Mother Bunny

The Moment

2009-01-21T07:11:00.002-05:00

This is how we spent all day yesterday:We watched, excitedly all morning long. We monitored various news channels and web sites, we Facebook-ed and Twittered. Our kids waved flags and danced around. And we celebrated a new day.

I Really Want to Title This, "Dude!" and Then Give You a High Five, but That Might be Too Nerdy

2009-01-19T06:58:00.004-05:00

50mm, f/2, 1/125, Nikon D700 (not mine), SOOC except for yogurt removal from her face

See those eyes? And that creamy skin? And that awesome exposure? Well...for me it's a photo that had me literally jumping up and down because I was so excited by it. I've been working on my exposure and focus lately through my 365 project and I really feel like I'm making some progress. I'm also going through a massive photo re-org to clear some hard drive space and have a workable catalog of photos. This process has been really interesting since I am looking at every single photo I've ever taken. I get to see how far I have come, technically, compositionally, and how much more comfortable I am with my camera.
I'm getting there...

Click over to Mother May I to see other inspiring photographer's Best Shots today.

Just Me.

2009-01-15T20:20:00.002-05:00

Self Portraits for Theme Thursday. Click through to The Land of K.A.

Who Are They?

2009-01-10T11:19:00.004-05:00

My little family has settled into a nice little rhythm. My babies are old enough now (and have enough new toys from Christmas) that they entertain themselves pretty well and play with each other pretty well. We are getting back into the daily routine and eating good food, carving out enough time to get grocery shopping in and cook together. After the holidays we're back to early bedtimes and regular fruits and vegetables. They are learning to clean up their own toys and help around the house.
Jack even took it an extra step when he was working on earning another car:

He cleared his dishes from the lunch table and then pulled a chair up to the sink, rinsed his plate and cup, then washed them by hand and set them with the clean dishes.
You're welcome, future-daughter-in-law.

And then this one:

She chose to wear pants and not a dress for the first time in months. And she let me braid her hair and left it alone for several hours.

Who is she?

2009

2009-01-07T15:00:00.002-05:00

I want to clean out my basement already.
I want to plant a more successful vegetable garden-more of the things I know will grow.
I want to use my treadmill.
I want to play with my kids more. I want to not say, "not right now, I have to..." so much.
I want to complete a 365 photo project.
I want to hang photos on my walls.
I want to get more family photos out of the computer.
I want to sell or publish a photograph.
I want to shadow a professional photographer on a shoot.
I want to study under professional photographers.
I want to rent some cool lenses to try them out.
I want to go away with my husband with no children again.
I want to take care of him.
I want to live each day gratefully.

2008

2008-12-31T10:32:00.004-05:00

I turned 29.
I have been married for 6 1/2 years.
I have embraced my jeans and T-shirts mom uniform and added crocs.
I joined a camera club.
I read Understanding Exposure. And read it again. And again.
I read countless photography books from the library.
I have been inspired and humbled by the talent I've been watching in Flickr.
I have embraced RAW.
I photographed sunflowers and daisies, my favorites.
I hung some photos on my wall.
I made a quilt.
I painted my children's bedrooms and my bathroom.
We bought big kid furniture...no more cribs or changing tables.
I planted a vegetable garden and ate lots of yummy BLTs.
I planted several herbs and made delicious batches of pesto.
We built a playset and spent lots of time outside.
I bought a treadmill and a Wii Fit.
I exercised sporadically.
I fell in love with good German food.
I fell in love with good German beer.
We budgeted our money successfully (until the holidays) and found that it's not so hard.
We bought a minivan...the most glorious vehicle known to man.
I reconnected with lots of old friends on Facebook.
I have loved and mothered my little family.
I am more wholly and completely myself than I have ever been.

2007

Reason #45827 My Son is So Smart

2008-12-18T13:29:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I was trying to set the TiVo to record the Muppet Christmas special. There was a schedule conflict with Gary Unmarried.

Me: Sorry, kids, we can't record your show, it's on at the same time as a Mommy-and-Daddy show.
Jack: Is it that Unmarried show?
Me: Yes, how did you know?
Jack (who is 4 and cannot read): It says so right there.

Jack (who has no knowledge of the fact that marriages can end): How did he get unmarried?
Me: I don't know sweetie.
Jack: Maybe he threw away his rings and got rid of his wife. Or maybe he went to a church and got un-married.

Memory Lane

2008-12-11T12:41:00.003-05:00

Otherwise known as "I am going through all of my 2008 photos and deleting junk to get more hard drive space!"

Also: OMG can you believe how little she was last January???

Overwhelmed

2008-12-03T07:25:00.004-05:00

The lack of posting has been due mostly to laziness. I was doing really well posting every day for November until one day I forgot. Then, once I forgot once it was really hard to get back into it.

And every time I went to post, I didn't have any photos to add since I have so many just sitting on my hard drive taking up space waiting to be edited or deleted.

And now this week I've been sick and actually stayed away from the computer - I know, I really didn't feel well.

And now we're having bunches of company this weekend and my illness and subsequent spousal illness has brought all preparations to a halt.

But - my Christmas Tree on Facebook has some ornaments now, so there are some successes around here.

Here are my adorable children during a field trip to the Air and Space museum, which I took them to by myself after being dropped off, so there was no possible early escape in the event of a meltdown. We had a great time. And four year old boy + big airplanes = AWESOME.

Jack can now read the word, "Lockheed." Once we studied it on this very first airplane, he could read it on any other sign in the place. He will also tell you that this Black bird is his favorite.

The barrettes in her hair? Stayed in during this very first exhibit, then they were ripped out with a handful of hair and stuffed in my pocket.

One of the highlights for Jack was these cases of model planes. At the first one he had me read the names of every plane in the case, all thirty or so of them. He also would like me to know he would love to have some of these to play with at home.

Manual Focus = Not for Myopics

2008-11-16T09:02:00.007-05:00

I tried my hand at manual focus yesterday. I put my dad's 50mm f/1.4 lens on my D40x and figured I'd play with it and see how it went.
Verdict: People with poor eyesight should not use manual focus.
In general I trust the camera's focusing over my own eyes, so manual focus was tough. Also, I kept the aperture down to 1.4 most of the time, so it was really hard to find my focus area. I found that if I set the focus ring all the way to...I don't know what it's called, but it's the not-infinity end, where you're focusing at the closest range. So I set the ring there, and then moved my head forward and back until my subject was in focus...or until something was in focus.
And the when I pulled it all up in Photoshop this morning..I'm surprised by what was in or out of focus.

Sunny

2008-11-14T16:52:00.001-05:00

Taste of Summer

2008-11-13T18:48:00.003-05:00

I didn't get up at the ridiculous early morning hour I usually do and so today's blog post almost got forgotten. I edited some stuff today from August that slipped through the cracks.
Here's a delicious blueberry pie to drool over:

Sarah's Bedtime Prayers

2008-11-12T06:45:00.002-05:00

Dear God, Thank you for all my lands, all my treasure and all my dad. Amen.

Dear God, Thank you for all my kingdom and all my land. Amen

Toy ReOrg

2008-11-11T07:22:00.003-05:00

In preparation for the upcoming toy-centered holiday and in reaction to a big ol' messy house, we've been reorganizing our toys. Most days our family room has looked like a toy store bomb went off with parts and pieces of every kind of toy imaginable strewn over, under and around the floor and furniture. In the past I have sorted like toys into their own little storage boxes, but when all the boxes are kept together they all seem to get dumped together.
My husband had the great insight to move some of the significant toys to the kids rooms. Now, when I was growing up my sisters and my toys were mostly in our room, save for a few that lived in our basement closet. But I don't know why it never occurred to me that our kids could have toys in their rooms and...it would mean less crap on the main floor of my house.
Apparently if you take the same amount of toys and spread them throughout the house, it looks like a bunch of smaller messes and seems so much more doable than if all the toys were dumped in one spot.

What do you other moms do?

Do you keep all toys on the main floor of your house right in the middle of the action?
Do your kids keep stuff in their rooms and therefore spend lots of time upstairs away from where you are cooking dinner?
Do you have one of those mythical playrooms to where all toys are banished and you never have to look at them?

Leafy Fun

2008-11-10T07:06:00.003-05:00

Best Shot Monday is at Mother May I

A Year Ago...

2008-11-09T17:51:00.004-05:00

Just for fun, let's look at some photos from November last year:

Sarah was still fully into her "grumpy period" and on this particular morning, her saint of a brother was trying so hard to cheer her up. He held her hand and helped her get whatever toys she wanted and showed patience that far exceeded his 3 1/2 years. Oh my gosh, he was only 3 1/2!!!

Feeling better with every "favorite" animal or baby they could find, she was happy, then, to pose for a few pictures. Oh my gosh, she looks like she still had gaps where teeth hadn't come in yet! And her hair was so short!

This is a picture of a bag we were decorating for dad's birthday and this was the first time without any help that Jack wrote the names of everyone in our family. Now he writes with smaller letters and can spell many words and now almost always follows our names with our last name.

300

2008-11-08T07:12:00.005-05:00

In honor of my 300th post, I need your help:
I recently joined a photography club. I have met some amazingly talented photographers who run the gamut from incredibly successful professionals to very, very, very good hobbyists. Twice a year they have a "members-only" show where each of us gets to have 1 or 2 (depending on space) photos on display. I really, really want to participate, but I'm having a bit of uncertainty about what to submit. I want to pick my best photos, but it's so hard to look at my own body of work and single anything out.

Here's what you can do:

If you have some time, please look through my Flickr stream, be blown away by somthing (or just kind of like something) and tell me about it. Sets that may interest you: My Favorites Photographically, Flowers, My Working Portfolio.

These are the ones I am considering and I want to know what you think. I especially want to know if you think any of these would look perfectly at home on a gallery wall or if any of them look incredibly amatuer and have no business being anywhere near a gallery wall.

Thank you!

