Luke takes the plunge!

I'm one proud momma.  Our oldest son, Luke, publicly professed his faith in Jesus Christ and got baptized at church last night!  I was - of course - right up on the stage snapping pictures of the whole thing...what else would you expect, right?

Please indulge me for a few moments and allow me to give you some background on Luke.  Be prepared...I'll probably gush a little.  And, be prepared for future gushamental posts about my 3 other children as well.  Wow, I made that word up right on the spot.  I like it!

Luke Darren Shepherd (he shares his middle name with his Daddy) was born on December 19th, 2003, at 11:45 AM; our 3rd child and 1st boy.  He was our biggest baby, weighing in at 8 lbs. 5 oz. and measuring 21" long.  How he ever fit into this short-waisted torso I will never understand, but I do know that at the end it felt like I had a baby stretching from my throat all the way down to my knees.  I don't know if it was the Christmas spirit or just my general giddiness at being so close to giving birth, but when I went to the hospital to be induced, I took along a cd player and my Michael W. Smith Christmas album to listen to during my labor.  My entire pregnancy with Luke was by far my easiest, as was labor and delivery.  On a side note, but very related to the thread of thought, epidurals that take full effect are truly wondrous things.  I was feeling great and was laughing and talking right up until time to push.  Nurses and other hospital staff who weren't assigned to me were coming in my room to hang out because my nurses were calling it the "fun room".  I kept the music playing through the entire thing, and to this day sweetly experience the wonderful memory of his birth every time I listen to that cd.  When it was time to push, the doctor BARELY made it in time.  Really.  He came in, got into position, and caught the baby.  I was feeling so great afterward that 15 minutes post-birth, I was on the phone to my closest friend at the time telling her the exciting news. 

Luke was a happy baby who rarely cried.  His name means "Bringer of Light", and he has certainly lived up to that title.  We didn't really experience the dreaded Terrible Two's with Luke; he waited until he was 4 to start throwing tantrums and such.  What?  You didn't think I was going to go on letting you think he's perfect, did you?  I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or not, and I certainly would never go so far as to say that every time he acted naughty during that time frame and after was because of this, but his younger brother was born with a serious birth defect and was hospitalized in a city 3 hours away from our home for 21 days.  My husband and I were staying at the hospital with our sick baby, and we got to see our 3 oldest children a couple of times during that whole ordeal, but that's a story for another time.  I said all of that to say, I noticed a change in Luke's behavior after we finally got to bring his brother home.  My previously almost always happily compliant 4 year old was now decidedly more defiant, disobedient, and dramatic.  The triple D threat.  He definitely hasn't outgrown it all either.  I found out very recently, much to my embarrassment and horror, that he put on a full-on melodramatic angry outburst production in front of, well, let's just say that it was the very last person on earth that I would want to see him acting like that.  Kids sure do have a way with timing, don't they?

A few other facts about Luke:

He's as smart as a whip, sharp as a tack, and every other applicable cheesy cliche' you could think of.  He was talking in short, but complete, sentences by the time he was 10 months old.  He knew his alphabet by sight before he was a year old and could arrange cards with the letters on them in order with no help.  He knew the presidents up to Clinton by the time he was 18 months old and could say their names in order by looking at their pictures.  He was reading on at least a 2nd grade level at some point between the ages of 3 and 4.  The trend continues, and he continuously stuns me with the amount of knowledge that he has stored in that cute little red-headed brain of his, and how quickly and easily he graps it.

He's scatterbrained.  Extremely so.  Exhaustingly so.  E-Frustratingly so.  I so wanted to have a triple E threat there.  It would have been so perfectly............alphabetical.  I won't go on for your sake.  But I could, if I wanted to.  He has been known to get into the shower - more than once, mind you, wearing his glasses, or his underwear, or even fully clothed, or any combination of the 3.  If I tell him to go get something from the other room, he will come back minutes later having accomplished 7 different things...but none of them being the 1 thing I told him to do. 

He's kind.  His oldest sister, Tara, was tired and snoozing on and off on the couch while he was playing Wii one evening last week.  I was in the kitchen cooking, and I saw him glance at her several times, then pause his game and go get her a pillow to lay her head on.  He continued his game, glancing again at her several times.  He paused his game again, went and got a blanket, and covered her up with it. 

