not for the squeamish

This is one of those things that I sort of wish I hadn't seen, but then again, I'm sort of glad that I did see it and I'm really glad that I had my camera.

Trust me... seeing a water moccasin catch a frog just a few feet (literally, a few feet... the only lens I had was my 50 mm - no zoom!!!) in front of you is a completely different experience than watching a pet store python eat a mouse that has been dropped into its cage.

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a letter to the teachers...

It seems like only yesterday that I wrote this.

Now I'm at the other side, facing {p}'s last day of Kindergarten tomorrow. I don't know how it passed by so quickly... all of those paper projects and milestones that mark the first year of school are now safely tucked away in a plastic box and my heart. I'm so thankful to be able to look back on this year and know that it was right. It was right and good and everything we could hope for. I prayed so specifically for the right teacher, for the right classroom, for the right classmates. And I can look back now and know without a doubt that God placed {p} in the place where he belonged. A place where he would be comfortable, yet challenged. A place where he could both be encouraged and be an encourager to others. A place where I was welcomed as a worrying, overprotective mother. And, more than anything, a place where he was loved.

Thank you, Miss Pence and Mrs. Sharon, for giving our child a foundation that will carry him far. Thank you for the fun, creative activities. Thank you for the structure and organization. Thank you for the all of the time that you spent thinking about and planning for school. Thank you for the small things, like the Christmas picture of Pixie.... and for the big things, like the hugs that helped get him through the first two weeks of school. Thank you for accepting the caterpillars, the moths, and the lizard with excitement. Thank you for making Kindergarten a magical place. Thank you for being calm, kind, and loving. Thank you for knowing how special {p} is to us, and for seeing that in him as well. Thank you for all that you have given to us this year... especially the peace that comes from knowing that {p} was exactly where he needed to be, with teachers who were clearly an answer to our prayers.

did I really say NEVER?

I guess it happens to all mothers. Doing the things that you said you'd never do, or letting your child do the things that you swore to yourself that you'd never let them do. Today will go down in history as one of those times.

I just stuck a Spiderman wall cling to {p}'s bedroom wall.

Me. Spiderman. I neverevereverever thought I would even purchase something like it. But I did. I saw it on clearance in Target and knew that it would make {p} such a happy thing. Plus, he knows I don't like Spiderman, which makes him all the more likeable to {p}. I knew that a million years, he wouldn't have expected for me to cave in and put something like that up in his room. So, I bought it.

I was going to give it to him as part of his birthday present (still two months away), but he saw it in the back of the car one day. I bargained with him... 14 nights in his bed without sneaking into ours. In a row. If he snuck into our bed one night, I would start counting all over. Honestly, I thought it would take him forever. Well, it didn't. It took him only 14 nights.

I don't like Spiderman in there. {p}'s room has taken on a slight aura of tackiness, but apparently that doesn't matter to five year olds. And it shouldn't matter to me. I'm working on that.

speaking of bluebirds...

We have babies! Mama and Daddy bluebird have been very busy flying in and out of the house that {K} and {p} made. I was brave enough to sneak up, tap on it, and take off the lid. We all peered inside and saw a few little scrawny babies in there.

It's strange, though. The parents were all around while we were outside playing frisbee and chasing the dog. But as soon as I set up the tripod and {K} took the boys around back, they both disappeared. I sat on the concrete driveway for a long time before they finally came back. Maybe they like our noise!

**And a photo related question here. WHY is this picture so grainy? I took it with a 55-200 zoom lens, more than likely it was on 200. I cropped it a bit (less than half of the original) and ran a quick fix, but that's all. Is something wrong with the way I'm focusing? It looks pretty sharp until I view it larger, then it just has a grainy quality. Any suggestions?