You Wouldn't Even Know It

If you walked through my house you would not even know that photography is something that is in my blood. That I love it. That it makes me so very very very happy.
All of that is about to change. :) I received a free shelving unit that matches our TV stand. Nothing spectacular, but nice. Once I started getting it in its place it was like a kick to my motivation bum!

I starting going through pictures. Choosing. Editting. Ordering (hardest one for me to do!). 89 prints in all. Mostly 4x6's. A couple of 5x7's. About 10 8x10's.

I have frames here I am going to "modify". I will purchase a few. I also have a few that have never had a Grismore picture in them. Sad!!  But, Big Plans. I am excited. I have well laid plans for myself this fall in my house.
A transformation in the making. Yah!!!


I am going to share a few pictures with you that I took of the girls last week.

All of the Black and Whites are in an 8x10 size.

After looking back through her pictures. 

This little head tilt/side eye look in pictures 

started about age 3.

I would not trade her saucyness for anything.

A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G

She went from little girl to little lady in no time flat.

It is amazing watching your children really come into their own. 

Just amazing.  

See.

Don't you see it.

I know you do.

She is......... I don't know how to explain her.

She is..............Saucy:) 

(This will be a 5x7)

She is now taller than my shoulders.

She is "leggy".

Her new shoes are a size 4.

They are Sperry's.

She has wanted them forever!

(This will be a 5x7)

I am bias. I know that.

But.

She has the most beautiful profile. 

Mom told me that when she was just a tiny baby.

Your right Mom.

Beautiful.

(4x6)

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Autumn:)

Defeat & Disappointment

Ms. Ainzli is not going to be a student council member, at least in the third grade. Although, if you want to know my honest opinion, it wouldn't bother me if she doesn't ever run again. It hurt my heart so much for her. I didn't realize how I would feel about her defeat. And not in the crazy parent way, like the pride thing. Just how does SHE feel. 
They got off the bus (my little women are now riding the bus home, they LOVE it), and they both come running upon the front porch. I am sitting in my wicker chair, anxiously awaiting their return. Ms. Ainzli has this huge smile on her face. I didn't know if they would get the results the same day or not. She tells me that two other kids are the representatives from her class. She is not sad. She is her same old happy-go-lucky self. I LOVE this about her. Ainzli really doesn't show much expression. She never has. She can be hard to read sometimes. I just know that this will be a huge asset for her later in life. Guaranteed. Anyway. I am so proud of her. I told her over and over and over...........:)

So fast forward to late evening. She is in the bathtub. We are talking about people, books, events of the day.... just stuff.
I get down on the floor right beside the bathtub. She is looking at me. I at her. Her beautiful dark brown eyes. Her long light brown hair. Her cute little button nose. Soaking her all in.
She tells me that when she heard she didn't win her stomach hurt for a little bit. I told her I understood. I do. I told her that she can't always win. I told her that she did her best and she should be more than proud of that. I told her that SHE did her project. I also told her that she is beautifully and wonderfully made.
I realize there are great lessons in defeat. I know this. I understand this. It does not make it much easier for me to swallow. There are so many bigger obstacles and trials in our future. I am only skimming the surface. These are the roads ahead of me. Walking these winding roads with my children. Always being there for them. Being their confidant. Being their sounding board. Watching them. Holding their hand. Not holding their hand. Learning with them. Learning from them.

I am proud of you, Sis. So very proud.:)

Elect Ainzli

Politics just might be in our future here at the Grismore abode. Ainzli came home last week (or the week before, can't remember) and told me she wanted to run for student council. I am thinking, "student council in third grade. Rubbish!". So of course, I say ok.
Last weekend we made her campaign poster. That was fun. She knew just what she wanted and I only helped a little. I did come up with a pretty cool acronym for her name. Very political.!:) She was very authoritative with the poster. I have no clue where she could have gotten that! heehee. She did inform me last night that there were a couple of posters that were better than hers. I told her not too worry. The speech is where it is.

Her eyes are a little puffy here. 

She had just gotten done crying.

She can be overly passionate.

It all worked out and was over pretty quickly.

She worked feverishly on her speech.

She did it all on her own. 

She would read it to us and we would tell her whether we thought it sounded correct.

She has awesome ideas.

Blow me away ideas.

She is amazing :) 

The speeches were today. I prayed for her. We (Shannon, Ainzli and me) had a talk about all being well if she does not get elected. She looked at us like we were Bozo's. She has a peace about her sometimes that can set us all at ease.

Elect Ainzli. She is Always Intouch, Naturally Zealous, Lives Intently

Autumn:)

Is There a Fence In Our Backyard?

I love it when a plan comes together. No matter if that plan has been years in the making. The results are a little sweeter. As long as we have lived in our humble abode, I have known that I wanted a quiet little backyard oasis. We have added and subtracted so many things from it to start to widdle away at what we ultimately want.

