Sorry I have not been around much lately. I have too much going on in my life right now that there has not been much time for photos. But we had such a pretty day Monday that I got my camera out. The garden is starting to fill in and I already have some flowers in bloom so I thought I would share with you all.

spring garden

And I stopped at a pond on my way to take my son to a appointment and got this photo. spa_office

Hope you enjoy the photos and have a Happy Picture Day. ;)

Its that time of the year again. Spring is here and I had enough of the house work. My boys are home for two weeks from school and they need to get outside. So, we packed up some lunches and packed up My three kids into the mini van. Off we go!
We went to the Iroquois wild animal refuge. It was a beautiful day and lots to see.
We needed a little help in directions so we followed these guys v_shape But they only went as far as to a pond. There I tried to ask this guy the_take_off_2
but you see what help he was. While at the side of the road something caught my eye. why_the_frog_crossedthe road?
Never got that question answered. Then I felt like someone was watching me. I saw these deer stop_to_look_at_me    When I asked them how to get to the trail. They took off too. I tried to ask this guy but he seemed a bit focused on something. flying_high_
Finley I found our way to the trail but then I could not find our way out so this little green, legless guy saidI_see_you_2   are lost. I will point to the way out and he did. we said our good_bye_ssssss  and  a thank you.
This beautiful creature met us at the end.pretty_orange_butter  butterfly.
When we were waiting to leave the parking lot this is what we saw.what_the___   this is the strangest creature of all.

Enjoy the post,for we really did enjoy the day.  ;)

This is my first photo of a hawk. I use my new Nikon 70-300 mm VR lens. Although the hawk was to far for me to get a real good shot plus I was on the side of a thruway. I had already seen about four hawks on the way to the appointment I was going to for my son. So on the way back home I decided to try to get a photo. I hope to get  opportunities this year to get better (closer) shots of hawks.  
Take a look and give your opinions.
red_hawk_framed
red_tail_hawk_2_fram
Thanks for looking and Happy shooting. ;)

I have a new friend that you may have seen in earlier postings. I call him Flicker (of course). He has made himself quite at home at the suet feeder. He decided to let me get some very nice photos of him the other day and posed for quit awhile. I hope you enjoy the shot as much as I did taking them. I also have some other feathered friend at the end.
my feathered friends
Thank you for looking and let me know what you think of the photos. All comments welcome. ;)

First is my_practice_shot
Then I found this in my house spring_ladybug
I guess spring is on its way here.

Enjoy and thanks for looking. ;)

My youngest is going to be two on Easter Sunday. After having two boys I thought we were done, but then about 5 years ago we decided to try for a girl before we could not try anymore. after 3 felled attempts (almost giving up) #4 was the lucky number. (And in a dream I had during my third pregnancy loss My mother told me that my 7th try was the one)I know it sound crazy. Well anyway we had Mary. soon_to_be_two_
She is the light of our lives and we have had so much to be happy about since we had her. She is very much loved by her brothers (Joe 12 and Paul 7) and she is Daddy's little girl. She_s_got_the_look
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR LITTLE GIRL. YOU ARE LOVED.

At least the bird say so. My bird feeder was very busy today. I had birds that I have not seen in a while and a new one that I have never seen. A Northern Flicker. I am so excited to see my feathered friends coming back. Even the (not so favorite) starlings got my attention.
spring birds 2008  

Hope you enjoy the slide show and thank you for looking.

The 2 photos I am posting are from my Las Vegas/valley of fire trip. I cropped and used focal B&w using google's picsa program. let me know what you think and what can be done different.
valley_of_fire_min_t
caesers_palace_focal

Thank you for looking ;)

My husband and I got a chance to go to Las Vegas. Did not want to turn it down. My best friends took care of our three children( along with her three). We had 2 days to enjoy the sights. The first day we stayed in Las Vegas and the second we rented a car and went to Hoover Dam and to  a place called Valley of Fire.

Valley of fire are the first shots that I will be posting (My personal favorites).

I also like to let you know that I froze on a opportunity to talk and have a book signed by Peter Lik. Its a long story and won't get into it. But he has a gallery at the Hotel we stayed at and his photos are amazing to see.

Enjoy my first set of photos. more to come.
Valley

In the eyes of a child is the world of emotions. To see they're eyes one can tell the mood they are in. Happy, sad, tired or bored. Their eyes tell all. Lucky for me, I have children who are mostly happy.

first_son
second_son_eye
daughters_watching_e
Did I say tired.
daughters_tired_eyes

Thank you for looking. ;)

 

Over the weekend I got to go out by myself for a bit. My hubby stayed home with the kids. I went down to the park to see if there was anything good to see. Not a whole lot, but I took some winter photos anyway. Everything was covered in snow including the lake. But it was quiet and sunny.
A winter walk I can't wait for spring.
This photo I took this morning just as the sun was coming up, but the sky was still dark. It was taken from my attic again.
moon_1_31_08_framed
Hope you enjoy them. ;)  

My Amaryllis plants.

My Amaryllis

And just for fun. good_friends_2

Enjoy! ;)

I have Been holding out on this one. I took this with my sigma 70mm-300mm normal to macro lens. (I have to stand back 5 feet from my subject to get the focus) My Dad talked me into buying the lens. (the price was right) to get really good photo I use a tripod but this was hand held.  The plant was called a "love plant" and this was the only flower that bloomed.
Thank you for looking and enjoy feeling_the_love_3

I'm going to give this a try. This was  taken from my attic window ,from the in side of my house (window opened). the sun set was so pretty the other day and I ran up to the attic to take this shot. living in the city makes it hard to take sunset photos. too much stuff in the way. but I found that the attic window is the best place to go. (we have a very tall house)
I did not want to loose the effect of the sunset so the only thing done to this photo is cropping.
hope you all like it. ;)
from_my_attic_window

Sorry but I must Bore you with more bird feeder shots. We had a pretty good amount of snow today and the only thing to do is stay in and get some sewing done. But of course I had trouble staying focused on the task on hand with the bird feeder crew around. The squirrels gave a good show today, so I hope you enjoy this little slide show I put together (first time).
Enjoy and stay warm. ;)  snowy day at the bird feeder