A Trip to See The Jellies

Back in May, after the crazy NATO protestors left the city, the kids and I headed down to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium to see the Jellies exhibit before it ended.  The kids had never been to the Shedd and I hadn't been in over 20 years!

What follows are a few photos I took while we were there with minimal commentary.  Enjoy.

My favorite jelly of the day - we got a kick out of watching these little guys swimming and bumping all over the place!   We dubbed them bumper car jellies.

Just a little funny in the event you know me.....

At the gift shop trying on all the stuff we didn't buy....

I got a kick out of all the tshirts they had for sale....

At the end of our day before heading back home.....

Happy Easter

May the hope that was found on that first Easter morning be yours this day and all the year long.

There's Been A Mistake

The calendar says it's spring, and the crocus in my garden bloomed just days before. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been informed of the date. My poor crocus didn't last much longer after I took this photo. Over half were beaten down by the hail we got one afternoon and the rest were frozen by the snow and 20 degree weather we got after that. I've got tulips coming up as well; hopefully the weather snaps out of it's winter funk soon!

La Mariposa

We spent 2 weeks on a butterfly unit last month and part of that unit was raising our own from caterpillars. Memorial Day weekend 4 of the 5 chrysalis hatched into beautiful Painted Lady butterflies. The 5th chrysalis didn't make it.

We enjoyed them inside for a couple days, but once the cats figured out what was fluttering around inside the habitat, they started a stake-out to see if they could catch one. So on our 2nd to last day of school we started the day by going outside to release our little butterflies. One flew off so fast I don't even know where s/he went to. The other wasn't too far behind, and the 3rd seemed to be telling us "I got snacks; not going anywhere right now."




Our 4th, and final, butterfly is "flight impaired". Instead of symmetrical wings, the right side is a bit....off and not well-formed. Oh, he tried to fly away, but just fluttered to the ground. We rescued him and brought him back inside to live out his life. I couldn't stand the thought of him becoming a part of the food chain.

Butterfly #4 resting on Charlotte's hand

You can see his asymmetrical wings here

About a week later we went on a family bike ride and were down by the river. We stopped for a moment and there was a painted lady butterfly. We watched it a while, and it briefly came to rest on my hand. I think it was our butterfly.

Prairie Girl

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I took the kids on a field trip to a one-room school house about 40 minutes from home. We've been studying pioneer life, and I thought this might be a cool thing for them to see first hand. When we got there, we had the place to ourselves, along with the two volunteers. They were happy to share their information with folks who were interested. The kids got to sit at the old-time desks and were each given a slate and slate pencil to practice on, as well as a grade-appropriate McGuffy Reader! Charlotte was thrilled to try on each of the dresses! For this reason alone she wishes she had lived during this period in history. As we were getting ready to leave, each of the kids got to ring the bell in the belfry. It was definitely a successful field trip!

It's Just Around The Corner

Today the weather warmed up into the mid-50's and now that it's late afternoon, the rainclouds have lifted and the sun is poking out. I decided to inspect my garden and spray a little "liquid fence" to deter the deer and resident rabbit from eating up everything as it comes out of the ground (the stuff really works!) I had noticed the other day that my crocus were poking up out of the ground, but today they were fully up and looking beautiful. I couldn't resist taking a photo of one of them! What a treat - it's not even officially spring yet!!

Sometimes I Can't Help Myself

Last week I took the kids to the park after lunch. This is a cool park with a playground, walking paths, a pond and bridges, so we always enjoy going there. It was a fairly brisk day with the wind, and I was hunkered down on the park bench trying to keep warm while watching the kids play some imaginary game that burned off some energy.

I happened to look up over to my left and saw this magnificent tree without it's leaves. The sky was a bit overcast, and the sun was trying to shine through. I tried returning my gaze to the kids having fun, but I had already formed the photo of the tree in my mind, so I had to pull the camera out of the bag (which was sitting next to me, of course). Miraculous though it be, I do occasionally take photos of a subject other than my children. :-). Not to worry, we went on a little hike after they got tired of playing, so I got photos of them, one of which may become our Christmas card photo. ;-D


Here's shot #1 straight out of the camera. Not bad, but not spectacular.


Here's the same photo after I enhanced it in Photoshop. Definitely has that sunset feel to it, no?



Never content to leave my camera settings alone, I opted to switch the white balance to fluorescent because I learned a few years ago (from playing around with it) that it cools the colors for a wintery feel. Here's the photo straight out of the camera. Again, not bad, but not spectacular:



And here's the same photo after it encountered Photoshop. It's gone from a daytime to nighttime photo (I really like this one the best too).



I'm glad that sometimes I can't stop myself from taking photos. Sometimes it's worth it to drag the camera around with me everywhere we go.

Do ya feel lucky, punk?

Tuesday the kids and I went on a little bike ride to the local park. I decided to take a load off and sit in the shade of a tree off in the grass. No sooner had I sat down than my eye caught a glimpse of a four leaf clover. I've never found one in my entire life, though I definitely clocked some hours as a child looking for the elusive weed. Of course both kids wanted to have it, but I said "No" (Mom of the year candidate here. Mine Mine Mine. Do I have to share everything?)

I say, " Let the good luck roll...."

A Sight For Sore Eyes

The older I get the longer winter seems. I'm sure it's about the same length as it was when I was a child, but for some reason I get less tolerant of snow, cold, bitter winds, and the lack of anything pretty to look at out the window. Sure, I'll grant you that snow is pretty while it's falling down. But give it a couple hours and it'll be brown from the dirt it hits.