He's dramatic.  This can be both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing when he is called upon to play a dual role in the church Christmas play.  A curse when he is upset about something and crumples into a heap on the floor spontaneously.  It puts me in mind of the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz...'I'm melting, meeeeeltiiiiiing'!

He's constantly moving; doing; busy.  Keith has jokingly said more than once that if Luke were in the public school system, he'd come home with a note pinned to his lapel every day, and I don't think he's far from the truth.  Luke is a kinesthetic learner, which means he thinks and learns better when he is moving.  As soon as you think he's not paying attention - because he's looking everywhere but where he's supposed to; pretending his hands are cars crashing into each other, sound effects inserted at appropriate intervals; hopping around like a kangaroo; all while humming a tuneless song while he's taking a break from doing sound effects - you can ask him to repeat what his teacher just said, and he does repeat the past several sentences, v-e-r-b-a-t-i-m.

He has a sincere heart, and one that loves Jesus and virtually all other people with all of the fullness and joy that it can hold.  This completely trumps and outweighs all of the good, sometimes (ok, ok, OFTEN) ornery, and everything that's in-between with my Luke.  I have thought, felt, whatever you want to call it, for several years that he will eventually end up in the ministry.  He led his 3 year old brother in the sinner's prayer one night after they went to bed, and he just has that something that makes me wonder if he will end up as a pastor, evangelist, or even missionary one day.  Yesterday, he was literally shaking with excitement with the anticipation of being baptized.  I had the thought and even expressed it verbally to our pastor, that wouldn't it be awesome if everybody was that excited about Jesus.  And that thought has led to another...I have a desire to dig deep and rediscover that childlike -  yet still bold, innocent - yet strong and steady, faith again for myself. 

And, just to make us all smile, here's a picture of Luke after his dunkin'.

Have a happy day, everyone.

Melissa

My new BFF

I recently - as in 2 days before Thanksgiving and a houseful of company arriving - had the good fortune of my 11 year old vacuum cleaner dying a quick, although not painless, death.  I say 'good fortune' because I never knew how poorly it was functioning until I tried out my new one.  She's a Bissell Powergroom, by the way, and she's a real beauty.

Ahhhhh.  Just look at her. 

Oh, er, ummmm...excuse me.  I was having a moment.  As I was saying, my old vacuum, unbeknown to me, just wasn't getting the job done.  After vacuuming the master bedroom alone, my new BFF, as I like to call her, pulled out so much dirt that I was seriously appalled and embarrassed, not to mention flat-out disgusted!  My apologies to everyone who has been to my house - EVER - for having to walk on such a filthy floor and for unknowingly inhaling all of those hidden dust particles.  Yuck.

The Powergroom comes with all of the extras that I would ever need, such as a turbo brush tool...

...a 35 ft power cord...

...and a dusting brush/upholstery tool.

It also comes with what I consider to be pretty standard features for vacuums of this day and age, such as a HEPA filter and an extension wand, and it has a canister for collecting the dirt instead of a bag.  Gotta love that!  My old vac had a canister too, but it was so stinkin' hard and frustrating to remove and empty that it had me wishing for a nasty ole bag to replace every time I vacuumed!  This new one is sooooo much easier; it has a lock/unlock lever underneath the canister, and a simple slide to the side makes it a snap to remove and put back into place...

The canister also empties from the top...easy-peasy!  I really couldn't be happier with my purchase, which retails for $79.92 (what a random price!) at one of the Wally-Worlds I shop at.  BUT...and I saved the very best detail for last...because the box of the only one they had on the shelf was extremely torn up, so much so that the hose was exposed and partially hanging out, and because I took the time to ask to speak to a manager (who happened to be walking by at that exact moment) about a discounted price, I got it for a flat $70!!  It doesn't sound like much of a discount, but when you have to feed, clothe, house, and transport a family of 6 on a single salary, little things like that really add up.  And, to borrow a totally made up word from my niece, Krista, who borrowed it from a friend...it was a FANTASTICULOUS way to end my long, somewhat tedious day of Christmas shopping!

