Psst, I'm moving

I'm movin' on up to my own domain (kind of like the Jeffersons). I'll go into details later, but for now, head over to the new digs and wish G-tot a Happy Birthday!

www.artistmotherteacher.com

Why yes, I did marry a younger man

Today is JQ's 30th birthday. Thirty. It seems like only yesterday he was in his twenties. Maybe he'll finally stop throwing his youth around during conversation. I doubt it—he's still the baby of the group. I wonder if he'll think it's time to grow up. I sure hope not.

Happy Birthday JQ!

Welcome to another decade of this crazy thing called life. We love you!

forget about mowing the lawn...

…just relax. It's your day.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in our lives—near & far.

pomp & circumstance ii

Today my little brother graduates from high school. Man, that makes me feel old. When I graduated high school he was three. Now he's almost an adult.

Congratulations Alex! Walk proudly across that stage tonight. It's a big moment and you've earned it. JQ & I will be cheering you on from the audience.

pomp & circumstance i

Today my little sister graduates from high school. In the fall she's off to college to study forensic science.

Congratulations little sis. JQ & I are very proud of you—wish we could have been there.

oh mama

Thank you for teaching me to have some common sense.
Thank you for instilling in me the idea that only I need to think I'm funny.
Thank you for being the woman that you are & for helping to mold me into the woman that I am.
Thank you for being my role model.
Thank you for being such a great Mother.
Thank you for being MY Mother.

My Mom (here as a new Mother) & me—August 19, 1976

I become a Mother—March 24, 2007

Loving every minute of Motherhood (well almost every minute)—April 23, 2008

To ALL the Mothers in my life—near & far
Happy Mother's Day!

mmm...cake

As I mentioned, we had a little party for G-man on his actual birthday that included just JQ, G-man and I. I think these pictures (again, I'll spare you the majority of the plethora of pictures I actually shot) tell a nice story of our afternoon together.

JQ reads G-man his card. We each wrote a short note inside for our little guy.

In an effort to save paper, we wrapped our presents in an ever-so-classy beach towel.
G-man didn't mind—it was like peek-a-boo with gifts!

Checking out the Megablocks

Scoping out the Frog Pod. Which is awesome, btw.

We had fish tenders and tater tots for dinner.
G-man dips his tot in ketchup...

...and then wipes the ketchup all over the tray.

This time around he gets the butter yellow cake with the chocolate frosting.
A tiny taste with one finger...

Giving both hands a chance to get dirty...

Smashing it everywhere—cake on one side, frosting on the other.

Shoving it into his mouth

Next stop, the bathtub.

you spin me right round baby...

On Saturday the 22nd (the day of G-man's 1st birthday party) and Monday the 24th (his actual birthday), we took a combined total of over 200 pictures. I'll spare you the majority of them. Here's just a few from the actual party. I'll post some from his mini-party (just JQ, G-man, and I) on his birthday in another post. I think the second set has the better pictures—no hosting to do, so they seem much more intimate.

JQ and I aren't really big on commercial characters like Dora and Elmo so we went went with a more general theme. Round. The options seemed endless and I ran with the idea. I put it on the invitations I made. Sorry, you can't have my address (except for you and you) or our phone number (especially not you).

I bought a 1 inch and 2.5 inch circle punch and made confetti for the table.

As well as some streamers for the archway.

The menu was really simple: Sloppy Joes (round), chips, pretzels, & veggies with two different dips (all served in big round dishes), the fruit cups above (note the OCD with the alternating cup colors and varying picks—not by accident), cake, and beverages.

As you can see I took this round thing seriously and made cupcakes (chocolate with cream cheese frosting and butter yellow with chocolate frosting) and arranged them artfully in, what else? That's right, circles.

G-man with a present from Grandma & Grandpa W. A stacking set that just happens to be half circles that can be made into balls. This was not planned.

Some cupcake crumbs.
The one he ate on his birthday produced much messier results.

More cupcake and Daddy.

Getting the last of the frosting off his fingers.

Swinging in his new playset from Grandma G, Grampa G, Uncle A, and Gam.

Hanging out with Mommy after the party in clean clothes.

Everything turned out nice. Gideon was a really good boy and had fun. He is such a people person already. We got a few inches of snow the night before and 11 people canceled on me the day of the party. We ended up with lots of extra food as a result. Good thing Sloppy Joes freeze well.

five years

Happy Anniversary to the one I love.

Our story is interesting and our past together as friends is years beyond our time together as a couple. We should almost be celebrating what, like 17 years? It's amazing—despite the shitty days—and every month is another chapter in this marvelous book that is us. Thanks for all the memories we've had and the anticipation of the ones we have yet to write.

Five years. Rock on.

my favorite lady

See that little baby on the right in the pink?


That's my Mom. Today is her birthday. She is aging beautifully. I hope that's genetic.

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you.

holy crap you're old

Fifty-five years ago a little baby boy was born in Toledo, Ohio.

That baby was my Daddy.

Happy Birthday Old Man! We love you.

have yourself a merry little christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you and your families. May the day be a time of togetherness and fond memories. I know it will be for the three of us.

giving thanks

Today turned out exactly how I hoped it would despite the fact that none of us got out of bed until 9:15 (which is usually when Gideon takes his first nap). We saw Santa at the end of the parade and I was so happy to be sharing this with Gideon that I cried a little. Dinner was great without being excessive. Seeing all the family—many who hadn't seen Gideon more than once if at all—was really nice. There were 24 of us at my Grandparents ranging from 80+ all the way down to 8 months. Dessert at my Sister-in-law's was yummy.

We are finally home for the night. JQ is putting Gideon to bed. I'm in my comfy pants, getting ready for some leftovers. Once we arm ourselves with a snack and are both in our jammies, we will be vegging out on a game and maybe some tv. It couldn't get much better than this.

Happy Thanksgiving.

pumpkin

The pumpkins have been carved.

The seeds have been roasted.

The costumes have been donned.

Here's hoping you get more treats than tricks this year.

Happy Halloween.

take a moment...

...and marvel at the extraordinary in the everyday.

bathtime waterfalls

Have a Happy Weekend.

self-inflicted

I'm taking a few days off from the internet. I've got to get away from it. I spend way to much time with it. My Google reader already has 90+ items in it and it's only Friday afternoon (damn blogher conference). I'm abandoning it all for now & disconnecting. Some weekend activities I'm looking forward to instead? Gideon's first music class! Hotdogs! Company! I'll be back on Monday with a little purer soul.

Have a happy weekend!

first fourth (best shot monday)

I've been somewhat randomly participating in Tracey's My Best Shot Monday group. As Tracey put it in a recent post of hers,

BSM is mostly about sharing ANY photo from the week (or from the more distant past if you so choose) that you want to share. No rules. No themes. Just sharing.

It's just about Mondays and having something fun to look forward to. That's my intention.OK then.

I like that idea, because, while I do take pictures of the flowers in our gardens and other things, I find that the majority of the images I shoot these days involve Gideon. My little family of 3. My new life. And I love them all.

So, with that, here's my best shot for this week. My boys on the fourth. I shot 339 pictures last week, so I had a lot to choose from. I really like this one. Not only is it Gideon's first Fourth of July, but it captures a really sweet moment with my guys. To me, it just oozes with love and the pride that Josh has for Gideon and being a father.

more stuff on my kid

I took this picture the other day and per Cruel Shoes request I'm sharing it with all of you. It was Gideon's 3 month birthday when I took it and when I showed it to Josh in the viewfinder of the camera he asked if it was supposed to be a party hat. Nope, just something to amuse me. For those of you that aren't sure, it's a coffee filter. Unbleached number 4 to be exact.