About 11 years ago in the cold winter of January we moved into our current home. I looked forward to spring to see what might come out of the earth....to see what the former owners may have planted. Boy, was I disappointed. Not one tulip nor daffidil. Nuthin'. So that fall I bought 4 tulip bulbs and a handful of crocus bulbs from a local nursery, stuck them in the ground near our entry way out the front, and hoped for the best. I was very pleased the following spring with what came out of the ground....and every spring since. The crocus are the first to burst out of the ground, but unfortunately this year they flopped over after the single digit evening temps and being pummeled with a couple of snow falls. So I turned my attention to the tulips.

I was a little worried they might not make it. Last year we pretty much ripped out almost all the bushes from the front of our house, including the boxwood (which were half dead) near the entry way. I had planted those tulips and crocus in between the bushes, so I lifted them out last summer before Mike dug out the stumps and moved the bulbs to my garden out back. I was hoping they would survive. What a pleasant surprise to see that they did.

I'm not sure what it is about these tulips in particular that I really like. Maybe their vibrant color, their unique shape.....or maybe it's just they were the first thing I ever planted after we moved into our home. All I know is that I was very happy to see them bloom again.

I Could Get Used To This

Back in February, I offered my unprofessional-serious-hobbist photography services to my niece for a baby shower gift (so she'd have something to put in the photo collage we got her.) It was so much fun to photograph a newborn! It was also a great learning experience as well, and if I were to do another one (I hope I get to!), I know what I'll do differently and where I can improve.

Of course, all I had was one backdrop, and the apartment wasn't "moved in" yet, so that limited where I could shoot photos (like who wants photos of their baby and them with half unpacked boxes in the background, ya know?) But I was OK about the challenges, since it allowed me a chance to prove to myself that I could adjust to the situation.

Tony was a mere 11 days old when I shot these photos, and I was reminded of how small and precious newborn babies are. Tony was so perfectly sweet and constantly smiling as he slept, so I know the angels in Heaven must miss him, since they were playing with him so much! :-)

Don't judge the photos harshly; it's my first photo shoot of a child not my own!

This is a favorite verse of mine from the Bible, and I have it written in both of my children's baby albums along with their ultrasound photos.

In My Spare Time

For several years I've volunteered at a local no-kill animal shelter. I love all the animals, but my passion is cats. Shortly after I started to volunteer at the shelter, I fell in love with the often forgotten "FIV Cats". These are cats who, in general, live a normal life, but who unfortunately have contracted the feline version of HIV. FIV is not contagious to anyone else except cats, and most likely all these cats got it from being "outside" cats. They need daily meds, but other than that are, like I said, normal cats. The shelter where I volunteer offers FIV cats as "permanent foster" (meaning you are the "pet owner", but they pay for and provide the meds.) I haven't been into the shelter in a couple of months, but was happy to have a reason to stop in there yesterday to take some photos of a few of the newer FIV kitties, as well as spend some time socializing and petting the gang.

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Niko, a beautiful, friendly long-haired kitty. Unfortunately he gets picked on by the other cats, perhaps due to his gentle nature. He was found surrounded by a pack of dogs, but calm as could be. A kind stranger heard the barking and rescued Niko. He was extremely matted, dirty, and had a cold so he was probably lost for some time.

OK, this guy isn't new, but he's just special to me. One of the side effects of volunteering at an animal shelter is you have your favorites, one or two that just melt your heart. Tiny Tommy (I just call him Tommy) is "my" cat. Isn't he magnificent?



This big boy with the chipmunk cheeks is Frat. He's a total love bug, friendly and would do well in a home with lottsa love and attention! I can't even imagine what cruel person would "dump" (illegally leave in some manner on the shelter property) this cat on a frigid night. He nearly froze to death before he was found confined in his cat carrier.


Did I mention that Frat is a polydactyl?



Cottonball has been around for a while, but what a camera hog! And the camera loves him too! Cottonball was found as a stray.



Campanelle is another lover boy. Soooo friendly, and a total lap cat hiding in a big tom's body.


This is the most I've ever seen of Big Smokey. And I used the zoom lens at that. He's not too keen on people; not sure why, don't know his story, but he was humanely trapped as a stray by a good samaritan.


This is one of the newer FIV cats, Santa. I'm betting he arrived in late December. I don't know what his story is, but he's missing his left ear. Super friendly cat, though, and would quietly wait for me to come pay him some attention!

'Lil Peeps

I had to run over to Walgreens this morning for some packaging tape. I'm getting back into selling stuff on ebay, and one item needed to ship today. On the way to the "office supplies" aisle, we passed by the Easter candy aisle. Since Charlotte was with me, there was no way we were walking out of that store without a trip down the Seasonal Aisle. I secretly didn't mind because I was looking for these special jelly beans that are coated in Nerd candy. Truth be told, I don't like jelly beans, but these are different. Last year after I "discovered" them, I ate two bags all by myself. They're soooooo good. I was seriously disappointed that they didn't have my nerd jelly beans this year; however, they did have Peeps. Charlotte loves Peeps, and was nearly drooling over the selection of shapes and colors from which to choose.


Me: What do you like about Peeps?

Charlotte: The mush mellow, the pink of it all, the sugar. EVERYTHING! And the chocolate.

Me (perplexed): There's no chocolate on Peeps.

Charlotte (hear the eye roll in her response): The eyes are chocolate!

So beware of the Peeps if you're taking a sugar-crazed child into the store. They're out there.