52 Weeks of Me 2012~week 39

The theme/prompt of the week was: NATURE

 

After really feeling DONE last week, I rallied and tried to pull some creativity into my shot this week. I came up with an idea of using fall leaves. I like how it turned out. I really love fall. It is my favorite season. We have been having perfect fall weather around here. Cold,crisp mornings with awesomely sunny afternoons. Love it.

 

 

 

 

The theme/prompt for next week is:  CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT

 

 

Week 103

September 17th felt like such a hectic day for me, but really.......it wasn't that bad. The fact that it FELT horrible tells me I need to regroup. Me thinks I need an attitude adjustment. Later in the day, I walked out to my truck to see this beautiful young buck hanging out near our new building. He is so hungry, and all the new bushes we planted are feeding him well. It makes me sad to see that we invaded his home, and he is suffering. He had very little fear of me, and I'm sure that does not bode well for him. I did enjoy snapping some shots of him though. What a brilliant creature. It brought a little peace to my day.

 

 

 

 

September 18th was a busy day at work, where I finally got an opportunity to start unpacking my office more. It has been a pile of boxes for two weeks now. I'm so ready to get it all cleaned up and organized. I spent part of my morning taking some head shots of the staff at a local insurance agency. I like that type of work. Quick in and out, and easy editing. I don't do it very often, but I do like it.

 

I wanted to get a good shot of my sweet girl Ivy, so I told her to SIT, STAY.......and.....QUACK! I think she was confused. I like to keep her on her toes.

 

 

 

September 19th was a great day at work. I had tons of things to do......but I didn't let it overwhelm me like I've been doing lately. I continued to unpack, and straighten out my space. I'm getting it all set, so I can get it decorated a bit to personalize it.

In the late afternoon, I heard something that made me start to feel bad....hurt my feelings........but I soon realized I needed to let it go.

On my drive home, I stopped the truck so that my husband could show our daughter how to use a range finder. While they worked on that.....I nabbed this simple shot of grass. Looking at it now reminds me to just "keep it simple". Often things.....or people......are more than what they seem. We just need to open our hearts.

 

 

 

 

September 20th was........well......I can't really think of much to say about it. I worked. Sugar went to school. I had lunch with a friend (so great to see her), and we got home early enough to be outside together for awhile. Dinner was yummy, and there were giggles during story time, and happy cuddles. 

 

 

 

September 21st......it isn't often that I have time to take photos in the morning, but today I was scheduled to be in a town further south all day. I sent Sugar off to school with a friend, and had a bit of extra time on the way to my destination. I was really soaking up all the beautiful low lying fog, and the sun rising. It was such a stunning morning.

My work day was pleasant, and Sugar enjoyed her day at school and some time with her cousins in the late afternoon.

 

 

 

 

September 22nd I busied myself with chores today, which often sends Sugar Bear running for cover as to not get roped into my shenanigans. Being an "only" can be hard. There is no one to play with if Mom and Dad are busy.

While I baked two different types of Zucchini Muffins, Sugar Bear took her trusty BOX out into the yard for some playtime. I love to watch a child work their imagination. 

September 23rd We had a nice quiet day. It was exactly what I needed. In the early afternoon, we head outside to get some fresh air.  Sugar Bear has been working on mastering the "toe spread".  Her dad does it, and she wanted to be able to do it, too.  She is so proud of herself.  I can't do this.  Can you?

 

52 Weeks of me 2012~ Week 38

Theme for the week: MUSIC

 

 

I don't know folks.....I'm losing my mo-jo.  I am just not feeling this project.  ACK.  BUT.....I'm not a the type to stop what I start, so I'm soldiering on.  It's all good.  Only a few more weeks to go, right? 

 

I did not get a photo that met the theme this week, but heck...I got a really real shot.  This is me...on a Saturday morning making breakfast for my girly girl.  

 

 

Theme for the next week is: Nature

My Week 102

September 10th was the Monday after our whirlwind weekend, we started our week less rested, but with happy hearts. Work is still a madhouse, but it is coming together. IT.HAS.TO. We've got kids and families to serve. We are pulling together and making it happen.  Took this shot of a flower in my yard when I got home from my long day. 

 

 

September 11th.   Not a day to go by unappreciated. We'd just left our drive when I decided I NEEDED to stop and capture the amazing morning we were gifted. I adore low lying fog. ADORE.IT! We were a tad early leaving the house so it was perfect.

