Heartstrings and Hobbies

Mia in Dreamland

2012-01-24T11:27:00.004-05:00

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is By The Book and it is probably the easiest one I've ever had. I knew immediately what image I wanted to share. As an added bonus I was inspired to play around with it a bit using some texture and I really like the new result. :)

All my kids love books. Reading has long been a love of mine (I'm never without a book and my to-read list on Goodreads is hundreds of books long) so I am thrilled that my kids find joy in reading, too.
I took this picture earlier last year when Mia had been quietly playing in her room and I found her sound asleep with the book splayed across her body. It was just so sweet that I couldn't resist.

Best Face 2011

2012-01-09T10:43:00.004-05:00

2011 was a crazy busy year for us. We finally moved. The kids were busy in school and while I got my camera out from time to time, it was not nearly as much as I'd have liked. Hopefully, I'll do better this year. :)

Not only do I want to work on getting out with my camera more often, I want to try harder to expand myself by participating in more challenges than I did last year. And starting off with the best face of 2011 challenge at I Heart Faces is a good way to do that.

Which means I've been sitting here going through all my shots from the last year, and I find myself stuck on this one.

It just makes me laugh. The curlers in her hair, the expression on her face and the way she is peering over the tops of her glasses. It's the not best photographically-just a simple snapshot taken on a whim-but it is the one that makes me smile the most.

The rest of the fall shots

2011-11-14T10:41:00.004-05:00

I did get some shots of my other kids last week, too. Even more impressive I got a group shot and one of my going on 13 year old. I guess miracles to occur. LOL

I love Anakin's expression. So true to him. And they are all looking at the camera. And smiling. It may never happen again. LOL

Claudia is as bad as me when it comes to having her picture taken, so I was so happy that she agreed to sit for me. She's growing up so fast.

This shot is a little over exposed and isn't perfect but I love the interaction between my littles. They are so cute together.

I didn't get too much in the way of shots of Anakin. As you can see he quickly tired of me (he wanted to go play soccer with some other kids we met there. LOL)

Choice Two

2011-11-14T09:52:00.003-05:00

This is the other shot that I took of Mia last week. I have to be honest and say the main reason I love it is her pouty face. You wouldn't know that within seconds she was jumping up and down laughing. She is such a drama queen. ;)

I do also like the background colors. :) A little more variety and depth of color.

I'll share the rest of the shots in a little bit. For once I even got a group shot!

Autumn Splendor

2011-11-14T08:53:00.005-05:00

First, just let me say that I love this week's challenge. The colors of fall are my absolute favorite and if it wasn't for the cold, I'd want it to be Autumn forever.

Now, let me tell you that I've had the hardest time deciding which photo to enter in this week's challenge. I've even asked some online friends to vote on it because I just couldn't decide. My youngest is such an easy kid to photograph since she just loves being the star. She's so dramatic which meant I ended up with one shot where she's pouty and forlorn and one where she looks so excited and happy--how do you choose?

You don't. You make others do it for you. Hopefully, they chose well. I'll post the other shot in the following post and you can vote, too. LOL

As you can see this is the happy shot. This is my favorite, I only wish there had been more of the autumn colors in it. However, we seem to be overrun with yellow trees, not enough of the deep orange or reds which have always been my favorites. :)

Homecoming

2011-10-18T12:30:00.002-04:00

This past weekend was Homecoming and Claudia had her dance on Friday night. She had so much fun and just loved her outfit I helped her put together and her hair and make-up that I did for her. Made this old mom feel like she was doing a pretty decent job, after all. ;)

I think she looked quite lovely. And for a change she actually let me take pictures of her!!! (Yes, that does deserve three exclamation points. LOL)

My little girl is growing up. *sniffle*

Portraits

2011-10-18T12:16:00.003-04:00

Last week I did a quick mini shoot of a young man to give them to his mom. He was so much fun to work with and really had me laughing. We did a few shots out behind our new house (score!) and we went into town and got a few shots there, too.

The best part for me was that I was able to explore and find some new fun places to shoot (love the archway!) and have learned from the experience and found things that I will definitely do differently next time. :)

Wedding Shots

2011-10-18T12:00:00.003-04:00

In September I was asked to shoot a small wedding and I lost my mind and said yes. LOL

Truly, it was such a fun experience and such a lovely ceremony that I felt very lucky to have been a part of it. Everyone was just fantastic, and I was so happy to do that for them. :)

Playing catch up!

