Day 14: Eyes

Day 13: Animal

Day 12: On My Plate

Day 11: Black and White

Day 10: Your Choice

There must have been something going on at the downtown airport today, because we had plans flying directly over our house for half the day.  I saw this as the perfect picture taking opportunity.  I was able to snap a few pictures of the plans as the flew over the house.

Days 8 and 9

Day 8:  Something Close Up

Day 9:  Something from a Distance

We went to the Greatest Show on Earth last night.  Connor got his first circus experience at the Ringling Brother's and Barnum and Bailey Circus.  They put on a very entertaining show.  Connor was mesmerized.  The first half of the show he didn't even sit down.  He sat in my lap for the second half of the show.  He said his favorite part of the show was the tigers.

Day 7: Fruit or Veggie

Day 6: Something from a Low Angle

The transformation of Connor's room continues.  After we set up Connor's new bed this weekend, we  moved some stuff around.  I  then decided I wanted to organize his toys and make his play area look more tidy.  Before, it was kind of cluttered and we used several unsightly containers to hold his toys.

I already had the closet cubes and storage bins in mind.  When I went to pick Connor up at school today, his teacher had these adorable animal bins.  I asked her where she got them, and low and behold, she got them from Target!  My second home.  Not only that, but she also said the closet cubes were on sale.  It was meant to be.  I said, "Connor, we're going to Target!"  It doesn't help that his teacher lives right by Target.  That definitely has not been a help to my Target addiction.

Anyways, Connor and I went to Target and purchased the closet cube and bins.  We put it all together tonight, and organized his toys.  I am very please with how every thing turned out.  Buzz and Woody, of course have a spot on top of the shelf.  

getting ready for bedtime

Silly boy!



All the boxes I was able to get out of his room.  Aren't the bins much cuter?



Day 5: Something from a High Angle

Connor got a new big boy bed yesterday!  I let him pick out what kind of sheets he wanted for his new bed, and he selected Green Lantern  sheets.  I'm not quite sure where the obsession of The Green Lantern came from, because we haven't seen the movie.  The sheets came with some cool 3-D glasses.  Connor enjoyed sporting them most of the day today. 

We had a nice taste of fall weather this weekend, so a lot of time was spent outside and playing one the swing set.

Connor in front of his new bed.

Day 4: People

I kind of let the ball drop on day 4.  I did not get around to taking a picture of people, but here is a picture that I took earlier this year of Connor and Daddy at the Royals game. 

Day 3: The Weather

For the most part, it's been hot and sunny today, but then we got an afternoon shower.  I was kind of excited to see rain though, because I was looking forward to taking pictures of the rain.  Now the rain is gone and the sun is trying to peek back out.

Photo Challenge Day 2...What You Wore Today

Hooray! It's a 3 day weekend! One of our favorite things to do on the weekend, is to hang out in our backyard. Sunglasses, and unfortunately, lots of bug spray are needed! I can't go in my backyard without wearing bug spray. Mosquitoes love Connor and I. They always leave Vinnie alone though. No fair!

The Challenge

Get ready for 30 days of pictures because I am entering a photo challenge! This is going to be fun and hopefully I will gain some creativity and photography skills along the way! I was invited to join by a friend from a chat forum I belong to. She has the challenge set up through her photo blog. I'm also looking forward to seeing the pictures that other people come up with. Today is day 1, and each day we are given a different topic.

Today's challenge is to take a self portrait. Now, I take a lot of self portraits, especially since I recently got a new point and shoot. If anyone has taken a look at my facebook pictures in the past few months, you will see a plethora of self portraits taken in Jamaica. I wanted to be a little more creative with this one though. I actually took a few different routes on this challenge, and as I write this post, I'm still not quite sure which one I will share on the photo blog. I will post several of them on there though...

These are all taken using the self timer. Some were taken with my Canon Rebel xsi, the others were taken with my Canon powershot.

The first ones were taken with my Rebel. I just sat the camera on a small table, set the timer, hit the shutter, and ran and jumped in the swing! Surprisingly I was in focus in a few of them.


The rest of these were taken with the Powershot. Self portrait of Mommy and Connor.

Me reading Connor a bedtime story. He chose an Easter book!

After I put Connor to bed, I attempted to take a self portrait of Batta and I, but every time I put my face next to his, he licked me. He likes to lick. Here he is getting a mouth full of hair. Lovely!

And last but not least, I found this one as I was uploading tonight's pictures. This one was taken of me and Connor at the swimming pool. Sometimes when I take self portraits, I forget that the camera was zoomed in! There is something I like about this one though.

We're Still Here

I'd like to use the excuse that we've had a REALLY busy summer as to why I haven't blogged in forever, but that's not really the case. I thoroughly enjoy reading other peoples blogs, but I am terrible at updating my own.

Vinnie and I did take a vacation to Jamaica in July, but other than that we've just been hanging around having fun at home. Connor is growing up way to fast. He gets smarter, funnier, and sassier every day. He had a blast with Mimi and Papa and Grandma Cathy while we were in Jamaica. He was very well behaved and everyone enjoyed their time with him and and he loved spending time with his grandparents.

