Little Break...

As you can tell, I've taken a bit of a break. We're finishing up our homestudy to adopt one (or hopefully TWO!) siblings for DS and it's a lot more insane to get it all done than I'd thought! I'll hop back in as soon as I finish it up, though!

Day 75

Fun time today! Here's DS:
Petting an alligator

Holding a snake

Just LOVING this turtle! He thought this thing was great and spent ages playing with it!

This is DS on Saturday in little boy heaven. We went to my little sisters' birthday party, and he was surrounded by a bunch of 11 year old girls who thought he was cute and actually enjoyed the fact that he was tagging along. it was so totally adorable!

Day 73

Birds in my mulberry tree! I've been trying to get a decent bird shot for ages, but we live in the damned 'burbs and they aren't quite as plentiful. Still, I like this one!
:)

Day 72

Took a week off to get through some insanity, but I'm back on track! Here are some of my first attempts at actually posing him for portraits. Wow, I had NO IDEA how hard it was to make a 2 year old sit still - yikes! My camera had major trouble with autofocus. Half of the pictures focused on the tree, it was so aggravating! Normally, I'd just go to manual, but I couldn't keep up with his movements in manual focus, so I just sucked it up and figured I'd get a few that would be okay..

Day 71

Some night photography!
We went to a local state college to take some pics at night. I thought it was great fun!
:)

One of the classroom buildings

A weird statue/art thing on the lawn

A traffic trail

Day 70

So, I decided today to go and get some new running shoes to go with my new gym membership. I've had my current pair for a while and I'll usually take any excuse to go shoe shopping. I figured I'd just run in, find a cute pair and run out. Oh man, has anyone gone running shoe shopping lately? Dude, that is one serious state of fug. Seriously, they were so totally ugly, by the time I hit the fourth store I actually asked the sales person why they were all so hideous. At first she tried to pretend they weren't and then she admitted I was right and they were awful. She told me the guys are worse! Anyway, she asked another sales rep why and he told her it was because they needed to be reflective. I guess I've found a new sales area - INDOOR running shoes!!!!! No need for the neon and the silver on a treadmill. So, after the FIFTH store, I decided to totally embrace the fug and just go with comfort over fashion. In the end, I found a pair that feels fantastic and isn't the absolute worst out there. So, I present - the fugiliciousness of my new kicks. yum.

Day 69

Self portraits! I got spunky this afternoon and decided to try some self portraits. Here are my two favorites! I realized many people have no clue what I look like. That's not my natural color hair, it's much lighter. I've gone red for the summer.

Day 68

Fun by the pool!

Day 67

I have got to find something other than flowers to take pictures of........

My rose bush decided to bloom. Seemed like a great idea at the time. Now, it just seems boring. Dude, I need some inspiration! That's my goal for today - something inspired.

Day 66

I'm purposely skipping this day. Remember I said I had to get brave enough to post this pic? Well, I'm NOT. I took a picture of the curve of my back leading to my rear end and I just am not brave enough to post a picture of my naked ass, even though it's pretty interesting and you really can't see anything. I just can't do it... Plus, years of dance have left me with a HEAVY arch in my back and it makes my bottom look bigger than it is. It fits my sense of humor, because I was going to post it showing you all, "this is my ass the day I joined the gym to lose it". But, alas, I'm a giant chicken.

Day 64

BEACH DAY!!!!

Here are some fun ones from our trip to the beach!

Day 63

Here are the hands of one of the nicest and most talented people I know. He was giving me a guitar lesson, and he allowed me to photograph him. I cropped it to maintain privacy, but I think the crop makes for an interesting shot.

