Watch out Tiger Woods!

We live on a golf course.  We both know how to golf, but haven't swung a club in over five years.  It's a peaceful place to live. Very green, and relatively quiet.  People always ask, "do you get many golf balls?"  Not in the back, where the golf course is, but we do get some in the front yard.  Our routine is to pick them up and put them in the bunny planter.  Sort of an ode to Easter.  Our bunny has balls, not eggs, er, so to speak.
Monday is my Rowdy day, and the boy has now decided to do separation anxiety.  He knows the minute he walks in, that his mommy is going to leave.  No matter how long she stays, what she does, he's unhappy. Best to just leave and let us get on with it.  Yes, he cries, but he eventually gets over it.  With tears in his eyes, sitting next to the door, he gives me the sign for DADDY.  "He's a work, I tell him"  Sad face...

On with breakfast, a few toys

Trying to recreate the basket find it, put in in, take it out.......

 Then he just couldn't get over the need to go to the door and see if anyone was waiting outside. We went out, and low and behold, the bunny with the balls caught his eye....I think the photos will tell the tale....pj's got dirty, but the sun made a short stay and we soaked it up and laughed, and bounced some time away.

 I love his method for carrying more than two. Tuck under the chin and away he goes...a little wall ball, and he was amused.

Look out Tiger, when Rowdy finds a club, I have a feeling it's going to be all over.

Wedding jitters

I was a last minute substitute for a wedding photographer.  I had planned on taking my camera, and shooting my own version of wedding photos, but to be the "only" photographer is a little daunting.  What if I screwed them up? These and many other thoughts ran through my mind.  As I reviewed the shots, I learned a lot. Mostly I learned that I needed to take more shots of the same thing, especially in the group photos.  someone is always closing their eyes, moving their head, not looking the right way. Well, the wedding is over, and it is what it is, there are some good, bad, and mediocre shots, but it was a lovely day, much love and happiness filled the room, and really, that's what it's all about..

Another thing I learned, is wedding photographers work hard! I was whooped, and slept like a baby that night.

Four letter word!!!

Aghhhh.  We have words that come to mind, I know we all do. When you hear "four letter word" your mind instantly goes to a place. I am going to use the worst of the four letter words....SICK!

Poor baby Teak is really sick.  He joined me for his Wednesday morning while I was sitting in the dentist chair.  Mommy looked work ready...nicely dressed, pretty jewelery, hair looking nice, but Teak looked like he'd been pulled through a knot hole.  His eyes were red and weepy, and he looked sad.  He tried his best to give me a smile when Lucy handed him to me, but it was definitely forced.  Lucy wanted to stay home, but I encouraged her to go with the promise I would call if there was a problem.

We did fine, he played with toys, ate a little applesauce and I kept wiping his eyes which were getting worse by the minute.  I made a call to the mama and said better call the Dr. today, and not wait for tomorrow, he's getting worse. 

Turns out he has a bacterial infection in both eyes, and is on antibiotics.  The Dr. said there had been many children in the last two weeks with the same stuff.  Just when we start to see the sun shine, and get our hopes up that spring will finally be here, we get hit with the CRUD.  ugh.  I did the Clorox wipes on all the toys, will wash the bedding, and  hope the drugs take hold quickly...

 He's getting into everything...his combo swim, scoot, jungle crawl is most effective!

Isn't this the most pathetic face?  It says it all, I feel like crap and I want to go home!


The good news is, brother Ty is to keep his distance, so guess who's having a sleep over??  Yup, all is not lost...it's pj party time at Tutus!

Rowdy & Blake playdate

After a very long time, Rowdy and Blake were able to get together for another play date.  These two littles are only a week apart, and it's so fun to watch their interactions with each other.  Blake lives in California, so the chances to play aren't very many.

Blake and his family were in town for Uncle Jason's wedding.  It was a fun wedding, and it was great seeing all the people who live out of state come together for such a happy occasion.

Rowdy was a little uncertain of the new playmate.  He greeted them with a wave, but once we settled in with the toys, he seemed to need Tutu more than usual.  After about 15 minutes, he had warmed up to the crowd of Blake, his mommy Allison, and Blake's Nana, Dawn.  The boys are just shy of 20 months old, and still play in a more parallel fashion, and for the most part ignored each other.  That is until Rowdy decided that the match box cars looked like fun.  Blake has a real thing with cars at the moment, and sharing a large bag of cars was not on his agenda.  Allison quickly intervened, and there were plenty of cars to go around.

