Well, yesterday brought a new arrival to
our household! Dan agreed we could go to the SPCA to look at a boxer I
had fallen in love with online. When we got there, the line was long,
so to pass time while I was in line, Dan and the kids were looking at
two crates of puppies. Before I got to the front, I asked Dan if he was
interested in a puppy (and we always agreed we would NEVER get a
puppy), and he looked unsure. When the woman at the desk told me the
boxer had already been adopted, it seemed like we were heading in a
different direction.
Our application was approved for the puppies, but we went back to the
older dogs to take a look at them. There were two dogs that caught my
eye; one was named Havoc, which didn't seem like the best sign, and the
other was a stray boxer mix. Dan was worried about that one because we
had no information on her, and with the two small children, we need to
be very aware of that type of thing. We chose to look at a puppy Dan
had noticed in the crate.
Well,
it only took me a few minutes to fall in love with him. He was soft
and cuddly and adorable! Dan, ever the practical one, was concerned
about the training we'd have to do, but being delusional, I figured it
would go quickly and easily. After what felt like hours of paperwork,
we finally took little Toby home.
Toby was born 2/1, which makes him about 8 weeks old. As you can see,
he's a mix of several things. He is listed as a lab/chow mix, but they
thought that the father could have been pug/husky. Whatever he is, he's
adorable, and so far, he's pretty well-behaved. Last night he had me
up a few times crying in his crate, but I knew to expect that. He's
peed outside for us several times, and while he did have a small
accident this morning, looking back, Dan said he could see some cues
that he had to go potty.
The kids seem to love him already, especially Emily. We haven't seen
much of Lucy since we brought him home, so that relationship remains to
be seen. I'm sure we'll have lots more pictures to show off in the
coming weeks!
Despite appearances (above), the trail was very busy today with lots of people moving along at various speeds or pulling over to rest on the many benches placed at interesting points along the trail. It was of course a perfect day for this kind of thing.
Remember, where once trains travelled, now human locomotion is powering the path. Being within easy striking distance from population centres, rail trails connect people to the natural world, and with each other. Motor vehicles fade from our consciousness as we stretch our legs for as far as we want to go
In preparation for our up coming camping trip Trent decided to set up the tent early. I walked out to the front of the house to see what he was doing. I've been sick for the last week so I have t been up to doing very much. He then asks if I want to sleep in the front yard to to tonight. I was like, "uh no, I'm sick remember" If I was feeling better i might attempt it. The only thing that kind of worries me is that we live on a very busy street with lots of pedestrian and car traffic. Sometimes there is activity that happens up until 2 AM. I don't know how keen I am with sleeping in the front yard. If my backyard wasn't cement I might consider it more then being in the front. We have a big fishing trip planned and the scenery is much better and quieter then my front yard. I am really looking forward to this camping trip. It's an annual family thing we do every year. I always take a ton of pictures so I will be sure to be posting lots over the next little while.
I recently took over the preschool class at my child care center. It was
a great step up for me but the class was out of control and had no idea
how to listen to a teacher let alone do what I asked of them. I created
a behavior chart and we as a class came up with rules we all had to
follow. During our rule discussion I asked "what kind of rules do you
think we should have?". One boy responded "happy rules!" so our class
rules are happy ones that are phrased in positive, what you can do ,
ways instead of negative no, don't, can't ways. The combination of the
behavior chart and the easy to read or understand rules has turn my
class of 9 physical boys and one sweet girl around in two short weeks.
Happy class rules: I found a class rule poster on pinterest that had simple drawing of faces and feet and other things to remind the kids visually what rules to follow. So I sat down with the kids and asked them what rules were important to them. The only one I helped them with was the sharing URL. The rest they said to me. I turned them into positive phrases because who really like being told what they can not do. I know I don't. I have found that the more often that you remind a child of what they can do instead of what they are doing, the more likely they are to do the actions we want them too.
After I completed the rule poster I showed it to the kids and talked about what each rule was and the picture that goes with it. So now when someone has a hard time remembering what rule they should be following I just tell them the rules number and even though they can not read yet, they can tell me what the rule is.
Behavior chart: I also found this type of chart on pinterest but for kindergarten ages or older. The ones I saw just had words on it. I wanted to add faces do the kids had a visual picture of how their actions effect their day. It has been challenging to monitor exactly when someone needs to move up or down because at the preschool age they are so active and still figuring out how rules work. But they get really excited when they move up and so heart broken when they have to move down. During our rule discussion we also talked about why we move down and what happens when we get to red.
Happy class rules: I found a class rule poster on pinterest that had simple drawing of faces and feet and other things to remind the kids visually what rules to follow. So I sat down with the kids and asked them what rules were important to them. The only one I helped them with was the sharing URL. The rest they said to me. I turned them into positive phrases because who really like being told what they can not do. I know I don't. I have found that the more often that you remind a child of what they can do instead of what they are doing, the more likely they are to do the actions we want them too.
