Wow... I can't believe this day has already arrived! Seems like last week I was calling to tell my mom we were having another boy! And, boy, is he all B.O.Y. Cars, balls, gadgets, the great outdoors... yup, that is my littlest man! LOVE HIM!

My mom and I laugh at the fact that these boys are Korean. Can they look any less Asian with their light hair and blue eyes? Joshua does have that in common with Jeremiah. And that is pretty much where their similarities end.

BUT since he IS Korean, we are having a traditional Korean "TOL"! The child's first birthday ranks up there with the most important days of your life. Seriously, it's a HUGE deal. Your next 58 birthdays are not as important and you have to wait until 60 to get another huge party. You basically get the Birthday Boy (or girl) all dressed up in traditional Korean formalwear and feed anyone and everyone you know tons of Korean food. We are celebrating today!!! Yahoo!

Since we knew we'd be busy this weekend preparing for this party,
we took the boys out Thursday evening to get Joshua's 1 year pics
and hopefully some of them both in the traditional clothing.

Of course Joshua had to get in the Tonka truck:


He's getting big!


Then we attempted to get them together. Fake smile from Jeremiah and Joshua was more interested in the kids on the bikes...


But Joshua perks up when he gets a hug from Jeremiah...


One good close up of Joshua smiling so big?

Well, maybe not. But it's a typical look for him.

And his big brother isn't much more cooperative...


It was HOT HOT HOT. Like, smothering hot and HUMID. BLEAH. Jeremiah wanted to go to the bridge but we told him he had to change his clothes first. He pouted and whined about it all the way to the car until I pulled out the Korean outfit. He stood there starry eyed for a moment. "oooooh...." Then he couldn't whip his clothes off fast enough! They were so great and pleased as punch to run around the park even in the stuffy long-sleeved layers they had on.

Jane's parents sent the one that Jeremiah is wearing and Joshua is wearing the one Jeremiah wore for his Tol. He has the special hat and extra vest marked with wishes/blessings that is worn only for extra special occasions like today!

But you can tell they are KYians... cut me some slack, we didn't have traditional shoes and nothing looks right with them anyway! lol

On to the pics!

Finally to the bridge as promised with two suprisingly happy {Korean} boys...


I told Jeremiah to take his arm off the side and as soon as he did, Joshua made a run for it (he looks like he's going to take off flying!)...


So we tried him sitting but then Jeremiah was fixated on them holding hands...


Amazingly Joshua stood still for a moment so I could get this one to show off his clothes
(they are so "poofy"! lol)...


But a brief moment then boy wonder was off and running again...


We tried a new location...


Joshua ran off again so I tried to get one of Jeremiah in his garb (stiff "cheese" pose)...


And Joshua found the truck...


So I let them take a few trips across the bridge...


Then another attempt to get the birthday boy by himself...


He took off again so I tried to get Jeremiah (more fake cheese *sigh*)...


But in the end I was happy to capture this amazing time in my little Roo's life...

Happy Birthday little man! I love you oh-so dearly!!! You drive me nuts with your busy-BUSY-nosey-ness but it keeps me on my toes and we sure have a lot of fun! You are an amazing blessing to us and I can't wait to see what an awesome man you grow up to be! Well, okay... I CAN wait. And actually would prefer to wait longer than I have too. But only if that means you stay little a little longer, not because you are 30 and refuse to move out. I'm sure I'd want you out by then. lol *SMOOCHIES*

I'm sure I'll have more pics to share from the Birthday Bash so keep an eye out for the next post!

I spent too much time compiling a slideshow of images from his first year and it never did work. So I am really frustrated and bummed about that. But I did manage to get a little one made real quick of all the truck pics:

So yeah, that trip downtown we took a while back (looong while back)? Here are some random captures from that evening...









Different ways to shoot a dandelion in the sunset...


Vertical...


Or Horizontal...


What can you find around town?

A photographer buddy and I decided to venture downtown to see what we could find interesting to shoot. I felt like I was in a slump out there and wasn't overy thrilled with anything I shot and that made me want to push myself to get out of it! This is a quickie post and I'll post more from this adventure another day. It was a couple months ago so I think you can wait a bit longer!

But since a post is more fun with a pic, here is me looking frumpy in a storefront window with these goofy pink bows painted on them with white polka dots too! Interesting? lol

This is months ago of me sporting my new Canon 5d (LOVE IT!)
and my new Shootsac (LOVE THIS TOO!):


I should probably get a decent shot of this bag. It's PERFECT for shoots! WHY do I keep YELLING? I dunno... I'm just excited, it's been a good day! I'll post on this soon too!

Mmmmm..... I have a huge package of amazingly yummy strawberries in my fridge.
Along with the biggest raspberries you've ever laid eyes on and 2 pounds of blueberries!
It's what happens when I venture into Sam's Club!

I'm thankful for the other fruits of summer too.
The carefree feeling you get when school is out.
Even if you aren't in school! lol There's just something fun about it!
And the joy of having more sunlight each day to spend time with the family
into the night. The warm weather that allows us to go outside more
and eat lots of ice cream (although I never need a reason to do that!).

I love how it all draws back to the more important things in life
and takes our minds away from the stuff of the world.
That's what life should be about anyway, right?
Quality time with the family.
Enjoying nature and creation around you.
Happy times to remind us to be thankful for all the many
blessings we tend to forget about in dark times...

These are the best fruits from the summer!

Have a happy summer!

Sometimes it's nice to focus on the simpler things in life...


Don't you think?

At least at our house!

These shots were taken months ago (like when school was still in session! lol) but I still wanted to share. Jeremiah loved adding and subtracting with mini M&M's. Sometimes we used Nerds. Small things where I didn't feel too guilty letting him gobble up some sugary 'school supplies'!

We didn't always use candy but that definitely sparked more interest and fun when we got started! Now when he sees a little box of Nerds he asks excitedly, "Can we do math?!?!?" He got the hang of it quickly and can now do a lot in his head without counting them all out. But he still likes to count out all the goodies. He especially likes to add because he thinks the more he has the more he'll get to eat! lol He doesn't get to eat any until we are finished with math time and he's okay with that and even makes up more math problems to solve just because he's having so much fun!

I love his enthusiasm when he forgets about the candy and gets really into the learning!





He started to choose bigger numbers to add just to see the pile of little colored candies stack up!