This was our biggest DIY project to date. I am not going to say ever. I have bigger plans for us. (If you are reading this Shannon, don't freak out. No big plans for the near future.). This was just one that I really thought out. I planned for. I am sure the ladies at the library thought I was mad. On more than one occasion I maxed out our book limit with only landscaping books. I leafed through every page. I wanted to be sure that what we were about to take on was exactly what I/we wanted.

He worked so hard. 

He gets me. 

He gets that I can be more than anal retentive. 

He understands how much things mean to me.

I love him more for that "getting me" thing.

We are quite a team.

We did it all. We dug every hole. We leveled every post. We hung every board. Shannon's Dad and Step-mom were more than a tremendous help. Thank you!


Autumn:)

We Are Back At It And Loving It

We are definitely getting back into the swing of full time busy around the Grismore abode. School is going good. No more crying. Thank you Lord! This week we started our extra curriculars for the fall/winter. Ms. Blue started back up with piano. Yay! I love when the piano is making a tune.
Ms. Ainzli is trying something new. She has done art camp for three summers(?, I think it has been three). This summer it was photo camp. She was hooked! So now she is doing art lessons at Sugarbowl Art Co. She is eladed. Can't wait to share with you the stuff she produces! I am feeling wonderful about the activities the girls have chosen. :)
So Ms. Blue and I have an hour to share together. We headed to the park at a local church. Great church park! Seriously!
Anyhow, as we drove up they have the driveway lined with American flags. Made my heart flutter. I tend to be very patriotic. Love my country.

Look how big Ms. Blue looks. Her hair is getting so long. By the way, she asked me why I always have to take pictures. I told her because I like it. She said she doesn't like it so much. She was being a little contrary. Oh Ms. Blue, how I do love you. All of you.


Autumn:)

Fishing

Am I fishing? Not going to the river fishing. Not fishing for fish.
Am I a fisher of men?
I don't know. I want to be. I long to be. I need to be.

All of these thoughts were brought up this Sunday as I was listening to Pastor Sam. He challenged us to, "Go-It's Our Universal Calling". Put yourself out there. "Going" is a planned out calling. The church is to reach out to the lost. We should not and cannot expect them to come to us.
Am I putting myself out there to say hey, "I am a believer. I am His. I would love to see you in church this Sunday."? Even as I am writing this I think, not really. I am pretty good. I sure hope I am. I stay in my little bubble. Safe, secure, not many bumps; bubble. Rarely, do I do that step further. That step out of my comfort zone. Why not? I could name you a handful of reasons why I don't. But there is one sentence that is playing on repeat in my mind since late Sunday morning. "Autumn, be My hands and feet." He is tugging on my heartstrings. I am concerned about the "lost", but I don't go out of my way to reel them in. I do not fish for them.
I suppose the opposition that I will meet will be uncomfortable, even embarrassing. I will be rejected. I could possibly be ridiculed a few times. I am pretty sure someone before me knows all of this and still chose to die for us. All of us. I know there will be times I will have the best of intentions and then I will do nothing. I will fail. I will fall. Will I stay down? No. I will pick myself up, knowing that I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. Through this strength through these experiences, new opportunities will arise. When I go I will get.

Here's a throw back to my Sunday school days. Singing was my favorite part of Sunday morning. I remember pretending like we were casting our rods. And each time we repeated it, the song, it would grow louder. He was there. In those days. Planting a seed. In that little Quaker church on a back road in Indiana.


"I will make you fishers of men. Fishers of men. Fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men, if you follow Me. If you follow Me. If you follow Me. I will make you fishers of men, if you follow Me."

Confessions of a Food Snob: #4

I have a great article to share with you. No matter where you are on the food discussion, this article can empower you with easy to digest information.

It is written by Dr. Oz. I am not a huge TV watcher (I am a huge movie buff!). I have seen his show a couple of times. I believe he is a great asset to us. He has helped so many people. I am a reader. I thoroughly enjoy reading articles that he has written. He puts things into laymen's terms and "real" life applications. Shew! What family doesn't need easy ways to be healthy?!
In this issue there is an article on foods. Not necessarily what not to eat, but what to eat. So important. Don't tell me I can't have something. I don't work that way. I will crave it. As I believe most will.
Tell me what to add to my diet, how it will benefit me, and ways to do it.
I will be so much more likely to give it a try.

There is an additional article on vitamins/supplements. So very interesting.

I am getting ready to head to grocery. I have a goal this week. I am going to buy a fresh fruit or vegetable that we have either never tried or have tried only once. I am going to do this for the next four weeks and I will let you know how we like it.