After I completed the rule poster I showed it to the kids and talked about what each rule was and the picture that goes with it. So now when someone has a hard time remembering what rule they should be following I just tell them the rules number and even though they can not read yet, they can tell me what the rule is.
Behavior chart: I also found this type of chart on pinterest but for kindergarten ages or older. The ones I saw just had words on it. I wanted to add faces do the kids had a visual picture of how their actions effect their day. It has been challenging to monitor exactly when someone needs to move up or down because at the preschool age they are so active and still figuring out how rules work. But they get really excited when they move up and so heart broken when they have to move down. During our rule discussion we also talked about why we move down and what happens when we get to red.
It's
been about a year since i have seen Jason Boland & the Stragglers.
Quite a few changes have come about since then. Fiddler Noah Jeffries
left to follow his dream with his own band MilkDrive, original Straggler
Jeremy Watkins filled in but has since left the road and has been
replaced by Cory Morrow's fiddle player Nick Worley. Steel guitarist,
gutarist, and mandolin player extraordinaire
Roger Ray considered leaving to support American Idol runner up and
Fort Worth Texas native Casey James but thankfully has decided to remain
a Straggler. Brad Rice has relied on Shine percussion but has switched
to Spau
n. Jason shaved his head and grew a beard but
long time bassist Grant Tracy is still his jolly ole self. Jason debuted
a new song at Cowboys Dancehall San Antonio, i'm not sure what the
title is but it sure was catchy both melodically and lyrically. It was
great to catch up with everyone backstage and i'm looking forward to
seeing them again soon, probably at the Lone Star Jam in Austin at the
beginning of May if not sooner. Taking a good photo that i am happy with
of Jason has always personally eluded me until that night. The above photo is probably my personal best of Jason so far.
I had some bad experiences in lavendar farm. Sorry to say but the staff is quite rude. The photographer's attitude seriously pissed me off....and some visitors can be very annoying too. It was quite packed when we visited the place. Thus, you can imagine how crowded was the alleys. If you want us to make way for you, just say "excuse me" politely. Almost everyone was blocking each other because of the crowd & the small lane. I was blocked by someone else too okay. BOOK THE WHOLE FARM LAR IDIOT.
 |
| Can i sleep on these pretty flower?? |
I saw this photo (above) recently as Web sites were beginning to publish
their end-of-the-year and end-of-the-decade slideshows. It struck me
for a moment due to its disturbing juxtaposition with a photo I took of
my own son this summer (below).
I see images almost everyday of children from far off places in the world engaged in what would frankly not be considered normal activity in "civilized" societies. Playing with a toy gun certainly isn't the issue here -- I shot a lot of friends and my brother dead many times with toy guns during my childhood. What's unsettling about this image is that it's of a child in a war torn nation like Afghanistan. It's like it's all he'll ever know, or at least all he's known for much of what he can remember in his short life thus far. Playing "war" in a nation at war must happen all the time. I've certainly seen other photos from Iraq, for instance, of children acting menacingly with plastic toys.
I didn't feel the same discomfort when I shot several frames of Henry on a kiddie ride at the Puyallup Fair near Seattle. I just thought it was silly and in now way reflected his reality as a small child. I guess I forget that he's a child of a nation at war. No doubt he has no understanding of that yet. But I certainly do, as his father and as his photographer.
I see images almost everyday of children from far off places in the world engaged in what would frankly not be considered normal activity in "civilized" societies. Playing with a toy gun certainly isn't the issue here -- I shot a lot of friends and my brother dead many times with toy guns during my childhood. What's unsettling about this image is that it's of a child in a war torn nation like Afghanistan. It's like it's all he'll ever know, or at least all he's known for much of what he can remember in his short life thus far. Playing "war" in a nation at war must happen all the time. I've certainly seen other photos from Iraq, for instance, of children acting menacingly with plastic toys.
I didn't feel the same discomfort when I shot several frames of Henry on a kiddie ride at the Puyallup Fair near Seattle. I just thought it was silly and in now way reflected his reality as a small child. I guess I forget that he's a child of a nation at war. No doubt he has no understanding of that yet. But I certainly do, as his father and as his photographer.
I look forward to the arrival of the latest Urban Outfitters catalog
every month, not because I need a new pair of ill-fitting jeans or
another ironic t-shirt, but because the photography is usually so eye
catching. There's a scrappy Ryan McGinley quality to the images of
hipster girls and guys that I just love.
The catalog is never
credited so it's a guess as to who is doing the shooting, and I never
really bothered to investigate. Recently I came across some flickr pics
that looked really similar to the style of some of the recent Urban
catalogs and lo and behold, mystery solved.
Wai Lin Tse is the
Barcelona-based photog behind the images above and in the Urban catalogs
I've loved. Check out more of her stuff on her Web
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