A beautiful moment

We are lucky enough to be in the flight path of some magnificent birds.
Every year in October flocks of Sand hill cranes fly south right over our house.
The year I was pregnant with Bug I was huge in late October.
I was taking my daily waddle walk during my lunch hour when I heard the most amazing birds.
I looked up searching the sky for the noise.
In amazement I saw thousands of birds. They were swirling up up up.
They looked like a large black cloud that churned and swirled as they tried to catch a stream of air high in the sky. I stood there in awe, I had never ever seen anything like it.
An old man who was working in his yard was watching as well.
"Sand Hill cranes" he said "Aren't they amazing"
Indeed.
Soon they caught a draft and took off south in one big flock.
Every year I see them, though never again in those magnificent numbers.
A couple weeks ago, after feeding the goats, Bug and I started on an impromptu walk through our property. We had just gone over a bank and into some trees when I heard their distinctive sound. "The Sand Hill cranes!" I shrieked in excitement.
Then I started running up the hill away from the trees so that I could get a better look.
Bug yelled out "Wait for me momma!!"
Breathless we both stood at the top of the hill and watched as several formations flew overhead.
Bug whispered " They are the ones with red on their head right momma?"
He actually retained something from all those hours flipping through my bird books!
When they had all gone Bug turned to me and said "That was a beautiful moment wasn't it momma?"
Indeed.

My Blogversarie

As of last Sunday this blog of mine is a year old.
Time flies when you're having fun.
I wasn't really sure what I wanted out of this blog when I first started.
All I knew was that it looked like fun!
I would read my incredibly talented friend Corey's blog and I would start thinking in blog post.
I would dream of incredibly insightful and meaningful things to say.
Then I would sit down at the computer and totally F it up!
I'm just not that great of a writer.
Then I would set out to take some awesome photos and make this a photography blog.
But I'm just a mediocre photographer who gets really lucky sometimes.
So instead I write about my life and my family and post some pictures to chronicle it all.
It seems to work for me, it is who I am, average.
This past year has brought me incredible joy watching Bug grow.
It also brought extreme sorrow as I watched my step-mom die.
There have been a lot of changes in my life since she left.
I have asked myself a lot of questions.
Am I living my life how I want to?
Why am I blogging?
Do I spend enough quality time with Bug?
Why the hell do people have to die?
I slowed down my blog posts and tried to focus on real life over the Summer.
I thought about just shutting down the blog.
But in the end I have decided to just give it what I can.
Thank you for sticking around with me.

Slugs and snails and puppy dog tails....

Warning, this post may make absolutely no sense whatsoever. So if you get to the end and think "What the heck was she trying to say? Boy that was five minutes I'll never get back". Stop your whining because I warned you.
After reading many of the comments on my last post I realized I'm meant to be the mother of a son. It wasn't always that way. I didn't know that I was supposed to be the mother of a boy. I wanted a girl and I wanted one bad. When husband and I decided to have children we thought it would be as simple as stopping birth control. We decided early on that we would only have one. Husband already had a son from his first marriage and I was sure that one child together would complete our family. I knew I had one shot to have that little girl I dreamed about. I read about all the ways to ensure that you will have a baby girl. I used all of the tricks outlined in those silly books but after a full year of not getting pregnant I was pretty discouraged.
I went to my OBGYN and explained my fears that I wouldn't be able to get pregnant. She listened to my concerns and said in the most unsympathetic voice " Well we can set up some tests if that's really what you want"
I didn't know if I wanted poked and prodded. I didn't even know what I would do if the tests said I couldn't do it on my own. So I left her office dejected. After four more months I told husband I was done trying. I wasn't going to put any more emotional pressure on myself. Besides if I got pregnant that month I would have a baby in December and I really didn't want to have a baby close to Christmas.
Two weeks later I had a positive pregnancy test and a baby due on December 7th.
For fifteen weeks I talked to her in my belly, decided on a girls name and hoped and hoped that she wouldn't be a he. Then the morning of my ultrasound I sat at my desk and started to cry. I told myself this is it, I know I'm having a boy. I said to myself "You can cry this one time and then you aren't allowed to cry about it anymore" And I haven't. I have enjoyed Bugs boyness. I have however asked myself why several times.
As each and every one of my childhood friends had baby girls. I wondered why I wasn't meant to have one too. When I walked through the baby aisles and looked at all the pretty girl clothes I thought "Why can't I pick out dresses with flowers instead of t-shirts with bugs?"
But earlier this week when everyone was shocked that I would let my five year old eat a sucker with a bug in it, I realized I was meant to be the mother of a boy. I pick up snakes, bugs and crawdads for him to see. I'm not afraid to let him climb trees or get dirty.... or eat bugs.
He's a boy and I wouldn't trade him for a girl. I will probably still wish I could buy those pretty girly clothes. However to curb that desire I've been eyeing the cute dog clothes section lately... the dog will love me for it I'm sure.

