How are you Feeling?

I'm feeling frustrated because no matter how I moved the darn light I could not get those darn bright spots to go away! From the great Judy Moody...ROAR!

Elizabeth Brought me a Heart!

Liz is home! She just got back from a week in Florida with the high school band. She is truly exhausted but had an awesome time. All I wanted her to bring me back was some sea shells and sand from Cocoa Beach. Well as I was exploring the bag that she brought me, I see this sweet little shell shaped like a heart. Yep, I am a lucky mama! And so glad that my baby is home!! :)

And of course...

Hmm,what's with the holes in the shells??

Faces in the Backyard

This guy was carved by Jim about 32 years ago with a chain saw. The reason for carving, according to Jim, "was just to see if I could." Well I guess he could and there it still is, in the backyard, many, many, many years later.

Of course I can find faces every where :0) but this little bud caught my attention. Bit I'm thinking more along the lines of a monster face or alien face. I discussed with someone the other day about finding faces in clouds and trees and shadows and such. We all came to the conclusion that it just goes to show how creative and imaginative we are! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

Pretty in Pink

The Magnolia Tree is adding some pretty pink to this otherwise brown and green world. 

Enjoy the colors as they begin to burst!

I Just Want to Dance with You

I want to dance with you, twirl you all around the floor
That's what they intended dancin' for,
I just want to dance with you.
I want to dance with you, hold you in my arms once more,
That's what they invented dancin' for,
I just want to dance with you.
 ~George Strait~

Words are Powerful

Words are powerful.
This is the statement that was printed on the bottom of the tournament bracket sheet that was handed out to the kids, 3rd grade and up.
Words are powerful.
Words can be interpreted  in a different way then what was intended. Maybe I am doing it now, but I don't think these were the right ones to use.
Words are powerful.

Day 85 Negatively

I made it to day 85, woohoo! Only 280 more days to go! :0) 

Tonight's pictures are from my phone.I have a new one, so I am playing with the camera on it. Here's my hubby in negative mode. Now I know what he will look like in a few more years, lol!

Turkey Feathers

Jim got a box of handmade arrows from a friend in California today. Along with the arrows, he sent several turkey feathers. What wonderful patterns!

Absolutely loving those little fuzzy feathers and my macro lens! :0)

Daffodil

Sometimes a simple yellow daffodil is more than a simple yellow daffodil. 

Look a little deeper and appreciate a little more.

Night at the Lagoon

Since the weather was so nice tonight, I wanted to get out of the house and try taking some pictures at night. The pavilion at the park is always lighted up so nicely and I knew there would be some reflections in the water. But.....what I wasn't thinking about was the 15mph winds that were blowing across the lagoon. Still, I like the reflections of the lights, all those different shades of the yellow glow!

My Nephew

After we cut the tree down, my husband had a few slabs of wood saved so that he could practice his ax throwing techniques. This slab is out in the back yard and me being me, the person who sees a face everywhere,  saw a head. Well this head, to me, looks just like my nephew Cody! :) I think mostly the "hair" is what made me think it was him. My husband said it looks like Elvis. And the funny part is that his step-dad is the one who cut the tree down for us. Hey Brian, you must have a hidden talent!! I love it!

SpongeBob SquarePants

Are you ever to old for SpongeBob SquarePants?

Signs of Spring

The buds on the lilac bush are starting to open up! The sun is shining and the birds are singing! What a wonderful day!

An Interesting Day

Today I participated in a Poverty Simulation. The goal was to help people (this was a group of people who all work in the Human Service field)  gain an understanding of what people have to go through in order to feed their families, work a job or even find a job, pay your bills, find transportation and so on. Participants were given packets with information about their particular situation, some where homeless, some had seniors living with them, some were seniors all alone, etc. They were given instructions on what they needed to do such as going to the Social Service Agency to get food stamps or going to the Quick Cash to get a loan. It was quite an eye opening experience to see how people handled their situations. Several children were left alone as the picture above represents. A toddler that was left at home while the parents were out. The police officer took the child from the home and placed it here in a safe place. I was a volunteer and my job was to work at the Friendly Utility Company. I wasn't the first bill that people paid and at one point I had to close my office and go pass out shut-of notices. After the notices went out, my line got busier but there were still several families who never paid.

