8 days left...

every morning when i hop out of bed, i'm told a new number....after all, school is almost at it's end....

and every morning i am made to realize that my little one is a 'pre-teen' now...how can that be - it's a mix of happy (for him) and a sadness for me. i realize i have a long way to go until i have the deep seated feelings of an empty nest - but i think having one son way ahead of eli makes me even sadder along the way - for i see just how fast time has gone by...

and as he counts down the days i too am counting down the number of days where i still have a studio to pick and choose what my day will be...that will change and more chaos will sit in, but it will be a welcomed chaos, for i count how many summers i have him still with me...

in the studio there's a mad hustle and bustle going on - the constants of drawing, painting, sawing and staining to the beat of my own drum - generally that beat is a hustle and bustle for me...

as my young one is in need of me less and less a baby has made a grand appearance into my days...certainly this must be part of a 'great plan' for it seems that a baby shows up in our lives just when they are needed...so i'm enjoying cooing and rocking my friends little one at every chance that i can get...there is just something about that lower lip starting to quiver just before the cry escapes that i can't stand to miss out on...

the weather has been a scare for weeks with endless rain and storms long into the night, leaving my plans of baseball games or studio work up in the air right along with the wind...

i look forward to summer - looser schedules, late nights outside with the fireflies, baseball games and NO RULES, so to speak -

it's time as my mom says, to put my tiki torch outside...(referencing the last of "the middle" show of the season - all of my families favorite... )

hope these last days of school for you and your kids, and for all the teachers that follow my blog bring you lots of laughs, hopes of things to come and a delightful summer season...

Summer: Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice. The date of the beginning of summer varies according to climate, culture, and tradition, but when it is summer in the southern hemisphere it is winter in the northern hemisphere, and vice versa.

happy mother's day...

i hope that each and everyone of you have a wonderful mother's day....i was lucky enough to have the best mom in the whole wide world...happy mother's day mom!

vacation photos....run!

florida to eli is a place of danger....he's always on high alert....for every creature of his nightmares is certainly lurking down there evidently in search of 11 year old boys....on the way down he saw this sign and later asked me has grandpa ever had alligators go through his yard? well of course he has, he backs up to a swamp - thinking back to last year when we were watching the bobcat chase the bird by the porch...yes, it is a bit different down there - we really only have to be on the look out for bears...

with only a few days with mom and dad, there is so much to do and so little time! (probably not their thinking)....family gatherings, an Easter celebration with those old family recipes, table set with china and crystal (a treat for me), and of course, hitting the beach....now to me, the gulf is the ONLY beach in the world....i've been to others, not impressed, for the gulf is my home, it's where my barefoot brown childhood was spent...you can't change my mind...

and where i can find pelicans....the last of the flying dinosaur in my mind...i have loved them since the first time i saw them, dive bombing into the gulf and then lifting their heads up and back to swallow their fish....what a life, floating and bobbing on the water, taking in a snack and flying through the air...

so we are at the beach, with all of the other white legged 'northerners'....and i saw a pelican fly by....now usually they aren't hard to find, but they probably hang down more by the pier or it was the time of day...so as time goes by i shoot up a little prayer: God, just let one of those pelicans fly by me so i can get a picture, you know how i love them so....well as the saying goes, be careful what you pray for...

so here he comes...out of nowhere....right at me, i am so not kidding! i was so excited and was trying to get my camera in view...well being that the sun is behind me i can't see a darn thing in these new cameras, you know the ones without the view finders? so then i get the giggles, because he's coming straight at me (and i'm thinking, they sure are a lot bigger than i thought, so my giggle was sounding somewhat terrorized), but i can't focus or shoot....so at this point i'm just laughing out loud standing all alone (looking like a crazy person) and just shooting randomly into the air where i think he might be....

i do believe God does have a good sense of humor...

finally after being cold for the past 7 months my bones were warm and toasty and it was time to leave....the smile on my parents face is just minutes before we left...hmmmm, wonder what they were thinking...thanks mom and dad for putting up with us again!

and off we went...

and yes, we are THOSE kind of people....

as i drove up my driveway the lilacs and dogwood trees were blooming along with all of my bleeding hearts.....leaves are now coming onto the trees and the birds are building their nests in every nook and cranny...including my wreath on the front door...

i just love spring...

if you are working on your own nests....and you need to browse some game boards, here's my link:

www.dallison.squarespace.com/