving around or out of the city of Charlotte.

The gas shortage, however, has me stranded at home. In the past two days, I've robbed two spare lawn-mower fuel tanks (the Waller's and ours) of every last drop of gasoline. I'm sure that the Escape doesn't have more than half a gallon of gas in its tank at the moment and the gas light has been on for almost two days straight. My mother has called me three times in the past 24 hours to see if I've been able to fill up my gas tank yet.

I ventured 2 miles away from the house this morning (with the bright red spare gas tank in the trunk - just in case) in search of fuel but found only one station with gas...and a line of cars a mile long waiting to fuel up. My measly half-gallon of gas would burn off before I got to a pump, I'm sure. I really didn't want to break down in line at the gas station and have lots of panicking, moody, rushed drivers become violent with me (because, believe me, people have been getting violent).

Aaron's 4-Runner has half a tank of gas left and it's our only transportation at the moment. With the news that the gas shortage in Charlotte may continue into the middle of next week, we're conserving as much as we can.

In the meantime, I'm taking some time for myself, walking wherever I can, and enjoying the beautiful Fall weather. Sometimes when the Lord wants you to slow down and take it easy, he takes away distractions (i.e. - cars full of fuel) that keep you from doing just that.

I'll keep you updated on our fuel situation...

Letters of the Alphabet

I realized a few months ago that Toby was beginning to learn the letters of the alphabet. I thought it seemed a bit early for him to be recognizing letters, but decided to encourage it. What could it hurt?

For the past month or so, Toby and I have been practicing letter flashcards during our daily "learning time" and we sing the "ABC song" every now and then. He LOVES flashcard time and insists on sitting in my lap as we flip through the letters. We go through the stack of cards 6...7...sometimes 8 times before he gets tired of it. The only letters he has a hard time with are D, R, V, and W. It's really impressive to watch.

I had about 20 minutes to fill before it was time to pick Sam up from school this afternoon, so Toby and I stopped by the new Marshalls in Uptown Charlotte to pick up a baby gift for some friends. I put Toby into a cart and headed to the baby section. As I was looking at a jacket that caught my eye, I heard Toby begin to recite letters.

"U...O...Y...K...N..." he was saying.

I looked down to see Toby pointing at letters on the handle bar of the cart and reciting each one...even though they were facing me and UPSIDE DOWN to him.

"A...H...T...Yay!!!!!" he concluded, clapping for himself and grinning from ear to ear. I caught myself looking at him like he was an alien from outer space. My eyebrows were scrunched together and I'm pretty sure my jaw was on the floor, too.

The child had just spelled "THANK YOU" backwards and read the letters upside-down. How many not-quite-two-year-old children do you know who recognize almost all of the letters of the alphabet right side-up and upside-down? HUH?

After a few seconds of processing his newest feat, I said, "Good boy, Toby!" and kissed him on the cheek. There's nothing like a little positive reinforcement to encourage new talents :)

As we were sitting at the stop light at Charlottetown Avenue and Third Street on our way to pick Sam up from school, Toby started spelling again.

"S...E...C...U..." he declared.

I looked to my left and saw the State Employees' Credit Union. The child is amazing.

Now...if we could just get this potty-training thing rolling, I'll be really happy.

The First Day of Fall

This evening, I went on a date with my handsome husband.

What could be better than sitting on a blanket at the Winthrop lake on a Monday evening after a long day at work?

We enjoyed a picnic dinner of hummus & pita chips, cheese, peperoni & crackers, almond butter & apple jelly sandwiches (on hamburger buns!), sweet tea from a Nalgene bottle, and fruit snacks.

We laughed at the crazy ducks and geese as they quacked and honked for some of our food.

We reminisced about our college days when we used to play soccer and climb trees a few feet from where we were sitting.

We watched the gorgeous sun drift beneath the trees on this first day of Fall.

I'm so thankful to have a husband who still chases after me even though he's already captured my heart :)

The Best of Friends

It's Saturday night, and Aaron and I have just said "goodnight" to two of our best friends and a pair of the happiest, most free-spirited, loving little boys I've ever met.

I'm so thankful for the incredible people God has strategically placed into our lives. Friends to laugh and cry with. Friends to adventure with. Friends to learn from. Friends to pray and walk through life with.

You know who you are...and I hope you know how much we appreciate you.

Strike A Pose

Ok.

That's it.

From now on, "test shots" will only be taken after I strike a pose. More bad "test shots" from Saturday:

This could become quite the fun little wedding photography game...