He’s Two!

Remember this little boy?  This is our great-nephew, Mattix.

And he’s two years old now.

Of course, that meant a party!  We started out at the water park at North Valleys Regional Park.

There was pizza.

And ice cream.

Cards and lots of presents.

And just as we were about to eat some cake . . .

. . . lightning strikes began and the park had to close. So we had to head over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to finish the party.

We finally get down the important part.

Then off to play some more!

And before it was all through, we got a group photo.  I must say, I’m rather proud of myself on this achievement. I got everyone sitting and posed, Mattix was off to the side playing on the recliner. I told everyone, “No matter what happens with Mattix, keep looking into the camera.”  I set the timer, grabbed Mattix from the recliner, threw him into his mommy’s lap, jumped into my spot and “Smiles!”  Got it on the first take. 

Gratuitous cute puppy photo. This is Bambi, the newest addition to my brother & sister-in-law’s household.

Daily Prompt: It’s Friday, I’m in Love

Daily Prompt for Friday, February 14th (link)

Remember your first crush? Think about that very first object of your affection. Oh, the sweaty palms. The swoony feeling in your stomach. Tell us the story of your first crush. What was it about this person that made your heart pound? Was the love requited? Change the names to protect the guilty or innocent if you must! No judgement here. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Photographers, artists, poets: show us SMITTEN.

Andrea and Andrew’s story is one of second chances…Sweethearts back in their youth, they both moved on and married others. Both subsequently divorced and then reconnected. On their first date after finding each other again, they sat on the top of this lion at the playground in Idlewild Park and talked for hours and hours.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Object

From this week’s challenge:

Our photographs tell stories, big and small. Some of our images are landscapes, offering wide and sweeping views of a scene; these pictures might tell the tales of an entire city, or a tapestry of stories of many people. Some photographs, like portraits, focus on individuals, while still-life moments capture the beauty (and often treasured stories) of belongings and found objects.

My Hands

I have my mother’s hands. Strong, peasant stock. I’ve always been a bit self-conscious of them. With my short, crooked, bony fingers, I’ll never be a hand model.  But last Mother’s Day, my daughter wrote something very special for me and I’ve never looked at my hands with loathing again.  I’ve combined her words with a self-portrait I shot this past weekend.

01022014_017-3

Happy Christmas!

A few images of our Christmas Eve.

Dinner was prepared by Daughter and her fiance.

The Booty.

The funny-mushy card.

Everyone got a headpiece . . .Sweetie looking adorable.

You know you’re all grown up (and a starving student) when you are this happy getting a vacuum cleaner for Christmas.

Pups got rawhide chewies ( I think this was a mistake I will not make again). Still, they enjoyed them.

Daughter had no idea how much I love Vivian Maier. And I didn’t have this book!

Merry Christmas to all you wonderful people who take the time to look at what I’m doing. I am so grateful. Daughter snapped this one of Sweetie and Me:

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mine (and Day 276)

This week’s photo challenge is “Mine.” There isn’t much I consider mine. Not really.

I have possessions, but all of them can be swept away at any time.

The bank still owns this.

There are fleeting moments I wish were “mine.”

We have creatures who share our lives . . . but are they mine?

The way she orders me around, there is no way she’s “mine.”

This one lets me share “her” bed.

She turned me into a middle-aged woman with a little dog, but Miss “You have to wrestle me to the ground to clip my nails” is not mine.

My loyal boy is not “mine” either.

Fruit of my womb, and I’ll love her until the end of time,  but definitely not “mine.”

Love of my Life. We said, “I do,” but we don’t own each other. We share our lives.

There is just one thing that is really and truly mine.

Me.