New Puppy

My niece brought over her new puppy Zeppelin tonight.What a cutie! Just like a new baby, he slept pretty much the whole time he was here. Now I remember when Jack was a puppy. He ate everything! The coffee table leg, the middle out of Liz's shirt, a duck call, a container of fish food, nothing was safe. And then the kangaroo that he ate, oh that was quite a tragic event! Elizabeth was soooooooo upset that her favorite stuffed kangaroo got snarfed! Those days are long gone, my ole pup now has gray hairs and achy bones. But don't be fooled, he still has some of that pup spunk in there!

Messy Eater

I had to work late last night so I took a little break and walked around the school to see what I could see. Came upon this cute little squirrel who was just munching away at that nut or seed. I started snapping a few feet back then slowly made my way closer. What struck me most about this picture is the fact that she has part of the shell on her arm...  then eventually on her leg.

All this time I am still inching forward and she is still watching me. Never took her eyes off of me and never stopped eating either. But when she did finally stop, it must have been time to rest for a moment.

Wishing for better focus here but you get the picture! lol! :0) But after a quick second she was done with me and off she went.

A Clean Window Reflects

What happens when you decide to clean your cars windows on an evening when the sun is setting? REFLECTIONS! Wonderful reflections! I love reflections!!

And my Dora (yes I named my car) is a happy girl! I got some of that grit off of her. She will be an even happier girl  when I get the rest of her washed :0)

The Land of Lincoln

At the Metamora Courthouse State Historic Site you will find the historic court house where Lincoln often visited while he was practicing law. Across the street you will find statues of Lincoln and Mary. She is half his size and surely would not be happy with the way her statue looks! But they are quite interesting and you can see them from the main road as you drive through town.Stop and check it out!

 Abraham Lincoln and Mary

 

 

 

"Abraham Lincoln traveled this way as he rode the circuit of the eighth judicial district ...1847-1857"

Melissa's EyE SpY

 EyE SpY: a baby, the word red, a ladybug, a checker, a cow, 3 hearts and 3 crayons.

*Note-If you click on the picture it will make it larger and easier to find all the objects*

I had fun putting this picture together. I have been gathering objects for a while now. I think if I did it again, I would just use any objects, not ones of all the same color.

This is also my first attempt at a make-shift light box. I am really struggling with the lighting and I am such a hands-on person, I find it hard to just read about how to do it right! But I am trying! That is what this is all about, learning new skills.

A Blank Cd

Today I was experimenting with a mixture of water and glycerin, a blank Cd, and the sun shinning in my window. I've got a few little extra dots in there but I like the way it turned out anyway. Smile for a happy day!!

Then I felt the need to over saturate the picture.

And finally, I just liked the reflection it had on the Cd with no water drops at all!

Have You?

Have you stopped to look up at the clouds lately? Have you taken the time to notice the buds on the trees? Have you stopped to notice that the robins are back? Have you noticed the daffodils are coming up and the Iris's too? The world is coming alive again! Have you taken the time to notice? 

Two Little Drops

I have this plant out front that always catches the raindrops and holds them so wonderfully. I love to see those little drops about as much as I love finding faces in things. In the summer this plant makes the most beautiful little pink flowers that draws butterflies. But I can not remember what kind of plant it is?? Wilma, I need help! what is this plant again??

Here is a close-up of those two drops.

Hello, Hawk

As I was coming out of work tonight I saw this hawk standing on the other side of the road. Oh yeah, a picture waiting to happen! Frantically, I am trying to get my camera out of the camera bag that was nestled inside of my big bag :)! Please don't move, please wait, please!! Oh man! I have on the wrong lens! Please wait, just another second, almost got it...Well thank goodness he did wait for me and I got about 5 shots in before he flew off to stand on top of a nearby light post where I took a couple more pictures. This is apparently what he thought of that...