(For any of you that were around the last time I asked for some feedback, I have been going back and rereading your comments. As an update: I chickened out showing my prints to the shop owner. I think maybe an etsy shop might be the way to go first? I'm just not sure and I will approach this subject another time.)

My Minivan

2008-11-07T07:28:00.000-05:00

I never thought I could love a car so much.

Remember those day when you swore up and down that you would never drive a minivan? You would only drive sportier, cooler SUVs?

Yeah, I don't really remember it either.

Imagination

2008-11-06T07:28:00.006-05:00

I have often said that Sarah lives 90% of her life in her imagination. She only ever has one foot in this world, and the other firmly planted in a castle or in the Banks's house from Mary Poppins or who knows where else.

She is always singing or talking to whichever imaginary characters are passing through her play. Anything that is remotely vertically-shaped becomes a person: pencils, chapsticks, spoons; she rarely colors, but instead stands up the crayons so they can talk to one another. She carries around unsharpened pencils as people.

Often she tells me she's the "mom" (and that unfortunately I'm the "grandma.")

She fills purses with necessary accessories and strings beads around her neck and clomps around in heeled dress up shoes.

Sarah is connected with the spirit in every thing that we adults just pass by. She befriends animals and pats flowers and talks to trees.

I know that someday she will come down out of fantasy and have to surrender to reality. But until then I will enjoy watching her imagination unfold.

Imagine what else you may find when you click over to The Land of K.A.

A New Day

2008-11-05T10:01:00.002-05:00

For the first time I paid attention to all of the debates. For the first time I watched the news intently, soaking in and weighing every issue, endorsement, critiquing every televised remark. I understand how many of the issues in this election will or would have impacted my own life and I am excited.
I am mostly excited because I got to vote yesterday. I got to take my children to vote and to show them what excitement about a presidential election can be like.
I am excited because I am ready for a new day for our country.

(I am also excited because Jack says, "O-Rock Obama")

Did You?

2008-11-04T15:10:00.000-05:00

Best Shot in the Dark

2008-11-03T07:45:00.006-05:00

I took 188 photos at the Mummer's Parade on Saturday. I took 188 photos in the dark with a few attempts at flash, but mostly in the dark. I took photos of things with flashing lights and with all subjects moving. I shot at HI ISO and with my 18-55 kit lens. So, photographically speaking it wasn't the best or even a little bit like a good photographic opportunity. But I had a lot of fun.

Click over to Mother May I for more Best Shot Monday.

The 84th Annual Alsatia Mummer's Parade

2008-11-02T07:47:00.003-05:00

For 32 years my husband has been coming to the largest nighttime parade on the east coast. For many years he marched with his middle and high school bands, and for many more he sat watching bundled up in blankets. For the last 6 years I've been watching the parade with him, and now Jack has been watching the parade for 4 years and Sarah for 2.
We have friends join us every year and always some come from out of town for their first Mummer's parade experience.
During the 3 hour parade (I know!) we saw floats for every church band, boy scout, cub scout, girl scout troop, service club, and high school class. Marching were bands from every middle and high school in Washington County and many from hours away in Baltimore and in Virginia. The 250-member University of Maryland band marched and were by far one of the most enthusiastic groups, although I must mention that North Hagerstown High jumped and danced as they marched. Everyone who participates in any kind of organization in Washington County was in this parade: politicians, Miss Maryland, cheerleaders and baton-twirlers, the humane society, a lindy hop dance club, and more.

I do have photos, of course I have photos, but since I took 188 last night it is taking a looooong time to copy and convert and blah blah blah. Tomorrow I'm sure I'll have some to share.

Here is us watching the parade in 2006:

Boo!

2008-11-01T09:22:00.002-04:00

The princess wouldn't wear her crown, the storm trooper wouldn't wear his mask, nor carry his blaster, but they had a great time!

I don't know who enjoyed themselves more...the kids with their bags and bags of candy treats or the dads with their wagons filled with potable "treats" just for dads...

Let the Record Show

2008-10-30T20:03:00.002-04:00

Let the record show that on this day, the 30th of October, in the year 2008...

at approximately 10:30 am...

Sarah G. Jenkins allowed her mother...

to brush her hair and put it in pigtails...

without whining or crying or fussing...

and she left her hair alone for at least 3 hours.

The End.

This is It!

2008-10-30T07:44:00.005-04:00

This is it:

AF-S Nikkor 50 mm f/1.4G

It will auto-focus on my D40x! Coming out in December, estimated price: $439.

Best Shot Season

2008-10-20T08:11:00.004-04:00

Fall is unequivocally my favorite season for photos. The skies are bluer, the colors are more varied and the cooler temperatures makes everyone more comforatble outside. This weekend we had the opportunity for a much needed day of family adventures. Just the four of us, we set out with no real immediate destination, took the scenic backway and visited a lot of our favorite Maryland spots.

We started at the Washington Monument State Park which has a short uphill trail leading to a big stone monument with a great view. Sarah fell asleep in the car, so my husband dutifully carried her up the hilly trail and even all the way up into the monument where she woke up at the top, confused and wondering how we would get down from there.

We continued on for Halloween costume shopping, an ice cream snack and a visit to another park. A wonderful, fall family day.

Click for more Best Shot Monday at Mother May I.

Is This Called Workflow?

2008-10-19T06:39:00.001-04:00

A lot of blogs I read have special camera and photography related posts on Saturdays. Let's not delude ourselves into thinking that I will keep up any kind of regular posting on any regular topics, or that this will actually get published on Saturday, but for now, let's talk photography.

Today's topic: workflow

I think this is the term for the process a photographer goes through to take images from camera to final edited form.

As I am still fairly new to photography I am still trying to figure out a workflow that works for me. Right now, it looks like this (and by right now, I mean as of today where I have been shooting in RAW for four days now):

Copy NEF (RAW) files to the hard drive.
Run them through a converter to change them to DNG (digital negative) files. A converter is necessary since I am using a D40x camera with an older version (4) of Photoshop Elements.
Import all the DNG files into the Photoshop Elements Organizer
Delete all the clutter photos, the junk, the unfocused, the stuff that will never be worth looking at and is just taking up hard drive space.
Select the photo(s) I want to edit and open in the Photoshop Editor.
Edit using Adobe Camera RAW editor. Here is where I just move the sliders around until the colors look the way I want them.
Open in the Standard Editor. Crop. Sit and wonder what else to do since I fixed all the color and stuff in the RAW editor.
Save as a psd file or a jpeg. I save psd when I think I may want to go back and edit differently at another time. Jpeg if I'm just done.
Groan because it will take me ten times longer with RAW to edit the hundreds of photos I take in a week.
Drop the photo(s) into the Flickr Uploader.
Get a snack.

I have a few thoughts and questions for the other photographers out there:

If I shoot in RAW, not only is the file huge to begin with, but now I am saving up to four files of the same image (NEF, DNG, PSD, JPEG) Do you other photographers have all this? Do you sell your photos just to buy hard drive space? Do you ever delete the NEF or do you hold onto it in case you would want to go back and re-edit from the beginning? Maybe only for the "good" photos?
I have now taken over 12,000 photos with my camera, so my file numbers have started to repeat. Since 10,000, I've been changing all the file names to a word + date + number. What do you all do?

Fall, Fall, When will the Temperature Fall?

2008-10-16T13:12:00.003-04:00

I love the fall. I love the food, the baking, the leaves, the back-to-school, the new TV shows, the bright blue skies, the pumpkins, the ample photographic opportunities, the weather--
Wait, not the weather. It is still hot. I don't know why, but when did October become the new late summer? Our windows are open, but the temperatures still hover above room temperature. I am still sweating every time I run the oven to bake and I still have to wear T-shirts with no layers. My kids are still wearing shorts and sleeping with their windows cracked and little sweat beads on their foreheads. I know that I will probably complain when it is too cold all winter, but please, I want to enjoy fall!

Fall into more posts at The Land of K.A.

Photography is not about light. Photography is about life.*

2008-10-14T06:27:00.001-04:00

Every time I read or hear that photography is all about light, I am a little discouraged. Not because I disagree, but because I don't really know exactly how to manipulate, use, or adapt to the light in a situation to get a certain result.

But I can capture life:

*This post at Shutter Sisters quotes Brooks Jensen.

Sunday's Blessings

2008-10-12T08:56:00.006-04:00

I miss blogging.
Several times a day I make mental notes and start generating sentences to turn into blog posts for when I get that relaxing uninterrupted time to sit in front of the computer and just type. But that time doesn't usually come and I am forever convinced at the moment that I will remember what it is I wanted to talk about and I never ever do. So when I sit in front of the computer I diligently read through my Google Reader and read through the bunches of emails and then enough time has passed that I have to go attend to some child or food or mess or scheduled item.

But this morning is a beautiful Sunday morning. My girl and I (the early risers) are hanging out while the boys are sleeping in. I am starting on my second cup of coffee and I have a card full of photos to edit.

Life is good these days. My kiddos get along almost more of the time than they argue. My husband is my happy companion whose eyes I meet over the tops of the heads of our screaming kids. I've been eating a lot of good German food. I've been baking. My house is sometimes clean. There are new episodes of The Office. The weather is cool and beautiful.
What more could a girl ask for?

You Should've Seen the Other Guy..Har Har

2008-09-23T07:30:00.003-04:00

Grandmothers: She is just fine. She slipped in the bathtub the other night and landed on her eye. It swelled up and turned purple immediately and she was distraught that it hurt to lay down on that side of her face. Now she barely notices it's there, rubbing her eyes and going about her business.

Monday

2008-09-22T09:57:00.002-04:00

I just love watching these three together.

More Best Shots today at Mother May I.

Things

2008-09-02T11:25:00.003-04:00

Things Making Me Crazy:

My Dishwasher: I have run the same load of dishes 3 times yesterday and each time the soap cup didn't empty and the dishes now have a dishwasher soap haze all over them that I have to soak and hand wash off.

My Daughter: She is in one of those moods where she requires physical contact with me all day long just so she can whine from within close proximity.

