It's an Easter Photo Post!

It's Easter. I spent the afternoon hanging out with Zeb. Here is the fruit of our labors:
The pear trees are blooming!



I don't know what kind of tree this is, but it starts spring with these beautiful pinkish/reddish blossoms.



I am kind of obsessed with the panoramic feature on my camera...



This is a shot of the backyard:



And here is one of Lola being pretty!



Zeb is a show off...



Lola is toasty!



Me: Zeb, why are you so sweaty?
Zeb: What? I'm a child! I sweat!



Here is Zeb, hanging out in the graveyard.



I love this picture...I wish it had come out better. I posted it anyway just because I love the way it feels.



My camera is conducive to creepin:



The next four are of Zeb riding straight toward me as fast as he could...









He was going so fast, I could not zoom out...and I was freaking out and saying "DON'T RUN ME OVER! DON'T RUN ME OVER!"

Happy Easter, everyone!

Christmas, three weeks later.

It's not that I really needed to talk about Christmas. It's not like it was super amazing or anything. I just wanted to bring it up because I don't get it anymore. People make SUCH a big deal about Christmas...about the holidays in general, and I find it so confusing...and obnoxious, now that I really think about it. My mom was in a panic about what presents they were going to get for Zeb (as usual, my parents were strapped for money), about how they were going to afford presents for him and for the girls. I explained to her, repeatedly, that it is not that big a deal to young kids. They just like presents. And it's not like Zeb was particularly deserving of any expensive gifts ($3K 46 in LCD television, anyone?). I mean, what is the point of making a big deal out of bribing kids to behave so that Santa won't leave them a lump of coal (or a bundle of switches and a rotten potato, so the saying goes in my family), if you are just going to go all out and blow a fuck ton of money on presents for them? What Zeb NEEDED from my parents for Christmas was clothes, and thank god Samantha, Liz, and I went with her Christmas shopping to make sure she got him some. But she still wanted to get him presents. The boy is NINE. It's not like he needed a car, or a computer. He likes toys...he is just a kid! It's not like my mom needed to go all out for him. He's got PARENTS for god's sake.

I guess the point I want to make comes down to this: one year for Christmas, all Samantha and I got were matching Tinkerbell caboodle boxes with lipgloss and nailpolish. One present each from Santa, plus whatever our Grandma sent us (I think that was the year she sent arts&crafts stuff, but my memory is pretty foggy), and we were totally okay with that. There was fruit and candy all around the tree, and it looked magical, and we were happy. And it's not like we were BAD, we were just POOR. It didn't ruin Christmas for us, we still believed in Santa, and life went on.

You can't BUY love. So, pay for what you can afford, get the kids what they actually deserve, and chill the FUCK OUT!!!!!