2011-10-18T11:48:00.004-04:00

So, I haven't blogged in awhile. I'm sure you've noticed. Or maybe not. LOL

School started and activities started and I feel like I haven't sat down since August. Today, I thought I do a few short posts to catch up and share a few shots that I've taken since I last posted and try to get myself back on track. :)

First up is a cute/funny shot I took of Mia last month. She participated in our town's Little Miss Fire Prevention contest (if there's a stage, she wants to be on it!) and I put some bendy curlers in her hair to boost her natural curl.

I just love that look on her face! I'm not sure if she was more bothered by me interrupting her computer time, or me taking her pic while she was wearing curlers!

Mia's New Glasses

2011-09-09T00:04:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, Mia had her yearly check-up and of course they did the vision and hearing screening. Well, imagine my shock when Mia tanked the vision screening. I've never seen her be anything other than overconfident so seeing her so unsure was a real eye opener and I couldn't believe that I had no idea there could be an issue.

Of course, over the following week while waiting for her eye exam, I started noticing all the little things like how she'd scoot up to the computer screen or rub her eyes a lot. And maybe that's why she's always running into things! She's not klutzy (or not totally klutzy) she can't see! LOL I felt a measure of guilt and relief the whole time.

So last Tuesday afternoon I took her in to have her eyes examined. The Dr was really great with her and she really did well following his instructions and answering his questions. And it was soon obvious that she did need glasses. The Dr wanted to fine tune her prescription though, so we came in early the next day and he double checked everything and determined that oh, yeah. She does need bifocals, also.

We ordered her glasses and today they were in. Mia picked the frames out all by herself, and she has progressive lenses because the Dr thought they would be easiest for her to adjust to. She wore them all afternoon and evening and seemed to do just great with them and is being very careful. <3

Unfortunately it was a very, very rainy day so I was only able to get a few shots while waiting at the bus stop for Anakin. As you can see, she's still her silly self, but I just can't get over how grown up she looks all of a sudden.

The good news is that the Dr is hopeful that her vision will improve and she may not even need them after awhile. She goes back in six months to see what progress is being made. I just hope she doesn't get upset if she ends up not needing then anymore. She really likes them. :)

White

2011-08-29T00:06:00.005-04:00

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is the color white used in a color photo. I'll have to admit this one stumped me. I certainly never try to dress my kids in white. It'd be filthy in seconds. LOL

I looked and looked and found very little in my previous photos that featured the color white. And with school starting and a hurricane bearing down on us, I really didn't have much time to think of any creative set-ups. So I'm gonna cop out and share this pic.

This was taken the first time I shot a little baby. Luckily, it was for fun and for getting used to working with such a little one. He was the most awake little thing, though, but so sweet and calm. I was lucky to be able to experiment a bit with him, but he had no interest in sleeping--he was much too interested in this new crazy person. LOL I learned a lot about what I want to get and do if I ever have the chance to play with a tiny baby again, so that was cool. Good thing I'm really only in it for the love of photography as I still have lots to learn and experience. :)

Meet My Litle Friend

2011-08-21T23:58:00.005-04:00

So this week at I Heart Faces is pet week. We don't really have a pet unless you count the stray cat who has adopted us but isn't into being cute or posing for pictures. Mostly she just wants you to give her food or she'll try to trip you coming down the front steps.

I do however, love animals. I love going to the zoo and shooting. The birds are big favorites of mine. And I love insects. Ladybugs, and grasshoppers, bees and butterflies. I've showcased them all a time or two here. Ooh! Or there's Assateague and the wild ponies! I love those too.

So. You can imagine my difficulty in choosing a picture to share for this week's challenge. I finally decided on a shot from this afternoon. I really couldn't resist. I love the colors and the bokeh. I only wish he wasn't so shy and would have shown his face more. He's a beauty, though.

Enjoy!

Cue the hate mail. ;) (The brave may click for a larger view.)

Oh, and just in case you're wondering. He was in the middle of lunch and was less than thrilled with my taking his picture at such an inopportune moment. He did not eat my face though. And he cleans up after himself, so bonus!!