Things Making Me Happy:

New Slippers: Costco is stocking up for winter and I purchased chocolate suede rubber soled Dearfoams. Ah, the glamorous life of a stay at home mom...

Eggo Waffles: I usually avoid buying these, but I need some more breakfast options for my sweet food loving boy. I ate two this morning in a butter sandwich.

New Frame: I bought a frame for my sunflower photo. I paid $12 at Bed Bath and Beyond for a 20 x 20 frame with multiple openings. Now I will just have to get the photo printed and buy matting. Then I may actually get something hung up on my walls.

Updates

2008-08-30T18:04:00.005-04:00

While I'm waiting for the gazillionth bunch of photos to load into my editor, I'll update you on a few things that are of immense importance in my life:*

Potential Potty Training: FAILED For four days Sarah wore panties and ran around telling me what a big girl she is and peeing all over my house. I have solicited advice from the Internet, my mom's group, and every mother I know. The prevailing school of thought has been to put her on the potty at regular, frequent intervals throughout the day until it magically "happens." I think she's a little immature for potty training and would just flat out refuse and tell me no, then go pee on the floor. So the other day when I was getting her dressed in the morning I just put a diaper on her and didn't say anything and she didn't say anything and we've been in diapers since. We'll try again in a month or seven.

Vultures: Possibly have left. This morning my neighbor informed me that there were eleven on my roof, but throughout the day every time I have checked there haven't been any. Perhaps they stayed long enough to figure out that there's no more carrion and they've moved on.

Beach photos: I have been editing like crazy and uploading like crazy to Flickr. So, sorry if you are an Internet friend and not really interested in my family snapshots; I'm almost done. And family: I'm almost done and will hopefully be emailing a link to the set if you don't have a Flickr account.

My Sunflower Photos: I have decided that this one: needs to hang in my bathroom which is painted a lovely pumpkin color. I really want it to be square, at least 12 inches, but possibly 14-16 inches, square. Anybody know if you can buy inexpensive square frames with matting at a JoAnne's/Michael's/AC Moore kind of place?

*While these things are immensely important in my life, they may be of no interest to you, the reader.

Just So You Know

2008-08-30T07:07:00.003-04:00

Let's say you had groundhogs living under your shed. And let's say they were eating your struggling garden. And then you found holes in the siding of the shed where they had chewed. And so you insist that your husband eliminate them in a permanent fashion. And then he takes the two former groundhogs and deposits them in an unused lot in the neighborhood quite close to your house, so that nature can take care of them, circle of life and all.
Two days later, you will have dozens and dozens of turkey vultures just hanging out around your house. Turkey vultures the size of children. So large that when they sit on your roof you can hear them thumping around from inside your house. And they will stay for days, and days, and days, I guess hoping that it was just a couple of groundhog appetizer.
And it will creep out you and any of your visitors to see so many giant, ugly birds just waiting for something else to scavenge.

Summer

2008-08-28T07:49:00.004-04:00

This summer has been a really good one. My kids are at really great ages.

Four is just the right age for getting to do fun stuff and being able to enjoy it and articulate and converse about it. Four is also such a great age where I get to hear Jack's take on things. He has his own ideas and thoughts and way to see the world.

Two has been challenging, but for Sarah and I two has brought language where before there was only crying and fussing and grumping. Sure, there are a lot of tantrums and throwing oneself on the floor, but at least there are words to go with it, so I can chuckle as I stand my ground that no, when you throw your first snack on the floor I'm not going to serve you another. But in other ways, two has been charming and delightful. Sarah lives 90% of her life in imagination. She is constantly talking, telling stories, comforting her babies, being a princess, and who knows what else, since I don't understand half of it. But she is such her own person who will not be swayed by anything you say or do and in fact will make a stand to do the opposite of whatever you want her to do (and thank goodness for reverse psychology, it is my number one tool for two).

But I have really enjoyed this summer. It has been hectic and busy, and my children have really mastered the art of sibling bickering, but we enjoyed being together as a family a lot.

I love this one, can't you just see the steam coming out of her ears?Oh, and the yell, the "I do not like something with every ounce of my being" yell.

Today's Theme Thursday is Summer, click over to see everyone else's summer photo wrap-ups.

Good Morning

2008-08-27T08:24:00.002-04:00

I got to eat breakfast alone with my husband, the windows are open and the birds are chirping, and my children are upstairs singing.
It doesn't get any better than this.

My Best Shots

2008-08-25T06:12:00.003-04:00

I love this sunflower. I love this, I love this, I love this.

And one of my favorites from the crazy ton of beach photos I'm trying to wade through.

For more Best Shots today, click over to Tracey's.

Question

2008-08-20T16:44:00.001-04:00

What do you do when your two year old refuses to wear diapers, declaring that they are for babies, yet refuses to put on panties or sit on the potty and thinks that peeing is actually just making the noise with her mouth as she hovers above the potty?

Prepare for the Onslaught

2008-08-16T20:17:00.004-04:00

If you follow my Flickr stream you should be prepared for the insane amount of photos that will be uploaded this week. I am just beginning to edit the first of the 800 (?!!!) or so photos I took during our two week beach vacation. I promise to try and cut the number down to only the ones that are particularly interesting and/or cute, but I simply cannot delete a single photo of either of my children when I tilt my head and gaze wistfully at the screen and know that this is how they looked at just this moment and that moment has now passed and we are on to other moments where they now look completely different. And only I know, with a mother's discerning eye,, that frame #2357 is ever so slightly different from frame # 2358 and so I must keep them all on my nearly full hard drive and upload them the Flickr so everyone can also see the babies that make my heart melt.

Take, for example, my girl on the carousel:

She loves riding a carousel.

She smiles, she laughs, she squeals.

I can't get enough of that full, open mouth smile/laugh/glee-squeal.

And if the ride itself wasn't thrilling enough she has to really get the full experience, hanging her head back.

Back and Better, Baby!

2008-08-11T20:17:00.004-04:00

Whew! Well, that was a long break! Claps hands.

I'm back from a longish vacation and even longer blog hiatus and I'm ready to edit and post some serious pictures and tell you all how much I missed sleeping in my own bed. Also? How much I missed my children sleeping in their own beds where there are bedtimes and dinners that include vegetables. Maybe it's because I'm almost 30, but my body functions a whole lot better if there are vegetables involved. We spent two weeks in a row at the beach this year and I didn't go anywhere near anything green. I ate delicious seafood and boardwalk fries and salty snacks that come in bags.

In the spirit of just jumping back into things, I'm posting this best shot from my vacation straight out of the camera, with no editing at all. It is my first successful, albeit accidental, panning shot.

And I tell you, this girl loves a good carousel.

See so many other best shots today at Mother May I.

Pink Flower

2008-07-07T07:35:00.002-04:00

My own personal favorite from this week.

See more Best Shots today at Slurping Life.

"I Miss You, Da Whole World!"

2008-06-30T07:46:00.003-04:00

This baby is now in a big girl bed. She has princess sheets and a butterfly quilt and freshly painted pink walls. And when it's time for bed, she finally calms down from the business of imagination and playing and tea parties and barking orders and driving her brother crazy, and snuggles with her mom.

She's always been a bit of a mama's girl (my husband would raise his eyebrows at this understatement), but at bedtime when we snuggle down in the pinkest of pink princess rooms, she is mine. Wholly, completely, adoringly mine. She wraps her little arms around my neck so that our faces are touching. She plants baby kisses all over my face and tells me, "you my best friend." Even though we've been together all day she declares, "I miss you da whole world!" She runs her little hands through my hair and says, "I braid you hair, a ponytail."

I know I probably won't hear declarations of best-friendship in 10 years, and I'm sure she'll roll her eyes at the thought of missing me even after a full day of togetherness. But for now, these are just about the sweetest times I have ever had in my life. For now, I get to be the intimate friend, the snuggler, the person who gets to feel her breath on my cheek as she falls asleep.

Best Shot Monday is guest-hosted at Melody's today.

Trying to catch raindrops on her tongue.

Summertime

2008-06-24T14:35:00.002-04:00

Friday we spent some family time visiting a local Civil War battlefield where I could take pictures and the kids could run around and play a little bit. We walked along short, handicapped accessible trail which was perfect for our kids. It led down to the Monocacy River where the kids threw rocks in the water and got to see a diesel train pass over a bridge.

(Hopefully since I've posted now, it won't be so hard to post more this week.)

Mommy Time Randomness

2008-05-28T15:32:00.004-04:00

This afternoon I came home from all my errands and whatever and put in a movie for the kiddos. They needed to chill and I needed to get some things done. So, maybe I have an hour? or so to figure out how to edit more photos, do some laundry, straighten up the kitchen, return phone calls and emails and read blogs.

Almost an hour has elapsed now and I spent 30 minutes on the phone with a friend, edited one photo, wrote one email and read some blogs. Now the phone rang again to remind me I have to write something for a newsletter and email it today and there is a little girl in my lap holding a party blower up to my mouth telling me to, "blow it, too loud!"

::

I had an awesome dinner last night though. My husband and I went out with friends to a beer tasting dinner. It was a four course meal and each course was paired with a different Flying Dog beer. I ate smoked duck, one of the best crab cakes EVER, meat on a skewer and fried bananas. While the food was amazing, after being served four full sized beers (I did not finish them all)
we headed down the street to another restaurant for appetizers and dessert.

Also, I have an important question:

Plaid shorts on an attractive man in his early thirties: Awesomely Fashionable or Terribly Elderly?

Awesomely Fashionable?

Terribly Elderly?

A Few New Edits

2008-05-22T08:07:00.003-04:00

So, I've been really enjoying all of the comments I've been getting on some of my Portfolio photos. There have been some really helpful suggestions. It's also really nice to know what kinds of things you like (or don't like). Here are a couple of the new edits of some old images. All the new ones have been cropped to 11 x 14, so the ratio is a little different from the original.

