Weekly Gratitude - Fragrant Flowers

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119/365 - The Morning Sun

Streams into the kitchen and on the table. You can tell it's going to be a beautiful day!



Granted, today was the second day with 40 mph winds, which caused our neighbor's tree to crack. But that is what we have along the flat prairie.

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118/365 - First Goal! And 4th Grade Concert

Erica made her first goal during tonight's soccer game, during the second half. Her team went on to handily win the game, 4-0.



The bad thing, we weren't there to see it - Scott and I were at Brian's school attending Family Arts Night and the 4th grade concert.

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117/365 - Early Morning Departure

It's not quite 7am and I'm at school dropping off Erica - her class is taking a day trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The last time we went, she was in 5th grade and I served as a chaperone. Well, not today.



And how lucky they are to ride in style. When I was growing up, we used the standard Yellow school buses for transport to the Boston Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium. [OK - it was only a 60 minute ride - but don't tell the kids that!]

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116/365 - Must See TV

We are so happy that GLEE is back, airing new episodes, and bringing more music, laughter and tears to our Tuesday evenings.

While I thought tonight's episode was more "serious", I loved message about feeling beautiful in your own skin. Something most of us have dealt with at one point or another in our lives.

Last week's Power of Madonna episode (although a little racy in parts) was brilliant, and even I succumbed to purchasing the Borderline / Open Your Heart song on iTunes.

So this is where you will find me, every Tuesday evening, on the couch, bopping to the songs of the New Directions Glee club.

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Project 365 - Week 16 Summary

We've made it into triple digits with year two of Project 365. I say "we" because I wouldn't be able to do it without the cooperation of my family and the encouragement of the folks who read here. So thank you!

In week 16, we had lots of music and more sports. And Earth day sprinkled in there, too.


Hope you had a great week, too!

Every Tuesday, Jessica Turner hosts Project Life Tuesday, where you can share your Project 365 photos. Go and check them out!

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115/365 - Make Up Your Mind

On cooler days like today, Hannah can't seem to decide if she should go outside or stay inside.



So she hangs out at the open screen door, trying to decide.


Eventually, she was drawn outside by the various birds flitting about outside. But after 5 minutes, she headed back inside. Such is the life of our cat.

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114/365 - Doting Mother

Last year, we found a nest of eggs in our front door's flower arrangement, seen here. Unfortunately, things didn't end with little baby birds, as the nest was abandoned.

This year, we have another nest:


And the mom is a mourning dove who is quite fearless, as she won't fly away unless the front door is fully opened.

I took the picture with the door opened about 4", while standing inside the house on a step stool. She looks like she is part of the door arrangement!

Hopefully, the eggs will hatch and she'll be able to take care of the little birds. We are avoiding use of the front door as much as possible.

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113/365 - Saturday Afternoon Practice

I confess, I routinely don't practice on the weekends.

But since our schedules have been crazy and the kids' homework has required my help, I haven't been able to get my normal practicing in during the weekdays. So a little Saturday afternoon music was added to our agenda today.



I'm going to perform the first movement from Barber's Violin Concerto in 4 weeks, so I need all the practice time I can get. I imagine I'll play tomorrow afternoon, too.

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112/365 - Seedlings

The basil seeds I got from Jill have started to sprout.



I can't wait for these little seedlings to grow. Just because I love pesto!

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111/365 - Soccer Action

The girls' second match of the season. Erica played defense, wing and forward.



They dominated and won the game, 4-0.

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110/365 - On Third Base

Tonight - our first official game of the season. A perfect spring evening.

Brian scored two runs today. And the team won the game. And it only took a little over 2 hours.

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109/365 - Not Quite a Field of Dreams

At least this scene is NOT from my backyard.


But aren't the dandelions pretty?

I took the picture after an afternoon of running around from activity to activity. Lessons, practice, dinner, more practice. Oh, I still hadn't taken today's picture, then I saw the this scene driving home.

After a hectic day, I lay down on the grass and shot the sun setting with the dandelions. A tiny respite from the treadmill we sometimes get on.

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Project 365 - Week 15 Summary

Last week was the start of our really busy sports season, with soccer and baseball in full swing.



Links to each day's blog entry:

4/11 - Convertible Weather
4/12 - Bike Riding in the Neighborhood
4/13 - My Photo Featured on The Pioneer Woman's Photo Challenge
4/14 - Chess Club Boys Take a Ride
4/15 - Clean Dishes in the Morning
4/16 - I Hosted Book Club
4/17 - Opening Day - Baseball Jamboree

Every Tuesday, Jessica Turner hosts Project Life Tuesday, where you can share your Project 365 photos. Go and check them out!