Too funny! Well I thank you any way Hawk for letting me take your picture tonight. You are a beautiful creature and I was blessed to see you!!

Madri Gras Beads

We celebrated Madri Gras at work today with a spicy snack and some beads. These are the beads I took and go figure, what do I make with them?! Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!
(I think that came from Ren and Stimpey)
Then I discovered that I could do this too...

Awesome Bokeh!!

Hanging With My Peeps

Sending out love, hugs and good vibes to all my peeps!

Happy

The sun was shining today! Yeah! The snow is pretty much gone, just a few piles left in parking lots around town. There are buds on the trees and my daffodils are poking up out of the ground. My brother-in-law's tulips are poking up as well, a sure sign that Spring is just around the corner. I captured these little leaves floating in the bird bath at my sisters today. I started out trying to catch the small shadow they were casting until my focus changed and I noticed all those tiny little bubbles, aren't they neat!!! They made me happy :)

Thumb's up!

Elizabeth's Happy Thumb

Our Saturday started at 6:00 a.m. Showered and dressed and Liz headed off to school to be at the bus by 7:30 a.m. Today was Solo & Ensemble and Liz had two performances, one at 8:50 a.m.(Clarinet) and one at 12:40 p.m.(Bassoon). Quite a long time between performances, but they didn't ask us for our opinion. Her first performance was wonderful, of course, the judge even said nice job to her on the way out the door. Then off to Denny's to kill a little time and have a little breakfast. Yum!! pancakes for me!! Love'em!!! Her second performance was wonderful too, but she was just a little "out of the zone"by that time. I could see it on her face, she knew where she flubbed, but it sounded great to us! She scored a 2 for her 1st piece, missed a 1 by 2 points, but she was ok with that. We do not yet know what she got on her 2nd piece because we had to run home and get ready for the VolleyBall game. They had a double header today. They lost 1-3 on the first game and won 3-0 on the second. They were nail biters as my mother says!!!
Quite a busy day for my kid and what a day for a mom who is so darn proud of that kid! Thumbs up Elizabeth, you rock!!!!!

The Barge Battle

The Barge Arrives

On my way home from work I drive past several bodies of water, the river and a few lakes. I happened to notice the calm of the water and all the reflections that were in the water. I like reflections, so I headed on down to the river, only to discover that the road was closed due to flooding. Well...lets try the other road. It was blocked off too, but there were places to park and I walked on down to the landing. And what do I see??!! a Barge!! such an attraction! As it heads slowly past me, I take the time to shoot some of the reflections I am seeing in the water. No need to hurry, just enjoying the surroundings.

Reflections

This little tree is so nicely sharing it's reflection along with the boat ramp and the light pole over here on the left. Pretty cool, only wishing that the sun was out to brighten this all up instead of the rain that was just moments away. Now if you notice in the background, something is beginning to happen. See the ripples in the water? The Barge is making it's way past me and sending those waves right towards me! And they are heading right for my calm still water and all the reflections that are within!! Hey Barge! what's up with that!!!

Bye, Bye Barge

So you have won this round Barge. You have messed up my reflections and there is no time to wait, the rain is on it's way. You slowly passed me by without any acknowledgment of me and my feelings at all. But I will return another day, Barge, and I will again get to see the water so still and calm. Reflections will be mine!!

The Big Band Concert

Tonight was the high school's Spring Concert featuring the Concert, Symphonic and Jazz band along with the Choir and it was wonderful! Liz gets to play in the Concert band and the Symphonic band while my niece plays in the Concert band. Liz says next year she is going to be in the Jazz band so she doesn't have to wear that awful dress!!!!! Lots of awesome music, some really great singing, all together a very enjoyable evening. They all came together to end the evening with a few Beatles tunes. Thank goodness I felt better so that I could enjoy it!!

Helping the Pain

This is helping the pain that I have in my head. Tummy is better, head is not :(

Dinner

This was all my tummy could take and just a few sips. Ugh, I am not feeling well.