A little window into his mind...

The Photo

My 5 year old son is, hm, disrespectful unique creative. It's funny what sticks with him and comes back around later.

I do photography. With my love of photography comes the inevitable photos of the family. Many photos of the family. My son, Brian, doesn't often cooperate and I have to cajole him into letting me take his photo. That usually takes the form of a comment about the photo from me and letting him see it on the back of my digital camera. Instant gratification - works for most everyone, my son included.

Well, the other day he got a flashlight, but the shape was rather rectangular. In fact, it had the shape of a point-and-shoot camera. So Brian goes around "taking" photos. It was very cute.

Until he wanted to take my photo. At the time I was trying to get a few time sensitive things done.

So I had a stellar mom moment and said, "that is NOT a camera and no I'm not going to say cheese" (way to go me, encouraging creative play!). To which he looked at the back of his "camera" and said, "oh, that's not a very good one, you were mad. Let's take another."


You know you live in the Pacific Northwest when...

Brian has gotten into coloring lately. Mostly he colors in his coloring books with the random mark on the table or wall. The other day he was coloring in one of his car coloring books and decided that it needed a sky.

So he drew the sun, then he drew the clouds over the sun. Because "that is where they always are."

Yes, we are ready for some sunny summer weather!

My first Photo Walk

My husband outdid himself this Mother's Day and let me have the whole weekend off! What a wonderful man. I feel renewed and rejuvenated. One of the things I did was take my first ever photo walk. It was super fun and very educational. While I wasn't really excited about any of my photos I was excited about the time to just be me (not mom, wife, housekeeper, etc), let my creative juices flow, and try out some different photography techniques.

You can see more photos on my other blog.

Last year when I sold my horse I went through a time of identity crisis. So the last twelve months have found me trying a few things to fill that void. I feel like I have finally landed on something. My photography helps to rejuvenate me. It used to be that when I had a bad day (or was in a bad mood) I would head out to the barn to ride and spend time with my horse. Afterward, I would come home a different (happier) person. This winter has been tough on everyone: if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Not that I have been super mean or anything, but I had nothing that was just for me. Everyone needs something that feeds their soul.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that after an hour wandering around downtown Puyallup with my camera I was feeling like a new person. It was really, really nice. What a Mother's Day gift!

And, as an added bonus, I don't have to feed, shoe, vaccinate or exercise my camera regularly, and there are no boarding costs. That makes my budget (read: husband) happy too.

Happy Mother's Day

In a Galaxy Not so Far Away..

My husband shared with me a conversation he had with our son, Brian. I had sent Brian on an errand out to the storage/tool shed (where my husband was working).
Brian: Mama wants, um, the robot.
Husband: What robot?
Brian: um, um, the Star Wars one.
Husband: R2D2?
Brian: Yes, that one. Wait, no, the other one.
Husband: C3P0?
Brian: Yes!
Husband: Maybe you mean WD40?
Brian: Yep, that's what she wants.

Tulips

Did you know that Washington is an exporter of Tulip bulbs? Yep. Who knew! We even have festivals dedicated to tulips. I went several years ago and it was amazing. Now that we are back in the Pacific Northwest I keep trying to get back to the tulip fields. They are only about 2 hours away, but that would be 2 hellish very long hours with two small children. So, I am putting off the trip for another year.

But, I did get to head out with a friend and her kids to a local (read: a short, sweet 15 minute drive) tulip nursery this last week. I took some pictures of the kids and the flowers. It was a beautiful, sunny day.

Next year I vow to make it to the Skagit Valley for the tulip festival.

I also have some new software that I am messing with and trying some new techniques...

I loved these purple, lacy ones...

The color on these was so intense. Too bad I was messing with my camera settings and didn't get a shot that did them justice.

And here is a picture of my son needing a hair cut...


This is the best one of him all day. Most of the photos were of him pretending he had a gun, a sword or some other implement of violence. Are ALL boys like this?