Dinner is super funny here...and other stuff

The other night, at dinner, Jude wanted milk. Mostly because everyone else had milk. So, I get up to get a sippy or bottle, you know, what 16 month old babies use to drink milk out of. Joe says, "no, just let him have a cup," as he hands my baby boy milk in a mason jar. Yeah, that's right, we use mason jars. Big rednecks. No, honest, in my defense, they are nearly indestructible, and with four boys, you need indestructible. 

What ensued? Oh heavens to Betsy(when you drink outta mason jars, you get to say those kinda things).

Oh, that green stuff on his chin is Kale. I am having a love affair with kale right now. It absorbs flavah' so well. Love it.

Speaking of silly dinner antics...Jude is not the only funny one at the table. Pete has been pretending to fall asleep at the table. 

Not sleeping here. Not even kinda convincing. He gets 3 stars for trying.

Busted. You are sooo not sleeping for real.

Then the funniest thing happened.

 He actually fell asleep...for real...not kidding. Funny Petey.

We went to a kiddy amusement park today. Pete had so much fun.

This is what happens when I ask Pete to smile. LOL

And just for the fun of it...water drop on clover with super dark black and white conversion, why not.

And, well, that is what we have been up to. lol :) You know, I am coming up on a year of blogging. I have really loved it. :) I love taking the time to look at these pictures, write down my thoughts. I love my life. I have also loved connecting with other like minded people. I enjoy reading other mama photography blogs. It is nice to see, that in this big world, there are crazy camera face moms like me. They rock.;) I also love that family from afar gets a peek into our life without having to travel hundreds of miles. The internet is a beautiful thing.

But, with the good also comes the bad. Being here online, I put myself out there for both praise and criticism. And, this past week, I got some brutal criticism. As much as I like to say that I don't care what others think, it is hard to let insults just roll off your back.
So, just to get it off my chest, heal a little bit, allow me to say this...

I never picked up a camera to impress some stranger on some message board. I picked up a camera to document this beautiful, blessed, life I have. The beauty I saw in my mind's eye could not be replicated with my P&S on auto. I am more interested in showing you pictures that document our life than showing you pictures that show my technical camera proficiency.

I never picked up a camera with the goal of going pro. I don't have plans on going into business. So, I don't really need anyone telling me that my work is not pro quality.

Here, this is photography for the love of it and for the love of life.