Day 357...

I found this the other day and laughed my arse right off...

Day 263...

16 years ago,
this...

September 19, 1996. Riley Thomas - one hour old. 

and now...

Happy Birthday to the best boy in the whole big wide wonderful world!

Day 236...

Yesterday, after dropping my darling little man/boy at the airport and having a good solid cry or two, my sweetheart and I drove around town a bit...exploring a few areas we'd not seen before...searching for photo shoot ideas...basically just throwing the day to the wind and going where the road would choose to take us.

I found that a darling little house I covet whenever I drive past it...is for sale...

we found several opportunities for fabulous photo ideas...

and, we had Comfy Cow ice cream for dinner.  I had Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip.

Sometimes, when you're a wee bit melancholy, ice cream for dinner is the best thing you can possibly do.

Day 235...

today is a tough day. my boy headed back to Seattle this afternoon. and though I have the super happy heart and absolutely LOVE that he was able to be here for a few weeks this summer...I am painfully and horribly sad that the time just went so fast and he's already headed home to the west coast.

LOVE. my boy. love his sweet face and his hugs and snuggles and his "mama, guess what...I love you"

hate. hugging him goodbye and watching him walk away from me through the airport security line. sucks more that I could ever possibly describe.

Day 228...

my boy has been here the past two weeks.

there has been much snuggling.

and lots of I love you's.

this makes me a super happy mama.

Day 223...

My boy. I have to sneak photos of him.

More "Snake Hollow" 8.9.12 keg

8.9.12 keg

A bit of the forest. 8.9.12 keg

Day 213...

in less than 48 hours...I get to hug my baby boy!

I love that.

Day 131 - I love...my son

My sun.

this is the little man who keeps my RED blood flowing.

he floors me with his wit. slays me with his smile.

love washes over me when I hear his precious voice.

Two of my favourite pictures of his perfect and wonderful face...

Ri - 2007

Ri - 2009

Day 121 - I love...rain

the warm summer kind more than the cold winter brand.

I also love that I have a porch now, so when it's raining I can go sit outside and listen to it come down. 

and in Louisville, that's exactly what it does. it pours. drops buckets. blinding buckets that you can't see through if you're driving.  I've had to pull off the road several times, because when you can't see two feet in front of you, it's probably a good idea to just pull over until it lets up.

rain has always been soothing to me. the sound. the smell. it's refreshing and reviving. and sometimes, when it's a nice warm rain...I've been known to run out and dance around a bit.

one of my favourite memories was when Riley was about five or six years old. I was picking him up from his after school care and while I was inside it starting pouring. and I do mean POURING.

we didn't have much choice but to go out and make a run for the car - which was parked only about 10 feet from the door - I took his little hand in mine and said, "ready baby?"

we took off running, but it didn't matter. within seconds we we completely soaked.

we got in the car, both of us dripping like drowned rats and laughing hysterically.

it was like walking under a waterfall. not a dry stitch on us.

it was rather awesome.

Day ninety - I love...this face

The other day when I was going through old photos...tripping down nostalgia lane...I found that I had scanned one of my absolute, most amazing, favourite pictures of my boy when he was just a wee pint:

Day eighty-five - I love...these boys

I woke up around 2am and noticed my phone blinking...my longest bff had sent me a text.

of this:

That's my favourite person there, with the dark curly hair. My handsome young man. My baby (who is closing in on 16!) Riley.

He and the fabulous Odie-O are doing some sort of figuring...not sure what...but it's precious and adorable to me.  There are several pictures like this, Ri reading a book to O when he was a baby. Ri tickle-torturing O. They are great friends. cousins, though not by blood.

We, the mama's, have known one another since age 3. She has always been "Auntie" to my boy, and the first time she referred to me as "Auntie Karen" to O, I melted a bit.

I love these boys. I love this sweet photo. 

Day forty-five - I love...my Ri

I was just sitting here pondering three different ideas for tonight's post, when I received this text from my son:

"Hey mom, wanted to say that I love you and I hope you are having a wonderful Valentine's Day."

ummm...this wins. this is what I love most today. My boy is the best.

ever.