Ok the real theme this week was Summer SunSETS but since my picture captures the sunRISE, I made an adjustment. I don’t think anyone will mind.

Samson and I took a nice long walk Monday morning, on Labor Day, to kick off the week, and this new chapter in our lives, in the right way. Lots of changes going on right now and it’s nice to anchor the mind and the body. I felt strong after the surgery and it was good to get out and move. It was a chilly morning – 50 degrees. The crisp air was awesome and walking back home, into the sun, brightened up the day!

Head over to Beth’s to see what others did this week!

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You Capture: Ordinary Moments

You Capture: White

You Capture: Trees

This was by far my favorite You Capture assignment. Maybe because it was so easy! You don’t have to search too far to find an ordinary moment – they’re all around you! The hard part was picking from amongst them all.

The first one I captured was Samson.

He has 2 favorite spots in the house where you can find him laying most of the time – by the back door and the front window. Both give him great vantage points of the neighborhood and other dogs that might be walking by! 

While Samson was laying there, Isabella was in her rocking chair watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with all her friends.

That Pluto dog she’s holding was actually mine as a kid. It’s in remarkable shape, probably because I was more in to Donald Duck than Pluto. And now it’s Munchkins’! She also had 2 Mickey’s and a Minnie piled on her lap.

Before too long, it was time to play!

We dug this Princess car out of storage over the weekend. While the house was on the market, we had to minimize her toy pile in an effort to keep the house presentable, but we don’t have to worry about that anymore!

Later, Isabella and I went to the park. She wasn’t as in to some of the equipment as she normally is.

Or else she was tired of having her picture taken. More often than not, these are the kinds of shots I get. There are 5 of these for every 1 cute, smiling and happy one. I’m all about keeping it real here people!

She likes to help me push the stroller on the way home.

Only she doesn’t steer very well so we run aground a lot. Especially when I’m more focused on taking a picture than helping her.

Here we have Samson waiting patiently for me to release him. Because he can be so spazzy, we make him work for stuff. He has to sit before going outside, wait before eating, and shake before getting treats. He laid here for a good 2 minutes while I was taking pictures. Such a good boy!

{Note: that pan is what was left of the sour cream-less dinner from the other night. Apparently it was good even without the sour cream!}

And now, the following is a public service announcement for all you would be parents of toddlers out there. Please observe this illustration of the emotions of an almost 2-year old and how quickly we can go from this…

…to this.

The infamous Isabella meltdown.

And then pretty soon she was happy as a clam again because we were all at the playground together.

While there, we found some sidewalk chalk that had been left behind by some other kids. We all sat at a table there and drew dinner plates on it.

Mine is at the bottom – I had rice, chicken and grapes. Then Isabella colored over it with “spaghetti”. CJ’s is on the right – a giant lobster and steak. We also drew shapes. 

Well I think that’s enough for today. You can see more ordinary moments by checking out my day in the life of series, parts 1 and parts 2. Or you can go to Beth’s and see what she and others did!

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You Capture: White

You Capture: Trees

You Capture: Summertime

I  love the You Capture assignments that revolve around color. Red, pink and purple were some of my favorite weeks. The interpretations are so varied and open – anything goes! I like that freedom. Sometimes I feel stifled when the subject matter is more specific.

When I saw “white” was the theme, I immediately began looking around for anything that might be interesting.

And I found nothing. I guess I was looking too hard!

So I started relaxing about it and finally found a few things that would work!

I kept leaving this white shirt out in the mornings for CJ to dress Isabella in so that I could get her in a “white” pic and every night when I came home, she was wearing something else. Finally on Monday she wore it and I was able to get this picture. What she’s looking at is CJ off to the right hiding under the dining room table and she’s trying to find him.

Samson is starting to get more white on his face and showing that he’s not a young pup anymore! It really hit me when we came back from vacation and I picked him up from my parent’s house. I guess being away from him for a week made me see it more clearly. He looks really sad in this picture but actually that’s his face of annoyance. I took like 8 shots before finally getting one I liked. He had about had enough!

On my way in to the kitchen this evening I spotted this. It struck me because with Isabella’s hat sitting on her shoes like that, it looks like a little person hiding under there! It made me giggle.

And finally, I had to get the white Mega Blok in there. I did a similar shot for the You Capture: Red assignment and it felt apropos to repeat it for white.

Well there you go! The only other white I could think to add was a picture of my legs, and no one wants to see that. Let’s face it kids, no matter how long I sit outside I will never be tan. Even at my most tan I look like a ghost next to everyone else. That’s all right. When I’m 80, I’ll have the skin of a 50 year old and be out cougaring around for a hot youngster!

Head on over to Beth’s to check out the white pictures other shot!

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You Capture: Trees

You Capture: Summertime

You Capture: Patriotic

Beth let her son pick this week’s theme and he said “trees, plants or cute little babies”. Well, I went with trees because 1) it was easier and 2) I don’t have access to any cute little babies right now!

This week I decided to experiment with Instagram on my iPhone. While most of these pics were pretty decent shots on their own (ehem), the Instagram filters did help make them more interesting!

This is a tree that was outside the Red Mango we went to on Saturday night. Looks very pretty doesn’t it? I was immediately drawn to it. What you can’t tell right away is that the tree is TOTALLY PLASTIC!

Each of those little flowers is actually a light! Isn’t that crazy cool? The shopping area we were at didn’t have any more of these so I can only assume it’s a Red Mango thing.

These next couple photos were taken on Monday night, after a work dinner I attended. It was a HOT and steamy day and by the time I got back to my car (after walking 6 blocks in heels), I was tired, sticky and crabby. But these trees caught my attention.

These are outside one of the office buildings.

And these are along the park across the street. This pic totally looks like one you’d find buried in a shoebox in your grandma’s closet. I love these filters!

This one I took yesterday, after going out to lunch with The Brit. We paused to look at this tree because she was trying to remember what kind it was (it’s a Birch). There were also weird little pink tubule things growing up from the ground in front of it. No idea what they are but the Brit calls them “lurgie foot”. Hey, that works.

There are my pics for the week! Hope you enjoyed them! Head over to Beth’s to see more takes on this theme – and maybe see some cute little baby pictures!

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You Capture: Summertime

You Capture: Patriotic

You Capture: Purple