Grandma signed up Ben for this class because the word Tango was in it!  It had nothing to do with Tango but it did have everything to do with dance, fun, singing and moving.  Ben was a bit reserved at the start but soon he was right in the middle.  At the end the teacher took out this bubble machine which made one zillion bubbles.  He didn’t know what to do. 

Total bubble overload!

My cousin’s wife is due today to have a little baby.  We are all waiting for THE phone call.  I just want to send her some good wishes for a smooth and peaceful labor.

Good Luck Allegra and Jazz!

This photo reminds me of the crazy 9 month ride you’ve been on……

I posted this picture on flickr yesterday but thought it should be here too…..

My Gram had a beautiful and quite extensive teacup collection. These cups were very special to her and when she passed away, we were all given some. I proudly display mine in a beautiful dark wood rack in my dining room. Everytime I walk passed, I think of her and how we used to drink tea. I miss her and I miss that. This is one of my favorites. It has peacocks all over the cup and dish. She always said you should hold your pinky out when drinking because that was fen-cy (that was her way of saying fancy, fancy) I <3 her.

I found this great little website and felt I must share it with you.  It allows you to paint like Jackson Pollock.  If you never heard of Jackson Pollock (shame on you!) here is a little background.  He lived in East Hampton with his wife/artist Lee Krasner.  (Isn’t that neat?)  He was an abstract expressionist and is considered one of the great American painters.  After his death, his studio was given to the Stony Brook Foundation.  They have tours and a study center that is open to the public.  It’s a great piece of history and worth going to.  I remember I visited back when I was going to NYIT. 

Check out my Pollock masterpiece…

Ben has totally mastered this.  He presses the mouse button to change colors and then hits the F5 button to clear and start over! 

Have fun…

jacksonpollock.org

I’ve been playing around lately with different concepts when it comes to my picture taking.  I was talking about being inspired last night and how it becomes a chain reaction.  For example:   I’m inspired by flickr (we all know I’m addicted) -> I experiment after seeing some ideas I like -> someone else, like my friend Jill, sees my work -> it now changes the way she takes pictures.  Isn’t that cool?  I think so.  This is the very reason why my photography skills have grown so much in the last year.

I’ve seen jump shots and silhouette shots a zillion times before.  This was the first time I actually tried a combo.  I like the result.  I have to say the art of processing adds a lot in this instance.  Look at the original:

It’s a pretty good foundation but after bumping up some of the colors and toning down others, adding more contrast and finally a drastic crop……You get something super duper grand.  I just love having a digital darkroom where I can play. 

Well, I put this lesson at the top of my list.  I will definitely practice some more though because you never know when you will get “The Shot”

Craig’s brother Corey is getting married!  Where you ask?  In Jamaica!  Whoohooooo.  I’m excited.  We haven’t been away on a vacation since our honeymoon.  I have a few months to wait though.  The wedding isn’t till March.  Yay for Corey for finding the ONE and YAY for Marti for fitting right in with our nutty family.  I snapped these photos of the lovebirds at one of our parties…….

Fall is coming…

Pool closes on Saturday : (

Spent Sunday afternoon at my inlaws house.  Ben and Craig splashed around in their beautiful, HEATED pool.  Ben amazes me everytime he goes in the water.  He is fearless (which is pretty scary)!  This time he went down the slide (no floating device of any kind) from the halfway point and went under the water to come up again to say, “MOA  (more, his favorite word)?  He loved it! 

Ken (FIL) took out this string with two wooden rods at either end.  Ben was in the water with Craig holding one end and Ken was pulling him from outside the pool all along the perimeter.  He held his head up and kicked and smiled.  It was awesome to see.  I, of course, took a zillion pictures like the proud photo Mama I am.

Ben under the water:

Fooling around in the Cabana:

and finally an outside shower:

We wrapped up the day by meeting Harriet (MIL) and a couple of their friends for dinner. Thanks for dinner guys and thanks for a fabulous day!

You always say I don’t take photos in your beautiful yard but…..  I do!

For those of you that don’t recognize this plant, it is called Bouganvilla. It usually grows in more tropical climates but my Father has an amazing green thumb. He plants it in the ground every Spring and digs it up at the end of Summer and keeps it indoors for the Winter months.

As you can see – it’s rewarding.

We are going in the pool this weekend if it kills us. The summer can’t be over!

We are also going to enjoy my Aunt’s 90th birthday bash. Hope you all have a wonderful, full weekend.

Here is a shot of my two favorite people enjoying some time at the beach (Julie’s beach that is).