Planning Mischief

2011-08-16T11:40:00.005-04:00

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "beautiful eyes" and it was so hard to pick a picture to submit. I'll admit, I may be biased, but I do believe my children have the most beautiful eyes ever. LOL And how do you choose from the gorgeous blues my daughters are sporting or the chocolatey brown my son has?

In the end I chose a shot of my youngest. You'll recognize it from my header. Mia has gorgeous blue eyes but in the end I chose the black and white version of this shot because I think it brings more attention to her eyes. With the color version it is easy to be distracted by her strawberry blond hair and busy plaid dress. Either way, her eyes just sparkle. Possibly with mischief.

She's probably plotting world domination or something.

(Click on image for larger version)

Black & White for Pioneer Woman

2011-08-12T12:23:00.002-04:00

This week's assignment for Pioneer Woman has been black and white. Yeah, so I don't do B&W all that often. Which is a shame because it can really bring out beautiful details in a photograph. It's just out of my comfort zone so I shy away from it.

But this week I decided to challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone and experiment with B&W and then I entered some that I liked into the contest. Shocking enough, this morning one was chosen to be a part of group 5. LOL

I'm always so honored to see one of my photographs chosen alongside so many beautiful shots. :)

The small Bathroom

2011-08-09T17:11:00.002-04:00

Back to the ugly house again!

The other bathroom in the house was probably the grossest thing I'd ever laid eyes on. Some of it was unspeakable filth, the rest was the awful wallpaper and fixtures.

And did I mention it was gross? I mean guh-ross! LOL

This bathroom is actually in the part of the house that was added on. This is nice because not only can you enter it from the house, but you can enter it from what was once a patio that has been enclosed, also. It's nice for when we're all outside or when the kids get absolutely filthy (with mine that's often). We can enter or I can throw the kids all straight into the bath without tracking it through my nice clean renovated home. :)

After:

It's so much nicer and brighter in there now. And I love the new bathtub. It's nice and deep. :)
I still need to buy towel racks and things for both bathrooms, but I'll get that done soon.

Amelia in Dreamland

2011-08-07T11:21:00.005-04:00

A few months ago I walked into the kids bedroom to find Mia passed out asleep with a book across her lap. She just looked so sweet there, fast asleep, that I couldn't resist taking a picture. It makes me happy that my kids love books so much. <3

My new kitchen

2011-08-05T11:52:00.005-04:00

The kitchen in the ugly house was just like the rest of the house-butt-ugly. LOL

It was dirty, dingy and dated. It's oddly situated but very open. It's in the very center of the house, which I actually kind of like and even though we'll probably want to put in new cabinets and things one day, it looks pretty great with the facelift we gave it.

Before:

Please ignore random odd boys mugging for the camera. LOL Though they are certainly more interesting that those ugly brown cabinets and gross floor.

In process:

The room had been painted and Jason and his friend Billy made me new cabinet doors. They just needed paint to match the cabinets. As you can see, Jason is pretty proud. :)

A quick shot of the red color before the touch up painting was done. LOL

Now:

Please excuse my mess. LOL I've moved the boxes in but haven't started unpacking. Here you can see the finished doors and my nice, new floor.

It just amazes me how much brighter and cleaner everything is now. And how much I love it. I love my black counters and sink, and the walls and cabinets are such a light gray that they look white without the blinding effect. It's softer, somehow.

Really, it's just lovely.

Ugly House Updates

2011-08-04T15:20:00.003-04:00

I did remember to get some shots this weekend so I wanted to do an update of a couple of my previous posts.

First is the master bath. (Original post here.) I grabbed a quick shot of the outside of my shower. I didn't get an inside shot because it's well, dirty. LOL It's yet to have been cleaned out since everything was finished so it's all dusty and dirty and gross. But here's the outside to give you an idea. Weird angle because of the way the bathroom is shaped, sorry.

Next up is the girls' bedroom. Mostly it's Claudia's bedroom because I can guarantee that Mia will want to be with Anakin more often than not. Well, we got the shelf up in Claudia's closet and her dresser is finished so I started unpacking her stuff and putting all away. I couldn't resist getting updated pictures because it's really making it seem like our home, now. :) (Original post here.)

