one year old

I have officially gone back to my slacker-blogging ways.  I just can't seem to find the energy to keep posting consistently.  I still do enjoy it, but I think I'm going to have to be okay with occasional posts.  Maybe my new goal should be once a week?  

Last week Z turned one!  Wow, I can not believe it.  We had a very low-key celebration.  I made him butternut squash muffins with citrus glaze.  I'm no baker, but these were yummy, and I'm still enjoying the leftovers.  Here's Z with his muffin-cake.  I think he likes it!

Inquisitively looking at the girls, who graciously offered to blow out his candle.  Hmm...what's going on?

YUM!  He definitely likes it :)

A few personality shots.  What's up with all the cameras in my face?!

Miss A giving David the stink eye.

Here's Miss M trying to put on Z's birthday crown.  He did not like that one bit!

Happy Birthday, Z!  We're so glad you're part of our family.

beach day

Little Z had his first trip to the beach a few weeks ago and loved it. It was Spring Break week at our house, and since it had rained ALL week, we decided to make a Saturday trip, along with everyone else who lives in central FL! Z did great--he didn't mind the sand at all, was ready to dive into the ocean, and just generally loved being there. He fits in so perfectly with our family!

I'm always little shy to take my nicest camera to the beach, so I took my Rebel XT and one of my cheapest lenses. But, can you believe after two years of not using that camera much, I could barely remember how to focus the thing!? (I have my settings customized to my liking, so it requires fast fingers to get the shot.) Wow, it's crazy how quickly we forget things that we once second nature to us...

Anyway, we made our second trip in 8 days this past Saturday, and I'm just now recovering from the trip. I successfully put sunscreen on everyone but myself and got the WORST burn on my back. I haven't every really gotten a bad burn, so I can now empathize with those who do. I didn't know it would make me feel so yucky for so many days! I'm sure I will get a nice tan out of the deal, but that was not ever my intention, and was totally not worth it to me.

I'm feeling a little beach-shy now. It may take me some time before I'm ready to go back!

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Here's a few of my in-focus snaps.

Oh, and thank you for all of your nice comments--I'm really not used to so much blog-attention, so I'm also feeling a little blog-shy these days....somehow I feel more comfortable with fewer readers.  I guess I'm an introvert in the real world and an introvert in the blog world as well!

hangin' out on Friday night

I love the light in Florida, especially the deliciously beautiful evening light.  Here's our little family just hanging out on a random Friday night.  It's sort of typical.  You see David?  He's on his phone.  Mr. Z is pushing his walker looking rather spacey.  I wonder where he gets that from?  It's certainly not me.

Let's zoom in a bit. What a serious face. He must be tired.

There he goes!

And, here comes Miss A zooming by on her scooter. Typical.

There's Miss M. She's playing Angry Birds on my phone. My girls love Angry Birds! I might too, but maybe I don't want to admit it.

She's doing good!

And, now, everyone has gotten tired of being outside except for Miss A and I.

She's been into drawing money on our sidewalk lately.  I guess this one has a heart on it.  Cute.

Fun times.  I like my little family!