I Can't See the Scenery for the Photographers

 
I don't know who this gentleman is, but he was very photogenic. 

Spotted Towhee

 
The boys and I went for our first hike of the season. We met a new friend Connor (5) and they all did a four mile hike without breaking a sweat.

This bird is called a Spotted Towhee. At first, I thought it was a woodpecker, then I thought it was a robin. With all the twigs it was hard to see. Eventually I got it on camera and realized it was something else entirely. A park ranger identified it for me. 

Warm Weather is Here!

 
The minute the sprinkler was out (see the winter brown grass?) the boys had on their swimsuits. 

Love The Jelly Beans

 
All the little plastic eggs had jelly beans in them. Not a bad choice I suppose. 

Beautiful Little Plants

 
Rowan ran into the house and said, "I found something great; grab your camera!" When I got out there, he said he found the most beautiful little plants. Our Chinese Lilac tree is budding. 

Kai

 
I told Kai I needed some pictures. 

Kai and the Rainbow Aura

 
I put diffraction glasses in front of my camera. Very fun. You can get your very own (along with tons of fun things) at American Science and Surplus. 

Rowan, A Balloon and Soft Focus

 
Playing with filters. 

Rowan's Birthday Celebration

 
At DCS Montessori, the kids have a special celebration on their birthday. A candle is set up to represent the sun with signs set around indicating the months. The birthday child holds a globe and circles the sun. With each circling of the globe, the teacher, shows the class a picture of the birthday child during that year of their life. Some kids are really embarrassed by all the attention. Not my boys.


The night before his celebration, I stayed up late going through all my old pictures of Rowan. It's really amazing how much he has changed and how fast it has all happened. 

Rowan's Round

  

Rowan Holding the World

  

The Happy Five Year Old

 
Rowan seems to enjoy being five. 

Answer to the Mystery

 
This set up gave me such neat reflections. The red liquid is sweet and sour sauce, there's a water prism and a blue crystal ball my dad gave me for Newtonmass. The bluish white light is a computer LED that my husband gave me. It's got a USB port and a flexible arm to shine light on your keyboard in a darkened room.

Now if you are wondering, "If this is the answer, what's the question?" Click here for the question.  

New Beginning

 

We've just been matched with our daughter in China! Her name is Dang Li Mei, after her surname, Li Mei means "beautiful jasmine". As soon as the paperwork has perculated through the US government and the Chinese government (maybe by late summer?), we can go and get her. In the interim, we can send her care packages at her orphanage.

She was born some time around November 19, 2003 and was about a week old when left on the steps of the orphanage. She's in Yangquan City, Shanxi Province, which I understand is a rural area in the dry high mountains. At least the Colorado climate won't be a shock.

Our boys have a first name then an animal middle name (Kai Wolf and Rowan Hawk), we're going to give her the two names "Jasmine Phoenix". So, all together she'll be:

Jasmine Phoenix Li Mei Petersen Drummond 

Staring into the Mouth of the Dragon

 

Rowan at the Chinese New Year celebration put on by the Denver Chinese School.. 

Unreal Sunset II

 
 

Unreal Sunset

 

We had some amazingly colored clouds last night. It seemed a good way to start up this blog for the new year. I haven't changed any of the colors for these postings. 

The Rock 'n Roll Boys

 

This is another photo in the set that I couldn't quite fit in. 

If Rowan Were a Rock Star II

 

And this would be the flip side. 

If Rowan Were a Rock Star

 

This would be the cover of his cd.