The only one I'm not sure about is this last one, the photo of the church. Following some suggestions to lighten up the bricks a bit, now that I look at it I may have gone too far. I'll have to play with it some more later.

Early Morning Photos (and an Old Favorite)

2008-05-19T06:51:00.000-04:00

I happened to be awake pretty early this morning and figured I'd take the opportunity to get some dewy first light shots. I took the tripod outside this time, but between its cumbersome operation and the fact that most of my subjects are low to the ground, I didn't use it a whole lot. Sadly, the empty lot next to us was just mowed and all the weeds I like to look at were cut down. But I did find a pretty little patch of buttercups:

Click for more pretty Monday Morning shots for Best Shot Monday at Mother May I.

(If you've clicked over for Best Shot Monday, I need your help! I'm looking to put together a collection of my photos to show a small artsy shop owner who sells local artist's work. I would like some fresh perspectives on my photos: I blogged about it here, and you can find my working portfolio set here, and my Flickr stream here.)

One of the best things about having photo bloggy friends is the incredible input I am getting on my photos. I am finding especially helpful any suggestions for editing. I think I'm going to go through and re-edit most, if not all, of the images since I know more about Photoshop now and I have some great suggestions to follow.

Couple of things:
1. I think I will print these 11 x 14 to show the shop owner. I plan to mat them and present them so that they are ready for sale the day I meet with him if he agrees to have them in his shop.
I think 8 x 10 is too small and besides, I don't like how 8 x 10 is almost square, but not. I like the more rectangle-y 11 x 14. If I were to buy a photo for my wall, I would probably buy at least 11 x 14, I think.
What do you guys think?

2. Right now I plan on printing from Shutterfly since I have always been happy with the way their color has come out. I've like my local Costco at times, but their color can be inconsistent. A quick Google search didn't turn up a whole lot in the way of professional labs in my area. A bunch of Ritz and a couple of small "1 hour" places. I may try one of the local places since it says they do wedding photos, so they must be able to do professional looking printing.
If you bought a gorgeous print from a small artsy shop would you be disappointed if you flipped the photo over and saw it was printed at Shutterfly? (Maybe I can turn off the backprinting, I'll have to see).

Also, here's the first of my go-back-and-edits:

NEW EDIT:
cropped to 11 x 14, unsharp mask, screen layer at 100% opacity

ORIGINAL EDIT:
photo ratio (like 4 x 6), probably a contrast bump

Sunshine!

2008-05-14T16:59:00.012-04:00

Lots of full sun photos this week. the rain finally let up and we're back to spending hours a day outside. The kids play and I spend time fiddling around with my flower beds and snapping photos of every little thing that strikes my fancy.

Stacey has more sunshine-y photos at The Land of K.A.

I need your help:

I am looking to put together a collection of my work to print, mat and then show off for possible sale at a small store that features local artists. I would really, really like your input on what I could (or should) include (or not include). I hope to get some different eyes and perspectives looking at my photos.

For starters, I created a Portfolio set. This includes some of my favorite photos that I added after a quick flip-through of my Flickr photostream. These are just the ones that I really like, but don't neccesarily have to be included. From this set:

You also may want to think about photos from this Town set, as the shop is in this small town and perhaps these kinds of photos may have a market there. From this set:

Please pour through my Flickr stream and let me know what you like (or don't like). I'll certainly share with you the feedback I get and we can hash it out together.

You may want to check out:
Photos from my yard, flowers, my Photo 101 set, photos with stand-out color, or you could just pour through the whole darn Flickr stream.

Also, one more question: I put a black border around the dragonfly picture not thinking about printing it. Now the image has been flattened and the black border is part of it. I tried to edit it again, but am not sure if I got the colors to match or not. What do you think of printing a photo with a border like this? Do you ever do it? Is it more artsy? Does it show off my mad Photoshop skills because I can draw a straight black line?

My bloggy friend, Dawn, recently featured her work in an arts faire and asked for input. I really liked trolling thorugh her Flickr and picking out the photos that spoke to me. It was a really fun exercise and I think she got some very useful feedback. So, since I saw how much input she got, I'm trying the same thing here.

Best Shot Ever

2008-05-13T18:55:00.003-04:00

Do you ever take a photo and when you pull it up onto the computer screen you can almost hear angels singing? You start grinning and jumping out of your chair because you have taken what very well may be your best photo ever? That happened to me today. Because a dragonfly flew into my flower bed and I laid in the mulch and shot over and over again squinting in the bright sun, hoping my hands weren't shaking the camera too much.

And I got the best photo ever.

(IMHO)

Back Into Best Shots

2008-05-12T18:09:00.002-04:00

I have been shooting for the last couple of days with a 50 mm 1.4 lens. It is in fact the most delicious, depthy, coolest lens I have ever used. The wide open aperture has allowed me to take indoor photos with no flash and have them actually come out! The problem with my experimentation is that for the lens to auto-focus I am using my dad's D80. The D80 is a wonderful piece of equipment, but it makes me feel like I am right back at the beginning of my photography education with all the buttons and cryptic symbols. With my own, D40x, I can very quickly switch ISO speed, white balance setting, or focus area with the click of just a few buttons. If something doesn't come out right in the first shot, I can adjust my settings and keep on shooting. So, I'm working on learning the camera almost more than the lens! I don't think the lens would need any help...it just about takes incredibly deep photos on its own.

Best Shot Monday is at Mother May I. Click over to see more.

My Beautiful

2008-05-06T18:25:00.003-04:00

She is the loveliest, prettiest, most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I get weepy and soft, wistful and teary, delighted and happy when I look at her.

Spring

2008-04-17T07:01:00.004-04:00

Spring. It's finally warm and my children are playing for hours and hours outside until the early hours of the evening when they are walking around half falling over with tiredness.

And, I just love these:
I went out one morning, early, right after a really hard, soaking rain.

I'm finally posting on Theme Thursday again! Click over to Stacey's and see the rest!

My New Home Away From The Computer

2008-04-12T08:29:00.005-04:00

Since spring is finally here we've been spending hours a day outside. We built a play set (I use the term "we" loosely), we planted some flowers, we played and played and played. And while I'm really enjoying that there are no dishes to do while I'm outside, there is no laundry to fold (only clothes to get really dirty), there are no floors to sweep and very few toys to pick up, there is also no computer. I have a whole bunch of things I do when I'm not interacting with my children 100%: a whole mess of chores and house stuff, but also blogging, emailing, photo editing, and then throw in treadmilling and TV watching and there's not enough time to fit it all in. What I'm saying is, some of the things that I can do around the kids while inside (dishes, laundry, checking an email here and there) I can't do while we're outside. Which is wonderful. I am spending time with my children uninterrupted by electronics or mundane, boring chores. But then when we come in I still have to do the mundane, boring chores and the computing gets pushed to the side. So, sorry, Mom, I know I haven't posted since Easter, but I'm raising happy, healthy children in the glorious dirt and fresh air. And taking lots and lots of pictures like these:

Click here for the whole set.

Best Game Ever

2008-03-26T06:48:00.009-04:00

In the just-after-birthday-and-Easter slow down, we've spent the last couple of days sorting through all the presents, candy, wrapping paper and plastic eggs. (Oh the eggs, I have got to put them away!) One of the things that helped us deal with the grump of an anticlimactic Monday is Sarah's new Elefun game. Basically it's an elephant with a fan that blows nylon butterflies out through the trunk and you catch the butterflies with a net. Two is the perfect age for this toy. And with Jack there to help, they can just about run the whole thing themselves.

What does an elephant say?

Also note the Princess nightgown and skirt over the nightgown; very solid grump-fighting accessories.

Go With the Grump

2008-03-24T19:29:00.005-04:00

I have two tons of photos from this weekend to edit so that I can share them with you. Today was not the day for photo editing, laundry, emptying or loading the dishwasher, any of my Monday cleaning chores, putting away toys or generally anything that would work toward progress of any kind.

Today I employed a Mommy-strategy I will refer to as: Going with the Grump. Between the birthday and Easter celebrations this weekend, my girl was overstimulated, overspoiled, overwhelmed, overexcited, overplayed and all of this led to today being overtired. Today was the back to normal, but wait--we can't cause the excitement of the weekend is still reverberating in our walls--day. And so, I embraced the grump. There was a lot of TV on today, a lot of whining and crying and many, many changes of princess outfits. There were sibling arguments, bites, hits, pushes and pinches. There were tantrums with flailing arms, red faces, kicking legs, you-can't-hold-me jelly bodies, high pitched screams, and stomping feet.

I just gave up thinking that I could accomplish anything in the way of the house today. And so I held, patted, kissed, wiped tears, fed, rocked, snuggled, adored, doted on, and loved.

My Girl

2008-03-24T06:47:00.006-04:00

This was us two years ago:

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Today is Best Shot Monday!

Changes

2008-03-13T12:50:00.008-04:00

My girl has always been MY girl. She is mama's best friend, sidekick, hip-attachment. When there is an opportunity to choose a parent, she will always choose Mama over Dada.
Who will give you a bath? Mama. Who will put you to bed? Mama. Who will you scream at while kicking and flailing on the floor? Mama. And as this little Mommy-clone grows up, she has learned the power of manipulation. The power of sticking it to Daddy that he is not The Preferred Parent. Making it obnoxiously clear by pushing away Daddy's kisses, refusing his affections, and teasing, "No, Mommy!" at every opportunity.

There has been a change in our household, a shift in the placement of one little girl's attention. Maybe it's because of Daddy's extra efforts, maybe it's because she's realizing that being mean isn't paying off, maybe it's because Mom's not so exciting anymore. But Daddy has lately become the object of Sarah's affections. She sat in his lap and told him a 20 minute long story about touching the radio at an Easter party. She sits in the bathroom with him on her little potty, singing and reading books. She asks Daddy to come play dollhouse with her.

And he couldn't be happier with this new found friendship.

Theme Thursday: Change; click over to The Land of K.A.
Also, it's Love Thursday at Shutter Sisters; click to share the love.

