Best Photo for May

Time for the best photo for May.

 My baby turned four this month.  This is one of my favorites from his party.

Frame A Day '12: Week 21: 5/20-26

May 20--I Did It My Way--Today was the school fair.  The kids had a great time playing the games.  Unlike his brother, who hooked the duck in record time, this fishing pond gave Imp a run for his money.  Eventually, after a few minutes of trying the old-fashioned way to hook the duck, he tried a new, more successful approach.

 May 21--Brownie Soup--Don't let the name fool you...this was not a dessert, but rather, a soup made by a Brownie as part of earning a patch.  It contained the broth being added here, rice, vegetables of your own choosing (we had green beans, broccoli and carrots), and red kidney beans.  I made honey rolls to go with this, and there were no complaints for dinner tonight!

 May 22--A Decade of Digital Photography--Chretien and I met online twelve years ago today.  For our second dating anniversary ten years ago, he gave me this camera, which was my first digital camera.  It came in very handy for all the wedding paraphenalia I just had to photograph and share on Wedding Channel.  It was a nice little camera, and served me well for 5.5 years until I received my Pentax DSLR for Christmas 2007.  Once in awhile I use it, but now with our cell phone cameras, I rely on it less and less.

May 23--A Stitch in Time--Chretien decided to sew the patches on Trust's Brownie vest and pulled out the big guns since there were quite a few that didn't iron on.  This was his first time with a sewing machine, ever, and he did pretty well...until the needle broke on one of the patches.  And yes, he was using a pretty heavy duty needle.  I had my doubts, and I hate that they were realized.

 May 24--Tonight was when we get to visit the kids' school as a sort of open house.  It's always fun for the family to go and have the kids proudly show us what they've been up to.  This was Earnest's first one as a student, and he was so excited to show us the many projects hanging around the room.  Here we see him adding his name to the overlapping circles on the Venn Diagram attendance chart.

May 25--Celebearation of 100 Million Friends--Build a Bear is celebrating the creation of 100 million friends this weekend.  The owners of said friends are invited back to Build-A-Bear to obtain a "celebearatory" T-shirt.  This picture pretty much sums up the kids' personalities. Trust happily does as she is asked, Earnest obliges but might rather be doing something else, and Imp does whatever he wants and thinks it's funny(note the upside down penguin).

**May 27--Take Me Out to the Ballgame--We went to a baseball game tonight.  This was towards the end of the night, when we were on our way out but stopped to watch a very late rally.  This is not the photo I am actually using for the day, but I will go with this one, which I still like, to preserve anonymity.

Frame a Day '12: Week 20: 5/13-19

May 13--Me and My Kids--I had a wonderful Mother's Day. Chretien and the kids brought me some presents and cards in bed this morning, and after muffins for breakfast, we went to an amusement park to spend the day. Chretien snapped this photo on our way out of the park to dinner. I have to say I don't think I've ever had such a nice photo of the kids and me before.

 May 14--Edges--Tonight's skating lesson had the kids working on their edges for quite awhile.  Now that Trust is in the delta level, I think a lot of the skills are going to focus on the finer postures and positioning.  I've heard the teacher, telling them to fix their arms and loosen up.  Makes sense, since the next stop after delta is Freestyle, where these easier things have to be down cold.

 May 15--A Day (of Regular Life)--May 15 was the day selected for the "A Day" photography project to be executed.  This is a worldwide project where photographers were asked to take images in the categories of "Home", "Work" and "Connections" and asked to share them.  I took this photo after I dropped the kids off at school, where you can see the twice daily onslaught of parents and other innocent drivers who get caught up in the traffic.

May 16--Earning His Keep--It's never too soon to start having your kids mow the lawn, right?  Both boys took a turn with Chretien right behind them.  They loved it.  I will have to pull out the photos I took today when they are older and mowing the lawn is a regular duty of theirs.

May 17--Holding Down the Fort--Earnest built this very elaborate castle with moats and a bridge this afternoon.  It was surprising, as I had never seen him take on something with this scope.

May 18--?????--I'm amused because on May 16, we have Imp with the real lawnmower, and then on May 18, we had the two boys with the play ones.  DISCLAIMER:   I am hoping that one of the few students who took a photo at graduation with the biotech majors and the faculty sends me one of their photos, because that is what I want for Day 139.  They told me they would, but who knows when it will happen.  If they don't, then I'll go with the photo I have above.