Vinnie got a new job! The job he had before required him to work lots of hours and left very little time for us to spend together as a family. He started his new job August 1st and we are still pinching ourselves from having him home on the weekends and in the evenings. It's been great!

I am looking forward to Fall. It is my favorite season. This summer has been way too hot. Countless days of triple degree temperatures! I can't wait to take Connor to the apple orchard again and the pumpkin patch, and maybe a trip to the zoo. Maybe I can talk Vinnie into another mini vacation for the fam. Last September, we took a weekend trip to Omaha, and went to the zoo. That was a lot of fun!

Since I didn't update a whole lot, or at all really throughout the summer, I will leave you with a few pictures.



I've got more to share, but pictures are not uploading right now unless I do one at a time, which takes forever. So I will come back later and try to upload more.

Bunny Whispers

Tonight, I stepped out on the back deck at dusk to water the flowers, when I saw a couple of bunny rabbits hanging out in our yard. Connor was just inside the door, drawing on his magna doodle, so I whispered to him to come outside to see the bunnies. I told him to be quiet so they don't hop off.

He came outside with his magna doodle and sat down in his little chair and watched the rabbits. All the while, doing a very good job of whispering, talking about the bunnies and still drawing away. I sat down next to him and we whispered about the bunnies and what they were doing.

Then he whispered about what he was drawing. "I'm drawing a little boy. His name is Connor Vincent. There are his legs, and his eyes and his nose." He was saying all of this in a perfect whisper. I was impressed because usually it's hard to get a kid to whisper. He was being so cute, being quiet so he wouldn't scare the bunnies.

We were pretty impressed with the drawing too, so I took a picture of it. While I was inside taking a picture, Vinnie was out with Connor talking about the bunnies. Vinnie told him to tell the bunnies to hop. So Connor said in the littlest whisper, "hop." Vinnie said, "you can say it louder than that." So Connor said in a louder whisper, "hop!" Vinnie still urging him to say it louder, "HOP!" in an even louder whisper. Finally Vinnie told him he didn't have to whisper anymore, and Connor yelled hop. The bunnies hopped off after that.

In Front of the Camera

I'm pretty much always behind the camera. Occasionally I'll pass the camera off to Vinnie to take a picture of Connor and I, but Connor ends up stubbornly squirming away. I saw this post on one of my favorite blogs about getting in the shot, so you are sure to have pictures of yourself with your kids. So, here is my attempt at getting in front of the camera...

I set the camera on the opposite arm of the couch and focused on Connor.

Then, set the timer and stepped in. Focus is off, but still a cute photo.

Take 2. Changed the position of the camera.

and cut my head off

try again

Even though they are not the best photos, quality wise, I think they turned out pretty cute. They capture the love and the fun that I share with my son. I should make it a point to get in front of the camera more often.

A new blog, a new recipe

I like blogs and I like trying new recipes, so when I came across this blog, you can imagine how excited I was. There are so many enticing recipes on there, even ones that I feel confident that I can make, and have the time to make. Tonight we tried the spicy honey chicken, and it was delicious! It's definitely a keeper!

While we made dinner, Connor watered the yard.


Yep, we are back to wearing winter coats today. Told you our weather is fickle. After sweating in our sleep a few nights ago, I decided that Connor needed some new spring/summer pajamas. He's outgrown most of the ones from last year, so we headed to Kohl's and he must have been in a Toy Story mood that day because he chose 2 pajama sets that were both Toy Story. One set came with Buzz and Woody pajamas that look more like costumes. Here he is sporting the Woody ones.
Tonight we are back to wearing long sleeved fleece pajamas though. Everyone stay warm and cozy tonight. Good night!

Hello Spring

Wasn't it just a week ago that I had to clear snow off my car, before leaving for my Monday drive? Today we were blessed with a beautiful, sunny, 80 degree day. Sure beats last years first day of spring, when it snowed several inches. Missouri's weather can be so unpredictable. This is my favorite kind of weather. Spring and fall are by far my favorite seasons. I don't enjoy the extremes we get during winter and summer. Yesterday was a gorgeous day too, and we took full advantage of it. If we were home, we were outside. Connor got to play outside all day yesterday, and he even got to skip his nap. You can imagine how hard it was to wake him up this morning. He was definitely feeling the effects of playing hard with no nap. I'm sure if you ask him though, it was worth it. Here are a few cute videos that I shot yesterday.

I'm having trouble uploading them directly to my blog, so here are the links:

Sand Pizza

Meatballs Spaghetti

Connor's First Camping Trip

Another great idea from No time for Flashcards; this one was a craft and pretend play all rolled into one. We crafted our own campfire from a wrapping paper roll and some tissue paper.

Connor also played rocket with our craft

Connor packed the snacks. It's no surprise he picked Goldfish.

Taste test

We hit the road

with the backseat packed

This looks like a good place to set up camp

Getting settled in

Enjoying our fire