Claudia's bed is going to be set up to the left. This picture is weird because the room really is wider than it appears. LOL (Side note/brag: Can I just say I love this pic only because my reflection makes me smile. For the first time I can really see the difference that 30 pounds makes. I curve in instead of out! ;) LOL)

A couple shots of Claudia's closet. I still have to pick fabric to make the curtain we are going to hang instead of putting up doors. And that is her bedspread on the floor. It's going to be so much fun picking out all the decorative little touches to put up in her room. :)

The dresser. It has been completely refinished. I sanded it down completely, painted it and redid the handles. It looks a thousand times better and I can't wait until she gets home and sees it.

So that's my update. I still have lots more pics to share so I'll post another room soon!

First impressions and second looks

2011-08-04T13:36:00.004-04:00

Anytime I shoot, I come home, upload my pictures, and immediately weed out the ones I hate, and choose my favorites to edit. The rest usually languish in their folder never to be looked at again.

But lately, I've been going through those old shots and giving them a second look. And I've been surprised to find some were better than I initially thought.

This butterfly is a good example. At first glance I thought it was underexposed (fixed!) and the composition was weird. It's not tack sharp, but it's not horrible either. In the end, I like it.

I like the colors. I love the bokeh effect. I like the moment I captured.

Back to the Beach

2011-07-30T13:40:00.005-04:00

Thursday evening, the kids and I met Jason when he got off work and headed to the beach. This time I got some pics of Anakin (with his new haircut!). He even decided that he would try to get on the board this time. He's still not comfortable going out as far as Mia, but for a kid that hates any water splashed in his face, he really did great.

I didn't really get any shots of Mia on the board. The waves were crashing really close to shore and she was having more fun hopping over them with her Daddy.

She's crazy.

While I was watching my kids go crazy, I noticed something out in the water. Of course, I didn't have my tripod and my zoom was all the way out but I got an OK pic.

Until next time...

The Beach

2011-07-27T11:47:00.004-04:00

Saturday when we left Yesterday's Fun we headed to Fenwick Island to hang on the beach for awhile. When we got there, it was later in the day so the crowds had thinned out and it was breezy and warm without being overly hot.

Anakin and Mia absolutely love the beach. It is their favorite place to go and they'd live in a tent on the beach if they could. They love to dig in the sand, building sand castles and making trenches and pools to splash in.

Anakins still not much for the water. He prefers to play a sort of tag with the waves coming in.

And yes, I do realize my child was badly in need of a haircut. LOL He actually got one on Monday, I just haven't taken pics of it yet. Just imagine Anakin Skywalker in the beginning of Episode I--more of a classic bowl shape. He chose. :)

Mia is pretty much the exact opposite when it comes to the water. She has been a little fish since she was a year old and didn't want me to hold on to her in the pool. We finally bought her a flotation suit and water wings to help keep her afloat and I'd just hover around her while she paddled about. She's the same way at the beach.

Only there, she wants to ride on Daddy's boogie board. The first time Mia "rode" a wave she was two years old and Jason held onto the tether the whole time. This year Mia was bigger and could go a little farther out. This year, Jason put the tether on Mia and let her ride a wave in on her own. (Insert mini-Mommy attack here)

Jason actually has to keep Mia from going to far out. She'd keep going if he let her. She's a crazy little thing. Once they get out a little ways, Jason helps her get set up and reminds her of how to lay on the board and hold on and then he lets her ride the wave in.

He stays close just in case she wipes out. Which she does. Often. She eats sand and then hops back up calling for more, "Again! Again!" We've created a monster. LOL

She eventually tires out (probably from the ten pounds of sand that has wedged itself in her hair, ears, and bathing suit when she wiped out) and she rests in the hole her brother dug. You know. In case there isn't enough sand stuck to her already.

Yesterday's Fun

2011-07-27T00:09:00.003-04:00

This past Saturday, my husband and I decided to take the kids to the beach and on the way we planned to stop at the best little toy store in the world. Yesterday's Fun is a store full of memories. Walking in is like walking back into my childhood so it's fun for the whole family.

The best part? It is totally acceptable to touch! Kid heaven!

Anakin didn't make it far. Once he found legos and Star Wars, he was happy.

And of course Mia loves the dollhouses.

Throughout the store there are bins and shelves and racks of toys-from newer ones still in the package to older, used toys. I'm partial to the used toys myself. I mean, who can resist the Little People section?