  May 19--Swing Batter, Batter, Swing--...He's waiting for you, Batter.

Frame a Day '12: Week 19: 5/6-12

May 6--A Thomas Birthday Party--When our kids hit age 4, we start with the friend birthday parties.  Today was Imp's turn to reach that milestone.  We had a Thomas-themed party, much like we did for Earnest's first friend party.  It's hard to believe the "baby" is four years old.

 May 7--Against All Odds--Our 2008 Honda Odyssey, which we've had for four years and 2 weeks, just hit this eerie milestone today while I was driving.  Know what's odder?  Our 2005 Honda CRV hit 88,888 a few hours earlier, also while I was driving.  What are the chances of hitting both of these notable "mile"stones on the same day, by the same driver?

 May 8--Prettifying Our House--Some new flowers for our flower boxes.

May 9--This Land is Your Land--...this land is my land, and our land.  Heck, it's everybody's.  On Sunday, an Eagle Scout volunteered to paint a map of the United States on the school playground as part of his service project.  Volunteers were recruited to help with the project.  We went to help and painted New York, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Louisiana and Alabama.  We went back today to get pictures of us and the finished product.

 May 10--Birthday Goodies-- Among the many presents Imp received for his fourth birthday today was a homemade Thomas the Train book from Trust.  It was entitled "Thomas and the Gray Monster".  Imp seemed to enjoy this custom book.  Happy birthday to Imp!

I think I also want to edit out the clothesline running through Trust's head before I use this photo in my 2012 photobook.

 May 11--Cranking it Up--Imp received a deluxe sort of pail and shovel for the sandbox, complete with a sand mill and truck to cart the poured sand away to the construction site.

May 12--I Dream of Jeannies--Today was the annual ice show for Trust.  The theme for this year's show was classic TV themes, and Trust's group skated to a medley from Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and I Love Lucy. Trust  was especially thrilled this year because two of her friends were in this routine with her.

Photo a Day Mommy Moments: Day 2: Puts A Smile on My Face

Day 2's prompt was "Puts a Smile on My Face".

Why does this photo put a smile on my face? My daughter and older son have a typical love/hate relationship. There are times when they bicker as siblings are wont to do, but then there are times when they really enjoy one another. My daughter wants to be an author when she grows up and she is working on a chapter book right now. My son is her biggest fan and best listener. They were in my son's upper bunk, and she was reading the latest chapter of the book to him. I loved the simplicity of the moment and ran to get the camera.

Photo a Day Mommy Moments: Day 4: Love

Day 4's prompt was "love". I think this photo does nicely.

 This was on my youngest child's fourth birthday.  I think the love that he and my mom (so a "Mommy Moment" in both directions for me) is evident here. 

Photo a Day Mommy Moments: Day 7: Messy Moments

The prompt for Day 7 is Messy Moments. There are plenty of those here with three kids. Here is one.

We joke about my younger son and how dirt just seems to follow him. My daughter and older son never got this dirty after such a short time when playing outside. It never seems to faze him, either.

Photo A Day Mommy Moments: Day 11: Object

Day 11's prompt was Object. Here is my entry:

 My boys received these 'grabbers' for Christmas, and every once in awhile, they surface for some fun.  My little guy decided it was fun to try to grab me, so it was an extra challenge to get this shot.

Photo a Day Mommy Moments: Day 9: Rule of Thirds

Day 9's prompt was Rule of Thirds. My older son was helping my husband with our garden.  With his placement, it looks like he'll be digging a good long time.

Photo a Day Mommy Moments: Day 5: Just Can't Get Enough

Day 5's prompt was "Just Can't Get Enough". My interpretation for this is the implication that is represented. Anyone who has ever visited a petting zoo knows that the goats and sheep can be very determined when the kids show up with their outstretched hands. It always seems that no matter how much they are fed, they just can't get enough and will always be up for the next batch of kids to come and feed them. Win-win for all concerned, I guess.

