The Savannah Look

Another weekend just ended, overall it has been a good one.  We went to a cousin’s daughters birthday party today and saw some people we had not seen in awhile.  Afterwards, we trekked to our old stomping grounds and hung out with group of great friends that all went to UNC- Chapel Hill to watch the Oklahoma–UNC men's basketball game.  The outcome was what we had all hoped for, the Tar heels are going to the final four. This victory also sets the record for most times in the final four for one team.   Great job boys!!!  

I came home and finished preparing the business information for our taxes that I will give to the CPA tomorrow.  

It is getting late, I needed to get my mind off of the numbers and paperwork and so I can try to get some sleep.  

So, I dug a little in my images that took this past week and found this one.  Something about this image really strikes me.  It was taken earlier in the week when Savannah has focused on watching a Disney movie.  Most likely, it was the recent DVD release of the Pinocchio.  This movie stays in the DVD player and seems to always be playing.

  As you can tell, the click of my camera and the flash of my off-camera flash unit were not enough to distract her from the focus on the boy with the wooden legs.   I hope you enjoy this image as much as I do.

Best wishes and good night!!

Terrific Kid – the award.

In the past, I remember noticing various mini-vans and vehicles with a “I’m a proud parent of a TERRIFIC KID” bumper stickers.  I never thought much of it as it seems that it states the obvious.  If you are a  parent that does not think you have a terrific kid, then something  is terribly wrong with your world.

This past Tuesday, I finally understood the real significance of these bumpers stickers.   The Kiwanis club sponsors a “terrific kid” program with various schools around the country.  Students are recognized for the following traits:

• T – Thoughtful:  Concerned – helps friends that need help. Conscientious. Appreciates what others do. Understanding of other people’s freedom and beliefs.
• E – Enthusiastic:  Eager – Does best one can. Interested. On time.
• R- Respectful:  Respects others as well as self. Polite. Uses correct manners. Courteous.
• R- Responsible:  Dependable.  Honest.  Trustworthy. 
• I- Influential:  Plays fairly. Sets a good example.
• F – Friendly:  To everyone. New students. To visitors. Gets along with others.  A good neighbor.
• I- Impeccable:  Clean.  Neat.  Nice to others.
• C- Caring:  Concern for self and for others. Considerate.

Do you want to know how I discovered this?  Well, it is on the back of the award my Sophie won on Tuesday.  I attended a ceremony at the school where select students were presented with this “terrific Kid’ award for the month of February and March.   I was one proud papa watching my sweet little Sophie march up to stage in front of all the Kindergarten thru 2nd grade students when they called her name. 

After receiving her certificate, she firmly and purposefully shook the principal's hand and strutted proudly to her spot on the stage.  I did honor the request to hold the applause until after all the students were recognized, but man I was clapping like thunder inside.  I would think that Jackie, grandma Carole, and possibly Savannah was doing the same.

As you are probably can guess by now,  it does not take much to get me to take a few pictures.  My wife always says we have the best documented children in the world.   So I grabbed my camera with an attached  PocketWizard MiniTT1 transmitter and  a  light stand with a PocketWizard FlexTT5 transceiver and Canon 580EX flash unit.  Sophie and I headed to the homework bush fort for some shots.  

Both my light stand with the flash unit and my daughter were placed inside the fort.  I was running my flash triggers in TTL  mode as we were trying to get these shots as quick and easy as possible.  The flash unit was placed just left of frame of these shots and was angled to bounce off the  “leaf ceiling” of the bush fort.  I need to get some light on her face.

Ok… Let’s pull out the reading flash cards.

I love Sophie’s creativeness. This was her idea.  We will call this the “flash card fan.” 

  Now, it is off to the bench just outside the homework bush fort.

It has been a long and exciting day. There is nothing wrong with kicking back.

Sophia is named after my grandmother Cleda Sophia Jackle.  She is 95 years young.  I know that she will be so proud of her namesake.  Here is a vintage look in honor of my grandmother.

See ya soon!!

McTeacher’s Night

 

First the window sign.

