1000 White Women

 I finished reading 1000 White Women last week and added it to my Good Reads section of my blog, but wanted to share it here too..... just in case you might be looking for a good summer read. 

 I also just finished reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and will post my review on that later today. Its becoming a pretty popular e-book according to B&N and....wellll....my thoughts must be different then the masses.

-------o-------

Ever find a diamond in the rough at your local library?

In a teeny town like mine, rough would be a good description of our library, simply based on how small it is. 

So when I found this beauty I promptly checked it out. 

I checked it out minus a library card, cause we just go on last names here, no ID required.

 So I'm a sucker for intriguing covers, and thought this one looked worthy of a possible late fee. 

(I'm not so hot on returning books on time).

Boy Howdy! The cover didn't disappoint! 

The book is written by Jim Fergus as journal entries of a young American woman, May Dodd,  in the late 1800's. She ventures into the wild to become an Indian bride for the program instituted by the United States Government. Whats crazy is this is based on a true story! Here is a link to read the whole synopsis.

My favorite aspect of this book was the 'outsider' perspective given by May as she became part of the Cheyenne people. The down side of this book? Reality. The sobering fact of how poorly the Indians were treated by the government and 'white' people is so disturbing. 

I ended up finishing the book with an axe to grind with white folks of the 1800's. 

grrrr.

sickie

This is my oldest 5 min ago.

Her tummy hurts.

Nothing tears at your heartstrings like when your babies are sick.

Here's to a quiet day of recovery and a better tomorrow!!

helloooooo water pressure!

Last week my husband, our girls, and I all went on a bike ride around our little town.

And since kids and sprinklers have some sort of natural pull towards one another, it was no surprise when the bikes were traded in for this:

Can you tell the water pressure was a slight surprise?

HA!

Her expression makes me smile every time I see this photo.

 So naturally when I saw the theme for I Heart Faces this week was water, I knew this had to be my entry.

:)

Thanks for visiting!

Little cowgirls

Ever since Toy Story entered our lives my girls have been infatuated anything cowgirlish.

Cowgirl boots.

Cowgirl hats.

Wranglers.

Horses.

Saddles.

Handlebar mustaches.

Okay, maybe not that last one.

but, they both love cowgirls and in turn LOVE horses.

And this week they visited what could be undeniably be considered, heaven.

A horse ranch.
A horse training place?
hmmmm just a place with lots of horses where my MIL's bestfriend lives and does equine training.

In this photo my oldest was watching said bestfriend barrel jumping.

"oooooo ahhhhhh."

Now here she is  riding a horse that could play ball.

Now what kind of kid wouldn't love that?!

 Happiness.

 

On her horse Gracie.

 and "Hello Hicksos"

This was little sisters mount.

(a little cowgirl lingo, oh yeah)

My little one leading the horse over the barrels.

(kinda, the horse is more likely leading her...but we applauded sissy for her effort)

Look at this! No one leading her.

She is braver then her mom.
I was not comfortable 'driving' just yet. 

Yes I said driving.

And this look?

This is the look of,
  'I will too jump the barrels even if you say no mommy. I don't care if my feet don't fit into stirrups. neener neener"

Lord help me when she becomes a teenager!

Thankfully, for now she was satisfied with trotting.

And also thankfully she still listens to me.

Most of the time.

For now.
Sometimes.

And like the saying goes,

All good things must come to an end.

A big "thank you" to Jeanie for letting us come out to her place and ride. 

It was loads of fun and we can't wait to visit again!!

Horse love

My girls LOVE horses.

This week we went with my MIL to her best-friends house out in the country where she trains horses for a living.

My girls were in Heaven.

 More pictures to come later.... and can you guess which child wanted to jump the barrels?!

H2O

Last week shenanigans:

She is on her way to give me a 'wet hug'.

I panicked...

  and lost my focus. :)

Playground Props

This week I Heart Faces theme is props. 

I don't have much in the way of photo props, but I always like taking pictures at playgrounds for all their colorful equipment and the natural (not posed) expressions I can capture of the girls playing.

So to me playgrounds equal lots of on location props!

In essence, our prop is just a regular 'ol swing. 

Nothing too fancy. ;)

Mist happens.

So you want to achieve this totally awesome effect for your photos?? 

No?

Okay, so this was an accident.

