where we were.

this is where
we were over the weekend...
twelve wearing make up and dressed up
as her alter ego
for the movie
she was making on the computer
seven-very-soon-to-be-eight
waiting for me to take
my place
next to him on the couch again
and watch foster's home for imaginary friends with him
while i knitted.

the day after my birthday...





as part of my birthday present
we packed the kids up the next day
and went driving
looking for places to use my new camera.

we found dirt roads and lost wooden bridges,
barns ready to retire and purple trucks
parked in a field.

i adored this day.

the kids were reluctant at first,
especially twelve...
but she took her hand-me-down camera
and in the end, they both had a lot of fun
and said
we should do this more often.

i agree.


friday i'm in love!

it is funny
how all summer
i felt like maybe i had exhausted my blog
and had nothing left to say
but then september came
and suddenly,
i am foaming at the mouth
to get back on here...
wanting to talk about things
i have read, i have heard, i have watched...

it's a good feeling.

and an equally good feeling
is the "good-mail-day" feeling...

not so long ago,
i made a guess at the number of buttons
in a jar on one of my favorite blogs...
a pitiful guess, but a guess nonetheless.

i didn't guess right,
but i did win a prize though...
for this
"And, I have decided that the person who guessed the smallest amount, a number that just had me giggling a bit, also wins a prize. And yes, my dear, that would be you gk girl."

teehee....

and then,
this came! i am so in love...with the colors, the inside pocket,
the cutecutecute fabric! and squeeeee! a cute little notebook
tucked inside!



and a little teaser of liz's beeeeeautiful card...because i think she hinted
to them but has not blogged them yet and i don't want to take that away from her,
but it was just too scrummy to leave out of the shot!

thanks liz! i love it!

i cried.

these are the last pictures that i will
have to take with my sucky but trusty-easy-compact
kodak easyshare.

for my birthday,
my husband bought me this
fuji finepix s700
(and i feel like a bit of a fraud for
even naming this camera because
it makes me sound like i know something about it...
which i don't)
(but hope to)
(soon)

i was so excited
that i cried a little.

we never make a big deal out of birthdays
or gifts or anniversaries...
we just do what we can at the time...
but this...

and generally,
he can never surprise me.

but this...

this was a surprise
of the best kind.

on sunday, we just packed the kids up and drove...
down dirt roads and over wooden bridges
through brambled-over paths
and on hidden shorelines
just so i could use the camera....

i am so in love.
(and i am not necessarily talking about the camera)
(although, the camera is loved also)