A Random Post About a Random Place

A few recent Suzyisms....

A Random Place: defined as somewhere Andy has likely put something. I guess I talk a lot about "random places". I am now hearing my intonations come out of Suzy's little mouth. It's really quite comical. Last week, Suzy told me she found her shoes "in the random place." Then, while we were frantically looking for her bunny lovey, she told me she knew exactly where it was. I paused from my searching. "And where is that?" Suzy: "Oh, Mommy. You know, it's in the random place. Why don't you look there first?" I found it behind a couch cushion. I guess that is pretty random.

There is a Curious George cartoon we have in the car about the balancing Zucchinis. Suzy likes to balance on random (ha) things as well, especially curbs. Yesterday, I told her she was a great balancer, like the Zucchinis. She smiled back and said, "Yes, mommy. But Jesus is the best balancer because he can do it on water."

I do love this age.

Fun in the Sun

It's been hot here. Texas hot. So, we did some slip and slide action in the yard yesterday. And watermelon. You have to have watermelon or Popsicle when you do a slip n slide... right?


Andy has started to love the camera like his Momma. I, of course, think it's adorable.

Love the little twinkle. He does that a lot. I love you, too... little buddy.


I love the similarities.

Suzy's Last Day of Preschool - but mostly about Andy

We love Suzy's preschool. There are so many wonderful things about it and how she is really learning all about God's Love for her and others.

We celebrated her last day on Thursday and as a helper, Andy was able to attend with me.
Everyone is so sweet with the kids in the class as well as the siblings. I'm very excited that this will be our school community for the next four years. I'm debating sending Suzy to Kindergarten here as well.

This is the cutest story ever. I'm trying to find it for all my little Dolphins in my church Sunday School. Andy didn't help with the sentimentalism at all as Mrs. Kelly read it. With each page, he got so excited and shouted, "TRAIN". or "Nuder Train!" Mrs. Kelly is so sweet and tolerant.
I'll leave the captions to the below photo as an exercise for the reader. Andy loves technology. Jimmy Buffet had a guitar.....

LaBoon Ranch

Rob's mom has a very sweet best friend, Ramona. Ramona and Bruce are Rob's Godparents. We love them dearly and they just absolutely adore Rob. We don't see them as often as we'd like due to busy schedules, but we did get a chance to spend a Saturday last month at their ranch in Fredricksburg. It was tons of fun. This is apparently some sort of family portrait tree for the LaBoon children.
Andy had fun while he lasted. He napped a large portion of the time while we toured the actual ranch portion. Thanks again, Ramona, for babysitting our little guy.
Suzy loved hanging out with Bruce and Daddy. Bruce is such a sucker for little girls. Come to think of it, so is Rob. Ha!


Feeding the deer was a Suzy highlight.

We set out salt licks.
I love the stillness and peace of having so much land that is so private.
If I lived here, this is where I would station myself. :)
How telling is this? Suzy's new food tasting chart is earning her very own itouch..... yes, we are "those" parents... officially. Hey, it's a long car ride out there and back in one day! ;)

Thanks again, Bruce and Ramona, for the nice visit. We hope to do it again soon!

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

Here is a little sample of our Mother's Day cards for our family. We made little cards with kiss marks, er.. um... smears... on them and added a spoon with Hershey Kisses. It was really fun to make. Both kids enjoyed the self application as much as the printing. The favorite part, however, was probably the sampling of the chocolates.
I'm enjoying this whole Groupon experience and sampling things I wouldn't otherwise do. I have a really hard time paying money for portraits when I own such expensive equipment of my own. After all, that was part of the deal of me buying the stuff and taking the classes, that I could "do it myself". However, it's very hard to photograph ME when I'm always taking the photos.

So, when Groupon had a $65 coupon for an hours worth of photography, I was all in. I think Melissa Glynn got some good shots. I'm not entirely crazy about some of the actions and would like to put them together with matching color schemes. However, I was told my files were already deleted. Oh well, for $65 I'm still very pleased. I guess my little story board will just have to be in black and white. I'm cool with that. :)

Seriously, can Suzy take a "bad" photo? My mommy eyes are really cloudy and biased. I just think she is so stinkin' adorable. While some of her other sensory issues have really improved since we started OT, she has begun a phase of chewing her nails. I guess that nervous energy has to go somewhere. I'm much happier with this outlet than some of the others she has chosen in the past. As I know it won't last forever, I believe it is nice to capture and document it.
Andy has hit the squirel phase. Always on the go. So full of energy and love.
My favorite little girl.
This photo completely cracks me up. If you have spent much time with us, you will "get it" as well. Typical. Andy and I enjoying something and trying to bring Suzy on board with us. Only, it wasn't her idea at the time.

When it is her idea, she's all on board.

Happy Mother's Day once again. I really am treasuring the joys of staying home with my kids right now. I love being their mom. Thanks, Rob, for such blessings.

Local kiddos

Remember the beautiful boat pictures? Well, I asked my driver to pull over so that I could get that perfect shot for over my couch. I was really excited because I was thinking I would have time to actually look at my settings, take several shots, recompose if I wanted, etc. I was excited to have cool subjects (boats) that would not move on me and I would have the time I wanted to really play and enjoy my little hobby.

