Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Silhouettes...

Silhouette photography seems to be all the rage right now.  It's all over the world of instagram. 
I must admit, I'm jumping on the bandwagon.  

Google silhouette photos and enjoy all the breathtaking images you will see...just beautiful!

Silhouette

"A representation of the outlines of an object filled in with a black color; a profile portrait in black, such as a shadow appears to be."


A silhouette leaves us wondering about the whole subject after we are able to see the beauty of its outline.   But sometimes the simplicity of the silhouette is all we need, and we may not necessarily want to look any deeper.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Sunflowers...

We went to the Sunflower Farm on Saturday and it didn't disappoint.






























"If I were a flower.. I would be a sunflower.
To always follow the sun, Turn my back to darkness,
Stand proud, tall and straight even with my head full of seeds."

Pam Stewart

Friday, July 26, 2013

Friday...

It's Friday, which means I'm supposed to do an Insta-Friday post and upload my Instagram pictures from the week.  Well, guess what?  I'm not doing it.  It's 10:30p m and my phone is charging.  

Instead, I decided to post some pictures of the flowers in my yard.  The Black-Eyed Susans remind me of my memere because she actually gave me the seeds and some flowers from the ones in her yard.  I miss her.  Life is hard sometimes.



And this is the lone flower on the hydrangea plant in our front yard.  The backyard, however, is loaded with beautiful purple flowers like this one.
I hope your weekend is fabulous.  Tomorrow we are off to see sunflowers at this place.  Here is the post I did about it last year.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

A New Status...

A conversation from today after E got home from Cub Scout Camp.


E-"I want to drill a hole in my walking stick and put a piece of leather through it for my beads."

Me-"I think I have a piece of leather that you can do that with.  Let's go do it."

I find the leather and proceed to take the walking stick to the garage to drill a hole.

E-"Where are you going?"

Me-"To the garage to drill a hole."

E-"You're going to drill a hole?  Dad could do it when he gets home."

Me-"I know how to do it; I can do it right now."

E-"I didn't know you knew how to do that. "

I get the drill set up and start drilling the hole.  

E-"Wow Mom, you're being like a cool mom."

If I knew that's what it took to reach "cool" status, I would have made sure to pick up a drill in front of him a long time ago.  

So friends, my job today is done.  I have impressed my 9 year old and am officially a "cool mom", for now anyway.

You're pretty cool yourself E.

Speaking of cool, I also need to wish my dad a very Happy Birthday.  Wishing you many blessings in the year ahead dad.  You deserve the best.  xo

This is kind of a goofy picture, but hey, even cool people take awkward photos every now and then.
"Being cool is being your own self, not doing something that someone else is telling you to do."

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Summer Math...

Soap +
A hose and spray attachment wedged in a tree branch +
a Little Miss ready to get clean +
sunlight during the golden hour =
 The Ingredients for a perfect Summertime Shower
  

Math has a lot of negative stereotypes, but it can actually be fun and incredibly empowering.



Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Play...


Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.

Stuart Brown


It is a happy talent to know how to play.

Ralph Waldo Emerson


Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.

Diane Ackerman

The true object of all human life is play.

G. K. Chesterton

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

What If...

"We take for granted that we know the whole story. -We 

judge a book by its cover and read what we want 

between selected lines."


I'm not one known to always keep my opinions to myself, but I also am not a fan of conflict and controversy.  So generally there are some things I do tend to keep to myself.

That being said however, I'm having such a hard time with all the social media hype over the Zimmerman acquittal.  I'm not saying he should or should not have been acquitted, but I'd like to think that the justice system worked and those who were part of the jury made the decision based on the evidence that was presented.  I was not there, just like I was not there on the night of the shooting.  The jury heard more of the story than I have heard and based their decision on the evidence.  They were not able to conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, he was guilty.   Perhaps my view is idealistic and ignorant, maybe I'm seeing the world through rose colored glasses, but have we ever considered, 
What if the jury is right?


I have to admit that I'm starting to feel a little offended by some of the "stuff" making its way around facebook.  Why do so many feel as though they are the experts on this case without really knowing the WHOLE story?  And why oh why does politics have to be involved?  If I have an opinion about one thing, that automatically makes me racist, prejudice or endorse the killing of one person by another?  Goodness gracious people, S-T-O-P, please!  What I believe in is the right to due process.

I am not ignorant to the racism that exists in this world, however, not every situation and circumstance needs to be made into a black vs. white issue.  Was this case a black and white issue.  Some clearly say "yes", but have these same people ever considered, What if it is not a racial act?  

Google the images of Trayvon and you will see several pictures of him.  One of which is an image of him with a sweatshirt and hood on, when he was probably about 12 years old.  Another is him looking a bit older sticking up his middle finger.  These two images depict the same person but with significantly different responses to the the viewer.   Neither, I am sure, tells the whole story.  

What image are you most familiar with seeing?  What if the first image you saw was the one of him sticking up his middle finger?

The thing is, if you watch one station on TV and subscribe to that same groups' newsfeed on facebook, you do not have the WHOLE story.  The same case can be depicted in so many ways with so many varying views with the exact same information.  What bothers me about this case is that it seems the opinions of so many are driven, not by their own individual thoughts, observations, and understandings, but rather by the thoughts of the group they belong to. 

What if you were a juror, there was no outside influence and you sat in the courtroom listening to the evidence?  Would you be able to definitively find Zimmerman guilty? 

I cannot answer this question honestly, as I was not there and do not want to base my opinion on the tidbits of information I have gotten from whatever media I have watched or heard.

What if we all did the same?



As always, what I post on this blog is a representation of me and my thoughts.  I realize this may stir up some more "stuff", but sometimes a girl has to speak her mind.  I hope we can still all be friends and perhaps some of us will have to agree to disagree, but in a respectful manner of course.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Insta-Friday

It's been awhile, but here are some of my recent photos from Instagram.

 1. one of my favorite photos of my grandparents 2. the night of the double rainbow 3. phone-jacked
4. me 5. Little Miss next door 6. Emu
7. cutest animal at the zoo 8. blue-eyed girl 9. safety first
 1. my clematis 2. relay night 3. empty nest (they are almost ready to fly away now)
4. tick from my leg (ick!) 5. rude reminders of my intruder! 6. yarrow
7. lemur island 8. double rainbow 9. more rainbows
1. fishing (the princess pole caught 3 fish) 2. nature journaling while the boys fish 3. daddy's turn with the princess pole
4. fun at the farm 5. strawberry fields forever 6. someone else is missing their memere too xo
7. my fourth craft (dollar tree cups 3/$1.00) 8. weekend in Newport 9. Let's hope this is the closest E ever gets to a police car

Today I'm linking up with Jeannett at Life Rearranged.

Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul.