Question of the day

I bet each and every one of you is pondering…
What happens when you leave your large glass of water on the table and divert your attention away for only moments?

Well when you live with Hunter, here’s what happens:

A picture (or two) is worth a thousand words, but I will tell you what you are seeing. First picture, my son drinking out of a BIG (plastic) glass. Second picture, my son looking as innocent as can be sitting in and next to what used to be in the glass and is now a large puddle of water… on my carpet…nice. I don’t even know if he got any water in his mouth, but I can tell you he didn’t get any on him.

Thank goodness I only drink water.

It’s Thursday already?

Where the heck has the time gone??

I have so many things swirling around in my head, I don’t even know where to begin. So here is some vacation babble and a few pictures randomly thrown in. Don’t mind the pictures too much; they are straight from the camera, no cropping, no fancy-smancy borders or anything. Apparently going on vacation sucks every ounce of free time I once had away.

I miss the Internet when I can’t get to it. But I love the peace and quiet that middle of nature affords us.

~Twin fawns with Mom looking on.~

Our vacation started at home. With the weather predicted to be in the 90’s, we decided to hang at home and chill by the pool for a few days. One of my favorite pastimes.

~Even Missy loves the pool.~

By Monday night, the Kevster was eager to get up north, so we left. He’s one of those guys that really enjoys and appreciates the beauty and peace of nature. Plus there were still a few minor touches that needed to be done on the trailer up north and he was anxious to get them finished. Note: I say minor, because I didn’t have to do them, but he had to lower the pump in the well by 50 feet and re-plumb the entire trailer. But I should also note Kev is happiest when he is working on something.

By Wednesday I was completely annoyed. I wasn’t enjoying my vacation. I felt stuck in the trailer without hot water in the kitchen, no satellite TV for several hours (while Kev cut the grass – he had to un-hook the dish) and if I had to watch one more minute of Blues Clues (it had been on for hours – literally) I honestly thought my head was going to explode. After I put Hunter down for the night, I too went to bed.

My Mom came up Thursday and Friday and Hunter had someone else to get attention from and my attitude was better. I guess I should explain something here. I love my son more than anything, but I am not stay-at-home-Mom material. I love being with my son, but sometimes I just need a break and I need some me time. I honestly think more Mom’s understand this then want to admit. It’s hard to put into words that don’t send guilt shooting through every cell of your body. This is just how I am.

While Mom was there, Kev and I actually got some time to go out on our boat… too bad it wouldn’t start and we ended up coming back home. Oh well, it won’t be an issue next weekend!

Mom left Friday and Kev’s cousin and son came up. We all enjoyed the rest of the weekend. Sitting around the campfire and enjoying smores. I really can’t wait until Hunter is old enough to enjoy these things with us.

~Gotta love the peace.~

All in all, the vacation was nice. We all enjoyed some fresh air, even the dogs.

And the best part? Hunter started walking and we were all together to enjoy it. Thrills me more than I can explain.

~Grumposourous – everyone else is in the pool.~

Hopefull I will be back to picture posting soon.

Vacation time

We are on vacation. Yay! When we get back hopefully I will have tons of really cool pictures to post.

Don’t forget 12 of 12 on the 12th. I’m sure I will be able to take the pictures, but I don’t know when I will post them.

Herb - I’m such a slacker - questions when I come back, I promise.

Have a GREAT week!!

07-07-07

Was today extra lucky for you?

In honor of 07-07-07, here are 07 things learned today:

1. It’s really helpful to have the memory card in my camera if I want to take a funny picture of a construction worker, removing his breathing mask (protecting him from cement dust I presume) to light a cigarette.

2. If my Canon can’t focus while the Auto Focus is on, the camera won’t fire until I turn the AF off. (duh! but I guess this is how we learn)

3. Mosquitoes like fireworks.

4. I still don’t get itchy when I get a mosquito bite (or 70).

5. I suck at firework photos (this explains the lack of photos for this entry).

6. If I practice really hard, I may be a half-way decent photographer when I grow up.

7. Last, but not least, I learned I can only think of 6 things I learned today.

Mischief squared…

Around our house, mischief comes in small packages.

These pictures are more of the snapshot variety. What can I say, it was raining.
I’m not sure who’s giving whom tips here:

He can’t walk yet, but he sure can climb. Oh and as a side note, he’s not fooling me. I’m sure he can walk, he’s either just being lazy or sneaky… or both.

Not only can he mimic talking on the phone, he know how to open my damn chocolate! So if you are in my phone book and you get a weird call… it’s not me.

These pictures are more of the snapshot variety. What can I say, it was raining. And I haven’t had the chance to try firework photography yet.

Happy 4th of July!

I am going to try some photos of fireworks tonight - if my neighbors cooperate. They usually have the coolest fireworks, you know, for home usage.

In the mean time a couple of pics I took around the house today.

First, Willow who gets into or on top of everything. While I was feeding Hunter breakfast, he kept looking up… he was looking at Willow who was on top of the kitchen. I love the look on her face.

And from the front yard, a rose just starting to open. Are you loving the borders?

Out with the old…

…in with the new.

In full bloom.

New pics… every day.

my motivation

Today I joined Weight Watchers. HAP has joined forces with Weight Watchers (WW) to help it’s members get healthy. A health insurance company that is actually trying to help it’s members get healthy - what a novel approach to health care!

The 12 week program is available to HAP members for $25. That is a $140-something deal.

I lost 20 pounds previously with our work contest and I am proud to say that I have not gained it back. But I could still stand to lose a quarter of my body.

My motivation?

These blue eyes.

I wonder which one of us he gets the smirk from?

Finally, a family photo, thanks to my remote.

We were out on the swing on the back deck. I know my boobs look squished but it was the best picture. It really was quite comical. I had taken several pictures and this was the only one that we were all facing (relatively) the same direction. I should try to put together one of those pictures that keep changing so you could see the hilarious chain of photos that came before this one.

How would you feel about…

some new photos everyday?

I really have a desire to become a better photographer. I think a lot of my mental block (up until now) had to do with the lens I had. When I first bought my camera, I spent so much on the body, I cheaped out on the lenses… I didn’t know. Up until last year, I was a point and shot kinda gal. I had gone to several camera shops and tried a few lenses… on my camera body. I wasn’t happy with any of the pics I saw… they just weren’t sharp.

I stopped at a different shop and spoke to this great guy who had been doing photography for a while. We took pictures with my camera and several different lenses… I asked him why they all looked ’soft’ to me. Could it be my camera body?? He took out a Canon 28-70mm f/2.8 L. Now THAT was a clear picture. He told me I have been cursed with an eye for sharpness - something good photographers have. It bummed me out and excited me all at once. I was bummed because the lens he showed me was $1,300, but it excited me because here was someone who thought I had some potential.

I spent more than a month looking at lenses… how could I justify it? All the while, I was just so unhappy with my captures. I bet I read thousands of reviews. I scoured ebay. I almost bought a used one. But my husband said to me… why are you spending that kind of money on a used lens, when you can get a new on for a bit more than a hundred dollars? He was so right. See, this is part of the reason we discuss large purchases. I love how my marriage works!!

{Meghan, this is for you} So my search turned to finding the best price on a new one and deciding exactly which one I wanted. Finally I decided on a Canon 24-105mm f/4 L with Image Stabilization (IS). I know I sacrificed the speed (f/2.8) for IS, but I’m okay with that. I got a little further distance and IS.

I love, love, love this lens!!!

Time for more samples. Please feel free to tell me what you think.. good, bad or ugly… I want to learn.

Flowers from the front garden:

The big brown dog, Tyler:

My boys: