Such fun to be had.

MckMama suggested a specific lens on a blogpost of her's. I went and rented the Nikon equivalent for a shoot that I'll be doing this afternoon... this morning I had such a wonderful time shooting some of Katie's shoes (oh yes, and Benjamin and Katie of course) in the sunshine.

Oi... I didn't want to enjoy this lens so much.

Thank you MckMama!

Financial Times - Exploding debt threatens America

FT.com / Exploding debt threatens America

The amount of debt we have is such a large number, it is difficult to comprehend, or even relate to. It is nice to see the markets moving up a bit, but is it founded on anything? If people are losing their jobs, our mortgage debt is still out of control, and the banking industry is leveraged 25 to 1, where is the foundation for an economic recovery going to come from?

Getting LOST on the Island...

What a wonderful place to be.

Kyle, Ben and I joined Katie, William and Kyle's parents on Saturday on Bainbridge Island. Katie and William had already traveled to Grandpa and Grandma Schei's the previous day to have a "sleepover" without Mom and Dad.

The time was so pleasant and we wore ourselves out spending the majority of time out in the sun, on the beach, at the park, in the yard... it was gorgeous. And oi! The views!

Virgin Manhattens for the kids...


Roasted corn... best corn I've ever had.


Cool shot of the sun peaking through the trees on the west side of their property...

Not-so-virgin Manhatten for Mom...


Busy Sound on Memorial Weekend... shot from the front deck of G&G Schei's house.




Fay Bainbridge State Park on Friday shortly after Kyle and I arrived...






Had to ask if I could shoot the dog... he looked so out of place but gorgeous on the beach.




Kids swinging in the sun at Eagledale Park...




KATIE SCHEI PHOTOGRAPHY SHOTS BELOW:

Date night... almost.

The eldest of our three wonderful children were lovingly shuttled off to Bainbridge Island yesterday afternoon (we sent snacks and a cell phone). Kyle, BEN and I got to have a luxurious evening at home together. Just the THREE of us.

I made a feast of mozzarella, basil and tomato appetizers, a nice bottle of wine, spinach salad with nuts and strawberries and Carne Asada fresh off the grill. It was fabulous and the conversation was excellent once we got past the awkward 'what do you say on a first date' moment. Its never a problem when Kyle and I high-tail it to a nice restaurant -- there's purpose and the pendulum has swung completely to the right when what you're used to being knee deep in diapers and cutting up meat, refilling liquids and saying things like, 'yes, you may be excused.'

I'm madly in love with my husband and I think we'll be doing this a lot more... consider yourself warned, Kathy. Soon I'll pack all three onto a ferry...

Adventures of Mr. Wiggles

A SPECIAL BLOG SERIES FOR RACHEL KALOUS

This afternoon while harmlessly feeding amongst the tall grass of Schei Slopes, Mr. Wiggles was mistaken for his twin brother, Dr. Jiggles. Born as Harris P. Wiggles, Dr. Jiggles' name was, sadly enough, misspelled on his postgraduate diploma. Being a portly fellow (and not very well liked due to his tendency to reveal the endings of movies before one has had the pleasure of seeing it) as well as his odd ability to name every muscle in one's body from head to toe within 45 seconds he earned himself the name 'Dr. Jiggles'.


"Jig. You're a dead man."


"Please no! My name is Henry P. Wiggles. You've been mistaken!"


"Jig, you can't fool me. But I'll let you go this once."



Its never easy for Mr. Wiggles. He'll be the first to tell you he enjoys to take the edge off every so often.

Out of place at church.

For a number of months, Kyle and I have felt that the act of getting ready for church, rushing out the door to get to church, spending an hour of singing and teaching while apart from our kids all to head back home with the same drugged sense of a Sunday afternoon as I believe so many people feel, was disobedient. I was becoming apathetic and lazy in my approach to the teaching of scripture on Sunday mornings. I left church maybe contemplating what was taught. I'd go home to feed the kids, put everyone down for naps and savor my last few hours with my husband at home before the week 'kicked off'... and I did it again the next week.

Something about this wasn't right.

I walked into the kitchen this morning after waking to find Katie's plastic pig stuck into the straw of yesterday's sippie cup. For a moment I contemplated whether or not I had actually woken up yet. Although odd, it occurred to me right then, like a reel tape in my mind rolling a tape of me in church with subliminal messages of a pig with its leg stuck in a sippie cup straw. I saw that there was likely no better way to portray how uncomfortable and out of place I felt when attending church.

This is not me placing fault on the church. It has been a discovery of my obedience to Christ. No matter how good the good thing is that we're doing, if its not in obedience to Christ than there's nothing but emptiness to reap. Kyle and I have known that God was asking us to begin seeking for our immediate family something different than what the North American church was offering. We've known it for awhile but had yet to step forward in faith.

