A Shared Interest.

Riley received some money for his birthday and made the decision to purchase a digital camera. He decided on the Fisher Price digital camera, and we went and picked it up today. It's very sturdy and easy to use with a two-eye viewfinder. Very handy for the little ones. It doesn't take the best of pictures, but it's all he needs right now. He knows how to work all the buttons and can view his photos on the LCD screen on the back, and that's about all he's interested in at this point. We went out shooting together this afternoon until the gnats ran us back inside. It was fun to be able to share this hobby with him, and I look forward to many more excursions with him and our cameras.

Another Old One!!!

I'm getting bad, aren't I? I've just had no time for myself this weekend. Friday and Saturday belonged to Riley, and today it's been all about work. Ugh!

This picture was taken back in November. My Mammaw used to keep this little blue-eyed angel baby. He is such a cutie, and I loved capturing those baby blues with my camera. This was just out on the back porch one afternoon. Those blue eyes and that little blond curl just grab me. So, this is "Baby Trace" (posted with his Mommy and Daddy's permission, of course!)

And an old one of my boy and his baby blues (squinty in this one...but blue, nonetheless!)

Whew! I'm Beat!

I'm beat tonight. The party was a great success. I think fun was had by all. I know my little boy was tired tonight, as am I. This post will be short and sweet. Would you believe that I didn't take any pictures of my child at his birthday party today? Well, I did take a couple, but I didn't take them with my camera! I was playing with my friend Tara's new Nikon D70 and snapped a couple. Tara said she would email me the pics taken at the party...so maybe I'll post one or two (with her permission) when I get them. Hopefully my friend Judy will also forward me the pics she took at the party today!

Okay, I did take a picture of the cakes before the party because I knew I would need a photo to post today! So...here ya go! Riley's pirate ship and island cakes. He loved it (and Hayden did too!) so it was all worth it.

Arrrgh!

I didn't take a single picture today. In fact, the camera didn't even make it out of its bag. I've been busy preparing for Riley's birthday party tomorrow. Yes, we're a little late this year!

This year's birthday theme is pirates! I ran last minutes errands all day today and spent a couple of hours tonight decorating the cakes. Hopefully I will have pics of the cakes for tomorrow's post. Tonight, I'm posting a pic of the invitations I sent out. They were done "message in a bottle" style. I used my scrapbooking distress inks to make the paper look really old and weathered, ironed the paper back out and put it through the printer (with a great pirate-looking font!). I think they turned out rather cool. I just wish the shells would have shown up better in the sand. I think the kids liked them....especially the little boys.

The invitation reads as follows:

Ahoy there Matey!

Cap'n Riley be lookin' fer some scurvy seadogs

to join him on his 5th voyage to sea!

So put on yer best pirate garb and come join the crew!

Chart yer course for Whittington Bay (our house)

We'll set sail on 17 March 2007 at 2 p.m.

Don't be late or you'll walk the plank!

Yo Ho Ho! Let us know!

Call deckhand Amy at (our phone # here)!

See ya there...........Arrrgh!

"Out On Assignment"

Today, I was out on assignment with my camera. LOL. Mom requested a photo of a certain fence downtown (at the corner of Bay and Charles streets), so off we went. I didn't get exactly what she wanted, but between the full-on sun with no shade in sight and all of the traffic downtown, I was lucky to get anything worth keeping. Mom informs me that this flower is called Lantana (sp?). There were roses too, and mom really wanted both flowers in the pic, but it just didn't happen today. We might go back on a late Sunday afternoon and try again....of course then the bugs will be too bad to even hold the camera still. We got Riley in a few frames, but he wasn't very excited about the prospect. Mom had to bribe him with a dollar! (He's saving his money for a digital camera of his own.) See, Heather...we're not above bribery when it comes to getting a photo! LOL.

Before the dollar!

I'm Cutting It Close Tonight!

It's getting close to midnight, so if this is going to be posted as my Wednesday entry I'd better get a move on!

