What Happens When You Give Your Husband the Camera

He's always happy to take pictures when I hand him the camera. And he had already changed out of his Easter best, so it seemed like a nice opportunity to get some shots of me with the kids without me having to run back and forth between preschoolers and setting the timer on the camera.

I usually choose the settings and let him snap away.

And snap away he does.  A nearly empty 8 GB card is like a challenge for him. How quickly can I fill it up?

It always makes him particularly happy to capture more elusive expressions, like the one below where I am telling him about that very 8 gig card that does not need filling up in that exact moment.

I've been told this is an expression to watch for: the one-eye-half-closed-eye-twitch which is also a hallmark expression of one of the brunettes.....or so I've been told by her husband.

The look may sometimes be followed by a very fleeting both-eyes-closed-eye-twitch.

The inherent problem with this expression is that it rarely to never yields the desired response. A playful smirk and chuckle is usually all I get.

After a few more snaps and a change in angle, I get asked "How do you focus this thing?"

To which I apologize and ask for the camera back so I can switch it off back-button focus.

But no, he says "Just tell me how to do it." And he then proceeds to take the only family photo we've had taken since last fall.

Can you find Waldo?

My little girl is close to mastering the both-eyes-closed-eye-twitch. I am so proud of the legacy I am leaving.

Another thing about the husband having the camera is he neglects to tell you, "You look more fat than pregnant right now. Try scooting forward on the chair, roll your shoulders back and down, and turn a bit more to the side."

When you finally get your camera back, he digs out his new video recorder that he "needed" for work...

...on which he continues to take still shots because it's just so much fun.

About the Weather

Well, I'm sitting here blogging almost guilt free. I should probably be in bed, but other than that, there's nothing else screaming for my attention at the moment. The first thunderstorm of the year just ended, the house is quiet, and after an hour of gymnastics, baby-on-the-way has finally settled back to sleep.

I spent the past week using every possible free second to basically re-do the Pollyanna script to reflect the changes we've made over the past 3 months, stage right/stage left entrances/exits, and all lighting and music cues. I finished it this afternoon, got it printed for the lights guy, the sound guy, and the stage managers, and now I am taking a little break from Pollyanna stuff - that is until tomorrow afternoon when the last of our rehearsals - and the beginning of our rehearsals at our actual performance location - start. We get to kick off tomorrow, though, with Jack and Ava's first trip to the dentist. Words can't really describe how much I am not looking forward to that.

One would think that with some guiltless time on my hands I would be able to crank out a great post. But again....I have nothing. Every now and then, two or more coherent and connected thoughts will travel through my brain and make my fingers itch to type in order to see what those two thoughts become. But it never gets that far.

So, when it doubt, talk about the weather, right? Isn't that the basis of all small talk?

This spring really just has been unreal. It's April 2nd and I already have noticeable tan lines. There's a strange combination of mud boots and flip flops laying by the back door. The kids play outside a gloriously large portion of the day. We will likely need to mow before Easter, although it's not likely it will actually happen. The garden has been tilled, just for the fun of it, and the ground smells warm and sweet, and it's taking everything I have to not starting pushing seeds into the soft more-perfect-than-it-ever-was-last-year dirt.

I can hardly believe that these pictures are from March...

....when last year at this time, it looked like this...

....after our well pump stopped working due to corroded wires from "excessive moisture."  We had to tear up a good chuck of the lawn that had just been re-seeded the previous summer to get the well-truck thing out there. The wires were replaced, and everything worked beautifully until this past weekend, when a year later - almost to the day - the pump stopped working again.....because it had died. Fortunately, it waited until after 3 1/2 of us had showered for the night.

At least that wasn't about the weather.