Let's Do 52 ~ Week 52 {It's Not The End}

I don't remember when I stopped believing in Santa Claus.  It wasn't a big moment for me.  It wasn't like I saw my mother filling stocking for my brothers and me and all of my reality exploded or anything.  It was just that one year I did and the next year I didn't. 

As a teenager, it didn't really matter all that much.  In my 20's, it didn't really matter all that much.  It didn't start to matter until my son started approaching Christmas with a twinkle in eye and a dream that Santa would pay him a visit.  The magic that sparkled around him was contagious.  I wanted a piece of it.

My son is 10 years old now and I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.  A lot of his friends at school don't believe anymore.  I'm certain that someday soon he won't either.  It really felt like last year was going to be it, but no.  The magic is still there for him.

My husband and I have done everything we can to keep that going. 

We're not concerned about the dishonesty of it. 

We're not worried about others making fun or teasing him for keeping faith in baby stuff.  They don't. 

We're worried about that moment when the illusion goes away and the reality of adulthood sets in.  He's only 10.  He has a lifetime of reality waiting for him.  He needs more time to dream and wish and wonder.

He wrote a letter to Santa this year saying that his big Christmas wish was to see a real reindeer from the North Pole.  I saw an ad in the paper that a nursery by our house brought in reindeer for the season.  My kids and I decided to go see them.  We had it scheduled several times throughout the month, but school meetings, and dinner plans, and housework and homework always seemed to take precedence.

We finally made it down there yesterday, Little Christmas Eve.  The nursery had a sleigh set up next to the reindeer.  My son immediately jumped into it, grabbed the reins and started HO-HO-HO-ing as he shook the bells.

I took his picture to help me remember the moment and sent it skyward with my Christmas wish. 

I hope he's happy.

I hope he gets everything he needs, not just everything he wants.

I hope he's always excited.

I hope his wishes big.

I hope his world is filled with wonder and beauty and majesty and amazement.

I hope the magic stays with him always the way it has this year.

I hope it's not the end.

Let's Do 52 ~ Week 50 {The Eyes Have It}

I have two go-to girlies when it comes to taking pics.  This is one of them. 

She was rushing out the door and I said,

"Okay, stop.  Right there.  Now, right here."

And she said,

"What am I doing?"

And I said,

"The eyes have it."

And she said

 
and they do....just like always.

Let's Do 52 ~ Week 47 {Thankful}

I know you think you know what I'm thankful for in this picture.

Pie, right?

No.  That would be shallow, and I like to think of myself as more of a wading pool than a puddle.

This picture illustrates my gratitude for a multitude of things, actually.

1.  The relationship they have.  She is 12 years older and continues to remain steadfastly a part of their lives.  They adore her and she loves them right back.  So much so that she's willing to share the blowing out of her birthday candles with them.  Family, man.  It's a bond that cannot be broken.

2.  The fact that I was able to get this shot using the skills that I have to manipulate my settings to get a clear image focusing on exactly what I wanted and did not have to crop off any of it. 

3.  That no one in this picture is making one of those ridiculous, puffy cheeked, candle blowing faces....although, TBH, those are actually kind of cute.  And P.S......I hate the expression TBH.  I don't know why I even said that.  Moving on....

4.  That I was able to use my 2.8 lens for it.  I will be thankful for my 2.8 lens until the end of time.  I'm just so happy to have it back again.  I know I've said that before, but 14 months is really a long time to be down my favorite lens after I dropped....after it fell out of my bag as I walked across the parking lot....Okay, moving on from that, too.

5.  Pie.

Fine.  I'm a puddle.  You know me too well...it's why I love you.

Let's Do 52 ~ Week 46 {Letter}

 I spy two bows, a family, a vase,
A kitty, a six, and a little girl's face,
A chocolate candy cane, a pumpkin, a key,
4 bottles of nail polish and a sparkly letter C.

It's an I Spy thing....just go with it....

Let's Do 52 ~ Week 45 {Look Down}

Since we have this massive, gargantuan pile of leaves in our yard, I thought I'd take advantage of it and use them as the backdrop for my Look Down picture this week.

