Beating the Heat...

Bottom line...extreme weather stinks. I have a boy with lots of energy. He needs to be outside every day. Mommy can't handle temps near and above 100. It's taken lots of planning and creativity to keep Jake active lately.

We've spent lots of time with good friends. That helps. My neighbor and I have played pass the kids a couple of times this week. When they get bored at one house, it's on to the next one.

I've also spent lots of time with my dear friend, Donna. We go WAY back. Way. We have history. Love that. We both have little kids, too. Love that!  We've been hanging out at a nearby indoor playground and at the pool. Our favorite time is tot time at 9am. The pool is just open for the littles, and it's opened early to beat the heat. Donna and I have decided that Jenna and Jake will marry one day. They must. When you have history like we have history, being related would just be the icing on the cake. ;)

Since we are home together so much right now, I've been trying to encourage writing and drawing practice. It is not easy to get Jake to sit down and pick up a pencil. If I am successful, it usually doesn't last long. Jake still hasn't chosen a dominant hand. The pediatrician asked me again at his 4 year old checkup, and the answer is still no. He is still switching. I keep thinking with more practice he'll finally make a decision.

I didn't even notice until posting these pictures that he is using a different hand in the first two shots! His latest thing to draw is a bird nest. We had a cardinal nest in our backyard. Since the cardinal is long gone, I took the nest out of our bush for Jake to inspect. Now he will draw a nest like the one above when he sits to color. I was really proud of his attempt to write "bird" under the nest. (I told him each letter.)  I think his favorite part of coloring time is the hanging. He has taken over the job since he discovered masking tape.

Lovely, huh?

While he colors, he likes to sing. I caught this on another night. He jammied himself.  You try explaining to Jake that he can't wear long sleeves when it's 100 degrees!

That's Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart. Girls...Jenna...I promise I will do better. I will fix him before he is allowed to date.

I did bring my camera outside for a quick look at the cardinal nest. Jake brought his camera out, too.  Yes, I know. Jake's face is filthy. Don't judge.

We had our family pictures taken a few weeks ago. I wanted to share a few of my favorites here. Thanks to Kelly Manno Photography!!

I've managed to squeeze in a little scrapping time. Jake allows just a bit. Ha!  Katie Pertiet at DesignerDigitals.com made it easy with this gorgeous quick page.

Izzy is 5!!

It seems like just yesterday when I took this shot.

Now we are celebrating Izzy's 5th birthday! So much has happened since Izzy was born. She decided she needed a playmate and God must have agreed...and so we have Jake! Thanks, Izzy!!

You have spunk, style, and a mind of your own. We wouldn't have it any other way. We love you! Enjoy every minute of being 5!!

Apparently I come by it naturally...

Wow. What a surprise. I received a box for my birthday. This was a box my parents unexpectedly received from my aunt in California. It was filled with my grandpas camera equipment!!  He was a photographer, too! I don't know very much about him. He died of polio when my dad was only 7.  Now I know that I share a passion of his. I now know how he spent his free time. I've spent some time paging through his camera manuals. Wow...again. I can't even imagine shooting with this kind of equipment. That took so much talent and dedication.
For some reason, this new knowledge justifies what I'm doing...it's in my genes!

I got a second surprise. My mom found this shot. My grandpa is setting up his tripod.

I have this picture and his camera and light meter on a cabinet in my office.

 

I found a few more pictures of Grandpa to share.

I didn't have time to clean up that shot the way I want to. I'll need to work on that later. I know it's Grandpa because he had a cleft lip. We think he was born in 1918 or 1919 (January 23).

The above shot is my Grandpa and Grandma with my Dad.

I bet my Grandpa took the above shot of my dad. I see a lot of Jake in this shot.

I've been collecting vintage cameras for some time, and I sure never expected to add my grandpa's camera and equipment to the collection!  Did you notice his box of lenses and filters? Apparently he had to have everything...just like me! ;)

Here are some of my latest goodies. I had a couple of gift cards and some birthday money, so I treated myself to a few new toys. 

This new speedlight has been on my list for a long time. I can't wait to use it for Erik and Caitlin's wedding in August!

Don't laugh. I really wanted this. It's called a ring flash. It hooks to my new speedlight and wraps around the camera lens. I'm going to test this out in the studio this weekend and see how I like it.

There is something else going on around here that makes me really happy. I'm growing vegetables! Those of you who know me well are probably picking yourselves up off the floor right now. Honestly...this is always something I've wanted to do. I never tried it because of the chemicals that the lawn company uses in our yard. Yuck.  

Jake brought home a pumpkin seed from school for Mother's Day. We stuck it in the ground between my rose bushes. I honestly didn't think it would grow. Well...I was wrong....in a big way.

Yes...this is from one seed. Also...it's been trimmed at least 3 times. I am going to open my own pumpkin patch this fall...may even have pony rides.

Once this crazy thing started to grow, I decided it was time to grow other vegetables...in pots...to avoid contamination by the chemicals in the grass.

Peppers, rosemary, zucchini, roma tomatoes, grape tomatoes...I'm so excited!! I even bought a gerber daisy plant that is doing extremely well.

Of course, we can always count on our hummingbirds for entertainment. I've been filling this feeder every 3 days! I've seen up to 5 birds at a time on the feeder.

We ate our first 2 tomatoes a few nights ago. I just sliced them and sprinkled them with kosher salt, and now I'm craving more!

Today Jake picked our first zucchini. We sliced it tonight, seasoned with olive oil and garlic salt and threw it on the grill with our burgers.

 (iPhone shot)

Happy Birthday to my sweet Izzy!! She's 5 today! I did her 5 year old shoot a couple of weeks ago and will post soon.