Hopefully Life Has Beautiful Conditions

2007-10-23T07:25:00.000-04:00

Busy autumn weekend after busy weekend. This past weekend there was flag practice, 2 baseball games and a flag game. In addition to that there was scarecrow building at the town common. #3 and I "helped" - basically I chatted and took pictures. Man I feel useless.

These are some of the coolest scarecrows.

Sunning at Swimming Lessons

2007-08-15T17:15:00.000-04:00

Today was the 3rd to last swimming lesson for the year. The kids all enjoyed themselves, as always. It was a lovely morning in the 70s with a constant breeze. I was joined at the picnic table I was sitting at by this attractive (I'm sure some other bug finds it so) dragonfly-esk creature. I would say it was about the length of my pinkie finger.

I just adore the vivid colors of dragonflies (and things that seem like them). :)

Sunny Sunday

2007-08-05T18:38:00.000-04:00

Talk about a BEAUTIFUL day!!!! High 70s to low 80s, nice breeze, sunny and not muggy! A delicious day! #3, 4 and I went to my BFF Burke's children's' party. Her daughter is 4 now and her son will be 10. They just grow too quick! We took our annual picture together, both of us thinner than we were last year so it's REALLY good! :) I think we both look pretty darn good for 37. Well, she's still 36 but only for a couple more months.

We had to leave the party so I could go to the last regular game for #2 and DH as coach. They won which means they will be playing next week in the playoff to championship.

I love this picture because #3 sat himself on his cooler in DH's shadow in order to get just a tiny bit cooler while he was off the court.

Beauty of Summer

2007-08-04T22:54:00.000-04:00

This beautiful scene is the dam at the lake where the kids take swimming lessons. It is now the desktop on DH's laptop and mine.

Swimming through Summer

2007-07-26T11:46:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was one of those perfect days to have to sit on the beach while the kids had swimming lessons. Warm but not too hot, a nice breeze and sunny. YUM! I brought the camera and took way too many pictures, as I always do. This one of #4 was my favorite.

Out of play for far too long

2007-07-23T13:13:00.000-04:00

So I finally have dragged my behind BACK to my blog and am actually updating!!

#2's team that DH coaches got a through pounding yesterday. But the day was a beauty and it made for GREAT pictures.

Loved the action in this one.

I LOVED the way they are all waiting for the ball to fall.

Rainy Day 12

2007-04-12T18:30:00.000-04:00

Today I just had to go with 2 pictures. It's another rainy day so I played with the settings and I was able to get these 2 common things with these amazing raindrops!

I loved the ripples in the trashcan lid!

And here - the rain drops actually dripping off of the stupid metal awning outside my basement door!

April 11 A Girl

2007-04-12T18:27:00.000-04:00

Today Ashlea finally did her oral book report. She did pretty well, no "ummmm" or freezing up. She has to get used to looking up though. Something to stride for.

By the way, that's MY sweater she's wearing! The girl isn't 11 yet!

Day 10, April 10

2007-04-12T18:22:00.000-04:00

I had the chance to wander the house before the kids got home and took a couple of diffrent shots with the animals. Today's picture is Venus sun bathing. Notice you can actually make out the squares in the window screen.

Day 9

2007-04-09T22:24:00.000-04:00

I wandered the house to find a good shot. I'm uploading the 2 most promising to my photobucket and will then force myself to choose one. It's between our kitten Aphrodite or #3's teddy bear shoved behind her headboard looking all cute. Hmmmm. Let's see, the kitten (10 months) has pet eye and the bear doesn't. What to do, what to do?

Ok, I TRIED to take the picture without the flash and the light in the bathroom where she was sitting just sucks so much that she looked golden and you totally missed her pretty coloring. The option of "redeye" make THIS happen. *sigh* My pets constantly look possessed.

I've been kicking a killer headache around all day. The kids just don't grasp, "please don't scream, my head hurts so much I'm nauseous." The snots.

Easter 4/8

2007-04-09T12:20:00.000-04:00

#3 and #4 outside in spite of the chill - in the 30s! - blowing bubbles. I like the light and the action. I was tempted to crop it down for the best view as I would if I were printing it out but I decided since this challenge is about learning to take a better picture to leave it as it was.

Sporty Saturday

2007-04-09T12:07:00.000-04:00

A lot went on for us on Saturday. Basketball for #2, a party for #3, a visit to my parent's for #4 so he didn't have to stay home with #1.... I attended the basketball game to be there for Don and #2. My MIL, FIL and BIL were all there as well. I know that Don and #2 both were glad they came.
The boys are a 7th grade team and because of a mix up by the man in charge of the 3 BSV Chaos teams he only had 1 of the 2 teams registered to play in the tourney. There was some shuffling done and the red team (#2's) was accommodated by being slotted to play against 2 8th grade teams. They held their own in the first game and did very well all things considered. They only lost by 6. However the 2nd game was a spanking for the poor kids.
Even though I could have chosen to go with a picture of the egg dying for today's picture I chose this one. It's blurry and whatnot. I am very frustrated with my basketball shots. I want to learn to do a better job with them (any suggestions would be welcome!) and I want to use this picture as my baseline.

Best dishes 4/6

2007-04-09T12:06:00.000-04:00

Here are my beautiful best dishes, rose colored glass because I never did see the sense in china that I would be afraid to use because I might break it. They were packed for 9 years before they found a home in our first home 4 years ago. And we have used them once. *sigh*

SNOW! 4/5

2007-04-09T11:56:00.000-04:00

They told us it would happen and it did.

This is a bush by my front door.

It's an Icky Day

2007-04-04T18:11:00.000-04:00

The rainy cool day has turned into a slushy mush that we have been warned may be actual snow overnight. Talk about "just for fun!" But it looks pretty in the pine tree by my cellar door.

Of course it doesn't show the slushy snow on the ground but I love the way the water is shining in the tree.

For Day 3

2007-04-04T10:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's picture turned out to be the only one I took. It's not a great one but so be it. #4 had his first meeting with the allergist and was diagnosed with Exercise Reactive Breathing Disease. It basically means that the kid has a hard time breathing while playing sports. And this isn't a kid to take that sitting down. So he has an inhaler now, in case of difficulty so he won't go into a full blown attack. Don is vindicated enough. He insisted that #4 was asthmatic. This diagnosis is the next best thing and it gives the kid the tool to keep on breathing when he's hard at work with sports.

Day 2 - April 2, 2007

2007-04-02T16:32:00.000-04:00

Here is yesterday's picture. April 1 - the ice cream stand opened! We stood in line for a half an hour easy. Four windows means four lines. At least it was warm - around 60 degrees.

Ok, so I took a walk around outside of the house this afternoon. It's damp and chilly, there's not a lot to look at because it's mud season and we won't have leaves until mid-May. But I could hear the birds high above me in the trees. So I stood and listened until I finally spotted this guy about 40 feet up in the oak tree. Even looking at the picture hurts my eyes, the light quality of an overcast day has always given me a headache.

Project 365

2007-04-01T13:21:00.000-04:00

Valerie has challenged us at ACP and I decided to join her in this project starting today, the old calender's new year. That's right, the new year used to start on what is now April first. THAT is where April Fools Day came from!
So a picture a day and post them. Some days will clearly be easier than others, those days when the kids have special events certainly lend themselves to lots of pictures. Today is sort of a do nothing type of day thought the kids are playing with an Air Hog Rocket in the front yard. Guess that's kind of interesting.