Have a great day, everyone.  I'll be hanging out with my new BFF.

Melissa

A Green Thanksgiving

We had a very Green Thanksgiving this year.  No, we didn't install solar panels or use biodegradable dishes or anything like that.  My side of the family (the Greens) came to our house to celebrate the holiday this year.

My Grandma Green came on Wednesday afternoon and spent the night with us.  I had asked to her to come early to show me how to make her famous homemade stuffing (a simple copy of the recipe wouldn't suffice; I am primarily a tactile, and secondarily a visual learner), and was thrilled when she complied.  We all got in on the action, except for Will, who was zoned out on the Wii.  Sigh.  Tara chopped the onions, Leah chopped the celery; Luke, Leah, and Grandma pinched the bread, and I took pictures of the whole thing.  Oh, and I did chop a little onion and celery too.  Honestly!!  It was so heartwarming to see my children making special memories with their Great-Grandma Green.

On Thanksgiving Day, my Aunt Gloria arrived mid-morning and was immediately accosted by Luke, who wanted to play board games with her.  Being the fabulous great-aunt that she is, she played several with him.  My parents were the next to arrive (my sweet mom brought my exhausted hubby an entire pecan pie just for himself), and by that point I was about to burst with the secret I (and all of my kids) were trying to keep...my brother Brent and his family were going to be joining us all the way from Mississippi!!  I didn't have my camera handy when they walked in the door, but word has it that the look on Grandma's face was priceless. 

My brother Brent wasted no time in pestering my girls.  Tara quickly caught on to what was happening and high-tailed herself out of reach as soon as the opportunity presented itself, but Leah got caught in mayhem of Uncle Brent's lovey-dovey-ness (don't tell anyone, but I think she secretly liked it!).  And yes, I'm still making up words.  Try it, it's great fun!

I'm not gonna lie; I was pretty nervous about cooking for my family.  I've never been very good at timing everything out to where the food is all done at the same time, I'm a slow, messy cook, I'm extremely forgetful, and I get easily overwhelmed in the kitchen.  Sounds pitiful, but I'm just being real.  I did make myself a little cheat-sheet so I could look at it and gather my thoughts when they started wondering.  My brother made fun of me for it, but my sister-in-law Robin and I are kindred spirits, so she understood.

Even with this list, my grandma had to remind me to put the ham in at 11.  *blush*  It's very embarrassing to be so forgetful that you forget to look at your reminder list.  And I just have to say that due to my ever so slight OCD-ish tendencies, it took all I had not to write 'Robin:  sweet potato casserole' on that list when I was making it out the night before.  She also brought yummy choco-chip cookies and choco-chip pumpkin bread.  Mmmmm.

In spite of me, and because of everyone's contributions, the meal was a success, and I was so full from it that I didn't have room for a piece of my mom's delicious pumpkin pie (I had 2 slices for lunch the next day to make up for it) afterward.  The whole day was very enjoyable, and it was a real treat to be able to spend time with family that we don't get to see very often.  And, I'm not braggin' or anything, but I know you all wish you had a grandma cool (and limber!) enough to get in the floor for a picture with her great-grandchildren while wearing her ultra-fly Will's Warriors shirt.  Just sayin'.  On a side note, pay no attention to the boy who is giving his cousin rabbit ears with great vigor and enjoyment. 

On another side note, pay no attention to all of the parentheses in this post (I shamefully overused them).

I hope all of you had a happy Thanksgiving, spent with the ones you love.

Melissa

Thankfulness...it makes the coldness go away!

I woke up this morning with my mom on my mind.  She is in the hospital because of a blood clot at the moment, but that lady has really been through a lot the past few months...years...decades.  I won't go into details other than she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) when I was a teenager.  It's a nasty, mean disease, and I hate it for what it's done to her body.  She's had so many surgeries that I've lost count.  I jokingly call her a trouble-maker, and she jokingly says back to me, "Well, everybody stopped paying attention to me...I had to do SOMETHING!".  I think it's good to laugh in tough times when you don't really know what else to do.

