Little green heron

I saw this little green heron tonight at sunset.  He was just sitting up on a Slash Pine tree as the sun got lower in the sky.  He and his mate were gathering sticks and twigs for a nest, and I sat and watched them work for a few minutes before the mosquitoes chased me away.  Another peaceful night. :)

Foraging cardinal

Look who I came across tonight in my yard.  This little male cardinal was just hopping around in the leaves looking for food.  He almost didn't mind me sneaking up on him to take this picture...

Sunset over the Blue Hole

Tonight, I shared a beautiful sunset with an alligator, a few turtles, a couple little green herons, and some dragonflies.  It was so peaceful. All I heard was the occasional splashing sound of a fish jumping in the water, the crickets, and the calls of the herons in the trees.  Can you see the alligator in the foreground of this picture? Paradise.

Amazing sunset

Sometimes all you need is a beautiful sunset to put things back into perspective. I am so glad I took a half hour for myself tonight to witness and photograph this moment and to breathe in some nature...

Playing his heart out

Here is my little guy getting a good hit during the last game of the day.  He played his heart out - he held his own and really played well considering the freakishly good players his team was up against this weekend - and I'm very proud of him and all his teammates.  My son has never lost a baseball game in his life.  I was nervous about his reaction.  However, I was very impressed how well he handled all the losses this weekend.  He dealt with the pressure and the disappointments with grace.  He's the bomb.  :)

My handsome boy

This is my handsome little boy during Game 2 of his tournament up here in Coral Springs.  He is growing up....suddenly very fast.  I can't believe it.  This was the second time he's ever worn eye black.  This time, he didn't smear it all over his face on purpose.  I could stare into these beautiful eyes all day long....I'm so smitten. :)

Baseball Under the Lights

"It's not who wins or loses but how you play the game."  "Play hard, have fun".  I've been saying those quotes to my son for years preparing him for the day his baseball team might lose (they've been undefeated for 3 yrs straight).  Well, tonight was the night.  The Lower Keys Travel Team had their first night game of the four-day tournament.  It started at 730pm, so the big lights were on - very cool atmosphere in a big baseball complex up here in "the city".  Tonight was the first time my son ever agreed to wear the eye black.  Guess he felt tonight was special.  I ran to get the camera and when I came back he looked like he just came out of the coal mines - it was smeared all over his face and he was giggling....sigh.  I was very proud of him tonight.  He played well - hit both times up to bat (only 4 innings before it was called) and got a lot of action in the outfield.  He reacted fast and threw quality throws each time.  He also handled losing waaaaay better than I anticipated he would.  He's always surprising me....what a kid. 

Brothers at the sand table

Today, after school, the kids played outside by the sandbox and water/sand table. They were so cute - driving their matchbox cars/trucks through sand tunnels...  both sitting on chairs.  I had to take a picture.  I just love how well they play together (well, most of the time, anyway).  After I took this picture, they started fighting over who could play with the purple truck....but I caught the moment while it lasted! :)

Flowers after the rain

This morning, I took a picture of our Jamaican Dogwood tree's flowers after a rain shower. I loved how beautiful the rain drops and slight pinkish color of the blooms looked in the sunlight.  

Action at home plate

Today's Travel team baseball practice was intense.  The boys were practicing getting a double play - an out on first and then an out at home plate where the catcher was practicing trying to tag them as they slid under him.  I captured some great shots!  My son is the slider here and his teammate (the catcher) is tagging him out.  He knocked my son's helmet right off his head.  It was crazy!  If they keep this up, they just may win some of the next tournament games this weekend.  :)

Laughing Gull

My son and I saw this Laughing gull perched on the same pole that the osprey was standing on the other day.  Looks like it might be a hot hang-out spot for the birds in my neighborhood. :)

Rain out

Today's baseball game got cancelled due to a rain storm... the baseball field totally flooded.  Despite the obvious dis-appointment, I had a blast photographing the boys in the dugout waiting out the rain storm! They were all hilarious.  You'd think they'd never seen rain before.  They were holding their hands out from the dugout to feel the rain, climbing the benches to watch the rain on the other side of the dugout and to see how flooded the other fields were, and just being silly, innocent kids.  Seeing life through a child's eyes is really fun...     It's what life's all about.  

Travel Baseball

Today was the first set of tournament games for the Lower Keys Travel Team.  They won both games! All the boys did such a great job! I had SO much fun out there on the field photographing all of them doing their stuff....I especially loved cheering on my little buggaboo.  :)  Here he is during Game 2 about to hit the ball.  Look at that concentration and determination!  I just love that little boy's spirit! Good day today - more baseball tomorrow! 

Purple beauties

I saw these beautiful little purple flowers growing on the side of the road today.  Aren't they gorgeous?

Sodden Osprey

While walking in our amazing national refuge this morning after the rain, my son and I saw this gorgeous and very wet osprey sitting on top of a pole.  Poor thing.  Glad to have a roof over my head when it rains...yet another thing to be grateful for. :)

Double Deer

My son and I saw these beautiful deer this morning while we were out walking.  Seeing anything "natural" these days is difficult due to all the construction going on in the streets (they're replacing water pipes), but we still managed to find some peace and tranquility in a nearby neighborhood. :)

Sick baby :(

My sweet baby boy is sick... :(  High fever, listless.... This is the way he looked for most of the day on the couch.  Actually, I was cuddling with him for the majority of the day, but I was "allowed" to get up to take this picture and to make myself something to eat this morning.  I sure hope he feels better tomorrow... 

