The Tell-Tale Picture Wall

A few months ago, I put up a picture wall of the boys in the upstairs hallway. The top row is John's and the bottom row is Sam's.

 

As you can see, Sam's row has been just a little bit neglected! And it's not just because John has over four years on him. I attribute it to what I call "second-child syndrome." John was the first child and so I was really good about getting his pictures done every few months when he was a baby and then once or twice a year as he got older. Sam is my second child and I love him and cherish him every bit as much as I did John, but I haven't been as good about getting his pictures done regularly and displaying them promptly because I'm more busy with two kids than I was with one, and for me the second time around has felt a little like "been there, done that!"

I haven't been totally neglectful of Sam and his photos, however. He had some nice newborn pictures taken, along with a photo shoot when he was about three months old, eight months old, and one year, although I haven't yet taken the time to order the prints, frame them, and hang them up (as you can see above...they're not there!). But I've resolved to catch up on that, at the very least so that Sam doesn't grow up with an inferiority complex. And last week I took him to a photo studio and got his pictures done, which I meant to do three months ago when he turned 18 months. Better late than never! I think the photos turned out really cute, despite the bug bite on his forehead and the lock of hair in the back that wouldn't stay down. Eventually, in the hopefully not-too-distant future, some of these will make it up onto the wall!

At the beach! (The photo studio beach, that is!)

Our First Spring in Iowa

Seeing as the first day of summer is this week, I better get my springtime pictures up before they become totally irrelevant. As many of you know, this was our first spring living in Iowa and in the Midwest. It was very pretty--everything gets really green and blooms like back East. And living in a new house is cool because it's neat to see what blossoms up in your own yard...

This is our "popcorn popping" tree!

It was good that I took pictures of this pretty flower bush/tree when I did because the next day almost all of the petals were gone from a big storm we got...

This beautiful flowering tree is in the field next to our house. I wish it looked like this all summer!

Dainty little lavender flowers...

This is part of the backyard and was taken in later spring when the trees had finally gotten all green and full again. Green is my favorite color!

It's been a lovely time of year, and now I'm looking forward to the beauties of summer, which is my favorite season. The fireflies have already started flickering at night. Life is so good in the summertime!

The Last Day of Kindergarten

I know everyone says it about their kids, but it really does seem like John's first day of kindergarten wasn't that long ago. In reality, it's been almost ten months, but it flew by fast. His last day of school was two weeks ago on June 2nd, so his time in that hallowed year of kindergarten has officially come to a close. (I'm so glad I have another child who has yet to enter kindergarten, otherwise I'd be beyond sentimental about this!)

And the end-of-year report is this: John had a great year! He adjusted nicely to being in school for a full day and also to living in a new state and going to a new school with nobody that he knew. He made many friends, had lots of fun, and learned many new things. His final progress report that he brought home on the last day of school states that he has been "promoted to next grade level." The first promotion of many in his life, I hope!

Just to mark his growth, this was John back in August on the first day of school before leaving for the bus stop:

And here he is (in the same shirt!) on the last day of school before leaving to catch the bus. He's really grown up this year! And is becoming quite a handsome guy, if I do say so myself. :-)

So long to my kindergartener and hello to my 1st grader!

Toddler's Best Friend(s)

Last fall, we adopted Yogi and Boo Boo from an animal shelter, and they've turned out to be very good with the kids. See how good they are at keeping Sam company when John isn't around?

 

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the snack cup in his hands, aren't you?

Yeah right! A snacking Sam = instant best friends for Sam. Lucky Sam! (And lucky dogs--Sam likes to share!)

An Epiphany...

 

I wonder what it was about? Apparently it didn't involve the realization that he could make his parents happy by no longer saying "butt," "poop," and "idiot" a hundred times a day because that hasn't happened and I took this picture in April. Oh well. Hopefully it was about something on the peaceful and profound side!

How to Coordinate Your Home Accents with Your Children's Clothing!

I've been looking for some good toss pillows for the family room couch for months. I finally found some that I liked, and I liked them even more when it became apparent how well the colors of Sam's outfit coordinated with them.