My friend Rochel emailed me about a photo project I did last year. You take a picture of your child with their fist outstretched in front of them (being careful not to hide their face). The fist is supposed to be in sharp focus, with their face somewhat blurred. After printing, you make a small cut just above and below the child's fist and thread an artificial flower stem through the photo so that it appears that the child is holding out a flower. You remove the glass from a frame and insert the photo into the frame. It now appears that your child is standing inside the frame and extending his hand (and the flower) outside of the frame to the recipient of the gift. I did this project for Mother's Day in our Sunday school class last year. Of course, Riley was in the class, so I made my own Mother's Day gift. LOL. I don't care. I love it! I hope all that made sense (in case any of you want to try it!). I got the idea from a photography website that I frequent. So...that explains picture #1.

Picture #2 is just a simple snap of my nephew, Hayden, on the swing.

Hope everyone has a great Thursday! It's one step closer to the weekend! Woohooo!

Just for Jamie...

in Alaska; more signs of Spring! The first is a Bradford pear blossom on a tree in our yard. I didn't know what the second flower was until I looked at Ms. Judy's post from yesterday and noticed that they looked awfully similar. I asked my mom, and she confirmed that it is Jasmine. The state flower, and I can't even identify it! I just like the smelly kind of Jasmine (Confederate, I believe), and the Carolina jasmine doesn't smell.

P.S. I'm NOT copying your posts, Ms. Judy! I promise!!! I just needed something besides pics of the kids for today's post...and I'd already done the red geraniums! LOL.

PUPPY!

One of the sweetest things in the world is puppy breath. Come on...you know it's true. Bill had a friend over helping him with some remodeling he's doing on the house, and he brought his little beagle/blue tick puppy with him. The little guy actually jumped right over the side of the back of the truck. The boys (Hayden and Riley)got in a couple of squeezes before we had to put him back. I love the second one of Hayden, and I'm mad that I cut off the little puppy mid-nose in the last one!

An Oldie But Goody!

I didn't even pick my camera up today, much less press the shutter button! So, I looked on the computer to see what I could share with my friends for today, and I found some old photos of Riley. This is one of my old favorites. I've learned a lot since I took this picture, but I still love it. It's nearly two years old! Riley was loving the dandelions, and we were out riding the gator when he spotted some and wanted to stop and make a wish. I had the camera along and snapped a pic. Sorry for slacking off and having to share an old one today. Maybe tomorrow will be better!

Anyone who knows my brother, Bill....tell me you don't see him in this picture!

Childhood Snapshots

Just a few snapshots from this afternoon. I am soooo disappointed in these. They're okay at such a small size, but they won't print well...with the exception of the first photo (which is actually my favorite anyway). I get so disappointed when my pics don't turn out that I'm tempted to just trash them. I have to remind myself, however, that these moments are just as important as any other. When Riley is a grown man and looks back over the photos of his childhood, it won't matter that the photos are a bit blurred and not the best quality and the background is not devoid of distracting items. He probably won't even see any of that. What he will see is himself at 5 y/o attempting to fly the remote control airplane that his Granddaddy gave him as a birthday present. He'll see the pictures and be reminded of how much fun he had as a 5 y/o country boy running barefoot through the grass on a warm spring day. And THAT is why I will not trash these photos. I'll print them, and EVENTUALLY they will make it into his scrapbook for safe keeping.

My little country boy with ripped jeans and bare feet. Gotta love it!

He nearly ran over himself!

We saw a bald eagle out in the yard today, but I couldn't get close enough to get a good pic of him. When I tried, he flew off. I needed Ms. Judy's big honkin' lens for this one!

Bargain Shopper

My mom loves a good yard sale, and she's addicted to the classified ads on http://www.islc.net/. She found this great little curio cabinet in a classified ad last week. She's been looking for one for a long time, and was ecstatic when she found the perfect one for $30. It really is in great shape and worth a lot more than the $30. So, the cabinet only makes it into a small portion of the photo, but it's in there! P.S. The flowers were some that mom found at The Salvation Army for 50¢ and rearranged. LOL. You gotta love a good bargain!

Happy Birthday, Riley!

Today, my little boy became a big boy. Riley turned 5-years-old at 1:15 a.m. He, however, insists that he is still 4! He knows that when you're 5 you have to go to school. LOL. We spent the day in Charleston, where we went to Chuck E. Cheese's, ate lunch (at Shoney's) and bought him a brand new pair of Crocs (they're orange, Ms. Jan!) complete with some Jibbitz. I decided early in the day that I was not going to follow Riley around all day with the camera. I would get a few photos and be done with it and actually participate in the fun of the day instead of trying to document every second! I'm a scrapbooker, so that was a hard decision to make!! I don't regret it. We had a lot of fun, and my boy had a great birthday. We'll do the party thing next weekend.

I just wanted to add that my child did NOT eat this entire piece of cake. In reality he only had about two bites of it....mostly the hot fudge (as you can see on his spoon)! LOL. Of course, he did have blue cotton candy from Chuck E. Cheese's later in the day!

"Dear Lord, thank you for CHOCOLATE! Amen." They sang to Riley and brought him hot fudge cake for dessert. His face turned beet red, and he was halfway under the table the whole time.

The whole gang, minus Mommy!

In the Sky Tubes (with Uncle Adam; not pictured!)

Feathered Friends

I'm not really into birds, but these little guys were eating from the bird feeder on our back porch today. I have no idea what kind they are because, as I said before, I'm not really into birds. I do, however, love the painted buntings (at least that's what I think they're called). They haven't shown up at the feeders yet, but they'll be along....and I'll be waiting!

COLOR!

I love RED geraniums! The red is just so bright and vibrant. Every year we have them in pots on the front porch, and I do think they are my favorites of all the flowers. As much as I love them, however, I'm not super happy with this photo.

FUNKY FAD!

I held out as long as I could. I resisted them at every turn! They're ugly! They're funky! They're bright! They make your feet look huge! They're......COMFORTABLE! THEY are Crocs, and I love them. I finally broke down and bought myself a pair this weekend, and I got the brightest color they had! They SCREAM summer! It's like walking on your own personal little trampoline! LOL. Springy and soft. If you don't have a pair (and I think you must be the last person on this planet that doesn't!), I recommend you try them. At least to wear around the house/yard.

Riley got a lime green pair of Crocs last summer, but he's only recently started wearing them with any regularity. Sadly, his pair was eaten by my sister-in-law's dog tonight. His birthday is Thursday, so I might just have to buy him another pair. He says he wants an ORANGE pair. That's my boy! (But I'll really miss his little green ones...with the frog on one and the turtle on the other!)

Sunday Sleepyhead

With me working at home and Riley not yet being in school, the only day of the week that Riley has to get up at a certain time is Sunday. Of course, he inevitably sleeps later on Sunday than any other day of the week and has to be awakened for Sunday school! Today was no exception. Here is a photo of him this morning before I woke him up. It sure is easier to take his picture when he isn't moving all over the place!

And the same picture in black and white because I couldn't decide which I liked better.

A Spring Bloom

We've been enjoying the nice weather lately, and apparently so have the flowers! This is a bloom from my mom's tulip tree. It caught my eye and well, here it is!

Bubbles

Today was a good day to be Riley. He had a playmate to play with, and the weather was so nice that he got to play outside nearly all day. He played in the sand pile, rode his 4-wheeler, ate popsicles and blew bubbles. You can see the remnants of the popsicle and the sand pile in these pictures. That boy sure can get dirty!

I like the fact that you can see the setting sun in this bubble.

Duck Tales, Part II

Look at the dappled light bokeh in the background of the first one. I think it looks pretty cool. The second is of a little mama-to-be duck who was sitting on her nest. She did a pretty good job of hiding her little nest. I wouldn't have even seen her if my Pappaw hadn't pointed her out to me. The other mama ducks just took over the horses' stalls and laid their eggs in there.

One Photo....Two Ways.

More photos from around my Pappaw's barn. "Chip", a miniature horse...and then again with "Boo", another mini.

I hate that I chopped that rooster's legs off, but the dang bird wouldn't stand still long enough for me to frame him and get him in focus. Oh well...I'm throwing it in as a bonus pic!