Blur

April 6, 2015Leave a comment

This week’s photo challenge theme is blur. When taking pictures of kids (or at least, when taking pictures of my kids), I seem to end up with quite a few blurry pictures. Some of them are by design, but most aren’t. Thumper in particular never stops moving, so I love my cameras’ burst modes. In addition to being just plain fun, they allow me to capture great pictures of my little Energizer bunny that aren’t blurry.

blur

This picture, though, was blurry by design and features a cute moment with Miss Tadpole and Cricket. The Easter Bunny was kind enough to leave him a gift at my aunt’s house, and Miss T. thought it would be funny to look at him through the other end of his adorable binoculars. She was right – everyone got a kick out of it, including Cricket.

I hope you all had a fantastic Easter!

Photo Friday throwback: The late edition

April 4, 20154 Comments

This weekend, man. Talk about busy! I meant to share this last night when I got back from the last fish fry of 2015, but I was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Anyway, since it’s Easter weekend, this week’s throwback photo is Easter-themed. It was taken on Easter Sunday in 1991 at my aunt’s house, right after my sister, my cousin, and I had finished our Easter egg hunt. My aunt must have been the one who took this picture because my grandparents and my mom are all sitting on the steps with us (along with my cousin’s grandpa). My mom and my grandpa were huge photography buffs, as is my aunt, so family get-togethers when I was growing up involved many, many pictures. And if we were getting together with my great-aunt and her family? More cameras.

You can see where I get my shutterbug-ism from. 🙂

Did you hunt Easter eggs when you were a kid?

Photo 365 #236

March 31, 20154 Comments

That’s right, I’m still waxing poetic about the weather. It’s another lovely day out there, and I’ve got a nice, long lunch break ahead of me to fill with stories to my heart’s content.

productive

More of this is definitely in store today. I can’t wait to get out there and enjoy the sunshine of another world for a little while! 🙂

How about you – what do you enjoy doing on beautiful sunny days?

Photo 365 #232

March 27, 20154 Comments

Last night, Seymour and Bubbles spent the remaining light of day playing catch out in the yard. Cricket, not one to be left behind, was desperate to go outside and join them. I snapped this as he was hurrying through getting his shoes and coat on. He was so excited that I had to be quick with the camera if I wanted to capture even a bit of his joy.

I imagine I might look a bit like this come five o’clock this evening… 🙂

Photo 365 #229

March 24, 20158 Comments

2015-03-22 14.09.16 We play cards in our family. Like, a lot. It’s kind of our family pastime. And we start ’em young.

Well, not that young, really – I think both Miss Tadpole and Bubbles were in school before we taught them any card games. But when Grandpa and Grandma were up over the weekend, Cricket and Thumper wanted in on the action, too.

They hate being left out.

It started off with Cricket teaming up with his aunt. That went okay, until Thumper decided that he wanted to play, too. He teamed up with Grandpa, but wasn’t satisfied with letting Grandpa hold the cards. We gave him a couple cards of his own to hold, but that actually made matters worse. I finally managed to decipher the sobbing squeals – he wanted all the cards.

At that point, we decided it was naptime. That really set him off.

But someday, they won’t be too little to play cards. Someday, they’ll learn how to play Up and Down the River with us, and then it’ll get really interesting (Miss Tadpole and Bubbles make it interesting already). It’ll be nice when, someday, family game night includes our entire family.

And maybe by that point, I’ll have figured out how to win. 😉

Do you have any family pastimes or traditions like family game night? What are they? Shout ’em out in the comments!

Photo 365 #228

March 23, 2015Leave a comment

Yesterday was a great day. I hung out with family, I ate great food, I watched Buffy, I wrote. A lot. Well, more than I have been lately, at any rate.

And then last night, after suffering through the UNI defeat vicariously through Seymour, I was rudely awakened about 2:30 a.m. by the crash of thunder. Jagged streaks of lightning ripped apart the sky outside my window as the wind howled in agony. Something clicked and clacked against the window, and I groaned.

2015-03-23 08.11.02

When I awoke this morning, these pretty little pellets were all over the place. School delayed two hours to give the road crews a chance to clear the highways. But I still had to venture out on time this morning, braving the ice-slicked roads to get to work.

Luckily, the road we live on was the worst. Once I hit the east-west road that takes me the majority of the way to work, the roads were much less slick. I’m grateful that we haven’t had more ice this year, and I hope we won’t have any more storms like the one we had last night until it’s warm enough that the rain stays liquid.

Photo 365 #227

March 22, 2015Leave a comment

It’s hard work being a little guy. Eat and sleep, play and eat.

But sometimes, there’s cake. And everyone loves cake, especially little guys like Thumper. It’s even better when it’s birthday cake and Grandpa and Grandma are here to share it.

Today is my father-in-law’s birthday, and the kids are beyond excited to spend the day with Grandpa and Grandma. I hope your Sunday will be as nice as ours!

Photo 365 #226

March 21, 2015March 22, 20152 Comments

Cricket recently acquired a new set of Superman jammies, and he adores them:

“Superman to the recksyou!”

Cutest. Superman. Ever. 🙂

He loves them so much that I have a feeling he’s going to try to convince me to let him wear them to daycare come Monday. That’s going to be a hard argument to win, because he’s so darn cute in them. 🙂

Photo Friday: The door throwback

March 20, 2015March 20, 20157 Comments

I don’t know why, but I just love pictures of kids and doors:

“I wonder what’s in here…”

“I’m goin’ in, Mom…”

Maybe it’s because my sons love to explore (particularly where and when they shouldn’t). Maybe it’s because it’s a fantastic reminder that to a child, everything is new and different and somehow magical, which is something that adults often seem to forget. Maybe it’s because it reminds me of the magic I used to see in the world, and that the magic still exists if I’d just take the time to look for it.

I don’t know about you, but I could use a little magic at the moment.

What reminds you to seek the magic in your own life?

Have a great weekend, everybody, and don’t forget to check out Charnele’s throwback post!