Take a hike

Today we ventured to Lost Maples State Natural Area, a park about 1 hour from our house in the hill country. Last weekend was peak for leaf color, but apparently no one told the other 1,349 people there hiking and taking pictures. It was still breathtaking, even if the trees were mostly bare. Oh yeah, I took a few pictures of the family too! Take a look for yourself!

All packed up in the backpack carrier.

Don't you just love that bluebird hat on my Lovey Bluebird? I got it here.

There were a few trees with some leaves!

These were taken on our front porch last weekend. The view is fabulous!
Check out that tongue action!
Love this profile shot

Fall on the Frio

Today after I picked up BJ and his friend from school, we headed over to the Frio River to hunt for rock treasures, build a dam, and admire the beautiful fall foliage. It was a perfect day, although at 72 degrees, it was a little warm for my taste. But hey, it's Texas and that's the way it is.

BJ and the Cypress Trees

Cypress Foliage
Look Mommy, it's seaweed!

Impromptu dam building

More colors

I'm really having a good time getting to know my new camera. I adjust the settings and make the same shot several times so I can see what I get. It's fun and a great way to learn. I'm also getting back into Photoshop and relearning some editing techniques. It's amazing how much your forget when you don't use a skill for a long, long time. It's coming back though, and it doesn't hurt that if you Google Photoshop, you find hundreds of sites with free information and downloads and techniques. Wonderfully amazing.

I hope to find a little time everyday to stop and admire my surroundings. To photograph them in an artful way. To share them with you.

There really is beauty in everything, sometimes you just have to look a little harder to see it.

Don't go too fast, Fall

The wind is blowing different today. It's a cooler, crisper North wind. Don't get me wrong, the high is still projected to be in the 90s today and probably will be for the next few weeks, but the air feels different.

It's almost Fall.

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of the year. Cool mornings, warm afternoons, cooler nights. It's the best time of year to get anything done outside as far as I'm concerned. The leaves will start to change and the grass won't grow quite as fast. I can plant yellow, orange, brown, and red chysanthamums. Oh, how I love chrysanthamums.

Fall also signifies the year is coming to a close. That's the only part I don't like. The ending of the year. For me, it seems as soon as September hits, I blink and it's January. Then I sit there wondering how it could of happened so fast. Is it like that for you, too?

There's so much hustle and bustle involved with Fall. BJ will turn 5 in 3 weeks. My sweet, unbelievably sensitive, and smart little boy will be 5. It's enough to make me want to cry. My birthday is the day after BJ's. And don't even get me started on my petite princess, Mia. She'll be 1 in November. When did that happen? Maybe I will cry. Add in Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas to the mix, and it's understandable how quickly this time of year flies by.

I feel like I just want to sit on my front porch and enjoy every moment. Maybe if I just sit, time will pass more slowly. Possibly, but lots of things won't get done either. Like shopping and gardening and watching my children grow one year older. But I'm making a committment to myself right now. This Fall, I will try to slow down. I will try to enjoy every moment. Every birthday, every holdiday, and everything else that I might normally miss. Because I'll never get a chance to relive these moments, these special times. This Fall.

And like I said, before I know it, it will be January. The holiday decorations will come down. The grass will be dead. The leaves will be gone. The air will be just cold enough to be annoying. Then there will be me. Sitting on my front porch wondering how the time flew by so fast. Trying to remember and relive every little moment. Fifth and first birthdays. Halloween. Colorful leaves. Thanksgiving. Christmas. Good food. Family time.

Please, don't go too fast, Fall.

I'm on a roll

Yes, I'm that blogger. The one that doesn't post for days or even weeks at a time and then gets the bug and posts lots and lots in a short period of time. Hopefully, I'll keep up and blog everyday. I have plenty to say and endless amounts of material, trust me!

On the horizon: crawling

I love this series. So unbelievably sweet.

My loves

On a funny yet slightly disturbing note, BJ told me that when Lovey Bluebird (that's what he calls Mia) grows up, he wants to marry her. I tried to explain why it couldn't be, but he just wasn't accepting it!

So I haven't posted pictures of the kiddos in awhile. Enjoy!

"I'm worned out, mommy"

BJ apparently had a very strenuous day at pre-school. This is his current wherabouts.
Update: I carried him in (which is no small feat!) and now he's resting peacefully on his bed. Mia on the other hand is in her bed raising hell. Gotta go!

Kids and Food

So last night I was scanning Tivo'd episodes of Oprah and came across on from earlier this week on children and eating. I've been interested in this topic since I was pregnant with BJ. I was one of those die-hard, do-it-or-die-trying breast feeders. I was (thankfully) successful and continued to pump for the entire first year after going back to work when BJ was 7 weeks old. Now I'm not that crazy breastfeeding-is-the-only-way woman that likes to make people feel like they're doing a disservice to their child if they choose a different route. It's different for everyone and I respect that.

When BJ started eating baby food, I felt compelled to start him off on what I thought was the right foot for a lifetime of good eating habits. I made some of my own organic baby food, but mostly fed him store bought organic and all natural foods. As he progressed into real foods, my fridge and pantry started resembling the shelves of Whole Foods. I wasn't an organic snob by any means, we still went to restaurants and ate at other people's homes, but I tried to make sure he was getting good, natural products at home.

Today when I shop, I buy regular stuff if there isn't an all-natural or organic option, but I refuse to buy anything made with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). That stuff is just terrible. Not to mention hydrogenated oils of any kind. I can't believe that food manufacturers actually put that shit in our foods and we eat it. Did you realize that every single brand of ketchup on the market, except Heinz organic, and 90% of jellies and jams are now sweetened with HFCS? It's in granola bars (yep, thought those were healthy!) oatmeal, teddy grahams, peanut butter, pancake syrup. EVERYTHING. When did this happen?

So back to the whole Oprah show. The gist of the show was that today's kids aren't getting what they need in their diets. There are too many choices these days, mostly junky choices, and fruits and veggies have gone by the wayside. Dr. Mahmet Oz (LOVE that man!) was on the show and confirmed that studies show that 1 in 5 children from this generation will develop type 2 diabetes. That number jumps to 1 in 4 for black children and 2 in 4 for Hispanic kids. It's also predicted that our children are the first generation of kids that actually have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. All I can say is SHOCKING.

Special guest on the show was Jessica Seinfeld (yes, Jerry's wife!). She has a brand new cookbook out (that she developed herself!!!) called Deceptively Delicious. Let me tell you, I've heard of the method she uses which is putting steamed and pureed veggies into everyday recipes (heck, I use apple sauce in all of my muffin, cake and brownie recipes instead of oil), but she takes it to a whole new level. Simply amazing and inspiring. I've already ordered my copy of the cookbook from Amazon and can hardly wait to get my hands on it!!

Jessica also has a special section on Oprah's site with recipes, a message board, and I even think she has a blog! So I guess my point is to check it out. I'm very excited about it and wanted to share. Heck, I've already told Lisa and my husband about it, and luckily Lisa had the episode saved too. After she watched it she called me back to tell me how much she liked it too.

So check it out on oprah.com and see what you think. Get back to me and let me know if you're as excited as I am.