Hayden

I liked this shot of Hayden today. My focus is still "not too good" with this new lens. *sigh* More practice is needed, I'm afraid. Oh well. Practice makes perfect, right?! I DANG SURE HOPE SO!!

It sure is lonely around here these days!

New lens!!

I got my new lens today. I sure do love the FedEx/UPS man! He always brings goodies! I just wish they were FREE! LOL. So, I tried the new lens on stationery items so I could check out the focus. It looks pretty good to me! It will take some getting used to, as it is much heavier than my 50 mm prime and has a zoom, but I think I'm going to like it!

Dandelions

I've been meaning to take a photo of the dandelions for a long time now, but I've just never gotten around to doing it! I stopped at the end of the driveway tonight on the way to my grandparents' house for dinner and snapped a couple. Riley loves them, of course. What kid doesn't? Not the best pics of him, but I think the one of the dandelion turned out pretty cool.

My Boy

Ain't he sweet?! Dirty face and all!

Catch Of The Day!

We're having a Frogmore Stew to celebrate Memorial Day tomorrow, and we've been unable to find any crabs for sale. No one in town has them. So, we decided to head down to the landing and try to snag a few ourselves. A boat with five bushels of crabs pulled up to the landing just as we arrived, and we were able to buy some crabs from the crabber and his handsome son. It's a good thing we did because we didn't catch a darn thing ourselves!

Wait, I take that back. Riley caught one little bitty crab, but I don't think anyone would want to bother trying to pick the meat out of that one! Besides, Riley wouldn't hear of anyone trying to kill his crab. It is in a bucket in our garage as I type this. I'm sure he'll be disappointed when the poor ol' crab isn't quite so lively tomorrow.

Here is a little storyboard of Riley crabbing.....and the crab he caught (which, by the way, just happened to wander up on shore all by himself and got scooped into a bucket by Riley! LOL)

Mom's Roses

The flower lady strikes again. She's been after me to take pictures of her yellow roses that are in full bloom. I snuck one in of a red rose too.

His Hands.

I love these little hands. They are such little boy hands. Notice the nails that have been bitten all the way back...and the dirt under what's left of them. These hands sure do get into a lot of stuff they shouldn't, but I guess he wouldn't be a little boy if they didn't. Riley captured a ladybug this afternoon and "played with" it for a while. This one was lucky...it was a catch and release (in good health) operation. Photo edited and textured applied for an attempt at creativity.

Just A Quickie....

so I can at least say I kept up with my post today!

A "Wizard"

This little "wizard" (as Hayden calls them) can be quite elusive. Every time I go out with the camera thinking I'll get a shot of him...he LEAPS off the porch, and I can't find him. Not today!! The one of him puffing out his red throat was shot through my bedroom window, which is why it is so far away. The other photos are of a different little guy on the back porch. I still wasn't able to get as close as I wanted to, but I'm am fixing to order a new lens...this one a zoom (though admittedly a rather short one)! I've been researching lenses for a while, and I think I've finally decided on the one I want. For anybody out there feeling generous, I'm not above accepting donations! LOL.

Merry Cherry Fudge

Mom had a Mary Kay party this afternoon, and this is the sweet treat that she served. Pretty, huh? It was good too. =) None of us did make-up today, or I would have taken some photos of that. Now THAT would have been good for a laugh!

Can You Do This?!

Nothing inspiring from me today! I was lazy! It's been a rough week with getting sick and then getting behind on my work.

This is only duck we have left out of four. It's one of Hayden's. One died of "natural" causes, and the other two were brutally murdered. Guess this is one lucky......duck. *wink*

More Water!

This time, rain. I let Riley out in the rain today just to get a shot for the blog. He didn't seem to mind. We sure do need the rain! I hope it develops into a steady rain and continues throughout the night, but I doubt it!

The JOY Of Running Water!!

Riley had fun playing with the water hose this afternoon. He was SUPPOSED to be washing his 4-wheeler, but I think most of the water was on him! Remember the days when the water was never too cold to have fun in?!

I love the muddy legs, socks and unlaced boots with his shorts. LOL.

Wind!

Does anyone else feel like we're having an extended March? The wind is unreal for May. Of course the heat reminds me that it is truly May!

This is another one taken on Mother's Day. Mammaw got a flag pole as one of her gifts, and the guys installed it for her. This pic was taken at F22 (I think) and a low shutter speed to show the movement of the flag in the wind. =)

Boys Are Easy!

2 boys + 2 ice cream cones + 1 John Deere= BLISS!

Riley and Elliot (my cousin John's 4 y/o) had a lot of fun playing together on Mother's Day. They stayed on this John Deere tractor for a good part of the day, pretending to drive. They were having a great time, and then things got even better! Mammaw brought out the ice cream cones! Can you tell that Riley enjoyed his cone?! What a piggy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Or, as Riley would say, "Happy Woman's Day!". We had a nice, relaxing day down at my grandparents' house. We sat outside most of the afternoon and had a nice breeze to keep us fairly cool (in the shade, of course!). I haven't had time to go through my pictures, but I did get this one of my "Woman's Day" gift from Riley.

Mom took Riley shopping for my gift on Saturday. He did MUCH better this year. LOL. Last year I got a singing parrot....so it was really hard to do worse (but I was happy that he picked it out himself...and it means a lot to me for that reason alone). Mom said he picked out my gift again this year. When they went into the store, mom suggested a little vase to keep on my desk for the "flowers" he is forever picking me, and mom says that he replied "We'll just leave it right here and if we don't see anything else we might come back and buy it." LOL. This kid is a serious shopper apparently....who knew?! He picked out a green purse (his favorite color) and was even trying to find me a matching headband for my hair. In the end, he settled on some green and pink rosebud soaps and a pack of Bubblicious gum, picked up from the gas station on the way home. (Note: He's already chewed my gum and used one of my soaps!)

(I hate that I didn't get a pic of the gum with the rest of the gifts!)

I hope everyone enjoyed their day!

Now Some From The Park!

Can I just tell you how much I enjoy taking pictures of baby Lucas?! What a doll. I love the fact that he is immobile (for the moment), and I don't have to chase him down! I am lovin' that Buddha belly he has goin' on! The one with Tara holding the baby is my absolute favorite from the day. My second favorite photo is the one of Miss Lilly playing peek-a-boo with me through the gate.

Friends!

We spent the afternoon with my friend, Tara, and my sis-in-law, Shanon, and an assortment of children ages 5 and under. Boy was it a hot one today! After the park, we decided that ice cream sounded like a wonderful treat, and we all headed down to Southern Sweets on Bay Street. Riley enjoyed his day with friends, and he told me his favorite part was the ice cream (no surprises there!). I got quite a few shots today, so I may just share a few tonight and then a few more tomorrow. I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day weekend!

Since the ice cream was Riley's favorite part of the day, I'll share the pics from the ice cream parlor first.

He's shy around people most of the time (at least until he gets warmed up), but THIS is my Riley. The goofball that loves to make people laugh.

Hannah at her favorite ice cream shoppe.

Riley enjoying his cone.

Lilly. Finger-licking good!

"Aunt" Holly, younger sister to my SIL, Tracy.

Create!

Riley got exceptionally dirty today and had to have a mid-afternoon bath. After his bath he was ready to watch a little Spongebob and draw Mommy a picture. He doesn't have much patience with coloring, but he does love to draw and write his letters and numbers. This quiet time lasted until he heard Bailey ride by on her four-wheeler...then it was out to get dirty again!

And what is this? Eye contact?! Woohoo! LOL.