Pure Mischief

Mikey is such a character, his personality has always been bigger than life. He is so animated, his expressions sometimes are  just priceless. 

In this photograph Mikey is just looking for something to get into, like always.

Baby Kitty Lippers

This is Snowball when he was just a baby.
Snowball belongs to my friend Sandy.
This shot just makes me want to kiss him. LOL

My Get What I Want Face

And it so works for him like you would not believe, this cat has me wrapped around his little paw and he knows it. LOL

Model is Mikey....my best friend.

Mikey's 3rd Homepage Feature on Redbubble...

I just want to be the only girl

Would you walk to the edge of the ocean just to fill my jar with sand
Just in case I get the notion
To let it run through my hand, let it run through my hand

Well, I don't want the whole world, the sun and moon and all their light I just want to be the only girl, You love all your life, you love all your life

Would you catch a couple thousand fireflies, put them in a lamp to light my world, all dressed up in tux and bow tie hand delivered to a lonely girl, to a lonely, lonely girl.

Well, I don't want the whole world
The sun and moon and all their light
I just want to be the only girl, You love all your life
You love all your life

So Much More

Being a mother is so much more than I ever knew before I actually became one. When we think of being a mommy while we are younger, we never really see past the fairytale that we have imagined in our minds.

My Fairytale didn’t include worry, stress, anxiety, fear, heartbreak and never really sleeping again.

My mom just made it all look so easy, I know now though that it was never easy.

But with this life that is no Fairytale I also never imagined how much I could love another human being. How seeing her smile could make my day and hearing her laugh would touch my heart. I didn’t realize that the hugs from my child would feel so good or that scribbling on a piece of paper that a child says is just for you…could mean so much.

And most of all…I never imagined the pride…yes, the feeling of being so proud of your child that you feel like you are going to just start screaming at the top of your lungs
“This beautiful, wonderful little girl is MINE”

She is mine and her name is Haley and I am so proud of the little person that she has become. Seeing her now, going to school, interacting with her friends, embracing responsibility and enjoying all that she is learning during this new chapter in her life makes me just want to start jumping up and down like a crazy person because she is such a joy and I am so blessed and so grateful that I get to be her mother.

She is so much more than any fairytale could be.

He Rescues Me

Every single day . . . .

Model is Mikey….My Rescuer.

In the Kindergarten hall

She started school this morning,
And she seemed so very small.
As I walked there beside her
In the Kindergarten hall.

And as she took her place beside
the others in the class,
I realized how all too soon
Those first few years can pass.

Remembering, I saw her as
She first learned how to walk.
The words that we alone made out
When she began to talk.

This little girl so much absorbed
In learning how to write.
It seems as though she must have grown
To girlhood overnight.

My eyes were blurred by hastily
I brushed the tears away
Lest by some word or sign of mine
I mar her first big day.

Oh how I longed to stay with her
And keep her by the hand
To lead her through the places
That she couldn’t understand.

And something closely kin to fear
Was mingled with my pride.
I knew she would no longer be
A baby by my side.

But she must have her chance to live,
To work her problems out,
The privilege to grow and learn
What life is all about.

And I must share my little girl
With friends and work and play;
She’s not a baby anymore —

She’s in Kindergarten today.

Model is Haley and she is in Kindergarten now.

Feline Fun

Eyes That Speak

An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language.

~Martin Buber
Model is Mikey, with the eyes that have captured my soul.

Ears

This is Hyper, she belongs to my friend Sandy

and her ears just crack me up. LOL

The hair just keeps getting longer and longer. LOL

Hyper is Sandy's greeter, she greets everyone that pulls up in the driveway by running to them and saying hello.

It's quite welcoming.

I iz Hunter Kitty

Something caught his eye...LOL

My little bad ass.

Model is Mikey....the hunter kitty.

Charlie Chaplin

LOL

Couldn’t resist. this is Mikey with his blanket, he loves to hide under it and sleep with it and play dress up with it.
LOL

Some Kind of Fairytale

Being a little girl is so much fun. I remember like it was yesterday...sometimes. LOL
Watching Haley play in her dress up dresses playing princess brings back so many memories of a childhood that was purely magical for me.
I hope when Haley is my age she will look back and remember these days as I remember my own.
Giving a child the opportunity to really be a child is so important. In this grown up world we often put too many responsibilities on our little kids, our expectations are sometimes to much. Everything nowadays is so scheduled so rushed, we are all in a hurry, I think our kids are the ones who suffer because we deny them the time to just be kids, to run and play and pretend in that land of make believe.
I remember that place because I was fortunate enough to have a mother that allowed me my play time, who encouraged it without scheduling it.
I try to do the same for Haley because it is within that time in that make believe place that we become so many different things and go to so many different places. Our imaginations are where our dreams first take flight, it is there that we will experience being a doctor or a lawyer or even a princess...
before we actually make those dreams come true.

Model is my little Princess Haley who just turned 6 years old. (And is now going on 17 years old) LOL

FYI....

This Photograph "Some Kind of Fairytale" is one of my few attempts working with textures on my own photographs. I know, sounds funny since I create textures but I just love making them for others and haven't spent much time experimenting on my own work with them.
Yesterday after visiting one of my all time favorite sites Shadowhouse Creations I felt inspired to try and deliver to you an example of my textures on my own photographs, and "Some Kind of Fairytale" is the result.