So four Sundays ago we had our first church at home. It is NOT a "home church" as some have called it. We don't feel the release from God to 'go public' for lack of better words and invite others. But instead we believe that for now this is a time of prayer and seeking scripture in a way foreign to what we've been raised with. If we were to begin inviting other families and growing this Sunday morning gathering soon we would be too big for the home... the kids would be too great in number to focus on the way we want to... soon enough we'd be formulating the exact same structure that we believe God has just called our family away from.

So we walked away from everything we knew and were comfortable with into a place much more suited for us.

Our family is desiring to walk in obedience to the Lord. Our kids are being called to be leaders of their generation and Kyle and I are responsible for training them up in that way. We prepare a feast and while the food is cooking we sit in the living room and read the story from the children's bible. We teach them hoping to stretch their thinking and their understanding of God's character. They are expected to sit quietly and listen; ask questions and give input. We then serve lunch and sit together at the table while the adults begin reading out of their bibles the story read earlier. The children sit and listen and we devour scripture together and seek God's Truth. They are dismissed into the living room where they quietly play until the adults are done reading and praying. Afterwards, there is no transition. We're already here and the Spirit is present. Its almost as though we're moving in slow motion with the wonderment and awe of who God is surrounding us as we tidy up and crawl into bed for naps.

Though we only know enough of what God is asking of us to prepare for this coming Sunday we aren't shaken. The lack of planning and understanding as to what He's doing is only increasing our faith and our anticipation of Him.

Its out of obedience and nothing has felt more right.

Hey Time, can we talk?

I wanted to fit it in my schedule to talk with you and ask you, politely, to stop. Don't let them grow up without me watching.


I strolled through Central Market as though I was sleeping. Passing items that were on my list in an attempt to find the one item that was hard to find. I passed the frozen pastry sheets numerous times in an attempt to find what I thought would be 'fresh' pasta shells... I passed the shredded cheese numerous times whilst picking up the Ricotta cheese and again, looking for the pasta shells. I passed the fresh basil while shopping the produce section and had to retrieve it at the end...

It was not a delightful shopping trip. I wanted to be home. I wanted to be 'on top' of things and not last minute. I wanted to stop filling the empty spots in my planner and begin right then focusing on what God has called me to. Ironically, this was one of those things that I knew God was favoring. Unfortunately, I had set so many things in front of this moment for Jesseca and Baby Reese that I didn't get to fully enjoy the moments preparing for this celebration.

With no one to blame but myself, I checked out and drove half-awake to the next store praying that God's grace would be upon me. That His hand of power would be over me allowing me to get through another day of ME and the good things I do.

Today I didn't shower... today I let the kids run in and out of the back yard whilst finding slugs... today a pill-bug was lost in the house... today I washed laundry, did dishes and took kids to school... today I wrote absolutely nothing in my planner for the days to come.

Today I took Time and let it do its own thing.

There are few requirements we have for who's able to join us for 'church' at the Scheis on Sunday mornings.

Best toy investment in a long time...

TUB OF BEANS

You'll need:

1. An empty tupperware bin with lid.
2. A 25-lb. bag of pinto beans from Costco ($13.99).
3. An old sheet for 'bean control'.
4. Unused kitchen supplies, recycled yogurt cups (for example), or cheap plastic sandbox toys.

SHOP ALBERTSONS THIS WEEK!

If you don't already know, than you should know.

For less than $30 THIS week ($29.48 to be exact), you can purchase the following:

3 - 12 oz. Kraft American Cheese Slices
2 - 12 Double Rolls of Cottonelle Bath Tissue
2 - Albertsons Cereal
3 - Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Albertsons Shredded or Chunk Cheese
4 - Fresh Express Premium Salad Blends
2 - Best Foods Mayonnaise

Holy Cow! Go clip the coupons that came in your mail - they'll be in your Albertson's ad!

Understanding 'being lit'.

I'm no Yuen Lui wannabe... nor am I aspiring to be a studio portrait photographer. I would, on the other hand, love to understand lighting so that I can create an emotional and dramatic picture indoors when the natural lighting doesn't suffice. Consequently, I purchased a 2-light kit from Photobasics just a couple of weeks ago and have discovered how much I have to learn about manipulating light and the dramatic effect it can have on your subject(s).

This is fun... here's a few shots we took tonight after dinner.

PLEASE DON'T MIND THE SLATE BACKGROUND...

(A) This has the 'perfect' (per the kit instructions) lighting:


(B) This shots a little 'hot' actually. Pardon the pun. ;)


(C) This shot was taken with only one light.


Oi... I hope Katie never reaches modeling height.