my simple life... in pictures.

i've moved!

2008-08-02T11:32:00.002-04:00

My blog has moved! I would love it if you would come visit me at my NEW blog home!

clicky clicky!

look who i got to play with today!

2008-07-29T16:17:00.002-04:00

Isn't she just the CUTEST?
Those chub rolls are to DIE for.
I just LOVE chubby babies!
*sigh*
:)

today was a good day.

2008-07-28T19:09:00.001-04:00

OK, now I have that ice cube song in my head. :)

It WAS a good day for the most part. Got my editing all done on the golf photos, just waiting on a couple of peoples' money so I can place the orders. The boys went golfing this afternoon, by themselves (which made me nervous but the guy at the pro shop assured me it was ok for them to golf without an adult). They did great- Austin golfed his best round ever (they only went 9 holes, since they had to walk the course- neither of them are old enough to drive a golf cart yet). They had fun and it was nice for them to go do something they both enjoy, and to GET ALONG while doing it!

Kaitlyn was in an awesome mood today too, full of it like usual but in a good way. I took advantage and got some great photos for her birthday invitation (can you believe she will be FOUR on Sept. 10?). I don't want to share the real photo I will be using on her invite just yet (I want it to be a surprise) but I can share this one that I took after I was done:

And this week's theme is sunflare! YAY! I've been meaning to practice more on learning to control flare and use it creatively I just haven't had the motivation so here it is! I snapped a couple real quick with my fisheye lens, I love how this lens gives me that "starburst" effect when I point it at the sun!

i needed that.

2008-07-26T19:24:00.003-04:00

I woke up this morning and gasped at the clock- it was almost 9am-
Kaitlyn NEVER lets me sleep that late-
something must be wrong-
they must be up to no good-
or outside even though she isn't supposed to be outside without me-

I dashed out into the living room and found this

they were being GOOD.
Watching cartoons.
Devin even had a "mom approved" channel on-
Noggin-
instead of the mindless garbage cartoons he usually watches that he knows I hate.
I was speechless.
But I did manage to grab the camera for a quick shot before the moment passed.

The kids have actually been decently good today... I think they KNEW they were in for it after yesterday if they didn't CHILL. Good thing because I needed to take today to get my last minute things together/organized, camera cleaned, batteries charged, memory cards formatted, etc. for the golf tournament tomorrow.

So other than that one photo above that I snapped real quick this morning, I haven't taken anything new for the blog today. Sorry. :(

I did however, play around with a couple of shots from the other day when we went downtown. I almost trashed these but after reading some stuff on ttv processing (which is a method of making your photos look like they were taken through the viewfinder-ttv- of an old camera) I decided to play with them after all. There is a HUGE bank building downtown that has a crazy weird sculpture in front of it. I am not certain of what the sculpture is supposed to represent, if anything, but I have figured it out in my mind that since it has 3 "legs" the number 3 represents the holy trinity- the father, the son, and the holy spirit. I like that theory, and I'm sticking to it. :)

Now all the kids are outside riding bikes and screaming at each other... sigh... 2 weeks and 13 days till school starts...

Have a great weekend y'all, I probably won't be posting tomorrow since I'll be gone all day but I'll try to get something new for Monday!

how many days till school starts?

2008-07-25T18:42:00.004-04:00

3 weeks and counting down! I cannot WAIT.
The kids are driving me absolutely UP. THE. WALL. today. Austin came home from visiting his Nana all week and I swear all h*ll broke loose! I won't go into details but let's just say all 3 have been banished to different rooms of the house for the rest of the evening. Sigh.

You can probably guess I didn't take any pictures today. Well, I take that back, I took ONE a little while ago. Kaitlyn found two bottles of nail polish- a pale shimmery pink and a dark purple (yikes). She wanted her toenails painted pink so I treated her, it's not very often she will sit still long enough for me to do girly things like that with her but she IS almost 4 (eek) so I'm sure she is growing into that stage. Anyway, once I finished her toes, she wanted her fingers done, then she wanted to paint MY toenails so I figured "what the heck, this will at least occupy her for two minutes". She definitely needs nail painting practice! But of course I gushed about how utterly FABULOUS my toes looked and how I can't WAIT for daddy to get home so I can show him.

A few minutes later I was checking my email when I heard a shriek from Austin- Kaitlyn had snuck off with the bottle of DARK PURPLE nail polish and started to paint HIS toenails under the table! He was TICKED at first but then we laughed about it... funny part is I don't have any polish remover at the moment so he is stuck with two purple toenails until it wears off! LOL!

So I made the two stick their feet by mine so I could snap a pic of our pretty toes...

And then I played in photoshop and made a little collage of miss K from yesterday. I didn't post any of these pics, by themselves they aren't much but together they kind of tell a story. She had picked up a fallen blossom on the ground and was hugging it, kissing it, and snuggling with it. Don't know what exactly was UP with that but...?
What can I say, the girl LOVES flowers!

country girl in the city

2008-07-24T14:59:00.003-04:00

Gotta love it when I ask the kids to go downtown for photos and this is what K picks to wear- cut off "daisy duke" shorts and pink cowboy boots!

I took Devin with me too, but he was less than cooperative. Probably because I kept getting after him for rolling way ahead of me on his Heelys. >eyeroll<

Oh well, I got some new favorite of princess K while we were out, so not a total loss!

I also took some inspiration from Celine (who is the proud new owner of her very own fisheye lens) and busted mine out to play- it's been a while!

laughing because the wind was blowing her hair

laughing at me for squatting so low I fell backwards onto my butt. Sigh. But I got the shot!

serenity.

2008-07-22T22:38:00.002-04:00

I will be honest. I am not a golfer, nor will I probably ever be. I had never even BEEN on a real golf course till a few weeks ago. But I can definitely see the appeal of being out there- it is so calm, quiet, and peaceful. Even if it IS just a bunch of guys (or gals) chasing a tiny white ball all over creation and trying to get the lowest score. (I mean really, WHO thought those rules up? LOL)

I couldn't resist this little gem when I was in the pro shop... I am so warped.

i come in peace.

2008-07-21T20:36:00.003-04:00

Have you ever noticed that when you look at flowers up close they look like something from another planet?

I was outside searching for something interesting for macro monday this morning and it dawned on me how "alien" flowers look. Hmmm.

crapemyrtles

a baby black-eyed susan

one of Kaitlyn's petunias

another flower from K's garden (almost looks like an anemone to me)

and the inside of a rose from my rosebush

ever after.

2008-07-17T16:48:00.000-04:00

(from the wedding I photographed this past weekend)

Everything went great- which is saying a LOT for a wedding, usually SOMETHING goes wrong at some point! But this one was very smooth. Everything went just as planned. How often can you say THAT, about ANYTHING in life?

pinning the boutonniere on the ring bearer (the bride's son):

bride and bridesmaids laughing at a silly polaroid the bride's mom took:

the rings and bridal bouquet:

It's time:

the "mafia":

Charlie's angels:

first dance as husband and wife (LOVE that tiny tear!):

I'm going to be out of town for the weekend, but I will be back on Monday with some golf shots! (hopefully)

itty bitty.

2008-07-16T13:34:00.001-04:00

I had forgotten about these... over 4th of July weekend we found a baby praying mantis. Devin was fascinated by it, picking it up and examining it. I didn't mind photographing the little guy, but there was NO WAY I was touching it! *shudder*

(gotta love D's chewed up fingers/nails. Boys. *sigh*)

in honor of

2008-07-15T18:58:00.003-04:00

Devin's and his team's great season:

They played in the championship game last night... our team lost but we are still SO proud of them all. They got trophies and their coach is planning a pizza party sometime soon. I admit I am glad for the season to be OVER... it is WAY too hot now to be sitting at the ball diamonds for hours watching them play- and the poor kids must have been dying out there the last few weeks! Today was also the last day of golf camp for the boys, they played in a little scrimmage type thing and everyone came home with t-shirts and divot replacers. So we get the rest of the summer OFF! YAY!

waldermeldon.

2008-07-14T20:54:00.002-04:00

Nothing cools you off on a hot summer day than watermelon! (or, waldermeldon, as the kids were calling it)

So how was everyone's weekend? Mine was CRAZY busy! I'm glad to have a whole day tomorrow that I don't have to be anywhere or do anything! Whew! :)

mishmash.

2008-07-10T17:40:00.005-04:00

Today's post is a sort of mishmash of stuff... which fits because I am such a random person anyway!

Devin's team WON THEIR GAME last night! It was AMAZING, finally these little guys all pulled together and played like a TEAM and they were awesome. It was one of those edge-of-your-seat games, where every single play, every single pitch, every single out mattered. I tell ya, I can't take many more games like this one! LOL! They play in the championship game on Monday night, I will be freaking OUT!

I snapped this one of D before his game the other night:

Jason took these the other day when we were at a friend's house for a bbq.
Beer and fire... 'nuff said. ;)

And here are a few (ok, a LOT) from my garden yesterday. I took these after the rain stopped- yes, these are REAL raindrops, not from my spray bottle this time, lol!

And just call me the "fly whisperer"... I swear these yucky guys will stay SO still for me, even when I am less than an inch away from them! My lens must be hypnotizing... if only it worked that way on my kids! :p

I have a wedding to do this weekend, so I may not be posting anything for a few days- so don't be worried if I "disappear"! I promise to be back (with pics) as soon as possible!

Have a great weekend everyone!

wii are silly.

2008-07-09T11:37:00.003-04:00

It's icky outside, sprinkling rain and VERY muggy so Kaitlyn and I are chillin' indoors today. The boys (all 3 of them) are golfing right now, so us "gills" are left to our own devices to entertain ourselves. That can be dangerous!

Since I have nothing interesting going on, I thought I'd just post a few silly photos I've taken of princess K. The sad part is, this kind of thing is "normal" for us around here. LOL!

wink!

somehow the mustache is missing... but it is still funny!

Last night, Devin taught Kaitlyn how to play the wii (isn't he a great big bro?):

And D's baseball team played game 1 of their tournament last night- they WON! I really wish I'd taken my camera with me. They brought Devin in to pitch (closer) and he did awesome. He even caught the game winning out! :) But it looked like it would storm at any moment and the ball fields are far away from the parking lot, so I didn't want to chance getting the camera wet. At least I have the memories in my head...

They play game 2 tonight, weather permitting.

So what are you all doing today to entertain yourselves? I'm running out of ideas and I am tired of reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.... over... and over... and over...

carnival fun.

2008-07-08T13:46:00.002-04:00

We took the kiddos to the carnival last week. (hence the scary pic from yesterday's post) They all had SO much fun! Jason brought his camera and took a few shots. (I left mine this time- shocking I know) I was leaving early to go to a play with my uncle called The Diviners (which was FABULOUS, btw) at the Shawnee Theater. So I thought I'd post a few from Jason's view (apparently his view included embarrassing angles of my sister and I (see previous post) and a lot of shots of our nephews and Kaitlyn, but none of our boys (they went off on their own to ride the "big kid" rides- you know, the ones that make us mommas too nervous to watch them ride?).

(from Jason's camera)

(she wasn't too sure about this little dragon coaster... her suspicions were correct, it terrified her!)

Then on the 4th after the family reunion, we went into town to see the fireworks display. It was a good one this year! I tried for the first time to take fireworks photos and they actually turned out decent, I thought.

Thank you for all the nice bday wishes yesterday! It did end up being a pretty good day. We went to Fazoli's for dinner (YUMMM) and just hung out the rest of the evening. :)

And ps- it may have been slightly confusing in my post yesterday when I talked about the rain- that is actually a photo I took where I had just stepped out my back door and snapped. What you are seeing there is actually part of my garden! :)

it's my party and i'll cry it i want to...

2008-07-07T15:29:00.002-04:00

OK, so there is no party. But it IS my birthday! Unfortunately, it's just another day in paradise here. Nothing out of the ordinary going on. But you know what? It's just fine with me!

I woke up this morning to a little surprise though...

Austin made me breakfast! He thought of it all on his own, isn't that the sweetest thing? I had Honey Nut Cheerios, buttered toast, and cappucino- all of my faves! So the day started off pretty well.

I had to have Austin at the golf course at 8am this morning (UGH- I am SO not a morning person) but after my hearty breakfast I was ready to go! It started raining while Austin was at golf camp...

