Each week gets busier and busier. I’m guessing it’s like this for everyone, right? Let’s see… Friday Anna performed in a pep rally, then we went out for a family bowling event after school. Saturday Curtis and Dominic celebrated Halloween and volunteered at our neighborhood haunted barn while I attended another reception for the Emotion show, juried by Karen Divine at the A Smith Gallery. Jenny was so sweet to drive all the way out to Johnson City to see my work and we had a lovely dinner afterward. Sunday Dominic went to a friend’s house for the afternoon. Tuesday was a crazy day: I dropped off some art for a juried exhibition with the Wimberley Valley Art League, dashed to San Antonio for lunch and to pick up some prints at the photo lab, then headed back up to Wimberley to pick up rejected pieces (more on this next week), barely making it home before the kids got home from school. Wednesday was a therapy day for Dominic in San Antonio and Curtis joined us. I voted this week. I’m forgetting half a dozen things but it’s crazy. I feel like I’m neglecting my mom and she has been so incredibly helpful with Anna lately (thank you, Mom!!!).
Day 301 ~Before the Pep Rally
Friday, October 28th, 2016
Anna’s high school has a wonderful dance teacher that welcomes the kids with special needs to join her class. For Halloween, everyone performed at the pep rally. Our kids wore their dance shirts with black pants and were encouraged to wear silly hats or wigs. Anna is smack in the middle of this shot with the red and white Dr. Suess-ish polka-dotted hat. She was still wearing the Holter monitor but it didn’t slow her down!
Nikon D750 | 85mm | f/2.2 | 1/320 | ISO 1000
Day 301 ~ Dancing in the Pep Rally
Friday, October 28th, 2016
Our kids were out front for the first part of the performance, but Anna didn’t turn to face me until the dance team took the stage. She is on the far right in the back row. You can see her red and white Dr. Suess-ish polka-dotted hat, and Anna has both hands up to her face woo-hoo-ing at the crowd. I was surprised and proud of how well she handled the chaos and noise. She really seemed to enjoy it! We did see her leave about 5 minutes before the pep rally was over, so we made our way out of the stands to go find her. She was wailing in the lobby, overwhelmed by the clapping and cheering. Poor thing. At least she made it through the performance and we beat the crush of people leaving the parking lot!
Nikon D750 | 85mm | f/2.2 | 1/320 | ISO 1250
Day 301 ~ Doing Good, Mom!
Friday, October 28th, 2016
We were so proud of Anna for performing in the high school pep rally that after we picked up Dominic, we decided to go bowling at Fiesta Bowling Lanes. The bowling alley was completely empty, and for a long time, we were the only ones bowling. Anna has been bowling with the STAR Program at school so she was super excited to be there to show off her skills.
Nikon D750 | 85mm | f/2.2 | 1/250 | ISO 1250
Day 301 ~ Another Picture, Mom?
Friday, October 28th, 2016
Since I took a picture of Anna, I wanted to get one of Dominic too. He’s been feeling a little left out lately and that breaks my mommy heart. I mainly shot him eating his soft pretzel so after asking him for the 40th time for a smile, I got this. Ha! He had a pretty good time too though he got a little frustrated at losing the second game to Daddy. They were only one point apart! Kudos to both daddy and Dominic though… Curtis is such a good teacher and coach and Dominic actually listened to him! Curtis made a few encouraging suggestions for Dominic to watch for (like putting his hand on his leg when letting go of the ball). By the end of the second game, Dominic’s ball wasn’t even touching the bumpers. He really improved a lot in those two games.
Nikon D750 | 85mm | f/2.2 | 1/250 | ISO 1250
Day 301 ~ I Love You, Baby!
Friday, October 28th, 2016
Dare I say it? I think Curtis and I have fallen in love with each other all over again. The last few weeks have been amazing. AMAZING! Look at this face… that was just for me. But I’m sharing him with all of you. Ha! Isn’t the cutest thing ever???
Nikon D750 | 85mm | f/2.2 | 1/250 | ISO 1250
Day 301 ~ Family Bowling
Friday, October 28th, 2016
I don’t think I’ve tried to bowl since I got my knee replacement almost six years ago. Ouch. I cannot run up to the lane and throw the ball like I used to. I had to stand there and chunk the ball down the lane. Oof. It was sad to watch. That score, right? Ughhhh.
