Day 241: Sunset

August 28, 2012: First day of school, last day of my Natural Light photography class.  Moment of panic when I realize I haven't taken any sunset/silhouette/backlighting photos to submit this week.  Moment of excitement when I realize the sun is setting and if I hurry, I can make it up to the top of this hill just in time for the sun to be in the right position.  See, even Owen was happy about it.

Day 240: Brand New Pencils, Brand New Books

August 28, 2012: Not ready for summer to be over, but ready for school to start tomorrow!

Day 239: Taking a Rest

August 26, 2012:  Owen is pretty content playing with sticks, dirt, leaves, etc. and I often say that he doesn't need toys to be happy.  But when we do get out his toys, they all have to come out.  Like, they just get dumped out in a pile on the floor.  It's fun to watch him rediscover things he forgot he had.  The best part is that with the little clean-up song he likes to sing, he even helps pick up the toys when he's done.  (But I don't sing the song right, and he lets me know that.)

Day 238: Cars

August 25, 2012: Last week it was animals, this week it's cars.  Lightning McQueen and Francesco were stowaways in Owen's bag after his trip to Grammy's this week.  I feel like I'm very gender neutral when I play with Owen and when I give him toys, but it's interesting how he is just drawn to "boy stuff" (e.g. Star Wars, The Avengers, Legos).  But he still likes to put on my scarves and call himself a princess.

Day 237: Shadows

August 24, 2012: Shadows on the Kolb Sunday School Barn

Day 236: My Buddy & Me

August 23, 2012:
Owen after dinner: "My tummy hurts.  Let's go rest in the bed."
Me: "Rest in the bed?  Sure!!!!" (I love rest.)
10 minutes later: Rest time turns into wrestling time.  I got this cute picture, but the two before it involve a little Owen foot kicking/smooshing my scrunched up face.

Day 235: Post-Bathtime Acrobatics

August 22, 2012:  So Owen has a new thing lately where he gets out of the bath and then he likes to dance naked (or "maked," as he says) in front of the mirror.  He thinks it's so funny, and he even does this little song or hum or something; I can't even explain it.  As long as he doesn't pee on my floor, he can dance naked as much as he wants to. 

Day 234: Best Buddies

August 21, 2012:  We are dog-sitting Marley, and Sydney is super happy.  He's her best buddy.  I couldn't capture it in a photo, but on walks, they often walk so closely together that they are literally touching. 

Day 233: Acorns

August 20, 2012:  I think these are acorns, anyway.  I've never seen green ones.  I found them while I was taking Sydney for a walk and I pocketed them, thinking they would make a nice subject on a day when I ain't got nothin' else goin' on.

Day 232: Animals

August 19, 2012:  Owen loves his animals.  He carefully lined these up all in a row, a row which according to him is "the zoo."

Day 231: Sun

August 18, 2012:  Happy anniversary to me (and Jeremy).  The picture of us that was supposed to be here didn't turn out so well.  It was too windy and my hair kept blowing in my eyes.  So here are some backlit plants near the restaurant where we ate dinner, part of an assignment for my Natural Light photo class.

Day 230: Whirl

August 17, 2012: I was trying something new and playing with slow shutter speed while twisting the camera.  I got inspired to plant some potted impatiens earlier in the summer, and thank goodness they don't need to be watered very often on our shady patio, because they've been all but neglected.  That's how me and gardening roll-- I have a moment of inspiration when I want the pretty flowers, but once I have them I don't want to take care of them at all.

Day 228: Miss Lazy Bones Saliba

August 16, 2012:  This is Sydney "Lazy Bones" Saliba in one of her favorite spots.  It doesn't matter how cloudy or dark it is outside, she will always manage to find the little spot of sunshine.

Day 228: The Vegetable I Like

August 15, 2012: There aren't many vegetables I like, but Brussels sprouts are probably my favorite.  And they have to be prepared a certain way-- almost caramelized.  The photo is a little shaky; I was too lazy to get the tripod and I just wanted to eat.

Day 227: Weeds

August 14, 2012: These are some weeds.  At a cemetery.  (Was it a prettier picture before you knew that?)  I like the warm colors and the late afternoon sunlight.

Day 226: RR

August 13, 2012: Who wants to cook when it's 98 degrees outside?  Giving in to Jeremy's craving for a chicken sandwich and fries, we took Owen to Red Robin to finish up the very generou$ gift card given to me by one of my students.  Bottomless steak fries...yummmmm.

Day 225: Chess

August 12, 2012: Owen and Jakodi "played chess" together at the cabin, meaning they lined up all the pieces and knocked them over.

Day 224: Caterpillar

August 11, 2012: Oisin found this caterpillar at the lake.  We also found some chipmunks (which Owen named Chip and Dale) but they were too quick for my camera.