Evidently, the gardener is on vacation.  For the past three months.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Nothing.  I'm just saying we have a lot of leaves on our lawn.

"I work really hard during the week, you know."

I know.  And that chair is not going to hold itself down all weekend, is it?

"Stop it."

I'm just saying that if we had a nickel for every leaf on our lawn....

"I said stop."

I'm just saying that the rake is in the shed and if we had one vacation day for every leaf on our lawn...

"I'm leaving."

Okay, wait.  Are you leaving or are you leafing?  Because I think there might be a difference.

"Whatever."

Happy Leafing!

Let's Do 52 ~ Week 44 {Red...or White...or Blue}

I had a whole flag, stars, bokeh thing I was going to do this week because I just got my big 2.8 lens back from the camera hospital and I was super excited to start using it again...

...after 14 months.....I know, right?....

but, then kids and grandkids and school parties and holidays and canned tomatoes and prize pumpkins and football and cheer and Dancing with the Stars and chair upholstery and you know....

Then there was a storm and it kind of put things in perspective and I decided not to worry about getting the shot the way I wanted it.  Instead, I decided that I would be grateful that these lovely red trees were standing in my neighborhood and not hanging off my house.

So, this afternoon I ran up to the park to quickly snap a few of the red leaves that I've been meaning to stop and photograph.

And when I say "ran", I mean got in my car and drove two blocks up.

In conclusion, this image represents both my Red contribution for the week, as well as the extent of my fall leaf photography this season.

Let's Do 52 ~ Week 40 {Little}

They sit together,

Quietly.

Watching the water and the birds.

Searching for seals.

I see them there.  The two of them.

I know they won't be like this forever.

I know that all too soon they will be grown.

They will be gone into the big, wide expanse of the world.

To follow their own path.  Forge their own way.

Away from me and from each other and from these times.

But, I will remember this moment.

And I remember that once they were together

I will remember that once they were little.

Let's Do 52 ~ Week 33 {Guilty Pleasure}

My guilty pleasure is photographing people who are photographing themselves at a Gilligan's Island party

when they don't know that I'm photographing them, too,

then messing around with the picture in Photoshop,

then putting it on the internet so everyone can see it.

MMMM-WAA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAA!

Okay. No.

Really, my guilty pleasure is chocolate, but food photography makes me gag.

But this post seems really short, and I feel like I should say a bit more about my guilty pleasures.  So, here are a few more of my photographic guilty pleasures:

1.  Sports the way that I want shoot it.

     Not worrying about faces or focus.  Just that perfect moment of action that becomes art.  I love that.

2.  Black & White

     Because I love it and I don't care what anyone else says.  Nothing tells a story like black and white.

3.  Natural Light

Not really a guilty pleasure, but I hate flash light so much that I'd rather not take the picture than use it, so I have been guilty of taking/posting/handing over/talking up slightly blurry images because natural light rules and flash light drools. 

4.  Feet

Boy, have I taken some shit on this one.
"We don't want feet."...."Where are the faces?"...."Why is she taking pictures of people's shoes?"...
Well, guess what?  Feet tell a story that faces don't.  You can fake a face, but you can't fake the shoes.  It's a different angle.  A new perspective and I'm doin' it 'cause I can and I'm the one with the camera.
You wanna' piece of me!?
Sorry.....sometimes I get a little defensive.  My art is me and all that....

5.  Accepting the picture the way it is and not trying to adjust it or fix it.
There are moments when I just don't care about white balance or overexposure or distortion.  Sometimes I just want it the way I want it, no matter how technically incorrect it may be.  My brothers always used to give me a really hard time about that...and when I say "used to" I mean every, single time I see them to this day....

"Ohhh, Lis.  Gotta' have it the way you want it.  Big princess.  World revolves around you.  Can't have it any other way than the way you want it."

What's wrong with that?  Wouldn't everyone want it that way?

I mean, who wants it NOT the way they want it?

I think you see what I'm saying....which is that they're dorks and I rule all.

But, we can save that discussion for next time.

