It's good to meet new people and try new things . . .

My father turned 75 on Monday. In addition to celebrating his big day -- okay entirely -- he was here to meet his great grandson. To commemorate the day, we saw Kiran in the afternoon, ate, saw Kiran, slept, ate, saw Kiran . . .

I think he had a good time. Tomorrow he's going skiing. I want to be Dad when I grow up.After my guests left in the afternoon, I started on my fatbook pages for Art and Soul.I've been thinking about these for some time, but it took a visit from a good friend and an unlikely find from a local store to really put me in the mood. Actually, it was the visit from Monica that inspired me. No pictures of her, but this stuff is pretty cool and might be inspiring to you.Tattered Angels. I just like the name. And I love what it does to paper!I took a break from the fatbook to color some of my journal pages. I wonder how this stuff would look on my walls . . .I've heard that blue hands are all the rage right now . . .

Over the Moon . . .

Jordan took this picture of me holding Kiran this afternoon. I had not seen him for a week and was able to see so many changes. Gosh, it feels good to cuddle a baby!

Dragon tales and the "water is wide"
Pirate's sail and lost boys fly
Fish bite moonbeams every night
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

The rocket racer's all tuckered out
Superman's in pajamas on the couch
Goodnight moon, will find the mouse
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

God bless mommy and match box cars
God bless dad and thanks for the stars
God hears "Amen," wherever we are
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Godspeed
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

—Dixie Chicks

Don't forget to watch the lunar eclipse tomorrow night! This event will mark the last total lunar eclipse until 2010.

Atticus RAW and cooked

Atticus RAW

Atticus cooked

OH BOY. OH BOY. OH BOY. OH BOY. OH BOY. OH BOY

RAW and . . . cooked?

Before

After

Strasburg Railroad

Jack says this coal-burning steam train engine is a Canadian National Road Switcher. I took this picture at the Strasburg Railroad in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, this afternoon because I've signed up for another class at BetterPhoto.com, and I needed some pictures. This time I'm learning (well, I'm trying to learn) how to shoot photographs in RAW format. The engineer was hanging off the train chatting with folks as I was angling to get a good shot of the engine. It wasn't until I uploaded the pictures at home that I saw he was looking in my direction.

I can't help myself

Kiran's mom took this adorable picture of him. Do you think that's a peace sign, a victory sign, or maybe he wants to play Rock, Paper, Scissors.

xoxo

Dos-a-Dos

What better Valentine than a new baby?

I love Gerri's work in polymer clay and book-binding, so I bought an instructional book, watched a video, and learned how to do Coptic binding . . . sort of.

I thought that Jordan and Kim could collect their thoughts about Kiran and the milestones that he will so quickly pass in this little back-to-back journal.

We're Late for the Polar Festival

I hope it's true what they say — better late than never. It took us so long to decide what to wear and which category we fit into. Are we . . .Party Animals orSnow Queens?

Stop over at Elizabeth's place and check out the celebration. I hope she has some Klondike bars left . . .

Five days old . . .

I really can't add a thing, can I.

How many babies can you fit into a cigar box?

My mother lives half-way across the country, and she doesn't use a computer. Most of the time, Mom is perfectly happy without e-cards, eBay and blogs. In fact, I don't think she really understands how any of it works.But with a new baby around here, she is pretty eager to see pictures. Ever since I discovered mail art, it's difficult to just send pictures. So I made a little book of photos for Mom, printed out a label, and slapped it on a cigar box.

And that's when I saw it!I just love when that happens.

Into the here . . .

"Where did you come from, baby dear?
Out of the everywhere into the here."
-- George Macdonald

Okay, so I'm smitten . . .

This photo is not so different from the one I posted yesterday, except for the extra hand in the image. It was only after cropping that I saw the sincere sweetness in this photograph of Kiran's father holding his hand in the NICU last night.

All's well.

Fresh

David Kiran Marsh

born Feb. 1, 2008, at 11:20 p.m.
8 lb. 3 oz.

After FORTY-SIX HOURS of labor!!!