Nikon D750 | 85mm | f/2.2 | 1/250 | ISO 1250
Day 302 ~ Debris and Detritus
Saturday, October 29th, 2016
Saturday night was our neighborhood Halloween Festival. It coincided with the Artist’s Reception for the Emotion show at the A Smith Gallery in Johnson City (there was one at the end of September as well). Curtis and Dominic volunteered both last year and this year to work the at the haunted barn and they had so much fun. Anna never liked Halloween but would begrudgingly dress up to play along for 15 minutes or so, then wanted Nana to take her home. We just skipped all the drama this year. This was the first time in 24 years that I didn’t purchase a Halloween costume for one of my children. I felt very, very sad. (And I’m still feeling some odd guilt around it.) What all this meant was that I traveled alone to the reception, leaving Anna with my mom and the boys at the festival. On my way into the gallery, I was feeling a little bereft and lonesome. I spotted this dead butterfly on the ground, it looked like a young Monarch. The lesson? Life goes on, it keeps marching on no matter how you feel. Even the beautiful things die. We must appreciate the beauty we have before it’s gone and even after it’s gone. I tend to wax philosophical when I’m alone. Jenny met me about an hour or so after I got there; she saw my two art pieces and admired the other photographs, then we had a lovely dinner. I wish I had gotten an image of my beautiful daughter! Next time for sure.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.8 | 1/250 | ISO 400
Day 303 ~ Nature’s Hellraisers
Sunday, October 30th, 2016
I recently joined a new (to me) group on Flickr called Macro Mondays, which is theme-based moderated group. Each week they post a new theme and we are to shoot a macro of that theme, then post our image to the pool the following Monday. This week’s theme was called Spooky and Frightful, so I went searching out in my yard for spooky and frightful objects. I thought this cactus with the deep and dramatic lighting looked like Pinhead from the Hellraiser movies. Unfortunately I missed the deadline on Monday for submitting an image, but I still had fun shooting.
Nikon D750 | 105mm | f/5 | 1/400 | ISO 50
Day 303 ~ Berry on a Spike
Sunday, October 30th, 2016
I spied this bright red tiny berry embedded on a cactus needle… the bush surrounding the cactus had these tiny red berries that littered the ground all around the bush. Some fell and got caught on the cactus. It reminded me of that episode of The Walking Dead where they put spikes all around the perimeter of their fence to catch zombies. So creepy! I swear I did not stage this!
Nikon D750 | 105mm | f/5 | 1/400 | ISO 50
Day 303 ~ Deadly Cactus
Sunday, October 30th, 2016
You can see on the reverse side of this cactus, not only did the needles catch a tiny red berry, they had been catching them for a while. There are brown dried-out berries that were caught earlier and had been decaying. Ewwww!
Nikon D750 | 105mm | f/7.1 | 1/400 | ISO 200
Day 304 ~ Campfire in the Backyard
Monday, October 31st, 2016
Happy Halloween! No decorations, no costumes, nothing, nada, zip. I did not do justice to my mommy card this week. But Dominic did score some candy at our neighborhood festival on Saturday that he graciously shared with Anna. I was feeling so guilty that when Dominic asked if he could roast hot dogs over the fire pit, I said sure. He set up the fire (mostly) all by himself and cooked hot dogs for himself and his sister. I am so proud of this kid!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.2 | 1/250 | ISO 100
Day 305 ~ Dark When the Bus Comes
Tuesday, November 1st, 2016
It’s still so dark when the kids leave for school. I think the time change is this upcoming weekend. The sky was so dark and pretty with a sliver of the moon showing that I had to try to capture it this morning. I don’t know that I did it justice. I will say that I didn’t know there were deer in the front yard (because it was so dark) until I downloaded the photos and saw them in post. See them in the shadows in the foreground? Cool!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/3.2 | 1/60 | ISO 200 | tripod
Day 306 ~ My Darling (and Silly) Boys
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016
Dominic had an appointment in San Antonio with his counselor and she wanted to meet Curtis, so we all went together. While we were waiting, the boys were sitting together and looked so cute that I asked for a photo. I didn’t know Dominic stuck his tongue out until I downloaded the images. Stinker! Overall Dominic is doing okay. He has some really bad moments (like today, for example, but I’ll save that for next week’s post) but he is okay. Not good, not awful, but okay. I love him so much, I wish he could see himself how everyone else sees him.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.2 | 1/250 | ISO 1000
Day 306 ~ Tic Tac Toe
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016
Outside of the outpatient therapy building at the Clarity Child Guidance Center in San Antonio, they have a giant tic-tac-toe board. On our way out, Dominic asked Daddy for a game. Not too long ago, Curtis would’ve been anxious about being away from work too long and wanting to check email and would’ve blown off the request, but lately he has been very much in tune with our family’s individual needs. He said yes. The boys took five minutes and played tic-tac-toe. My heart melts. (An aside… Dominic has been picking at his mosquito bites and cuts/scratches constantly. He is littered with scars right now. I think it’s anxiety and/or his meds. We see the psychiatrist next week.)
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.8 | 1/250 | ISO 320
Day 307 ~ Voted!
Thursday, November 3rd, 2016
Next Tuesday is my husband’s 47th birthday. The polls will be busy. So I took advantage of early voting and got it done. I voted for Hillary Clinton. Curtis will be voting for Donald Trump. We’ve always been a bi-partisan household and it’s always been a very sensitive subject between us. We cannot talk politics at all this year, much like all of Facebook-land with friends and family. I will not talk politics other than what I’ve stated here. I respect my family and friends and all of our different views. I’m so glad I get to exercise my rights. At the end of the day, this polarizing election will be over and we will all still to live together, let us hope it is with love in our hearts regardless of who we voted for. As Anna says, “Life is Love.”
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/5 | 1/320 | ISO 100
Thanks for reading as always. <3