The texture I used with this photograph is from my Magical Textures Collection and can be downloaded below.

Download Magical Textures Here

And for those of you that have yet to visit Shadowhouse Creations I encourage you to stop in and give it a look, Jerry Jones, the creator of this brilliant site is crazy talented, his work is perfection. These are his latest offerings below.... yes offerings, his textures and resources are FREE.

Deluxe Photo Frame Kit + Example

Pastel Textures Set

Cat Thoughts vs Dog Thoughts

A dog thinks:
Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me...

They must be Gods!

A cat thinks:
Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me...

I must be a God!

LOL

Model is the handsome Sheriff, a once feral kitten who chose my friend Sandy

Bored

They say that animals are difficult to read but honestly, this has not been my experience, at least with Mikey anyway, he is a pretty easy read.

As you can see here, Mikey makes it pretty obvious how he is feeling. LOL

I was in the hall taking pictures instead of playing like Mikey wanted to do so he jumped up on his rail and through himself down with a big sigh...LOL

Model is Mikey... Bored.

My Little Kitty Brother

This is Sammy, my mom and papa's kitty.

His Majesty

Sometimes when I look at him I am convinced that he must have been Royalty in another life, he’s pretty close to that in this life too. LOL

His regalness at times just takes my breath away, I could look at him all day long. It’s a look, a glance, like this one and I know King Mikey is what he would prefer to be called.

He absolutely has entitlement issues. LOL

Model is Mikey…my little Royal Feline.

Joey

This is Joey…and it may sound silly that we named a praying mantis but there is a story behind him being named.

One night I walked out on our back patio and there he was on the ground all wrapped up in a spider web barely able to even move. I thought he was dead initially, he looked as if he was in a straight jacket, his legs tightly pressed against his body but when I looked closer I could see he was still alive.
Well….I do not have the ability to look away when any creature is suffering so….Operation Rescue Joey went into action and I swooped him up and into the house we went. I had just put my 5 year old to bed but after swooping Joey up I headed into her bedroom because she is just the best little assistant when it comes to rescuing anything.
I grabbed some tweezers and a cup of water and my daughter and I went to work on Joey. I had never done anything like this before so I was totally not sure if we could save him as he was pretty bad off and trying to gently pull the web off of him was so scary because I thought for sure one of his legs would break. One of his legs was already injured prior to me pulling off the web so I had to pay close attention with that one. The water really helped to get the web off but it took about two hours to free him of this straight jacket. Once he was free I had to encourage him to stand but finally he did get up on his feet.
The next task would be figuring out how to care for him since he would need time to recover. I got online and looked up praying mantis care and found out that they will eat cat food. YEAH! I have cats so cat food was on the menu. LOL
The next week would prove to be an experience like no other…caring for Joey and watching him heal touched my heart in a way I did not think it would. I had made him a recovery room out of a cage but had to screen the entire thing to keep him safe, he didn’t mind at all because he could see out all around him. I would feed him with a little baby spoon and he would eat the cat food right off of it as I held the spoon. After a few days of care he began to get his strength back and so we graduated to live food. Yes, my daughter and I would be outside catching flies with a net, little moths too. Trying to catch these things alive was not easy let me tell you. Once caught we would put them in Joey’s cage and he would handle the rest. I didn’t like to watch that part. LOL
Anyway, it took a little over a week and Joey was starting to look pretty good, he was moving around normally and he was eating like a little pig…we new it was time to set him free.
I took his cage outside on the porch and opened the door, he didn’t come out right away so I just left it open and went on about my daily duties outside in the garden. Every few minutes I would look over to see what he was doing and he was inching his way out. Finally he was on the outside of the cage on the top but he wouldn’t go any further. I was a bit worried he wasn’t ready yet but when we would come close he would jump on us so we could hold him and then I would place him back on top of the cage afterwards, he seemed to be in good shape. Joey did begin to venture out on the plants I had around him but he stayed on our porch for another week before finally leaving and each time we walked out there he would jump on us, we were friends and it didn’t matter if were suppose to be or not…we were.
This photograph was taken during our little journey together, after he had healed.
His name is Joey.

Fighting These Fears

I am just so glad I have you
You may not be tall enough for me to lean on
But you always seem to hold me up


Model is Mikey

Camouflage

I really think he believes that I cannot see him....LOL

This is Mikey doing what he does, he is such a little character.

I love the way he makes me smile.

My Beautiful You

I think what I admire the most about Haley is how comfortable she is with herself, she is only 5 years old but she already has this way about her that is so confident, so at ease. I just love this about her. I hope she always has this ability to just be herself because who she is...is really beautiful.

Model is Miss Haley

Oliver

Sweet little Oliver....though he is not so little anymore. Oliver was a feral kitten from a colony my Papa has managed for many years. There was something about him that won Papa over because they already had 5 cats and then there was six.
Oliver has some serious skills though, my Papa has taught this cat to fetch...for real. Not with a ball, but a toy mouse and when that mouse gets tossed, it's on and he brings it right back to you almost every single time. It's pretty impressive.

I adore Oliver, he is a very loving animal and he is so soft. And this look you see right here just gets me. He always has such a concerned little look on his face, adorable.

I told Papa to keep a close eye on him because the first chance I get I'm stealing him. LOL I wish!
Oliver is where he belongs, he loves Papa to bits and Papa loves Oliver.