Water Park

It has been so hot here the past few days

Today we decided to take a trip to the water playground

William made about 20 new friends 

And had a blast playing then getting wet then playing some more

It was a refreshing afternoon

Good Times

A few moments from yesterdays lunch in the park

Oh those poor pigeons
He was trying to feed them
But he was a little too excited

And today playing soccer in the sun

And William snapped this one of me and the baby

Before and After

Monica over at Pixel Perfect has this awesome before and after blog hop
and I always enjoy checking out everyone's entries
So I figured why not do one of my own

Here is the SOOC shot

Here is it edited (in Picasa) 

 Taken with a Cannon Rebel T1i and a 50mm 1:1.8 lens

Starting Over

I have been in a bit of a funk for the last week or so
And I think I have finally gotten to the bottom of it
I have been getting caught in a bit of a parenting rut

I have been treating my son with unrealistic expectations
I have been forgetting lately that he is just a little boy
When he gets distracted mid task,
Or plays in a destructive way,
Or asks me the same thing over and over again,
After I have already given him my answer,

I have been finding myself getting frustrated
I have reached a level of intolerance that that taken over
I have some very lofty expectations
That I am beginning to see are way over his head

Five seems so big
It seems like he understands so much
And we can talk and have such deep and amazing conversation
But his consciousness is not the same as an adult consciousness
Just wrapped up in a little body
He is a child filled with wonder and imagination

The world is still so new to him
Of course he gets distracted
It only makes sense that he struggles with adult tasks
And it is my job to be there to guild him

So its time for me to change
To slow down and enjoy his childhood
One day I may not be his favorite person
to share his secrets with
But today I am

Birthday Wonder

Look who turned five yesterday!

When he woke up yesterday morning
He told me we needed to get him new shoes
because hes five
so his feet aren't going to fit in his shoes any more
Then he wanted to look in the mirror to see how big he was

He hasn't grown much since yesterday to his dismay
But he seems older

He wanted to go to the forest for his birthday
and on the way there he asked me
"Why do you think god made me a little boy and not a tree?"
I told him "I think god wanted to use you to help people
and that would be hard if  you were stuck in one place all of the time"
He said "but I really like trees mom"
"I do too buddy"

We had a really nice day roaming the woods
And when we got home we had a little birthday celebration
I made cupcakes (which we a little dry)
But William loved them

This little boy is turning into a big boy

right in front of my eyes and I can hardly believe it!

Busy Busy

Williams birthday is tomarrow!

And I have so much to do
Starting with figuring out how to make a
Gluten Free, Milk Free, Soy Free, Yeast Free Cake....

This should be intresting!

NYC

On sunday we took a trip up to NYC!
It is about 2 hours from our house and well worth the trip
I just wish we had more then a day to spend there

We eat lunch in Washington Square Park
And we made a new friend
He was the most social squirrel I have ever seen

The squirrels in Philadelphia are not so nice
and the ones that come close only want your food
This one didn't want our food at all
We kept trying to feed him
but he was only interested in being close
He even let William pet him
And he put this little squirrel paw on Michael


It was a pretty cool experience!

Beach Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday
 And we spent it lounging on the beach

Well I was lounging William  was busy digging his way to China

He was all business when it came to shoveling

We did some swimming too
Which was a real surprise
 because usually this time of year the water is still freezing

It was a beautiful day spent with some of my most favorite people

Magic Gardens

Today William and I went to this wonderful special place
We walk by it almost daily
but in all of the years I have lived here I never went in

 Now that it is warm the doors are usually
and the last few times we ventured past
William has expressed great interest in going in

We were in no rush so we went in to check it out
The Magic Gardens are a maze of mosaics
Made up of mirrors and glass bottles and ceramic plates and cups
It is such an eclectic mix of odds and ends

William had a look of sheer amazement on his face the whole time
After we were done we walked to the bus stop to catch a bus home
William snapped this shot of me and Mia
I think I finally know what to get him for his birthday

Our Lunch

Today for lunch we had Quinoa with lentils,
black beans, chic peas, grilled veggies
(left over from last nights dinner), avocado,  and a hard boiled egg

When William first came to live with us
He wouldn't eat any vegetable at all
He was a very picky eater
and he was used to eating very unhealthy food
We started giving him his veggies first before the rest of his meal
So he was hungry and he ate them
It took a few meals before he started requesting veggies
instead of pushing them away

We also let him help us meal plan
and he gets really excited about what we are making
I think the biggest thing that helped was eating with him
If I sit down and eat the same thing he is
Then he is a lot more likely to eat it too

Now this kid can not get enough veggies
You can often find him munching on
a whole carrot or a stalk of broccoli
He loves kale and spinach too!
The only thing he doesn't like is cucumbers
But we all have our preferences, right?

Here is William Last fall enjoing a carrot on his way to the park