Possibly the best photo I've ever taken...

I've had my new camera for about two months now and I probably take at least 50 pictures a week. But what I don't know about photography would fill the Library of Congress.

That said, I took a few pictures of Emma on Saturday that turned out very nicely. This is my favorite and I really think it's the best photo I've ever taken of her:


I know it's far from perfect...her face is slightly out of focus and I'm sure professional photographers would have a few things to point out. But for me, it's a pretty nice photo.

Of course, I had a great subject...that always helps! I like that I captured her dimple!

Just a little picture...

...of Emma playing in the back yard (okay, so we have a few dandelions this year!)

My other sweet girl

It was raining really hard early last evening and Emma and I sat out on the screened-in porch watching it pour. Out cat Sami wandered out too and I snapped a picture of her...


Sami is a very sweet cat, but like many felines, she has what might charitably be called a few eccentricities.

For one thing, she has meowed like three times in the year we've had her. It's nice that she's so quiet, but it's a little strange that she never meows. I've often wondered if I "accidentally" stepped on her tail, if she'd meow then. But I'd (probably) never do that.

I've also only seen her cleaning herself like two times. She's very clean, but she apparently thinks it is none of our business when she's giving herself a bath. If you walk in and she's cleaning her face or something, she'll immediately stop and stare at you until you leave the room.

She is also obsessed with licking plastic bags. I mean OBSESSED! I think she's getting a chemical high from them or something. Her favorite is Target plastic bags, which you can imagine, we have in abundance. But lately, she has switched her allegiance to these cheapo Tuffie bathroom garbage bags I bought in a pinch. She loves those and will sit next to the trash can and lick them for hours. I think she likes them because they're blue too (yeah, I know cats are colorblind, but I still think that's a factor.)

She's also a cricket killer. We get crickets in our basement in the spring and summer and she goes down there, captures them and brings them upstairs to the kitchen so we can see what a great hunter she is. There are usually at least two or three dead crickets in the kitchen every morning.

Anyway, I could go on, but hearing people prattle on about their pets is a little boring. Despite all of her weirdness, we love our Sami and wouldn't trade her for any other (normal) cat!

Equestrian update

I haven't written much lately on how Emma's equestrian lessons are going. She's been taking lessons every Sunday since January and is progressing nicely. She's really good at trotting her horse around the arena and is finally getting the hang of posting, which is a challenge for her because she's so small.

Yesterday, the place was pretty busy for a Sunday and there were quite a few people standing around watching Emma's lesson. I don't think most of them knew I was her mom and it was weird overhearing folks say things like "Look at that little girl!" and "That's amazing." One woman who is a trainer there did come over and ask if I was her mom and said "You must be so proud...she could be a champion some day!" I mumbled something about how I was just glad she was having fun, but inside I was bursting with pride, of course.

Because it was so nice yesterday, Emma did get to have part of her lesson outside, which was fun for her. And it was fun for me because I finally got a decent picture of her on her horse Abra...


So she just keeps getting better every week and still loves it, which really is the critical thing, in my book. It's a big sacrifice for us financially, but when you find something your child loves, you want them to have the opportunity to participate.

Besides, who needs to save up for retirement? I'm sure Social Security will still be going strong by the time I retire (yeah, right!)

The cutest dang swimsuit ever

How many swimsuits does one child really need? I'm sure that's a question many moms ask as summer approaches. Little kid swimsuits are so adorable that it's real easy to end up with like 10 if you're not careful.

Emma has grown just an inch-and-a-half over the past year and put on exactly two pounds, so two of her suits from last summer still fit her and I had bought another one this spring, so I told myself that was it. But I was at Gap this week with a 15% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket and I saw this swimsuit I fell in love with. So I bought it, even though it wasn't marked down yet (a rarity for me.)

Well, I am so glad I did...this swimsuit looks so cute on my little girl. Here she is, modeling it earlier today...


The print is a giraffe, but I think it kind of looks like the swimsuit Pebbles Flintstone would have worn! Emma was invited to a swim party this afternoon and wore her new suit. Here she is with her friend Amy shortly before they hit the pool...


I'm not exaggerating...at least 10 of the moms at this party asked me where I got Emma's new swimsuit. I felt pretty guilty about buying it, but now I feel a bit better about it. I don't know why I'm so excited about a swimsuit...I guess this is what thrills me these days.

BTW, Emma had a blast at the party!

What a difference...

...a couple days can make!

Sunday it was snowing and sleeting here. Today there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it hit 70. Emma and I went for a long walk after I picked her up from school. She wore a flimsy little summer dress that I figured she wouldn't be wearing for a couple of months.


On our walks, Emma has become a little obsessed with picking up flyers from all the houses that are for sale in our neighborhood (depressingly few, unfortunately, given the awful housing market these days). But she manages to find all the ones with "for sale" signs in their yards. She pours over the flyers, wanting to know how many bathrooms they have and how much they cost. Maybe a future real estate agent? Let us hope not!


Anyway, we enjoyed our walk so much. But, of course, the forecasters are predicting snow for this Friday. Yippee!

April snow showers...

...make mommy crabby!

After temperatures in the mid-60s all week, a cold front moved in just in time for the weekend. The temps plunged overnight and it's actually snowing and sleeting here right now. We were supposed to go to the zoo this afternoon with some friends, but ended up spending an hour at this indoor nature center instead, making Earth Day necklaces. Nice, but not the same as the zoo.

Here's the one decent photo I took today...


So hopefully the weather will break soon so we can do fun stuff like go to the grocery and hardware stores. Not the weekend I had planned, but what are you going to do?

I <3 Hugh Jackman

Okay, can I just say how much I love Hugh Jackman? I mean, he's an incredibly talented actor and singer, not to mention his sensational HAWTNESS!

And to top it off, he seems to be this wonderfully devoted husband and father. Just look at these pics of him dropping his 8-year-old son Oscar off at school...



I can hardly stand the cuteness. Of course, he could have done us the favor of dropping his son off while not wearing his shirt...but that would probably be too much to hope for.

A star is born...

Emma made her long-awaited theatrical debut this evening. It was in her school production of "The Silver Streakers Save the Day!" Emma took on the challenging role of Troll #3. Here she is getting her make-up on before the curtain went up...


Here are the results...


The play was penned by the kids themselves and to say that the plot was confusing would be a vast understatement. It was something about a dispute between pirates, aliens and, of course, trolls. I wasn't close enough to get any decent photos, but here's one of Emma in action...she's in the green pants and brown shirt.


The crowd went wild when the 14-minute production came to an end...here the cast is taking a well-deserved curtain call...



It was all very cute and I was so glad Emma participated and had a good time. She isn't the most outgoing child and I never thought I'd see her on a stage performing before a big crowd. So doing something like this was a big step for her.