of light. where is all of our beautiful Maine summer weather….call me if you have found it hiding…

daily mantra: “the sun is natures prozac…{astrid.alauda}

daily mantra: the sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child…{ralph.waldo.emerson}

daily mantra: animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms…{george.elliot}

today….i don’t feel like bribing the kids. we are all out of chocolate anyway…i ate it all during ‘so you think you can dance’ last night. don’t judge. i can’t dance, isn’t that bad enough?  today was Penelope’s turn. it has been 5 days since we brought her home. the first day she spent under the book case in the living room while Katie laid down, her face flat on the carpet, so she could peek under and say…”here kitty, kitty, kitty…” while Penelope stared back at her blankly. the next day she became more brave. she went for a ride in the dolly stroller. not by choice of course. the day after that she was perched in the upstairs of the Dora the Explorer house as if she owned it. which, apparently, she does now according to a bill of sale created by Mikki this morning. as Penelope laid down playfully on the kitchen floor Mikki exclaimed out loud..”its all yours” and handed her a crayon receipt for one Dora House. it was hard to tell, but Penelope looked as though she might be happy about it.  as much as she has melted into our family, i have to say, the cat has taken more of a liking to my husband. {figures…he is the fun one} i just feed and change her cat box after-all.

its been great having another animal in the house. Katie is exciting but lacks the fur.

dear Katie and Mikki…

right now, in your little lives, you are blessed with many friends. yes, the moms all must get together and organize play date after play date, birthday party after birthday party, and several trips to the bowling alley and play grounds, but all of you seem to get along, and we continue to conspire and hope that you will always do so.  but the truth is, as you get older, you will have fewer and fewer truly remarkable friends who stick with you. Your group will get smaller, until you get my age, and then you will be lucky to have 1or 2 friends that still put up with you. (but you are perfect just the same, and don’t let anyone tell you different).

the truth is…you’re not though. but you are a perfect you. and your friends, although not perfect either, will be perfect for you.

and this brings me around to my point (long windedness is one of the MANY flaws my friends have to put up with about me)….as difficult as it is, embrace the imperfections of those you love just as much as you embrace the reasons you love them in the first place. no person is going to be without their little faults (or big ones).  but in the end….as long as they are loyal to you, bring you joy, and stick with you through thick, thin, and moments where you don’t even like yourself, they are worth it.

my hope is that you always see through the shortcomings of others, and hold the sincerely magnificent spirits in this world close to your heart.

all my love darlings,

p.s. daily.mantra….the best mirror is an old friend…unknown

Dear Friends and Customers…

Going forward I will be changing the online viewing time of all galleries (except for wedding galleries)  from 14 days to 7 days. This means from the time your gallery is released to you, you will have 7 days to view it, make your orders, and then pay for them. If this change is an issue for you personally please feel free to contact me at any time to discuss it.

Thank you,

Amanda