Day 62

Okay, so I actually took this today, but I was a total lazy ass yesterday, so I'm posting it for yesterday :P

This one is for my stepmother (who's a loyal reader - THANK YOU!). So, I've been having these headaches on and off for weeks. I've also had this weird pain behind my eye when I squint or push on it. So, being the hypochondriac that I am, I was trying to decide whether I had a brain tumor or eye cancer (hmmm.... sound familiar?). After reading online and staring intently at my iris in the mirror, I realized I don't have any other symptoms, STILL, I had no idea what was going on. So, today, we took a drive to the beach and suddenly my head started popping. Then it hit me. Yep, I've had sinus pain from hell going on. What a moron, you'd think I'd remember this EXACT situation from years ago, but no. Anyway, this is what DH went and bought me, so I took a pic to remind myself that I am, in fact, a giant doofus. Oh, he also bought the wrong one (dumbass!) so my headache is there and worse than before thanks to the beach air, but at least I know what's wrong with me!

Day 61

Raindrops on roses.....

Well, rose leaves, anyway

and irises

Day 60

Saw the ladybug on the rosebud and went RUNNING for my camera. After I got the pics off of my camera, I saw the little green thing. NOW I know what's chomping holes in my rosebush.

Day 59

Some "action" shots - throwing! He thought it was great fun to throw grass and clovers all over himself. Hey, whatever blows your dress up, kid!

Okay, before any of you rag on me for the hair (because plenty of my relatives and friends check this out) it was NOT on purpose! He was hot and sweaty, so I ran some cold water through it and it just stuck like that. I figured it was still wet, but it wasn't - it just STAYED like that. I then had to use more water and the opposite action. I swear, I didn't plan it and I DID fix it (don't worry, dad, I don't make him look dorky on purpose!)

Day 58

Two of my sweeties!
This is DS and our fat cat, Shana. Seriously, this cat looks like a beached whale when she lays down. We adopted her from the shelter and she came that huge! How does a stray get so fat? She's an amazing cat, and she's recently taken a liking to DS. Isn't this sweet!
:)

Day 57

Another test shot with the new lens.
This is a dandelion seed stuck to the post of our swingset. It was flipping all over in the breeze, so it was tough to get a good shot!

Day 56

Testing out a new lens...

Here's just a cute one of DS.

this one CRACKS me up. Can you tell he's getting tired of being my model? Doesn't that face just say "dude, WTF". Love it!

Day 55

I'm trying to get caught up because I'm so unbelievably behind!!! This is from Monday (yes, LAST Monday!). I spent the day at a Bat Mitzvah, but I didn't feel comfortable posting pictures of the Bat Mitzvah girl, so this is my solution! i'm so so proud of her! She's been my student for 4 years and she has had to work harder than most, but she did an unbelievable job! Way to go, Sarah!

Day 54

More beach shots! This time, though, it was much chillier!!!

My sister E on the jetty.

DS looking out at the ocean.

Sandy toes!
This is called Scargo Tower and it's a great stone tower with crazy metal circular stairs inside that looks out over Scargo Lake on Cape Cod. There's a cool tale about Scargo lake and now it was dug by hand by a Native American boy for his girlfriend who had lost her father. Then, when the girlfriend saw it, her tears filled it. Or so my 10 year old sisters tell me ;)

Day 53

At the beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With my cousin J

With my little sister E

With my little sister O


My sister braving the freezing water - both sisters and my little guy did and I thought they were ALL insane!

Day 52

Boy meets grasshopper. Seriously, this grasshopper had NO self-preservation instinct. It just sat there and let a two year old poke it. It would not hop away. I finally had to force it to hop (otherwise known as giving it a little toss) so I could retrieve my kid and get him out of the parking lot! Taken with P&S. I'm so glad I now carry that thing everywhere!!!

Day 51

It was SO hot, I bought him a new slip n' slide! I thought it would be great fun! This sucker is WAY cooler than any slip n' slide I ever had growing up!

Day 50

This was just taken with my P&S. I thought it was funny - it's DS being entertained by the fish at my doctor's office. He really liked them and asked me if we could please look at them again before we left, LOL!

Day 49

ONE of my irises decided to bloom today. It's interesting, though. I think they're so beautiful to look at, but I took pictures from every angle and I'm just not impressed with them. I think they capture the flower just fine, but somehow it just doesn't look as nice in pictures. Oh well!