(it really is raining, it's hard to see in the pic though)

...and it continued to rain the rest of the day. Devin still got to go to golf too (his started at 9am) but they had to do some indoor putting thing.

I've been feeling kinda gloomy all day (the rain'll do that to me) but I've been having fun with Kaitlyn singing songs and drawing.

I wish the rain would let up so I could take the kids downtown, or at least go outside to play... it doesn't look promising though. :(

Maybe I'll at least get to go out to dinner? I'd even take Fazoli's at this point...

Oh, here is something I stumbled across today that made me laugh out loud though! I was taking pics off of Jason's camera (my XTi)- he had taken pics while we were at the carnival on the 3rd- well, just see for yourself!

Yep. We're dorks! (that's my sis Audrey on the right with my nephew Avery- they wouldn't let the little ones go down the slide without an adult).

LOL!

independence day!

2008-07-06T16:34:00.005-04:00

We are finally home from our long weekend! I love visiting with everyone but geez I am glad to be home and to sleep in my own bed again! We had such a great visit... on the 4th we had our family reunion with my mom's side of the family and we got to see several cousins (and their babies!) whom we don't get to see near often enough. I love this tradition of a 4th of July family reunion at grandpa's pond... we have been doing it as long as I can remember and it's something I used to look forward to all year. It's cool to me that now my own kids are the ones looking forward to it! My cousin and I were musing to ourselves how strange it seems that only yesterday we were the ones helping the younger kids light their fireworks and now OUR kids are the ones helping the littler ones. Add that on to the fact that tomorrow is my birthday (the big 3-0) and it's enough to make me feel OLD! Sheesh.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a few fun photos from our 4th of July celebration.

The boys had fun fishin'

Grandpa had fun playing Euchre

The kids took a few boat rides

One of the cousins brought puppies which were a HUGE hit

LOOK at these beautiful babies!

Here's my cousin's son, isn't he handsome? He is an EXTREMELY talented musician and singer!

the girls got to hang out...(the one on the right is the sis of the boy above, and a very talented harp player too!)

Priceless just chilled most of the day...

...until he got "rode", lol!

Uncle Roger's memorial garden looked beautiful

The food was AWESOME

and of course the kids got to set things on fire- so a good day all around!

I hope you all had a great weekend too! Sorry for the photo overload! :)

dream big.

2008-07-02T21:29:00.006-04:00

"Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal."

--Ralph Vaull Starr

I love that she is still young enough to truly believe that she can fly.

I took my fisheye out to play this evening... it's been too long! I quickly forget how fun this little lens is and I really should use it more often.

Oh, and just to be on theme for once (LOL), I put on the telephoto lens to snap this shot of the flags on the bank roof down the street...

(my house is near the highest elevation in town- so I see a lot of rooftops, lol!)

garden of weedin'.

2008-07-01T12:26:00.001-04:00

I titled my post that because my grandma always had a sign in her garden with that phrase on it, and I always thought it was SO clever! Plus I have had to pull little weeds out of my flower beds EVERY day since it's gotten warm outside! Even though our guy who takes care of the yard has come and sprayed (it did help for a little bit). And I think something is eating my weeping cherry tree- I am going to have to look into getting something to sprinkle or spray on it before all the leaves have holes in them!

Anyway, I digress.

Since I am done with concert photos now (finally- but I am sad to see them go...), I thought I would post a few shots of what's growing in my garden right now.

My coneflowers are getting ready to unfurl their petals and flip themselves inside out... any day now!

a few geranium buds (they are open today!)

a spiky flower my mom bought for me (I can't remember what it was called now!)

the best model I've had all week (he stayed SO still for me, I thought he was dead till the wind blew and he flew away!)

Oh, and check out the sky from last week (I took these from the car as we were driving home from Indy)- we were on the edge of a nasty looking storm and we even drove through a little bit of hail (which J needs to call the insurance company about, it put a few little nicks in our new car's paint! Yikes)

Once we got through it the sky was this though- a perfectly straight line of clouds extending all the way across the sky! I've never seen anything like it!

Crazy Indiana weather!

jason's side.

2008-06-30T11:45:00.004-04:00

Now it's my hubby's turn... I promised him a whole post to himself of just his photos! Up until today I've only posted shots I took at the concert so today I am going through his shots and I picked out a few (ok, 15!) to edit and show you all! He did pretty good, I may be able to train him yet! (LOL)

(look J, I even made you a watermark so you can be "professional"!)

Here's Mike again (Jason's friend and lead singer of No1Zero):

More No1zero (can you tell we love these guys?)

check out the rocker boy!

a couple of No1Zero's "groupies" (ok, they are the wife (left) and sis (right) of the lead singer Mike)- just so you don't think Jason was just there to take photos of hot chicks, we actually know these gals! LOL!)

Here's the booty-shakin' baby again!

Aly laughing with her little sister (awwww)

This seemed like a fitting saying...

And somehow a family photo got snuck in there when J handed his camera off to a friend for a sec! (she was admiring our goodies...lol...) Aren't we cute (and HOT- ugh) in our black t-shirts?

**I have edited this post to tell you of Jason's skill in photo taking- he is so skilled that he took all of his photos one handed- camera in one hand, beer in the other. Aren't you impressed?)**

tagged!

2008-06-30T11:32:00.000-04:00

I've been tagged! Thanks Skye! LOL! (actually, I love getting tagged by fellow blogger/photogs, it makes me feel special!)

OK, here are the rules!

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 songs you are embarrassed to admit to others you like and tell why.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

This is gonna be EASY! I have tons of embarrasing music that I love, lol!

OK.

1. YMCA by The Village People. It just makes me happy!
2. Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice. Yes, I DO know all the words! I thought I was the shiznit for knowing them too!
3. Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-lot. Inside joke (hi Em!).
4. Blue by Eiffel 65. (yeah yeah, I know! It's catchy, ok?!)
5. Straight Up by Paula Abdul. Straight up now tell me do you really wanna love me forever? Oh-oh-oh.... LOL... and I used to be able to do the dance to the music video too! (I'm a dork)

Alrighty, now I get to tag 7 random people! But I could only think of 5, so this'll have to do! I tag:

Bobbi (oh YEAH baby, you knew I'd do it!)
Ariana (Cause I just love her and her gorgeous girlies and handsome new baby boy!)
Joanne (who just had a new gorgeous baby boy herself!)
Kristi (I know you've got some embarrassing stuff girl!)
Sam (who is almost as insane as me... and I love it!)

those meddlin' kids.

2008-06-29T15:14:00.000-04:00

Yeah, that's this band's actual name! Those Meddlin Kids! But don't let their name fool you...these guys are metal thru & thru! Their sound is a bit like Led Zeppelin, or Van Halen... you know, those good old school metal bands!

Their one guitarist was cracking me up with all his funny expressions!

They had a cowboy... (love the power stance!)

.. a grunge rocker and a lead singer in a Bob Marley shirt...

...and legions of adoring fans rocking out!
(raising their glasses to Aly)

and how cool is this... by the end of their set they had almost every kid in the audience up on stage with them!

no1zero.

2008-06-28T14:07:00.001-04:00

Y'all have seen these guys before... these are our friends, No1Zero. My hubby's best friend from school is the lead singer- how cool is that?! These guys totally wail... they are so full of energy you just can't help but to jump around and dance! There sound is (self described) a cross between a chainsaw and a weedeater... total metal baby! And soon (if we can get our schedules coordinated) I will be doing an album cover shoot with them- I can't wait!

(sorry for the overload... I just love these guys so I got carried away!!! LOL!)

caden's cry.

2008-06-27T15:22:00.002-04:00

These guys freakin' ROCK. I don't even know what else to say about them! Their name is Caden's Cry and my best description of their style is Creed/STP/GN'R/Awesomeness all rolled up into four uber talented musicians. They had their "own" photog shooting them play so I did my best to stay out of his way and let him work (which was way cool to watch) and I even managed to get some decent stuff myself while I was at it! (note to self: you NEED one of those big white lenses! LOL!)

So check out their myspace page and have a listen if you get the chance (click on their name up above), and definitely if you're in the Indy area and can make it to one of their shows, GO!

This guy had the BEST facial expressions throughout the show!

Does the drummer not look a bit like Lenny Kravitz?

The crowd was WAY into it too- wish I could have shown how they were jumping up & down!

excuse my dust.

2008-06-26T22:31:00.001-04:00

Sorry about the wonky appearance of my blog at the moment... I am desperately trying to figure this html stuff out on my own (I can sort of figure out what's what, but I am stuck at the point I'm at now). I think it's time for me to ask for help, I am definitely in over my head! LOL!

crambone.

2008-06-26T15:24:00.003-04:00

These guys are called Crambone. (click their name to see their myspace page!) The name alone should tip you off that they are no ordinary rock band! They did a ton of 80's covers (AWESOME- I am a child of the 80's!) and their lead singer was fantastic and hilarious all at the same time. He fell down, jumped off things, grabbed people out of the audience, put the lead guitarist on his shoulders and ran around in the crowd, stripped down to his underwear, spray-painted his own t-shirt, and blew a huge fireball! It was a hell of a show- I would LOVE to see an entire concert of these guys. I only got a small taste and it was amazing.

making waves.

2008-06-26T14:37:00.002-04:00

*please excuse this short break from concert photos for a Kaitlyn-ism from today*

(To set the scene: I am in my bra and underwear just out of the shower this morning and I am combing my hair in the mirror. Kaitlyn is in the bathroom with me (as always, she is attached to my hip all day long) and is smacking my butt and squealing with delight.)

Me: Katybug, what on earth are you doing?

Kaitlyn: Making waves on your bootay momma!

SIGH. Guess that's my cue to hit the treadmill a little harder huh?

falling awake.

2008-06-25T21:54:00.002-04:00

I hope y'all like band photos, because I've got a TON of them! I'll start with the first band that played: Falling Awake. (click on their name to go to their myspace page and hear their stuff!) You are going to hear me say this a lot over the next few days, but these guys ROCK! Every single band that played Aly's Bash was AMAZING. Any one of them might very well be the next big rock band! Seriously!

And here is the second group that performed: Lil' Ron D. (click the name for their myspace page). They rapped and were really great! Someone at the concert told me that they are friends of Aly's from school. How awesome to have this talent at age 13! They even busted out some L.L. Cool J, which totally scored them points in my book!

And check out these SUH-WEET bikes! Being that the concert was held at Harley's Tin West (bar & grill) it was only fitting to have a gorgeous selection of bikes parked out front!

where to start.

2008-06-24T15:07:00.002-04:00

I'm not really sure where to even start posting these photos from the concert this weekend! (Yep, you did read that right, between Jason and me we took 1439 pictures! My eyes are starting to go crossed from looking at them, lol!)

I suppose I'll start at the beginning... the reason for all the fuss, so to speak. Allisyn (Aly). Here is a blurb I copied and pasted from the bash's myspace page.

"I would like to tell you about a beautiful, brave 13 year old little girl named Allisyn Rainbolt. Allisyn was a typically healthy and active seventh grade student who loved to attend her Perry Meridian Middle School, until September 2007 when she became sick and feverish. Her family doctor referred her mother, Raquel Klave, to take her to Riley Children's Hospital for advanced testing. The Doctors at Riley Hospital diagnosed Allisyn with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Allisyn is now undergoing chemotherapy. She has endured countless blood tests, a port being put into her chest. She has taken all of this on with amazing smile and a positive attitude. Allisyn's battle with this life threatening condition has just begun. She will undergo months of chemo treatments, multiple daily medications and many more of the same tests to monitor her condition. Allisyn will not be able to attend school and will have to do something called home bound school. She can no longer go and do things like a regular teenager. She does not have the energy or is too sick. Allisyn has six siblings: her brothers, Aaron and Austin Rainbolt. Her sisters, Jayde, Taylor, Madison and Shawna Klave. Her step-dad and mother Raquel Klave are holding the family together as best they can while Allisyn fights this fight."

Here are a few random shots of Aly and some of her supporters I snapped throughout the day.

This is Aly and two of her sisters.

She has such an infectious smile! You just can't help but to beam from ear to ear.

Here she is with the lady from Make A Wish

And just a fun shot of her with a friend

I also got tons of fun "people photos" throughout the day...

some boys playing basketball...

kids getting their faces painted...

this ADORABLE baby girl who kept shaking her booty for me (loved it!)...

and I forgot to post this one with yesterday's, it's Devin holding up the shirt he won for ringing the bell at the top of the rock wall!

