Birthday Fun

Birthdays have always been a big deal to me and my family. Even as an adult, Rob teases me about making my birthday celebrations last an entire week. But I love it and, although he's only turning 2, I want P to love his birthdays the way I do. So yesterday we started the birthday fun celebration. It's one of those days that I wish I could've captured in a bottle to last a lifetime. We started our day the usual way with coffee/cuddle/Thomas time. I had a lot on my agenda to get ready for his party but realized that in a couple years he won't want to have morning cuddle time. So I dropped what I was doing and cherished the moments we sat together, watching Thomas. After we had adequate time together I thought I had talked him into going swimming. Last Summer he was a little fish but this Summer he's not into pools. Either way I was excited to swim. But when we got down the hill to run one errand he really wanted to go to the park. Although it wasn't my first choice, we had a lot of fun going down the slides together and climbing structures. He was one pooped puppy but after a super long nap he was ready to go again. We were waiting for my parents to get to town so we just played in the yard. He kept going to the neighbors' to see their horse. Then he and Ruby (our dog) got into a water "fight". Both of them were drenched and P was laughing hysterically. I'm so glad I had a camera with me to capture it on film because it's one of those moments I want to cherish forever. We ended the day with a BBQ feast and angel food cake. P got to open one early birthday present from our neighbors, which he played with until he went to bed. It was such a fun day and I'm looking to celebrating him and what a miracle he's been all weekend long!

And This Concludes It.......

Today is June 30th, which means it's the last day of the 30 day photo challenge. I've learned what I've liked and what I'm not a big fan of. Self portraits is something I'm not fond of. So I really drug my feet on this one today and, to be honest, I didn't put much effort into it. I wish today's challenge would've been to pick a favorite "theme" to conclude. But it's not and I'm a rule follower so here is my last self portrait for awhile............

The Fear of....

**I wrote this late last night while moths swarmed me, but it wouldn't post. So here it is a day later when the sun is out and my fear has subsided.**

I have discovered I have mottephobia, the fear of moths. Every Fall I forget about it and every Summer, when those pesky little things start entering our house, it all comes back to me. This Summer is the worst my fear's ever been. I think it's because P likes to open the doors- which don't have screens thanks to Ruby- so we have way more moths in our house than usual. I go after them with a vengeance, taking delight in killing them. Then, at night, the moths and their buddies seem to get revenge on me. As soon as the sun goes down, it's like the scary movie music starts. Then the sound of moths follows.....their wings flapping rapidly, their bodies making a thud sound when they hit something. Soon the disgusting little creatures start dive bombing me. I can't read because they're attracted to the light. Then when I go to bed they're close to me, even after turning off the light. I know it's my imagination, but I feel as if moths are in my hair most of the night. I wake up, hear their wings flapping and my blood pressure shoots up. Then I can't go back to sleep because I'm torn between putting a pillow over my head to protect myself or leaving the pillow on the ground so I can still hear P if he wakes up. This is a nightly occurrence and I find myself counting down til Fall again, when I won't have to deal with these disgusting little buggers anymore! Ah, the joys....

Black N White

Today's challenge is black and white photos. 2 of the pictures below are ones I took recently and was waiting to use. Today I wanted to capture some of the beautiful clouds and I did in an indirect way....The one of our kitchen windows is one I really like. Just as I was getting ready to go inside, a herd of mustangs made their way through our yard. One of the things I like about living here is the variety of animals P gets to see on a regular basis. Today he was pretty excited about seeing the colt up close. (I was pretty excited that I still had my camera in hand) Enjoy today's pictures....

Character Flaw

Yesterday a friend of mine, Chris, blogged about marriage expectations. He wrote that expectations should be less, not lowered. This got me to thinking about my biggest character flaw. I'm a perfectionist! I expect a lot from me and those around me. Then, when I was dealing with insomnia yet again last night, my thoughts drifted to my own life, my own personality and discovered that, with being a perfectionist, I am selfish instead of selfless. I used to be the opposite. I gave and gave and gave.... until I had nothing left to give. If I only had a dollar to my name I'd give it to someone in need rather than keep it for me. I drove lots of miles to meet up with friends just so it'd be more convenient for them. I called friends regularly, checking in to see how they were doing. Somewhere along the way I lost that. I don't know if it's because I became a mom and give so much to my boys or because I just got tired of giving. If I'm honest I don't think it's because I became a mom because my friends, Julie in Reno, and Marisa in Cali., both have babies and they are some of the most giving people I know (along with Kirsti and Aimee). I also don't think it's because I'm a mom because my mom and mother (in law) both give more than most people combined. When we visit them, they both wait hand and foot on us. I think, "When they come to our house, I'll make sure they don't lift a finger"....and that doesn't happen.
When I hosted our monthly book club last week one of the newer members washed ALL of the dishes and loaded the dishwasher, leaving me little to clean up. I laid awake that night, wondering if I would've done that at someone else's house, especially a lady I didn't know too terribly well. It's things like that that make me realize that I'm more selfish than selfless.
Often I find myself asking people questions and then not listening to their answers. I start focusing on things in my own life. Sometimes I just walk away in the middle of the conversation, not realizing until later what I did.
All that to say, I'm going to focus more on being more selfless and less of a perfectionist. Thanks to Chris's blog, I think that making my expectations less instead of lower is just the trick for me!

Stop and Smell the Flowers

I've always loved flowers! I worked at a flower shop off and on for about 7 years. When Rob and I were dating he sent me flowers once a month. I loved getting the flowers but the spring bouquet were always my favorite because of the variety and color. So I was glad that I had the chance to photograph flowers for this challenge.
That being said, I can't believe the 30 day challenge is almost over! I've had so much fun and have learned a lot. In fact, I learned that I love bokeh! (I never knew what it was before this challenge) So, for today's pictures I added one with bokeh. I also added one of a dandelion. I've never thought they were beautiful until my handsome lil guy started picking them for me. Now I love them! I hope you're able to stop and smell the flowers at some point today. Enjoy!

Family Time

This past weekend P and I went to visit my parents. It just so worked out that my brother and sister in law were visiting as well. We had a fun family weekend together. When my family's together we like to try new things or visit family favorites. We're always on the go, exploring so it's no surprise that this trip was full of new adventures. It started with lunch at a small aiport landing strip. P got to meet my sister in law's nephew, who is close in age, and had fun playing together while watching planes. Saturday we celebrated P's birthday a little early with a train ride at a local outdoor mall and then topped it off with a pizza dinner and Thomas cake. He LOVED every minute of it! Sunday after our afternoon naps P and I met up with one of my childhood friends and her son. The boys didn't play together all that much but they both had fun at the playground. To top it off, we had family time at the railroad museum this morning. I seriously think P thought he died and went to heaven. He played with the countless trains in the kid section of the museum. Although we didn't get to do the train ride, he would've stayed all day had we let him. But, alas, it was time to get home to daddy and the doggies. We had a fun filled family weekend, one full of lots of fun memories!