Question

2008-03-13T09:34:00.004-04:00

So, let's say that you were standing next to the crib in which your two are children playing. And lets say that the 3 year old climbs in and out of the crib with no difficulty because he's tall and his legs can reach over the rail and he's agile and has more control of his motor skills. Then, let's say that the still-1-but-almost-2 year old tries to do it too. And let's just assume that it was only by the grace of God that you (me) were (was) standing right there to catch the plummeting little girl before causing a spinal cord injury.

Do you:

A. Assume this only happened because the mom-safety-net was right there, and gave her the courage to attempt it, and it will never happen again, certainly not when mom is out of the room.

B. Have visions all night about the broken arms and plan out how you would handle the resulting injuries in the middle of the night, like: visualizing where a magazine is to use as a splint, remembering where your jeans are for a trip to the hospital, maybe making sure your hooded sweatshirt is by the door.

C. Put the mattress on the floor and start shopping for a big girl bed.

D. Ask The Internet what to do.

I can tell you I am hoping for A, and I did B, and now I'm doing D in case I should be doing C.

It's Better Than Nothing

2008-03-11T09:19:00.004-04:00

Holy crap, I just wrote a really long post about housecleaning. This may bore you, it kind of bores me. But I really like to know how other people keep house, so if you are like me, read on and then we'll talk.

As a stay at home mom, my other job is to take care of our house and all of the needs of our family. Just like many of you I have to keep up with the laundry, clean the bathrooms, cook most of our meals, do the shopping, the vacuuming, dusting, whatever. Basically, second to keeping my children safe and healthy, I have to keep us from living in squalor. And I have always struggled with keeping the level of not-squalor acceptable, livable, and preferably company-appropriate.

Things working against me:

I am lazy. I would much rather read through the hundreds of blog entries in my reader rather than clean something. I would rather lay down and drool in front of a bad reality show from VH1.
I have two small children who quickly "un-do" anything I have done, faster than I can "re-do." While I clean one room, I often have to sacrifice another room so that their mess will be contained.
Keeping things clean is hard. I do not have the instinct to not mess up a house. When I put splenda in my coffee, I most times will leave the empty packet on the counter instead of turning around, walking four steps, opening the pantry door and putting it in the trash. I leave junk mail on the counter instead of straight in the trash. I throw my clothes on the bathroom floor because it's such a long walk to the closet and I just don't feel like it.

I have found that the state of my house is directly related to the state of my mood. It's all very chicken-and-egg: When my house is clean, I am happy, but also when I am happy I am more likely to clean. When I am grumpy and overwhelmed and moody, I don't feel like doing anything productive and so I'd rather just mope about having a messy house.

I am always interested in how other people "keep house" because I am still looking for the magical formula that will work for me. And basically there are two different kinds of people: those who are just born neat, who would instinctively put the empty splenda packet in the trash and for whom things being in order is just part of who they are. And then there are people like me who are fighting themselves everyday not to just throw stuff in a pile to deal with later, then cursing themselves "later" when they have mountains of junk and splenda packets to deal with.

So, here is my new plan:

Step 1
Clean your house for company.
Or even better, have your husband clean for company because he is so much better at it and he just can't take it anymore. This step isn't really necessary, but it starts out by making things much more manageable.

Step 2
Assign each room of the house a day of the week.
For me, all rooms or groups of rooms (like the kids rooms and bathroom) are assigned Monday through Thursday with a small group of things on Friday since I hardly ever feel like doing much on Fridays. Monday-kitchen; Tuesday-master bedroom and bathroom; Wednesday-living room, dining room, family room, office; Thursday-kids rooms and bathroom; Friday-laundry room, powder room, foyer and steps.

Step 3
Make a list of all the chores or things that should be done weekly in each room or zone.
For example, I want my toilets cleaned every week and the floors vacuumed. I don't need (or want) to dust my baseboards every week, so that doesn't go on the list. I also don't list the "everyday" chores like "empty the dishwasher" because it has to be done for us to move forward in the day. Also, laundry is an everyday chore that I just always do.

Step 4
On that particular day if the week, DO SOMETHING FROM THE LIST.
For example, yesterday was Monday, my kitchen cleaning day. I cleaned the microwave and coffee maker and wiped the counters and the faces of fingerprinted appliances. Then my children wet-Swiffered the floor while I vacuumed the dining room (I was working ahead cause I felt like it). There are still several things I didn't check off the list like cleaning the stove. I hate that chore because no matter how hard I try it always looks dirty so I'd rather not bother.

And you know what? It is better than nothing. This is my new mantra for housecleaning. It is better than getting frustrated and discouraged and sitting on my butt reading blogs of people who I'm convinced have immaculately clean houses.

Next Monday I will tackle the kitchen again, I might skip cleaning the microwave if it still looks clean from this week, and maybe I'll try for the stove. Either way, each week is a brand new start. I try and do something off the list.

And it's better than nothing.

Spirited

2008-03-06T06:46:00.003-05:00

The spirit of two.

Theme Thursday at The Land of K.A.

Monday Ramblings

2008-03-03T06:23:00.003-05:00

This is my best shot from a whole mess of good stuff I've been shooting lately. Click over to Tracey and see her self-portrait, and what everyone else has shot this week.

So, instead of another sappy, drippy post about my smooshy, emotional love for this girl, I will tell you what I've been up to:

I am on a photo spurt. It's like a growth spurt, but it's where I am newly inspired and finding that my skills have gotten a little bit better, I know a little bit more what I'm doing and I'm finding great shots everywhere. So, be prepared, in the next week there will be approximately 2 tons of photos of this little girl's face appearing in my Flickr* and here. (And maybe a 1/2 ton of photos of my boy, he is much harder to pin down. I have to go all photo-safari on him and sneak around, zooming in from afar and spouting off reassuring things like, oh, no, I'm just taking a picture of that wall behind you, don't worry.) (For those of you who whine that this has turned into a photoblog, Aunt Becky, get used to it: I've turned into a photo-person and it's really all I do these days.)

I am completely and utterly sucked in to Pioneer Woman. I don't know how I haven't been reading her all this time, but once I started I had to go back through her archives and read every single entry. It's like I've been sucked into a really good book. A book about weird, embarrassing stories, cowboys and calf nuts (sorry, Mom, it's technical, ranch talk). And she takes some awesome photos.

This weekend my husband finally bought Guitar Hero III for the Wii. It is awesome, and the coolest part about it may be that when I finish a song, my son enthusiastically declares, "You rock, Mom!" And my daughter accompanies on the harmonica. We're the modern day von Trapp Family.

In other news, my house is still a mess, my husband barely has any clean underwear and my children drive me up the wall.

It's a thrill a minute around here, people.

* I will keep most of the photos of my children and their faces for friends and family only in my Flickr. If you are reading here, I want you to be my friend. I am MotherBunny and you can find my photos here.

Memories

2008-02-28T06:27:00.005-05:00

Yesterday morning was one of those times with Sarah where she was sweet and snuggly and voluntarily giving me kisses. She was fresh out of bed, and eager to spend time with me in my bed. It was one of those moments with her that I hear my own voice screaming inside my head, "Remember how sweet she is! File away that smell! Touch her cheek again, remember that too!" My baby is almost two years old and the land of little girls is upon us. There is no more baby to nurse all night long or baby to dress with no argument or baby to babble at me. There is a strong, independent, princess-loving girl in my midst and I just want to hold on to these sweet, snuggly moments with her a little longer.

Stacy at The Land of K.A. is sharing some of her memories for today's Theme Thursday!

Monday's Stirrings

2008-02-25T07:20:00.003-05:00

My husband is learning to play the guitar. And Jack is studying his every finger placement, the way his right hand strums along the strings, the way he holds the neck, the rhythm to which he plays. Jack loves to watch his dad's every move to file it away to duplicate one day himself.

::

I am not very sneaky with the camera. My family goes about their business and when I notice a moment that demands to be captured, I have to run around (usually to the dining room table), grab the camera, make sure the card is not still in the computer, possibly throw on the flash, check the ISO and make sure I didn't leave it on some weird setting, then dash back compose up the shot and fire. All the while, sounding like an enormous, clumsy buffalo trying to tiptoe up behind my subjects. Not quite the stealthy, graceful, silent photographer I intend to be.

::

Tracey is stirring up sentiments in her best shot today. Something about the high emotions and exhaustive energy needed to mother a four year old. Hmm, I think I can relate. Click over there to see all the incredible bets shots this morning.

Coconut Shrimp

2008-02-23T08:06:00.001-05:00

The one thing that my husband makes that may, in fact, match the awesomeness of the Best Buffalo Wings Ever, is coconut shrimp. He made these for the second time last weekend and I think my mom put it best when she said, "why would you go to a restaurant?" The first time he used an actual coconut and opened it with a hammer and carefully shredded all the meat from inside. But we found that the packaged coconut is way easier and is sweetened, so it gives the shrimp an extra little sweetness.

He used Alton Brown's recipe, here:

24 large (15 to 20 count) shrimp, peeled, deviened, and butterflied
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 egg whites
2 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, or 2 1/2 cups shredded fresh coconut
Canola or peanut oil, for frying
Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel. In a small bowl combine cornstarch, salt, pepper, and cayenne. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. In another bowl, place the coconut. Coat the shrimp with the cornstarch and shake off any excess. Dip into the egg white and then press into the coconut to get full coverage. Try to keep 1 hand dry, this will keep things a little cleaner.
In a large pan, heat the oil to 350 degrees F and gently submerge the shrimp, 6 at a time. Fry for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove them to a rack to drain.

The recipe also lists a peanut sauce for dipping. I am sure that it would be a wonderful and delicious accoutrement to the shrimp, but it has far too many ingredients fro me to feel like trying it. I scanned down the list and came to fish sauce. And while I'm not opposed to cooking with fish sauce, I really don't want to buy fish sauce. Let's say it costs $3. I'm not paying $3 for a jar of something that smells like fish, out of which we will scoop one teaspoon, and that will presumably sit in my fridge for a year until I decide to throw it out. So, we served the shrimp with a jar of hot mango chutney.

