I dressed Parker in her most festive, colorful dress and socks.
Wish I had remembered to have Joe get some Mexican coffee when he last went to Whole Foods. The closest I could get to Mexican food today was Mex-Cali - a portabello quesadilla from Baja Burrito. Oh for Sergio's (my brother-in-law) homemade chilaquiles!!
One of my favorite memories of growing up is celebrating May Day with my mom. First she would take us kids to gather some phlox. Then we would make cones out of construction paper at home with a paper strap stapled to the top. We would put candy in the bottom of the cone, then put the flowers in and then hang them on neighbors' doorknobs after which we would ring the doorbell and run away! I can't wait to do this with Parker!
Whew - barely squeezed in a photo shoot with Joe & Parker for Lesson 4's assignment this afternoon. The class is Art That Happens To Be Your Life at Big Picture Scrapbooking and I'm loving it!
Our assignment was to pick a photo, work of art, etc. and use that as an inspiration jumping off point, while also incorporating last week's lesson on point of view. This website is where I got my inspiration - love their urban, colorful style. They also do a LOT of really cool post-processing, but I didn't go that far with my picture.
Here are a couple of outtakes that I also liked.
Spent a nice weekend in Gainesville this past weekend. My sister Dionne is moving to Virginia so we all got together for dinner to see her off.
She's probably coaching Parker on saying here name there...BIG competition among the Langford aunts and uncle for whose name she says first, lol.
Also, my mom & stepdad are leaving in a couple of weeks for Colorado and won't be back until September so we wanted them to have some good Parker time as well.
The Langford day was all about watching Parker and showing off her new "pull up to standing" skillz. Takes a little bit to figure out a new height or new build of furniture, but once she does she's off and running. I guess it's a little stressful to do it while everyone's watching...
Dad cooked his famous, delectable Spiedie's Chicken on the grill.
Sunday (the Andrew day) we spent more time standing around the house and then headed out to High Springs for lunch and some phlox spotting. The phlox was GLORIOUSLY in bloom along I-75 on the way to Gainesville so I knew we'd find some pretty spots along the back roads too. It was wonderful for Joe to see all those beautiful backroads around Gainesville driving down oak tree shaded roads and past pastures and farms.
Apparently this cow came RUNNING over to visit as I was on my way back to the car. My brother yelled out the window "Look behind you!" The goat followed soon after. :o)
We capped the day off with dad's youth orchestra concert before heading home to O-town.
It was a wonderful concert, especially the concerto contest winner playing a lovely Sibelius violin concerto. Parker's pretty chatty and active these days so Joe and I took turns standing in the foyer with her where we could still hear the music but where she wouldn't bother anyone with her happy baby noises.
Here we are with Great Grandma Mary Louise and Grammy Lainey. Parker and Mary Louise are sharing a moment I think. :o)
Hoping to catch up on a huge backlog of posts soon!
Finally officially celebrated our 3rd Anniversary last night with a real live date. Mimi came over to babysit while we went to The Ravenous Pig. (Oh how I love that name!) A "gastropub" in Winter Park. O.M.G. the food was to die for.
Lobster Tacos. Oh my gosh. Possibly one of the most perfect things I have ever eaten.
Joe made me take a serious photo too but the camera battery died before I could upload it. I like this one the best anyway. ;o)
Enjoying our $50 bottle of wine - woo hoo! We were also finally spending our American Express gift card from Joe's work that was supposed to be in place of flying their long distance employees to the 2007 holiday party. Can you say splurge?
Delectable dessert - Semifreddo, cocoa nib brittle and milk chocolate chantilly. Soooo yummy.
It's been tough lately with the hours Joe is pulling for work so it was nice to finally have a date night out. I think we even found stuff to talk about besides Parker and Joe's latest consulting project. :o)
Guess who pulled up to standing all on her own for the first time today!?!?
Looks like she's ready to start her own blog...
So I'm taking this awesome photo class on Big Picture Scrapbooking that's called Art That Happens To Be Your Life. It's all about developing your creative eye as a photographer and I've been looking forward to it for a few months now ever since I registered.
This week is lesson 2 - Documentary vs. Interpretive. I've got the documentary picture...
Now I just need to pick an interpretive one.
I'm thinking the second one. ???
*EDIT- I went with the 1st interpretive one - the one with the pudgy knees. :o)
Parker turned 9 months old on Wednesday - hard to believe.
I didn't think I had gotten enough good shots on her actual birthday, so we tried a few more today. She seems to be a little bit too busy for photoshoots these days!
Always good to have Daddy spotting in the background, lol.
Here's what she'd really rather be doing!
In the last 3 pictures Parker is modeling the ADORABLE bib my Aunt Judy brought back as a present from Portofino, Italy!
Well we could have...
Let me set the scene for you:
A spider moves into our front porch glass/screen door - living on the outside underneath the metal grate thing. Me? I decide to be all nature-friendly, think natural pest control, must learn to live with spiders, etc. I will try to let it live out there safely on the other side of the glass instead of immediately killing it as I do (or as I send Joe to do) with most spiders. Because they are ICKY.
Few weeks later: Hey Joe...yeah?...come look at this spider (it's moved further down than it's normal spot and you can see more of it)...yeah?...do you see some red there?....yeah... IT'S A FREAKING BLACK WIDOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of ALL the times I opt to be magnanimous and let the spider live it's one of the most evil and scary ones of all! If you care to, scroll down for a picture of the dreaded hourglass as it lies safely Raided to death on the sidewalk. Sheesh.
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Word is just getting around singer circles that Gene Puerling passed away earlier this week. Probably the greatest a cappella vocal jazz arranger ever - founder of the groups the Hi-Los and the Singers Unlimited.
Strangely unable to find any info about his passing. He will be missed.
