2011 YEAR OF THE RABBIT

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. ~C. S. Lewis

Gung Hay Fat Choy.  My son, born in the Year of the Snake, hanging out with his bunnies.

Happy New Year! HAPPY NEW DECADE!

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this:  To rise above the little things.

~John Burroughs

And we're off to another adventurous year. Wishing you well throughout the year as you make lasting memories and imprinting values to those around you.


Come visit my 2010 reflection here. 

Year End...

Wow, another year is coming to an end.  Can you believe it?

Yes, I'll be hanging around here for a little while.  But for the meantime, I put together a 2011 Calendar.  Check it out at my other "home blog" and let me know if you'd like a copy.

ANOTHER "HOME"

Hello there,
Thought I'd let you know I have another blog home.  I will stay here, and will invite everyone to come visit me at {excerpts}.

In the meantime, here's a portrait (of me) my son illustrated over the long weekend.

Have a great week, and enjoy the preparation for Christmas.

Just One of Those Days in the Life of MY BOY {Trip to the Haircutter}

"I want to grow my hair!  Just like Lincecum (Giants' pitcher)." That was his most recent excuse for dodging the haircutter.  He absolutely abhors this quarterly trip.

But his hair grows nappy due to chlorine from swimming.  Does he care?  Of course not.Almost always, it's such a grueling experience. For ALL of us. {Just look at how miserable he gets!}Poor May.  She's been putting up with him since forever.  She's been cutting our hair even before we had kids.But he always looks so handsome after every trip, I dare say.We survived the last trip.  He actually didn't give her a hard time.  He was a bit moody in the beginning but kept his cool for the rest of the time.

These photos where taken when he was 4.  He doesn't wail like that anymore.  Thankfully! 

"Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important." ~Janet Lane

The COAD Family

One of the joys of a photographer (of any level) is to showcase her work.  In my case, families are definitely an all-time favorite.  Not necessarily always the easiest to capture because of everyone's conflicting interests but I enjoy how each personality emerges during such a session.  

My own children will no longer allow me to dress them up, and had always given me a hard time during shoots.  It can be a stressful moment.  So most of our family portraits are candid and unposed.  But the Coad family was a natural and so cooperative.  They were just ready.  Here's just a few of those precious moments.

“The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” 

~Theodore Hesburgh

“Where does the family start? It starts with a young man falling in love with a girl - no superior alternative has yet been found.” ~Winston Churchill

“The house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman.” ~Mexican Proverb

“Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children, and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love. Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children.” ~Rosaleen Dickson

 "Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet." ~Vietnamese Proverb

 “A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” ~George Bernard Shaw

“In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.” ~Alex Haley

 ...let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!  ~Henry Ward Beecher

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

TRIBUTE TO THE GIANTS

“Orange is the happiest color.”
~Frank Sinatra

I've been planning this ORANGE series for quite a while now, and the Giants were not in my agenda.  But with the increasing excitement surrounding these torturous events, I can't help but be gravitated to it myself.  So for all ye faithful Giants fans (esp. my hubby), this one's for YOU!  Enjoy.


"It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn." ~B. C. Forbes (Trader Joe's, Fall 2009)

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." ~Albert Camus 

(early morning in front of my son's school, Fall 2008)

"Seventy-five percent of our planet is water - can you swim?" ~Author Unknown 

(San Jose Swim Meet, March 2010)

“When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.” ~Mark Twain 
(Local Fair, Summer 2010)

"If junk food is the devil, then a sweet orange is as scripture." ~Audrey Foris (Clement Street, 2010)

"The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse." 

~Edward Koch (taken by hubby, Washington, DC, July 4th, 2010)

"It was great to have the time off. It was kind of a lifesaver." ~Jake Kuresa 
(Kids Camp, Emigrant Gap, 2009)

“A woman is like a tea bag, you can not tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” ~Nancy Reagan (A neighbor's front yard, Fall 2009)

"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie." ~Jim Davis 

(Clement Street, 2005)

"God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems... " ~Genesis 1:21 (Monterey Bay, 2003)

"Trip over love, you can get up.  Fall in love and you fall forever."  ~Author Unknown (My cousin's vibrant wedding)

"Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years.  We grow old by deserting our ideals.  Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul."  ~Samuel Ullman 

(I just love seeing these elderly docents @ Academy of Sciences, Fall 2009)

"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne (taken by one of my kids, Conservatory of Flowers, Summer 2008 • It thought I was a flower =.)

“One who sits between two chairs may easily fall down.” ~Proverb (Academy of Sciences, Fall 2009)

"If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God." ~G.K. Chesterton (Kids Camp, Emigrant Gap, Summer 2008)

Surfer Dude, Ocean Beach, Spring 2010

 Coming home, 10.2010

 “There are three things you can do in a baseball game. You can win, or you can lose, or it can rain.” 

~Casey Stengel (Growing Up Giants, 2004)

“I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game.” ~Walt Whitman (2005)

"Baseball is a man maker.” ~Al Spalding (Serious fans here, Spring 2010)

“Awards mean a lot, but they don't say it all. The people in baseball mean more to me than statistics.” 
~Ernie Banks

In My Giant Experience, you can read how we acquired this coveted Lincecum bobblehead.  My husband is an earnest Giants fan and has been collecting bobbleheads since the turn of the century. Doesn't that make him sound so old?  Well, he's not. *My daughter just commented it was also the turn of the millennium.  Now, that's ancient =.)


This past spring his workplace held a fundraising relief effort to help the Haiti victims where he donated most of his prized collections of Giants bobbleheads. These (photographed here) are the only ones he kept. I, being a non-baseball fan, don't even know most of them except for Barry Bonds. Sad, huh?  Now, I know who's Le Freak!  He also re-created a vintage subway bus scroll for the fundraising event.  You can go to my Craft Blog to see his beautiful handiwork.


To continue my previous post: The lesson we wanted to impart with our kids was not to set our minds on material things.  Rather, seek first what is MOST important.  And almost immediately, (we) he was blessed in return.  It was totally unexpected but welcomed.


Now, did that make a Giants fan out of me?  Perhaps. I even crafted these orange rosettes (out of fabric scraps) which I've been wearing, along with composing this blog post, to give tribute to a great baseball team.

What do you think? So easy to make. Check out this tutorial and make fun projects for the holidaze.  
In the meantime, here's...

Wishing the GIANTS the best in the World Series! 
¡VAMANOS GIGANTES!

Oh, by the way, they won the third game in Atlanta for our 18th anniversary on 10.10.10!  
Isn't that fabulous?