Cool Kid

2008-02-18T06:50:00.003-05:00

The really cool thing about my boy these days is that he doesn't really "interfere" anymore with the things we like to do. Let me explain: With a baby, you have to stop what you are doing and then attend to what they are doing. And they are two totally separate activities. You wouldn't be changing a diaper, serving goldfish crackers, or listening to the Veggie Tales lullaby CD for the millionth time if you didn't have the baby. On a Sunday night, hypothetically, you would be making nachos and Cup o' Noodles and settling in your bed to watch the two hour finale of American Gladiators. (hypothetically).

But, the almost-four-year-old? Helped me make nachos, opened the package of Cup o' Noodles for me and snuggled himself right between my husband and me to watch his favorite Gladiators, Wolf and Helga.

And the really cool thing? He can watch this kind of show and not violently freak out in a we-really-shouldn't-let-him-watch-that-stuff sort of way.

Good Mother Disclaimer: For the record, it's not what I would normally deem appropriate TV viewing for the preschool set, but it was way better than the Jeff Dunham DVD my husband tried to watch first!

P.S. You should so send one of these Valentines before they take them down!

Cows and Clouds

2008-02-11T06:45:00.000-05:00

I just had to throw the camera in the car with me one day last week when there were rolling, stormy clouds moving overhead all morning. (And I've just got to get some outside photos. Indoors is draining my creativity!)

Wake up, Monday, Tracey has this week's Best Shots!

Glow

2008-02-07T06:43:00.001-05:00

I know there are so many different interpretations of the themes each week, but this week I could only picture the glow from a window. Especially something from this recent set of my Sarah sitting on the toybox, "eating."

And I thought I'd throw this one in there too. There's something about this I just really like.

It's Theme Thursday and Stacey is glowing.

A Few Things About My Boy

2008-02-05T20:32:00.000-05:00

A few of things about my boy:

He had his first real "reading" this week. He can "read" his name and Sarah, Mom, and Dad. But he was coloring the other morning and pointed to the words at the top of the page and said, "go, go." He could read it. We've never studied the word, "go," I've never pointed it out to him. But he figured it out along the way and he knew what the words at the top of the page said.

:::

Also, he says letters have "uppercase" and "downercase."

:::

And with a heavy sigh, I tell you the next amazing thing about him. Jack loves to change his shoes. (This isn't why I sigh, that's the next paragraph; this is actually quite charming). He loves shoes. He changes shoes at least 3 to 4 or more times a day. In any given day he will wear flip flops, snow boots, sneakers and dress shoes. Some shoes are in the bottom of our coat closet and he often will sit in front of this closet debating the next shoe choice. I get impatient with him because when he sits with that door hanging open, Sarah butts in there and pulls random stuff out or Jack will catch a glimpse of something else he will want to get into and it will just cause more mess for me to clean up.

Yesterday morning I was impatient and had said several times to him to close the door already. He knew I was getting irritated and said, "don't be mad at me."

I stopped. I don't ever want him to think I'm mad at him. Of course, in his 3 year old way, he was very honestly telling me he didn't like the way I had spoken to him. He didn't think I was mad at him in the way adults get mad, saying mean things and sulking. But that was how it felt to him. And I need to be a little more patient with him. There will be a day when I'm not cleaning up the shoes from the closet ten times a day. So I'll just have to live with it until then.

Monday's Gifts

2008-02-04T06:43:00.000-05:00

For Best Shot Monday, Tracey's title is "Monday's Gifts" and it is so appropriate for my photos today. I share a lot of photos of my Sarah, but really, I am in awe of this little beauty every time I look at her. As she approaches two, I am seeing new things in her that I didn't see before. She has always, always been a precious, amazing baby. But sometimes I was overwhelmed with the lack of sleep and the constant whining and the dragging of everyday with two young babies and I didn't always slow down and look at the beautiful, lovely, incredible person who was emerging before me.

Today when I look at my daughter, I see such personality. She is a girl who loves to wear pretty shoes and pink tights and dresses and say, "Daddy, yook, preeetty!" She will let Mommy fix her hair in pigtails as long as we use pink hair bands. She loves a good nightgown, and takes care of her baby dolls, always taking them "shopp-eeeng." She has a ridiculous sense of humor and is downright silly. She can hold her own in a disagreement with such conviction, such passion and determination. She believes in herself so truly and wholly and knows that what she thinks is the only option merely because she believes it.

My daughter.

Focus

2008-01-31T08:41:00.000-05:00

This week's theme is focus and I have been spending a lot of time in my camera's manual reading about this "back button focusing" business. But anyway...it is always enlightening to read the manual. Such simply instructions for exactly how to do things. But I've been trying some manual focusing lately, and while I can't find an actual example of that, I have a few of my favorites to share anyway:

I just love this one. Love it. I hung it on my wall. It one of the few colorful things I've been able to photograph outside lately.

And, hee hee, I know I've posted this one before, but I just love her expression and that her pigtails are out of focus, but her face is in focus.

Maybe if I get a chance later today, I'll put up something more exciting and original, but for now thats what I got.

Stacy has much more interesting interpretations of focus I'm sure.

Slow Tuesday

2008-01-29T14:37:00.001-05:00

Ahh, Tuesday. The tiredest day of the week for me. I know I've mentioned this before, but I love Mondays. I am productive on Mondays and then I pay for it on Tuesday. I am sluggish and drained and I look around me and say, "I have to clean all this--AGAIN? You all have to be fed breakfast, lunch and dinner--AGAIN? You need clean clothes--AGAIN?" Boy, I've really gotten the hang of this mom thing, huh?

Anyway, I do not have a photo for Best Shot Monday, but Tracey has a whole bunch so go click there anyway.

But I did do this yesterday:

Yes, friends, that is a pile of clearance Target merchandise for which I paid...

Nine Dollars!

Yep, for the whole bunch of it. (Swistle, you'll be so proud)

Photo Contest Entry

2008-01-26T07:31:00.000-05:00

This is the photo I chose to enter in the (small, local) photo contest:

I actually dropped it off early, but was the third entry in. My husband noticed the other two on the back counter and I asked to see them. People, they were awesome. They were beautifully colored, snowy winter wonderland, perfect-small-town-America photos. They were matted well and they were in plastic. Wrapped in plastic! Who knew that to look professional you had to wrap your photos in plastic. But it worked. And it shook the competition (me) up a little.

In a week or so the photos will all be on display in the shops around town and I plan on walking through and taking pictures of them all so I can sit and stew about them.

I was really excited about this. I read the email about the contest out loud to my husband several times. But now I'm thinking, yikes, maybe they'll mistakenly group mine with the "student" category and it will look better.

Alright, before anybody thinks I'm here looking for comments of the "no, you're great, that photo is awesome, you will win!" variety, I must say I am actually quite proud of my photo. I stretched my Photoshop abilities with the B&W conversion. And I took it while driving in my car, leaning out the window with the heat on full blast so Sarah in the backseat didn't get too cold. I crawled my car around town in the freshly falling snow to try and capture something interesting. And while the theme for the contest is "A picture perfect town," I think I would like to visit a town with a spooky, snowy run-down weird old cabin thing. Wouldn't you?

Love

2008-01-24T14:12:00.001-05:00

It's Love Thursday at Shutter Sisters.

I took an old favorite of mine and spruced it up with a new black and white conversion. The movement and blurriness (technical terms) are SOOC, but I added the crop and B&W in Photoshop.

The original is here.

Inspiration on a Quiet Tuesday Morning

2008-01-22T11:55:00.000-05:00

In all the everyday busyness I missed yesterday's Best Shot Monday. But, actually, I have a lot to report on the photography front. After being bored and blah with having to look at the same old subjects inside my same old house day in and day out, I have finally found some color around my neighborhood. And some interesting things to photograph!

There is this photo contest. It is a very small, local contest, and I am very excited to enter. The day for submissions is this Saturday and I have been pouring over my photos, analyzing and squinting and comparing and refreshing and enlarging and photoshopping and hemming and hawing. I have driven up and down streets, parking here, then moving up a little, then moving again, just so I can lean out my car window to try and get some shots. I have walked around in below freezing temperatures, a mitten on one hand and my camera in the other, looking for something to pop, something to call out to me to take its picture.

I am 90% decided on which photo I will enter. I will wait and share it here after I submit it. Then I won't have to second guess myself asking you all what you think. (It is one from this set, so have a look if you like)

:::

In other, very very exciting photo-internet-y news, the new site, Shutter Sisters launched today! Started by Tracey Clark (formerly of Picture This, and of Mother May I and Warmtone), it is a collaborative site of women photographers. There are some amazing women whose Flickr streams, I've been watching for a while as well as some new ones I've added to my reader. There is a Flickr pool where I have gasped and ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the incredible talent in these photos. (I've even added a few of my own modest photographs, hoping they will blend in and not stick out like they don't belong.)

:::

In non-photo events: I spent about an hour sitting in my car waiting for preschool registration this morning. Luckily, it went quickly, uneventful, I got the class I wanted for Jack, and the kids (yes, in the car with me) were good as gold. And this was the returning family registration, so at least I didn't have to be there before 5 am like last year. Isn't this ridiculous?

:::

Oh, and P.S.: Does anybody know why Blogger changes the spacing in my posts after I insert something like the "Shutter Sisters" button? Why is half of it one way and the other half another? I can't figure it out.

Winter

2008-01-17T21:13:00.000-05:00

It snowed! It snowed! I love a snow day. I love staying inside and baking something and being all cozy and snug.

My son, of course, prefers to play outside:

Making snow angels

Catching snowflakes

And, our snowman.

More winter at The Land of K.A.

Winter Slump

2008-01-13T15:41:00.000-05:00

I gotta tell you, photographically speaking, winter is really, really dull. I have some snapshots from this week, but nothing that has really stretched me creatively. So here is just a really cute little girl in an adorable little dress. (This is, of course, before she drenched her sleeves by plunging her arms into the toilet to drink the water.)

