May Flowers in Connecticut

May in Connecticut usually doesn't give much in the way of flowers. Most of the early spring flowers have died off and the summer blooms are still developing. But we do have a few blossoms that are a delight as long as the deer don't find them! I try and try to plant a "deer resistant" garden, and spray my plants with really stinky stuff, but usually the deer chomp away at some point. Right now, things are good and the lilacs are starting to blossom and filling the air with their amazing fragrance, the allium are beginning to grow, and the clematis are climbing high, safe on my deck. I love these flowers!

POTD: Week 22 - Flowers

I'm going to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the meaning of this week's theme! We went camping this past weekend and had a wonderful time exploring the waterfalls of northwest New York. It was wonderful to see my children blossom and flower while they were discovering the fruits of mother nature.


Niagra Falls - we really enjoyed the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the falls - a must do if you ever visit the area!


Letchworth State Park in Castile, NY is simply gorgeous - as gorgeous as any flower I've ever seen! These middle falls are lit up at night and quite a sight to see.


The short walk to these Wolf Creek Falls at Letchworth is definately worth the time.


Another must see at Letchworth is the amazing gorge that runs through the park. It was awesome to watch my kiddies go on this hike and NOT complain - even as their little legs hiked on the trail and up the steep 127 steps! That just makes me *flower* with happiness!

Ok, done with the far stretch on the "flower" theme! :-)

Some New Stuff

Wow - I can't believe it has been almost 3 months since I posted some stuff here! That is just way too long...so here are a few things that I've made recently with some of the great new products at Express Yourself Scrapbook Store. They have gotten in some awesome new products lately!

A Yankees Game, A Birthday, and the Flu {RP Post}

Ken took the boys to a Yankees game a couple of weeks ago. It started out iffy...the Yankees (the boys favorite team) were playing the Mariners (Jonah's t-ball team's name & therefore 2nd favorite team). This created quite a predicament for Jonah - who to cheer for??? He was really torn but ultimately decided that the Yankees trump any other team, especially at Yankee stadium. Phew! Of coarse the fact that the Yankees were playing well added to his decision to cheer them on...that and a lot of cotton candy, dippin' dots, pretzels, peanuts, and lemonade.

A few days later Jonah had his 6th birthday. He was very excited for the big day as he said, many times, "I've been waiting for this day ALL year!!".

Few days later the flu made the rounds through the house. One person at a time. So it stayed in our house for a week. That made for a very a fun Mother's day! (not.) All seems to be on the mend for now.

POTD - Week 21: Happiness

Happiness is...a warm sunny day, the sound of the ocean cascading into the shoreline, a child's deep belly laugh, an unexpected sweet surprise, a content child, birds twirping on a Sunday morning, a gorgeous peony in full bloom, enjoying the day with the people you love, helping out someone, a gooey chocolate fudge brownie, a lobster roll on the rocky beach, knowing life is good - sometimes a little difficult - but all in all, good. But mostly happiness is the incredible feeling a parent has when they see their child overcome challenges and accomplish things.

My oldest son has faced his share of challenges in his 7 short years (well, almost 8). He has struggled with his gross motor development and this has had a big impact on our family life. It is easy to assume that the act of running is instinctual, but for him it wasn't. And as he got into grade school the fact that playtime and sports didn't come easily to him was very difficult on his self esteem. Deep inside he still wanted to join in the fun and play the games, but he was sad and embarrassed that he couldn't keep up with the other children. He felt defeated before the game even began. To hear my 5 year old cry "I'm not good. I'll never be good. I'm embarrassed around the kids" is just absolutely devastating. As a parent, to hear the things children say to other kids and see your child in emotional pain just breaks your heart.

He had weekly physical therapy sessions for almost 2 years to strengthen his muscles, improve his flexibility and essentially create a "spring" in his step so he could develop some sort of a running stride. Late last fall was the end of the physical therapy even though he still wasn't able to run. He just seemed to reach the limit of what the PT was going to offer at that point in time. So we let it be.

This past weekend, I got my first chance to see my son play baseball. Oh! My! Goodness! He was RUNNING! Not stiff, not shuffling along, but actually running! He had a bounce in his step, a spring in his gait! He actually had air below his feet! I don't know what changed, what happened with his development, but it doesn't matter. He was running and he was having fun. To see my son achieve something that has been so physically and emotionally challenging is the ultimate in happiness.

Making use of those bleeding hearts!

It is a gloomy day here but I wanted to get a photo of something and I'm feeling a bit uninspired. So, I headed to my little garden area and got my dd to play around. A little color always spruces up a dreary day!

POTD - Week 20: Catch Lights

It feels like I've been on a roller coaster lately. Life likes to throw a curve ball every once in a while and it seems like I've had a lot of them thown my way lately. Thankfully things have been manageable for the most part, but it would be nice to catch a little light one of these days! I realize that isn't the traditional meaning of "catch lights" in the photography world, but hey, it is what comes to my mind when I think of the phrase! Maybe it is just my warped pregnancy mind, but I'd like to catch a little lightheartedness, a little good luck, a little rainbow. Heck, these days it is nice just to catch a decent photo! :-)


A little light through a crystal.


Trying to catch the light and see a rainbow!


Your more traditional catch lights.

Six Years and Counting

The past six years have been a whirlwind for me! Lots of happiness, a little craziness, plenty of unexpectedness, but surely lots of love. It's hard for me to believe that my little boy is six years old today! It really does seem like just yesterday that he joined our family.

It has been an incredible journey over the last six years, starting with his unexpected arrival almost 7 weeks early. He kept me worrying so much in those early weeks! I still remember walking into the neonatal intensive unit on Mother's Day and the nurses telling me "Congrats mom, your little boy is off the ventilator". Man, that was the best mother's day gift ever! To know that things were going to be ok for my child just doesn't compare to anything else. I've continued to worry about all kinds of things over these six years and I suppose I'll do so for the rest of my life. But to see his amazing smile and hear his sweet voice brings so much happiness, even in the midst of the chaos of our daily life.

I've been told that sometimes the days are long, but the years fly by. My how unbelievably true that is! I'm amazed by how much joy he has brought into my life. I can't imagine what my life and our family would be like without him.

Happy Birthday J. I love you so incredibly much.

Here's my little Warhol-esqe play with him through the years - from birth to six years old!

POTD - Week 19: Important Women in Our Lives

My children love their grandma very much. They get excited to talk to her on the phone and often wish they could spend more time with her. Unfortunately, she lives pretty far away so we don't get to visit with her that often. But when we do make the trip to see my mom, my children have a blast! She is very important in our lives. Since I don't have her nearby to photograph her, here are some photos that I think she'd love. This morning, two of my children decided to collect flowers for grandma for Mother's Day. While I don't think the flowers will make it to Florida, their idea was cute!


"Hi Grandma!!!"

Smoke on the Water

...a fire in the sky. Can't help it, that song keeps going through my head! If I had a clue how to add music to my blog, I would have put up that song from Deep Purple. But I don't, so I didn't.

Here's my little creativity play this week. This was something that I've been wanting to try for quite a while now. It was definitely harder than I anticipated! I never was able to get the exposure correct - you have to shoot an almost transparent subject at a high shutter speed with a narrow aperture on a dark background and my light sources just weren't bright enough. And the post processing in Photoshop...yuck! No matter what I do I struggle with that program. But all in all it was enjoyable trying it out...I can see why so many people love this art form. It really was almost meditative watching the smoke rise and following the intricate forms it creates. This is one challenge that I think I'll keep trying over and over again until I get it right.