The Mikols Nose

Baby Theo has got IT. The Mikols nose, of course. Well, maybe Chris has people with short, round noses in his family, too?

At the very least, my dad, myself and Uncle Paul have this nose. Uncle Carl has a version of it. And now little Theo has it, too.


Until my friends started having kids, I honestly couldn't distinguish features. Like, noticing that a kid got their parents' eyes or nose or jaw or whatever. I just was dense. And sometimes I can't see it too strongly. But on some, I can. And on Theo, it's the nose. :) We'll have to see about the rest of him as he grows.

We had our first sleepover at Auntie Karen and Uncle Erik's this week. Robin and Theo came and crashed with us. And we all slept well. Except for Esse, who was demoted to sleeping in the laundry room because she started to scratch on people's doors, which is not welcome in the middle of the night.

For those interested, my cutie nephew is on the Heartland Blog HERE. :)

Still here ...

Yes we're still alive! Just crazy-busy insane.

Snippits as of late:

• I had 2 senior sessions this week. Totally loved them ... trying a new previewing/ordering system. Excited to see how it works. But because I'm presenting them to the senior and their parents, I won't be doing any blog teasers. It's totally killing me to keep a lid on these stunning images, but be patient!

• Today = lying on the couch, being a bum, watching movies on TV. Shameful, right? Hey, it's Labor Day weekend .... be labor-less, right?

• Laundry ... did about 6 loads over the last 2 days. Seriously, when was the last time I did the laundry? Heavens, I can't even remember. Oh wait ... maybe 3 weeks ago?

• Speaking of Labor Day, I'm excited to see the bulk of my fam tomorrow. If life goes well, our nephew will be up her to meet his "cousin" the kitty. Who is pretty much exactly the same weight class as Baby Theo right now. I will try to refrain Erik from any mortal combat fights between the two.

• Made great progress on proofing a wedding yesterday. But have been a bum today. Ack, gotta get back on that.

• Clearing out old photo magazines. I hold on to them ... for what? So as a compromise, to get them out of the house, I'm tearing out articles I might find useful/as reference, and tossing the rest of them. It's a little bit of a slow process, but a win-win situation for Erik and I.

• I made 9 bean soup today. It seems too early to make soup, but this cold snap of weather makes it seem OK. Right?

• It'd be totally grand if we had an attic fan because these cool temps are rocking my socks off. Last year when we finished the patio, people were asking what our next project would be .... and let me tell you, the attic fan is it. BUT I am pretty sure we're going to leave installing it to someone who actually knows what they're doing.

• The shift key on my trusty laptop has tanked. Actually, broken in 2. So it hinders my mobile blogging b/c it's a PITA to use a different key. Lazy Karen, right? Oh well. There's quite a backlog of stuff to blog. Hopefully I'll get around to it in the near future.

Crossover — More Lawrence Portraits

I've been working like a mad lady around here .... keep up with happenings on the Heartland Blog.

Kitty photo by E

Erik grabbed this photo of our "fur baby" snoozing on the back of the couch.

Just thought you guys might want a break from my professional drabble.

Crossover — Nephew Theo

Name: Theodore
Age: 11 days
Hobbies: eating and sleeping

Just one photo on the Heartland Blog ... so far.

I've got a ton of editing I've been working on. Seriously crazy times! But listening to books on CD while editing/working on photos totally keeps me sane.

Cheers.

Crossover — Ashley + Tyson's wedding

If you asked me to recall a time before I knew Courtney and her family, I'd have to wrinkle my nose and think hard. I mean, I guess I met her in second grade or something ... but kindergarden is all a blur for me. As is much of first grade.

And with no kids on my block that were really my age, the fact that Courtney lived 2 blocks away was just fantastic!

We've grown, parted, reunited, been in the same social circles, been in other circles. But just always sort of been. If not in the same circle, at least in the peripheral.

Part of the peripheral was Ashley, Courtney's little sister. It just seems like she was always there. At swim team. In journalism. Just always there.

So when I received an e-mail in December from Ashley ... little Ashley who would goof off during swim team practice, telling me she was getting married and wanted us to shoot her wedding photos .... well, I felt honored. And old. ;)


Couldn't have asked for a more stunning bride, though. It would be a physical impossibility.

Here's a fun tidbit: after meeting with Ashley, Tyson and Ashley's mom to talk about wedding photos, the girls invited me along to do some wedding dress shopping. I was way tickled to go!


Full preview is on the Heartland Blog.

I'm going to embrace it

It'll be awhile before I get any personal catching up done. Sorry, all.

Big wedding in Lawrence over the weekend. Plus 2 family sessions the day before.


For the forseeable future, all of the action will be going on over on the Heartland Blog.

I'm really hoping Erik doesn't bean me for posting a photo that has *ahem* that funny looking bird. Maybe he won't notice?

Getting creative in the kitchen!

So my crazy life without sugar or yeast has helped me to be more creative in the kitchen!

Here's the latest: Most things like mayo and mustard, catsup and other condiments have vinegar/sugar in them, they're out like last season's shoes.

I was visiting with a friend about a month ago who makes her own yogurt and she was telling me she uses it in place of sour cream. Hmm....I got to thinking. How might I be able to use yogurt in other things?

My list so far is short, but one area I want to try is using it in place of cream of mushroom soup. Maybe in casserole this winter? Or with chicken in the oven? I'll report back on that (but if you have any success/wisdom, I'll sure take it!).

But here's what I did yesterday: I took canned chicken (we were out of tuna, or I would have used tuna), and mixed in about 2 spoons of yogurt. I then sliced a tomato from our garden (juicy!) and ate the chicken salad on top of tomato slices for lunch!

I'm pretty excited about this! It doesn't exactly taste like mayo, but this opens the door to my tuna eating! I can add other stuff like celery and onions .... and Erik suggested eating it atop Triscuits. Yummie!

Oh, another idea is to make a veggie dip. I have plenty of frozen dill, so I'll cut that up, and .... well, I'm looking for suggestions of stuff to add. I'm not able to add a Ranch packet or anything (or I don't *think* I am able. I'll have to look! -- Just looked, Ranch packet has MSG, so it's out. Rats.).

In case you missed it, HERE is the yogurt recipe. And I now do not have to strain it. I use RAW milk, and then once it's finished cooking (10 hours or so), I just mix it all together. The consistency is just velvety!!!!

Little Laws is here! :)

Ok, so I know I need to post baby shower pix, but c'mon, the arrival of my nephew is the main event right now! :)


Yesterday morning, he was ready to make his debut.


At 6 lbs, 12 oz, he was a cute little tyke. And as a trivia note, Erik's thumb is bigger than Theo's footprint.


Grandpa Wayne.


Granma Carol (Chris' mom).


This is dark and moody, but I like it. Theo would sort of pull his hand over his face to block the light as he slept. Pretty stinkin' cute.


And Auntie Teresa was also on the scene. :)


Last photo.

Deacon Jeremy's Slideshow

Ok, so my buddy Jeremy was ordained eons ago, and I'm just getting around to putting together his slideshow. Slacker, I know.

I have an ordination and First Mass show to put up on the Heartland side, but since I don't have a ton of "religious" music, the songs duplicate. And I don't want to show a bunch of shows with duplicate music, however appropriate to the event it is.


SO, I'm going to share his here. CLICK HERE and enjoy. :)