Now he just needs to wear the same outfit every day so that he can continue to be color-coordinated with the pillows. Truly ingenious home decorating at its cutest and most practical!

I Told You I'd Be Back!

So I uploaded the April/May photos from my camera onto the computer last week and it made me want to do some blog posts, so I'm back sooner than I said I would be! Didn't your day just get a lot better?!

Plus I didn't want Arnold Schwarzenegger to be the first thing people read about if they happened to visit my blog this summer. Now it can be something cute about my kids or some random aspect of my life instead.

I'll still be gone in July and probably for most of August, but not for June anymore. Yippee!

I'll Be Back

Nope, that's not a tribute to the disgraced Mr. Schwarzenegger.

It's just my reassurance that I'll be back to the wonderful world of blogging in the not-too-distant future. I haven't been active in the blogosphere for nearly two months because April turned out to be really busy, and while May has been more mellow, I've been occupied with various things (for example, I finally read Gone With the Wind for my book club...all 1000 pages of it!). Next week is John's last day of kindergarten, and then we're going on vacation a few weeks after that for the rest of the summer. Then shortly after we get home in August, John will start school again.

So, in short, I don't foresee much time for blogging in the next two or three months. When I say "blogging" I mean not only posting on my own blog but reading the blogs of my friends and followers, which I really enjoy doing. I plan on getting back into it all again in August or September. I'm sure I'll be missing it a lot by then (I'm already suffering a bit from blogosphere withdrawal) so you will probably see a blog post from me almost every day straight in the fall. See what you have to look forward to? :-)

Happy Summer everyone!

Friday Fragments

-A few weeks ago I did a blog post about an amazing sunset that I captured with my camera. I submitted a few of the photos to my local NBC news station for their "Hot Shot" of the day, and last week one of them was featured on the evening newscast! My name was on the screen with it. I felt special! This is the photo they used:

-I got a new vacuum cleaner, and I totally love it. It's one of those cool Dyson ball vacuums that I always thought was too fancy and sophisticated for me. A friend of mine got one recently and when I went to her house I thought she'd gotten new carpets because they looked so good. My Dirt Devil hasn't been working up to snuff, and with two cats, two dogs, and two kids in the house, we need one that is going to work up to snuff and beyond. So, using my friend's information and research, I went to Kohl's, where it's sold at a discount, and on top of that I saved 30% by opening a credit card account there. And in the process I got $70 in Kohl's Cash, which I plan on doing some shopping with tomorrow. Sweet! Our carpets and rugs look and feel so nice and clean. The Dyson sucks up every last little thing and is easy to use. I love vacuuming with it. And, perhaps best of all...it's purple!

-The most interesting thing I learned this week was from John's library book about spiders. This was truly horrifying to me: "Remember the nursery rhyme, 'Little Miss Muffet'? Little Miss Muffet was a real little girl. Her father was a spider expert who used to make her eat mashed spiders when she was sick. About 200 years ago, this was a common cold remedy." How gross is that? Poor Miss Muffet! She was chased by spiders and also had to eat them. That is so very, very wrong. I hate spiders, but I would hate eating them even more.

-Random picture that I want to put on my blog: This is a picture of me and my siblings that was taken at our annual Christmas dinner back home in Massachusetts a few months ago. Aren't we a cute bunch of kids?

Ben, me, Nathan, Jennifer, and Elizabeth
Anyone care to guess our birth order? It gets a lot harder to do when kids grow up! I'll give you a clue: I'm second-oldest.

-Tomorrow it's supposed to get into the mid-70s! I'm so glad that the milder temperatures of spring have arrived. My quality of life has gone way up because of spring. No more being stuck inside all day, every day, with the kids and I driving each other nuts!

For more Friday Fragments go to Half Past Kissin' Time. Have a great weekend everybody!

A Bright Flash!

This is what Sam does sometimes when I take his picture:

Apparently the camera flash must be quite bright. I wouldn't really know since I seem to be the one who's always behind the camera! In any case, I think Sam pulls off the squinting look pretty well. I love this kid!