OK, I'll quit there... for now! I think I'll break the band photos up and tell a bit about each band (linking their websites if I have them). It was just SO SO awesome to see so many people come out to show their support for Aly and her family, and the make a wish kids. Really awesome. My faith in the kindness of strangers is totally renewed after this weekend.

extreme.

2008-06-23T20:47:00.005-04:00

Well, the concert was a BLAST! They raised a ton of money for Aly and the Make a Wish Foundation! There were several bands who came and played and they all ROCKED OUT. My ears are STILL ringing from being right up against the stage all day long- but OH MAN what a show and what an amazing cause.

I *only* have 1439 photos to weed through, between me and Jason we pretty much had it covered! LOL! I thought I'd start off with a few fun ones of the boys before I delve into the concert photos...

The Army National Guard came out and they brought several activities for the kids, which was AWESOME. The boys' fave was the rock wall, they spent a good part of the day climbing that thing- if you made it all the way to the top and rang the bell you got a super cool Army t-shirt. Austin ALMOST made it several times, but he wasn't wearing his tennis shoes so he climbed barefoot which made it pretty difficult. Then he cut his toe and that pretty much shot his chances of making it all the way up. Luckily Devin was in a giving mood and asked the guy if he could climb it one more time to win his bro a shirt. Awwww... savor these sweet moments, they are few and far between anymore!

Here is Austin getting his harness put on and hearing a few tips on climbing the wall (really surprised A wanted to climb it at all, he is deathly afraid of heights. Guess the thought of winning a cool shirt outweighed his fear- this time.):

And proof he ALMOST made it! He could have done a little lunge and probably rang the bell at this point, but he slipped off. Darn it!

(notice Jason getting his shot too)

Devin was a natural. I am even more convinced the boy is part monkey!

He climbed all 3 sides (they varied in difficulty)
And you know D, always stopping to pose for pics!

Here is a wide shot of the entire tower. I'd guess it was around 30 feet tall. (NO, I did NOT try to climb it- that would have been a disaster, lol!)

They had a really great turnout too. I was thrilled that Aly felt up to coming and I got to meet her. She is the sweetest thing. It made me sad that she is only a year older than Austin... I am praying extra hard for a cure!

update.

2008-06-21T17:51:00.003-04:00

*WHEW*

Life has been crazy the past couple of weeks! I just realized I have really slacked off on my blogging this week too... eek!

OK, so here's a quick update, just hitting the highlights here.

Jason went to jail. Don't worry, it wasn't REAL jail! It was for the MDA charity. I am proud to say he raised over $400 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Wednesday! I know it's not a huge amount, but every little bit does help in the fight against MD. Here he is in his "cell" (he looks too happy to be a true jailbird huh?):

Um... Oh, Devin got a haircut. A HAIRCUT!!! He looks like a totally different kid. He says he wants a new "urban" photo shoot soon with his hair fixed (spiky/messy). It wasn't fixed when I took this, I'll have to get some shots when it IS fixed, it looks sooo good!

I've been working my tail off, so that's good. The kids are going nuts without my undivided attention but I have managed to squeeze in some park and swimming pool time with them so that seems to appease them for now.

Oh, and news from today- we bought a new car! Well, not NEW, but new to us. It's a 2005 Buick Rendezvous. Jason is at the lot signing the papers and picking it up as I type this. I'll grab a few shots when he gets home with it in a little while and add them to this post later. He traded in his other Buick (the 2000 Regal). It was a great car really, he is kind of sad to see it go. But we do need something with more room, and the Rendezvous will seat 7 so we can actually all go someplace in one vehicle AND bring the kids' friends along too! Woohoo! My car isn't really worth anything, it's old but it still runs good plus it is paid off so we will just keep it. For now. :)

Tomorrow we are going to Indianapolis. I volunteered my time to shoot a charity concert up there for an adorable 13 year old gal who has Leukemia. It will be a fun event, but emotional I am sure. If you want to check out the cause, here is her myspace page with all the info:

Aly's Bash

I hope you all have had a great week! I've missed visiting my fellow POTD'er blogs, I am going to have a LOT to catch up on!

*edited to add*

Here are a few snapshots of the new car! (not car, more like SUV really I guess) We bought it at Uebelhor Chevrolet here in Jasper. Our salesman's name is Jim Anderson, he is a super nice man and he really went above and beyond for us- even walked around for an hour the other night in the pouring rain with Jason while he browsed the cars, and he has stayed late 2 nights with us trying to get this deal done for us. So if anyone is in the area and is in the market for a new or used vehicle, I would HIGHLY recommend stopping by there and talking to Jim!

mine.

2008-06-15T22:06:00.003-04:00

I thought I would be ON THEME for once this week and post about the important guys in MY life.

Here are my boys:

They were leaving for their Father's Day tradition of a round of golf this morning. It was a bittersweet day for Jason being his first Father's Day since his dad passed. But I think that carrying on the tradition with our boys that his dad started with him and his brother will help ease the pain. If only a tiny bit.

I love these guys more than words can say. They (and miss K of course!) are my WORLD. Everything I do in my life is because of and for them. I want my kids to look back on their childhoods fondly and know that we did our best to give them everything they need, and lots of things they DON'T need. ;) But most of all, that they were (and are) loved, appreciated, respected, and heck, we even LIKE them most of the time! That's saying a LOT for having two pre-teen boys and a little girl who is coming out of the terrible three's!

And what can I say about Jason?

He is my rock. My soulmate. He puts up with my neurotic, anxiety-ridden existence. He makes me laugh. He is an amazing father to our kids. And most of all, he has put up with me since 1991! (Yep, do the math- I was only 14 when we started "going together"!) We celebrated 12 years of marriage on June 8 of this year, and I hope we have at LEAST 50 more years together!

And hey- look at this photo I pulled off of his memory card from our little mini-vacation we took for our anniversary! He done good!

Another very important man to me is my dad. He is the epitome of the "strong, silent type". He retired as a Senior Master Sergeant after 36 years in the military this past March. (Air Force/ Air National Guard) I couldn't be more proud of my dad's career and all of the sacrifices he has made for our family and our country. He is a man of few words, but when he does speak it is well worth listening to. My kids ADORE their "Pa Bob" and I have loved getting to know the MAN my dad is after knowing the dad he has always been while I was growing up. He is a pretty cool guy after all! (you couldn't have told me that 10 years ago though! LOL!)

(Sorry I don't have a photo of my dad readily available at the moment!)

the best. family. ever.

2008-06-14T20:48:00.002-04:00

I am certain I had THE most photogenic and cooperative family session of all time this morning! These kids were absolute ANGELS. I had a blast photographing them! There were 11 people total: two grandparents, two daughters and their hubbies, and five grandchildren. I am just starting to go through them but I have already found a few favorites! I hope they love their portraits as much as I loved taking them!

Here's the whole gang!

The grandkids hanging out on the swingset:

This little man stole my heart.. he is getting ready to turn 3!

Mom and daughters (aren't they STUNNING!!!)

And a little fun at the end! They got soaked but it was a blast!

Since tomorrow is Father's Day, Jason is taking the boys golfing. It was always a tradition for him to go golfing with his brother and dad on Father's Day and this year is going to be a tough one... I am hoping that carrying on his dad's tradition with our boys will make the day a little easier. Big hugs to all the dads out there, and to those whose dads are no longer around. :)

a walk in the park.

2008-06-13T13:09:00.002-04:00

Since it is pouring down rain today and it looks like there will be no fun playing in the pool shots today (lucky you, lol)I decided to finally look through some of the "other" shots I have taken the past week. I came across a folder with only 4 photos inside it from Devin's baseball game on Tuesday evening. It was just BEGGING to be edited and put up on the blog today, don't you think?

This is miss K and my nephew Aiden. They are only 1 month apart in age, can you believe it? We were walking across the field to the parking lot after the game and she took it upon herself to take Aiden's hand and lead him to the car. She is so protective and mothering with him, it is the cutest thing!

it's official...

2008-06-12T22:20:00.002-04:00

I am officially the mom to three kids who will probably never get out of the pool ALL. SUMMER. LONG. I've created a monster in Kaitlyn (loch ness maybe?). From the time she wakes up in the morning till the sun is gone from the sky, every other sentence from her mouth is "can I go in the pool momma?" I can't complain though... seeing as how I LOVE LOVE LOVE summertime and being outside all day long is way more tolerable when I can dip in the pool every so often to cool down! Now if I could only do something about Kaitlyn's redheaded, fair-skinned, easily burned complexion.... I should buy stock in Water Babies sunblock! (for some reason Devin "grew out of" the fair skinned-ness and now he gets nice and golden-tan- and covered in freckles which I think is ADORABLE!)

OK, are you ready for this? Major pool photo overload comin' at cha! Hey, her first year of NOT being terrified of the water only comes once, right? ;)

She was singing, "I love my pool, my pool is the awesomest, my pool is the funnest, my pool is the sparkliest and cleanest..." (to the tune of nanna nanna boo boo- you know that thing we used to sing as kids to torment someone when we had something they wanted? Yep.)

She sure does love that water!

She ran around and around...

..and squealed at the top of her lungs in a pitch I am certain only dogs can hear...

...and floated in her hippo floaty ring...

...and tormented Devin (love how he's like "What?" when I scolded him for splashing water in her face)

He even taught her to spit water (oh joy of joys)

Look at his poor finger... he smashed it almost 2 months ago in the bathroom door (we have one of those pocket doors that slides into the wall on our bathroom). We are just waiting for the fingernail to fall off. Ick.

So this is how we spent our day today (Austin was around somewhere, but wanted NO PART of being photographed with his shirt off. Tweenagers. *snort*). I can see many, MANY days to come over the next few months of sitting poolside and listening to them giggle... it is sure making this year's summer vacation a LOT more fun than last year's! ;)

what kind of mom am i?

2008-06-12T12:12:00.001-04:00

Which TV Mom Are You?

My Result: Lorelai Gilmore

You are Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls. A traditional mama you aren't, but that doesn't mean you don't love your kids or aren't great in this role. You like to put a modern twist on things — no need to become your mother, after all — although sometimes you might wonder if that wouldn't be all bad.

You probably believe in being friends with your child, and you try your best to be open and honest about your choices, good or bad, past or present. You like being known as the cool mom in the neighborhood that your kids' friends can come to if they need an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes your children may wish they had a mom that acted like everyone else's — or at least one who didn't raid their closets and acted her age. But most of the time, they think you're pretty cool. And that's fine by you, because the feeling is mutual.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=tvmomogt&c=50652

Yup. That sounds about right.

LOL! :)

water bug.

2008-06-11T22:08:00.002-04:00

Whew, what a busy busy week I've had! Not only busy with work, but busy with family & stuff. This past weekend was our 12th wedding anniversary (whoohoo!) so we celebrated by having a weekend ALONE for the first time in YEARS. It was AWESOME. :) Devin's been busy with baseball games, both boys have been going to golf camp, and Kaitlyn got an early b-day gift from her mamaw- a swimming pool!

She was very hesitant at first about the whole pool idea. She is kind of weird about stuff and she is very afraid of lots of things (water included). The pool has been set up since Friday but today was the first day she has actually gone IN the pool. I took pics the first day of her ALMOST getting in...

..and today she actually got ALL THE WAY in the pool! I was so proud. OK, so maybe I had to force her into the water. And maybe she had to hold onto my neck for a good half hour with a vise grip that almost choked the life out of me. But evenutally, eventually, she loosened her grip and realized she can TOUCH THE BOTTOM and that the water is NOT over her head, and she was off like a little fish! She zipped around that pool like a water bug and we played for HOURS, just the two of us, while the boys were all golfing. I was so proud! Of course I don't have pics from today's actual SWIMMING, since I was IN the pool with her... isn't that the way it always goes? LOL

puppy love.

2008-06-06T17:35:00.002-04:00

I had an absolute blast photographing this gal and her adorable dog yesterday! It was HOT HOT HOT outside but it was worth it! I hope she enjoyed herself as much as I did and that she loves her photos too. Jenny, if you are reading this, thank you so much for allowing me to catch a small glimpse into your and Ginger's lives yesterday! I should have your gallery up for you sometime next week!

