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Yesterday I had the privilege of baby sitting little Miss Abby for the first time. She is such a sweetie which made it easy for us to have a blast together. Our fun began outside, transitioned into a nap, and ended with lots of awesomely fun dress-up. Of course I couldn’t resist capturing some of our fun to share with you all. Here a couple pictures from our afternoon:
Probably my favorite image of the day
Click HERE to see Abby’s slideshow
Okay, okay. I know it may seem like I’m always posting pictures of these two but I just can’t help it. They love posing for my camera and my camera loves them. So if you’re sick of seeing these precious faces go ahead and book a shoot with me to get some new faces on here. But for now, enjoy:
Can you tell it was dress-up day?
We had a minature “spa” day
Edited to add: I am super excited to present my brand new slideshow program. This new format allows me to send you a slideshow of your images after your initial viewing with me, letting you share your images with friends and family everywhere. Enjoy!
Click HERE to see the slideshow
Mom is always looking for ways to help my photography improve so yesterday she let me practice shooting in manual mode on her. We got several really cute ones. Take a look:
Thanks, Mom. You’re awesome, beautiful, and I love you!
Torrents of giggles flooded my ears as the dress up bins made their appearance. Mickynzie, Brenna, Taylor, and Shaylee were bursting with anticipation as the lids began to come off of the boxes. Throughout the years, Mom has collected wigs, jewlery, glasses, scarves, old high-heels, and much more and stored them in bins for such a time as this. Nearly every time the girls are over they put out a request to get out Ms. Karen’s “crazy things,” their name for the contents of the dress up bins. It had been quite some time since we had taken the plunge and unloaded all the crazy stuff but this was their lucky day. Before long, all the girls were decked out from head to toe. And then it was time for the parade. With Ms. Karen leading the way (yes, my MOTHER) the girls paraded through the living room to give their father’s a fashion show. Of course this elicited more laughter followed by the pounding of little feet headed to put on the next costume.
The girls had a blast and we all got many laughs out of the experience. Here is a taste of our fun:
Probably my favorite shot of the day: Check out those sweet glasses (don’t ask me how she walked with them on)
The girls with the leader of the pack a.k.a. my Mom
Taylor thought the old pipe was something else
The sunglasses Mickynzie is sporting were actually worn by my mother in the 90’s
Brenna’s new do
A final photo (notice the upside down glasses again)
One of my friends posted a very inspiring entry entitled “Lessons from a 10 month-old.” Her entry explained what a 10 month-old little girl that she babysits has taught her about God. Well, today my mom and I visited 95 year-old Gertrude Hill and I decided to share with you what I learned from 30 minutes with someone on the other end of the spectrum.
Knocking gingerly on the the door to room #22, my mother peeked her head in to see if we had the right room. As we approached the wheelchair, Mrs. Hill turned and asked “Are you here to help me?” For the past couple of days poor Mrs. Hill has not been able to hear due to malfunctioning hearing aids and was hoping we were there to help her fix them. My mom attempted to explain to her who we were but it was mostly in vain. “We’re from your home church,” she offered. “Burleson,” she added only to be met by a confused look. By the end of our visit she had figured out that we were members of her home church but was still confused as to which church that was. “Several people from this place have lived to be 100,” she informed us. “I hope to be 100,” she added with as cheerful a smile as she could muster. “God has blessed me so much and as long as He wants me here I’ll gladly do that,” she stated before launching into the second explanation of her children and grandchildren. As my mother said a closing prayer that I’m sure Mrs. Hill didn’t hear a word of, I found myself choking back tears. Hugging that frail body, listening to her tell us she loved us, watching her follow us in her wheelchair out the door I felt more determined than ever before to do my part in spreading God’s message. My mom put it best as she mumbled under her breath outside Mrs.Hill’s door: “Oh, Lord Jesus, please come.” That pretty much summarized what we both felt.
So here’s what I learned from a 95 year-old:
Family is God’s greatest gift
Energy and mobility are not to be taken for granted
God sends people our way with a smile when we need it most
Everyone, yes, even we teenagers, eventually grows old
If a 95 year-old woman who sits in a wheelchair all day by herself can praise God for how good He is, I never have anything to complain about
Laughter is a beautiful gift from God that soothes the soul even when circumstances appear bleak
Last and most important:
Life on this earth is but a breath
My visit with Mrs. Hill taught me many things but most importantly I was reminded of how quickly life passes. God has given each of us the gift of life and breath and we should praise Him every day for these blessings. But God has also given us the privilege and responsibility to spread the Good News to all the world so we don’t have to face life on this earth at 95, all alone, fading away. I left that nursing home with a new resolve to share the love of Christ with everyone I meet and I want to challenge every one who reads this to do the same. May God bless you all!