Then, on our travels we notice a fire truck parked with it's ladder up and a HUGE flag hanging from it. Sugar Bear wanted to know WHY.....so I told her. I choked up and cried, and told the story of September 11th 2001. My daughter listened carefully, and worried about my tears, but she learned something that morning. Something I wish she didn't have to learn. Her heart broke for those who lost their lives, as well as those that lost their loved ones. She felt a bit of their pain.

And a bit of her own innocence was stolen.

 

 

September 12th didn't feel all that special. Work for me......and school for the girl. Then we rushed home to do our chores, and get to bed. Life is such a fast pace sometimes, and I try really hard not to let the "special" things go unnoticed or unappreciated. We are so lucky to have this amazing life. Just being together watering the tomatoes is special, and something we should be thankful for.

 

 

September 13th was a simple day that ended with so much contentment.  My Sugar Bear jumped out of the truck the minute we got home and picked this flowers for me.  I loved taking some snaps of them with the sparkling light behind her.  I'm gonna miss this yummy light when it is harder to come by.  The weather is a-changin'!  The cold mornings are here.

 

 

 

September 14th was my birthday, so the majority of the photos taken today were picture of me snapped by my 7 year old. I did manage to grab this shot of her at the Frozen Yogurt shop we went to after school for my birthday treat. I believe this is exactly what a Brain Freeze looks like. :)

It was a great birthday. I'm one lucky, lucky lady.

 

 

September 15th was spent at our local "Fun Festival" with my girl. We had the wonderful opportunity to see some of her friends perform in a kids Bach Rock group. What a treat. Then we wandered around with some friends visiting the booths, and watching the parade. It was lovely. I got this shot of one of the old cars featured in the parade this year. I love how flags look blowing in the breeze on the front of cool old cars.

We ended our day with a trip through the local downtown Museum. It was fun letting the girls point out their favorite paintings. Love learning a bit more about what my girl finds beautiful.

 

September 16th was a lazy dazy day. We were in our jammies all day, and just did as we pleased. There was a tiny piece of me that worried about letting such a sunny day go by, while we stayed in, so I jumped outside to feed the bunnies, and noticed our garlic blossoms were in the perfect spot of pretty bokeh. You know I'm a sucker for the pretty bokeh.

 

My Week~ 101

September 3rd was another perfectly peaceful day at home. I found myself sucked into a book I'm reading while my girl busied herself outdoors. I read a lot. I'm on book 56 of 2012, but it is really truly rare that I read while my girl is awake. I do nearly all of my reading when both Sugar and my husband are asleep. Today....I just had to read. HAD.TO. READ!

My girl surprised me with some jewelry and a barrette she made out of leaves, sticks, and a huge old staple from a box she found outside. She was more than happy to model the myrtle leaf barrette she made. It was not only beautiful....it smelled so good, too.

For this collage, I chose a photo I took of Sugar Bear and Toby cat in the morning hanging out on the deck together.  I adore watching these two together.  Toby used to prefer to spend his time out of Sugar's reach, but now they are two peas in a pod. 




September 4th was interesting because the weirdest thing happened the night before. My little Sugar had a freak accident in the bathroom. She was standing too close to the door jam and had a HUGE sneeze, which rammed her face into the latch plate busting her lip and chipping her PERMANENT front tooth! ACK! all because of a sneeze. The chip is minor...hoping to just have it sanded down to even it up a little, but she is very worried about it. Poor girl. She cried herself to sleep, which is so unlike her.

She woke up feeling better about it, but still so unsure. She was worried the kids would notice her chipped tooth.

It was great to see her get off the bus after school so very HAPPY. She said that no one even noticed. :) That made her happy. 



September 5th made me realize that things are NUTS at work right now. We moved into a brand spankin' new building. Seriously.....it is HUGE and such a move. We consolidated FOUR buildings into ONE. We will be serving around 160 0-5 years old in this building. It is amazing, and something so very different from what we are used to. There is so much work to do to get ready. The MOVE has been fast and furious, and now the settling in. People are fried....on edge, and quite a bit grumpy at times. I am trying to be a light in that mess. I keep reminding folks to "go with the flow". Things are tough right now, but it will get better with time.

I came home without having grabbed any photos for the day. I wanted to wash some dust off my truck, and I noticed the pretty light coming through the trees and just knew it would make lovely bokeh.

