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Needless to say I guess but I'm...

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Rockin' Best Shot Monday

Well, we are back from our summer adventure. Whew. That means of course we are back home to the many luxuries we've missed (like a king size bed and a hot shower) but also those we didn't miss (like endless laundry, dirty dishes and the clean up from the great flood that happened before we left). Even still, it's great to be home.

The amazing Stephanie seems to be feeling the same way and shared it in this little gem over at Shutter Sisters. Her post prompted my Best Shot for this week as it's the perfect example of the earth's currency. There's nothing more endearing than to have your child discover one of nature's treasures.



It was along the dirt road on the way to the frog pond that my youngest unearthed this beauty she has since dubbed The Spud Rock (for obvious reasons). That rock came along on the rest of our vacation with us. It even crossed the border into Canada and back again and now it's taken it's rightful place on my daughter's bedroom dresser.

What sorts of treasures have you captured this week? Do share. And welcome back...I missed you.

Fishing for my Best Shot Monday

Share your Best Shot today over at Slurping Life.

I will see you all back here next week for what I'm pretty sure will be some more photos from our vacation (which has almost come to an end). Until then, happy summer shooting.

Easy Breezy Days of Summer

Well, well, there's internet access even way out here in the sticks. Who knew?

Even still, the lovely Melody is hosting Best Shot Monday for a few weeks for me so be sure to pop over there to leave your best shots of summer (or whatever else you want to share). As for me, I leave you with a BSM that shows us living it up family vacation style.

from the road

Yellow Polka Dot Best Shot

There's been a Parent Bloggers blog blast happening this weekend and the gist had to do with bikinis. You know, something like, the bikini: friend or foe. It's summer and all that so I guess, it is the season to fret about these matters. We'll I hate bathing suit shopping as much as the next gal, and I have even a stronger dislike for wearing them but I'll be honest, I do wear a bikini when a bathing suit is an absolute must. I'm not saying it's a great idea or anything, as a matter of fact I'm not a big swimmer so I rarely strip down to my suit even when I'm at the beach or pool so I guess not many people would even know I'm in a bikini, underneath it all. But I am.

A girlfriend of mine (with almost the exact build as me) admitted she wears one too although she wasn't sure it was such a good idea either. And here's the real kicker, she actually asked another friend if she thought she had any business wearing one, after birthing and nursing 2 kids, rounding 40 and all that. Her friend apparently didn't feel the least bit shy about replying an honest one liner; you're borderline. Which means at best, I'm borderline too.

But what's in a bathing suit really besides extra flesh that we wish we didn't have, in all the wrong places I might add? Your size is as important as your age. And from my point of view, it's not important at all. I'm 40 and I'm not freaked about it. It's a number. Just like the size or cut of my bathing suit. It's only weighty if I make it so. Pun totally intended.

Although I am the first to acknowledge a little balance in my life couldn't hurt (less work, more exercise), I'm choosing to focus less on my own bathing suit and more on my daughter's not so itsy bitsy teenie weenie...

After all, isn't the point of the bathing suit summer fun?

You know this little gem had to be my Best Shot for this sunny Monday!

Oh, and speaking of BSM, summer fun and a quest for balance, me and the fam are heading out for a few weeks. Woot! And because I am having to relinquish my control over having internet access (gasp. can't. breathe.) the wonderful Melody will be hosting Best Shot Monday over at her place Slurping Life for the next two weeks (thank you sweet Melody). That means on both June 30th and July 7th you'll be popping over there to post your BSM links. I shall return and be your gracious hostess again on July 14 with lots and lots of shots to choose from I'm sure!

Until then...show us what kind of summer fun you've been having this week (bikini or not).

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by BOCA.

My Best Shot at Slowing Down

I woke up this morning with a start. Gasp! What day is it? It's Monday, isn't it?

We've had quite the eventful week and I so wanted to write about all of the spinning and swirling mommy emotions that have been flooding my head and my heart but alas, besides a birthday, and a promotion ceremony (my baby has been promoted to middle school) we had a different kind of flood. The laundry room spilled over with so much water from the defunct washing machine that it's damaged our wood flooring AND it got the wall so wet that all of our cabinets actually fell off the wall. Big, heavy cabinets. Right onto our washer and dryer. Big huge crashing sound. Not pretty. And certainly not good timing. Happy Father's Day.

It's hard to focus on the light at the end of this tunnel because I'm not sure how many miles down the road it is but I know we'll get there eventually. This too shall pass my Grandma reminds me. She's right. And it could be worse. As we still have some wrapping up to do before all of the end of the school year hullabaloo starts to settle down it feels so hectic around here, it's hard to keep my head about me. Deep cleansing breath. I will look back on all of this and laugh, right?

Although I have hundreds of photos on a number of compact flash cards all over the house and videos galore from the recent pomp and circumstance(s) -we got a new video camera-yay!-I have yet to get any of them to my computer. However, in the midst of the chaos, I thought it might be nice to share a photo or two that speak more of slowing down and being mindful of what is important, than anything else.

I submitted this image as well as a few others for consideration in a lovely collaborative project called my heart wanders. I was so inspired by their call for images and the project itself, I spend one afternoon in the midst of all the activities and slowed down long enough to create a handful of photographs that I really love. Truthfully, I'm just delighted to have stumbled onto my new blog crush.

So, in the theme of slowing down a bit today, I offer you this best shot for the day. If nothing else, I will be using it as a mediation of sorts to find some calm today. I know it's there somewhere. I just have to seek it out.

Did you find any time to slow down and smell the flowers this week? OR perhaps you captured the craze of life in a shot that brought perspective or maybe even humor? Whatever your week looked like, we'd love to see how you caught it in action.