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.

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

DOUBLE BLESSINGS, Part Two

A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for. ~Author Unknown

A year ago, I photographed two sisters, Double Blessings, Part One.  Both expecting.  Both blessed.  Both their first. And recently, I had the privilege to revisit and photograph two of the most adorable creatures on Earth. They look like brother and sister. Babies always make me smile. Not the easiest to shoot but definitely the funniest. Enjoy!

"Babies are always more trouble than you thought -- and more wonderful." ~Charles Osgood

DISCOVERY...

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. ~Elisabeth Foley

We first met at a music appreciation class for our girls at the Conservatory of Music when it was still located on 19th Street.  That was 9 years ago.

Our hellos turn into longer conversations into playdates into birthday parties into dinners to lasting friendship.  I still remember when my youngest sat in his carseat next to her newborn baby in her carseat. And now, both our firstborns are entering high school.

Her family has moved to the South Bay, and has travelled between here and Europe.  My three young children kept me on my toes. The busyness of life took over.  We've lost touched. 

Then we found each other before the Facebook craze, and have been touch and go.  We've been trying to get together since but to no avail.  

Years ago, I was able to photograph her family.  This will be forever etched in my mind.  Of course, the girls are much bigger now.  I won't recognize them when I see them.  But the memories we made are kept in my heart...hoping our paths will someday cross again.

"Here's wishing YOU and your family BON VOYAGE as you embark into a new adventure.
Stay in close touch."

This is just one story.  Yet so true to many of my friends who've moved away.  This is a reminder for myself to cherish each moment I have with them while they are still within reach.   

KITCHENEERING 101

I coordinate our church's kids camp (this is my fourth year and loving it!)  This year I served in the kitchen during camp having adult conversations.  If you really know me, the kitchen is not my most favored place.  I would easily abandon cooking (cleaning up, I can handle) to anyone who prefers to do it.  But because I'm a mom, I practically live in the kitchen.

Don't get me wrong.  It's not that I can't cook nor am I afraid to tackle the job. As a matter of fact, I spent one whole summer in France in the 80's helping missionaries in a French Kids Camp doing...guess what?  Domestic work! From 5am till 10pm, I was in the kitchen, and other parts of the campground, with young people volunteering from all over the United States. You see, if need be, I can really whip up a very nice meal with all the trimmings. It's just that I'd rather be shooting, sewing, crafting, scrapping and blogging.

I do have a hardworking and dedicated husband with three ever-growing, always-hungry kids who need to eat. And so far, I don't think I do a bad job supplying them with just that. For my own consolation, our children's pediatrician unsolicitedly commented, "I wish all my patients are this healthy. Perfect weight for their height.  They're just growing perfectly." Of course, I know I can do better with my cooking skills.  David, on the other hand, is a culinary expert. I stay out of the kitchen when he's in charge.  I come in when he's done to clean up the mess.

With all that jargon, I simply wanted to share images from the kitchen with our camp cooks, Loree and Jan.  They were simply amazing at what they do.  They're patient, kind and loving.  I miss them already.  I'm getting hungry as I write this!  I also had the pleasure of working closely with other moms from different church groups.  Needless to say, I truly enjoyed my stint as a kitcheneer where I kept my point & shoot camera in my apron to document such simple moments.

Cookery has become a noble art, a noble science; cooks are gentle(wo)men. ~Robert Burton

He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy. ~Acts 14:7

With Jan (Loree's mom) and Loree (right) • Amazing cooks • Taken very early in the a.m.

Moms from all walks of life (l-r: Julie, Gina, Louise et moi) ready to serve a very hungry mob!

Hunger is the best sauce in the world. ~Cervantes

...by their fruit you will recognize them.  ~Matthew 7:20

Blessed are those who...thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. ~Matthew 5:6

Tell me what you eat, I'll tell you who you are.  ~Anthelme Brillat-SavarinFervet olla, vivit amicitia: While the pot boils, friendship endures. (Meaning the wo/man who gives good dinners has plenty of friends). ~Latin ProverbVegetables are a must on a diet.  I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.  ~Jim DavisWe have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the LORD has blessed His people. ~2 Chronicles 31:10
Pastor Paul, from SF, helping Loree with the BBQ on a HOT day!
Here's some of the FABULOUS dishwashing crew!  Young, strong and beautiful. THANK YOU for doing a fantastic job!

Pastor Paul, from Cottonwood, and the rest of us, kitcheneers, enjoy our meals after serving the children.

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these...you did for Me." ~Matthew 25:40

And these women and men did just that...so glad to be a part of it!
BUT that's only from the kitchen. You should see what our camp leaders did for/with their precious campers for the entire week.  They were with them 24/7. Talk about selflessness...

RED, WHITE & BLUE

You...were called to be FREE. But do not use your FREEDOM to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. ~Galatians 5:13

(Homeschool Co-Op, 2007)

LIBERTY, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth. ~George Washington

(This little big baby is now 14 years old and celebrating our nation's birthday today, July 4th, 2010, in our country's capital.  I'm jealous!)

LIBERTY means responsibility.  That is why most men dread it.  ~George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, "Maxims: Liberty and Equality," 1905

(Super Hero, 2005)

This nation will remain the land of the FREE only so long as it is the home of the brave.  ~Elmer Davis

(Inner Sunset, 2009)

The winds that blow through the wide sky in these mounts, the winds that sweep from Canada to Mexico, from the Pacific to the Atlantic - have always blown on FREE men.  ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

(Coast Guard Homeschool Field trip with new Bay Bridge being built, 2009)

FREEDOM...it isn’t really free!  ~Diego @ 7

 (Cribviews, 2001)

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives FREEDOM, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. ~James 1:25

 (Morning routine at the Murphy's home, O.C., 2008)

These are times that try men's souls...

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. 

It is dearness only that gives everything its value. 
~by Thomas Paine, read to the American Patriots by George Washington before crossing the Delaware River

(Crossing the Delaware, illustrated by my then homeschooled 10 year old, 2008)

My patriotic heart beats RED, WHITE, and BLUE.  ~Author Unknown

(Kids Camp, 2008)

Live as FREE men, but do not use your FREEDOM as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. ~I Peter 2:16

(Golden Gate Bridge, 2004)

And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. ~Leviticus 25:10 (inscribed on the Liberty Bell)

(Philadelphia, PA, July 3, 2010, taken by DRLeong)

If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our armed forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself. ~John McCain

HAPPY 234th BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!