You Capture - Whatever You Want

Many times, both in my classroom teaching and in my home teaching, I have given my students/kids the assignment of writing "whatever about whatever you want." There are always those students who get giddy at the thought of filling a paper with words on their choice of topic. Then there are those who meet your eyes with a blank stare.

Because I'm such a professional when it comes to this pho-tography stuff, I am the latter kind of student. Last week's You Capture assignment was to photograph "anything you want."

Blank stare.

I racked my brain (which hurt). If I was to photograph anything I want, it would likely be the kids. But that would be too predictable. I thought about putting more of my town in photos. In fact, yesterday as I drove back from co-op, I passed "The Dam Store" and "The Dam Bar" (we live near, um, a dam), and I thought pictures of those signs would add some quirkiness to photos of the lake. But I did the lake last week. Plus going to the lake would be a lot of work.

I don't actively seek extra work.

I've heard tell that in some photography classes, they give you an assignment called "From the Bench" where you sit on a bench and take photos from that bench without getting up. I actually did go to the park yesterday, but I was too busy yapping it up with the other moms to take pictures. So of course I am, today, taking the lazy way out:

(Drumroll please) I now present to you "From My Chair."

This is my chair:

There is usually a cat on my chair. She thinks the chair is hers. She is sorely mistaken.

A bookcase tells a lot about a person. These are books I have used in my role as Teacher.

These are gardening books. Since I can't keep a plant alive to save my life, I'm not sure what they're doing there. Oh, OK, I do know, but that is a story for another day.

The kids like to play this:

While sitting here. These are African chairs. They are surprisingly comfortable. Of course, the grown-up size of these are even more comfortable, but these aren't bad. Really.

And, yes, there is still Halloween candy being sorted by little fingers in my family room. Did you see it behind the African chairs? Here is another pile. Wasn't Halloween a week ago? What kind of mom allows her kids to still have all this candy lying around anyway?

Although I prefer a clean coffee tabletop, it usually isn't. Somehow my coffee tabletop has turned into a catch-all, an arts & crafts table, and a Lego workshop. Always with the Legos. Honestly, the whole house is pretty much a Lego workshop. At least one would assume that to be true since they are EVERYWHERE. These particular pieces of Lego art happen to be from the kids' AWANA tonight. They had to create Bible scenes with Legos.

On the left we have the Garden of Eden. In the middle is Jesus in the manger. And on the right is the lame man being lowered through the roof for Jesus' healing.

Behind the couch which the coffee table serves is this wall:

The arched window looks in on the ktichen. We built this house, and that brick accent wall as well as the wrought iron railing you see on the top right both have stories too long to tell here. That sweet baby? That's the Princess. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with her when we moved in here; those were her first professional pictures. (And her last since shortly after that we purchased our new-fangled camera, and I got this silly idea in my head that I am some sort of professional.)

And finally, one thing I love about my chair is that I have a wonderful place in the morning for my quiet time. Just me, a hot cup of tea, and the Word. (Well, and lots of interruptions from little people if I don't get up early enough. Like that has ever happened. The sleeping in late, that is.)