My Super-Talented Sister-in-law, Alysia

I have decided that I want to start doing the occasional post that features a friend or family member who inspires me in one way or another. Today, I want to introduce you to Alysia.

My sister-in-law, Alysia, is not only sweet, smart, beautiful and fun, but she is an incredibly talented artist. The ideas and images that leap from her brain onto paper, canvas, furniture or whatever she chooses to draw or paint on are nothing short of amazing. I am constantly in awe of her talent.

She just completed her first year of college and has found an interest in stop-motion animation. She would love to work for Pixar someday and they would be lucky to have her. Being around her gets my creative juices flowing and over dinner last week, we decided that we are going to be photo buddies this summer before she leaves town to go to the college she is transferring to. We are going to work on night photography and painting with light. This makes me incredibly happy, because I like having someone to bounce ideas off of and someone who can help me learn new techniques and ways of seeing things.

I first met Alysia when she was 4 years old and it has been incredible to see her grow from a super-cute, tiny little girl into the woman she is today. My marriage to her brother may not have lasted, but she will always be my sister.


Here is the stop-motion film she made for her final in one of her classes this semsester. Check it out :-)

You're Moving Too Fast



*Photos taken by a Alysia's friend, Courtney and Alysia herself :-)

Ahhhh, Saturday

I am so happy its the weekend. Little man actually let me sleep until 7:45 this morning!! I cannot remember the last time I got to sleep that late :-)

We are enjoying our Saturday morning together.

 Doing a bit of learning...

 A bit of posing....

 and a bit of playing!

Lounge-hound!

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Lizzy and her little man

Last weekend I asked my friend, Lizzy if she would let me take some photos of her and her son so I could get more practice taking photos of people. She said yes, so we met up at a little park near my work. Lizzy is a young, single mom. She works incredibly hard to give her son a wonderful life, it hasn't always been easy. She lost both of her parents; her mom at a young age and her dad last year, so she doesn't have the support a lot of people have.

She has single-handedly raised the sweetest, most well-mannered little boy I have ever met. He loves his mother and it shows. Lizzy is several years younger than I, and yet I have a lot to learn from her. I hope my little man turns out as kind and thoughtful as hers.

Danger Baby!!!!!

What is wrong with my child??? He scares me to death on a daily basis. He has started climbing up on the couch and when he gets up there,  he runs back and forth-WAY too close to the edge for my comfort. Every time I grab him and put him on the floor he throws a fit and climbs back up and resumes running back and forth and laughing all over again. I am terrified on a daily basis, that he is going to really hurt himself. He is so crazy. I can't imagine running around like a child, having no fear for my safety, not even considering the possibility of something bad happening. Oh, I miss having a child's innocence and naivete.

For the past couple of weeks, bath-time has been the highlight of his day. He gets so excited when I ask if he is ready for his bath. He runs into the bathroom and does his cute little happy dance. Pure, unadulterated joy adorns his little face.  I know I should enjoy it while it lasts because from what I hear, kids aren't too keen on bathing when they get a little older.

It's nice to have our little routine. We have a good time together. We play and cuddle and watch old episodes of the Muppet Show. I swear, when he gets into school he will be the only child who knows who Dudley Moore, Peter Sellers, Roy Clark and Liberace are. I have seen those old episodes so many times that I actually started to get a crush on Dudley Moore... and he's dead!!!!  I guess that is proof that I need to get out more. :-)

He loves the water so much and I can't wait to take him swimming again this summer. He's never been to the beach and I look forward to taking him to the dunes at Lake Michigan and running the hot sand between our toes. This summer is going to be great and full of adventure.

Look out, little man!

I'm calling..can you hear me?

There's a storm rolling in this Sunday morning. I like it. It is comforting listening to the thunder and rain. I have Leona Naess playing in the background as I watch Ethan and Finny run around chasing each other.

I'm feeling a little...I don't know. I want so much to be different from what I am.  I am so full of heartache, resentment, jealousy and just plain old dissatisfaction and I refuse to continue living like this. I don't want what my ex did to me to define me. I often feel as though I am too old to fundamentally change who and what I have always been. I was raised by a sweet mother who was afraid of confrontation and never wanted to hurt anyone's feelings so she would just keep things inside. I was raised by a father who was quick to anger and yelled at us--a lot. He is a good, hardworking man and I understand now why he is the way he is. His parents were good people, but not able to express their feelings. My father was never told, "I love you" from his parents, aside from his mother telling him right before she died. That makes me very sad. Every child should absolutely feel loved and cherished by their parents. I feel like I am a 50/50 mix of my mom and dad. I, unfortunately, have my father's quick temper and my mother's people-pleasing to the point of neglecting herself traits. I just want to feel peace. I want to get in touch with my faith more. I neglect the things I should be doing to create the me I believe I should be.  The me I desperately want to be.

I am alone a lot. I have my son with me, but I spend so much of my day wishing, longing, wanting and I don't want another 39 years to go by only to find that I never did anything I REALLY wanted to do. I am so afraid of being rejected, looking silly and not being good enough that I don't really try a lot of things I am interested in.

I want to make the real changes, the ones that make it possible to live in peace, to feel like I am able to do anything I set my mind to. To feel worthy of someone's love. I want my son to have a mother  who shows him by doing that he too can do anything, be anything and is ABSOLUTELY worthy of love.

like the moon and the stars and the sun

Shine on, little man.

Strangelove

My little man does a lot of weird things, most in the privacy of our home-some in public. Since I can remember, he has growled--like a dog. Like our dog, Finny,  to be exact. Sometimes the two of them will stand in front of the window and growl at whatever it is Finny growls at. This is one of the things Ethan takes into public.

We were walking through an antiques store a couple weeks ago and he was growling away in his stroller, so loudly that a woman said, "Oh my!! He sounds diabolical, doesn't he?" Well, yes, he sometimes makes sounds that resemble someone needing an exorcism, but he is just a silly little boy who thinks he is a dog.

As further proof, I have caught him with his head in Finny's water dish sucking up what's left of the water and I have to wrestle the dog food away from his chubby little hands EVERY time I feed our dog. I have to block him and tell him, "That's Finny's food. He needs to eat!" They are siblings/buddies and they love each other.

His newest thing is spinning. Not unusual in itself, all kids do it. It's the WAY he does it. His right arm comes up and in front of his face like he is holding an invisible Dracula cape and starts to spin in the herky-jerky movement of the old claymation characters. The funniest part of it is the look he gets on his face when he does it. He knows he is being funny and he is completely delighted with himself. It is adorable. I wish I had a video to upload of him doing this. I will have to try and make that happen.

I love all the silly little things that make my little guy so unique. He makes me laugh every day. The amount of joy this child exhibits is a beautiful thing to see.