Why Do I Take So Many Pictures?

I've been meaning to do several (okay a lot) catch up posts that would cover the past two weeks since I haven't posted much but I think that I'll put it all into one long post. It will be worth it I promise! So please hang in there with me till then end.

Today at lunch with my good friend Rachel (who has started a wonderful blog... The Science of Music which you need to read...but not until you finish mine) we were talking about taking pictures and what the pictures we have meant to us. Also, this past weekend I was asked by another good friend after showing her pictures on my camera, "Why do you take pictures of every little thing?". This has really gotten me to thinking about all the pictures that I do have and some of the ones that I don't.

Pictures to me are little snapshots of memories to me. Now I'm not talking about portraits that we all have had taken (even though I like those too), I'm talking about the shots that you take in the moment. Now those are memories. Even though I have these memories in my mind sometimes they are not always there...up in front. So when I look at those pictures they take me back to that time. Whether the memory is a happy one or a sad one. Like this one....

I'll never forget the day that I first met our son at his foster parents house. But when I look at the picture, which is next to my desk, I am taken back not only to that place and time but all the feelings that I had going on inside of me. Will I be a good mom, will this adoption go smoothly, what kind of child will he be, etc., etc..



Or this one...This is a picture of Sam, my Grandmother and one of my Great Aunts. Yes, this picture isn't of the best quality. Yes, I do have better ones than this particular one. But...this one is still special to me. You can see the joy on his face as he talks to his Great, Great Aunt. It was a wonderful dinner with everyone and one that I will never forget.



Let us not forget that I do take pictures of food. I like to document when I do things whether it's food or something I'm creating with my hands. These are not only memories of the actual object but what was created by my hands and how other reacted to it. Like this chicken pot pie is now a favorite of ours that I plan on making again soon. Especially now that I've looked at the picture again and am remembering the taste in my mouth.

Now on to catch you up on the past couple of weeks....

Sam has started playing soccer again. We went with a new soccer program that is held at a church that follows Christian beliefs with sports. It's based off of the same principals as Upwards but they advertised it as a more challenging sports program to give your kid the challenge that they wanted. Okay...so we signed up. At his first practice we found out that they were going to be playing on half a field, pee-wee goals, and playing 4 on 4 with no goalies. This was a 1st/2nd grade team, Sam was on a team of 10 with 2 of them being in 2nd grade. Only Sam and the other 2nd grader had ever played soccer before. Not to mention that Sam towered over them in size. During the practice they worked on how to kick the ball and the very basics. This would all be fine if Sam had never played soccer before but he's been playing since Kindergarten both in the fall and spring of each year. At the end of that first practice Sam looked at me as we were walking to the car and said, "Mom, that's not soccer." How could I disagree with him. I emailed the coordinator of the program and told him how Sam was way beyond in skill level and was very disappointed in the program. They graciously allowed Sam to move up to the 3rd/4th grade team and now Sam is loving soccer again and he is with those that are the same size as he is (he is constantly being guessed at being a 3rd or 4th grader due to his height). I didn't want this experience to ruin his perception of soccer so I'm so happy that they were so accommodating.

They have now played their first 2 games. Yes, I've taken pictures at the games and I'm going to share a few of them with you.


Two Saturday's ago we went to the Town Park in Mansfield to enjoy a wonderful concert put on by the Mansfield Wind Symphony. Rachel plays french horn and is a member there and a group of us from church went to support her and to hear some wonderful music. This concert was just the brass and percussion from the Symphony and they did an outstanding job.

The Town Park is offering "A Night on the Town". At one of the parks they are having either concerts or movies for free. All family oriented and we are having a lot of fun so far. First the concert and then this last Saturday we had a picnic with some friends from church and then watched the movie "Shrek the Third".

Again...pictures:

Sam enjoying the music at the concert before we allowed him to run off and play at the playground.


Not only did we all bring picnics to the park to enjoy before the movie but one of my friends also brought along a lot of different card games. We picked Skip-Bo to play and she then announced that she was going to win...well she did. BUMMER! Maybe next time.
Here is Sam with his "girlfriend". They are just so cute together! Here they are enjoying the movie together. Several times when I looked over they were lying side by side watching the movie. He even gave her his blanket because she was cold. Can we say, Awwwww!

Here is a picture of them together last December:

See what I mean? CUTE!

And now for the "food picture". You knew I had to throw it in here somewhere! It's weird to think that almost 2 weeks ago we had a storm that produced hail and then a week later it was in the 80s and I was making sun tea! It was my first sun tea of the year. So.....

So there you have it. I take so many pictures so that I can capture those moments in my life that I don't want to lost. So that I can pass them on to Sam. So that there are memories even after I'm gone.

I was also asked why I blog....Think I just answered that.