I was definitely not prepared for how the ten minute detour played out. We pulled up to the part of the beach where I saw these fabulous boats from the main road and I realized that they were, in fact, not abandoned. My driver explained that we were entering a fishing "village" and that these were their boats. I had no problem with tipping the fishermen. What I didn't realize is that I would want to leave all of my money with them except that I don't think it would have helped. The "village" was four or five lean to buildings with open fires where women were making red beans and rice. A few men were passed out on some logs that were on the edge.

Where we stopped, the driver spoke with a very skinny man with an umbilical hernia that was the worst I have ever seen in my life. His intestines was literally about four inches out of his belly button. As soon as we stopped and he approached, these four little darlings raced up and started touching my arms, hair, and clothes. After visiting Mexico as a kid with almost white hair, I am used to such things. It didn't really phase me to see their curiosity in a white, light color haired woman.

They were adorable. They were completely fascinated with my camera. Admittedly, it is impressive and they probably thought I was much more skilled than I am. I don't think the camera itself was new to them. It was nearly impossible to get a good boat shot because they kept jumping in front of me and saying, "Cheese!" I showed them the view screen once and I had little buddies for my entire shoot. I didn't get as many boat images as I wanted. Nor did I have the leisurely time I desired to take photos of abandoned boats. However, these images pause my thinking.


These kids have NOTHING. No beds, no clothes (the little guy is wearing a sweater vest, .... it was 90 degrees). Yet, they are happy. Genuinely happy. And the love they have for each other just jumps out of these images. They were kids. Happy, sweet, smiling, optimistic kids. It's one of my fondest memories. Yet, it makes me so sad. I wish for so much more of life's smallest comforts for them. I just wish there were a way, some way, that I could get them copies of these photos, a little Fisher Price digital camera with lots of extra batteries, underwear, shoes, candy, tooth brushes, and little art supplies. That's my mission now that I am home. I am going to make that happen. If anyone has connections near Trelawny, it would be helpful. :) Let me know!

These children make me so very grateful for what I am able to provide for my children here in the states. Yet, God provides for them in ways my children will never know. If Suzy were in these conditions, she would be hysterical. These children are so grateful. That pauses my thinking...

Jamaica Part One

Here are a gazillion photos from my trip last week to Jamaica. Thanks again, Sweet Rob, for such a great Mother's Day gift. Me, Deb, and my camera had a fantastic time! :)

Our resort had a private little island that you could wade out to. We spent lots of time there in the blue chairs. :)

There was a little shanty town right next to our resort. The people were persistent, yet friendly. I will do another post soon about the local way of life. But, it's a bit more serious. The story for this photo is that Deb and I were walking along the beach in front of this area and she smelled a "skunk" (think a little sweeter and rasta). Ha! I love how naive Deb can be. I have lots of funny stories about her along these lines from this trip.
Our resort catered to children and families. It was nice to not be at a couples resort with my friend. However, many people still thought we were a "couple". Seriously? It's MOTHER'S Day people! Sheeeez.
Lots of fun architecture around the resort.
The view from our room. OK.. I confess... this is our view with my 200mm camera. It's a bit zoomed.
Lots of beautiful sunsets due to the cloudy evening weather.
We saw a few weddings on the same little jet out that the above photo was taken.
We did self pedicures to match. Hmmmm... maybe that was where people got the "couple" idea...
A genuine "pool table".
The nightly entertainment was really fun. This photo is of the Jamaican Native dance show. The athleticism displayed here was amazing.
This guy was an athletic anamolie. My brother kite boards, so I have a small awareness of just how much skill this takes. This guy was flipping out of the water just as much as skiing along the top. It was really cool to watch.
One of Deb's favorite parts was the waves that were provided by the windy days.
On Saturday, we paid a cab driver to just taxi us around for the day. I had to pull over and photograph these colorful boats. More on this story in the next post.
I just love all the blues.





Our guide showed us some local flare and produce. Did you know this is what an almond looks like?

I was a little surprised at how much work went into getting just one little almond.



A side of the road fruit market. Best. Banana. I. Ever. Ate. Plus a cool way to drink coconut water.


Yes, I am a super tourist. Hey, the husband was home. I was super burnt on my shoulders from the day before and frankly, I didn't care how crazy tourist lady I looked. Ppppllllbt! :P

Upon the advice of my wise sister-in-law, Vickie, we climbed the Dunn River Falls. Amazing. You could rent these fun shoes at the bottom of the park. We just opted to wear our tennis shoes. But, I couldn't resist the photo. I love all the bright Caribbean colors.
The falls are 900 feet of amazing beauty and refreshing, cool, fresh water. A definite trip highlight.

Some areas were a bit slick and so our guide had us make a human chain.
At one point, there was a "slide" that we tried out. Our guide was wonderful with Deb. She had trouble seeing the rocks and getting sure footing. This man was amazing and so patient with her. By the end, many of our group members were helping as well. It was a really sweet thing to experience the human kindness and assistance this day.
This photo just cracks me up. Her tennis shoes floated, her head and bum did not.
Another highlight was the Luminous Lagoon. It's one of a few spots in the world where the fresh and salt water mix and house a cool plant/animal that lights up when agitated. It's like the water is full of fire flies.
I was surprised at how young the guides were. I'm really getting old.....
The photos are the best you can get. It's super low light, and the effect only lasts mere seconds.
This is "me" (actually I have no idea who it really is!) waving my arms in the water to agitate the "bugs" and make them glow.
Overall, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will cherish and we had a wonderful time! :)