Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real: Tag Team Edition

~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life~ Every Thursday at Like Mother Like Daughter

Today's PHFR is brought to you in part by frogs, dogs, hogs (of the Guinea Pig variety--get it? Pigs? Hogs?) and Calvin (formerly known as Man-Cub--we're trying out a new blog name).

Still with me?

Calvin (Man-Cub) was given an Art/Nature activity this morning that required him to go outside and snap photos of things that capture the essence of October.  He didn't get into it very much, but he got a few cool shots.  Then I asked if he'd like to contribute to this week's PHFR and he went around the house taking a few more shots.

I contributed a few as well, so this is a collaborative effort:

Pretty a la Calvin

He took this one.  These petunias (I think) are blooming rather late this year.  I would not think a ten-year-old boy would be interested in flowers, but he insisted this be his first Pretty photo.

His other pretties (from his assignment):

Though I can't make it out, he says there's a cute squirrel in that tree.  And cute, after all, is a cousin of pretty!

Pretty a la Mama

I'm sure a more experienced gardener can tell me what this plant is (it's probably noxious/invasive/forbidden with my luck), but I have no idea.  I love it.  It sprang up, unbidden, along the fence.  I'm waiting to see if the berries deepen to a red color but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be cutting swags of it to hang somewhere around the entrance of the house.  Freebie!

We planted this Burning Bush about three years ago and its color seems to intensify with each passing Autumn.  I love the red berries on it, too.

I wouldn't necessarily call this pretty, but it does have a creepy beauty to it.  We have spiders that become very active spinners around here come October--perfect for Halloween!

This web runs through the bottoms of the dead Lilies and Black Eyed Susans all along the fence.  Its size is quite impressive, but I couldn't get a good shot of it.

Calvin's Happy

 

Silly, stinky Nutmeg, Hobbes to my boy's Calvin.  She really is a good dog, despite the passive aggressive barking, the perpetual foul odor and the constant threat that she may explode with a sneeze of stomach-churning proportions.

Calvin loves her so much.  She makes him very, very happy.

He likes this photo (and thinks it's extra cute) because you can see her tongue.

Another one of Calvin's beloved friends, Flame.  He lives with his sister? mate? Orange Toes in a tank in Calvin's bedroom.  This should show you how much his mother loves him.  That and the fact that they eat live crickets and are still allowed to stay.

Calvin will kill me for not remembering just what kind of amphibian Flame is.  I do know that he is poisonous and so I am always screeching, "DID YOU WASH YOUR HANDS???" every time he has to feed him or change the water in the tank.

This makes Calvin happy because it makes him proud.  This is a Sleeping House he made for Gram's Yorki-Poo, Aggie (short for Dame Agatha Christie, isn't that a riot?).

I have no idea what put the idea into his head nor whether Aggie will actually use it.  But he is very proud of his creation (I think this may have something to do with his visit to The Masonic Temple in Philly the other day and his subsequent fascination with the Masons and building things).

Mama's Happy

Last night I did penance for carelessly leaving an opened can of pumpkin out to go bad by buying a new can of pumpkin and making pumpkin biscotti.  It's not the best pumpkin biscotti in the world, but it's definitely a good jumping-off point.  And that tea: Revolution Tea's Earl Grey Lavender!  Whoever thought to pair Earl Grey with Lavender was absolutely brilliant!  This is one of my favorite teas and when Daria and I spotted three boxes on the shelf at Genuardi's yesterday, we bought all three of them!

Ahhhh, the breakfast of champions!  If you're the champion of sitting at the computer and sorting socks and then making a thumpin' good roast beef for supper, that is.

Funny, according to Calvin

Meet Miss Bessie Moo.  Strictly speaking, she is Redheaded Snippet's guinea pig.  But Calvin loves her almost as much as his sister does and very generously and conscientiously takes care of her while Redheaded Snippet is at school during the day.

Being, by nature, rather stupid, Bessie is pretty much a constant source of laughter in our house.  One of her most famous tricks is climbing up on top of her igloo (just inches away from the always-opened hatch on the top that she is too dim to notice) and jumping off it to flip it over.  Apparently, she loves doing this repeatedly at around 2:00 in the morning.  Calvin was trying to capture her doing it for this photo, but she was, in his words, "being a moron."

Calvin thought this Walking Stick crawling around in front of the kitchen window this afternoon* was funny.  He also thinks it's funny that studying him can be considered educational as we are studying insects in Science this term.  Don't get me wrong, he's relieved and glad about it, but he still thinks it's funny, like he's getting away with something.

*Incidentally, just as I was typing this, a small movement at the window caught my eye and I looked up to see that Mr. Stick had returned!  His ears must have been burning!

Pretty, Happy, Funny and Real, according to Mama

And there he is, the boy, the legend, the smirk: Calvin, formerly known as Man-Cub, my ten-year-old miracle, my pupil, the raspberry seed in my wisdom tooth, my PHFR partner for the week.  It doesn't get much more real than this!

Join in the fun!  Where can you find contentment this week?  I promise, if you keep looking, you'll find it!