Isn't she GORGEOUS?!

And on a side note, Jason and I are getting ready to head out of town for the weekend for a romantic getaway! I can't even remember the last time we got away, just the two of us, for more than a few hours! I can't wait, my bags are packed and I am just finishing up some cleaning and laundry and waiting for him to get home so we can get OUTTA HERE! :)

if you can't beat 'em...

2008-06-04T12:49:00.002-04:00

...join 'em!

Kaitlyn has become obsessed with picking my flowers. Nothing I say or do keeps her from picking at least one a day. So today I decided to just go with it and let her pick me a whole bouquet for the dining room table... secretly hoping that having all these flowers already picked will appease her for at least a few days!

She did an excellent job choosing the flowers and she even arranged them in the vase herself! (of course, I had to pick the thorns off the roses so she could pick them. Spoiled!)

And I took this opportunity to use my flash indoors so I could be on theme! I bounced it behind and above me, off the ceiling and wall.

So proud!

She was so excited, talking about how beautiful her flowers are and how the princesses will be so surprised when they see them!

I also played with the flash outdoors... I didn't really need it today though, it was overcast but still fairly bright out. Oh well.

Pig had to pose with her, lol!

Sorry about the "censored" black box... her panties were showing!

And one without flash, her first "find" of the day. I just liked it. *shrug*

And just for fun, a fisheye shot! She loved this because she "looks like a Little Pet Shop kitty!"

macro monday

2008-06-02T17:50:00.002-04:00

I'm off theme today (using flash) but Kaitlyn was SO proud of these flowers she picked for me from the garden (without asking, mind you!) I just had to post them. She even helped me with the fake rain from the spray bottle (and only sprayed me a little bit this time!). I am not sure what kind of flower the first two are, but it was about the size of a quarter and came off some little bushy type plant where there were dozens of other blossoms. I think the last 3 are a type of rose... they came from a very thorny plant. I am so bad about knowing flower types beyond the typical ones (roses, daisies, etc).

stay cool.

2008-06-01T18:54:00.003-04:00

It was HOTTT outside today! For the first time this year it hit 90- summer has officially arrived! The kids did anything they could think of to keep cool. Austin stayed inside mostly, playing on the computer (that's my boy, lol) while Kaitlyn and Devin played in K's water table, and I sat in a lawnchair on the patio taking in some rays. (until I got too hot, then I moved into the shade- I am a wimp!)

Devin taught Kaitlyn to dip her forehead in the water and flip water on me, lol!

Devin took a break

and Kaitlyn saw her chance to take over the table- by climbing INTO it!

We definitely need a pool. :p

I hope you all are staying cool today!

mickey d's and mini golf.

2008-05-31T16:04:00.003-04:00

Prepare for a massive photo overload! We just don't do this often so I took about a gazillion pics while we were there. It was just SUCH an amazingly gorgeous day- about 80 degrees, sunny, brilliant blue sky, kids getting ALONG (GASP)... gotta take advantage when I can, right? :)

I "bribed" the kids to be GOOD with McDonald's and mini golf... it is getting more and more expensive to do but gosh darn it, it WORKS!

We'll start with Austin... he won the round (as usual- he's a natural) with a score of 46.

and his patented "pool-style" shot for par:

Devin didn't do quite as well with his score of 71... but you know Devin, he really couldn't have cared less WHAT he scored, he was just all about having FUN (my kind of kid!)

and a quick pose for mom:

Kaitlyn was a TRIP. She was more interested in moving the boys' golf balls than playing herself. Oh well, she had fun anyway!

Look at that form!

Ummm... the hole is the OTHER way!

Oh well, if you can't hit it in the right way, it's perfectly acceptable to just move your ball right next to the hole, right?

I just liked this one for some reason.

And after a quick "lesson" by Austin on how to hold the club the right way...

Devin had to fish his ball out of the ditch!

Pouting because Austin got after her for blocking his ball from getting a hole in one.

OK, I'll not bore you with any more mini golf pics! I hope you all had a nice day too!

buds & blooms

2008-05-30T19:52:00.000-04:00

(creative title, huh?)

Still feeling "blah" today, although the kids and I had a great day of McDonald's and mini golf (pics tomorrow) so I am perking up! Just had a lot on my mind lately.

The light was fading fast when I took these, so they are a little bit grainy. I attempted earlier but the sun was so strong I was having a major problem clipping the reds (like I did in the pinks yesterday- yuck). Then I got distracted by a phone call and I was just about too late to get these! So please forgive my lack of creativity today!

A few rose buds (will probably be full-on roses in a few days' time)

more roses

a daylily (I think?)- Devin commented that the colors look like ketchup and mustard in this shot, lol

and just because I couldn't resist...

drip. drop.

2008-05-29T16:47:00.001-04:00

Kaitlyn helped me with today's POTD. She so lovingly sprayed all the flowers around our house with the spray bottle (and sprayed ME quite a bit while she was at it, lol!) so I could get some macro water drop photos. I hope you all aren't sick of these, I seem to be just a LITTLE bit obsessed with reflections in water drops lately! ;)

Tomorrow I promise to post some pics of the ACTUAL flowers! :)

I'm having trouble with clipping in reds and pinks, even after turning the saturation down in my camera... any suggestions? (not shooting those colors in full sun probably? LOL)

a friend in the garden.

2008-05-28T16:24:00.002-04:00

It seems like every day it is a different "friend" that Kaitlyn needs to carry everywhere she goes. Today is was Scratchy (that is the bunny's name). And she also "needed" to wear her Cinderella dress today as well. Who am I to argue? LOL

The sun was directly overhead and I didn't bother going back in to get my flash to fill in the shadows, so I did my best. I had a rough day yesterday and I just am not "feeling it" today. I think I need more sleep, I kept having nightmares last night for some reason. :(

So here is the princess and today's "best friend"!

It was so funny listening to her have a conversation with her bunny.

Kaitlyn: Scratchy, would you like to eat some pink flowers?

Bunny (Kaitlyn in a VERY HIGH PITCHED voice): Oh yes! But no roses, they have prickers and thorns!

Kaitlyn: Ok bunny, no roses for you! (makes bunny pretend to eat flowers) Scratchy, would you like a drink of water?

Bunny: Yes yes yes! My throat is SO dry from all those delicious flowers!

Kaitlyn: Oh no! We live in the desert, there is no water here!

Bunny: Oh no! We need to find an asis! (oasis) Hop on that camel and let's go!

Kaitlyn: bumpity bumpity bumpity bump. Wow this camel is bumpy!

Bunny: I need a nap.

Kaitlyn: Ok, see you later Scratchy bunny. (goes to play on the swingset)

happily ever after.

2008-05-25T22:23:00.003-04:00

I had the distinct privilege to be asked to share and photograph a small but lovely wedding this afternoon. It was a perfect day, warm, sunny, a nice little breeze... and a beautiful gazebo on the riverside. What more could you ask for?

Lighting their unity candle signifying their two lives joined together as one:

Their first kiss as husband and wife!

She looked breathtaking!

LOVE this!

The girls:

of course, a little cake smashing:

Some pretty details (cause we KNOW it's all about the little things!)

LOL

I had a blast with them, even though it was a short day for me all things considering. I still get a little choked up watching two people so much in love beginning their "happily ever after". :)

happiness is...

2008-05-24T19:42:00.003-04:00

...having a bigger boat

...when all you need to "go fishin'" is a stick and some water

...watching the windsurfers

...and this kid

...who sits for me for hours

...while I practice fill flash

...and never ever complains or asks for anything in return

...and is just happy to get one on one time with mom.

(and who is in desperate need of a haircut but both he and mom love it long and shaggy!)

photos and enchiladas.

2008-05-23T11:52:00.003-04:00

Of course happiness for me is taking pictures! But it makes me even happier to DO something with them. This was my project this week:

(can you see me in the tv reflection? Hi!)

It makes me smile every time I look at it. And I am even happier to be able to say I mounted each photo myself, I didn't even have the lab do it! I feel so productive! LOL!

I realized I've been leaving Jason out of all the happiness this week... so the other night I took photos of one thing this week that made HIM happy: enchiladas! I really should make these more often, they don't take long at all and they are so yummy!

Enchiladas

2 lbs hamburger meat (can substitute chicken or turkey if desired)

2 packets or jars taco seasoning (I used 1 jar Taco Bell taco sauce and 1 packet Old El Paso seasoning- I like to mix & match)

Flour tortillas (as many as you think you will need)- I use the wheat ones

1 lg. can refried beans

1 can enchilada sauce

1 bag shredded Mexican cheese

Brown hamburger meat thoroughly, drain grease. Add taco seasoning/sauce and refried beans, stir until heated through. Put a couple of spoonfuls of meat/bean mixture inside shells and wrap, placing into a baking dish. Top with a generous drizzling of enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 mins until cheese is melted to your liking. Enjoy!

these years.

2008-05-21T17:12:00.003-04:00

Laying in the grass
Playing dizzy dollys
We fall to the ground
Fits of laughter
Climbing over walls
Crawling through bushes
Running from the farmer
Jumping for joy as we push the limits
These years I missed
So I live them now
Coming home with grass stains
Because she wouldn’t let go
Sitting on the swing
So high off the ground

Falling down
Grazing knees
Climbing over the bar
I’m too tall to crawl under
Rolling down the hill
Losing ourselves in the fun

These times I’ll take for granted
But I'll never forget
Shouting ‘catch me’
When going down the slide

Living life as it comes
Savor every breath

Rock out at Church
Wear odd shoe laces
Steal all the covers
Scream at the bugs
Jump on friends
Despite what people say
Say thanks for what you have
Stand on your tippy toes
Try to touch the sky
Watch the stars at night
Time passing you by
Never forget these years
You’ll never get them back
They are the best
With the best of friends

Make the most of what you’ve got
Don't let it get away
Let yourself go
Don't be scared
Be a kid while you can!

~~Author Unknown

pure.

2008-05-20T16:03:00.005-04:00

-

How do you like to go up in a swing?
Up in the air so blue
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside-

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown,
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

~Robert Louis Stevenson

sending love to daddy...

2008-05-19T13:20:00.002-04:00

My brother in law Trent is away at basic training right now, so I took some photos of my sister and nephew to print and send to him so he can feel closer to home. They miss him SO MUCH but it will all be worth it once he is done with basic and tech school and he has that awesome job! :)

And I am kind of on theme today... because he will be so HAPPY to see these photos and they will ALL be happy once they are together again!

A message for daddy:

peace

special smiles for daddy

Mommy and Avery

We are all so proud of Trent and it will be quite a celebration when he finally comes home! :)

zoo fun? not!

2008-05-18T16:51:00.004-04:00

My mom, dad, sister, ane nephew came to visit for the weekend. We had lots of fun stuff planned. Including a trip to the Evansville zoo. It should be great, right? The kids should have fun, right? I mean, who DOESN'T like going to the zoo?

Kaitlyn and my nephew Avery, apparently! I don't know what went wrong, but it was contagious. About 10 minutes in they both started whining, and complaining, and being just generally intolerable. They didn't want to ride in the wagon. They didn't want to walk. Kaitlyn wanted to be carried (I was NOT about to start that with her! She is too big!). They were tired. They were hungry. Devin was bored. Austin kept disappearing.

Sigh.

Maybe we can try again in a few weeks. Next time I think I want to go back to the Louisville zoo though. At least I got a few snapshots of the kids and the animals to share. I guess I'm not on theme today, since the theme is "happiness" and they were most definitely NOT happy! (well, with the exception of the time they spent feeding the giraffes)

A pretty pink bird (I don't think it was a flamingo though?)

a prairie dog

eeek!

Kaitlyn liked him though

a very friendly giraffe

(see that sign behind the boys? It's blurry, but it says "Please do not feed the animals!" Oops!)

I see you!

this tortoise was HUGE!

some funny little gibbons:

a poisonous tree frog:

a grumpy hippo:

After about 2 hours at the zoo, the kids were ready to GO. We left and stopped at Micky D's for a late lunch then headed back to my house. It wasn't long before this happened (THANK GOODNESS!):

this rain is for the dogs.

2008-05-15T17:40:00.003-04:00

What is UP with all this rain lately! Thank goodness I live on a hill or we'd have floated away by now! Sheesh.

