Easter...

I think it is cool that you can see the moon on the left, and the sun on the right.  

He is Risen!

I am so thankful for a Risen Lord who is seated at the right hand of God and lives to make intercession for me!  It truly is amazing love.  The cost of our redemption is indeed without comprehension.  I am so grateful that He called me out of the darkness and brought me into His marvelous light!

Jane gave me a wonderful Easter lily:

 Luke even did a photo shoot and sent me photos!  Thank you!

Sawyer and Tate bunnies

Finally, Ian and the grandkids showed up for an afternoon of fun.  Photos will be forthcoming.   Happy Easter to everyone.

"And the angel answered and said to the women...I know you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here. He is Risen!"  Matthew 28: 5-6

Future addition to the McKelvy home

Today, I took the grandkids over to meet our future kitten.  I have been hankering for a cat for sometime now.  I was under strict orders that no cat could come into this household until after the birth of the twins. So after I got home from NC, I began to visit the Human Society regularly scouting out cats.  They never had any kittens, just older cats.  One day, Karen Fulkerson came into my Pilate class and told me that one of her friend's cat just had kittens and she showed me their pictures on her iPhone.  I found one I like immediately, and had her call her friend to see if I could have it.  I was so happy when she said, "Yes."  Today was the day we met.  This friend and her husband live in a warehouse, that has one corner carved out for their home.  They have about 10 cats.  I will have to explain the environment with pictures.  Trust me when I say it is a cat heaven...but outdoors.  My kitten lives in an old, red heap of a car with its mom and two siblings--nicely tucked away in the wheel well for the spare tire.   The kittens are two weeks old and have just opened their eyes.

Here she is...so small!

The top one is going to be ours in 6 weeks.

Hope these claws don't like our furniture!

What a cute face!

Erynn holding the kitten.

Bigger picture of her face.

I think she is a pretty kitten.

Okay, this is the last one.

She is a calico...all calicos are female.  I have been trying to talk Warren into letting me have two, but so far he had not budged.  Hmmmm.  I think it needs a playmate, so I will keep working on him.  I decided to name her "Maggie" and I hope she will be a great cat!  

            "A kitten is in the animal world what a rosebud is in the garden."     --Robert Southey

Journaling and Blogging

I think journaling, which is now in the form of blogging, is fantastic.  The great part about blogging is you can add pictures, links, and other information all in one spot.  Today, Warren flew up to Dallas to see a back specialist at the Texas Back Institute.  He tells me it is a huge place.  Tomorrow he gets examined, and I am so hoping and praying that he will have some good news.  I know these past few weeks have been very hard on him, yet he continues to plug along and function as best he can.  With him heavy on my heart, I went to my favorite website, jessicasprague.com, to catch up on what was happening in her community.  I was excited when I saw the art journaling prompt and challenge was the word "BE."  I could do lots of things with that word, but since my heart and mind was on Warren, I wanted it to "be" about him.

Be appreciative of your husband!

 And since I am writing about art journaling prompts and challenges, the one earlier this week was on "Surrender."  I used a picture of Sawyer & Tate and came up with a page.  I was so excited when the administer of the challenge commented that my page was the sweetest thing she had ever seen, and she thought my take on the word was interesting.

I don't know was more worn out from trying to get "the shot"...me or the twins!

Photo shoot

I went on a photo shoot with neighbor and photographer Stephanie DeFranco to try out my new flash photography skills and she was trying out her new softbox flash.   Stephanie asked the Fresquez twins to be our models...these were former swim students of mine, and I know their grandfather very well.  As you can see these girls are knock-out gorgeous, and you don't have to direct them very much--they just know how to "get the look" and pose.  Most of these are straight out of the camera.  I did absolutely no retouching on the girls.  I did sharpen, and used an effect on a couple.  Such amazing girls.

The pink hue on the left is one of the pink petals from the tree.  

I wish I could wear heels like this...I think they are awesome!

Thought for today

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,

while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

-La'o Tzu

Sepia with the distracting background removed. 

More pictures...

I am in the process of going through all my pictures for various reasons, and have some more to share.  Bear with me, the "going through" process will be ongoing, so there will be occasional posts out of the past of some of my favorites.

She is fixing her hair.  I am amazed she does it so well.  Much better than I could ever do.
Maybe that is why God gave me boys.

While some may not particularly like this picture, I love it.
 I like the crooked smile,  and the beauty of her face.

I finally uploaded the pictures of the twins birth that was taken by some wonderful nurse or technician.  I thank them because they did a wonderful job of capturing the moment. It is like we were there!

Proud Dad.  Sawyer left; Tate right.
Sawyer seemed to be the one that looked around more.

Doesn't everyone have this picture of the Dad?  

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord. Psalms 127:3

Photo contest entry

I heart faces has a photo contest every week.  I always think I will enter, well, this week they want black and white pictures which I just happen to have done on my new twin grand babies last night. I thought I would enter one of Sawyer and Tate.  Here they are in a galvanized bucket.  They are fresh from God, and the bucket is fresh from Lowe's.

Sawyer facing left; Tate facing right.

Every Good and Perfect Gift

The whole creation testifies of the Lord.  While I am not a morning person, I appreciate the Lord  giving me a gift each morning as I sleepily start out on a walk.  He thrills me with His masterpieces.  How can anyone believe this is happenstance?   "All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights."(James 1:17).  Take a look at my gifts from God.

Blooming Plum tree in my neighbor's yard. 

A fence by the my walking path.

Another fence, and the pecan orchards along my walk.

Naturally, God's gifts are all around and not limited to time of day or night.  Here are some other gifts from God as He awakens His creation in time for spring.  I cannot believe it is almost spring...did we even have a winter?  I can only remember the one bad snow storm over Christmas.  It was not much of a winter...at least in my mind.  I welcome spring, but not daylight savings time.

Up close of the Plum tree.  

Busy Bee...pollinating the flowers.  There will be plums for sure!

Not to be forgotten in the collection of God's gifts are grandchildren.  Laurie asked me to take silhouettes of the kids, so I did.  I think they turned out great.

Grandson

Granddaughter

I had a lot of help from my friend, Kelly.  She offered to let me use her studio, (Peek-a-Boo Photography), and she set up the lighting.  She had just purchased Easter props, and we got to experiment with them.  After the silhouette photos, my grandson, was done with photos as you can see in picture.  Hmmm.  I cannot image why he wasn't thrilled with spending all afternoon letting me take pictures!  

Looking thrilled with it all!

Lastly, I had to post a picture of my doodling.  I had a lot of fun playing with the different mediums.  I think it sort of looks like a county fair with the Ferris wheel on the right, a roller coaster, and the mass of bright colors.  

The Doodle.