It’s a gray, gloomy day out there, so here’s a pop of color to brighten up your day:
Happy Monday!
(c) 2017. All rights reserved.
A pop of color
Tag: Photography
Starry night
For the most part, I love where I live. You don’t get views like this in a city:
That said, it needs to warm the heck up!
(c) 2017. All rights reserved.
Stretch!
Everyone needs a good stretch sometimes. Maybe not this big a stretch, though…
(c) 2017. All rights reserved.
It’s dribble time!
Cricket started basketball camp today. I’ve been to countless soccer, t-ball, and football practices, and at least that many swimming lessons and soccer, t-ball, football, and basketball games with Miss Tadpole and Bubbles. Basketball camp is a new one, though.
Gotta love it when they ask at the last possible moment. Cricket brought me the sign-up form at 8:00 a.m. this morning; camp started at 9:00 a.m. It’s fifteen minutes from our house to the school, and I was still in bed.
Apparently he’s been getting tips from the older two – Bubbles had me help him with a homework assignment the other night and waited till 9:30 p.m. the night before it was due to get me what I needed to help.
Kids. 😀
Do your kids participate in any extracurriculars?
(c) 2017. All rights reserved.
You’re only fourteen once
It’s Miss Tadpole’s birthday today, and she is fourteen. It’s hard to believe that – it seems like just yesterday when we met.
Seymour and I had decided to take the kids bowling. We thought introductions would be less pressure that way; they arrived first, and Bubbles and I arrived a few minutes later. They invited us to bowl with them and we accepted. We had a blast together, and afterward, she invited us to have supper with them.
Completely her idea.
I’ve been thinking more and more about those early days lately. They seem so long ago, and yet…not. I swear it was just yesterday that she walked up to me, tugged on my shirt, and said, “My trouble name is Tadpole Mary Kauffman.”*
And if I’d have smiled any bigger, I think my face would have broken.
So have a happy birthday, Miss Tadpole – you’re only fourteen once. Before you – and we – know it, you’ll be fourteen no longer.
*name changed to protect the silly
(c) 2016. All rights reserved.
Sadly Saturday
And if only the Panthers had won, it would have been a perfect day.
Okay, if only the Panthers had won and I hadn’t spilled pop everywhere…half a dozen times…then it would have been a perfect day. 🙂
(c) 2016. All rights reserved.
Ten things
With Labor Day now but a memory, I feel it’s time to kick my blog back into high gear. And by high gear, I mean posting more than once a month.
Because, you know, I’m a writerly type. And writerly types write.
Right?
Right.
Okay, then. It’s been a while! I’m still trying to make my head stop spinning after the whirlwind that was my summer, which I truly can’t believe is over already. It’s true what they say – the older you get, the faster time passes. And with that in mind, here are some of the ways I spent my time this summer:
- Camping. A lot. Camping includes, but is not limited to, swimming, tubing, hiking, fishing, playing cards, roasting marshmallows, grilling, and touring maize mazes, nature centers, petting zoos, and museums.
- Not writing. I’m finally starting to feel the ideas…
A letter to my son
Today, I send my darling baby boy out into the big, wide world. Next year his little brother, Thumper, will follow him, but I don’t want to think about that just yet. For now, I’m just trying to get through today…
Dearest Cricket,
I cannot believe you’re starting kindergarten today. It seems like only yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital, home to the proudest big brother and sister this family has ever seen. It seems like only yesterday that you started walking, started talking, started sleeping through the night.
It seems like only yesterday, but of course, it wasn’t.
It was six years, one month, and twenty-six days ago. Hardly yesterday, and yet it doesn’t seem like it was so very long ago. How the time flies!
You looked so grown up this morning as you headed out the door in your new school clothes. Your rockin’ Ninja Turtle backpack looked almost as big as you as we walked down the driveway to meet the bus, and your hand in mine felt so very small.
But I know you’ll be fine. You’re in good hands. You have a fantastic teacher and a wonderful school, and I know you’ll have fun. I know you’ll talk my ear off when I pick you up tonight. I hope you’ll stay excited about school, because today is the first of many first days for you, my boy, and I hope they’ll all be as much fun as this day. I hope you’ll make lots of new friends, the kind that will stay with you for thick and thin through the rest of your life.
Most of all, I hope you’ll never forget that no matter how old you are, you will always be my little Cricket. I love you, buddy.
Love,
Mommy
How did you handle your kids leaving for school?
(c) 2016. All rights reserved.
Triumph
My triumph today was all about smiles, both mine and my kids’. See, it’s been a rough day. It started early when my car died on the way to work. *sigh* Luckily, I have a pretty awesome coworker who came to pick me up and a husband who had the day off and was able to get my car back on the road.
I also have something delicious cooking in the kitchen. 😉
Apparently Cricket had a hard day, too. Bubbles beat him at football and refused a rematch due to dark and cold conditions. Luckily, Miss Tadpole had a fluffy bunny with which to cheer him up:
Someone just wants to play football.
Tuvok to the rescue!
There’s a smile!
And now that all is well with the world (or at least with my kids), I’m off to enjoy a nice and hopefully relaxing evening at home. Have a great weekend!
What puts a smile on your face when you’re feeling down?
(c) 2016. All rights reserved.
Double
For today’s challenge, I had a little bit of fun:
My younger two boys go everywhere together, and they’re so similar in size that I get asked all the time if they’re twins (they’re not). The first image is of my father-in-law exploring an auction with them. The second image is my husband exploring our new farm with the same two boys. I love that I was able to create two such similar photographs. These are two of my favorite pictures of my boys.
Do you have favorite candid shots of your family?
(c) 2016. All rights reserved.
Suddenly they all died. The end. 