Favorites of 2012

You know those two roads that diverged in a yellow wood?

It's true.

The one less traveled by has made all the difference.



The Battle

Featured in the "Why it Works" section of the January 2013 issue of CLICK magazine.


Captive

Yes, I am that Mom that rescues a turtle off the highway and tosses it in my son's lap while he squeals like a little girl.


Waiting

My beautiful baby sister and her belly!


Left Behind: First Day of School

Featured on Clickin' Moms blog and facebook wall


Enough Helpers?



Curiosity



What Remains

Featured on Clickin' Moms blog
Best of Show at our local County Fair


Summer Bliss



Childhood Memory



Epic Quest



Solstice

Summer

Would we be this uncivilized if our nearest neighbor wasn't a mile away?


{some of us don't have tan lines}

Definitely.

When selfies go bad

When Christmas-is-almost-here weather does not feel like Christmas is almost here...



When blazing direct sunlight fires the remote shutter release camera's timer randomly...



When I'm confused because my camera seems demon possessed...



When helpers are very... ummm, helpful...



When I realize a gigantic bruise on my thigh is just a bit sore...



When one second per frame on an animated gif doesn't render (or whatever the correct term is) properly...



That, my friends, is when selfies go very very bad.

Orange pumpkins

Three weeks ago, it was still autumn. I should have taken pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes that day. But of course, we haven't had one afternoon free of first grader homework since then, while the weather was still nice.



We still haven't done it. And I imagine we probably won't. Momtographer fail.

Weather being "nice" is all relative. A month from now I'll wish I had done it today. Maybe, because I've actually typed this, we will. Today. Or attempt to, anyway. Then I'll post them here and make you guys look at them.

And since I'm going to make you look at my pictures... because, after all, this is my blog...

Maybe I'll even post some from our one and only family vacation ever since we had kids. The one we attempted even though it was an insane idea (to put it mildly). The vacation we went on four months ago. Four months. My kids have grown inches since then. I'd bet money on it. You could also bet money that I haven't finished processing my pictures from that vacation (four months ago).

Excuse: The image files are way too big and my computer is way too slow. Painfully slow.

When we got home from that family vacation, it wouldn't have been us who decided that we just couldn't admit failure in the pumpkin growing department. So the first grader and his mother planted a pumpkin from seed even though it was the end of July.

Why? Because we wanted to.

And like the boys always say when I ask them why they've done something stupid, "Just for fun!"

Doesn't everyone plant pumpkins when the end of July rolls around?

So I can tell you the whole truth: It obviously wouldn't be us ridiculously giddy for having orange pumpkins to show for that less-than-sixty-day growing season. Or something like that.

Heck yes. Apparently they can ripen off the vine.

What's up?

Sorry.

I've been blogging for nearly two years now. You're lucky it hasn't happened sooner.

Live Every Moment - Bokeh

Memorable enough to make the favorites list.

One of those dreams

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you find yourself in the middle of a field...

You accidentally kneel on a dragonfly.



And then you sit on a thistle.

You let your hair down for a few self portraits.

Then you step on two of your hair clips. This frustrates you immensely not because they're broken, but because it means you're leaving more than footprints behind. It's impossible to get all those little smashed bits of plastic out of the earth.

The next morning, your two year old Bean greets you with a look of horror while pointing at your face and squealing, "Mommy! Owie!"

Sure enough, you look in the mirror and find a wood tick attached to the side of your face. You think to yourself, "Really? On my face? Am I still dreaming?"

But you know how dreams go.



Sometimes they're weird, but perfect.



Sometimes you remember the details.



And sometimes you don't.

Spring, at last

Imagine this.

An entire week of depressing gloomy weather, with my attitude to match. I blamed the weather and my thyroid, which are both equally good excuses. Finally, after a particularly rough day, I told my husband that once our crazy monkeys were put to bed for the night, I was outta here. By myself.

He didn't argue. Perhaps he was glad to be rid of me for awhile?

But you know... the most amazing thing happened.

The clouds parted.

And the light? Like honey.

Pure sweet thick dripping golden honey.



The deep hum of spring-time life vibrates it's way into my soul. Even half-way through May, it's still a shocking change from our long stark quiet winter.

Somehow, Spring has arrived.



Out here, even if I attempt to, I never go off exploring alone.

God's creatures find me.



And the truth is, I kind of prefer it that way.

Serene

Last weekend we enjoyed some unbelievably gorgeous weather for this time of year. Like, short-sleeve-shirt not-even-a-breeze gorgeous weather. And although our daylight is shrinking day by day at an alarming rate, it means our late afternoon hours are saturated with that amazing light.



But not only was the weather perfect, and the light fabulous...



our Red rooster didn't bother us even once, and the kids dug in their sand-paraboloid with complete and utter joy.