We told the kids that they each had so much money to spend and sent them off to choose how to spend their money. This of course was worse than torture because how can we expect them to choose? They want it all! LOL

Mia finally chose a My Little Pony and a Playmobil fairy person. Anakin finally chose a Star Wars figure, a bucket of legos for $3, and he created his own mini figure from a bin of pieces.

What they don't know is that Mommy did a little shopping herself while Dad buckled them into the van. Anakin's big Christmas gift (a Castle Greyskull and some He-Man figures) is safely hidden away with the princess castle we'd already gotten for Mia. ;)

Can't wait for next time!

Enviable

2011-07-26T00:49:00.005-04:00

My youngest, my baby girl, has the most beautiful hair I've ever seen. It's the kind of hair that grown women spend hundreds to have and then never get close. It's long and shiny, strawberry blonde with gorgeous waves and curls.

We can't go anywhere without having at least one person comment on it. It's gotten so bad that when strangers talk to her, she asks them if they like her hair. LOL

Even better she lets me play with it. :) Braids and pigtails and bows.... I was lucky if Claudia let me put her hair in a pony tail. And since I know that Mia will eventually get sick of it and will probably even ask to have it cut more than just a trim, I'm enjoying it while it lasts. And keeping my fingers crossed that she never wants to cut it short. ;)

Taken Yesterday

2011-07-22T11:57:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I babysat my nieces and nephew. Luckily, we were all at my MIL's house so all five kids went swimming (and so did I. It was hot out yesterday!).

I got out my camera with the intention of taking some pics of the kids but became distracted by this butterfly. I love bugs and especially butterflies. They are so beautiful and so much fun to photograph.

The bee was just a lucky bonus. :)

Just a quick post

2011-07-14T16:08:00.003-04:00

and a silly picture. I grabbed this snapshot the other day when Anakin (finally!) lost his first tooth.

It started coming loose a good month or two before school ended. It had been becoming looser and looser but it just wouldn't budge. For the past couple of weeks he'd been complaining that it hurt sometimes and I explained that the new tooth was probably putting pressure on it. On further inspection, I noticed that the tooth next to it was starting to wiggle, too.

Well, during dinner the other night, he started complaining about it bothering him again and I told him that he just needed to keep wiggling it and it would eventually come out. He wouldn't let Jason try to pull it and frankly, I'm squeamish when it comes to the whole teeth falling out thing.

Within minutes, it was out and Anakin was dancing around the room. I sent him to the bathroom to rinse out his mouth. While was in the other room, Jason and I were discussing the visit from the tooth fairy that was coming. I also mentioned how she was going to be overworked soon, as we already knew there was another tooth coming.

Of course, the moment I said that, we heard another whoop from the bathroom. The other tooth had fallen out.

Now, he was beyond thrilled and we were scrambling to get cash for the tooth fairy's visit. At this rate, the tooth fairy is going to go broke. And did I mention he has an extra tooth? Our tooth fairy is so screwed. LOL

Share!

2011-07-12T01:37:00.003-04:00

This weeks' theme at Trendy Treehouse is "Share". I quickly realized that my favorite picture featuring sharing is one I took way back of my kids wrapped in the quilt my grandmother made.

She made one for each of her kids (11 living) using scraps from clothing she wore or made for her kids over the years. My dad's wasn't finished before she passed away so my aunt finished it. When I was 18, my dad gave it to me and I've loved and cherished it ever since. I've even had to repair it a time or two making that three generations to sew on it. :) Truly a labor of love and one that has been shared with multiple generations of my family.

Fireworks!

2011-07-07T01:33:00.003-04:00

Otherwise known as the conclusion to Independence Day!! LOL

As I said earlier, for the first time I not only remembered my tripod but I had time to go get every thing set up. Let me tell you, it was so much fun to be able to get these pictures. Maybe next year I'll get a remote release or even a wider angle lens and they'll be even better. I don't know what it is but photographing fireworks is so much fun. I took a couple hundred shots and have edited about 30 of them so far.

Here are a few of my favorites. :)

You can see the rest of the set here.

Independence Day Part 3

2011-07-06T21:19:00.003-04:00

So, I might get it all posted some time this century. I keep trying and the kids keep interrupting. LOL

So, after our air conditioned break, we headed out to the carnival.

As you can see, Mia is still rockin' her silly with the addition of her sparkly headband. ;) I swear, I don't know where she gets it.