Owl* Be Back Soon

I just wanted to post a little note that I'll be back to blogging in a week or two. We were away on vacation last week and now that we're back, Sam is sick and Peter is getting sick, which means that John or I may be the next victims of this nasty little bug; one of our dogs fractured his paw; the world crises are starting to stress me out; and I need to get some much-needed things done anyway. So...I'll be back to writing on my blog and reading your blogs when things settle down in the next few weeks. Don't miss me and my sweet little blog too much!

(*I've been starting to get a little obsessed with owls lately. I think I've officially entered middle age. More on that fascinating topic in the not-too-distant future.)

I Have a Six-Year-Old!

Today my "little" boy turns six! I can't believe it! Six years ago on a rainy/snowy March 8th in New Jersey he came into the world as an adorable little newborn in need of abdominal surgery the very next day, and six years later on this soon-to-be rainy day in Iowa he's handsome and healthy and growing up fast...

When John started kindergarten in the fall, he quickly picked up on the potty humor that boys seem to find so funny. Because of this, his favorite word to say is "butt." We've been threatening him that if he doesn't clean up his mouth, he's going to get a butt cake for his birthday (it wouldn't be too hard to make!) and that we'll sing "Happy Butt-day" to him instead of "Happy Birthday." It works and gets him to stop talking like that for a little while. As much as he likes butts, he doesn't want a butt cake. So, he's not getting a butt cake today. But I still might (quietly) slip in a "butt-day" when we sing to him tonight because I think it's pretty funny. I guess he's rubbing off on me.

Friday Fragments

-I didn't watch the Oscars but I was very pleased that Mr. Darcy won for best actor!

Darcy gets a modern-day makeover. Nice!

   Here he is in true form...

(This was one of my favorite scenes.)

-I know, I'm weird. But I've had Darcy on my mind lately because I just finished reading a really good trilogy about him for my book club, the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series by Pamela Aidan. It's Pride and Prejudice from his perspective. It's really, really good. She kind of used the BBC/A&E movie version as her model, which I think is the best version there is. I was a little skeptical at first of a re-write from Darcy's point-of-view, but it is very well-written and I loved it and I highly recommend it to all fans of the book and movie!

-While I'm on the subject of the British, this is what Prince William and the future Princess Kate's wedding invitation looks like (minus the picture of them). Very regal indeed! I love weddings.

-I'm so glad February is over. Just like last year's February, a fog of disorganization, sickness, and overall blah-ness descended and didn't begin to lift until the last day of the month. My Februaries really are cursed. There are only two days in February that I like: the 14th (Valentine's Day) and the 28th (or the 29th, if it's leap year. Whatever the last day of that infernal month is, I like it!).

-I've been eating way too many Girl Scout cookies over the past two weeks. I might as well eat them all and get it over with. And I have a big announcement to make: Tagalongs (the peanut butter patties) have finally, finally, after about two decades, knocked Samoas and Thin Mints from my #1 favorite spot. I wish I'd ordered more boxes of Tagalongs! But my body will thank me that I didn't.

-American Idol's Top 12 13 that was chosen last night is the best group I've ever seen on the show. I think it's going to be a very good season!

-There are sixteen days left until the first day of spring!

So what are you doing this weekend? My plans include going to my son John's school carnival, getting the tires changed on our SUV, getting out the 24-month/2T clothes for Sam (!!), watching a Netflix movie with Peter (Iron Man 2), and, of course, reading. If you'd like to see other people's Friday Fragments you can go to Half Past Kissin' Time. Have a great weekend!

A Stunning Sunset

Since moving to Iowa last summer one of my favorite things to photograph has been the sky. It's so open and expressive here, and I love it! This was a memorable sunset that graced the sky with its beauty in November.

This is when I first noticed it and went outside to take some pictures...

When I went back inside this was the lovely view through the windows.

 A few minutes later the color had deepened from gold to "sunset pink", so out I went again...

 

The sunset was so brilliant that it made this reflection in the window. Wow!

And then purple enters for the finale. It was breathtaking!