Ya see, I got my camera wet.... and it got that con-den-sation-ness all between my lens and UV  filter.
Dang.
I thought it was a bad thing, but I suppose it just makes this shot unique.
 I can at least say I've never heard of anyone else using this technique before.
I will now refer to all accidents as possible trailblazing techniques
Ahhhhh.
Makes me feel much better about myself, because I tend to make my fair share of mistakes.

:)

I scream, you scream!

Well all scream for ice cream!

 

Yesterday evening was picture perfect weather.

No pun intended.

And there is nothing like a bike ride down the road for softies and milkshakes.

The road not taken

I'm a pretty big book hound.

I counted the other day how many books I have downloaded on my Nook since I got it this Christmas, and I came up with over 20!
Eeee gads!
No wonder the dishes never get done...
That was my conscience speaking..."shush you!"
*clears throat*
Be that as it may, it's been ages since I picked up a book of poetry. 

Ages, I tell ya.

But I took this photo today and Robert Frost came into my mind.

Do you fancy any of good 'ol Bob's poems?

I do.

This is my favorite:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Now, I can't say this poem applies to me in any way shape or form, be it as my particular path of motherhood is a pretty beaten down one, but I can't help but love its message.

Perhaps the less traveled 'path' he's writing about may not be a singular life altering choice, but just a simple decision that changes things a bit. As long as I've been around (twenty eight years to be exact), life hasn't been just one path or one decision, but many little ones. 

And this is why I love poetry. 

The message can be interpreted so many different ways depending on the person, or the circumstances. 

 It just makes you think.

Way to go Bob.

School Park

Have I mentioned I love Summer time?
*sigh*

 I do.

And my girls, like any pint sized ragamuffins, love it too.

So I smother them with sunscreen, and then douse them with OFF! and away we go.

"squeeeeeeeek"

"Squaaaaaak"

 

That's my verbal interpretation of a swing.

Fun times.

 

Nail biting times.

 

And like all good little children, my girls brought home buckets of sand. 

Primarily in their hair.

Eh.

I still love Summer.

field bokeh

I meant to include this in my flower, fields and whatnots post, but it got lost along the way.

So here we be.

I also added some new books to my Good Reads section.

Its a series and I LOVED it.

 Fun fact about the me and these books:

I stay up until 2am two nights in a row devouring them.

I tried like the dickens to read the last chapter super slow so it wouldn't be over.

(I failed by the way)

AND now I find myself rather keen of the boy's name Peeta.

huh?

Here is a hint......

Ever heard of the Hunger Games??

 Too obvious?

oh well. :)

Check out the series, and if you have a Nook its a lend me...oh yeaaaah!

Let me know if you want to borrow it!

"Nerdy book lovers unite!"

PS: Lets just say for some reason I just yelled that above slogan out loud to no one, does that make me nerdier or just passionate?

oh, and is nerdier really a word?

roundup

This last week has been a little crazy around here.

Well, now that I think about it, this last month has been crazy busy.

No complaints, just an observation.

And in lieu of all that crazy business, a photo dump.

ack!

A photo roundup.

whew, much better.

A few weeks ago:

 The sunsets were amazing last month!
(PS: I didn't photoshop this!)

What's been keeping us running around and driving too and fro all month long:

BASEBALL!

(Our little one played tball for the first time this year! woot woot!)

Perks of summer:

 Lunch on the sidewalk.

and another perk: 

Sprinkler running.

In case your wondering,
I like clover in the yard.

yup, uh huh.

I actually prefer it to all that perfect grassiness.

A downside to summer?

No worries!

She got up and went another 152 times

Fly fishing:

Minus the fish part.

 Firework watching:

 ( I did not move to get this photo, she put her chair RIGHT in font of me, luckily she is only 3 feet tall or my view of all the totally awesome walmart fireworks would of been ruined. phew.)

Once again, her stoic face leads you to believe she didn't enjoy the walmart fireworks.

She did!!

 and say hello to the mild version of my oldest daughters camping face:

I say mild because when I gave her a bath the night before the water took on the color of mud. I won't even go into the state of her nails.
Lets just say..ew.

and last night:

I may or may not be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure whoever was letting these babies off didn't get them from Walmart.

The End.

bokeh

Love That Shots theme today is Bokeh.

One of my favorite things about my 50mm lens is the great out of focus bokeh it gives! 

Since most of my last few posts have been lots of flowers (which give great  bokeh), I thought I would drift just a tad and submit my dewy grass photo instead.