Luke Thiessen, Fashion Guru

While I was making banana bread this morning, a chair walked up to me and said, "HAT!"


Don't you just love the static?

Beebee

Cat doesn't have a name yet, but Luke calls her "Baby" and tries to pick her up and rock her. It's very cute, but I was worried Luke would hurt the cat until I saw the cat scamper away from him this afternoon and hide on top of the couch. So she can get away if she wants to. I am very thankful that she is such a low-maintenance pet. She is potty trained already, and is very un-demanding. She comes and sits in my lap whenever I sit still long enough. What a sweetie.

Name suggestions so far:
Gertrude
Ada
Scarlet
Butterscotch
Sparkles
Lily
Princess
Juanita
Flower
Star
Flashy
and Mamacita

Oh you people make me laugh out loud. How are we ever going to pick between such marvelous suggestions?!

I said, "ALMOST"

Remember when I said that watching Luke with a cat ALMOST made me want a cat of my own? I said, ALMOST.
God heard, "Cat-lover!"

Yes, we have a cat. Luke loves her to pieces. She's adorable and she does not yet have a name. Suggestions?

She came to us wounded, and when we took her in Saturday she had to have an abcess drained and her ears were full of mites. Poor thing. Ever since her doctor's visit she has been very cheerful and playful. Luke loves tossing things for her to swat at. You can see how that could sometimes get out of hand with a one year old. But for the most part, our newest addition is a joy-bringing one.

Someone's following me.

Multi-tasker

Heads or Tails?

Victim of peer pressure. Luke crawls down the hall with Jack.

I usually take Sundays off from photography work(unless, I must admit, there's a deadline on monday for which I have procrastinated). But these last few weeks, I've pushed a little too hard and Luke and I have both been stressed out because of it. He gets grumpy and whiny and then I start to feel sorry for myself for having to live with Mr. Grumpy, and then he breaks my african violet pot and I cry which makes him cry more, which makes me want to bury my head in my pillow and sleep until tomorrow. So you can see it's a vicious cycle.

Yesterday was the breaking point. First thing in the morning I got Luke out of his crib, went to turn on the computer and when I joined him in the kitchen he had pulled his stool over to the counter, found a fork nearby and was forking mouthfuls of butter into his mouth. Not long after breakfast I heard a horrible crash, ran out to the kitchen (from the computer) and found one of my beautiful african violet pots in shards and Luke standing in his high chair beside the counter. Oh dear oh dear. This child cannot be left to play on his own for three minutes! I was at my wits' end by the time Derek came home for lunch to find his son strapped into the high chair with some sliced banana and me laying on the living room floor with my eyes closed. I was so exhausted that the afternoon nap time when I am supposedly my most productive turned into naptime for two. This idea that working from home lets you have the best of both worlds is totally bunk. If you want to do a good job at home/family stuff, your work will suffer. And vice versa. I need scheduling!

I decided to do something about it. I hired a baby-sitter for Monday afternoons. From now on, Monday after school, Cailyn (don't know how to spell that.) is coming over to play with Luke and let Laura get some quality time at the computer. It means I will have to be more organized and prepared to sit down and work on Monday (and not have to run all over town to get pictures last minute!). But I think I can work inside those restraints. And in the end I think it will be very good for our family. I will have a scheduled work time sans Luke (because as much as I love him, I also enjoy activities without him...with photography being my specially favored work), and Luke will have a distraction so he won't get frustrated with me sitting at the computer. And our evenings can be left free for family diversions and relaxation. I am feeling really good about this decision.

weekend pictures.

Where the fun is at...in the pots and pans drawer.




Roehn was the only kid brave enough to stick his hand in the pumpkin goo. Luke and Cammy were just sort of grossed out by the whole thing, but seemed enamoured enough when the candle inside was lit! What a pumpkin! When I got my turn to cut into it I accidentally cut a tooth off. But James and Derek managed to do some dental surgery and re-attach the broken tooth with some cut-off qtips. What would we do without those silly guys?