Let's Do 52 ~ Week 29 {Self-Portrait}

She'd been threatening this for some time now.

"I'm going to do a self-portrait week!"...."Self-Portrait week is coming!"...."I promise a self-portrait week!"

Awesome.  Because if there's anyone I love photographing more than myself.....it's....well, no one.

Not.

I always want to try and look fierce or lovely or come-hither like other photographers do in their self-portraits.

I doesn't work.  But...you know...it's self-portrait week.  Yeah!.....Yeah.

I took the opportunity at the beach last week while Prince Charming was out walking the sand to work on it.  I never like to try self-portraits when he's around.  He asks too many questions.

"Why are you doing this?"

"You just want to put these on Facebook, right?"

"What's happening with your lips?"
 
Never mind.  Anyway.  I had a go at it, and while this ended up being my favorite shot, and the one that I used for the project,

a friend of mine said that she missed seeing my face.  So, fine.  For her, here's a few more.


Oh, hello.  What are you doing?  Why yes.  That is a toothbrush.

Oooo!  One handed!  Thank you.  Thank you....

 

Oh, nothing.  Just takin' my picture.

The thing about taking pictures of yourself is that everyone always assumes that you're airbrushing out all the wrinkles and making your skin smooth and your eyes sparkle.  So, to that, I would just like to say,

Ummmm.....yeeeah.  Of course.  What am I?  Nuts?

The other thing about taking pictures of yourself is that you can pretty much do anything you want to them and no one is going to complain that their skin is too pale

or their eyes look too fake

or they don't like black and white

or why is there a chicken on my head....

Oh.  Sorry.  Wrong picture.

Moving on.

My point is, you can get as artsy as you want and no one can say anything about it.  See?

"Wow, Mom.  Your face looks really white....Like.  Really.  White."

Back off, kid.  My art is me.

Whew!  Self-Portrait Week.

Check...

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go photograph someone laying down in green pastures and walking beside still waters.

Wanna' guess what this week's theme is?....

Hugs!

How I Spent The 1st Week of Summer Vacation

My Summer Dream

I decided this summer that I wanted my kids and I to do something different than what we usually do during the summer.  Usually, we sit around, spray each other with the garden hose, and drink mojitos while we talk about all of the things we want to do but aren't because we're just sitting around instead.

No, they don't drink mojitos.  Come on.  That would be ridiculous, people.  Sheesh.

This summer I decided that I wanted to keep up with my mondo-uberly fabulous sister-in-law and get my children learning and active and not let them while away their hours in front of the TV and computer.  My amazing sister-in-law has the patience of a saint, massive screaming energy that rockets out of fingertips and the ends of her hair, and the endurance of the really good set of tires.  Her family is always going somewhere great and doing something awesome during the summer.

I wish I could spend every day with them.

I wish I could send my kids over to spend every day with them.

I wish they would open a camp for moms and kids who spend their time sitting around drinking mojitos, but for some reason they think that's kind of a weird, over-the-top idea.  Something about stepping up to the plate and taking care of my own kids.

And AA.

I don't know.

Whatever....

My parents always told me that if you want to be where someone else is, look at what they're doing and do that.  I was certain that with the right planning and preparation I would be able to sail through the summer with handwriting pages, flash cards, 47 novels, a garden of sunflowers, a flock of chickens, a spotless house, a field trip a week, and a smile on my face.

It's been seven days.

I'm fucked.

My Summer Reality

Sorry to swear.  I'm just kind of tired and I tend to swear when I get tired.  I've been arguing for a week.  Turns out, kids don't really want to do handwriting pages and flash cards and read books during summer vacation.

Although, as I've recently come to find out, my daughter isn't entirely opposed to the idea and she can't quite figure out why her brother doesn't like it.

"Math is fun.  It has animals on it."

1st grade rocks.  5th grade?  Not so much....but when you compare it to, say, running a small business and trying to make payroll in this economy,

or trying to keep the house clean with two kids making constant messes,

 or keeping nutritious foods in the house when Daddy comes home with Fruit Loops....

5th grade isn't so bad. 

But, I feel like I'm getting off track.