Traveling Bug

I'm back!
Ok so I've been back for almost a week, sue me.
Where did I go?
Houston Texas for a business meeting.

I make it a priority to bring Bug something special from my trips.

My days where filled with meetings and evenings with business dinners.
So I didn't have much time to do much shopping except at the Houston Airport.
I picked out a nice NASA t-shirt since he has been saying he wants to be an Astronaut.
While I stood at the counter I noticed some suckers in a box on the counter.
They had something in them....


Oh yes, that is a Scorpion.
Yes, it is real. Here are the ingredients just to prove it.

Ingredients: Malitol syrup, SCORPION, artificial flavoring and coloring.

I had to get it for my bug loving Bug. There was a day of show and tell where he thought up the following conversation.

Bug: I'll show K the sucker like this (holds sucker where you can't see the scorpion) and K will say " Oh cool a sucker". Then I will say " Oh contrare" and turn it around.

Then he announced that he was going to eat the sucker.

Husband didn't believe him and asked 100 times if it truly was edible.

But yes he ate it.

Here is the proof:

When asked what the scorpion tasted like, Bug replied " It tasted like sucker"

Only in Texas... or California where the sucker was actually made.

Life's a beach

On a weekend in early September hubby and I made a last minute decision to take a trip to the coast alone. We met up with husbands brother and his wife who were camping at the beach sans kids. We did some antique store shopping, lunch and then we headed down to the jetty.

I was trying out my new lens, snapping some pictures of my sister in law.

Then some pictures of my her and my brother in law together.

And I took some pictures of the brothers together.

Then my sister in law ripped my camera out of my hand and insisted that she take hubby and my picture! OK not really. She nicely offered to take a couple pictures of us.

This next one is deceiving. It looks like we are lovingly looking at each other, but in actuality husband make some smart ass remark and I'm giving him a stink eye.

Then I set out to get my macro on....

As I was finding interesting patterns in the rocks, I noticed my crazy sister in law. She had taken off her shoes and running around in the freezing weather barefoot in search of sea shells.

When you look at a larger version of this next picture you can see the hairs on these berries.

Someone had a large dog that left wonderful prints in the sand.

Remnants of a pier was a fun subject as well.

After a short time on the freezing sand we made our way back to the campground.

We sat in their RV talking until husband and I realized we needed to start the long drive back home. As we made our way back to our car this was our reward at the end of the day.....

Any day I spend at the beach is a good day.

Score: Bookcase - 1, Bug - 0

Bug's daycare called me this morning to tell me that a heavy bookcase had fallen over and landed on Bugs hand. They thought I should come take a look at it right away.
When I arrived he started crying and showed me his pinkie.
It was twice the size of his other one, with a huge blood blister.
So I took him to urgent care and the verdict is a broken pinkie finger.
Ouch!
He seems almost proud of it now though.
On the way home he said " I'm the youngest person in my family to have a broken bone"
With that "I'm pretty cool" tone to his voice.
God help me when this boy becomes a teenager!

The offending bookcase has been punished by getting screwed to the wall.

My frienemy

I have a love/hate relationship with Photoshop elements.
I love what other people can do with it.
I hate that I suck at it.

So I did what I thought was the best thing to do.
I signed up for a Photoshop elements class at my local community college.
Then I found out I have a business trip and will miss the third class.
Undeterred I went to my first class last night only to find out that;

1. I am the youngest person in class by a good 25 years.
2. The syllabus lists the third class as having everything I want to learn.

Am I the only 30 something person that couldn't read a book or fiddle
with Photoshop and learn it really well???
Don't answer that, clearly I suck.
I'm hoping I get something out of it despite missing the best class.
Lucky for me I found out that they will be giving an advanced class next semester.
I suppose I'll have to pony up for that one too.