Mangroves on the beach

Tonight, after getting the kids to sleep, I went quickly to see if I could catch the sunset at the beach.  It was pretty overcast and cloudy where the sun was setting, but I thought these mangroves looked gorgeous as it got darker.  I sat there for a bit just to relax.  Good for calming the nerves after a long day... 

Bubble wonder

We had a great barbeque tonight on the porch for Mother's Day.  While Daddy was cooking our dinner, the kids and I played with bubbles.  What is it about bubbles that fascinates both the young and old?  I love the look of awe and wonder on my children's faces when they play with bubbles... just so sweet.

Magician at breakfast

This morning, my son had his breakfast smoothie while wearing his magician hat and while perusing his baseball stats with his wand.  Really...how cute can you get?

Yellow Crested Night Heron

I saw this Yellow Crested Night Heron at the beach during my photoshoot tonight.  One of the cutie-petutie boys I was photographing was playing with a beach ball with me when I noticed this little bird.  He was just standing at the shore trying to find some dinner.  I quickly shot this picture before we ran to catch up with the rest of the awesome family I was photographing. :) What a great night!  

Stopping to Watch the Glitter

Today, my son asked if he could make me a picture with glue and glitter.  Despite foreseeing the mess I'd have to clean up, I set it up for him and let him go at it.  After he made his masterpiece, he was really relaxed/tired and spent a good five minutes just quietly resting on his hand, analyzing the glitter pieces in the bottle as he slowly moved it back and forth.  I had to capture this sweet moment with a couple pictures... priceless.  When was the last time any of us "stopped to watch the glitter"?  ;-)

Dancing Reddish Egret

This morning, when my son and I took our walk, we spied this Reddish Egret "dancing" in the middle of the shallows of the salt marsh.  He was spinning, jumping, dancing, and running around with his wings outstretched and all his feathers sticking straight out trying to spook and catch fish.  Very cool.

Salt marsh sunset

Just another gorgeous sunset over the salt marsh/mangroves tonight...  Guess it's obvious to say I live in paradise.  

Sliding

This is my son sliding tonight at baseball practice.  I have so much fun shooting the kids' pictures while they're batting, running, sliding, throwing, catching and working so hard!  So awesome!  Now I have to clean my lens!  VERY dirty.  :)

Mmmm....birthday cake and ice cream!

I baked a german chocolate cake for my hubby's birthday today (we extended the celebration through the weekend).  We had it with chocolate ice cream tonight.  Our baby boy was in his glory eating all that chocolate.  Boy, he was happy.  He was actually dancing around the kitchen in anticipation.  So cute!  :)

Hubby's birthday/Super Moon

Today was my precious husband's birthday.  He took my son out on the boat during "naptime" while I worked, and then we all went out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  It was fun!  We will do cake and ice cream tomorrow night - spreading the celebration out into 2 nights. :)  I did get a chance to quickly run out onto the porch tonight to check out the super moon.  WOW... Gorgeous.  Perfect way to end this special day.  Happy Cinco de Mayo, and Happy Birthday to my sweet hubby.   

Mr. Hustle

Tonight was the Cubs' baseball end-of-the-season party at the local mini-golf course.  It was very fun to watch the kids play with their coaches and have a blast.  I have never played golf so FAST in my life - it was basically SPEED GOLF.  It was my worst game ever, ha ha - but fun nonetheless..  :)  Anyway, after we played, the head coach gave out trophies and said a few words about each player.  What he said about our son made me cry.  He gave him the "Mr. Hustle" trophy.  He said that, not only does our son run FAST, work extremely hard, and do his best in every game and practice (he's really improved this year), but he possesses unique character and determination that will take him far in life no matter what he decides to do..traits that don't come from the coach or any amount of practice or training.... they come from us - his parents.  :)  (This is when I started to cry...).  I couldn't be more proud of my little man.  He is the sweetest, most amazing boy I know, and I adore him.  I know I'm biased, but it was incredible to hear his coach share the same feelings tonight.  Here is my son and two of his happy teammates. :)

Travel Team

My son is one of 11 kids who was picked to be on the Lower Keys Travel Baseball Team this year.  This is a huge honor.  He has improved greatly and made amazing strides this season.  We are so incredibly excited for him...he was thrilled to hear the news.  His first words when I told him were: "Yey! I get to keep playing baseball!"  That's pretty great, right?  He deserves this privilege - he's worked so hard this year and never does anything without giving it 150%.  I couldn't be more proud of him.  Tonight was his first practice with his new team.  He had a blast.  Here he is with his coach doing a little sliding practice. :)

Playing with Lite Brite

I found the boys playing Lite Brite in my older son's room this afternoon after school.  They spent a good 45 minutes working on this picture together.  They were so content and shared the picture board so well.  My older son was very patient - making sure his brother was doing it correctly and telling him what colors to put on what letters.  They kept turning the light off and working on it in the dark to see it all lit up.  It was priceless.

Brothers

Another rainy day...  The boys were playing "Planet Heroes" in the living room - running around like lunatics - when I stopped them to take their picture.  They actually cooperated immediately, which is highly unusual - but I am NOT complaining!!  :)