If you been following this blog, you are aware that my daughter Sophia has just turned seven years old and we have moved across town last December.  Sophie attended the Casa Esperanza Montessori  public Charter school(CASA)  for her kindergarten and first half of her current first grade year.  When Sophie started school,  our zoned public school for did not meet our desired standards for our child’s education.  Most of our neighbors with older children apparently were in agreement with us as they too made arrangements to move their children out of this public school as soon as possible.  

After failed attempts  to place Sophie in other magnet schools(via the lottery), we thought that CASA would be the answer to our prayers.  At least, it was a better alternative than the zoned public school that most of our neighbors had abandoned. 

CASA offers a bilingual(Spanish and English) lower elementary Spanish enrichment and immersion Montessori program.  In today’s multi-cultural world, the dual language focus appeared to be an added bonus to our child’s education. 

From the beginning of her life, Sophie  had a thirst for knowledge and problem solving.  In fact, my parents would always say she would be an attorney when she grew up as they watched her negotiate with us to achieve what she wanted.  The Montessori philosophy is a less structured approach to education where the students are allowed to make choices on how they will achieve the educational goals. 

To promote the child’s independence, CASA policy was that parents had to drop their children off on the first day of school without walking them to their classroom.  They also did not promote parents visiting their child or their teachers at the school without an appointment. 

One challenge(like all schools) that all North Carolina Charter schools face is the issue of money.  Charter schools do not receive any North Carolina tax money or educational lottery money.  So it seemed that every week or so,  there was a new fund raiser on the calendar.

My interactions with the administration left me with the feeling that they were not concerned at all with the parent’s  needs for their child’s education.  They came across with a certain aloofness that “we know what is best for your child.”   The only time parents were important was when there was money to raised or volunteer work to be done. 

One of the few times during the school day I was able to see my child in the classroom setting,  I was faced with what appeared to be sheer chaos.  The children appeared to be running the classroom and hallways not the teachers.   I watched my child sitting quietly at her desk watching this chaos ensue.  The teachers always complemented Sophie on how well behaved we was in class and how they wished that they had more students like her.  I definitely understood why.

At the beginning of Sophie’s first grade year at CASA, she was accessed below grade in reading.  Keep in mind, that the report card from her kindergarten teacher never indicated any reading deficiencies.  Soon after she was placed in a title 1 reading assistance program.  We discovered that most of her class was also placed in this program.  We decided to get Sophie some outside testing and it confirmed that our child needed help with her reading.  We also found out that this type of issue with reading is not uncommon for children that participate in the Montessori philosophy.  This philosophy does not work for all children. 

This situation prompted to us to decide to move from our previous home and get Sophie in a more structured environment.  We felt that part of the problem was that the “squeaky wheel was getting the oil” in the sense that the teachers were playing more attention to misbehaving/boisterous children than the behaved/shy students. 

I believe that when it comes to a child’s education that it takes a village.  As parents, we have to take responsibility and ownership of our child’s education.  I do not totally blame the school for our Sophie’s reading issues.   There are things that parents should do to help ensure that she is progressing in her education.  We have made some changes on our end to help her become a better reader. 

In fact, overall I was impressed in the quality of the teachers that the CASA school.  I believe their hearts are in the right place which is the children’s education.  Putting the administration’s aloofness aside,   I think that the issue mainly lies with the fact that the Montessori philosophy was not a fit for our child and we needed to be more proactively focused on our child’s education.   She needs a more structured environment because for her “it is all about the rules.” 

Starting the first week in January, Sophie started school at Hilburn Drive Elementary School - Raleigh, NC.  We have totally impressed with principal Gregory Ford and assistant principal  Cheryl Fenner and all the staff at this school especially Mandy Bayles who is Sophia’s first grade teacher.

This quote taken from the school’s  About Hilburn Page   sums it up best:

“This is the school where Children Come First. Our exceptional faculty and staff are committed to the pursuit of excellence in the classroom and to providing quality teaching and learning experiences for your child(ren). We welcome the involvement and support of our parents, community, and business partners as we work together to ensure that no child is left behind. Come along and be a part of this exciting learning adventure as our students continue to soar and reach new heights of learning and achievement! Welcome to the Hilburn School Family!”