We bought tickets and then proceeded to follow the kids around as they went on ride after ride.

The Castle:

Please excuse blurry pics. I wasn't prepared. LOL

From the Castle we headed straight for the bounce house.

Can I just say I love the bounce house? I only wish that I could get in it. But really, it only takes one ticket per kid and they just bounce and bounce and bounce until they can barely breathe from laughing so hard and then they slide out all jelly legged and flushed. Awesome.

Once they finally had their wits about them we headed to Mia's favorite, the Carousel.

The kids had been wanting to play a game, so that's what they did next. Only I forgot to take pictures because I was too busy laughing at them trying to catch the "fish".

Once they'd each picked their prize--a stuffed and tie-dyed dolphin for Mia and a sea turtle for Anakin--it was time to hit one last ride as it was starting to get dark. Anakin really wanted to go on the dragon coaster and even though Mia got scared last year and got off, she insisted she wanted to ride it. So off they went.

I was so nervous letting her go, but she rode it. The first couple of go arounds she had her head down and was clutching the bar pretty hard. I was certain she was going to freak any moment. But then her head popped up and she was laughing. It was harder on me than it was her, much like most things. I finally snapped that shot at the end of the ride. You can barely see Mia's curls past Anakin's head.

As Mia came off the ride, she informed us that she was "Brave and tough!" Indeed. LOL

By this point it was time to head back to the van to get comfortable for the fireworks and for me to get my tripod set up (I remembered it this year!)

Independence Day Part 2

2011-07-05T19:54:00.006-04:00

After our snack we headed back to the play area to let the Littles see the clown and play for a bit. Plus it was free!!! I love free fun! LOL

Anakin always asks for a sword...always.

Mia got a pretty purple flower.

Both kids played for awhile at all the stations but every year their favorite is the stacking cups. They don't really know how to play the game, they just like to make "castles". Even if some of them are a little small. ;)

After they played, we walked around looking at all the sales booths. Lucky me, there was a Scentsy booth and I came home with a couple goodies. ;) Oh, and entered to win a full-size warmer and some bars. *crosses fingers*

At this point we decided to head home for a bit. Our hands were full of goodies and freebies that we'd gotten and we all needed a break from the heat. We'd come back later for the carnival and fireworks.

Independence Day!!

2011-07-05T11:47:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was the fourth and we went to Laurel for their Independence Day celebration. We always have so much fun every year when we go and this year was no different. When we first arrived we headed towards the car show.

We walked around a bit and looked at all the cars. I would have taken more pictures but I was busy trying to ensure that my kids wouldn't get fingerprints on all those nice, shiny, clean cars. LOL

At one point we passed the face painting booth and Mia decided she wanted a pink butterfly.

Then they fell in love. When the saw it they immediately called it "Mater".

And lucky for them the lady that owned it said that they could even sit in it. :)

According to the thermometer on my van it was about 100 degrees out yesterday and sweltering so we took a break and had some italian ice. As you can tell, it did the trick. :)

And then we headed off for more fun!

OMGosh!!

2011-07-02T00:15:00.002-04:00

One of my pictures was featured on Pioneer Woman today!! I never thought it would get chosen and submitted it as a "why not". LOL It shocked the hell out of me when I saw it there. I'm still pretty stunned, actually.

The theme this time was funny faces. I submitted some other silly shots of my kids and then went ahead and submitted this one a few days ago and then totally forgot about it. Especially considering it's not your typical "funny face". Makes me laugh, though.

The Boys' Room

2011-07-01T15:51:00.002-04:00

So, since the last time I posted, I showed the girls' room I thought I'd share the boys' room today. Of course, it's still in process a bit, but this set of pictures will give you a good idea of the change made.

Before:

Now, as you can see this room wasn't as bad as some of the others in the house. Of course, we'd already ripped up the nasty blue carpet that was in there, so that helps.

Now:

Compared to the girls' room, the boys is very plain and neutral but that is because they'd never agree on a color. LOL The plan is that all their furniture will be black also and I'm going to make the comforters. One side will be black so that they all match when the beds are made, but they get to pick the "inside" fabric.