I guess you get dogs today. But that's ok... they are pretty darned cute dogs if I do say so myself. :)

This is Pac, my sister's stepdog (LOL). I feel that way too buddy.

(but aren't his catchlights purdy?!)

No doggie catchlights in the next two... it's hard to get them when you have hair over your eyes. Right guys?

This little guy is Levi, my sister's newest furbaby.
He also belongs to my nephew (Mr. I'm-gonna-run-you-over-with-my-four-wheeler from yesterday)

And this is the most rotten dog of them all (spoiled rotten, that is!). His name is Ozzie. He is a pampered little prince and he knows it! (though he kind of needs a bath here!)

Look at that supermodel dog pose. He is all that and a bag of chips.

*sigh*

Can someone else PLEEEEEAAAASE take this rain away, just for the weekend? I have places to go, things to do, and pictures to take!

butt-fly

2008-05-14T18:51:00.004-04:00

Yes, I said BUTT fly. According to miss K, that is what this caterpillar will be when he grows up.

(and look at him all posing for me and whatnot! Psst- caterpillar catchlights!)

Since today is so yucky and dreary and rainy, I had to dig thru my pics from the weekend for something to post. Sorry.

My nephew got this super cool power wheels 4-wheeler recently. He is SO good at riding it! He was even so kind as to give Kaitlyn a ride!

She was terrified, so a very short ride it was. But that was ok by him, he was perfectly content to just chase her around the field pretending to try to run her over. Boys. *Snort*

(this is his "I'm gonna run over you!" face. Gotta love it!)

He rode, and rode, and rode that thing. Definitely the best $200 my sister ever spent!

Fair warning: if it's still icky out tomorrow you are going to have to look at doggie catchlights for tomorrow's POTD!

Just sayin'. :p

his kind of friend.

2008-05-13T10:23:00.005-04:00

Austin made a friend at the birthday party this weekend. His name is Tommy. He is a little slow, and he doesn't really talk, but he's a VERY good listener. Meet Tommy everyone!

(look- I'm on theme- turtle catchlights! LOL)

Austin played with this turtle for quite a while... sitting off by themselves and just chillin. Which is right up Austin's alley because he's not much for being social anyway, especially lately.

(not very enthused to have his picture taken)

Feeding Tommy a leaf (I don't think Tommy actually ate it though.)

Kaitlyn even took to Tommy- which was a shock because she usually doesn't like things like that!
(eww Kaitlyn! NO!)

Unfortunately, Tommy belonged to another boy at the party- my cousin's son Dylan. And sadly, they had to let Tommy go free later that evening. Maybe Tommy will meet up with his new friends again someday.

mday

2008-05-12T09:45:00.004-04:00

Gotta love these "Hallmark holidays"! I didn't ask for anything for Mother's day, and honestly I didn't care if I got anything at all (since I just got a new camera and camera bag!). But Devin brought me home the sweetest handmade gifts from school... I just had to share. I cherish these little things he makes, because I know before long he won't be needing me anymore. *sniff* And these home made gifts mean so much more to me than anything you can buy at a store!

I just wanted to share the sweet little things he made for me. I got a card, a picture frame, and a hand painted flower pot!
alt="Photobucket">

I have to show you these a little closer...

..and the inside of the card (LOVE THIS!):

if you can't read it, it says:

Young
Outstanding
Underly cool

Astonishing
Really nice
Exellent (sp)

Smells good
Pretty
Extraordinary
Comical
Interesting
Awesome
Loving

I am just finding out that I am "underly cool"! Heck, it's good to know I guess, all this time I thought I was "overly cool" and I've been fooling myself! LOL!

Oh, and an update on Kaitlyn's plants! Look at these guys! They will be ready to transfer outside SOON! She is SO stinkin' proud.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend... I got to spend mine with my kids, my mom, and my sisters. What more can a girl ask for? :)

**edit** You guys are so right! I had to look again, and I AM "udderly" cool NOT "underly" cool! Woot woot! Whew... I was giving myself a complex there for a while thinking I was no longer a "cool mom"! LOL!

rain, rain, go away...

2008-05-08T09:44:00.002-04:00

It's raining again. Looks like no outdoor fun for us today either. Sigh.

I did take some "head shots" of miss K yesterday while she was playing... she had her Littlest Pet Shop toys in the sand (well, not ALL of them or there wouldn't have been room in the sandbox for HER, lol) and she was making them "talk" to each other. Apparently they were going on an adventure to rescue the little pig who was buried in the sand. Every few seconds she would stop and tell me something that I'm sure was VERY important about the animals' "mission" and then go back to playing. She said some really cute things but I've slept since then and I forgot to write them down last night so they have flown out of my brain now.

So since I won't be taking photos of anything interesting today, here are just a few of the many faces of Kaitlyn:

And for those of you who asked... the sand came from Wal-Mart! They had a big stack of it right beside the turtle sandboxes. It is Crayola brand sand and they had other colors too! I believe they had blue, green, and purple! :)

sandy cheeks.

2008-05-07T17:24:00.003-04:00

If you don't think my daughter is spoiled by now, this post will put you over the edge.

Her daddy decided she *needs* a turtle sandbox. With PINK sand no less! It is sort of her "reward" for being fully potty trained now, both day AND night. She hasn't had an accident in almost 2 months! Go girl! So he decided today was the big day. I'm sure her recent injury helped speed things along... what do you think? She has him wrapped around her little finger, I'm tellin' ya!

Of COURSE since we wanted to do a special outdoor project today, it decided to rain. So the turtle and his contents had to be set up underneath the carport. (the lovely, cluttered, carport.) So much for a nice background. (yes, I left the back door open part of the day today... it was NICE outside. We really need a screen door on that doorway.)

But she was thrilled, that's all that mattered right? She played in that thing for HOURS (until she had half the sand scattered all over and I made her get out so I could sweep it up. She was NOT thrilled about that!) Then the rain started to blow a bit and it was blowing onto the sand, so I had to put the lid on it. Fingers crossed for a dry day tomorrow!

my poor, poor baby.

2008-05-06T13:59:00.002-04:00

Devin had a baseball game last night. (his team won- woohoo!) Towards the end of the game, Kaitlyn was climbing UP the slide on the playground (which she KNOWS she's not supposed to do!) and slipped, twisting her wrist up underneath herself, and slid partway back down the slide on her arm. She cried. And cried. And cried. I debated and debated over whether to get it checked out last night, but since it was not obviously deformed looking I went ahead and took her home, gave her some ibuprofen, and got her to sleep. She was still favoring it quite a bit this morning and wasn't wanting to move her fingers at all, so I bit the bullet and took her in.

We ended up in the ER, getting xrays, and spending half the day there (fun fun). Turns out it is NOT broken (thank goodness), but it WAS dislocated and it is sprained. Popping it back into place was NO FUN and I hope I never have to hear that God-awful sound again as long as I live! She was a trooper (except for the relocating of the wrist) and did much better than I thought she was. She ended up with a ton of stickers, a coloring book and crayons, and a lovely half-cast like splint that she has to wear for the next week and a half or so. This should be interesting. :(

And yes, I am the crazy woman who grabs her camera on the way out the door and photographs the event! (taken with the new 40D! woop woop!)

Waiting for the ortho to read the xrays and watching "My Friends Tigger and Pooh" on the tv in her hospital room:

scratching her nose with her stickers (LOL):

Royally ticked off after they relocated her wrist and put the splint on:

back at home and enjoying her light-up baby bottle pop:

a closer view of the splint (love the Ernie sticker!):

kids.

2008-05-05T15:25:00.002-04:00

I have some of the photos I took of the kids the other day that I wanted to share... nothing major but I wanted to post these nonetheless... I'll post a few of their individual shots tomorrow. The whole point of me even trying to take these pics was for a little Mother's Day project I'm working on. (mom, pretend you didn't see these, OK?)

growin' some audreys...

2008-05-05T14:59:00.003-04:00

Kaitlyn is proud to announce that some of her seeds have sprouted!

They are ever-so-tiny, but they are there! You should have heard her squeal with delight when she went to water them today and saw the tiny sprouts!

After they got their drinks, we took them onto the front porch to get some good sun since it is BEAUTIFUL outside today. She was talking to them.

(I totally blew out that photo, in my haste I forgot to change my iso back to 100 and it is SO bright out today!)

She kept calling them "Audrey" and I didn't quite understand WHY (though one of my sisters' name is Audrey...). When I asked her about it, she said, "they are audreys momma... you know, like the plant on tv that likes to drink blood and eated the guy?"

(OH MY WORD)

I just stood there with my mouth open at a loss for words, then it dawned on me what on earth she was talking about! She had watched part of Little Shop of Horrors on TV last night, Devin turned it on and I didn't realize what he was watching at first but as soon as it hit me what it was I made him turn it off (I didn't want her to have nightmares!).

I guess I can KINDA see it.... a little family resemblance maybe? (LORDY I hope not! LOL)

200th blog post!

2008-05-04T12:42:00.000-04:00

I just noticed that this is my 200th post on this blog! WOW! Who knew I had that much to say, lol! I'll try and make this a good one! Gosh, the pressure!

I'm actually on theme today (GASP). I was feeling peppy this morning so I slapped on the extension tubes for some water drop macros. Get ready... there are a LOT of them! (and no, it's not REAL rain... I totally faked it with the water bottle!)

We had a good day today. The boys GOT ALONG (which is HUGE), Jason got to go golfing with his buddy so he is in a good mood, Kaitlyn has been a great little helper and I managed to get ALL of the laundry done up AND the house is (fairly) clean, which NEVER happens on the weekends when all the kids are home all day! I am feeling pretty pleased with myself for being so productive. I hope everyone else's weekends are going well too and that you all had nice weather to enjoy!

we are gills.

2008-05-03T20:23:00.003-04:00

I took the kids to the park this morning to GET OUT, I haven't felt very well for TWO WEEKS now and even though I'm still not 100% I just HAD to do something. It was a little bit chilly today, we must have another storm front coming in or something.

Anyway, on to the point of this post... I took some pics of the kids today (will share those later) and after we got home I put the camera away. Apparently this bothered Kaitlyn, she was NOT done being photographed. I went to sit down and rest for a minute because I was so winded and she brought me my camera bag and said

"Momma, I need more pitchers. You have to take pitchers of me and you momma, because we are gills and gills take pretty pitchers."

(she says gills instead of girls... I think it is adorable!)

So we went into the dining room and I sat the camera on the desk and we sat on a chair and we took some pitchers. Just us gills.

(in the last shot, she is telling me "Gills look at the camera and gills smile nice and gills look pretty and gills are cantastic."

I used my remote and flash, hopefully the lighting looks ok! (and I REALLY should have taken a sec to comb our hair and wash her face, hands, and legs- we had just come in from playing and it was such an impromptu thing! Oh well.)

new table.

2008-05-03T10:04:00.000-04:00

For mom & Em (I knew you two would be interested!). It is a "pub table" meaning it is taller than a normal table & chairs. I LOVE it. The chairs are a chocolate brown leather and padded- oh so comfy! And it looks awesome with the red walls in the dining room!

Sometimes it pays to have a husband in the furniture business! :)

Also I wanted to respond to a couple of the comments from yesterday's post:

I don't have a green thumb either, I actually joke about having a BROWN thumb because usually any plant I try to care for dies! Luckily Kaitlyn is in charge and so far she hasn't forgotten to water them...:)

My "lighting" was mostly my external flash actually! I was surprised to see Pat's comment about the nice lighting because it was SO dark out and stormy we pretty much had NO natural light. I am trying to get as good as possible with my flash indoors so that really made my day!

I can't remember what all we planted, but I do remember planting Sweet Pea, Delphinium, Texas bluebonnets, and some kind of hybrid sunflowers. I am sure lots of the seeds got mixed together, so it should be a nice surprise when they do sprout!

I will definitely take pics of Kaitlyn next to the seeds from time to time to track their progress! That's a great idea! :)

plant a seed.

2008-05-02T14:04:00.001-04:00

I am going to swipe Mandy's blogging style, just for today, and post a couple of quotes that I love that also seem to fit today's photos. I love her blog, for many reasons (the gorgeous photos of her girls being the main one!) but I also love that I come away from it every day with something DEEP to think about. Love ya Mandy! :)

"Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has
been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed
there, and I am prepared to expect wonders."