I remember when I picked Sophie up from school on her first day in the car pool line.  I mentioned to one of the faculty members that I was picking up a new student and she may not know the procedure for pickup.  She said you must be talking about Sophie and promptly radio-ed another faculty member to bring her to the car.   You talk about a great welcome!  I act as the “main taxi” service as far as picking Sophia up from school.   One thing I notice just about every day is the smiles on both the children and the faculty’s faces in the car pool line and the bus area. 

On Tuesday, Sophia received a “terrific kid” for the month of March.  She(among others)  was honored at the school during a school assembly.   I will provide more details on this in a future post. Anyway,  my wife Jackie, my daughter Savannah, my mother-in-law, and myself attended the ceremony at the school.  This was my first visit to the school while it was in session.  One thing that impressed me was how well the children were behaved when heading to the ceremony in their single file lines as well as during the assembly.  This was definitely a refreshing change from our previous school.  We learned that there was a Hilburn school fight song.  Every child proudly sang it  in unison at the end of the ceremony. 

That evening the school had a fund raising event called McTeacher’s night at a local McDonalds Restaurant.  This is not the first Hilburn after school activity that we have participated in, but just the most recent.  The faculty took turns working at various stations throughout the restaurant.  Part of the proceeds from the food sales went to Hilburn school.   As with all the fund raising events, the principals and faculty were there in full force with smiles on their faces.  I decided to bring my camera document this event. 

It was pleasure meeting many of the faculty and the turn out was great.  I can not wait to the next event!  

Gone are the previous memories of an aloof administration, “closed door” type of barriers, and classroom chaos.   By way,  I do see an improvement in Sophie’s reading skills.  She has work still to do but the school change has been well worth it.  We truly feel part of the Hilburn family in all aspects of our child’s education. 

Here are shots from the event.

The principal and assistant principal who were up front and in full force.

 

The scene

Holler for a dollar.

The Bayles  section. 

Teacher and student having a fry together.

 

Sharing a famous Sophie hug!! (At least famous in my family :) )

Savannah needed a hug also.  Remember we have to keep it even. Hopefully, she will have Miss Bayles as a teacher in the future.

  

After hanging with my girls,  her shift is now up.  It is off to the counter service she goes.

Looks like even great teachers may need a little assistance from others.

A helping hand has arrived.

The above images  can not cover all the great enthusiasm of the faculty, parents, kids and employees. 

If you are interested, head over to TrianglePhotoPrints.com for the entire gallery.  Use the password hint, to get access. 
If you have any issues gaining access to the photos, let me know.  Please let me know your thoughts by commenting below. 

Coloring the Carolina Blue

Since last week was Sophia’s big birthday party, the family focus was more on the older child than our soon to be three years old Savannah.  Also, the previous weekend was the ACC basketball tournament.  Due to the rainy weather, we were not able to get any of those games last weekend due to a satellite outage.

This weekend was a different story on both fronts.  Sophia went to Grandma’s on Friday and I was able to spend some time solo with Savannah on Saturday.  We decided that we wanted to do some coloring and watch a little  March Madness.  In our house, we vote for a team with light blue colors.  Our children do not have a choice in which college that they can support(At least not at this stage).  

Both girls at an early age knew exactly that the “G” logo meant the Packers.  In fact, the Packer sipping cup is still alive and kicking in our house. Savannah calls it the “football” cup.  Her “pink” milk tastes best in this cup so we need to keep that one available and clean.  

Like her big sister before her, the next indoctrination for Savannah is to become a Carolina Tar heel fan. This is her fate with two parents that graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill.  During his college years, her father was fortunate to see a certain basketball player named Michael Jordan play at the old Carmichael Auditorium which was replaced in the 1980s with the Dean Smith Center.  Her mother on the other hand was a college senior when the Tar heels won the national championship in 1993. 

There will be no support in this house for college basketball teams that have a  “K” in either their name or their coach’s initials. That would be the wrong kind of blue.