Photo a Day Mommy Moments: Day 12: Thankful

Day 12's prompt is "Blessed/Thankful". My photo is a bit of a different take on this. My daughter has been taking figure skating lessons for 2.5 years. She only goes once a week, and it has sometimes taken her several tries to pass into the next level as the levels have increased in difficulty. The week before the test for the current session, the instructor told us that she probably would not pass again this time around. She was quite discouraged, but we figured, it'd would probably be best for her to stay put and work on the one skill that was holding her back.   We talked about it and it seemed as though, if she hadn't made her peace with it, she was prepared...or something...

 I'm not sure exactly what happened this Saturday when she went for the test, but somehow, she pulled it together and came home all smiles. She passed! I think we are all thankful for that small surprise.

Photo a Day Mommy Moments: Day 8: Makes You Go Hmm?

Day 8's theme was Makes You go Hmmm? This photo captures this sentiment:

Honestly, I am not sure what prompted my two older kids to start doing this, but when I arrived home from work one day and found them climbing the walls of the garage, I think I actually did say to myself 'Huh?'

Photo a Day Mommy Moments: Day 1: Where I Spend My Day

Although some of my kids are represented more for this challenge, I think I'd be remiss if I didn't include all of them for the prompt for Day 1: Where I spend my day...

My kids are almost 8.5, almost 6, and 4, so it's nice when they can find a game to play that they all will enjoy. Running through the front yard playing tag serves the purpose quite well.

Photo a Day Mommy Moments: Day 3: Depth of Field

Day 3's theme was Depth of Field. Here is my older son, offering me a flower that he picked especially for me:

How can a mom resist such a sweet offer?

Photo a Day Mommy Moments: Day 10: Silly/Fooling Around/Laughter

Day 10's theme was Silly/Fooling Around/Laughter. I feel like this photo hits each of those:

 This is my older son, who enjoys just hanging around.  The expression on his face is just so silly, too!

Photo a Day Mommy Moments Challenge: Day 6: Interesting Viewpoint

One of my commenters here steered me to this challenge over at Inspired by Family Magazine. I love the concept. Twelve different prompts to capture twelve days of motherhood.  Since I already do a photo a day project, this was a no-brainer. 

I am going to have 12 separate posts, just to make it easier to keep track of the photos.

Here is my entry for Day 6:  Interesting Viewpoint

This is my almost four year old son, ready to launch on a swing we have in our backyard.  You can see a small bit of my husband peeking out at the bottom, but the focus is mostly on the interesting angle of my son.

Frame A Day '12: Week 18: April 29-May 5

April 29--Camel Crossing--Every spring, a very tiny petting zoo comes to the library parking lot.  Trust, Earnest and I  met up with Trust's friendfrom Sunday School for a ride on Haji.  First time for both of my kids on a camel, but it probably won't be the last.

 April 30--What Time is it, Mr. Fox?--The kids had a few rousing rounds of "What Time is it, Mr. Fox?" before dinner.  It's nice when they can all play a game and have fun together. (The implication is that Trust is Mr. Fox and not pictured here.)

 May 1--May the Force Be With You--The kids and Chretien received these light sabers for Christmas and every once in awhile, they make an appearance and we are protected by whatever forces they confer.

 May 2--Fire Truck Furor--This morning our elderly neighbor was not feeling well and both a fire truck and an ambulance came to their house next door.  What is it about fire trucks that keep most boys a captive audience?  We do hope that our neighbor is feeling better soon.

 May 3--To Play with Clay--The kids had time before school to play with clay, or more specifically, Model Magic.  They made all sorts of swirly items, including this necklace.  I'm glad that Model Magic dries light, because that would be a heavy necklace to wear.

 May 4--Puppet Party--Another Friday night at our local children's museum.  Tonight they had quite a few fun activities for the kids to enjoy, all centering around women whose careers center around math and science...count us in!  These activities included paper making with an "Egyptian" woman, creating a vernal pool and Trust's favorite--puppet making with recyclable materials.  She worked for an hour and made a puppet for herself as well as her two brothers.

 May 5--No Diapers?  Go Dumbo!--At almost age 4 and after many false starts, Imp is still not potty trained.  However, in the past few days, he has stepped up his game and has stayed clean and dry almost all the time during the day.  As a reward, Chretien took him to ride on Dumbo at Toys R Us.  Let's hope this is the beginning of the end of diapers...forever!