7/26/11 - F is for Favorite Flower

Perhaps I should have waited for H for this one....but I figured the two Fs trumped just one H.

I have always adored hydrangeas.  I used little potted hydrangeas as the centerpieces at my wedding.  I took one of them home and tried to keep it alive, but alas I think I killed it.  Thank goodness I'm better at marriage than I am at gardening.  This beautiful hydrangea isn't mine.  I can only manage white or blue and it appears my blooms may be done for the season.  I could have photographed the dried ones I have in the house, but instead I stepped out of the house and walked down to a neighbor's house for this shot.  So pretty.

7/25/11 - E is for Eye

This was a tough get.  I sat Nathan down on the patio while he was eating some Gogurt and told him to sit really still.   It has come to my attention that 3 year olds don't do really still very well.  Finally I got him to look right at the lens and see if he could see his eye in there.  He could and that kept him still enough for the macro lens to do its job. 

E is also for EWWWW!    After we got the photo above, we went outside to play for a while and Nathan fell into some mud.  He got mud all over his brand new light up Toy Story shoes.  Fortunately everything cleaned up nicely. 

7/24/11 - D is for Dinosaur

Look how scary! 

7/23/11 - Cascading

I've got to come clean. This isn't the C photo I had planned for today, but I forgot to set up the shot I actually wanted to take, so I went word searching to find a way to use this image for today's photo.  Sneaky, I know. 

I love the cascading light in this image.  If you're curious....Nathan is practicing something his Daddy taught him to do.  Let all the air out of your lungs and sink to the bottom of the pool so you can push off the bottom and shoot up.  

7/22/11 - B is for Bubbles

Nathan blowing bubbles in the pool.

7/21/11 - A is for Amber

It's time.  A long time ago...before beginning this project, I sat down and made a list of several ideas that I could use in case I ran out of ideas....or just to keep the project fresh. I now resort to the first of these tactics.  We now begin the alphabet challenge.  I will post an image for each letter of the alphabet. Today is A.

A for Amber.  Since I was a girl, I've loved the sappy gem for which I am named.   I have often used it as a sort of nametag when teaching to help the kids learn my name.  (They call me Miss Amber).

I have lots of Amber. Here is a piece of Amber that my Mom gave to me.  This particular piece has an ant in it. So cool!

7/20/11 - Happiest Place on Earth

It's been a while...but we visited Disney today.  Star Tours has re-opened...and Nathan is tall enough, so I thought we'd go....grab some fast passes and enjoy the new ride.  Sadly, by the time we got there at noon....all the fast passes were already gone, so we had to wait.  It was a full 1 hour and 30 minutes before we got on the ride.  I think this was the longest I had ever waited for any ride at Disneyland...ever.  I feel very fortunate that I have Nathan for a child, because the wait was really easy with him.  He didn't complain once...just enjoyed the sights and sounds at Disney as we winded our way around the muggy, HOT, and twisty cue.  In the end, he just loved the ride and talked about it over and over. 

Here are a few snaps from our Star Tours experience.

Storm Trooper keeping the line "in line".

We finally made it inside.  Here Nathan is watching the movie playing in the inside portion of the line.

Nathan picked this one as the photo of the day.  Still in line.

And a few more snaps cause...well, it's pretty rare for me to have an actual camera at Disney, so I used it.

Tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room.

Tom Sawyer's    Pirate's Island.

7/19/11 - Lightroom

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my Lightroom program?  Let me just quickly sing its praises.  I don't know how I'd manage these wedding photos without it. 

Thank you Lightroom....Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah  ahhhhh aaaahhhhh  ahhhhhh ahhhh!  (that's me singing the praises dontcha know)

7/18/11 - Big Brother

I'll need to update this one with the photo once I figure out how to get it on the computer. 

Rich thought it would be a great idea to get a security camera for when the baby arrives.  It's a really nifty little camera that you can sign in to view from just about anywhere.  Rich will be able to check in while he's out of the house to see how the baby and I are doing. 

Rich got it now and has for the meantime installed it in Nathan's room.  This means that we can see Nathan up in his room from anywhere in the house.  He thinks it's hilarious.  Here is a photo I took while spying on my little boy.

7/17/11 - New Eyes

7/16/11 - Saturday in the Park with Nathan

Today was one of those days where it was really really hard to pick just a few photos.  We headed to the park today where I lounged in the shade taking pictures while my dear husband entertained Nathan. 

A few of the day's highlights.

Who's having more fun?

I LOVE this capture.  How I got this, I don't know...but look at that mutual admiration. Beautiful.

Rich and Nathan literally raced all around the park.  I believe the end tally was Nathan 3 races Rich 1.  Here is Rich showing Nathan where they will race to.

This was taken shortly after the race that Nathan lost. It appears that Nathan is still a really sore loser. 

 Fortunately, Nathan got over it.  I was the point they were racing to in this shot.

7/15/11 - Super Boy

I was feeling well enough today to take Nathan tricycling around the neighborhood!  I just love what is going on with this boy lately. 

Looking so grown up on his little tricycle.

This is perhaps my favorite capture of the day.  He has become so expressive when he talks and tells stories.  I don't know what he's telling me here...but he sure is cute saying it.  I LOVE that his eyebrows still do that thing they did when he was a baby.

I've made this one the photo of the day.  He is always appalled when he sees that people have left trash lying around on the ground...so here he is picking up a bottle cap.  Yes...he is a super hero saving the world from trash one piece of litter at a time. 

7/14/11 - Mini Golf Celebration

Or Putt Putt...depending on your regional dialect.