Anyway, here are few shots from our time together.

 

Apparently, she did not like the call from the referee and blurted out something.  I asked her what it was and this was the look I got. 

Daddy put that camera away  I am watching the games.

Ok dad one glamour shot for you!

Go Heels!!

Two Girls in a Tree

Last Friday just before my daughter Sophie’s birthday, I received my first pair of PocketWizards. These gems allow me to fire my off-camera SpeedLite flash unit both in eTTL mode and in manual mode. I have a PocketWizard Mini TT1 transmitter and a PocketWizard Flex TT5 transceiver which just hit the market this month. I will be writing a review on the babies in a later post.

Last night, it was a well deserved girls night out for Jackie. Since Friday, I wanted to play with my new toys. As you can imagine, playtime would have to wait until we made it past my daughters birthday weekend.

When I came home late from work to free Jackie for her night out, I mentioned to Sophie that I wanted to play with my new toys. Sophie with her heart of gold is always willingly to help me or anyone in the family. She said we can do photography stuff because she had already finished her homework. Next thing I know, she had rounded up Savannah and was heading to back yard for a shoot. I scurried up stairs to get my gear. She is fantastic with her little sister. When mom is away, it is almost like having a second mom in the house. Man I love that girl!

Just to give you an idea of her heart, we decided to have a family outing at our local Crabtree Valley Mall on Sunday. The idea was to head to the Disney store to pick up our pre-ordered 70th anniversary edition of Pinocchio DVD and allow Sophie to spend some her birthday money if she wished. The next scheduled stop was “Build a Bear” where Jackie and I decided to get both of girls a bear for being such good kids over that last few months as we worked hard to get the house in order.

In the Disney store, I was teamed up with Sophie in the search for her items and Jackie was working with Savannah. You know if you allow one child to get something at the Disney store and the other needs to get something also. As my dad would put it - “We have to keep it even!” Anyway, we found a Wall-E bank that Sophie found interesting. It was the last one on the shelf, so I was in charge of carrying it and her wallet as we continued to look around. My role was clearly set as the shopping assistant.

Sophie found a few more things and asked me if she I like the Wall-E bank. I responded that it is pretty cool but she can buy anything with her money that she wants. It was important that she buys something because she likes it and not based on my opinion. She responded that she wanted to buy me that bank. I told her that she did not have to buy me the bank and I would rather her spend her money on herself. I turned to look at a few more things. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that my Sophie began to cry. She was truly disappointed that she could not buy her father a gift in the Disney Store with her new birthday money. It about broke my heart. So, needless to say, I have a (lesser expensive) brand new Mickey Mouse coffee cup that is now sitting on my desk in the office and Sophie was smiling again.

Anyway, we decided to take some shots in the tree next to my house in our backyard. This was a place that Sophie discovered a few weeks back. I wonder what my new neighbors thought about me chasing my daughters like squirrels up a tree in the back yard with my light stand, flash unit and umbrella. They might have thought we were nuts.

Some people have heard of the moving company Two Men And A Truck , I proudly present Two Girls In A Tree.

Note: For the above picture, Sophie is standing on a plastic kids picnic table just out of frame in case she needs to rescue Savannah from the tree. She called it “playing ambulance.”

For my next trick, a birthday girl in a outdoor play set.

See ya soon!

Sophia’s Birthday – Two-fold celebration

In the last few weeks/months, we have been working hard to get our new house ready for my daughter’s seventh birthday this past Saturday.  We celebrated both the birth and the life of our dearest oldest daughter Sophie as well as the birth of our new “home.” 

Up until Saturday, only a few close friends and  relatives were able to transcend with the walls of the place we now call “home.”   Basically since our move-in date in December, we have been living surrounded and sometimes suffocated by moving boxes and other items that had yet to find their place.  It was like coming home to a place expecting to escape the stress and challenges of the work place, but being forced to realize that chaos would further overwhelm our minds.  So many things to do and seemingly so little time and energy to do it.  

As with most things in our lives, our children provided us the strength and will to take control of  this chaos and make me this house a place  for all the Jackles to be proud to call “home.”

