The cherry blossoms are falling....

....like snow. Pink blossom snow.

My very own drummer boy

This is Joe during his annual drum day performance. He was great.

That's my brother Jeff, with his hands in the air. He thought Joe was great, too. Their finale was Purple Haze. It got a standing ovation and people lit their lighters for an encore. Well....they should have. It was that good.

Joe's a little camera shy

Oh, come on Joe....Smile for your mom, will ya?!
Eli smiles for me.

Just one smirk, even.

Okay. Good enough. A partial smile will do.

Hey! How'd this shot get here? Safety man is taking a little ride surveying the grounds.
(Note the helmet.)

Joe is teaching Eli bad camera habits.

But not Kicks! I love this dog. He knows how to pose for the camera.

Spring soccer in the northwest

These are the moms that weather the storm with smiles and good cheer while they freeze their patooties (real word, I promise.) off, faithfully watching their darling daughters play spring soccer.

You can't see them in this picture but there are plenty of goosebumps on those soccer legs.

This is the look of anxious anticipation. They're waiting patiently for the coach to call them back into the game. ("Pick me. Pick me. Pleeeeease, pick me. I'm freeeeeezing sitting here on the bench.")

Lily's team is playing in an older division this season. She looks a little small next to her opponent but I don't think she notices.

Doesn't the mom in the background look like she's having a blast?!

My latent poetic tendencies awaken

These are the trees that line our drive

Blossoms burst from their buds when spring arrives
Their beauty soothes the soul with simple grace
until a strong wind blows them all over the place

A man and his boy

(Gina, I hope you don't mind me pilfering this dynamite picture from you. I just had to share it with everyone I know.)
This is my nephew, Kirby, who left for Afghanistan in November, a couple weeks before his son, Dashel was born. His wife, Gina took this shot of them meeting for the first time, just last week, while Kirby was home on leave.
I can't get over the obvious recognition in Dashels eyes, knowing that he's looking into the eyes of his dad. This is a snap shot of happiness - sheer joy. It's so beautiful, I had to share.

Easter at our house

Easter was wonderful. Once again, I was blessed to have lots of family and friends to our house to celebrate this holy day. Since there were about 40 of us, I was busy and therefore didn't take pictures. (That's my excuse, anyway.) This is unfortunate because Max, Lucy & Harvey looked especially great in their Easter attire.(As we all did, I should add.) I did have the foresight, however, to send Lily to the barn to take some shots of Safety Man, Joe and our dear friend Kevin doing their Jiu Jitsu thing. I know these aren't your typical Easter pictures but this is what I have to show for our Sunday gathering.

Kevin is my friend, Mo's son. They moved to Bellevue a few months ago from the sunny southern California suburbs. I love to have such a good friend so close and am especially happy that she and her family joined the crowd. Kevin is a fan of grappling, like JT and Joe.

Here is Kevin and Joe. I'm not sure what's happening in this picture but I think they're having fun. ????? From my novice perspective, it looks like Kevin has Joe in an arm bar and Joe is about to tap out. But, I don't really know.

Most of you will have pictures of your sweet little ones in their Sunday best carrying their Easter baskets filled with beautifully colored eggs and maybe a spring flower or two. Or maybe a picture of an elaborate table carefully set with your finest china and a big beautiful ham in the background, surrounded my your family and friends in their new pastel dresses and perhaps a bow or two somewhere......Not me. Boys wrestling in our barn while gritting their teeth and grimacing from tapping out of a choke hold are ..... normal for me now. Happy Easter one and all.

To Rosemary, Sharon, Chris, Margie, Karen & Melissa

Which way next year ?... mmmm?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we have been trekking to the wine country for our annual weekend of indulgence for almost 10 years- could that be? Well, regardless of the years, the anticipation and chatter that precedes our trip is almost as fun as the trip itself....but not quite!....

Though most of us are separated by many miles and the babies that brought us together as a Mom's group are now teenagers, we remain friends. Friends that know how to have a good ass time.

Rosemary, Margie, me, Sharon & Karen, poolside. Oh yeah!

Here we are at our usual first stop - Gundlach Bundschu. Chris, Rosemary, Melissa, Sharon, Karen & Margie sampling our first tasty tid bits, drinking our first sips of wine for the weekend and catching up on our varied lives. Man, I love this place. It's the perfect opening ceremony to our Olympic sized fun weekend.

Dig the bird with the red wings... love the sign....

.....and the pristine vineyards and green, green hillsides of one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Rosemary, Margie w/her big floppy hat (ain't it adorable?), Karen, me & Sharon. We're @ our usual last stop on Sunday, before we head back to reality- The Girl & the Fig - Sonoma. Boy, we have this trip fine tuned, don't we? This weekend was perfect - The house, the limo, the wineries, the FOOD, the weather and the company. Perfect.

Was this taken outside of B.R Cohn? I think so. Beyond the brilliant purple iris's, see the gnarly old vines. Some mighty fine grapes come off those masterpieces of a plant. Hallelujah.

Aren't they gorgeous?! Those beautiful oak wine barrels are stunning!...and they smell so good, too. Melissa - (I had to add the Pebbles shot.)
Thank you, AGAIN, for the glorious food. The planning, time, and talent that you graciously give to all of us is a generous gift indeed. You're a gem, as are all of you friends. - precious gems - like diamonds.

Aaaaahhhhhhh. This shot says it best. Until next spring...

To my high school friends - part 2

Seven* of us gathered at Sharon's beautiful Arizona home to celebrate our 50th birthdays in unison. We've known one another for over 35 years and in the case of Mary and me, who met in Mrs. Bodenshatz's kindergarten class, 45 years. That's a hell of a long time when you're as young-like as we are.
Through these years we have shared our joys and celebrations, our fears and disappointments, our loses and tragedies. We've shared the happiness of our graduations, weddings and babies and suffered through the failures, sicknesses and the funerals. We have shared our lives. We live in Greenwich, CT, Santa Cruz, CA and Homer, AK. We're teachers, nurses and dog mushers. We have traveled down different paths and if we met today we may not give each other much more than a nod. We've been mad at each other, disappointed and bewildered by each other but like a family, we plow through these times and continue to love one another. Thankfully, we all take the time and make the effort to gather and replenish this incredibly durable and cherished shared history. And for this, I am very thankful.

Hey! He wasn't invited.

Mary, me, Carol, Sharon, Dierdre and Mo. - Here we all are. *Well, almost all of us. Sadly, Chris bought her airline tickets for the wrong weekend and realized this terrible mistake the day before our gathering. Since Chris has 3 young kids including 2 year old twins, we can understand her confusion but we sorely missed her. Lorraine is missing from this picture because she's the photographer. Below, Mary is taking the shot. (We need a tri pod.)

Lorraine, me, Carol, Sharon, Dierdre and Mo.