Dare I also say the moisture content of the sand couldn't have been better? It's true.



But if I've learned anything as a mom, I've learned this: beautiful serene moments like these are, truly, only fleeting moments. As I lay there in the grass shooting my happy kids bathed in my favorite kind of light with my piece-o-crap Rebel, I knew. I knew the clock was ticking.

And the micro-second I turned my head?

The little Bean ran.



She ran far far away.

Thank you Lord, for barbed wire fences that have seen much better days, yet still do a fine job of slowing the escape of any semi-domesticated critters.

You Capture: serene

Wandering in the evening

If we can make it just a few more weeks without frost, our raspberries will be perfectly ripe. Fresh and new and yummy. They've been teasing us, one here... one there... but now we've begun to find them a handful at a time.

I had to chase the dog out of there yesterday. She gets all kinds of good things, she doesn't need every last one of the raspberries too.

This little damselfly was about to go hunting for mosquitoes. Yet its own life is nearly over. I can feel that hint of crisp change in the evening air. I wonder if the little creatures are aware of it.



The day is complete when everything is saturated with that fabulous golden light, it is brief but magical.

I chase the diminishing light with my lens, forced to change my camera's settings almost constantly. Finally I admit that I just can't collect enough light with the tools I have. My tripod is in the house. I'm not running back in for it, not tonight anyway. The mosquitoes are terrible.

But until those blood-thirsty demons send me racing for the safety of the house, I sit alone with my camera... quietly observing, listening, feeling, seeing.

Well, okay, so I'm not technically alone. This big sharp-clawed rumbling orange beast loves to tag along.



And I don't mind.



He's good company.



More Summer's Simple Things at

The second day of school

The first day of school gets all the attention.

Clothes are laid out the night before. Moms put a tissue in their pocket, just in case. Cameras click click click. Everyone is at least a little bit unsure.



The first day of school, our big kindergartner was ready. His mom was ready. The camera was ready. As we waited, someone noticed spiderwebs and admired them, which calmed any remaining nerves.



Although preschool last year had prepared us all for school itself, the bus was a new thing. He wanted me to step on the bus with him. I was happy to.

Amazingly, considering it was only a few weeks ago that he declared, "And I'm not gonna do it", all was well.

In a cloud of dust, our big kindergartner was off to his first day of school.



Of course it was the second day, when I let my guard down, that the drama arrived.

Again, I waited outside with the kid. The bus was coming down the driveway. The doors opened... but he hesitated.

So our ninety pound beast of a dog got on the bus instead.

Happy tongue swinging, flapping tail slapping the seats, nose investigating, completely ignoring my request for her to get her butt back on firm ground. I finally had to grab her collar and pull. She knew mom meant business and didn't argue.

The giggling kindergartner got on the bus. You would laugh too, if your gigantic dog wanted to go to school with you.

And then I discovered that my clever three-year-old had locked me out of the house.

I have everything under control. Always. Yes, I do. I'm the mom.

Despite hail and high water

In the evening after my kids are to bed, it's then that I escape down this path lit with golden light.



I come to visit my beautiful green things.

July is the magic month, the time when my little green things become lush and lovely.

The potatoes are starting to flower. That means if I gently reach beneath them, I would find perfect small new potatoes. It's addictive, pulling those little jewels out of the ground with my bare hands. You have no idea.

And when I do, I'll have garden dirt under my nails for at least a week.



I instantly like people with garden dirt under their nails.

Gardening teaches patience.



Our new bed of asparagus is doing exactly what it should. The growth on top is feeding the baby crowns below, giving them the strength to make it through our harsh winter. In a few years they'll be strong enough to survive the harvest of some of the first shoots that grow in early spring.

Corn should be knee-high by the fourth of July? Well, we're doing better than the ankle-high we had last year at this time. Deceiving angle, isn't it?



When sweet corn is harvested, it immediately begins to convert it's sugars to starch. There is nothing like grabbing some ripe ears, husking them right there in the garden and then racing back to the house to a pot of boiling water that is ready and waiting.

Look what I found!

Cilantro!



I thought it looked suspiciously like something when I was weeding. I wasn't sure what kind of something it was, so I let it be. Patience is a virtue.

I love the quiet calm and repetitive motion of hand weeding. It's my time. My time when no children are yelling, "Mommy wipe my butt!". My time to ponder on the mysteries of life, such as the reasons why my Red rooster attacked my mother-in-law.

Gardening forgives, giving me a new chance every year.

And yet, this gardener wonders how many chances that Red rooster should have. Right now, he's hanging on by a very thin thread of grace.


For the You Capture challenge this week, Beth gave let us choose between "Green", "Hands", or "Chairs".

You Capture - "Green"