Day 223: Bucks Lake

August 10, 2012: On our trip to Bucks Lake, Owen went in the lake exactly one time. He fell down, dunked his head, breathed in a bunch of water, and decided he'd had enough. (I took this picture right after the incident, when he was recovering on the shore. He doesn't look too happy.) But the kiddie pool, now that's another story. We set it up on the deck of the cabin and the kids splashed around for a long time. We've discovered that, much like me, Owen is more of a pool person than a lake person.

Day 222: Feathery Clouds

August 9, 2012: The clouds were so feathery today.  Perhaps the kind of clouds in which you could try to find hidden pictures.

Day 221: Running in a Circle

August 8, 2012: Since Jeremy has to work late this month a few nights per week, I thought it would be nice if Owen and I had dinner together at In-N-Out.  Jeremy does not eat hamburgers.  Something about a food poisoning incident while camping many years back.  So no Jeremy for dinner = Pavlovian response of I-want-In-N-Out!  I also know that Owen can eat some things there without an allergic reaction, so that's an added bonus.  I told Owen that we were going to a restaurant for dinner and he was super excited.  He told me he was going to be good for me at the restaurant :) and he totally was.  I let him run around outside afterwards; he loves to "run in a circle" like he did around these outdoor tables.  (Not bad for an iPhone photo, I think.)

Day 220: Thirty-Five Rolls of Ribbon

August 7, 2012: I always get these glorious inspirational moments when I feel the need to organize.  Today it was my fabric/sewing stuff.  I don't even like to sew, but I have all this stuff.  And after not being able to find what I needed when I was working on Owen's aforementioned Star Wars cot, I thought dramatically, enough is enough; one of these days I'll organize it all!  So today pulled everything out, laid it all over the floor in piles, and then...ugh, I didn't feel like doing it anymore.  What a mess!  Unfortunately, once everything is out, you kinda have to put it back.  I threw out a whole bag of junk and made a lot of extra space.  I also found thirty-five rolls of ribbon.  Thirty-five!  Why do I have thirty-five rolls of ribbon?  (Dark blue from our wedding, red with paw prints from Owen's first birthday, lime green from the curtain tie-backs in Owen's room...)  Well now they are all organized in two boxes so maybe if I know what I have, I won't need to buy roll #36 anytime soon.

Day 219: So Serious

August 6, 2012: Owen and I walked around historic Dublin so I could scope out some shots for my Natural Light class.  I found this great old barn, which gave some even shade.  Owen is constantly on the move and will never hold still, so in this picture he's probably just thinking about how much he wants to run around on the grass again.  I love the way the wood from the barn brings out his brown eyes.

Day 218: Birthday Girl Baby Quinn

August 5, 2012: I guess we can't call her Baby Quinn anymore since she's one year old now!  Right here she is climbing up into the bouncy house, where I was hiding out with Owen.

Day 217: Star Wars Cot

August 4, 2012: We've graduated from the Pack n' Play to the cot for Owen's sleep-away-from-home needs.  But we discovered on our trip last week that he sleeps like I do-- he's a thrasher.  Simply putting a blanket on top of his scratchy cot didn't cut it, so I decided that I would sew him a cover for his cot with an elastic band at the bottom that won't come off when he tosses and turns.  We went to the fabric store and he picked out this soft fleecy fabric all by himself.  In this picture we were just a test-run to see how it would look; I have yet to do any actual sewing.

Day 216: Morning Dew

August 3, 2012: Note to self- Don't attempt macro photography with manual focus when wearing an old, outdated pair of glasses.  I kept thinking, What is wrong with my camera?  I got spoiled with new glasses every year when I worked at the optometry office, but I haven't gotten a new pair since I left that job to start teaching.  Oh well, I'm going to go put in my contacts now.

Day 215: My Little Artist

August 2, 2012: I'm trying something different for my post today, which is more of a screen shot than a photo, but it all ends up in my camera album anyway, right?  Owen has taken an interest in the apps I've downloaded for him on my iPhone, like this one, Paint Sparkles.  I drew the tree, and he drew everything else.  The purple line at the top is a snake (the dot is its head) and the rest of the lines are a bird.

Day 214: Green Door

August 1, 2012: I had a hair appointment in Livermore, which meant I had to seize the opportunity drive around and find something new to photograph.  I ended up at the VA Hospital, of all places, and this is one of the dilapidated old buildings in the picnic area.  I love peeling paint on old buildings; it gives them character and charm.

Day 213: Snuggling

July 31, 2012: Owen always needs a little snuggle time after his bath.  We go in his room and sit in his chair, and we snuggle him while he snuggles one of his stuffed animals.  When he is dry, it's pj time.  Unless he doesn't feel like putting on pants, which is often.  Then it's whining, crying, thrashing time.  But look at this photo...would you ever know that this is the same kid as the one in his "terrible twos"?