--Henry David Thoreau

Kaitlyn and I planted seeds in these trays yesterday, to get them started so we can transfer them to the garden in a few weeks. I took this opportunity to have a nice long discussion (as in-depth as one can get with a 3 1/2 year old) about planting seeds and taking care of them and having to have faith that even though we cannot yet see the plant, it WILL grow.

Here she is telling me about how she thinks it is a miracle to grow a beautiful flower from a tiny black seed (love it, she is so much like me she plays with her hair when she talks!)

We brought the trays to the front of the house where they will get the best light and I let her "water" them with a squirt bottle:

She was very proud of her handiwork!

And I will leave you with my favorite quote about seeds (well, it's not really even about seeds, but about potential...)

"dry seeds scatter
from my hand into the wind
one clings
as if to say there is in me
something yet to be"

--Jeanne Emrich

bubbles- finally!

2008-05-01T13:04:00.005-04:00

Hallelujah, we finally have bubbles! A gallon jug of bubble juice and fresh batteries in the bubble gun and we were good to go! :)

(these are SO not perfect shots, but I am trying to not worry so much about perfection and concentrate more on just capturing the moments!)

You know how the cowboys blow on their pistol after a shootout to blow the smoke away? Yep.

Then she decided for some strange reason to turn the gun on herself... crazy girl! She was making the funniest expressions as the bubbles blew into her face!

Then she was done... she decided digging in the rocks was more fun than having bubble juice in her eyes. Can't say that I blame her.

Oh, and in the meantime, Austin practiced skateboard tricks. Had to throw this one is because he rarely lets me take his picture! It cracks me up how he sticks his tongue in his cheek when he in concentrating...lol...

And I can't flippin' believe it's MAY already! Geez this year is flying by!

sweetness.

2008-04-30T19:43:00.003-04:00

I was lucky enough to steal this little guy away for an extremely quick mini-shoot on Sunday! I'm talking literally only taking 5 or 6 shots and bringing him back to mommy. I will be doing his actual shoot very soon though, just as soon as I can get back up that way! Isn't he just precious! :)

I liked these best in b&w/sepia...

(I thought it was adorable how he kept flopping his leg over the side like that!)

and in case you are curious, here are the color versions:

Oh no! My husband's going to JAIL!

2008-04-30T11:48:00.002-04:00

...for a GOOD cause! LOL! Had ya going there for a second, didn't I?

He is raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and he will be getting LOCKED UP on June 18 for the cause! His personal goal is to raise $1200 for the MDA by the deadline of June 18.

Here's what the money can do:

$25 Flu Shot

$85 One minute of research

$100 One support group session

$150 One physical, occupational or respiratory therapy consultation

$200 Professional fees related to initial diagnostic work-up at an MDA clinic

$500 Assists one person for one year with the repair of a wheelchair or leg braces

$650 Sends one child to MDA summer camp

$1,200 Pays for one year of Support Group meetings helping families cope with the challenges of neuromuscular disease

$2,000 Assists one person with the purchase of a wheelchair, leg braces or communication device

$3,900 Pays for an hour of MDA’s research seeking treatments and cures for more than 40 neuromuscular diseases.

$6,500 Sends 10 of ‘Jerry’s kids’ to MDA summer camp for a week of fun and recreation geared to their abilities.

Your bail money is put to good use: 76% of every dollar MDA raises goes directly to research, health care services and education.

CLICK HERE to go to Jason's page on the MDA website and make a direct contribution to this wonderful cause!

And don't you worry... when they "lock him up" on June 18th I WILL be there with my camera- that's a moment I don't want to miss! LOL!

arte y pico

2008-04-29T13:14:00.002-04:00

I don't know how this happened, but I have been blessed to receive this award from THREE of my blogging friends. What blows me away even more than that is, these are 3 photographers whom I look to for inspiration on almost a daily basis so I just feel SO overwhelmed that they would think of ME as being inspirational! Thanks ladies (you know who you are) :)

Arte y Pico Award ~ an award for blogs filled with art and creativity ~ there are some rules attached to this award and in passing it on to others they are as follows;

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.

4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico’ blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. To show these rules.

With that out of the way, here are my 5 nominees for the arte y pico inpirational blogger award:

1. Bobbi. She has such a fun, fresh, funky style that I ADORE, her processing is top-notch, plus I am pretty sure we were separated at birth- we are so alike it is scary. And she can youtube-bad-video-battle like no other!

2. Mandy. For her creative, artistic outlook on life- visiting her blog every day is like finding treasure- I never know what I will see next, but I always know it will be FABULOUS! Her creativity knows no bounds... I love that about her!

3. Ariana. She is a superwoman. Somehow she manages to homeschool her gorgeous girlies, keep a spic and span house, go on fun adventures, and still make time to blog so I can keep up on what's new in her world. I love her real life style!

4. Amanda. I love how she is constantly pushing the envelope with her senior photography. She comes up with the BEST ideas (like a bathtub in a field, or pushing each other in a shopping cart!) and I am constantly inspired by her photos. And did I mention she is only 20? What I wouldn't GIVE to have had her level head and sense of direction at that age!

5. Kristi. Not only does she have THE most gorgeous little boy and hubby on the planet, she is completely talented to boot! I love her style. Plus she is just an amazing, strong woman with an awesome sense of humor!

Whew, that was tough. Can't I just give the award to everyone? :)

young kids and an old truck

2008-04-29T10:43:00.003-04:00

I love the location my sister has my neice's bday parties at! There is a grassy field, some woods, and an old, old truck smack in the middle of the grass just across the road from the party building. Talk about a photographer's heaven! :)

I ventured over there with Kaitlyn, my neice, and my nephew but all of the other kids followed us too- they didn't want to miss out on any fun! The little ones loved sitting up on the old truck and having their picture taken! We had a kind of "assembly line" going there for a minute, each kid got their turn!

Here is "the pose" again...

The birthday girl Mallory and her "look" she has been sporting this week (can ya blame her- she had been in the hospital with pneumonia all week and been poked and prodded day and night- I would have this look too after all that!)

A little closer up of Mallory.. I like how she bent on knee...

My nephew Avery... what a cheeser! He is SUCH a good little guy... mine never listened as well as he does!

This one may as well be another nephew to me... he is getting ready to turn 2 as well! Isn't he a cutie?

I used my acid wash action on all of these... I loved the depth it gives to the rusty truck!

(mental note: come back to this old truck in the field with my sister when she is ready to do her trash the dress shoot!)

I don't think I am going to be on theme at all this week (water)... I have way too many more pics from this weekend to share! Oh well. :p

ring around the rosie...

2008-04-28T13:31:00.003-04:00

pockets full of posies...

ashes...

ashes...

we all fall DOWN!

cows are in the meadow...

eating buttercups...

ashes...

ashes...

we all stand UP!

Just a few fun ones from my niece's bday party yesterday.... yes, we DID go. Kaitlyn's eye looked SO much better yesterday morning, those drops did wonders! Now the redness is almost all the way gone. I'm glad we went, we had such a fun time and the kids slept like ROCKS last night- woohoo! :)

i missed this one somehow...

2008-04-27T19:55:00.004-04:00

This was taken the same day I took the "wish flowers" pics but somehow I skipped right over it! I don't know how that happened!

This is Kaitlyn's new "pose". Any time I ask her to sit nicely and smile this is what I get:

I suppose it COULD be worse... this actually isn't that bad. It's even kinda cute. Not like the boys when they put that horrible fake cheesy smile on that makes them look like they are about to poop their pants.

I never got "into" the fairy-fying photos craze... I admit to putting wings on kids a few times but I haven't gone all out and added magical wings and fairy dust and photshopped them into fairytale settings. Though the whole idea fascinates me. I guess I am lazy, it just looks like it would be a LOT of work. Finally I decided to give this shot a tiny bit of fairy "magic" and added the dragonfly wings. I ran a midnight gold action and reduced it down quite a bit because it was REALLY overpowering. What do you think?

Oh, and ps- Chell, I asked Kaitlyn for you where she gets her red hair. She said (matter of factly), "In a box from the cabinet, just like you momma!"

Gotta love her! :)

(truthfully, there is red hair on both sides of the family. Jason's side has the bright orange-red hair and my side has the more auburn red that Kaitlyn and Devin got.)

new glasses and a goopy eye

2008-04-26T16:10:00.004-04:00

The boys got their new glasses today! No big deal for Austin, this is his 4th pair since he started wearing them 3 years ago. But Devin is NOT happy about having to wear glasses now! He thinks he'll look like a dork and kids won't like him. I think he looks GREAT! He doesn't need them all the time, mainly just when he's reading the board at school or trying to see things far away.

I had to steal these shots of Austin while he was up in his room... (he picked out his OWN glasses- without ME!?! What is this world coming to? Today is the first time I've seen what he chose!)

... playing his new Zoo Tycoon game he got for his bday.

Devin would only let me take ONE shot... as you can tell he is NOT a happy camper. Hopefully he will get used to them or someone will pay him a compliment about them at school on Monday and that will change his attitude.

But doesn't he look SO cute (ahem... HANDSOME) in them?

And I can't have a post without Kaitlyn getting her "face time"... this morning she woke up with her left eye crusted almost shut. I managed to get it all cleaned out and get some eye drops in there but she has been complaining all day of it burning. I'm having a really hard time getting her to keep her hands out of them! I REALLY hope it's not pink eye... my niece's bday party is tomorrow (she's 2!) and I do NOT want to miss that!

I tried to get a "good" picture of her but she only wanted to make this face. She only wanted me to take HER picture because I was taking one of Devin at that time. Jealous much? :)

Here is a closer shot of her eye. I can't take her to the dr until Monday (no WAY am I going to the ER for this, lol) so my fingers are crossed that it just clears up overnight or something. Grrr.

OK, I see Devin is outside skateboarding so I need to get out there and take some more pictures! (IF he'll let me!)

the shirt...

2008-04-26T10:22:00.002-04:00

...is from Walgreens, believe it or not! I was in there last week picking up prescriptions and there was a whole big rack of little ones' t-shirts near the front of the store! They had sizes 6-9m through 4t. I got her the one you saw, and another one (red) that says "My dad ROCKS". There were a lot of really cute sayings on them, like "I still live at home with my parents" and "That's how I roll" (with a pic of a stroller on it!). I am definitely going to have to go back for some more... they were only 2 for $15. :)

make a wish

2008-04-25T11:09:00.001-04:00

Well... the bubbles were a bust. Literally. She ran out of "bubble juice" so I feebly attempted to make some with water and dish soap. It didn't work. Apparently I don't know the correct ratio of soap to water. I guess "bubble juice" is going on the grocery list! (teehee... and NOW you get to hear where my new blog banner photos came from!)

Luckily, our yard was due for mowing and we had a few dandelions. Or as K calls them, "wish flowers". She had SUCH a good time running around the yard picking wish flowers and blowing the seeds off. I guess I'll worry about all those new dandelions that will be growing from all those seeds when the time comes, lol! For now, it was nice to just be a kid again, running around the yard without a care in the world, truly believing that just by blowing all the seeds off a dandelion all my wishes would come true.

She couldn't stop giggling! I loved it.

(notice the t-shirt? Yep, I bought that.)

how did i get so out of touch?

2008-04-25T09:05:00.003-04:00

I got a phone call from my BEST FRIEND from high school last night. I bet I haven't talked to her in over 5 years now. We chatted and caught up on each other for over an hour and a half, it was SO nice! When we hung up, I felt sad to think that we were once inseperable, we knew every minute detail about each other's life, we could finish each other's sentences... and yet now we are totally different people living different lives that we never could have dreamed of or imagined for ourselves. How did that happen? Why is it that it is easier to just NOT call someone than it is to simply pick up the phone once in a while just to say "hi"?

We talked a LOT about God and how He puts us on the paths we need to be on in life. Even though we don't know WHY we are on that particular path, we just plug along and sooner or later it becomes clear where we were going all along. I truly feel that God is bringing two "bff's" back together for a reason. It has mostly been MY fault we haven't kept in touch... my family has moved around all over creation while she has stayed in the same general area we grew up in. But that's no excuse.

