Photo 365 #299

June 2, 20154 Comments

Today was an absolutely wonderful day to spend at the park. After running a few errands, we did just that.

The boys had a blast playing on the swings and the slides and the horsies. It wasn’t too hot, it wasn’t too cold, the sun was shining – it was just right.

But then we had to come home, and there were two very upset little boys. Luckily they were easily pacified with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the original cartoon version) when we got home, which made me happy because I had supper to fix, pie to bake, and a house to clean before a guest arrived.

Whew!

How do you like to spend beautiful days with your kids?

Photo 365 #298

June 1, 2015Leave a comment

Once more, the elusive still Thumper is spotted holding a baby…

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I just can’t get over how still he sat while holding his baby cousin. Thumper is never still.

Photo 365 #297

May 31, 2015May 31, 20159 Comments

Cricket’s godmother and her family were here for a visit yesterday, and I was very impressed with my guy. He shared his bunny with his little cousin, he held him, he helped feed him; he even watched him while he slept. He was quiet and gentle and it was amazing to watch.

He loves his little godbrother.

Naturally, Thumper had to have a turn, too:

Thumper took a bit more convincing, but he managed to sit still and be quieter than normal for much longer than normal. I was very proud of him, too.

It’s hard to believe they were ever so little and still, especially now that they’re both back to running around the house at mach 10 again this morning.

Photo 365 #296

May 30, 2015May 31, 20152 Comments

Thumper played so hard today. The kids put the boys down for naps early in the afternoon, but Thumper insisted, as usual, that he wasn’t tired.

Then we sat down to watch ABC Family’s Harry Potter marathon, and this happened:

And the Energizer Bunny is down for the count...

He started off snuggled up against Cricket’s godmother, who was visiting with her family, but pretty soon, he was down for the count. Once he was down, he did not want to wake up. Of course, when we told him supper was imminent, he decided that maybe he’d better return to the Land of the Conscious.

I was impressed – he spent several minutes-long periods actually being still. That almost never happens. 🙂

Photo 365 #295

May 29, 2015May 29, 20152 Comments

Mmm, raspberries… 😀

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I can’t wait for these to be ripe so I can eat them all. 🙂

Photo 365 #294: Five things every parent of boys should know

May 28, 2015May 29, 20152 Comments

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time (or even if you’ve just checked out my About page), you’ll know I have four kids. Three of them are boys; two of my children are rapidly approaching their crazy, mixed-up teenage years; and two of them are toddlers. Getting a toddler to do what you want them to when you want them to do it is like trying to squeeze blood from a stone; it ain’t gonna happen, and my morning spent trying to do just that (wrangle toddlers, that is) largely inspired this post.

Do these apply to all boys? Of course not. Do they apply to girls, too? You betcha. But I’m dealing with boys at the moment, so here’s what I know:

Photo 365 #293

May 27, 201512 Comments

They say you can tell a lot about a woman by what she carries in her purse, and after yesterday’s accidental shot of the inside of mine, I decided to zoom out a ways and show off just what I actually carry aside from that weathered pink photo album.

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The contents of my purse are as follows:

Photo 365 #292

May 26, 201515 Comments

Today’s picture is another of my accidental photos. Snapped as I was struggling to cram my phone into the appropriate pocket of my purse this morning, there’s something abstract about it that I quite like, despite the grainy quality.

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Meanwhile, I’m still trying to figure out how in the heck I opened my camera app without touching my screen…

Photo 365 #291: Memorial Edition

May 25, 2015May 24, 20152 Comments

My hometown does something pretty special for Memorial Day every year. In addition to putting out the usual rows of flags along the lanes, they also put out smaller flags next to all the veterans’ graves. But on top of that, they put up white crosses with the names of local veterans and the wars in which they served.

I spent some time out in the cemetery a few years ago photographing some of the crosses. I knew we’d sent many people to war over the years, but I was surprised to find out just how far back some of the veterans had served. For instance, we have a veteran from the War of 1812. Iowa wasn’t even a state in 1812!

We have a veteran of the Civil War, too, and of course there are plenty of veterans from both World Wars, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf. Someday, there will be other crosses from the current conflict to join them – I can’t count how many of my classmates joined the service after 9/11.

I’m proud to be from a place where veterans are accorded such respect. They certainly deserve it – without those who would fight and die for our freedoms, we would be a much different country than we are today.

Photo 365 #290

May 24, 201526 Comments

So yesterday was busy. Like, crazy busy. I didn’t get done anything I wanted to in terms of writing, but I did get my latest rhubarb harvest out of my fridge, so there’s that. I made two huge pots of rhubarb sauce, which I now have to get out of my fridge and into some freezer bags, and I started putting together a strawberry rhubarb pie, but stopped short of getting the pie assembled and baked. I thought perhaps I’d do that today, since it was meant for tonight, but between a wicked headache and supper plans going awry, it hasn’t happened.

At least, not yet.

I haven’t accomplished anything at all today except…