You know kids do want to do?

It's the same thing we all wanted to do during summer vacation when our parents were making us do the math packets that they ordered from the schools so we wouldn't forget everything we learned during the year.

Wait.  What?

Your parents didn't order those? 

Kids want to swim.

This wasn't really a swimming moment, but it happened near a pool and these little ponytails make me smile.  And smiling is one of my big goals this summer.

Kids want to ride bikes.

And when they are in doubt about their ability to successfully pass another rider without hitting them, they crash head-first into the nearest fence.

It's the better option.

Kids want to party and laugh and eat candy.

I actually had another version of this picture but when someone saw it someone was not happy with the way someone looked, and then someone else in the picture said that was too bad because he has fat eyes and that's it, and then I laughed....

Moving on.

Seeing as it has only been seven days, I'm not going to give up yet.  I still have a plan to read 47 novels, and make lemonade from scratch, and go see the King Tut exhibit.  We'll just go slow and start small.

Yesterday we went to the library.

But it was in a different town.  And it was a lot bigger than our library, with a statue of Ghandi in front.  We had a little lesson about him with everything I could remember from Mr. Val's World Civ. class while we stood there.

I felt our learning for the day was complete.

Baby steps.

I love ya'!

Let's Do 52 ~ Week 25 {Random Favorites}

I got up at 5:07 this morning so that I would have enough time to:

wash my face, 

get dressed, 

do my makeup,

pull my hair back with my sunglasses because I look stupid in headbands,

pack the cooler, 

get the kids up, 

get Prince Charming up, 

get Prince Charming's mother up (although she was a peach and got up on her own without my help) 

and get everyone in the car so we could drive back from the beach house in Monday morning traffic in time to get the kids to school.

Then PC, his mother and I ran home so we could unload the truck before I had to jump in my car and dash back over to the school for field day, during which I learned that:

4th grade boys don't care about looking stupid on a pogo stick and are willing to try anything once.

5th grade boys are willing to try the pogo stick, but are more interested in calling themselves "Dork" when they can't do it.

6th grade boys are too cool to look stupid trying to jump on a pogo stick.

Girls of all grades, when slightly unsure about their pogo stick jumping abilities, will hold up the wall, chomp on Red Vines and look completely uninterested and miserable at the pogo stick station.

Then I hauled myself back home, uploaded my pics from the weekend, and chose a few random favorites for this week. 

Except that now my McCafe from 6:52 this morning has worn off and I'm starting to hit a wall and I don't know that I have the energy to tell you why these are my random favorites, so I guess I'll just let them speak for themselves this time.

Random Favorite #1 ~ The Mirror

 Random Favorite #2 ~ Chalk

Random Favorite #3 ~ It's Windy

Random Favorite #4 ~ I Wish I Lived There...

Random Favorite #5 ~ Because I Used To Love John Ebner Paintings

Random Favorite #6 ~ Why, Yes...I Did Make Those From Scratch

 Loving you with my head down sleeping,

Let's Do 52 ~ Week 24 {Black & White Portrait}

Okay...technically I took this picture a few days ago, but I didn't this to it until today...so, I'm counting it for next week's theme.

We watched My Week With Marilyn recently,

and when I say we watched I mean I watched and Prince Charming asked questions every 5 seconds about who's this and who's that and what are they talking about and maybe he should have just read Blonde like I did so he'd have a clue what this movie was about.....

But, it was better than watching the other DVD we had about naked vampires that have sex and suck the life out of everyone in a small, sweaty Louisiana town while my beloved's mother sat next to me on the couch knitting a blanket.

Could my face get any redder?, Party of one. 

Prince Charming was not at all embarrassed to watch naked vampires in front of his mother.  He goes to Hooters with his mother.  Although, really, they only did that once, but that's always his gauge.

"No, I'm not embarrassed of that in front of my mom.  I went to Hooters with my mom."

Anyway....

We watched My Week With Marilyn instead and at the end they had these amazing black and white pictures of Marilyn, although, truthfully, it could have been Michelle Williams (she was that good), and I totally wanted to try them with my girlie. 

So, I did.