It's ironic the timing of her call, I have been feeling so down lately about life, my boys growing up too fast (namely Austin- he's getting armpit hair now for crying out loud!), stresses with Jason's dad passing away in November and Jason's recent health troubles... and it's amazing how one phone conversation can lift me back up to feel that it really IS going to all work out.

It was awesome talking with her again, it felt like no time had passed at all between us. And I am making myself a promise to not take the "easy" road this time and to make a conscious effort to stay in touch with her. A girl needs her girlfriends! :)

chalkin' it up

2008-04-24T10:12:00.004-04:00

Another thing I love about springtime- sidewalk chalk! I know some people don't like having their driveway and sidewalk covered in children's scribbles, but I love it! :) There is just something so FREE about drawing whatever pops into your head and having as huge a canvas as a driveway to express it in!

I wish I was feeling 100% so I could have joined in too... I just keep getting SO dizzy I couldn't kneel down and draw with her. I had to be content to sit in the patio chair and take pictures of the "action". Sigh. Stupid sinus crud.

I'm trying a "lily blue-ish" processing on these... I was going for a more nostalgic feel, what do you think?

(warning: chalk overload ahead!)

(she was telling me how MANY chalks she has!)

(drawing a "snowman")

("writing" her name)

(warning me NOT to touch her chalks!)

(she told me this spelled "A-O-A-O-A: Mommy!")

(thinking maybe she WOULD share her chalk with me after all)

(writing her name again... all "N's" LOL)

(gotta love that chubby little hand!)

(whew- all that "chalking" wore her OUT!)

Tomorrow's project: Bubbles! :)

baseball season!

2008-04-23T12:15:00.002-04:00

Baseball season is upon us! My favorite time of the year! Devin had his first practice game on Monday. They had to suit up in their uniforms and they had real umps and kept score so it FELT like a real game! Our boys did amazing. Devin started out at short stop and NOTHING gets by that kid, he is a black hole out there! He fielded well, got some hits, and even got to PITCH. I couldn't have been more proud of him!

Here he is getting ready for his first at-bat:

Getting his first hit! I love that I got the ball AND the catcher's mitt in the shot!

Here is a series of him pitching:

And I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this shot of him pitching... what a crazy expression, LOL!

I'm definitely NOT a great sports photog but I am sure going to try!

my baby is 12!

2008-04-22T22:01:00.002-04:00

I can't even wrap my MIND around it. I can't believe my BABY, my firstborn, is TWELVE today! What the heck happened? He was just a baby, then I blinked and now he's practically a man! Wahhh! :(

He had a great day today though. We took him to Fazoli's for dinner (his FAVORITE) and then his dad took him to Wal-Mart to pick out his birthday presents. He chose a big ole' Nerf gun with a scope and a "laser" sight, a Zoo Tycoon game for his computer, and some new clothes (cause that kid grows like a weed!). He made out pretty well I'd say.

He even- GASP- went out in the yard for a few minutes and let me take some pictures of him! I tried to make them count, cause Lord knows when the next time he's in the mood will be! He seriously HATES the camera so I am THANKFUL for this gift today!

I got a few serious ones...

...but mostly he goofed off. Crazy kid!

He also had his yearly physical today (he hates that!) and he had to get two shots. But now he's good on shots till he goes to (gulp) COLLEGE unless of course he gets hurt and needs a tetanus booster along the way.

He's truly one of a kind, and I wouldn't trade him for the world! Happy 12th birthday Austin! I love you more than you'll ever know!

ugh.

2008-04-21T22:43:00.003-04:00

Sorry to have "disappeared" for a couple of days like that! I have been sick. That nasty sinus/cold/headache/barking like a seal thing. Yuck. I really felt yucky today but Devin had a practice game tonight and he was SO excited about it so I dragged my sorry butt to the ball fields. He did REALLY well, I am so proud of him. He started out playing short stop and even pitched a little and struck out two batters! I managed to snap a few shots of him playing, I promise to post those in a couple of days.

Tomorrow is Austin's birthday. 12. Can you BELIEVE that crap? LOL. He has had the "teen" attitude for years though. He's having a bit of a rough time at school right now. He just found out two of his friends are moving away at the end of the school year so he is really bummed out. Making friends is hard for him, he's not like Devin who can just walk into a room and instantly have 10 best friends. Austin is more choosy about who he hangs with.

Sorry I have no pics to post today either. I just feel so BLAH. Oh wait, I guess I can share the one pic I've taken since Saturday(other than tonight). It's nothing really, just a little project I've been working on and I thought I might document my progress because it's going to take me a few weeks to finish it. I know how to crochet, I'm a little rusty, but I can't sit and do it for long periods of time like I'd like to because my hands cramp up and my wrist starts hurting. Plus this knobby yarn stuff is harder to work with than I thought it would be! Anyway, it doesn't look like much now, but eventually it will be a baby wrap. I thought the texture would be nice for both color and b&w photos. What do you think?

OK, I have GOT to get to bed now. My sinus meds are kicking in and I'm getting dizzy. Sigh.

fight club.

2008-04-19T16:18:00.002-04:00

The weekends and I have a love/hate relationship. I love spending the extra time with the boys that I don't get during the week. However, I hate how they get when they are together too much. Summertime is even worse. Thank goodness for extracurricular activities, they are going to be a sanity saver again this year!

Today was the usual for them. Either they love each other or they hate each other. Or they love each other and start rough housing until one of them gets hurt and THEN they hate each other. Luckily the "hating" only lasts a few minutes before they forgot what they were mad about and are friends again. Boys. Hmph.

I thought you all might like to see what a typical weekend day is like at our house. Are anyone else's boys like this? Sigh.

(my favorite)

(he was "protecting the princess from the evil troll")

And no, they weren't REALLY fighting. Just playing today. So far no one has been bruised or broken. (knock on wood)

SO.... who is having a nice quiet day alone today? Wanna trade? :p

i don't have anything exciting to post.

2008-04-18T22:27:00.002-04:00

But I'm going to post anyway!

I found a couple of shots from the other day that I forgot to post. Nothing spectacular but they probably seem odd to be posted together and out of context. Oh well.

I took a shot of part of the outside of the casino with my fisheye. I don't know, I just liked the yellow building with red domed roofs against the blue sky.

And here was a random shot from inside the fabric store... it's some glass votive candle holders. I liked the jewel tones of the glass. They were on the clearance shelf, I really should have picked up a few of them. They were really pretty and you KNOW how much I love candles!

See? Strange shots to be posting together huh?

So how was everyone else's day? I need to go check all the POTD blogs and find out! :)

not heaven, but pretty darn close...

2008-04-17T19:39:00.003-04:00

I have loads more pics from West Baden Hotel. I hope you all don't get sick of them! They are still working on the landscaping but once it is all done it will be STUNNING and full of color! And HOW LUCKY AM I that I get to do a portrait session the first part of June on these grounds with a beautiful lady and her beautiful doggie! I am SO excited about it!

Anything that has THIS at its entrance has GOT to be good!

I'll start you off with a far away view of the grassy area with the hotel in the background... that brown area will be filled with color as well. :)

Here's a little closer view...

Here is the grassy area where I plan to get plenty of action shots of her playing frisbee with her dog!

There were a couple of different littler buildings on the grounds too that I thought were pretty.

Check out the path to the gazebo! The side will be filled with flowers too.

No fancy hotel is complete without a fancy fountain!

I saw this hedge-lined stairway and it just begged to be shot as well.

Venturing up the stairs I found a small, old cemetery- and I wasn't alone up there! I stood there staring at them, and they stood there staring at me... but it was 3 vs 1 so I went back down the stairs. I was REALLY close to them though and they didn't spook and run away! I only had my 24-70 lens on here!

It was just amazing... my pics can't possibly do it justice. I wish there were a way to take a panoramic photo that included the full circle view! Every way you look it is just sheer beauty! June can't come soon enough! :)

happy birthday grandma!

2008-04-16T22:02:00.002-04:00

Today is my grandma's 85th birthday. It meant SO much to me that she wanted to spend the day with my mom and me! I don't live THAT far away from my grandparents, but it's just far enough I don't get to see them everyday like I did before I got married. My grandma is such an amazing woman. She has seen and done things I could never even fathom. She has seen wars, the Great Depression, the losses of children and her first husband, and countless other things I can't even wrap my mind around. And yet she is one of the strongest, most positive women I know. I can only hope and pray that one day I am like her and my granddaughters can see me like I see her- beautiful, both inside and out.

We had such a fun day today. We began at the Fabric Hideaway (and hid away it was!).

In the back room they had GORGEOUS furniture and fancy mirrors... look- I really was there!

From there we drove on to French Lick to the casino! I was hoping she would win 85,000 for her 85th birthday but it just wasn't in the cards (or should I say, in the slots?). We managed to escape without any of us losing any money though! So a winning day. I even came out $9 richer. :)

I thought this staircase was beautiful so I took a quick shot of my mom standing on it. About 2 seconds later a security guard scolded me and told me I am not allowed to take photos inside the casino. So I had to put my camera away. Too bad, I really wanted a shot or two of my grandma playing the slot machines. :(

Even the bathrooms were amazing in there!

After that we ventured over to the West Baden Hotel. OMG is that place STUNNING! The gardens, the fountain, the structure, the trees.... I imagine that is what Heaven will look like!

(I have tons more photos of the grounds I will post tomorrow...)

Finally we stopped to eat at Sonic. It was MMM-MMM Good!

What a wonderful day.... thank you so much for sharing it with me grandma! I love you!

things that made me...

2008-04-15T13:59:00.004-04:00

I realize yesterday's post was a bit depressing, I've just had a lot of things on my mind and it was just one of "those" days where it all comes to a boil.

So today I am making a list. Two lists actually. I challenge anyone who reads this to do the same!

Things that made me mad today:

* the boys fighting before school (always)
* Kaitlyn squirting toothpaste all over her chair in her room (again)
* having to put gas in my car (ouch)
* some animal got into the bag of trash and made a mess on the back patio
* stupid drivers
* pharmacy won't fill Austin's prescription and he accidentally got his pills all wet so he is OUT of meds for 9 more days
* said pharmacy would be willing to give me 9 pills for him- for $55 (ouch again)
* whiney 3 year olds

Things that made me happy today:

* GOOD news from the cardiologist about Jason's heart
* Kaitlyn picking up her toys without me asking her to
* squeeze hugs
* sunshine
* nice neighbors
* listening to Ingrid Michaelson
* getting an unexpected compliment
* knowing I am about to make someone's DAY
* BLUE skies
* and this tree:

Can you believe these are sooc? Yep, the sky is REALLY that blue today! YAY spring!

you ever just have one of those days...

2008-04-14T21:49:00.003-04:00

...where nothing big really happened but you still just feel "down"? I'm having one of "those" days today. It started off fine, Devin was sick today but otherwise the morning went as usual. I guess it's a lot of little things and finally TODAY they are all coming to the surface and I just feel BLAH. I don't know how to explain it. Am I the only one who just feels "off" sometimes?

Anyway... enough depressing junk.

I did play with my external flash a little. I wanted to try using it off of the camera, kind of like a one light studio setup. I need a lot of practice with this, and definitely a bigger reflector on a stand- but it CAN be done and gosh darn it, I'm gonna figure it out!

I played around with the angle of the light, mostly bouncing it off of the white ceiling since I have greyish blue walls in my living room. Took a couple of shots of Miss Thang and only one of sick boy, nothing special or spectacular but I thought I'd share. At least I got nice catchlights!

I know this is looking up his nose, but this is all he gave me before he decided he was NOT in the mood for pics and went upstairs to take a nap.

K was dragging her blanket that her Meemaw made for her for Christmas, it's a little big to be dragging around but she does it anyway! You can see she is just thrilled to see the crazy camera lady again.

And this one I just thought was funny, she kept making this weird squinty smiley face and I asked her to please OPEN her eyes (so I could see what catchlights I was getting) and this is the face she made:

I'm not on theme today either... maybe tomorrow I will get back into the groove. Sigh.

they ROCKED MY FACE OFF!

2008-04-13T14:08:00.005-04:00

So last night we went back to our hometown to watch his high school best friends' band No1Zero play an all-ages concert. There were several bands who played...and I may be a bit biased (ok, I'm a groupie, lol) but No1Zero blew them ALL out of the water! They ROCKED!