One thing you have to understand about my life partner Jackie, nothing is more important to her than the family(especially our girls) and making someone feel special on their birthday.  Be sure to never tell her she needs a “strong man”  to do anything.  Thirdly, do not tell her that something she wants for the girl’s birthday can not be done.  This heart and will are some of the many qualities I love about my wife. 

Before the party, I told her we do not have time to paint the girl’s bedroom, playroom and our dining room.  We needed to focus on unpacking the boxes and finding homes for our mass of things. The painting and decorating can wait until after the party deadline.  When we moved a few months back , it was promised to the girls that their bedroom would be painted with Sophie’s choice of purple and the playroom would be painted with Savannah’s choice of yellow.  

Well, we have a birthday party coming up where she arranged approximately 40-50 guests.  When Jackie sets a deadline, things will get done or else.    We just can not do things half way(no painting in this case) when it comes to the kids birthday party plus we promised the kids.  So the rooms not only got painted but also decorated in a manner that would make some like Martha Stewart proud.  Jackie should start a home decor company that specializes in kids rooms.  I will leave the pictures of these rooms for another blog post down the line.  

You would think after being together for almost 15 years that I would not have any doubts that all the “decor” and “party” things on our list would be completed in time for our birthday celebration.  Keep in mind, the credit for the home transformation and party planning does not center on the person that is writing this post but rather on the hard work and vision of his partner in life.

So, the plan for the party was to have the guests take turns in the “moon walk” or “bouncy house” that we got from our realtor Linda Craft.   We arrived at her office to pick it up and were told we need 3-to-5 strong men and “big” pickup truck to get it to our house.   Well, my brother-in-law Craig  and Jackie came in our mini-van, and I  arrived straight from work in my Subaru.   So much for three big strong men (especially when I am counted in the mix) and a big pickup truck.   The three of us loaded the bundled bouncy house in the van and Jackie and Craig rolled it out of van and on to the driveway at our house before I could arrive at home.

Well, it rained all weekend none of the guests were outside and the bouncy house stayed put in all its bundled glory until Monday when it needed to be returned.  Sorry Linda, no bouncy house advertising for you this past weekend.  Or in the spirit of Jerry Seinfeld  “No Bounce for you!”   So everyone was packed in our house entertaining themselves with the crafts, indulging in the facing painting artistry of my niece Beverly, and smacking one super-sale piñata. 

No one seemed to care that they could not go for a bounce.  The party went off  like a bang!  Again thank God for my wife’s party planning.  That may be another business idea come to think of it. 

Here are some shots from the party.

First up, the birthday girl grabbing the first slice of the cake with my camera interruption under the watchful and loving eye of her grandmother Ginger. It was great to see my dad and Ginger at the party.  They surprised us earlier in the week by letting us know that they would be in NC.

You can always count on Zoe from Sophie’s girl scout troop to add some energy and humor to the party.

 

 

This brother and sister team added to the fun!

Do you think they will be this “love dovey” in a few years ?

The kids patiently waiting in the piñata line. 

Another satisfied “Beverly’s face painting” customer!

I am trying to convince a son of a Steelers fan to be a Packer fan!  Or at least to razz his father! This is my god son Josh.  Do you think that the parents really knew what they were getting into when they named me his god father?    Time will tell.. :)

 

Guests can find these and more pictures from the party can be found on  my Triangle Photo Prints web site.    I will be adding more to the gallery in the next few days.

The Spolars revisited – www.spolarstudio.com

 

A few weeks ago, I posted an article about my family friend Gene Spolar and his recent write up in the Racine Journal Times regarding his love the NFL Cardinals and trip to the Super Bowl.  The article briefly mentions his three sons: Tony, Tim, and Toby.  As friends, we refer to them as the  “Three Ts.” 

We played sports, attended church and grew up together in Racine,  Wisconsin.  The ages of the boys in general mirrored the ages of the three Jackle kids with Tony and my brother Dave being the oldest, Tim and me being second in line, and Toby and my sister Sue being the babies.  