Being blatantly honest, when I heard that Mom was being hospitalized yesterday, it put me in a not so thankful mood.  Also, this season is the apex of my husband's work year.  He is the manager of a retail toy store, and is working so much that his employees and customers see him much more than the kids and I do.  I have dubbed myself the 'Toy Store Widow' the past several years just for a laugh, but again being honest, this time of year is tough on all of us, especially Keith.  He comes home completely mentally and physically exhausted, and is usually starving because he doesn't even have time to sit down and eat a meal for the 12-14 hours he spends at (and in transit to) work 6 days a week.  I'm not trying to make anyone feel sorry for us, and I know that many people have it much worse than us.  I am just laying out the facts.  All of these facts lead up to this fact...my thankfulness meter has been sadly low lately.  Thanksgiving is next week; I should be overflowing with thankfulness, right?!

The simple answer is yes, I should be.  I should not let the circumstances that cause me anxiety or that stress me out steal my joy.  Period.  No, exclamation mark!  Two, even!!  I have so very much to be thankful for; I could probably start saying them one by one right this minute and keep going until my final breath and still not be done.  True story!  My Sunday School teacher, Sis. Gloria, tells of one of her former pastors who questioned why we should have only one day, Thanksgiving, to focus on what we are thankful for.  In fact, he suggested that it be just the opposite; we should have one day to be complainy and un-thankful, and the rest of the year should be spent giving thanks.  Stew on that for awhile.  I have, and it has really helped to put things into perspective for me.

My 3 year old son, Will, summed it up perfectly this morning.  He was cold when he woke up, and that gave me the perfect excuse to wrap him in a big, soft blanket and snuggle up with him in his Daddy's big chair in the living room.  He looked up at me, smiled, and said, "Ahhhh.  This makes the coldness go away.".  I instantly had the thought that it's the same with being thankful.  On tough days when life isn't going exactly right, if you take the time to think about all that you have to be thankful for, it will make the coldness  go away.  I'm going to make a conscious, daily effort to focus in on the many blessings in my life instead of on the very few things that are negative.  I am 100% positive that it will make all the difference in my attitude and demeanor.
For now, I will leave you with a sweet picture of Will and my mom, 2 of the great blessings in my life.  This picture sure does warm me up on a cold day.

Melissa

God's Scavenger Hunt

I am often amazed at the sheer awesomeness of God's creation.  We live in a big, beautiful world, and I absolutely love looking at it.  God spared nothing when He created.  He went all out.  From the vast oceans, deserts, and wide open prairies, to the rolling hills and majestic mountains, to the fathomless expanse of the sky and universe...my mind is aflutter with the grandeur-ness (this is my blog, I am allowed to make up words if I want to) of it all.

Our family went to the Gulf coast of Florida for vacation in September of this year.  Each time we were at the beach and I was looking out at the water that went on and on as far as my eye could see, I felt much like I did on my very first trip to the ocean as a teenager.  I was AWED.  I don't think I will ever not be awed by it.  It has a way of making one feel so very, very small.  In fact, when my kids were playing and swimming in the water, that same thought stuck me even more.  They all looked so tiny in comparison to that great big Gulf of Mexico.

Something about that was very overwhelming to me, but in a good way.  I could go on and on, but the point I'm trying to make is that God makes big things.  REALLY big things.  He made them for us to enjoy and to be inspired by, and they also remind us of how great and mighty and powerful He is.  I believe it gives Him great joy when we look at His handiwork in awe and wonder. 

In comparison, I have this notion that God especially delights in putting little, tiny things in our paths for us to discover, if we are looking.  That's the key; we have to look.  Many times we are so busy with life and its many cares and responsibilities, that we overlook these little things and pass them by unknowingly.  Through my growing love of photography, I have discovered so many things that I would have missed, had I not been looking through my lens for that next little thing to capture in picture form.

I know it may sound far-fetched to some of you, but I believe with my whole heart that God deliberately places little things like this in my path just so I can find it and smile (and of course snap a pic).  I believe He does it for all of His children.  My family has talked about this on our frequent nature outings.  In trying to explain this theory to my kids, I told them that it was a little bit like God had set up a scavenger hunt for us.  It's up to us to find the things that He has hidden just for us, and  when we do find them, He smiles when we do.  He knows each of us so well, far better than we know ourselves, and He knows exactly what will make us smile, laugh, get a blessing, or praise Him, so each of us gets a tailor-made scavenger hunt - put in place by God - for us as individuals.  Wow, that just gives me goosebumps, to know He loves us like that!! 

