Photos of the Day

So I got a new camera but I lost my photo-editing software to the big mean Vista operating system. New software is in route, but I am lost without it. I can't crop, I can't make collages easily, I can't pop color or add borders without guessing at the end result with sometimes disastrous results.

But that new camera is sweet and although I missed Best Shot Monday and Theme Thursday AGAIN this week, I look forward to jumping back in with [cross my fingers] great shots.

In the mean time, here a couple favorite from the new camera. SOOC.

Yesterday after camp Harrison was too wound up to nap, he couldn't wait to get home because he know that company was coming - his Aunt and Uncle. As we walked to the car, Harrison did the Happy Dance, jumped in my arms and asked, "Are we going to Texas mom?"

Um. No.

Well, he is 3 and his point of reference is that all the extended family live in Texas. Seems logical enough.

Having a snack with waiting for Aunt and Uncle to arrive. He should have been napping but he was too excited to see Aunt C, Uncle R and Cousin M. and her friend.

He grabbed my garlic press (that I use all the time!) out of a kitchen drawer and asked if he could use it. Then he proceeded to make me spaghetti. When he caught his third wind shortly after this, he grabbed his light saber and "danced" around the sofa to the sound track of Star Wars. And he REALLY dances!

He was "exercising" as he calls it. He has developed some fancy moves with that saber!

Today I got my 50mm lens and started testing it out right away; here's his daddy up close and handsome!

O'k, a little blurry too. Give me some time with this...

A Visit from Family...

Yesterday we had the opportunity to spend time with my Sister-in-law and her family. They came out earlier in the week to see an exhibit [that closed yesterday] and then came down to us for a visit. It's always wonderful to have a visit from our family - any of them - they all live so far away.

Here are some shots (with the new camera set on auto as I need to learn how to use it ) from our evening at the pier for dinner.

Harrison, Cousin M. & her good friend S., big Brother & Uncle R.

Aunt C. & Harrison

Playing Pod-racing game with Big Brother.

Watching the sunset.

Of course the evening ended far too quickly for all of us, but especially for Harrison who loved having the girls as a captive audience. They were sweet enough to play and talk with him so I could catch up with my sister-in-law -- if only for a few minutes!

Thanks again for coming down! We had a wonderful time! Come back soon! We love you!


(On another note, sorry I haven't had a chance to post lately. It's not for lack of pictures! It seems everything is happening at once; and next week is no exception. I'll be helping in VBS all next week and then working on my monthly deadlines and putting a new calendar system in place where I work, so I may be even more absent then I was last week. And when all that isn't happening Harrison is just plain needing me - his words. Can you blame him? Don't forget me when I'm gone!)

Favorite Phrase Friday - Bits and Pieces Now

I made a list of words late last year. A short list of the sweet words that Harrison started using regularly as he began to carve out his position in language.

I realized some of those sweet little cute-isms have already given way to proper pronunciations. It leaves my proud of his accomplishments and sad that this boy is growing SO FAST.

We were walking to the car from an elevator, Harrison stopped in the threshold of the elevator for a moment. I turned and watched him.

"Will it close, mommy?"

"When you step out it will close."

He waits for a moment and I wonder what he thinks about. Then he runs toward me.

"Thank you elevator!"

Then he adds, "The elevator says, Thank you too, Harrison."

I comment on the nice manners of the elevator...but I also realize that Harrison no longer says "Up-vador"

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"Um. Sure."

One day I ask, "Would you like me to carry you downstairs?"

He responds, "Ummm. Sure."

Another day - "Do you want to go to Disneyland?"

"Um. sure, Mommy!"

And he had to think about that?

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"Next-later"
[Love this one!]

The last few days Harrison has tried out a new phrase which is really his acknowledgment of another time or after.

Big Brother was leaving with his mom the other night and Harrison, after hugs and goodbyes, yelled out,

"But I love you Big Brother! See you next-later!"

We'll watch a movie or show and Harrison will ask for another one, when I tell him that we can watch it at a different time, he responds,

"Maybe we can watch this next-later?"

or

"Hey! How 'bout we watch this one next-later!"

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I NEEEEED You!

I have had my parenting challenges over the last month, Harrison has reared his stubborn, defiant side; yet in the same breath he will plead " I NEED you Mommy!"