I moved to North Carolina back in 1981 and finished in both high school and college here in the south.  In general, my time since then has been since primarily in North Carolina where as my siblings have mainly have stayed in the Midwest.   Apparently, besides our ages , this is another thing that we the Jackle kids hold in common with the Spolars, the middle child has flown from the Midwest coop.   Tim now works and resides in the Orlando, FL area.

On Friday, there was a reunion of sorts between the original Jackles and the Spolars in Racine.  My mother invited the Spolars over to the house for pizza. As typically the case with these types of reunion, I was the not able to attend due to the distance involved, but I was there in spirit.  My brother came up from Chicago and both Tony and Toby came in from Milwaukee.

Jackie and I were busy doing last minute preps to get ready for the 45 RSVP-ed  guests we had coming for Sophia’s seventh birthday on Saturday. So as you can imagine, things in our household were a bit hectic. 

We just had gotten the girls into bed so we could do some real work when the phone rang.  It was my brother Dave calling me to make some final arrangement on the birthday presents for Sophie’s big date from her distance cheese head relatives.  He mentioned that he was sitting with the Spolars  eating pizza at mom’s house.   Though the timing was the not best, I could not resist the opportunity to talk the Spolars again for the first time in over 25 years( in most cases).

 

First up was Gene “Skin” Spolar.  When we were going up, he always claimed that he had the secret to producing sons.  In fact, he was always willingly to share this secret with any male that was having issues producing sons and seemed to be only able to produce daughters.  Being the card(no pun intended) that he is, he brought this subject up again as we discussed the fact that I have two children which are both girls.  Since we run a family show here,  I will let your imagination run wild  to obtain the details of the secret.  We continued on with normal conversation that people have when they have not spoken for many years.  It was a great pleasure to get caught up  with the Racine famous  Spolar patriarch and hear his great sense of humor.

Next, I talked to Toby and Tony.  Since 1988,  they have been serving the Milwaukee and Chicago area with excellent artwork.  Their Spolar Studio  client list includes(not inclusive):  Miller Park/Milwaukee Brewers,  Master Lock Corporation,  Schlitz Park,   Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Bank One, CBS channel 58, Racine Country Club, St. Peters Catholic church, and 2003 Breast cancer house.   Their murals, finishes, restoration, and digital artwork is truly amazing.  Tony informed me that they currently  working to upgrade/update  their current www.spolarstudio.com web site.   I strongly suggest that you take a minute and visit their site to see some examples of their truly amazing work.  Also, check back later on to see any site upgrades.   

I personally can not wait to get to Miller Park(for example)  to see the work in person like so many other Brewer fans have already.  The conversations ended with recollections of watching “creature features” in the basement of our houses and promises to not wait 25 years to touch base again.  I have a feeling that my next visit to Wisconsin to see my dear mom with incorporate some time with the Spolars.  I sure hope so.

PS.  The pictures from my Sophie’s bash will be coming shortly. 

Sandy Puc – Tots Teens Seminar.

 

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the Tots Teens seminar presented by the highly acclaimed photographer Sandy “Sam” Puc.  I would summarize the experience with one word “inspirational.”  

Very early on in the seminar Sandy shared a story about her name.   According to Sandy,  when she was born, her father was hoping to have a boy and he wanted to call this son “Sam”.   So, growing up  Sandy was called “Sam”  by her family and close friends.    Once she got married, she was not too thrilled with being called “Sam Puc” so she reverted to her  real name  “Sandy Puc”  for her photography business.   She told this story to end the confusion regarding “Sam” vs.  “Sandy” Puc.   She explained that it was not uncommon for her to receive emails from her clients/associates  that ended with “Say hello to your husband Sam for me!” Jokingly, she said  “No, my husband is not named Sam!” 

Well, I can definitely relate to this story.  My first born Sophia was born approximately seven years ago.  She was named after my now 95 year old  grandmother Cleda Sophia Jackle.  I would not trade her for the world.   I remember she used pretend that she was a boy named “Sam”. In fact, when she was playing this game, she would correct us saying that her name is not Sophia/Sophie but we needed to call her Sam. 