Also, it hard to tell but the paint is actually a very pale gray. The outlet covers are diamond plate with black trim. All very "tough" and masculine. LOL

Girls' Bedroom

2011-06-28T14:41:00.004-04:00

The girl's bedroom was......well, I don't think there are words for it. I have no idea why anyone would ever do this, but it was done and I have the pictures to prove it.

Yup, that would be plywood on the walls. Why is it so shiny, you ask? Because it had been liberally sprayed with a polyurethane spray. Really, it was just gross.

Luckily, it looks so much better now.

It's orange!! I had a hard time capturing the actual color in pics but the first shot is closest. We've actually done more in the room, but I haven't photographed it yet because I've had so much stuff in there. You can see, sitting in the closet, the package of Claudia's new bedding. It's varying shades of orange and pink stripes. Very cute and matches perfectly.

All the furniture will be white like the trim. Oh! And the backs of the bedroom doors for the kids are painted with dry erase paint. Fun stuff. ;)

Once I've finished decorating, I'll take more pics. And maybe I'll get a better shot of that color!

A Visitor

2011-06-28T12:03:00.004-04:00

I'm going to share some more before & afters of the ugly house today but first I thought I'd share a fun shot I took yesterday.

I found this praying mantis wandering along outside my front door yesterday and had to run inside to get my camera. It was in quite the hurry though, so it only stopped a moment to pose for this picture. :) Unfortunately, I didn't get a full body shot so I haven't been able to figure out if it's a boy or a girl.

The Master Bathroom

2011-06-27T15:11:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, I did not think to take before pics until after we'd already started ripping up carpets and tearing out floors. So you will be spared from some of the ugly. Lucky you. LOL

The first room we (well my husband and his buddy) began on was the master bath. We started there because it was the one room that had a bad floor so they immediately started ripping it out. That was when I ran home to get my camera because I wanted to document everything.

Before:

Ugly sink, turquoise floor and woah! Do you see that toilet? (That's my husband's buddy cleaning up the trash from the floor being ripped out bit by bit.)

Not a great shot but you can see my husband in the hole where the tiny shower used to be. Seriously. It was tiny.

After:

I still need to get a shot of the new shower, but it's about twice the size of what was in there before. It's funny, I thought a lot of people would hate my green and black bathroom but so far everyone has loved it, too. It makes me happy just to look in there and it's only the bathroom! LOL

More rooms to come!

The Ugly House

2011-06-27T14:19:00.002-04:00

So, I mentioned that we bought and have been renovating a house. What I didn't mention is that we bought the world's saddest and ugliest house. Seriously. The first time we walked through it we walked out saying that you couldn't pay us enough money to enter it again.

It was dirty, and ugly and run down and so sadly out of date that the wallpaper hurt your eyes. (Just wait! I have photographic proof! LOL) Oh, and did I mention that it is yellow? Not cream. Yellow.

Or that not all the shingles match?

I could almost live with the paler color. And I don't believe that the pictures do the bright nature of the yellow justice. Seriously, I don't have anything against the color yellow, but just not for houses. Obviously, that is on our list of things to do, but we still haven't come to an agreement on color. So for now...it's yellow.

We do have this however.

My husband is a mechanic and a car guy. This garage is what made us walk back into the house for a second look. LOL The house is old, yes. It needed work and a major facelift. But it was solid, the roof was good, it's almost twice the size (even being small house) than where we're living now and it has a yard and that garage and a big field behind it.

So we bought it.

Best decision ever. More than the house, the neighbors make it wonderful. Our one neighbor has just been fantastic and is always the first one to lend a hand or to keep an eye out for things. The rest of the neighbors are kind and friendly and I can't wait to finish so we can move in.

Bright and Vivid

2011-06-12T23:57:00.004-04:00

So, it's been a quiet few months for me, at least photography wise. We've been renovating our new house for the past year and that has pretty much taken over our every last waking minute. (Remind me to share the befores and afters!)

And of course, since my camera has been silent, so has my blog. Since I miss it and I'm trying to get myself back in the zone, so to speak, I decided to participate in this week's I Heart Faces challenge. :)

Hopefully, I'll be inspired to get my camera out and use it again!

Exhibitionists

2010-09-02T08:26:00.003-04:00

So you know how you're walking along in life minding your own business and out of the corner of your eye you see a couple being a little more intimate in public than socially acceptable? You want to look away, pretend they are not there, but you also can't help but stand there in shock at what you are seeing?