Have a wonderful weekend,

Autumn:)

Lovely Little Surprises

This is what you might expect to find when you have a babysitter for an entire day. While Shannon and I were enjoying our day at the race, Ms. Ainzli and Ms. Sarena were enjoying theirs. I was briefly scrolling through images last night and stumbled upon some unfamiliar ones.

I LOVE THIS!

Ainzli is becoming more and more confident with her photography skills. Practice definitely makes you better in this venue. Thank you Ms. Ainzli and Ms. Sarena. You most definitely put a smile on my face:)


Autumn:)

Handy Photo Tuesday: NHRA Edition

We went. I was giddy. We were able to see and do things that I had only seen other people do from the outside of the ropes. Thank you Sandvik and Brevini Wind!:) What an experience.

For those of you who do not know what NHRA stands for: National Hot Rod Association.
Basically it is for people who like to go fast. We are talking super fast.
For example, going 300 miles per hour in one quarter mile. Woohoo!!!!
It's awesome. It's an experience. It's something that gets in your blood.

We sat in the stands. 

Ear plugs in. 

Watching the first round of qualifiers for the day.

These particular cars are in the "Top Fuel" class.

 

After watching the racing for awhile we headed to one of the four VIP Tents for DSR (Don Schumacher Racing). We had lunch. On either side of the tent were the race cars, drivers, and the semi trailers they use as their garages at the races. It amazes me how they set all of this up for just a weekend, but they seem so permanent.

Our guide for the day came up to us and asked if we wanted a tour. I said, "absolutely." Not really knowing exactly what that meant. We get up and he walks us right through the doorway that goes directly to the cars, drivers, and their trailers. I could not believe it!

 Shannon and I. 

Standing directly beside the body of 

Matt Hagan's Funny Car. 

"Funny Car" is another class of drag racing.

 Matt Hagan and myself. 

He is up and coming. 

Very nice man. Told us his back story. 

Showed us all the in's and out's of the car.

We were shown his clutch and they told me no pictures.

Guess I look like a spy for another team!

Ron Capps and myself.

I just know my sister is coveting this picture!

He is not up and coming.

He's There!

If you know drag racing. You know Ron Capps. 

Shannon asked me what the best part of the day was.
I told him, hands down, seeing every aspect of the inside of their trailers.
These are complete garages on wheels.
Anything you can think of to get one of these high tech machines on the track competitively,
is in these trailers.
The crew can change the complete working systems on one of these cars in less than an hour.
It is truly amazing.
The trailers are completely hooked together with very large doorways.
These particular ones below are four wide.
Oh yeah and they are spotless. Completely spotless. Crazy!

These are the guys I hung 

out with for the day.

Me. 

Being Me. 

Which can be just down right goofy.

In this picture we are inside part of Don Schumacher's personal trailer.

This gentleman owns four of these cars. 

He is pretty much "the man".

The shoes were good. 

Love them.

I cannot wait to break them totally in.

Yes. It has to be posted to have a shirt and shoes on.

I noticed the further into the day we got

the less shirts I saw.

He could have taken anyone. 

He took me.

I love him. 

Autumn:)

All Dolled Up

This will be quick. Shannon and I have been invited to attend the NHRA Nationals this Sunday. A vendor is trying to pick up work from his employer so they are going to treat us "very nicely." Yippey! Big Cars. Loud Motors (Your inside rumble. NOT KIDDING!!!). Good company. Just he and I.
I am totally looking forward to it.
So I just wanted to show you my outfit.
And my new shoes. Sperry Top-Siders. Paid $16.19. "Holy Crap" you say. I did too.

The wedge is all cork. 

I have read that wedges can actually be "comfortable" if they 

are completely cork. 

I will let you know.  

Enjoy your holiday weekend. Soon Autumn will be upon us with her beauty and briskness. :)

Autumn

Didn't See This Coming

The newness (not sure if that is a word, but my grammar here has been horrible lately so why not keep the trend up!) has worn off. Ainzli convinced Ms. Blue to tell me that she cried at school on Monday. Oh golly. This is not good. Not good at all. We were rolling. She was excited. Oh yeah, why didn't she tell me?! She is now struggling to get out of bed in the morning. I expected that. The coolness always wears off. But not crying. Did not expect this.
She told me that she is gone for seven hours every day. "Mommy, that is long and I miss you." How did I hold it together? I am not sure. But I did. Mama has to be strong.
This morning I walked her to her class. First time I have done this. She wanted/needed me too. She gave me a hug and I could see there were little tears welling at the bottom of those big brown eyes. They did not fall in the hallway. I pray they did not fall. She walked right into her classroom. I didn't look in. Just turned and walked out to the loser cruiser.

There are days she seems so big, strong, bold.......well beyond her years.
But most days she is simply my baby and she is struggling right now.
She will get through it. I know it. But we are in the eye of the storm and it is hard. Oh golly, is it hard.

So I will be joining her for lunch today:) School pizza, baby!

Autumn:)