The boys were very entertaining to watch, and they found more common ground than little cars.  Rowdy brought out the Dr. kit and they proceeded to play doctor.  Blake thinking that most things were phones, and used them in that manner.  Very fun to watch.

Blake had great fun chasing the cats.  He's used to dogs, and was so entertained by the cats, and I was amazed at how tolerant they were of him and his high pitched "kiki" as he went after them!

The boys spent some quality time looking out the window for "mow mows" and soaking up the elusive sunshine.

When it was time for Blake to go home for his nap, Allison told him to say goodbye to Rowdy.  He walked over, patted him on the back and said "bye bye baby"
Baby?  Really?  He's one week younger than you. 

We walked Blake and his family outside to Blake's waiting stroller.  Rowdy was so cute as he said goodbye..not knowing when these two cute little boys will get together.

Where did they go????

Thar's a bar over Thar!

When I first met Mark in the summer of '72, he was a dashing young lad, who's love of the outdoors surpassed anything else.  He planned his classes at OSU based on having long weekends that he could spend in the woods. Hunting with friends was his form of relaxation and adventure.

I went hunting with him once. He shot a deer, I helped drag it down, watched him skin it, then joined in.  I proved myself, and have never again returned to deer hunting.  Sometime during one of Mark's hunting trips for deer, he stumbled across a bear, which soon became a rug.  It wasn't what he wanted to do, as much as what he needed to do to remain safe.

Years have gone by, the bear was on our floor, the dog would curl up on it, leaving yellow lab fur everywhere on it.  We would stub our toes on it, and we would take our babies photos on it, always entitling them, "bare on bear".  The bear has been relegated to his office, I put in many good years of being a "sport" and having heads, and rugs, and various other relics from the hunting process around. I asked Mark to bring the bear home for a quick photo shoot.  Teak is on the cusp of crawling, and we needed to have his photo being bare on bear, just as his brother, mother, and uncle had theirs taken.  He was good, didn't pee on it, and even shared the camera with the cat who rather liked Mr. Bear for a nap.

Clamtastic time

Long before the sun came up, I was sipping on my cup of coffee and driving over to pick up one of Mark's "bromances" to go clam digging in the state of Washington.

By the time the sun finally rose, we were well on our way to our favorite location to dig razor clams in Long Beach, WA.  Such a treat to dust off the old sunglasses and take in the views of the majestic Pacific Northwest.

First shot of the day....taken from the passenger window...sadly not as lovely as it looked to my eye.

It wasn't the easiest of digs, as those little clams were hiding for the most part, but the sun was warm, and we wondered why we had suited up as much as we had.  We finally managed to dig our limits of 15 clams each, and couldn't believe that all we would have needed was a tshirt.

Last year for mother's day Mark gifted me with a powder pink clam gun.  Pinkie is a good old girl, and hasn't let me down. Today was no exception.

Collecting sand dollars has become my duty while looking out for clams.  I never find sand dollars on the Oregon coast, but usually there are hundreds in Washington.  Today I only found two...two perfect dollars.  It's gonna be a great weekend, I can feel it. I started coughing night before last.  Not just a little tickle, or a small hack to make people think I'm a smoker, but a deep and loud cough that can shiver the timbers type of cough.  I feel great, I just have this damn cough.  I made a trip to the Dr.'s office just in case this turns to something bad.  Didn't want to be away from home, then wake up and think I'm dieing...so I got the fabulous prescription cough syrup that makes sleeping a little easier, and Mike has suggested that I go out and try my cough to see if I can call any elk in.  Such love from the men!

Mike's wife will join us tonight when she gets off work.  I snuck in a nap, and now wait for the men to return from wherever their manly travels have taken them..Oh sunshine, how I've missed you!

Best Face in March

This is my entry for the I heart faces contest.  What a sweet face, and love his expression!

If you like my image, please go to: whttp://www.iheartfaces.com/2011/04/peoples-choice-march/ww.iheartfaces.com  http://www.iheartfaces.com/2011/04/peoples-choice-march/
and vote.  There will be a number once the contest closes. Now I'm #334 that could change, but should be close to that number/