Great Year for Butterflies

Red Admiral

 This has been a great year for butterflies.

 It makes a "butterfly collector" like me giddy!

 (I collect photos of butterflies.

See my blog posted Aug. 1, 2010 

for the story about how I got into this 

hobby of mine and more photos.)

 Here are a few I've taken so far this spring.
Remember, you can click on any photo to see them close-up.

Summer Azure

Question Mark

You can tell this is a Question Mark (and not a Comma) 

because of the silvery-white "?" marking on the underside of its hindwing. 

Eastern Tailed-blue

Eastern Tailed-blue (female - with wings open)

The Eastern Tailed-blue looks a lot bluer when it's flying.

 It's wings are actually more light grey underneath and dark grey on top,

 but when it's flying it appears a lovely blue color.

Painted Lady

Here are a few that aren't the best quality, 

but are fun for me as they are ones I've never seen 

in this area before this year...

American Lady

The American Lady is quite similar to the Painted Lady, 

but it's wings (when opened) are more orange in color,
 and on the underside it has two big eyespots,
instead of four smaller ones, like the Painted Lady.

Common Buckeye

Talking about eyespots...
I've been trying to get a picture of this Buckeye for weeks!

He finally posed for me while I was out on a walk
 with Jeff a couple nights ago. 

All I had on me was my cell phone, 

and his wings were pretty chewed up by this time,

 but I was still happy to get the photo...such as it is.

Here are a few more from the last couple of years.

 These were all taken in our yard.

(Jeff is nice enough to plant flowers that attract butterflies.)

Dainty Sulfur on Purple Asters

Red-spotted Purple on Agastache

Orange Sulfur (female - pale morph)

Monarch

Hackberry Emperor

Painted Lady

And here are some I took up north.

Northern Crescent on Orange Hawkweed

These Crescents were quite prevalent when we were up there for our

 25th Anniversary last July. So when I saw the next little orange butterfly

 fluttering before me I thought, "I already have you." 

But he was persistent. So I told him, "If you sit down, I'll take your picture." 

And he did! 

I was thrilled to find out, he wasn't a Crescent after all, 

but a very rare Harvester Butterfly.

 I was so happy God sent him to me.

Harvester

Atlantis Fritillary

 This one is quite a bit larger than those other two orange butterflies. 

But it took me a long time before

 I found one who was willing to pose for me. 

 I don't have a fancy camera, so I have to get in really close to take them.

I'm talking 2 or 3 inches.

White Admiral

I played with the brightness/contrast on this one

 so you could see the red in it's wings. 

Just beautiful!

 It's probably my favorite picture. 

Sometimes people compliment my butterfly photos,

but the truth is, all I do is get in close and push a button. 

God is the artist. 

He does marvelous work, wouldn't you agree.

Viceroy

  

It Makes a Mama Proud

Probably by now you've all seen the video I posted with my youngest son, Zack, jammin' on the drums in "Sing, Sing, Sing." If you didn't, here's a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUgeKRSne7w&feature=youtu.be

I smile every time I watch it.

Since I am an equal-opportunity mom, here's a video of my youngest daughter, Danica, who is now a college Freshman...soon to be Sophomore, singing "Tell My Ma." She is the one in the upper left-hand corner.





Last Sunday was Mother's Day.

My husband has been known to say on special days like these, "Every day is Mother's Day at our house."

This year, I think I'd have to agree with him. When I look at how great ALL of my kids have turned out I just have to say a prayer of thanks. These are 4 amazing people.

My oldest daughter, Mandie (or Amanda as she's known professionally) is one of the most successful 24-year-olds you'll ever meet. And soon, she and her equally amazing husband, will be buying their first home.

JJ, my oldest son, has faced all sorts of challenges this year, but honestly, I've never been more proud of him. He's one of the coolest, nicest, smartest people I know. I'm so happy to be his mom.

Danica, seen in the above video acting like a ditsy girl, is quite the opposite. She's clear-headed, down to earth, fearless, and faithful in all she does. I couldn't even begin to list all of her interests and accomplishments. But believe me, they are many.

Zack, my baby, isn't a baby any more. He's matured this year in every way possible. Everyday I see new ways in which he displays his growing dedication, intelligence and kindness. He really makes a mama proud.

They all do.

And ironically, it also makes a mama humble.

When I think about all the years I've been a mom I realize, I've made a lot of mistakes. More mistakes than I care to admit! But God is merciful. He's been there for my kids when I was clueless, and pulled them through more scrapes than I'll ever know.

And so I thank the LORD for giving me Amanda, Jonathan, Danica and Zachary. I'm both proud, and humbled, to be their mama.

What Going SCREEN-FREE Did For Me

First, I must apologize to all of you die-hard fans of my blog for not posting anything last week.



As a few of you know, I went SCREEN-FREE for 7 days (almost).
Why?
I don't know.

I thought it would be good for me.

And it was. It taught me one thing.



TV is over-rated.

 Let me clarify.

 TV is over-rated... by me!

I used to think TV was great. But after a week, doing without, I think my opinion has changed.



You see...while I was "doing without" TV (or Facebook) it didn't feel like I was lacking anything. Instead, my life felt fuller than ever. It was amazing how much I got done.

Or perhaps not so amazing when you calculate the time I ordinarily would have spent mindlessly glued to the set, but instead spent doing stuff...fun stuff, neat stuff, productive stuff, and even some stuff with the people in my life. Hello!
Is it too much to say going SCREEN-FREE set me FREE? I don't think so.

It wasn't easy though. (Because there's nothing easier to do than curl up in a Lazy-boy with a remote in your hand.) It took a little more discipline than I guess I have, because on Sunday night I decided to just say "good enough" and watch a few of my favorite shows. So I did. And it was sort of fun. The Amazing Race was pretty good, but the couple who we all knew would win, won. And Chopped All-Stars was pretty good too, but the guy I figured would win that one won that one too. Celebrity Apprentice was just okay. How many times can you listen to "celebrities" you've never heard of, say they're just "doing this for charity," and then swear and scream at one another? I turned that one off even before I saw who Trump fired this week. I decided I really didn't care. And so Sunday night I basically wasted 2 1/2 hours when I could have been doing fun, neat, productive stuff.

It's time to make a change.


Sorry TV & Facebook. You're okay, but I think we should spend a little more time apart.
 
I'm changing my status to screenfree & loving it!