September 6th was a busy day at my new office, and Sugar Bear had a spectacular day in 2nd grade. We hurried home to pack up for a weekend trip we are taking. I can't wait. I even get to take a baby bunny to work with me tomorrow, so we can leave directly from town. The baby bunny is the reason we are using to finally go see some friends in their new house. They will be the proud owners of this sweet little baby bunny, Jack. They are going to love him.

I intended to get a shot of Jack, but I just walked out the front door, and around the corner and this insect was hanging out on the flower. It seemed to want me to take it's picture, so I did. It was just there.




September 7th was super AWESOME. Work and school went fast, and my girl and I were so happy to be heading out of town to deliver a special little bunny to some special friends. Jack Jack, the baby bunny was such a good little buddy in the truck the whole trip. It was 96 degrees at his new home, and he isn't used to the heat, but he settled into his new bunny hutch quickly.

I think this is one happy little boy....and a sweet new bunny friend. We will miss you Jack, but we know you are going to have a GREAT life.  Not a great photo of Jack, Jack, but the kids are happy.



September 8th was spent with our friends. There was MUCH talking. LOTS of laughing. So much fun.

The kiddos get along great. The mamas......well, we've always loved each other's company, so it was delightful.

We went up the river, had a small hike, and the kiddos took a dip in the river. It was quite easily a perfect sort of day.

September 9th sent us on our way home from our weekend adventure, we stopped by my parents house for a quick visit, and a harvesting of their garden. They are always ready to give us produce. We got raspberries, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, carrots, and green beans.

This shot shows the pole beans, and in the back ground you can see my mom and my sugar bear. 

 

52 weeks of me 2012~ Weeks 36 and 37

The theme/prompt for the week was: REAL LIFE

 

and real life done got in the way and I forgot to get a shot. Ack. It's okay though because I'm forgiving of myself, and I just made sure to grab two shots the following week. whew.... So here I am driving. It's as real as it gets. I feel like I'm in my truck a lot. It is about 45 minutes a day, and it feels like more. Sugar Bear took this shot of me on my birthday. 38......older AND wiser.

 

 

 

 

 

The theme/prompt for the week was: HAIR

 

I managed to get a shot of myself this week that showed off my curls. I seriously need a haircut, and my bangs have been out of control. Some days they are fly away and frizzy and other days....I have three perfect ringlets on my forehead. NICE.

 

 

 

 

The theme/prompt for this coming week is: MUSIC

My Week 100

August 27th was "meet the teacher" night at my Sugar's school. It was fun to go hang out in her new classroom, and see some friends we haven't seen all summer. The event is designed to build excitement for the new school year.  I am looking forward to the new beginnings that 2nd grade has to offer my girl, and she is already looking forward to NEXT summer. She loves being home with her mama.  I nabbed this shot of the pencils on her desk.  I don't know about you....but I'd love to try some of those out. 

August 28th was my girls last day of summer vacation, and she had the opportunity to spend the entire day with her friend. They had lunch out, good times at the pool, and ice cream before dinner. :) What a wonderful way to say goodbye to summer. These little girls don't go to the same school, so it isn't always easy to get them together, but I'm definitely going to make a better effort.  I adore this shot of my girl and her sweet friend. We haven't done a good enough job of getting these two girls together often enough, and I think by the looks of this photo...we need to remedy that. They are so darn cute together.

August 29th was the first day of school.  Sugar Bear started 2nd grade today, and I'm just not sure how we got to this day so very fast. I blinked and summer was over. She started her day unsure....anxious, and a bit disappointed that she was going back to school.

She ended her day happily exclaiming, "It was the BEST first day of school EVER!"

AND....she is looking forward to tomorrow. :) I'm a happy mama.

August 30th was the second day of school and according to Sugar it was "better than ever".  As for me....my day was strange. I spent the entire day moving out of the building I have worked in for the past 12 (or more) years, and into a brand spankin' new building. AND.....AND....my very own office......AND.....AND.....it has a window. :) :) :) There is joy in my heart about that, right there.

So much change though.....I'll be a bit off for awhile, I'm so very sure. Change isn't always easy for me. 

August 31st was an excellent friday. I worked at unpacking my office. Sugar had another AWESOME day at school, and an even better time at some friend's house after school. 

September 1st was....Oh me oh my....what a fabulous afternoon and evening. My little Sugar and I attended a "end of summer/beginning of the school year" beach party with several families from her 2nd grade class. The weather was perfect. I mean really truly perfect. Not too hot...not too cold (it is usually that later here in Oregon on the coast), and both the kids and adults had a wonderful time.

