update: hazel

Ahh, Hazel. What can I say about Hazel? She is the only one who didn't have 2 birthdays while I was away, but she did plenty of changing. A little chameleon-like, she is.

When I last posted, she was sporting dark hair with purpley streaks. Next came blue.



Then was orange, which I really liked. That was around her 12th birthday in March. She and Jason finally got a day without snow for her birthday date after 2 years of terrible weather! It still rained though. Early March is apparently a very temperamental time for a birthday if you want to take pictures outdoors.





We had some problems with the icing for her cake, but it ended up looking very cool. We just added a nice label so people would know what it was. She loved it!





Next, her hair was black with turquoise streaks at the front.



And then red streaks. She also gets a different color of glasses every year- I am loving the red ones!



Then she went bleached blonde for Halloween this year (she dressed up as Draco Malfoy, and did a right fine job of it too!)



And these days we are back to blue (which I love too! It might be my favorite). Here is a shot she captured in the van of all four of the kids together  :)



Oh yeah, and she got braces last month too. Just on the front teeth for now, but it's been a new adventure for us- everything is so different from 20 years ago when I had braces! She is handling the side effects well and we can see her teeth straightening out already.



Photography has been something that has interested Hazel quite a bit over the years. In all honesty, she has become my right-hand man in the area of documenting our family's life with pictures. I am really noticing this now that I look back over the last 18 months to do these updates- she has taken a good half of the photos I have been posting! I am so thankful that she has taken up the slack when I have been too busy or just didn't have the energy to lug the camera around. There are a lot of photos that just wouldn't have been taken if she hadn't been interested in doing it. I am also finding that I get a very unique view of things when I get to see the world through her lens instead of just my own! For instance, I do not take many pictures of our pets. And I will even admit to trashing a bunch of the ones she has taken, when I see 20 or 30 shots of a dog rolling in the grass! But as is often the case, when you take enough shots, you are more likely to get some really good ones- and Hazel has documented our dogs well. I know we will appreciate this down the road, as long as I manage to dump all the surplus ones and just keep the great ones.







We also have a few new pets that have not been mentioned here. Allow me to introduce our rats, Ezra and Mango. Hazel takes LOTS of pictures of them, too. I mostly just feed them kitchen scraps. And more kitchen scraps. They are huge as a result.



 

I also get to see lots of photos of Hazel's shoes...





And little pictures showing me her point of view from a moment frozen in time.





Also a good number of mirror self portraits. I used to take these all the time too!!



Most of the time this is stuff that I am somewhat aware of as it is happening, but I just get a different view of it through her eyes. But what is really crazy is when you find photos taken late at night behind closed doors. These photos prove two things: 1) Hazel is a crazy wierdo  2) Hazel has lots of fun exploring her creativity and is not afraid to look a little silly! I love that about her.









This is how I often find her in the morning. In a heap of color. Have I mentioned that I love lots of color??



The camera is often filled with great close-ups of the flowers in our yard too. She's got a great eye and is fine-tuning her skills with the camera.



I can't believe I don't have any photos of Hazel drawing!! I guess it has to do with her being the one taking a lot of the pictures lately... but one of her other amazing talents that just keeps getting better is her drawing. I will make a point to get some photos of this soon. One of her specialties is recreating people we know in recognizable cartoons. She loves drawing all the little details and has an uncanny ability to make the drawing really look like the person, but in cartoon form. She has also come up with these little popsicle stick people- all different little characters with lots of different little details. So she has some mad glue gun skillz too, yo. Makes me glad to have lots of crafting supplies at the ready for when projects like this take off! We have dozens of these little guys around the house now and they are SO fun.



Here is Hazel bowling at Lyle's b-day party. Or is she playing volley ball?! It's hard to tell.



Hazel is truly a person who loves life and loves having fun. I am enjoying watching her change and grow, and explore who she is and who she wants to be. I am thankful for the energy and color that she brings to my life- even when we butt heads because she is like me in sooo many ways. There is never a boring moment with Hazel around- I love that and I love her!  :)