Ohhhhh a new Raptor moves into the 'hood!

My yard is a varitable playground for all things wild. We've had raccoons, rabbits, snakes, birds, bugs, squirrels, mice, Matani, and I'm pretty sure a coyote even!

We have a Red Tailed Hawk who has frequented our yard on NUMEROUS occasions. He would sit on our fence and lay in wait for some hungry little bird to hit up the neighbors birdfeeder.

Stealthy killer my ass! They are AMBUSH predators! But hey, I guess it's a bird-eat-bird world out there and ya gotta do what ya gotta do right?

Anyway, we haven't seen our Red Tailed Hawk in probably six months or more. Today I was outside with the kids and heard a squawking unlike anything I'd ever heard before! I ran outside and saw THIS little momma on the fence and ran back to get my ZOOM lens! Gregg and I have seen the chicks (three of them) in a neighbor's driveway and we could NOT figure out what kind of bird it was.. all we knew was that they were baby raptors of some sort, we are kind of thinking she may be some breed of Falcon? Well, the babies are flying now (and screaming very loudly) for their momma! The babes were up on the neighbor's roof and mom was on the fence.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out why her babies were screaming, and why SHE wasn't moving... until.......

She pulled this tasty treasure off the fence picket. YUM!

Have I mentioned that these beautiful birds of prey (sabotage killers) like to catch, pluck and eat these things in my garden? It's pretty gross! But, she IS pretty! Anyone know what she is?

I think I'll call her SPIKE.

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An after-thought. I just realized when I blew these photos up and wondered WHY they were so grainy, that I had left my ISO at 800 after the firework show.

blah!

I hope she comes back!

I know it's not a great shot. I almost deleted it, but then I stopped... and started looking "into" the photo. You know? Matani is a little Crack Dog (See Matani's pool post below). He is hyper, only listens about half the time, is rambunctious and very VERY BIG! He's a true "puppy"... in a really big body. Somedays I want to send him back, others I love him to pieces. But one thing I've noticed about this 8 month old puppy is, he IS where his children ARE. If they are out back, He is out back with them. He is ever watchful over them while they play.

So, while he snores something awful and has reeeeeeeeeeeeally bad gas, I am grateful for him because he is doing exactly what we bought him to do.

Love and Protect our precious babies.

Okay, Okay Okay!!!!!! GUESS WHO'S IN A BIG-BOY BED!!?!?!??!

YESSSSSSS!!!! Mason!!!

After promptly bailing out of his crib in a rebelious leap inspired by insomnia (or it could have been a toy.. who knows), I decided it was time to turn Mason's crib into a toddler bed. Everyone had mixed feelings about this, citing that Mason wasn't "Mature" enough to handle being in a big boy bed. Well, "mature" or not, we didn't need a 2-year old with a broken leg...

Most little ones on the Autism Spectrum do NOT tolerate change very well. Mason, thankfully is NOT that kid! WAHOOOOO! He loved his new bed and hasn't had ONE single issue since we changed it around. That's "MY" boy!

Oh, and please disregard that big nasty bruise on his head. It's been a mainstay since Mason began to walk. I have no clue why it seems that "I" have got the CLUTZIEST kids on the PLANET!

I have this very same shot, of Ashli when she was about 14-15 months old. It was always one of my favorites! When I saw Mason looking out at the rain today, I bolted for my camera! There is something so pure and innocent about a baby gazing out into the storm....

oooooooh Feel That!

This week's challenge on the Photography Challenge Blog was TEXTURE. So, I thought... Trees have lotsa texture! Off I went. Here's what I got!

Happy "Pretendence" Day!!!

In the words of my darling 4 year old - "Happy Pretendence Day Everyone!"

Me, Ashli, Mason, Stacey, Brayden, Victoria and Calista all piled up and headed for the firework show at about 8 o'clock. On the way, I saw this great sunset and had to jump out for a quick pic!

Here are a few of the firework photos I shot. I still need some practice on firework shots, but all in all i'm pretty happy with how they came out!

The Grand Finale! And boy, did they do it up RIGHT!

Then, we pack it up.. clean up the spilled Razzle Juice all over the back of my Hummer (not a good thing), and promptly spend about 45 minutes trying to get home in firework traffic~

Ahhhh to be Free!!!!!!!

Help Us Solve Mason's Puzzle!