I took....ummmm......321 photos. yes....yes I did. I couldn't help myself. I love to take pictures at the beach, and so rarely get to do so. I was also joined by two other photog friends so we had just toooooo much fun snapping and talking about snapping. :) 

 

 

 

September 2nd was a really relaxing day at home for my girl and I. We enjoyed a little bubble blowing in the early afternoon. Ivy, our dog, loves to run around and bite the bubbles blowing in the wind. It's fun for the whole family.

School has begun

So, I'm more than a bit behind in posting these, but I figure, better late then never, right?

Summer flew by for us, and Sugar Bear was definitely NOT ready for school to start.  She started worrying about it about 3 weeks before the first day back.  She started talking about not liking school, and it really hurt my heart.  She had such a love of learning when she was younger, and I am sad to see her resisting the process now.

For a week before the first day, she continued to say to me each morning and night, "I'm not ready for school to start, Mom."  I had hope that "meet the teacher night" which takes place two days before school starts would build some excitement for her. 

While she found some smiles, because that is WHO she is.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could also see the worry in her heart.

 

 

 

 

 

She busied herself jumping and leaping those jitters away.

 

 

 

I asked her if it helped her get ready for school, and she stated that it really didn't help much. The day before school started she said, "I just have so much anxiety about school, Mom." :( poor girl. I reassured her that it was normal to be nervous, and that I used to get so nervous that I'd have a tummyache before the first day of school each year.

 

  The first day came, and she got up and ready without fuss. She obliged me with photos, because she is awesome like that. I can't believe how grown up she looks in these.

 

 

 

 

Out of the truck.....and looking at the school.

 

 

 

 

Heading on in.

 

 

 

 

Letting me grab some portraits while we wait outside with the other kids for the day to begin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I left her there....hoping for the best. Now I must say, there really isn't adequate words for how I felt when I picked her up at the end of the day and she said, "MOM! It was the BEST first day of school EVER!" Seriously......she didn't act that excited when we were at Disneyland.

 

This was HUGE! She as been so very happy. We are five school days in....and she is still loving it!

My Week 99

August 20th, after a busy day at work, I was more than happy to jet off to see a friend whom I hadn't seen in a few months. We had such a great time chit chatting that I almost forgot to grab a photo for the day. I had intended on getting a photo of our girls playing together, but they were having such a nice time, and I was chatting away, I didn't want to bother them.  I grabbed this shot her sweet Buddy while we continued to chat.

 

 

 

 

August 21st was work....and daycare.  But here is my Ivy Girl.   She is the sweetest dog ever, and so smart. She has had a few long days at home. 9 hours alone each day, and she has been such an angel. I was more than happy to come home and throw the ball for her. She was super excited, and even took time to pose for a pretty picture for me. ?

 

 

 

 

August 22nd was (you guessed it) work and daycare, and then home for ball for the dog, and some outdoor exploring for my girl.  Oh me oh my....when did this happen? When did my teeny tiny baby turn into this beautiful young lady. It seems like I blinked a few times and she grew up. It is times like tonight when we were outside throwing the ball for Ivy, and just soaking up the evening sun that I find myself glancing her way, and holding my breath. It's almost like I believe that if I'm quiet enough....if I keep her in my sights......it will pause time, and she will forever be my little girl.

Hold your breath with me.....and maybe it will work.

 

 

 

August 23rd was more of the same.  We stopped off at our other property on our way home and Sugar Bear busied herself with some scootering.  This scooter is much too small. I really need to bring something else to keep over there for her to do.  We are trying to hold on to these late summer evenings.  Love the light.

 

 

 

 

August 24th was a long....long....long day at work, and I had ZERO energy.  I grabbed this shot of Sugar Bear and one of her favorite friends from daycare.  They were being such hams.  Love it.

 

 

 

 

August 25th I grabbed a shot of this little fellow in the garden of Sugar Bear's school. We spent the morning there helping get the school ready for the new school year. Mostly we worked in the 2nd Grade classroom, but we had lunch in the garden.

For some reason, I had ZERO energy this weekend. I felt like a snail. or a slug. ugh.

 

 

 

 

August 26th I took this shot of my Sugar when we were playing with her panda bamboo game. We had an extremely lazy day at home together. I did manage to make a few batches of homemade granola bars, and energy bites for her lunch box in the coming first weeks of school.