52 Weeks of 2015 - Week 16

 

After a very, very long hiatus, we're back to blogging. No reason for it, other than a combination of being busy with other things and procrastination. But I'm all caught up now - for realz this time!

This week's theme was "It's a Song." So here we have Marcus watching America's favorite pastime. As for the song, I guess I could have picked "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," but I like this one instead:

Oh, put me in coach, I'm ready to play today
Put me in coach, I'm ready to play today
Look at me, I can be centerfield

--Centerfield, John Fogerty

I think he could do it. You should see him catch flying cereal out of the air.

 

Can't get enough of the magnolia trees. I wish they could look like this all year round, but even as I'm writing this, they're just about done.

52 Weeks of 2015 - Week 15

 

This week's theme was floral, which made it easy since all the trees are in bloom right now.

I have to admit that there are times when I get the exact shot that I want, it makes my entire day. This was one of those times. There are sparrows that nest in our birdhouse every year, and I thought it would look amazing if I could get a shot of them with our neighbor's magnolia tree in the background. So in the evening I headed outside with my longest telephoto lens and prepared to wait. I think I was out there less then ten minutes when not one, but two birds decided to come home to roost. I actually got several shots of them, but this one is my favorite.



This is Mark's extra special yellow magnolia tree. It gets more and more blooms each year.



This week was the Pittsburgh Pirates home opener at PNC Park. They had a gorgeous day for it, with temps in the 80's! I didn't get to attend, but I do plan on going to several games this year. Mark and Lauren are already sick of me making them watch baseball on television every night.

52 Weeks of 2015 - Week 14

 

This week's theme was blessings. I don't think I need to explain my photo choice any further.

 

Last year for Lauren's birthday, we bought her a new bike. Because she was in between sizes, we decided to get her a bike that she could grow into. The downside was that it was just a little too big for her to ride. This year, it's just right.

Some bonus photos of Kitty Coco. I noticed how her eyes coordinated with the aqua accents in the background, so I had to take some photos.

She's got the life. First it's bath time...

...then it's nap time.

 

No significance behind this week's sketch. Lauren has these really cute bird toys that sing and repeat what you say, so I just decided to draw one because I liked the colors.

52 Weeks of 2015 - Week 13

This week's topic was "in the kitchen." I had a quite bit going on this week with Easter preparations, but nothing more daunting than this lamb cake. Although I like to bake, I'm not much of a decorator because I don't see the point in putting in so much stress in effort into something that's just going to be eaten anyway. Or maybe it's because every time I try to decorate a pastry, it's a failure. Anyway, no one was more surprised than me when my lamb cake came out awesome, if I do say so myself. Cool Whip for the win!

 

I also made a flower arrangement for the very first time. Flowers courtesy of Trader Joes. They just opened a new store, and I love that it's located on my way home from work!

 

The obligatory annual dyed eggs photo.



 Easter theme was an obvious choice this week. Check out the cutie photo of Lauren dying eggs!