(RE-POST)

See Below for new Blog Posts

It is estimated today that 1 in every 150 children is diagnosed with Autism. That number is increasing by 10-17% each year, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined. As of today the cause of Autism is unknown and there is no known cure. Krissy Mosbarger and My Acrylic Album have designed this forward thinking, beautifully crafted acrylic puzzle to help raise awareness of this catastrophic condition that is silencing our sons and daughters. For every puzzle album sold, a portion of the proceeds will go directly to autism research via http://www.autismspeaks.org/. We invite you to contribute to the fight to find a cure for this rapidly growing epidemic by purchasing one of our exclusive acrylic puzzle albums. Thanks in advance to each and every one of you for helping to find a cure for my son and the countless other children who suffer from this disorder.

This fabulous one-of a-kind acrylic puzzle album takes project versatility further than any other acrylic album on the market! Our 6" x 6" puzzle album comes complete with (4) 6" interlocking puzzle pieces pre-drilled to be ring bound for use as a 6" puzzle album, or, this album can be "pieced" together to form a 12" x 12" scrapbook page or piece of home decor! The pre-drilled holes are arranged perfectly for showcasing this piece of art right on your wall! Our 8" x 8" album boasts the very same versatile qualities as our 6" puzzle with a lot more room to create! This 8" puzzle album pieced together creates a whopping 16" x 16" piece of wall art to showcase your beautiful paper crafting project! Not into mini albums? Not ready to venture into wall-hangings? This puzzle is the perfect medium for your group's puzzle swaps, or ATCs! The very BEST part of our one-of-a-kind puzzle album, is the benefits of buying it. Portions of each and every "Mason's Puzzle" sold will be sent directly to AutismSpeaks.org to further their research in finding a cure for Autism.
Each album comes with (4) pre-drilled puzzle pieces and (1) metal binding ring.
http://myacrylicalbum.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=22 <~ This link will take you directly to the Mason's Puzzle page! (Please feel free to send this blog link to ANY AND ALL of your scrapbooking friends! Lets smear these awesome albums all over the scrapping community and really push to find a cause and cure for this horrible disorder!)

With warmest hugs, Krissy Mosbarger

"OOOOOOOOOOH DAISY-DAISY!"

Yeah.. there's a story here. And a CUTE one too! My grandmother has this little thing she says whenever she drops something, or a baby falls... etc. She always says, "WHOOPS-A-DAISY". Well, Ashli spent a little time with her Granny while learning to crawl and walk and she of course picked up this little "whoops-a-daisy" saying. Only, Ashli didn't say it quite right... Or, maybe she did. *smile* Whenever Ashli would fall down or drop something, she would always say, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH Daisy - Daisy!" with a little southern twang in her voice. It was THE CUTEST thing you ever did hear! Okay, so YOU didn't hear it, I did... but just trust me! It was cute!

Anyway, my neighbor has some beautiful Daisies growing in his front yard and I asked to take Ashli over for a little photo session so I could create a scrapbook layout. These are some of the photos I got today. (Thank you Mr & Mrs Smith!)

Heeheehee, yes... they said it was okay for Ashli to pick a flower! They LOVE this girl, they'd give her ALL the flowers if she asked!

Just some Pretties I found...

Here's another 'reflection' photo from last week's challenge!

It's an ADDICTION!

This week's photo challenge, is to photograph FOOD. Well, this is more like 'pureed food' but it's my sustenance nontheless. I could LIVE off of Razzle-Juice! For those of you not "in-the-know" - Razzle-Juice is what Ashli calls the Razzmataz. It's my $5.00 slurpee from Jamba Juice. Not only am I addicted to these things, but Ashli is now as well. It's at least ONCE every two days that I hear that sweet little voice pipe up and say, "Hey Mom, can we go get a Razzle-Juice today?" "Yes baby, of COURSE we can!" It's gotten so bad for us, that Gregg has actually said NO to a house I wanted to look at because it was, "too far from Jamba Juice!"

Help us Solve Mason's Puzzle!

It is estimated today that 1 in every 150 children is diagnosed with Autism. That number is increasing by 10-17% each year, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined. As of today the cause of Autism is unknown and there is no known cure.

Krissy Mosbarger and My Acrylic Album have designed this forward thinking, beautifully crafted acrylic puzzle to help raise awareness of this catastrophic condition that is silencing our sons and daughters. For every puzzle album sold, a portion of the proceeds will go directly to autism research via http://www.autismspeaks.org/. We invite you to contribute to the fight to find a cure for this rapidly growing epidemic by purchasing one of our exclusive acrylic puzzle albums.

Thanks in advance to each and every one of you for helping to find a cure for my son and the countless other children who suffer from this disorder.

