You Capture - Green

We haven't been going outside as much lately. It rains a lot in the afternoons and the humidity is just stifling. I can be outside for just a minute and already feel the sweat beading on my forehead and forming underneath the back of my shirt.

STIFLING I say.

However, the other afternoon it wasn't actually that bad.

Don't get me wrong, it was still warm, but for whatever reason the humidity has subsided somewhat and I found myself actually enjoying the weather a bit.

Just enough to take some really GREEN pictures...



If you look down the front sidewalk you see a lot of GREEN - and perhaps a little boy on his four-wheeler

I love the leaves on this plant as they begin to open. The 'spirally' pattern is so pretty.

This little guy was peeking out of the bush by the garage.


I didn't even realize there was a fly in this picture until I saw it on the computer.


And the boys say - 'bring on the rain!' They do love GREEN, especially The B Man (his favorite color. Perhaps one of the reasons I chose this subject matter...hmmm)

Don't you just love how you can see the ripples from the drop of rain in the puddle? Cool.

Today GREEN is my happy color.

Hope you are happy today too!

WW - 'Bed Head' hee hee

We played on the bed today. I wanted to lay down for a bit. She did not.

She was moving too fast for me. She wanted to eat the camera strap.

I only got a glimpse of her hair in this shot. She was headed for MY hair.

She found it.

Past Post Parade! (Again)

Do you all remember when I did this last year (you know before I got TOO pregnant and had to pack my house and move, etc, etc)?

Anyway, I was thinking that it would be fun again to read some people's older posts. Don't you?

So, here's the deal. Link up with a post from about a year ago. If you haven't been blogging that long just find a post in your archives that you want to share. It's THAT easy! Your post is already written!

I'll start.

Here's a link to a post of mine from last year at this time. You know, when I was all pregnant and we were about to move...

And don't forget to go read some of the other PAST posts and leave a comment! :)

Thanks For Teaching Me to Love Old Things Dad

Have you ever had one little thing just make your day? Or even your week?

This happened to me over the weekend.

Let me back up a little...

I like old stuff. And furniture. Therefore, I like old furniture.

I grew up with parents who decorated... um how shall we say... ?

"Eclectically."

And for the most part, so do I.

My father likes old stuff and is the "king" of reusing things and making other people's junk his treasure. And well, I inherited a little bit of this gene. You know, like the Step One rocking fish I picked up on my neighbor's curb a couple of years back - she had put it out for the t.r.a.s.h. but besides a little color fading it was fine! (it's called a 10-finger discount, but legally...). Shhhh, don't tell anyone.

He's also good with refurbishing and even building furniture. We have one piece from each of my Grandparents' homes that he refinished, including an old dresser (that was actually my Great-Grandparents') and a clothing armoire.

He also built me a curio-type cabinet ala "Pottery Barn" for my 30th birthday that I absolutely love.

So where am I going with all of this?

Well, over the weekend I asked Tim if I could go "junk" shopping for a bit. I needed a little 'fix', you know?

I went down to this old warehouse that has antiques and all kinds of fun stuff. I was just looking for whatever, but any time I've done this type of shopping in the last year, I've been keeping an eye out for one thing. A dresser for Tim's clothes.

And after about 30 minutes of just browsing and seeing all kinds of cute things, I walked by IT and knew in an instant that I'd found the newest member of our furniture family. I don't know how the dresser felt but for me it was totally love at first sight. I mean my heart started beating faster when I saw the awesome price (and beautiful Cabriolet style legs *sigh*).

It's mahagony and in fabulous condition. I called Tim and told him I'd found it. I'm pretty sure he could tell by the tone in my voice that it was coming home to live with us no matter what.

And so about 20 minutes later in was in our house (the gentleman who owns the store delivered it on the spot).

Adoption complete.

I believe I walked by it last night and whispered, "You complete me."

And I'm guessing my Dad is pretty proud...

PSF - Down on the Farm

We went down on the farm.

I had sweat dripping down my back just minutes after exiting the car.

The baby touched some 'dead' poison ivy. (she's fine)

I spent $7.25

I talked with some of my friends.

I wore the baby as I sought out and picked my portion of the bounty.

I let the boy have a green Popsicle from the freezer inside the shed.

The bottled water from the same fridge, well, it tasted GOOOOOD.

We 'sampled' some of the fresh organic fruit.

I took some pictures.

We made it out before the rain came.

It was a GOOD morning.

(click on collage to enlarge)

(*Little G was at 'Summer School' while we were on our little adventure so that's why he's not pictured here...)

Hosted by Cecily

You Capture - Get Down Low

On the floor while the kids played in the boys' room. You get the idea...

WW - 50 Years! Wow.

These are my parents.

(one of my very favorite photos of them that I took in 1991 on one of our many vacations together)

In about three and half weeks we will join them for a big party to celebrate their marriage of 50 years.

50 Years!

Wow.

But there's a little problem.

(mom or dad, if you are reading this STOP now - please!)

I'm stumped about what to get them or do for them. I have an idea or two but nothing seems to really be coming together. Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions for me, I'd love to hear them in the comments.

This is really important to me.

I do love them so and their marriage has been such an example and gift to me and my siblings and all of our family...

50 Years!

Wow.

(I know, I already said that...)

Thanks in advance for any help. :)

A Day Late and a Lightbulb (or two) Short

The kids and I went to one of those home improvement type stores today.

I took them out against my better judgment (rowdy little buggars) and thankfully it worked out okay.

Did you know that the store like that that starts with an "L" has cool car carts with TWO steering wheels? Yeah, saved my bacon.

We went because I needed an organizer thingy for my continued closet organization project, as well as humming bird feeder stuff, door stops to prop up my laptop (I LOVE the ideas I get from "Real Simple" magazine) and light bulbs.

