This past weekend we took a road trip to Rochester, NY for my brother-in-law's graduation the Lilac Festival!!! Lucky for him, his graduation just happened to coincide with this VERY important event so we attended that as well.

Lilacs are the reason I want a house. I wanted to plant a lilac bush right outside my bedroom window, and wake up every morning (in May) to the beautiful aroma. Then I read that lilacs attract A LOT of bees. Ever since being stung by a bee on my 14th birthday, I start hyperventilating whenever one is in close proximity. So maybe I'll plant that bush further away from the window.

But back to the festival... and the graduation. 

500 varieties of lilac, 1200 bushes... I was in heaven, albeit a very cold heaven. Having been promised 65 degrees and sunshine I was not dressed for the 50 degrees, clouds and wind that greeted us. But that did not prevent me from going picture crazy and I got hundreds of great shots.

Here are two that are perfect for the theme this week:

(click on the photos for larger size)

And here's one of the proud graduate. Or rather his side/back.

And while we're on the subject of photography, does anyone have any experience with bubbles in your lens? I found 2 tiny ones while cleaning the back end of the lens, contacted Canon and they want me to send it in for repair. I can't picture myself without a lens for 2-4 weeks. Google brought up several forums where people say one or two bubbles are perfectly fine. Any opinions?

Thanks!

Ah, quiet, how I long for it towards the end of the day. When Allen's sweetly sleeping in his crib, my husband is passed out on the couch, and I have an hour to myself to do with as I please (quietly of course!). 

Beth has challenged us to capture quiet this week, and lucky for me, my quiet does not consist of silence, but instead of quieting the mind of worry, silly thoughts, and stress. I have many reminders scattered around the house that always seem to catch my eye just when I need them most.

Meditation is wonderful, when I can convince myself that I don't have anything more important to do for the next half hour. But just focusing on breathing in and out for a few minutes works wonders for quieting the mind.

Head to to join in on the fun!

 

Allen's hopeful moment this week consisted of 'hoping' to fit into his favorite box. Meanwhile I was busy hoping that he would not fall out of it and hurt himself.

I was also hoping that as he gets older, and his attention span gets longer, we'll have more quiet moments like the one above.

Last Friday he had experienced the repercussions of being a carefree little boy who's not as stable on his feet as he thinks, and mommy probably got her first gray hair. 

He cut his temple pretty deep and when he turned around to show me his 'booboom' ... well lets just say my first instinct was to call in the top specialists from all over the world to help stop the bleeding.

Luckily a few minutes of pressure with a cold washcloth stopped it, and he was back to his carefree self within moments. 

Wish I can say the same for myself.

Is it really THAT wrong to stick em in a bubble?

Head over to to participate!

This week is about shapes. And since shapes are EVERYWHERE, this is a very open ended challenge.

I didn't do much snapping this or last week due to the slow and painful recovery after a tonsillectomy, so I'd like to share one of my favorite shots from Valentine's Day.

We were driving back to our B&B after an afternoon of sightseeing and shopping, and passed this amazing tree house. My husband, who never stops the car when I'm ooohing and aaahing at the scenery, actually offered to pull over! My exclamation of adoration must have been particularly enthusiastic this time! (I should really perfect the technique for use on shopping trips.)

Or maybe something from his childhood sparked inside. Either way, I got a few great shots. Here's my favorite one.

So don't forget to look up at the trees, you might find a few surprises!

Faces, faces everywhere! Can you guess what this week's assignment over at
was?

I'm usually all about faces, but this week Allen wasn't having much of it (again) and decided to sabotage every shot with movement. But thanks to the holy (or is it unholy?) powers of the all mighty photoshop, a few have been salvaged!

Tomorrow, or rather tonight, we're expecting about 6 inches of snow. I have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to get some really cute photos of him then (shutter speed should be able to keep up in daylight!).
I'll update if it's a success!
And here's one more from mommy's first attempt at muffins. 

*** Update ***

Here's a favorite shot of mine from this afternoon (how I loooove bright light).

is having us look high and low for colors (bonus points for outside shots).

Unfortunately I did not venture outside with my camera at any point during this week due to bad weather and a booger faced toddler, so no extra credit for me.

I have however, managed to find some (ok, ALOT of) color inside. The difficult part was narrowing down my options and coming up with some creative angles.

Here goes!

And some cheating shots (taken outside months ago)!

Did you have as much fun with this week's challenge?

Can't wait to see all of the other entries!