I Had to Steal This Picture

Last night we let the kids go to bed a little late.

Firefly season started here about a week ago, but now they're really going.* So the kids spent part of the afternoon contriving various firefly catch-and-release holding containers.

They finally settled on a toilet paper tube with paper held over each end by hair stretchies. "The red stretchy is loose, so we can take it on and off fast for getting the fireflies inside," Emily explained.

So we went out and braved the South Jersey mosquitoes (which are plentiful and organized into various squadrons and fighter wings). I had my camera** and tried to capture the innocence of youth, the joy of capturing for a moment the fleeting glow of bioluminescence.

What I wound up with were dozens and dozens*** of pictures of blurry kids and blurry trees and blurry dark dots.

Joe realized what I was trying to do and he and the kids tried to stage a scene for me. They grabbed all the fireflies they could from all over the yard and kept dumping them in the same spot, so they'd be denser in that part of the yard. It worked and looked really lovely, but I still couldn't get shutter and aperture and fireflies to all cooperate at the same time.

So, I did what any modern photography-challenged blogger would do. I Googled until I found the firefly picture I really tried to take.

--End--

*Really going for our yard means maybe a dozen of them blinking around.
** Nothing fancy...a Canon PowerShot.
***I had the camera on take-a-bunch-of-pictures-superfast-by-
just-keeping-the-picture-taking-button-pressed-down mode.

Old Time Photos

I'm working on a slideshow for my Grandma Schierer's 80th birthday party this summer. Various family have sent me piles of family pictures. While most of them are relatively modern, there are some oldies in there. These are probably the coolest, overall.

My Grandma and Grandpa Schierer, in about 1945

My Grandma, Mary (Morrison) Schierer on her first bike, 1933

My great-great grandmother, Leibbie Ensign, in 1880

My great-great grandfather Albert G. Morrison, taken in 1886

--End--

Busy Weekend

Well, busy few days...not just the weekend. On Wednesday we had swimming lessons and Wizard of Oz rehearsal (munchkin singing scenes...no rehearsals for me yet). On opposite ends of the county, natch!

Thursday my folks arrived for a visit. I thought I was having an early dismissal, but it was only for the students. *sigh* Eventually got home and we went to Emily's piano recital. I made some incredibly awesome and easy pulled pork sandwiches and an incredibly decadent strawberry layer cake with strawberries in it and whipped cream frosting.

Friday I had to work again. Bleah. But we went to the Ocean City Boardwalk that evening. Had a nice Italian/seafood dinner and then played "Pirate Golf." I honestly can't remember the last time I had so much fun playing miniature golf. Finished the night with Kohr Bros. custard. Yum!

Saturday I hustled off before 6 a.m. *groan* to drive up to Trenton. I attended the NJEA caucus. Read as: 4 hours of Parliamentary Procedure and receiving enough paperwork to level the Great Redwoods. Seriously, I'm enough of a geek to find this sort of thing fascinating, hence my excitement at attending the National Representative Assembly in July.

Killed enough of the day Saturday that there was no point in driving all the way back home just to hop in the car again. So I stalled awhile at a Mall until it was time to meetup with the rest of the family in Camden. Em's chorale group sang at the Riversharks game. I just love minor league baseball, but was way too distracted to remember much of anything about the game. We all ran out during the 9th inning ahead of a killer thunderstorm which let loose all over us just after we got in the car.

Today was and is significantly more mellow. We had a nice Father's Day breakfast of cinnamon-vanilla French toast, thick cut bacon and chunks of fresh pineapple. (Matthew also had more strawberry cake.) Mom and Dad took off for NW-PA (with the kids!!!). We'll see them again on Saturday to get our children back from them. In the meantime....WOOOOOO!

Seriously, I love my children. I'll miss them more than once this week. But every summer we get a week of Gramma Camp, and WOOOOOO! How bizarre it is to remember what it's like to just be us. We're actually going to dinner tonight someplace they don't even have a kids menu. And it has actual cloth tablecloths and candles! And then we're going to the movies and won't have to pay for a babysitter! I'm completely beside myself with joy.

But Thursday the house will jjst feel way too quiet and I won't quite know what to do with my time. But for now...say it again with me...WOOOOOO!

--End--

Seven Years Ago

Seven years ago at roughly 9pm, Matthew James Dugan was born. Running over with joie de vivre from the moment he learned how to smile, a big kid with an even bigger heart, Matthew is our tough guy who still loves to cuddle and hug (and I hope he always will). We love you, Matthew! Happy Birthday!

Then and now ...

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Love it!

Oh my gosh I just love this print so much. SO MUCH! It's a kind of I want to type everything all running together without any spaces I'm sort of feeling gushy over it LOVE feeling.

I just want to buy it (and maybe a couple of others by the same artist) and re-do Emily's entire bedroom based on it. I want to buy it and save it and have it in reserve for when she decides she no longer wants flowers on her walls and curtains and spaceships and moonscapes on her bedspread and autographed photos of astronauts hanging about.

Wouldn't it look gorgeous in a room with beigey or teal-y walls? Or better yet, beigey walls with one teal-y wall? Curtains and bedspread to match the red.

Anyway, Joe said, "no." Stinkin' practicality.

--End--