And of course I brought my camera, and pushed my way up to the front of the crowd to get some shots of them rockin out. It was SO DARK in there and I didn't want to use my flash and mess up the ambiance of the stage lighting... so I got a TON of noise in my pics. But that's ok, I think in this case it actually HELPS the gritty, rock band feel of my shots! Cool.

The kids had a BLAST too- this was their first concert like this! The boys really enjoyed the music, they got No1Zero t-shirts and posters (signed by all the members of the band) and after they were done playing, the lead guitarist threw a guitar pick to Austin! He was SO psyched. Kaitlyn was...well.. KAITLYN and ran around like a lunatic, stopping every so often to shake her booty. It was hilarious, I wish I had thought to grab few shots of her rocking out too. Darn.

I apologize in advance for the overload of concert pics I am about to post... if you are easily overwhelmed by ROCK, please click away now. :p

Oh, and ps- my first day all week being off-theme... sorry, I just couldn't help myself today!

steel magnolia she wasn't...

2008-04-12T14:24:00.001-04:00

Well, my poor magnolia tree has about had it. We had a major line of storms come through the night before last with high winds and loads of thunder and lightning (which of course caused me to be AWAKE all night- I REALLY REALLY hate bad storms!). When we went outside the next day, my poor tree had lost about half of its blossoms... so sad...

I'm glad I got this shot of it before the storms...

'Cause look at the poor thing now...

Some of the blossoms just starting to open...

And this is the same branch as the 2nd pic now...

Look at all the petals on the ground...

I know it's part of springtime, especially for trees, to bloom and then the blossoms fade and fall away to reveal the new green leaves... but still. I was really enjoying this tree and it seems her beauty is being stripped from her too soon! :(

I know... I need to get a life and quit worrying about the darn tree huh? LOL.

bird hunting...

2008-04-11T14:04:00.001-04:00

We were playing outside on the swing set and all of a sudden, Kaitlyn just FROZE. She got the biggest grin on her face and I just KNEW she was up to something!

She had spotted a robin in the yard. Slowly, slowly she tiptoed towards her prey.

Almost there... he still hasn't seen her, she is VERY stealthy.

Oh no! She got overexcited and ran towards him! He takes off to safety in the magnolia tree- smart bird!

She follows him to the tree, first eyeing the branches and deciding whether she could climb to him or not... she decides against it (good thing, she is afraid of heights!) so she picks blossoms off the tree instead.

This was our "big adventure" for the day... she has been chattering up a storm about how she ALMOST caught a bird for a pet!

frog princess

2008-04-10T15:42:00.000-04:00

I had this vision in my head but what I got was so much better! Usually I get an idea and I am either disappointed in my results or I end up with something I love but that is completely different!

I really just wanted to take advantage of my beautiful magnolia tree/bush in my yard before all of the blossoms fall off. I thought it was gorgeous!

And then a "fly" hit her in the eye, so she was D-U-N done! ;) (not sure if it REALLY was a fly or not... but I still liked this shot for some odd reason, even though she was upset. Bad mommy! LOL)

snakes and snails, and puppy dogs' tails...

2008-04-09T13:49:00.001-04:00

... that's what little boys are made of!

This is my nephew Avery, and he is ALL BOY that's for SURE! (though he DOES have a sensitive side and his favorite color right now just so happens to be pink, LOL!)

He and Kaitlyn are so cute together, they are best friends! They are 13 months apart in age but into a lot of the same things, I just love it when we can get them together because they love each other SO much and they always have a blast playing!

I was finally able to get a few shots of him this weekend as well, his mommy has been wanting some spring photos of him but up until the last week or so it hasn't been feeling "springy" outside at all! I really hope the warm weather is here to stay this time!

So without furthur ado... here is the man of the hour- gotta love those galoshes, a man after my own heart for sure! *wink*

there was a little girl, and she had a little curl....

2008-04-08T14:06:00.000-04:00

OK, so she has a LOT of curl! LOL! This is my niece Mallory- isn't she just precious? She will be turning two in a couple of weeks and she is a BUSY BUSY girl! Doesn't stay in one place for long at all!

and a split second later...

I may be completely biased, but I just think she is the cutest little thing ever! (aside from Kaitlyn, of course! *wink*)

And hey- I am on theme because these were all taken with natural light! Go me!

art show reception

2008-04-07T18:17:00.002-04:00

The art show is officially up! I believe the photos will hang for all of April and May so hopefully I will get good exposure with this! And if nothing else it was WAY COOL to see my stuff hanging in a gallery! :)

Sunday afternoon was the reception/unveiling. We had a pretty decent turnout. Two of my photos even won awards (I didn't even know there was going to be a judging!!!). The photo of Kaitlyn (see my blog header) won "Most Imaginative" and my photo of a line of sailboats in the marina at Panama City Beach won "Most Detailed", so cool beans! I got two certificates that I plan to frame and hang in my office/dining room.

Here are some pics of the gallery room, before very many people showed up:

another angle:

(yep, used my fisheye for these!)

And here are a couple of views of the walls of photos (I won't bore you will ALL of the pics I took of ALL of the art pieces... just the two walls where my "award winning" photos were hanging!)

My mom & dad came and brought my nephew, and my other sister came with my niece, plus of course my hubby and kids were there. So it was neat to share this with all of them! (pics to come in the next couple of days of my ADORABLE niece and nephew!!)

It was fun, but a LONG day! The kids all conked out in the car before we even made it out of the parking lot, lol!

posting EARLY today...

2008-04-05T10:03:00.002-04:00

Because I have a super busy weekend ahead of me! As I type this, my mom, dad, sister & neice, and one of my nephews are all on their way down here to visit! And at the moment, the SUN IS SHINING (gasp), there is not a cloud in the sky, and it looks like a promising day for outdoor spring pics! YAY!

I have an art gallery reception to go to tomorrow, so I probably won't be posting a POTD until monday but I will be sure to tell you all about it! This is my first gallery showing of my work, I am SUPER excited! It's a small venue, but hey, we have to start somewhere right? Fingers crossed some of my prints sell! :)

I have a couple more macros for you today... just playing around with my RED wall in my dining room and some of Leah's fabulous textures!

Flash Used: Yes (Manual)
Focal Length: 40.0mm
CCD Width: 3.44mm
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/10.0
ISO equiv: 800
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

Flash Used: Yes (Manual)
Focal Length: 58.0mm
CCD Width: 3.44mm
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/10.0
ISO equiv: 800
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

And HEY TARA! These are for YOU! *grin*

Nothing fancy, she was just lying on the living room rug watching Devin play LA Rush on the Playstation- she just looks too cute in her yellow polka dotted shirt so I snapped a couple! (I have to admit I am having "people photo" withdrawals too- another reason I am excited for it to be nice out today!).

Have a great weekend everyone!

you guessed it...

2008-04-04T15:21:00.002-04:00

.... yup, more rain today, plus I'm not feeling so great (sinuses from this weather, plus I have a toothache- OWW) so I just did a little more playing with my flowers, trying to get a "pretty" reflection. I "cheated" and used my spray bottle for "raindrops" today... I am too paranoid to take my camera out when it's this wet and muddy!

But lookie what I did! The reflection isn't exactly in FOCUS... but it's THERE! WOOHOO!

Flash Used: Yes (Manual)
Focal Length: 66.0mm
CCD Width: 3.44mm
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/10.0
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

I have a sprig (is that the right word?) of tiny daisy-like flowers in my bouquet too... they are roughly as big as the tip of my pinky finger...

Flash Used: Yes (Manual)
Focal Length: 68.0mm
CCD Width: 3.44mm
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/7.1
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

And would you believe that those tiny white flowers in yesterday's post are baby's breath?! I LOVE how close I get with these extension tubes! :)

Keep your fingers crossed for drier weather this weekend... my niece (almost 2) and my nephew (2 1/2) are coming to visit and I hope to get some nice pics of them outside!

more macros...

2008-04-03T19:53:00.003-04:00

I guess this is what I have to do when it's rainy... so prepare to see a LOT of macro stuff from me over then next week according to our extended forecast! And I hate to complain about the rain, because I know very well that in a couple of months it will be near drought conditions and we will be wishing for it, but darn- can't it just let up for one whole day? C'mon!

I played around with my spring bouquet again today, I wanted to practice some more with my extension tubes before the flowers all wilt away. And Austin will be happy I am posting all the "geek info" under each photo! *wink*

Flash Used: Yes (Manual)
Focal Length: 67.0mm
CCD Width: 3.44mm
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

Flash Used: Yes (Manual)
Focal Length: 70.0mm
CCD Width: 3.44mm
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

Flash Used: Yes (Manual)
Focal Length: 70.0mm
CCD Width: 3.44mm
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

Flash Used: Yes (Manual)
Focal Length: 65.0mm
CCD Width: 3.44mm
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

Flash Used: Yes (Manual)
Focal Length: 70.0mm
CCD Width: 3.44mm
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

And on yesterday's, thank you all so much! I felt like such a dork posting those, but I AM a dork so it kinda works out. My "background" is just the wall in Kaitlyn's bedroom, her room has the BEST light during the day! And I added one of Leah's AMAZING textures... I can NOT get enough of those, they are awesome for EVERYTHING!

the future's so bright...

2008-04-02T20:26:00.001-04:00

... I gotta wear shades!

(OK, now I've got that song stuck in my head and no one to blame but myself this time!)

I was just having some fun with the self timer... to celebrate the fact that the SUN is out today! It's still cold, but I'll take a sunny cold day over a rainy one anytime!

You can't really see her in the reflection of my sunglasses, but Kaitlyn is over by the camera giving me "direction"...."C'mon mama, more attitude! That's what I'm talkin' about, you're a rockstar!" It was totally cracking me up. I think she has been watching "Make Me A Supermodel" with me just a BIT too much....

And to answer a couple of questions from yesterday's post, I don't have a dedicated macro lens (though I WANT ONE!). I use my 24-70 lens mostly at 70mm and I use my set of Kenko extension tubes. I have a 3 piece set of tubes that I use in different configurations depending on how close I want to get to the subject. When I want to get REALLY close, I use all 3 tubes. The only real downfall to extension tubes is how CLOSE you have to put your lens to the subject- with all 3 tubes on I literally have to put my lens less than an inch away from what I am photographing to get it to focus! Which is fine and dandy for flowers and inanimate objects, but might not be so great for insects or animals! (yikes!)

I'll try to remember to post my "geek info" (as my oldest son calls it) from now on on my macro shots. And thank you so much for all of the awesome comments about them, it's taken some time and effort to "get it" but I think (hope) I am getting there!

if april showers bring may flowers, what do may flowers bring?

2008-04-01T16:36:00.005-04:00

.
.
.
.
PILGRIMS!

Get it? (nudge nudge)

This is a joke I hear. A LOT. Devin thinks it is HILARIOUS! So I just had to share it with you all. Feel free to spread it around. He will be so proud of himself.

We have certainly been getting more than our fair share of rain lately though. Thankfully I live on a hill, but the lower lying areas in town are under water here! Austin was supposed to have his first golf team practice this week but the golf course is flooded in areas!

I did manage a few "water drop" macro shots though... with REAL rain, not from my mist bottle! And- SQUEAL- I finally, finally got a reflection in a droplet! I have been trying to do that for SO LONG! It's not a "pretty" reflection but a reflection none the less! I am proud. *grin*

close-up of the "reflection" droplet!

signs of spring...

2008-03-31T23:15:00.000-04:00

If a new baby isn't a sign of springtime, I don't know what is! Nothing says "spring" to me like a fresh start in life- what is more fresh than a tiny, precious new life?

Austin even wanted to hold her! (SHOCK!!!)

I just LOVE babies! *SIGH*

goose pond

2008-03-30T17:20:00.003-04:00

Near my parents' house, there is a huge amount of land that is being reclaimed and turned into a fish & wildlife preservation area. They have done a LOT of work on it so far, and eventually it will be returned to its original wetland state. I went for a drive out there last night with my uncle (a nature photographer) to check it out. We are both excited for it to be "done" because there are so many great areas there that will be just gorgeous once they are filled with water! We only stopped to take pictures at this one spot, but it was really stunning with the dramatic sky and the scrubby water plants everywhere. I only wish my landscape skills could do it justice!

If anyone is interested in reading about the Goose Pond Project, here is a link to the DNR site that talks about it. :)

Goose Pond Project