At times, though not very often, several individuals will find that their scavenger hunts collide and intertwine, and when that happens, well, sometimes it means that a lucky turtle will have a really great story to tell to all of his turtle buddies, if he should be able to recover enough from shock and fear to be able to make it back to them.

I have a challenge for you today; look for the little things, and when you find them, please take the time to share your thoughts with me.  I would love to hear from you!

Melissa



I've gone and done it!

Well, here it is; the day I've dreamt about, contemplated, and talked myself out of and back in to at least a million times in the past few months...it's...wait for it...it's THE DAY I STARTED A BLOG!!  Whoo-hoo!  At this very moment my brain is on toggle between 'I'm so excited, I finally did it!', and 'What in the world have I gotten myself into?', but I'll deal with it.  My brain is on toggle a lot, it seems, so I'm used to it.

Now to address the question invading everyone's mind, I'm sure (including mine)...why would I ever think that people would want to read about my life?  Honestly, I don't have a brilliant answer for that.  All I can say is, I'm not doing this for any of you.  I'm doing it for me.  Selfish?  Maybe.  But, it's the truth.  Writing has always been very cathartic for me.  A way to get my thoughts out there without opening my mouth and inevitably inserting my foot, or saying something stupid, or worse yet, not being able to think of anything to say at all.  My keyboard has a handy 'backspace' and 'delete' button; my mouth does not.  And, my computer screen doesn't randomly break out into hives when people are looking at it.  At least, not that I've ever noticed.  Trust me, this blog will be one of the quickest and most simple ways to get to know the real me, if you're interested.

On to the next order of business...the name.  People who know me even on a casual level, and especially those who are close to me, know how much I love taking pictures, and with 'Snapshot' in the title, one could easily assume that this blog would be about photography.  Photography is fast becoming one of the great joys of my life, and if you see me out and about without my camera, well, that's a rare occasion indeed.  However, this blog isn't going to solely revolve around that aspect of my life, although I do suspect the 2 will intermingle quite frequently.  Dictionary.com gives the informal definition of the word 'snapshot' as follows:  A brief appraisal, summary, or profile.  I think this perfectly describes what I want this blog to be.  I want to share the moments of my life that make me laugh, cry, get excited, throw my hands up in the air, do the happy dance...I think you get the point.  I hope my sharing with you inspires you to share in return.

Finally, here is a brief bio, for those future readers who don't know me at all.  I'm 5'10", 125 lbs, with gloriously flowing auburn hair, green eyes...

What?!  One of those things was absolutely true!!  Okay, here's the whole truth.  I'm an Evangelical Christian, which means that I'm a believer who holds to the inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of Scripture, the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and salvation by grace through faith alone (thank you, GotQuestions?org for that eloquent description).  I'm happily married to the love of my life and will celebrate 16 years of marriage with him on 11-11-11.  I like to call him my hubsterstud on occasion, but his given name is Keith.  He's a wonderful, loving husband and father, and I love him more with each passing day.  I'm blessed to be able to stay at home with our 4 children; Tara, 14; Leah, 12; Luke, 7; and Will, 3.  I consider each of my children a precious gift from God, and I love and cherish them beyond measure.  I'm fairly certain I'll be writing about them way more than they want me to.  We felt called to homeschool our children way back before our oldest daughter was school age (she's now a Freshman in high school), and we have never looked back.  It has been one of the greatest and most rewarding challenges in my life.  We live in a rural area on the outskirts of a small Midwest town, on land that has been in my husband's family for many years (I affectionately call it Shepherd Acres).  Our closest neighbors are my husband's parents on one side, and his sister on the other, which might not work for some families, but has honestly been a very happy and pleasant arrangement from day one for us.  I enjoy nature, photography (and any combination of the 2), reading, singing, cooking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.  If you want to know anything else, I suppose you'd better follow this blog.  ;)

Thanks for taking the time to read this. 

Melissa