Like many fathers, I wanted to have a boy.  Along with the typical reasons for this, I also wanted to carry on my last name to future generations.  In my family tree, all the grandsons with the last name “Jackle” are having girls.  We have yet to produce a boy to carry on my last name.  Since my grandmother has truly touched all of our lives, I wanted to be the first grandson to give her the news that the Jackle last name would carry on with the birth of a son.  You see my grandmother has defined the meaning of the importance of family to all us and this would be a great tribute to her.

So, a few years back, Jackie was pregnant with our second child.  We found out that we were going to have another girl and I would not be able to surprise my grandmother with my desired news.  What was interesting at that time , I think Jackie was more disappointed with the news than I was.  Our disappointment was short lived,  and  all  we really wanted was the birth of a healthy baby girl.   So, our baby girl arrived at the hospital and we still had not decided on the name yet.  We narrowed the name down to Savannah or Samantha.  It was in the hospital that the “Savannah” decision was made. 

The connection with Sandy Puc was made and I was all ears for the next few hours.  Sandy proceeded to talk about her background which included raising 5 foster children and 5 natural children, starting a photography business in her home,  and moving into her first and now brand new second studio.  She currently has close to 30 people working in her studio in Littleton, Colorado.  

She willingly shared many useful tips on running a photography business including marketing strategies, studio lighting demonstrations,  working with children strategies for all age groups, and various other business insights.   She constantly pointed out that she would not be where she was at in this business if it was not for other people that took their time to teach her over the years.  She wanted to share her knowledge with all of us in an effort to help us not to make the same mistakes she had over the years. 

It was the charity work that she does that really hit home to me.   Her Now I lay me down to sleep  charity was real touching.   Photographers  all over the world donate their time to photograph children that probably will not make it home from hospital.  This effort is to help to provide memories and hopefully some closure to the parents of these lost children.  She also is involved with other charities  like Denver Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Locks of Love, Operation Smile, The Children’s Hospital, The Food Bank of the Rockies, and The Denver Dumb Friends League. 

She strongly feels that photography is a need not a luxury.  Every family needs to have photographs to pass along to their family and future generations.    Each family makes choices of who does this photography.   This reminds me of the treasured photographs that the previous Jackle generations have passed along from generation to generation.  Thank god that photography has helped us all to preserve our memories.   Sandy has truly inspired me to continue my quest to be the best “memory preserver” that I can be. Hopefully, my photographs will touch  people in the same manner as previous photographers work have touched me.

Snow Day – The Gnome smiles again

Well, another long day in paradise has ended.  The Packer Gnome is happy again as we received some more snow here in Raleigh.

Here is a picture of his smiling face.  Hut! Hut! Hike!

 

My favorite one of the set.. 

Here are some more quick shots from around the house.

Taking a break at Savannah’s Salon

Life is like a roller coaster the last few months in the Jackle household.  You would think that buying and selling a house would be enough. It does not end there.  Well, you know about the kitchen cabinets.  As with some traditional moms in a household, the home improvement projects do not end there. 

In the last week, Jackie has coordinated a contractor to take one of our single door closets and make into a double-door sliding mirror closet.  This weekend she painted both the children’s bedroom and playroom including the newly created closet.  She also has decorated both rooms with wallpaper decorations including playroom flowers and bedroom top and bottom wall borders.   She amazes me on how she can work full-time and still can kept the home improvement train rolling down the track.  

My job was to keep the children fed, bathed, and out of her way.  So this weekend, I played mainly “Mr. Mom” to the kids and “head potty trainer” to Savannah while occasionally assisting with the wallpaper border hanging.   The potty training is coming slowly but surely with an occasional mess to clean up. Well, we were all kids once. 

Jackie, finally took a break from the non-stop work weekend and took a shower Sunday evening when the painting project was complete.  She headed to a new beauty salon in Raleigh called “ Savannah’s Salon” which just opened recently in a newly decorated kid’s room in our home.  Jackie does not waste any precious time as she checks her messages while the owner of the salon takes care of business.  

Do you think she is coordinating a new home improvement project ?  Time will tell…