I get a lot of emails asking about photography. Here is a great person to learn from.

I can highly, highly recommend the following: www.eyecandyworkshops.com

Sheye Rosemeyer has developed a beginner and intermediate self-paced, online course for those interested in learning more about their cameras, creativity and photographing your life.

Y’all know I love me some Sheye.

This is the lovely family I lost all the files for…we had our reshoot on Saturday and I promised to have them edited in a jiffy. They were so gracious and understanding from the very beginning of the bad news. It was a total pleasure to capture all the love they have for each other.

I’m not a product photographer…however! I ordered 3 – 16×24 canvases for our home. One of Lily, one of Natalie, and one of all 4 of us. I HATE our white walls. Have never gotten my hubby’s rear into gear to help me paint, so they don’t look nearly as wonderful as they would on a color wall. You’ll get the picture, though. I highly recommend canvas!

(I put up a few new links in the “Interesting, etc.” menu above. Please check them out.)

I received the following email this morning from my animal-loving activist friend Jen Crow. Jennifer is the reason I have my dog Luna. Jennifer found her as a puppy wandering on Cavalcade St. in Houston (near the elementary where we taught together.) She brought her to school with her one morning, fed her vienna sausages, let her sleep on her beanbag in the classroom for the day, then I took her home. I LOVE my Luna. Here is another Luna you might be able to help. Horrible story.

UPDATE!!: If you can donate $20, you will be part of a contest to help Dakota Rescue (and wee Luna). Donate $20 and you would get a dog contestant from the Greatest American Dog TV show premiering Thursday night on CBS (8 est).  Most of the money collected goes to Dakota Rescue and $100 goes to the person whose dog is the winner at the end of the series. Let me know if you are interested in donating and being part of the contest and I will hook you up with Jen!

Second Update: I donated my $20 and will be rooting for Teresa and Leroy on the Greatest American Dog shot airing on CBS Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Central Time. If I win, I certainly won’t be keeping the moolah! I’ll give it right back to Dakota Rescue.

Hello all, Meet Luna, she is our latest rescue and when you see her picture you will see that she has a long road ahead of her for healing. We were contacted by an individual who took Luna away from another individual that did not know how to care for Luna. This original person that had Luna knew that she needed medical attention but she did not have the funds or the knowledge and her answer was to bathe her in Clorox. Fortunately Mrs. Pena took Luna and contacted Dakota Rescue. She had seen a newspaper article on our organization and saved it knowing that the neighborhood she lived in she would probably need our help.One of our founders made a home visit to Mrs. Pena to meet Luna and determine her need for medical attention. One look at her and there was no question, Luna needed medical attention in the worse way and immediately! She has been taken for her first visit and it was determined that she has sarcoptic mange, intestinal worms and other skin infections. Currently she is being given three different medications and is going to require long medical care before she is able to be adopted.At this time Dakota Rescue is sending out a plea for Luna. Our first plea is financial aide for medical needs. As you can see by her picture it is going to take quite a few Vet visits and medication before this precious baby is well. Second, we need a foster for Luna. Currently Mrs. Pena has another dog who just had puppies and has her hands full. She has agreed to keep Luna until we can find her a new foster. We are asking to please find it in your heart to help Luna. When you see her picture you cannot help but see the pain and suffering this precious dog has had to endure. Any donation that can be made no matter what amount when put together with other donations will make a huge difference. Our P.O. Box information is below and reference Luna.

He’s a doll. So are his mommy and daddy. Great family, returning clients. Love them.

My baby Natalie just laughed for the first time!! I have read in all the baby books that she should have giggled eons ago, but she hasn’t. Neither did Lily. I guess they have my rotten sense of humor and are Leo the Late Laughers ;-) But just now I was holding her up above my head and raising her up and down and she laughed that cute baby laugh where it sounds like a hiccup?! She did it a whole bunch of times! Oh my – it’s the sweetest thing ever. Then she kind of spit up…due to my over zealous need for her to laugh more and more.

To go with the “Natalie Laughs” post, here are 2 silly pictures of her from over the weekend…

I would write:

Lily just told me “I saw Kuku Panda, Mommy!”

By the way, I didn’t go with her, my dad did. I heard after the fact that it’s all fighting!! I wouldn’t have taken her if I knew that…just my .02.

I just got this email from a friend/client Stacy Mc:

I always get these warning emails and I never know what to believe, but this happened to us this weekend and I just wanted to let everyone know…it’s no big deal…no one was hurt and just a small amount of loss involved, but easy to avoid.  This weekend we were getting in the car on our driveway and I realized that Nathan’s gas door was open on his truck and his cap was missing, so he got in his truck and turned it on and sure enough someone had siphoned the gas out of his tank…every bit of it!  I have heard about this on the news, but didn’t really listen.  Crazy, huh?  Like I said, just $100 tank of gas, but still!  Anyways, if you don’t have a locking gas tank, get one! At the risk of sounding like my father- WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO??  

Gotta have it!

People. This baby could not be more delicious right now. She smiles at the freaking walls – at the fan – at the couch. She’s constantly smiling and the gooing and cooing and squealing and talking? OMG. I can hardly stand it. When I look at her and talk back at her all silly, I just have silly old tears welled up in my eyes. You really do fall in love with your kids. I’m in full on swoon mode at the moment. She is heaven in a diaper right now. Just delish.

The next pic is the little mouth I get to look at all day while she forms her lips to talk and ah-goo. Be still my heart.