It's funny how replacing one or two light bulbs REALLY can add light to your life. I hadn't had a working bulb over MY sink in our bathroom area for a couple of weeks and it was getting quite bothersome. Now I can see my self first thing in the morning all the better. Wonderful.

And then there was the itty bitty light bulb needed for the night light in the kid's bathroom. I don't think that one has worked since a couple of weeks after we moved.

When I switched it on I smiled a little. Now my babies can SEE when they need to go potty at night! WHEE!

It's the little things.

Like light bulbs and non-overheating lap tops and feeding the humming birds. Oh and organizing closets. Which is actually a really BIG thing if you ask me.

Anyway, I hope there's a little extra light in your lives today.

I have these four, so I'm good. :)

(the other part of the title of this post refers to the fact that I took this picture the day after Father's Day. Oh well, at least I took it!)

Playing Catch Up

The other day I found myself 'venting' about the fact that this could be a crazy Summer with the kids. Yeah, remember that? And now, it's already less than 2 months before The B Man goes back to school and we have another trip planned in a few weeks to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and before I know it I will be buying school supplies again.

In the meantime Baby K is now pulling up on everything under the sun, and holding on sometimes, with only one hand. She greeted me with a huge smile the other morning in her crib as she held on to the rails while on "all twos." Yeppers.

(mark my words, she'll be walking before she's a year old)

The boys and I giggled like children (oh wait...) as she popped up from behind the coffee table several times the other day. She was quite amused too, I assume more with OUR laughter than anything else. However, the boys are not NEARLY as amused that she can now get to the toys they have on the sofa or table. Yeah, not so much.

AND.

While we were on vacation she greeted me with a full on "MAMA!" as I came to get her in the pack 'n play one morning. Even Tim heard it over the monitor, so there's no denying it. Ever. (I might be a tad bit excited that she said MY name first...) Mwahaha!! World Mother Domination could be mine yet! (not likely)

And in the P.T. department (that stands for "potty training," by the way) Little G is full on, well, working on it. We have good days,where he gets to wear underwear for a little while, and bad days where he wets his pull-up over and over. But I'm not complaining ONE bit because so far this is going much better than round one did a few years back.

(you are welcome for no actual potty training related photo)

AND (I know, I'm redundant) The B Man lost his first tooth on Friday!! You should have seen the drama when he first tasted blood! (OMG, you would think he was a 2 year old girl sometimes!!) He got a visit from the tooth fairy who somehow gave him an extra quarter and so he ended up with $2.25. She/He must have had one to spare... ;)

(please ignore the peanut butter on his face)

And? (I know, sorry...) I've now lost 11 lbs. and Tim has lost 22! (No, I'm not bitter that he's lost TWICE AS MUCH as me. Ahem.) I gained a few back while on vacation but c'mon, no one can resist Gelato forever, right? But, I'm back on track and we are continuing to eat well and exercise and we just feel SO much better about our bodies and our eating habits.

I guess you could say our life is busy and moving at a rapid pace.

And you would be right.


*Still giving away Sarah McLachlan's new CD "Laws of Illusion" - just leave a comment to enter!

Father's Mean So Much...

...especially the ones in MY life.

Me and my Daddy when I was close to one year old.

Tim and The B Man when he was one.

Tim and Little G when he was almost one

Tim and Baby K at the beach a couple of weeks ago.

Happy Father's Day to all the father's out there!

Sarah McLachlan "Laws of Illusion" Review & Giveaway

**** GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. CONGRATS TO Heather of the EO WHO WON! :)****


I love Sarah McLachlan. I have for YEARS.

(I surely hope you know who I am talking about. If you don't, get thee to iTunes or Amazon NOW!)

She's so very talented and her music is tied to SO many memories of my young adult-hood and first years with Tim. Therefore I love her even more.

Her latest CD, and first in 7 years, "Laws of Illusion" was released this week and does NOT disappoint. She still sounds like the Sarah that I've always known and adored. Some may find her same sound redundant but I personally find it takes me to my "happy place" and that's a really good thing.


My favorite song on the new album so far is "Forgiveness," followed closely by the first single, "Loving You is Easy". I've listened to them both A LOT in the last few days.

The amazing Sarah has had "a career spanning more than two decades, over 20 million career sales to date and every one of her studio and live albums has been certirifed gold, platinum or multi-platinum by the RIAA. "

And all this right before the 2010 Lilith Fair Tour begins (I SO wish I could go to one of the stops!) Talk about awesome memories from the late '90's (yes, I'm getting old...)

The best part of this is that I have one CD of "Laws of Illusion" to give away to one of you lucky ducks. Just leave me a comment telling me one of your favorite female artists of all time.

I will choose a winner early next week - probably Tuesday.

You can gain an extra entry by tweeting this giveaway and leaving a separate comment that you did so.

Please make sure I have a way to contact you should you win, when I choose a winner with Random.org.

And if you don't win, I still suggest you buy this album. It's Sarah perfection all over again...




*Disclaimer - I was sent one album of Sarah McLachlan's new album for review purposes only through the One@One Network. I have chosen to share that CD with one of my readers. I was in no other way compensated for this review. These are my honest opinions.

You Capture - At the WATER

I find it quite timely that I happened to take a trip to the beach last week and this week's theme is Water.

I'm using it to my advantage and posting several of my favorite pictures from our trip.

ENJOY.

Baby K's toes touch the sand and water for the first time

The evening we got there. There had been a storm on the way in so the clouds were still hanging out

A sunset view from the third floor deck at the house where we stayed. See the ocean?

The kids in Seaside, by the sea... ;)

At the dolphin show!

Loving his sandy ears and the little hairs on his back...

My tan B Man!

Our best family shot (although I wish I wasn't wearing my sunglasses!). See the water WAY back there?