Today was a good day.  Rich stayed home from work so he could attend a very important ultrasound this morning.  Some of you know that I suffered a severe fever several weeks ago that caused some concern for the development of the baby.  I had been waiting nervously for the 12 week ultrasound to see if there were any obvious defects caused by the high fever.  Fortunately, everything looked great at the ultrasound. The baby is measuring exactly as it should and all looks perfect.

Rich decided that the good news called for a celebration.  We decided to take Nathan to a pizza place and to play mini golf after school.  This was Nathan's first time playing mini golf...and he did great!  It was a very close game.....and in the end, I think we all won!

iPhone photo

7/13/11 - Trade

Nathan has too many toys.  In my oh so clever way, I attempted to simultaneously sort, organize, and cull Nathan's toys by coming up with some sort of trade.  I thought....let's offer Nathan a piece of candy from the special candy store for every toy that he decides to give away.

Nathan traded for 20 pieces of candy.  Not a bad start.  Here is some of the candy that he chose. Let it be known that Nathan loves all things gummy.

7/12/11 - Skype

Nathan had a little Skype session with Mema today.  Too bad they're both so miserable talking to one another.

7/11/11 - Tomato Sandwich

It's time....time to eat the first tomato.  I have always adored tomato sandwiches, so the first ripe tomato was destined to become one.  Well, actually, it became two.  Nathan seemed to enjoy the tomato sandwich almost as much as I did...which is strange because he has always claimed not to like tomatoes.  I guess the fact that we MADE this one went a long way towards his enjoyment of it.  He was just so amazed and excited that we could create something that wasn't there before.

Just wait til his sibling arrives. Haha...I hope he's just as amazed and excited then. 

7/10/11 - First Wedding

I shot my first wedding today.  It was a difficult undertaking.  When I took the job, there was no energy sapping child inside me making everything 15 times harder than normal.  Energy sapping child aside...it was a beautiful day, I worked my hardest, and I'm really pleased with the results...overall. 

Here is the same collage of images I posted on my business blog. 

7/9/11 - Ripe!

I was so excited to see the first ripe tomato today when I went outside to water the tomato plant!  Here is Nathan about to pick it.  OOOOOH.....YUM!

7/8/11 - Diptych

I really wish I could remember the story behind these photos.  That's the really bad thing about getting behind in writing the blog posts.  Oh well....what struck me as I was looking through the photos today was the two sides of my boy.  The expression on the left is one we see a lot...cheerful and boisterous.   I was struck by how old he looks in the photo on the right.  I love both so much.

7/7/11 - Dinner Is Served

Tried out a new recipe tonight.  Funny thing is, I started making dinner thinking that I had all the ingredients necessary...but along the way I discovered that I was missing several ingredients..so I improvised.  Fortunately I seemed to have improvised well because it was DELICIOUS!  Love when that happens.

7/6/11 - Animal Week

Nathan's new pre-school has these fun and interesting themes for the summer weeks. They have special events at least once a week.  This week the rangers visited and brought some animals for the children to see.  This was not a day Nathan usually goes to school, but the school welcomes all students to come to special events with their parents even on their days off. I figured Nathan would really love to see the animals so off we went this morning for a visit.

The animals we saw were...let's see if I can remember:  a groundhog, 2 snakes, a red and a grey fox, a porcupine, an owl, and a spider.  Nathan's favorite was the snake that he got to touch at the end.

A collage of the animals we saw....except the grey fox.

And the photo of the day...Nathan's favorite part.

7/5/11 - Let's Read

I used to love these books as a child....as I recall, this one was my favorite.  As an adult, they are sometimes a cumbersome read for a quick bedtime story...but my child appears to share my love of them. 

7/4/11 - Independence Day

Rich and I hemmed and hawed for quite a while today trying to decide where we would go to celebrate the 4th.  Last year the place we went was huge....tons of people, great fireworks...but just a touch crazy.  This year we decided to try for something we thought might be a little less populated.  We bit the bullet and tried for a tickets only place that didn't allow smoking or alcohol.  We figured that might keep the population down to a less insane level.  We were so right!  We had a blast!

There were so many great ways to keep Nathan occupied.  Big slides, bouncy house, balloon artist, dance competitions, Frisbees to play with.  Food, cotton candy, ice cream, snow cones.  We had all we needed for a great celebration. 

Didn't take too many photos...but here are a few.

Nathan dancing to the band.

Daddy showing Nathan the stars with Google Star Maps.

Compilation photo of the best of my firework shots.  Didn't bring a tripod because I'm awfully lazy lately...so these were hand held.

7/3/11 - Acceptance

Steinway has always had this thing for laying on and/or in our shoes.  Originally...it was just my shoes...then Rich got the pleasure.  Well, today...for the first time ever, I saw Steinway laying one foot firmly installed in one of Nathan's shoes. One can only interpret to mean that Steinway has come to accept Nathan as a true and permanent member of the family. I just had to snap a photo of such a momentous event!

Nathan insisted that I snap this photo as well. 

7/2/11 - Sleeping Handsome

Snuck into Nathan's room just before going to bed myself and snapped this photo.  What a sweetheart!

7/1/11 - School Carnival

Nathan has started at a new school for Summer School.  It's a great place.  He gets to swim every day he is there and there are neat animals all over the place.  The grounds are lovely with trees and grass.  It's such a nice change of pace.  Today the school had a little carnival for the kids.  There were games and prizes, and cotton candy.  Wonderful.  A few photos from our day.

6/30/11 - Hisssss!

Gummy snakes are delicious!