The Moment

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

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.

Who Are They?

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?

Memory Lane

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

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.

Sarah's Bedtime Prayers

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

Leafy Fun

Best Shot Monday is at Mother May I

A Year Ago...

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.

Imagination

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.

Boo!

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

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.

Best Shot Season

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.

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

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.

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

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

I just love watching these three together.

More Best Shots today at Mother May I.

Summer

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.

My Best Shots

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

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

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.