This fabulous one-of a-kind acrylic puzzle album takes project versatility further than any other acrylic album on the market! Our 6" x 6" puzzle album comes complete with (4) 6" interlocking puzzle pieces pre-drilled to be ring bound for use as a 6" puzzle album, or, this album can be "pieced" together to form a 12" x 12" scrapbook page or piece of home decor! The pre-drilled holes are arranged perfectly for showcasing this piece of art right on your wall! Our 8" x 8" album boasts the very same versatile qualities as our 6" puzzle with a lot more room to create! This 8" puzzle album pieced together creates a whopping 16" x 16" piece of wall art to showcase your beautiful paper crafting project! Not into mini albums? Not ready to venture into wall-hangings? This puzzle is the perfect medium for your group's puzzle swaps, or ATCs! The very BEST part of our one-of-a-kind puzzle album, is the benefits of buying it. Portions of each and every "Mason's Puzzle" sold will be sent directly to AutismSpeaks.org to further their research in finding a cure for Autism.

Each album comes with (4) pre-drilled puzzle pieces and (1) metal binding ring.

http://myacrylicalbum.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=22 <~ This link will take you directly to the Mason's Puzzle page!

(Please feel free to send this blog link to ANY AND ALL of your scrapbooking friends! Lets smear these awesome albums all over the scrapping community and really push to find a cause and cure for this horrible disorder!)

With warmest hugs,
Krissy Mosbarger

Reflections... continued

Soooooo we went to the park the other day, after getting a tip from Karin that there really IS water in Colorado! You just have to DRIVE 20 miles to FIND SOME! Anyway, I loaded up the littles and we headed off to Wash Park to practice a little reflection photography. I really didn't get too many decent shots as there were "storm clouds a-looming" (as Ashli would say)! But, I did manage to get a couple to share with ya'll! Thanks for the tip Karin, it's a fab park!

A Day At The Park...

While we were at the park having fun and practicing my 'reflection photography' I got some fun shots of the kids, the critters, and the scenery~

Ashli LOVED this beautiful old climbing tree that had ginormous branches that hung over the water's edge! And MOMMA loved the fantastic photo opps!

We were lucky enough to have Mason's Occupational Therapist (Mike) meet us at the park for a little O/T! Mason LOVED the slide routine and even counted ONE, TWO... THREEEEEEEEEEEEE! Before he raced down the slide! YAY!

OH OH OH! Framing shot! LOL~

I am not sure WHAT kind of wierd funk this poor tree had going on, but it looked REALLY COOL!

Hhahahaha, I love this photo of this curious Goose! I handed ashli a loaf of bread and let her try her hand at feeding the ducks. Within a matter of .08 seconds we must have had every duck, goose and gosling at the park chasing us down! This little guy was just as interested in my camera, as I was in him! Too funny!

After we ran for dear life from the starving mob of 30 pound geese, we happened across this little fellow who was just soooooooo cute we HAD to give him a few bites!

Oh to stop and smell (shove a macro lens into) the flowers! This park had great flower gardens with lots of beautiful blooms! (Thanks Karin!)

Here's our little squirrel friend (or Tree Rat, as daddy calls them) having a little bite to eat - courtesy of Ashli.

Here's another fantastic photo of Ashli curled up on that old climbing tree again!

All in all, I think it was a great day! Sure there were clouds making it difficult to capture any 'outstanding' photos. But the kids and I had a really good time, and all the critters at the park had full tummies!

Reflections...

This week's photo challenge, was 'reflections'. I was so hoping to be able to get to a lake, or pond... or even PUDDLE for crying out loud, but it was a big fat NO-GO. Too much going on around here between therapies, dentists (oy-vey!), and even an emergency trip to the Veterinarian! (Borris will be okay thank goodness!)

So, here is my best reflection photo. Mason's reflection in the refrigerator, as he is sitting on the dishwasher door! Hmmm you think he's dishwasher safe? LOL!

A cute wittle wabbit!

I really do LOVE my yard. EVERY SINGLE DAY I can count on having at least one (sometimes up to six) little cotton-tail rabbit taking a rest in my lush green lawn. Sure, he may nibble here and there, but they have never in 6.5 harmed my yard. So they can STAY! Besides, I get to have cute little bunny rabbits, and I don't have to feed them OR clean up after them!
SCORE!
I went outside today and played "Jane Goodall" of the rabbits to get these shots. This precious little angel let me get to within about 3 feet of him, and was so comfortable that he actually groomed himself with me there~ No, I don't speak bug (Wendy does that!) But I may know a few words in cotton-tail!

hehehe this is how they 'hide'. Everytime we see the bunnies hunched down like this, we feel as though they are saying, "they can't see me, they can't see me, they can't see me!"

A little grooming to let me know, he's okay with me being there!