Tracey at Mother May I has more of today's best shots.

Camera Talk

2008-01-12T19:52:00.000-05:00

Stacy at The Land of K.A. has put out a call for some camera talk. She has a list of questions to get us started:

DSLR or point and shoot? Brand and model.
Love it? Hate it? Not sure yet?
Why did you choose this brand?
If you have a DSLR, what lenses do you have or want to have.
Add a link to your favorite image(s) you took with your camera so others can see what it is capable of creating.
Anything else you think is important for someone buying a new camera to know.

1. DSLR Nikon D40x, I also use a Canon PowerShot S400 P&S sometimes, that's my "old" camera.

2. LOVE IT!!! I couldn't love a camera more. Absolutely, totally in LOVE.

3. I chose Nikon pretty much because my Dad uses Nikon (D70 and D80) and I can borrow all his stuff. I read a lot of reviews before I bought and it seems like both Nikon and Canon have their camps, but that they are pretty comparable, especially for my level of photography.

4. I have the kit lens (AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 G II ED) and a zoom lens (AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G ED) I would love to have a fixed focus lens with a low f-stop.

I have actually been using the kit (18-55) lens a lot lately. Now that we are indoors all the time I can stay close to my subjects and still get a lot in the frame. I used to have the zoom lens (55-200) on all the time and love how I can zoom in really close to something. It also gives a really nice bokeh (the fuzzy part in the background).

5. Some of my favorite images:

Taken with the 55-200, zoomed in close and a really nice bokeh:

And with the kit (18-55):

I am no expert, by any stretch, I mostly don't know what I'm doing. But I point and I shoot and I am amazed at what comes out. I generally let the camera make all the technical decisions, but I have enough of a basic understanding to get by. My photos are sharp, the color is rich and I just love the images I get.

6. If you are looking to buy a DSLR: Do it! I would recommend mine in a minute. Just let the camera do the work to start and then you'll figure out what need to be tweaked.

New Woman

2008-01-11T14:39:00.001-05:00

This morning I went in for a haircut at a new salon with a new person and I feel like a new woman!

Back:

Behind the ears:

Serious with fluffed hair:

Also, I could use these pictures to audition to be a Nikon camera model.

Here is the before:

Quite long, heavy, blah. (Also wet in this picture)

2008

2008-01-11T07:41:00.000-05:00

I want to make a quilt.
I want to put some of my photos on the walls of my house.
I want to sew curtains.
I want to decorate my kids' rooms.
I want to paint my bathroom.
I want to organize my closet.
I want to exercise.
I want to eat healthy things.
I want to clean my bathroom every week.
I want to pray more.
I want to plant an herb garden.
I want to plant a vegetable garden.
I want to invite people over for dinner.
I want to buy clothes other than jeans and T-shirts.
I want to have less "should's" and "will try's" and more "doing" (you know, very Yoda: do or do not...there is no try).

January Contrast

2008-01-10T06:53:00.001-05:00

This week we had several warm days that sent us outside to play, wearing short sleeves and (me) flip-flops. Quite a contrast to our normal January weather.

I just love taking picture outside. The light is always perfect and bright, the colors are rich, and my subjects are usually content to ignore me and my camera. The only downside about photographing in January is there are no pretty flowers or plants to take pictures of.

See more contrast themed photos over at The Land of K.A.

P.S. It's also official delurking day! leave a comment and let me know you're reading! I'll be trying to comment as much as I can today to let you know I'm reading your blogs, too!

Best Shots

2008-01-07T06:18:00.001-05:00

I just love to watch my baby girl roll out of bed, push her hair out of her face, slip on a few of her best necklaces and have a breakfast of butter licked from the top of a muffin.

Find other incredible best shots over at Mother May I.

Morning

2008-01-04T15:18:00.001-05:00

Ahhh, so new day, new sun, new chances. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the encouraging comments yesterday. It always helps to be reminded that other moms have days like these and that it is only temporary. And thanks to my wonderful husband who bathed the children and got them out of my hair a little, I was able to come down off the ledge and return to my semi-normal self. I also chilled out with the Food Network, it warms my soul just slightly less than actual eating.

(As a side note, we watched Iron Chef America and within the first 8 minutes of the competition, a chef had butchered venison from the animal carcass, chopped it, ground it and rolled it into meatballs and was cooking them. My husband turned to me and said, "doesn't that make you feel bad for taking three hours to make dinner tonight?" Grrr. It's a good thing he's cute.)

Anyway, I began my day with a couple of lovely cups of coffee and several blogs this morning. Then I thought I would feel better with some baked goods (Swistle-style) so I whipped up some bran muffins, and set out to enjoy a few minutes of buttery bran-ny goodness whilst the children played nicely in the other room.

But then, the vultures circled and I had some company for my breakfast. And then...

Why, yes, that IS a puddle under the chair of my breakfast companion. And, yes, I HAD only taken one bite and only read one sentence if my inspirational book.

(Shakes head.)

One of Those Days

2008-01-03T18:34:00.000-05:00

It's one of those days.

Where five o'clock hits and dinner is no where near being ready and I find myself stuffing Christmas cookies straight out of the freezer into my face.
Where my son has decided that listening to what I ask of him is just a challenge of wills and instead of putting his shoes on after lunch out with a friend he runs away and laughs at me from the top of the play place.
Where he has a full-blown tantrum in the parking lot in sub-freezing temperatures because I had the audacity to ask him to get in the same side of the car as his sister.
Where I get hit, kicked and bit by my three-year old for daring to take away the plastic sword a friend (stupidly) gave him.
Where the meal I decided to fix for dinner takes so freaking long that I am dredging and browning little bits of meat for stroganoff with a clingy, hungry toddler attached to my legs.
Where my children eat Easy Mac and bananas for dinner because I still haven't started the 45 minutes of simmering.
Where my husband informs me that he will go commando tomorrow since I've neglected the laundry.
Where my children have already watched two hours of Sesame Street just so I can break down in the kitchen and beat myself up for having failed at the whole day.

I know most days aren't like this, but why does it smack me in the face so unexpectedly? Why do I start the day off cheerfully making my husband breakfast in a clean kitchen and then I turn into this crumpled mess who can't keep it together for ten minutes after he walks in the door?

Pretty in Purple & Pigtails

2008-01-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

Theme Thursday: Color

Can so-cute-I-can-hardly-stand-it be considered a color?

(I just had to include this one!)

Click over for more takes on today's theme: color. Stacy is hosting at The Land of K.A.

2007

2008-01-01T19:29:00.000-05:00

Seeing as this is a day of new beginnings, I'd like to start by looking back on this past year.

I am no longer the mother of an infant.
My Sarah turned 1.
My Jack turned 3.
I turned 28.
My husband and I celebrated five years of marriage.
We lived in our new house for the entirety of 2007.
We went away for a weekend for the first time in almost 4 years.
I bought new curtains for the first time.
I ate Ethiopian food.
My nephew was born.
My husband's grandmother passed away.
I sat in a hospital watching my family ache.
I bought my new camera.
I fell in love with photography.
I went to the beach twice.
I've tried to be patient with my kids.
I've lost my patience.
I think I've been more patient than not.
I potty-trained my boy.
I made a (small) quilt top.
I had bronchitis.
We used Amazon Prime (worth every penny).
My parents supported me and held me up when things were hard or overwhelming.
My mom told me I was a good mom.
My in-laws have loved and supported us in every way they could.
My in-laws have spoiled my children beyond measure.
My children have college savings plans.
I started a spreadsheet budget.
I watched all of Battlestar Galactica.
I watched the whole series of The Office several times over.
I read five of the seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia.
I re-read the first six Harry Potter books and devoured the seventh.
I love my husband more today than a year ago.
I became re-acquainted with my college girlfriends.
I got Christmas cards from two old friends I used to work with, whom I would love to see again.
I made so many new friends with other moms in my neighborhood and town.

I fell in love with my life. I realize just how blessed I am and how precious and different each changing day is. I hope that I can make the most of the days in the coming year and raise a happy family, nurture a loving marriage, and be a good daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, sister, and friend.

Grrr

2007-12-30T20:24:00.001-05:00

She promised I could take a picture of her in her Christmas dress. She didn't promise to smile.

Christmas, After

2007-12-30T08:01:00.000-05:00

Well, now that all the Christmas hoopla has died down, I can finally get a few minutes to actually sit at the computer and read, blog and pour through all the photos from the last 2 weeks.

Our Christmas was the most hectic and crazy I've had yet. Sarah started out the week before Christmas with a fever for 5 days, we sat in the doctor's office for two hours on Christmas Eve, to find out that her illness had progressed to ear infections which required shots of antibiotics in addition to an oral med. She wasn't sleeping, I wasn't sleeping, she clung to me for days, if not the whole week. She is on the mend now, the fever broke Christmas morning and she is getting back to her old self. Fortunately (?) the first part of her personality to return is the part that hits her brother and throws herself on the floor kicking and yelling. (It's actually quite cute, she flops herself to the floor, then turns and looks to see if you're still watching and are appropriately appalled, then she continues with the kicks and yells as you try to hide your giggles.)

Jack is now sick, but he is pretty close to his old self with Motrin. Between doses he is a snuggly sleepy kid who just wants to watch TV on the couch. Now that is the kind of illness I can get behind. Enough with this baby-won't-sleep-so-I-must-hold-her-24-hours-of-the-day crap.

And to further dampen the health of our family this Christmas my 5 week old nephew spent Christmas in the hospital with bronchiolitis. He is now home, but is still pretty sick. I can't wait to hug my SIL and make her dinner. I don't know what to do to help except pray and keep my germy kids aways from him.

But through all the illness, we managed to have a nice Christmas. Jack got his "dang dang" guitar and was thrilled because it is red, his favorite color! Both kids were certainly spoiled by both sets of grandparents and our house looks like...well, I'll spare you the description.

