i really should work on framing my photographs better. love the look on taylor's face in the second pic. it's like she just turned around...L

more san diego pics...L

some san diego pics...

it's funny. how we grow, change and develop. sometimes not even aware of the subtle changes in our life. like how this year marks 30 years since my high school graduation. how i'm a single mom. how i can't remember the last time i sat down and cried over my life as a single mom, my divorce, my panic of trying to do it all. how my 16 year old daughter is a junior in high school. and my other 15 year old started high school this year. and that my almost 12 year old is in her last year of elementary school. and my baby is almost nine. and i have a grandchild. and a daughter who owns her own home. and my son is a blessing to me and my girls right now. how i used to scrapbook voraciously and hardly do it anymore. how i wish i could find the time to take more photographs. how life changes in an instant and not at all--at the same time. but i'm grateful for my lovely kids, the wonderful blessing they are. what joy they bring me...L

My summer teacher gave us a day off. so i decided to take half my kids to pinetop. mind you when i say half my kids--that is still three kids. so taylor, anna, haley and i went and spent three glorious days in seventy degree weather. 70 degrees cooler than mesa. i finished 'the book thief' and we watched harry potter movies all weekend long. plus went out for pizza. i went walking every morning, even though a local woman was attacked by a bear less than 1/4 mile from my parents home. a lovely way to spend the weekend. it was just so nice to be lazy and do nothing. then i came home to this:



my ceiling in my bathroom fell in. again. less than a year later. welcome home...L

ballerinas.








ballet lessons. i have been thinking for sometime that i wanted the girls to take dance lessons. all of my older girls took lessons when they were young. however, with being a single mom, and going to graduate school, there wasn't time, nor money, to invest in this. but i decided that summer lessons would be perfect. i picked up a flyer and let the girls choose what they wanted to take. i was sure that they would pick hip-hop, jazz, or gymnastics. nope. they both wanted to take ballet. i remember taking ballet for at least 6 years. then when it was time to go on my toes i quit. but i love ballet. for several reasons. one--it's french. arabesque, plié, jeté, rond de jambe á terre. two--it's graceful. ballerina's dance so seemingly effortlessly. three--it's beautiful. the pink tights, the hair up in a chignon, the simple outfits. four--it's classic. it's an art form that is amazing and lovely and has been around forever. maybe i have the next martha graham...

Radiohead vs Dave Brubeck - Five Step (mashup by Overdub)