1 week old.... GROWTH

ok...will write more on my blog...
but tell me..how can you resist a puppy???

cathi

Guess who had puppies!!

So...
I flew out to Connecticut and JUST IN TIME to be there for the puppy birth...
YEAH..
so now JJay is a proud puppy mom...
and me...
well i am the proud puppy grandma!!

Why do we love photos?

oh...because it is the miracle of photos that captures that special moment....

an incredible moment..

a miraculous moment...

moments that only come your way..now and then...

.......

Lola proud mother of 3 puppies...3 little girls...2 apricot and one black poodle!!

cathi

a time to weep...a time to help........

Photos are powerful things.

Like hearing an old favorite song, photos stir the emotions, as their memories pour in our hearts.

Some photos are inspirational, calling us to a higher place.

Some photos are like art and can be hung on the wall to be admired by many and not just a few.

and then there are times...

when photos say so much more...that cause us to feel overwhelmed..helpless..
and we want to turn away....

but we can't

today is Thursday, and I sit at a computer with a roof over my head, warmed by a furnace that works. I sit here without hunger or want, knowing that we sleep well in our beds tonight.

and not too very far away...only hours by jet...is a poor country that has had it's share of poverty...without the basics that I take for granted...and now left devastated after an earthquake. with loss that is so unthinkable it is hard to even look at it...

But as we look at the photos of this devastation..and feel oh so helpless to change anything...
there is something we CAN do....

We can get behind those who are going to help out in this disaster...those who have the tools and the training to do the best they can..

This is information of how to give to Salvation Army, a group I have long loved and worked with over the years: A text message with the word 'Haiti' to 52000 will make a $10 donation, added on to your cell phone credit card bill.

There are many other organizations...Red Cross, World Vision, Doctors without Borders..and others...they are easy to find...and there are soo many of them that are doing so much good work..

When we look at those photos that are too hard to see...... remember, we can reach out...we can help...we can make a difference.....

cathi

Welcome 2010! Happy New Year!

Well..hoping all you out there have had a lovely holiday season...we were full of family...and fun...
then i got a cold....and well ...it is now the 3rd and I am finally updating!!

So...I bought my daughter a dog...a dog that the old owners could no longer care for..
it was a black poodle..oh soo cute and all her life..Jjay wanted a "foodle" (that was how she said it at the age of 4!)

But...the dog...was growing..with a ravenous appetite..and you could tell her previous owners didnt really care for her...
she cowered...was hungry all the time...and was growing..
alot...

and yep..

we just found out she is having puppies...

so now Jjay has her own Ebay photo business and a pregnant dog..
(what mom's will do to Encourage GRANDKIDS!) j/k

anyhow.. as it turns out all is well..


my other kids were quite perterbed that they did not win the coveted dog...and so now they are going to take the pups...

oh what a fun winter my daughter and her husband are in for....

so ...for new dreams...new things...and yes...even new puppies..

cathi

It's all about that child..................

Another year slips by. We come again to the time to remember that, when we have nothing to offer, He comes. A defenseless child comes to bear the weight of our struggles…impossible but true. God acknowledges that I cannot help myself in the most important issues of life, but He can. He sends His Son because I have no hope without Him. He sends His Son because I cannot. What an unthinkable celebration! We celebrate being small, being cared for, being relieved of our burden. It seems to me that every other holiday requires something of us, celebrates something we have done…but not Christmas. These days exalt our inability and His total sufficiency. We give gifts not because we have so much but in order to remember we have nothing at all. He had to give us the gift of life and there was no exchange. I have nothing to give back. Christmas is about receiving not giving. My prayer for you is that you can enter into the season with this wonderful truth in mind. It is all about Him giving to us and we rest and receive. Emmanuel! All of life in one word… God is with us. Merry Christmas!

Many blessings to all of you!!!

cathi

More Mother & Child Photos..........................

Well we are only 2 weeks from Christmas as I write this...and as much as I want to show you so many photos...I just can't pull myself away from Mother & child photos...

I love them!
I must admit...they are not always easy to find...I am sure that is because these are the ones that are kept in families...so these dont show up all the time...but every now and then...I strike Gold..
and that is this week!! GOLD!
The first...
IS AMAZING and it is REAL ...not one of those photos that are posed and are of models..but this is a wonderful photo from a photographer taken in a clients home of a beautiful mother and her child..
do you not LOVE those clothes? I mean..how come we cant wear something like that???
Then the second...
well..she is just too pretty!! and that baby soooo young...how in the world does she keep her hair when that baby is soo young!! beautiful...

and the third..
(in person this is a true 10!!)
is one of my favs..the dress..the way that baby is sure to be pulling on the beads..(beads..come on now..who can wear beads around a baby??) it is simply lovely!!

during this Christmas season...when we celebrate the greatest birth...I am often drawn to those beautiful photos of mothers...

a year ago...i lost my own mother during this season...and this year..i have grown to only love and appreciate her more...

and my own children...

ah the beauty of moms...........
(but you sure won't catch me in BEADS with a baby!!)
cathi

PS:
AS A MOM...I WOULD BE REMISS TO NOT LET YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT JJAY IS UP TO IN HER EBAY.
CURRENTLY, SHE IS GOING TO BE MAJORING ON WEDDING PHOTOS AND HER STORE'S NEW NAME AND NEW LOOK IS CATHERINE SIMMS VINTAGE WEDDING PHOTOS
CHECK IT OUT!!

Getting ready for the holidays..........

Every year, We make a BIG DEAL out of Christmas...our children are scattered all over the world...and the ONE rule is that they MUST be home for Christmas...
For the last 20 years, we HAD a BIG house and decorating it was a 2 day project.
I was OVER THE TOP when it came to decorating...crazy ....it was a Christmas paradise!And everyone came over and the holidays were a BIG thing...we invited everyone to our Christmas...and we had soo much fun!

but, this year, as with so many people today, business was hard...and we inherited a quaint little house...and the smartest idea was to DOWNSIZE and move.To be debt free....to live a simpler life.

so we moved...and although, our home hasn't yet sold...but we are completely out of it...and into the quaint little house....

now, because it hasn't sold, we haven't done any renovation to our "new" old home.....and the house is old......and hopefully, next year will be a big renovation year...
but not yet..

so our family...will have to share bedrooms, bathroom, and it will be a tight Christmas..a little Christmas....and there is NO room for over the top..not at this moment!

as an American..used to having it all...
that is kind of hard..in fact I feel a bit foolish being so sad about not being able to decorate like i used to...or to have the big flight of stairs my kids used to sit on every Christmas morning before they got their stockings...

but as a mother wanting to be with my kids....well, I found this photo today....something I bought from an estate...

and as I looked at it...I was again reminded....that it is NOT about Stuff. It is not about having more...it is about being content with what we have.

With all the ads...all the "stuff" we often forget these truths....
the "stuff" the "buy me nows" pull at us...

2009 ....many of us Americans have had to learn to change some of our priorities..

I think many of us will all have a different Christmas this year...
maybe not as much under the tree...
but hopefully we will learn to really appreciate what we do have...............

cathi