This weekend we'll be getting ourselves back in order, I'll be blogging and reading, and hopefully commenting. I am really enjoying everyone's Christmas wrap-ups.

Christmas morning after the unwrapping.

Poor, sick, snotty baby Christmas morning.

What is Santa to Do?

2007-12-19T06:47:00.000-05:00

Our workshop is currently full, so burstingly full of presents, that I'm considering saving some things for the kids' next birthdays. I am so excited for them to open, squeal, squeeze, play with and get excited about these presents.

There's only one problem.

My son has very specific things on his list for Santa and is convinced that these are the things he will find under the tree. Any hint of Santa bringing anything not on this list is ludicrous to him: "maybe next Christmas," he will say at the suggestion.

His list:
a "dang-dang" guitar ("because that's the sound it makes")
a microphone
a kid's treadmill (what? he also says I cannot use it, it would be kid-sized)
a ClickStart computer (whew, something I could actually find at Costco)

Santa has prepared to bring him one thing from his four-item list, the Click Start computer.

But all he can talk about is how he will get a guitar. A real one he can play.

What do I do? We've already spent as much money on him as we are willing and have actually spent way too much. But will the absence of a guitar ruin his Christmas morning? Will his belief in Santa be shaken because the big man didn't live up to his expectations? Where the heck would I find an inexpensive kid-sized looks-like-a-real guitar one week before Christmas?

Please tell me he will be blinded by the dazzling display under our tree Christmas morning and
that he will be distracted by his own squeals of joy so that he will not even notice the absence of "dang-dang" sounds.

Monday, Monday

2007-12-17T19:58:00.000-05:00

Broken Spirit '07 Update: My Heartwood Creek snowman that got a little chip in it which upset me but I could deal with it? Now, is broken into 3 pieces. The top half, the bottom half and the little joyous bird he was holding. Thanks, kids.

But, today is Monday and I'm a Monday person. I check things off my to-do list, I plan my menu for the week, I clean my bathroom, I hit the store, I pat myself on the back. Also, it is my favorite day to post since it is Best Shot Monday. If there are any of you who haven't been keeping up with Tracey Clark and the wonderful community of photo-blog-graphers through Picture This, I'm sad to tell you that ClubMom is shutting down all of their blogs. I am told that Best Shot Mondays will continue, perhaps at Tracey's new blog home Shutter Sisters. So, I really need to get a best shot in before the end of the year.

It would be great if I actually had a best shot this week. The only thing I have shot this week is a bunch of deer in our yard today, but the pictures aren't really that interesting. Brown deer against brown trees with a smattering of metal and building junk our builder leaves sitting in the lot next door.

But, I have snow pictures from earlier this month! You may have seen them in my Flickr stream, but these are about the best thing I've got.

And please, click over to see Tracey's beautiful Christmas card photo. She really puts my own attempts (and the ones we're sending out from JCP*nney's) to shame. Click down the links to see so many of the amazing mom photographers posting their best shots today.

My Week in Numbers

2007-12-11T21:28:00.000-05:00

Cups of coffee poured onto my bed, soaking into the mattress: 1

Number of times a boy has to bang open and closed a DVD cabinet in order to knock off a brand new Heartwood Creek snowman, thus chipping it: 3

Number of times one toddler has to slam the lid of a piano to knock down a lovely silver ornament tree from the top: 1

Delicate White House ornaments hanging from said ornament tree when it fell: 7

Number of them damaged: surprisingly maybe only 2, and then it's just a slight bend; these are actually pretty sturdy

Number of times children have to pull (electric) candles from our living room windows before we realize they are dangerous and could break and just give up and take them down: at least twice a day for at least a week

Days the tree was up before installing child-deterring fence: 3

Ornaments pulled off before then: at least 12 per day

Ornaments pulled off since: only about 1 or 2 a day, so an improvement

Wheels that have broken off of the favorite, beloved John Deere tractor ornament: 2

Dollar amount of the current bid to replace this ornament from ebay: $2.25 (plus $5 shipping-assuming of course that I would go to all that trouble and that I would win the bid)

Number of years until I can have nice things: dear god, let it be less than 18!!!

Christmas cards I am short: 23

Number of people my husband swears we don't know well enough to send them a card: 77

Time outs had by three-year-old today: 4

Number of toys taken away: 2 (these are whole groups of toys, we don't just take away one Thomas train when he owns 50 of them, they are all on the top of my fridge)

Number of children for sale: 2

Minimum bid: a nickel

Edited to add: Bidding is now closed. I sparked a bidding war this morning between the two grandmothers. The children will be spending time with both in the next couple of days for an undisclosed amount.

New (Rented) Wheels

2007-12-04T13:49:00.000-05:00

My car is in the shop so we have a rental for a few days. This was the perfect opportunity to have a mini-van instead of my usual SUV. And you know what? *whispers* I love it!

I can throw the kids in the van to run around and climb all over the seats while I fill the back up with bags from the store. Then I can scoot in myself and walk into the back to buckle them in, offer them a beverage and peanuts, introduce the in-flight movie, and point out the emergency exits. A slight exageration, yes, but this is like driving a cozy living room around. It handles like a car and I can whip around a parking lot like gramps on a Rascal. The only drawback is it is incredibly long, the stretch limo of mom-mobiles, and will not fit entirely into my garage when parked on the same side as the door to the house.

I am so eager for us to get our own minivan. (My young, hip inner self is shaking her head.) I am envisioning all the things that would be easier with all the extra room:
Think of all the friends (and/or potential future children) I could haul around town.
I could carry a little potty for those awkward "I have to go, I just went" moments on the road. And I would have all the space I would need for a fully stocked diaper changing center.
I remember those frequent-feeding infant nursing days with both of my babies where we'd go out to run errands and they would need to nurse. And rather than find a suitable place inside a W@l-Mart or grocery store, I would snuggle the baby up under the steering wheel and wedge myself to find a comfortable position. But if I had a minivan? I could set myself up on the sofa-like back seat and relax with a hungry infant and turn on the DVD player to entertain myself.
I could go to preschool too early for pick up just so I could recline in the back and catch up on my shows - or a nap!

So, I suppose it won't happen any time soon, but I am ready.

November 30

2007-11-30T16:54:00.001-05:00

We got our Christmas tree today and it's all decorated and beautiful. I have cookies cooling on the counter, Christmas music in the background and a Chinese takeout menu ready for dinner.

It's the last day for NaBlPoMo, so I'm taking the weekend off.

Cozy

2007-11-29T19:29:00.001-05:00

All snug and cozy for breakfast in jammies:

You mean I already ate all the marshmallows?

More cozy photos at Picture This.

NaBloPoMo Wrap Up

2007-11-29T19:19:00.000-05:00

This is my second to last post for NaBloPoMo. I am kind of relieved, actually. It seems, there is a reason I don't usually post every single day. Some days I just have nothing to say and end up souting something really lame ontot he screen.

But making myself write something everyday has meant that I have written some things I otherwise would have let slip in favor of watching a Dr. Phil or Judge Judy. It has made me more aware of what I have to say. and given me the little push I needed some days to get it out there.

And I certainly have had the opportunity to share more photos than I would have otherwise. Since I take a lot, there is always something I can share to fill up the page.

I think I will do it again next year. I think it's a good excercise, both in writing and in making myself sit down for a few minutes each day to mull over my thoughts.

I have also found some new blogs to read and had the opportunity to email and get to know some bloggers I was already reading.

And it certainly wouldn't hurt if I won a prize!

P&S

2007-11-28T13:38:00.000-05:00

Ooh, remember when we all used film cameras and you would forget to get something developed and then much later you'd print the roll and be surprised by what's on there? (Me neither, I've been digital since the dawn of the new millennium, Cue: "In the year two-thousaaaand...")

But, anyway...my point and shoot camera is now the old camera and is still small and portable so it goes with me in my purse or diaper bag. And since I didn't have a card reader connected to my computer and had to trek all the way into the office and fire up the desktop to read a compact flash card, I haven't looked at these pictures since the summer.

Please excuse her shaggy hair, here she is putting at least four different pieces of clothing on one leg.

The potty training reward of the year! Riding the "Scoop" at Chuck E. Cheese. And holding on just like Bob the Builder does.

Couldn't you just eat them up?

I have a whole bunch of other cute videos, but I held the camera sideways. Anybody know how I can turn a video around?

"'Scuse, Peese?"

2007-11-27T20:31:00.001-05:00

My Daughter

2007-11-26T12:58:00.001-05:00

I love her fiercely. Loudly, intensely.

More lovely photos at Picture This.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T19:40:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving may be one of my favorite holidays. I think I like it so much because it's the start of a season of family, love and gratitude. I spend the months of November and December thinking about the people I love, buying them presents and enjoying their company. Growing up Thanksgiving was always the same - in a good way. My mom always cooked dinner at our house and all morning wonderful smells wafted upstairs while my sister and I stayed out of the way. I remember a local radio station played "Alice's Restaurant" every year and I would lay on my bed and listen to all thirty-some minutes of it. When I was little I remember making place cards and setting them out, deciding where everyone would sit. And it was the same every year. We'd eat the same wonderful foods, Dad would say the same elaborate grace, my Mommom would make the pies, and we'd all sit around and listen to my uncle and dad snore with football in the background.

Now that I am an adult and a mother, I realize that every Thanksgiving, holiday - every day - is different. This year, my babies are older than last year. Turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes are still relatively new to them. They are getting bigger and changing. And everybody else is changing every year, as well. I am so grateful to get to spend another Thanksgiving with my Mommom. And with my parents. And to see my cousins and how they and their families are changing.

Some things we may keep the same: the stuffing, the potatoes, the apple butter. And some things will change: the words coming out of my babies' mouths, the noise level in the house...and me.

I change every year. I am wiser, I am a better mother, I hope I am a better daughter and wife. I am a person who has lived through another year's blessings, disappointments, tragedies, hardships, joys, struggles, triumphs and grace.

For this I am truly thankful.

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