I often think about that some-day when he will no longer say, "I need you."

It will come far too quickly, I'm sure.

When I think of that I often stop my work, my dishes, my laundry - and take the moment he needs - to hold him and tell him I love him.

It's fleeting. It really is fleeting.

The Post That Never Was...

Edited Friday - Midnight.

Something went awry here. Don't know what it was. Maybe that large piece of furniture I was trapped under...

I couldn't even find this in my list of posts at first, but I know it published. Curiouser and Curiouser.

I'll be back next week for Best Shot Monday over at Slurping Life. Join us then - won't you?

Fav Phrase Friday - He's a Sponge - With a Sense of Humor the Size of Springfield

It's not like a year ago when Harrison would pick up a word or phrase and use it for a week at a time until the better word came along. Now he just talks incessantly and if I don't jot something down it's gone in a flash!

But there are those classic moments that stand out.

Like last weekend.

It started in the car, Harrison, the G.I.D and I went to the Aquarium, on the way we stopped at a light and Harrison (in his best Lisa Simpson voice - I found out later) said,

"Are we here yet? Are we here yet?"

Surprised, the GID asked me, "Where did he learn that??" I shrugged.
He turned and responded to Harrison "Not yet, we have to get on the Freeway..."

Harrison interupted, (in his best Homer Simpson voice -and it's good)

"No, No, NO, NOO!"

Then it dawned on me... I told the GID that we had heard part of a commercial on the radio the week before. I didn't know what it was.

Shortly after that, as if the radio gods were listening in on our conversation, the commercial came on the radio again.

It's the Simpson's ride opening at Universal Studios Hollywood!



We burst into laughter - realizing how Harrison put it together. At three years old, he understood the joke of a short radio spot enough to try it out on his daddy.

And of course, once we laughed, he had to imitate the radio spot a few hundred more times with that cute little cheeky grin of his saying "Are we here yet, no,no, NOOO!"

Laughter is just the reception that 3-year-olds enjoy receiving.

We shouldn't be too surprised, after all several months ago [before he turned 3] we were all lying in bed one morning, getting over colds, when he sat up and said, "I'm sick. [pause] Nice to meet you."

Now that's a great way to start the day!


He's going to be an entertainer. [sigh]

He's Gone and Done It! - Theme Thursday

What has he done now, You ask?

He has made the conscious choice NOT to nap any longer.

"Mom, I'm not sleepy. I don't NEED to take a nappy."

Period.

And did you notice something?

He didn't call me "Mommy" or "Mama"...

No.

He has taken to calling me "Mom"!

What??
Does he really think he's a tween? Seriously, don't answer that.


So what happens when he doesn't take a nap?

He wants to play non-stop with ME. It's the NON-STOP part that is causing a riff in my universe. We can play for a good couple hours and where I am done and need a break, he's got a little more pushing me down to do, or "falling into the water and-you-cry-and-save-me" to do , or "pitch the ball just 10 more times, mom", or "you be the big mean robot and I be the good robot" to do, or - well you got the point.

Non-stop, people.

Work is not finished.

Laundry is not finished.

I can't seem to plan meals.

MY down time is not accomplished. Yes, I tell him that even mommy takes a rest.

He IS - Non-stop.

In the dictionary there is a picture of Harrison next to the phrase - Non-Stop.

It's no longer about trains or planes.


He puts the Energizer Bunny to shame!

In the encyclopedia - he's there...

Charles A. Lindbergh (American aviator)

American aviator, one of the best-known figures in aeronautical history, remembered for the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, from New York to Paris, on May 20–21, 1927.

Sir John William Alcock (British aviator)
Aviator who, with his fellow British aviator Arthur Brown, made the first nonstop transatlantic flight.

Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones

At midday on March 20, 1999, they became the first balloonists ever to travel nonstop around the world. [Hot-air balloons photo credit : Jim Larsen]

Harrison Pierce

Toddler moving at non-stop pace while no longer taking naps. [And the look on his face shows it.]

What do I want?
A vacation.


Dang, I love that boy. (Anybody want him for a week?)

Wordless Wednesday

There is more than one way to clean a shower ... and a child!

Click on the image for larger view.

Check out more Wordless Wednesday pictures here and here.