2009 Graduate

It is the time of year when High School Seniors graduate and I was able to attend my sister's graduation this week. Congratulations!!

Uh Oh!

He's getting bigger. There is no two ways about it. But even with this knowledge, I wasn't really ready for what happened yesterday. I was sure I was safe for a little while longer. I was pretty sure that I had at least one more month before my baby started walking. He has been taking a step here and a step there. One step usual led to one SPLAT on his diapered bum. However, yesterday, my girls decided to test his walking skills. I was pretty sure he might take 1 or 2 steps. I was not prepared for the 6 or 7 that he consistently took. I grabbed the camera. Here are some of his first steps.





And just one outtake. Love the look on his face as he starts to fall. He wasn't crying--just realizing that he is on the way down!


I am guessing that I might not have one more month. Especially, since his sisters want to practice with him all the time now.

On My Mind and a Graduate

Do you ever have weeks when there are just so many things running around in your mind that you think you might go crazy? Ideas, decisions, events, school, appointments, activities, basic house stuff, and more have been swirling around and around my head and causing me a little grief. This kind of mental chaos makes me distracted and unproductive. I have never been really great at multi-tasking but I have found motherhood is stretching my abilities in this area more and more. Weeks like this just make me yearn for those quiet-nothing-on-the-schedule-days that seem to happen more rarely than ever now. With my mind going crazy, I just haven't been able to focus on what to post. So today, I will leave you with some Senior pictures I took the other day. He graduated last week and is on to new things! Congratulations!!

Sunday Thought

Play

This little boy of mine is going to be one soon. I can hardly believe that much time has passed since he was born. I thought I would give you a little glimpse into his one year old world.


He has lots of nicknames, but the one that applies best right now is lightning. He crawls at lightning speed (especially if there is an open door), can empty a drawer at lightning speed, and eats at lightening speed. His favorite food is bananas and his teeth seem determined to all come at once. He currently has 5 teeth with a sixth ready to poke through any day. His favorite toy is the phone or a ball. He loves to throw and roll the ball back and forth.




He sits in this position regularly throughout the day.



He loves to go outside and will pound on the door until someone will take him out. Usually he can find a sister to oblige him.



He has changed our world in many wonderful ways this last year. I can't imagine what another will bring.

Watching Paint Dry

(or the first in a series of posts where I purge the pictures I have taken over the last week!)

Sorry for the lame title, but I am tired (yes--it is only 8 p.m. but I am what I am and I AM ready for bed.) I HAVE been watching the paint in the basement dry for the last few days. However, luckily for you, I haven't created a time lapse of the paint drying. I have something slightly more visually exciting.

I spent last weekend with my mom, sister's and sister's in-law in Deer Valley. We enjoyed each others company, got creative (a.k.a made bracelets, earrings, and hair bows), ate treats, and shopped. It was a lot of fun for someone (a.k.a ME) who hasn't been anywhere without my kids in, oh, FOREVER!!! Here's a few snaps from the weekend.

Morning Light

I shot these this morning in the beautiful morning sun. It was cold enough that I was shivering a little as waited for the wind to ease up enough to keep them from being blurry. I am really amazed they are sharp. I think I will try morning light a little more often.

A Little Boy--OUTSIDE!

My little boy has discovered the outside. We have been playing outside on nice days for the last few months. This Spring, those days were few and scattered between lots of rainy/snowy days. However, the last week or two have had more nice days than not and he now he crawls over to the door and looks out longingly until his mom or sisters will oblige and take him outside. He has discovered that there are lots of new things to explore out there. Rocks, dirt, grass, dirt, cement, rocks, and dirt are just a few of the things he has found enjoyable (notice the theme!) Please note that he is still crawling and I just cringe a little when he crawls on cement--especially if he is wearing shorts. I am sure I will get over it since walking/running would be so much worse. Those joys are coming soon! Whatever will I do?

Kids Portraits Part 3

It is finally the last installment in this series of kids portraits. The daughter in these photos is still in the "cheese" stage. By this, I mean that when I go to take her picture she automatically gives me that super unnatural, cheesy smile. It takes some work to get her natural expressions. Here are my favorites of her:



While we were taking her pictures, my husband thought it would be fun to shake the trees a little and make the blossoms fall. She has a few blossoms on her jacket and hair. I didn't clone them out because she loved having the blossoms fall on her.


I think this is my favorite of her and I really happen to like it in BW.

Green=Newness

This week I have been noticing how ALL the trees (not just the blooming ones) are breaking out into leaf. This is the bush in my backyard. I didn't realize until I opened this picture how NEON green the color is. Enjoy!

Kids Portraits Part 2

Here is part 2. I finished editing these last night and just have one more kid to go now.


This is his full belly laugh. Not technically perfect but definitely one of his genuine expressions preserved.



She is very much my "poser." She can strike a pose whenever asked. I thought this one was fun.




BTW--Do any of my relatives recognize this chair?

Kids Portraits Part 1

I have been LOVING the beautiful spring blossoms (as I am sure you have been able to tell by previous posts too numerous to link to) and wanted to get a few pictures of my kids in the blossoms. I had a couple of days set aside to do this, but unfortunately we were rained out both times. I was determined and decided to try again last Friday. As we drove to our location, rain began beating down on the windshield. I kept driving anyway crossing my fingers that the rain would lighten up a bit. By the time we got there, it wasn't raining and we were able to take a few despite the extremely heavy cloud cover. The lighting wasn't optimal and we ended up having only a small window before it did begin to rain A LOT. I wanted to post some of them here. Unfortunately, I just can't seem to get much productive time between an almost 1 year-old, school, and the basement project. So now the posts will have to be spread over a few days. Here is the first installment.





Let me know what you think.

Dandelions Are Beautiful, TOO!

Well, since I played favorites the other day by showing you my favorite tree, I thought I would show you that even WEEDS can be beautiful, too. About 2 weeks ago, I took some pictures of some dandelions and found they were actually quite pretty. I meant to post those pictures then, but didn't. I have taken even more the last few days and want to share them here. These dandelions are actually quite pretty. I love the bright yellow color. I love the fluffy seeds that just beg to be blown away. My husband hates to have these in our yard so I had to scout around to find them (don't tell him, but there are a few in our yard, too.)




Don't you just want to blow?

Thought for Sunday

More Progress. . . . . . .

It has been a slow week here on the blog. But, for me, a slow week here on the blog has meant good news for me and our project in the basement. I have taken several "progress pictures" downstairs over the last few weeks but they just haven't made it here. Today, I took some more and am posting them as proof that progress is being made! For some of you this may be the most uninteresting post I have ever made (okay, except for the other basement post.) I accept that and pledge to post more interesting photography-related items this next week. For today, I am relishing the fact that our basement now "looks" like usable space. Hopefully just a few more weeks of dust.

Kid Toy Storage Area/Play Area


Fireplace--almost finished.


This space is affectionately known as the "Wall o' Closets." Lots of storage space for STUFF!


Bedroom closets. These make me happy just looking at them.


But there is still lots of this:


And this:


hanging around. There is still an unending amount of dust blowing around my house. There is still an amazing amount of STUFF (i.e. basement supplies, food storage, etc.) being stored in our Massive Storage Area formerly known as our bedrooms. In all, there is still much work to be done. BUT, it is progress and for today I am happy with that.