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108/365 - Enjoying the Brian Show

Erica used Windows Movie Maker and put together a compilation of various video footage she had of Brian. Coupled with some still photos set to music, she named her creation "The Brian Show".

A lot of silliness wrapped up into one package!

They decided to watch it tonight. They really wanted to upload the video to youtube so they could stream it to the big TV, but I said "No". Then I took a picture of Brian watching his silly antics on the computer.

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107/365 - Daughtry Concert

When was the last Rock concert I attended? Well, I won't count the Sara Bareilles concert I attended last year, since she definitely does not qualify as "Rock".

Really, I don't quite recall. Does Jimmy Buffet count? Umm, that was in 1993. Bruce Hornsby in 1991, Billy Joel was in 1990. The Cure in 1989. Lots of concerts during the college years.

Gosh, I'm pathetic!

And I wouldn't have gone to see Daughtry, if not for Jill's persistence. And it was a good show. But not enough people up and dancing in our section [I enjoy standing and moving to music].



Other things that have changed over the years of attending concerts - no smoking, no lighters, no drinking. The flickering glow of lighters of the past have been replaced by glow sticks and the FlicMyBic iPhone App (which I downloaded just for this occasion, because I'm a geek). But it just didn't seem the same as the real thing. PS - I don't advocate smoking or playing with lighters.

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106/365 - Baseball In Swing

The 2010 Little League Baseball season officially kicked off today with several games and Team pictures. Brian is on the Cubs team (yeah, with green t-shirts - go figure).

Each team plays 2 3-inning games. It's a chance for the teams to experience playing against one another in a "less competitive" environment (the games don't "count" towards regular season record - not that I keep track at all).


Of course, baseball requires lots of standing around. But when you're with your friends, that's OK.

Bonus - Brian batted in the winning run in each of our games - with 2 outs, and a full count. Apparently, that doesn't phase him.



So far, the team is a lot of fun, the coaches are full of excitement and positive energy. That's always a positive start.

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105/365 - Hosting Book Club

During my first experience hosting Book Club, I prepared Rum Cake [do a search of Rum Cake, and you'll get a bunch of Rum Cake related posts]. Now when I host, I get the inquiry - "You're making Rum Cake, right?".

Just as Heather always serves strawberries and angel food cake, Jill makes Bacon-Bacon dip, I will always make Rum Cake.


And Heather makes the initial cut into it while Kellie watches.

We discussed The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Well, Heather, Jill and Shelley gave us the overall outline of the book while Kellie and I gave our opinions [neither of us read the book and after the discussion, I'm not sure I want to - very depressing book].

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Weekly Gratitude - Longer Days

I think everyone appreciates the longer days Spring brings. The kids, dogs, families all migrate outside and the neighborhood is filled with sounds of fun.

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104/365 - The Clean Dishes

I wash the dishes at night and leave them to dry overnight.
I really should put them away immediately at night, but then I wouldn't have something to do first thing in the morning.

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103/365 - Chess Club Buddies

I was instructed to pick up the boys in the convertible so everyone could enjoy the ride home, al-fresco.



Their payment for my services - allowing me to take their picture, of course!

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102/365 - Featured on The Pioneer Woman!

I opened up my email this morning to the most exciting news - my friend, Lee, congratulated me for being featured on The Pioneer Woman's Photography website! She is running a Macro Challenge and picked one of my photos:



I am totally blown away by this honor, especially looking at the other incredible entries. Go check them out!

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P365 2010 - Week 14 Summary

We just about hit Day 100 this week - Saturday marked Day 99. My experience with Project 365 is that once you hit triple digits, it gets easier. Probably because after 100 days, that picture a day thing becomes routine in your life.



Every Tuesday, Jessica Turner hosts Project Life Tuesday. Check out the other P365 Participants linked there.

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101/365 - Along the Bike Path

A beautiful day overall - started early with a 3 mile run - warm enough for shorts and a short sleeved T-shirt. My first 3 miler in the morning since December and it felt great.

Then a beautiful day, even though I spent most of it inside.

Finally, a beautiful evening, topped off with a walk with Scott and Brian. Brian and I took various pictures of birds, bugs, the cornfield and other interesting subjects. I love that he likes taking pictures with me.

OK, Brian really rode his bike, but he would wait for Scott and me to catch up with him.

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Weekly Gratitude - Spring Has Sprung

A beautiful time of rebirth and renewal. I think the long cold winter has resulted in the most spectacular blooms this spring.

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100/365 - Top Down!

Perfect spring weather today. Perfect enough to take the top down on the convertible for a trip to Wal-Mart.

Scott has taken the top down already this year, but for me and Brian, it was our first "air" in 2010. We enjoyed every minute of it!

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99/365 - Cheering For Her Team

Opening day on the soccer pitch. We drove 30 miles south to play our only "away" game and came away victorious, even with some first game jitters. The team picked up several new players, but they are pretty much the same as the team from the fall. The only exception - most of the girls have grown taller over the winter!

Erica enjoys playing and really engages with her team. A lovely sight to see:

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98/365 - Suited Up

Brian outgrew last year's baseball pants, so it was back to Dick's Sporting Goods to buy new ones. We held off until now because we wanted to make sure we purchased the proper color - you know, so the entire team matches. The coaches decided on white, so that's what we got.



We upgraded to the belted pants, too. So he can use a belt to keep them up!

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Weekly Gratitude - The Backyard

I'm slightly behind on my Weekly Gratitude postings, but hope to get somewhat caught up this weekend. March's gratitude theme was [home] and I intend to pull together at least one more page for that. April's theme is [spring] which I will start this weekend.



For more information on this project, head over to the Weekly Gratitude blog.

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97/365 - Batting Practice

Of course, the boys started baseball practice today, this being the coldest day in the last 10 days, with cold whipping winds from the North. But I guess that is what baseball is all about - freezing your butt off as you watch....

I actually didn't stick around for practice, instead running errands and stopping off at home for some warm split pea soup (bonus from Easter dinner). I arrived 10 minutes prior to the end of practice and caught Brian in the batting cage.


The busy spring sports season has started!

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96/365 - Homework

Normally, Erica finishes her homework at school, but today she had a heavy load of it and worked on it at home. This gave me the opportunity to reach back into the recesses of my brain to remember math functions and linear equations.



Remember slope and y-intercepts? Fortunately, we do encounter them at work and I was able to explain them to Erica and help her complete tonight's math homework. I can't wait to re-live Calculus. Really. Yeah, I'm a geek.

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95/365 - Break Out the Grill

At last, the weather is warm enough to bring the grill out from the garage. We christened it last night, and again tonight.



Grilled chicken tastes great after a winter of baking and pan frying the stuff.

And as a side note, the kids have been total pigs, eating everything in sight. All the chicken grilled last night and tonight - all gone! I can see we are entering that stage where the kids are endless food black holes. All part of growing up!

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P365 2010 Week 13 Summary

What a great week! My little sister gave birth to her first baby, spring has sprung and we celebrated Good Friday and Easter.

Each Tuesday, I post last week's summary with links to Jessica Turner's Blog and Project Life Tuesday. Check out the other daily photo journalists there.

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94/365 - Kissed by the Rain

The flowering trees and shrubs have exploded in color just over the last week. The rhododendron has started to bloom, and today's afternoon shower gave it some moisture to brighten up the flowers.



It's a wonderful time of year, after the cold of winter, to see life blossom again.

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93/365 - Dyeing Eggs Together

We haven't dyed eggs in a couple years, but the kids wanted to this year.

It was a bit hectic with this and Easter Dinner preparations going on at the same time, but after I repeated "read the directions", the kids were able to take control of the egg dyeing process, allowing me to focus on cooking!



We may not get many more opportunities like this as the kids get older.

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92/365 - New Technology

Note - Not an iPad post, although it made its debut today. Just not in our household [Maybe in a year or two, *wink*wink].

We are now Netflix'd with the ability to stream movies from Netflix to our TV, via the new Blue Ray Player we purchased. Don't you love Technology?

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91/365 - Opening Day

Not baseball, but Six Flags Amusement Park. It was a perfect, summery day. But crowded! Imagine all the people on Spring Break or off for Good Friday. Put 10,000+ at the Park, offering "Double Rides" (for the major rides, you get on once and ride two times in a row). That was OK until the wait times doubled. We waited over an hour for the Mr. Freeze ride. About midday, they suspended the Double Rides due to the long wait times. But we still had fun.

And what's more refreshing than ice cream on a hot day:

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90/365 - April Fools

Brian's April Fools "disguise" for school. He's been planning this for several days now. Today's alter-ego: Eugene Westbrook.

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