Well, I had one of those days this weekend. Even more my kids were with me. And then the questions started...

I really wanted to tell those two to get a room, to have some modesty, to think about who might see them. Instead, I took the kids away, distracted them with toys and went on with my life as if I had not seen what I had.

Something tells me they wouldn't have understood anyway...

My Little Girl

2010-09-01T09:09:00.003-04:00

This is a shot I took this weekend at our new house. Jason was working on our bathroom and I had been outside squirting the kids with the hose while they pretended to wash the van. LOL

When they were finally soaked through and tired of "working" they started rummaging through all the boxes I'm sorting to get ready for our yard sale. Mia had found a couple of her big sisters old Care Bears and was playing and looked so cute I had to take a pic.

She's growing up too fast, too.

Photojournalism

2010-08-31T17:12:00.005-04:00

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is a little bit different. For this challenge, they've defined photojournalism as using an image (or images) to tell a story.

I've spent a lot of time going though picture after picture trying to decide which one to enter. I finally decided on a photo that is not a recent one. In fact it is one I took with my first 35mm camera. I don't expect it to be chosen because, well, it was taken by a 12 year old who knew nothing other than that she loved to take pictures. It's also a little battered and had to be scanned into my computer by my less than stellar scanner/printer.

I have always loved photography. As a kid, my dad was an enthusiast and I caught the bug from him. I received my first camera in second grade (it had Smurfs on it!) and after using that to death, was given my first "real" camera in fifth grade. It was a Canon Sure Shot with a remote and I loved it. I especially loved using the remote to sneak pictures when people least expected it. lol I used that camera for almost 16 years until I got my first digital point and shoot (also Canon!) when I was pregnant with Anakin. I actually still have the 35mm and it's still in perfect working order. :)

Growing up I always had my camera with me and I have hundreds of pictures in boxes from field trips and parties and school days. I'm amazed I didn't send my parents to the poor house from developing all that film but because of my obsession, I have tons of pics of things that I'm so thankful I have.

I took this picture the summer after sixth grade when my Girl Scout troop went to New York for a week. We spent a couple of days in New York City seeing the sights. I have many pictures from that trip and plenty of the famous New York skyline, all featuring the towers, but this has always been my favorite shot. I love the crowd of people, especially the older lady in the corner. I love how it was a very overcast day and how the towers seem to fade into the sky.

Kindergarten

2010-08-31T16:45:00.005-04:00

So, today Anakin went to his first day of Kindergarten. Last night I laid out his clothes, packed his lunchbox and backpack, and had a mini panic attack that my little boy was going to be at school all.day.long. LOL

And of course, I had my camera ready this morning. However, the only picture I got where he wasn't wriggling with excitement like the little puppy I've always thought he was was at breakfast.

I don't think he was impressed with me that early in the morning.

Most mornings I will drop him off in the loop at school, but today I walked him into the gym to meet his teacher. Of course Mia was with me and had to give him lots of hugs and loves before he left her all day.

He just wanted me to put the camera down and take him inside so he could start his day. LOL

The first things he told his teacher once we went inside were that "my Nessa bought me this lunchbox and it's a puppy because that's my nickname my mommy calls me". He also told her that he was almost a Jedi but that for now he was just his daddy's padawan. Oh, and he has lots of lightsabers.

That's my boy. <3

First Day of Middle School

2010-08-27T09:14:00.005-04:00

This morning, Claudia started sixth grade. First of all, I'd like to know how the heck that happened?! It was easier when Jesse went to middle school because at least then I could say that I didn't give birth to him, so it didn't count. Know what I mean? Never mind the fact that he starts high school (High school?!) on Monday.

But now...now...I have no excuse. Nothing can erase the fact that I just dropped my firstborn off at middle school this morning. And Tuesday is Anakin's first day of Kindergarten. Full day Kindergarten. I will only have Mia from 8am to 3pm every day. I'm not going to know what to do. I guess I could clean the house or something.

You know, after I'm done inspecting my gray hairs and wrinkles.
OK, so not really. I'm mean, I'm only 32.

So, anyway. This morning she was up and ready in no time. I tried to grab a couple of pics before I took her to school.

Can you tell that she was not enthused with the picture taking? She was ready to go and there I was making her smile for the camera. I got that shot of her and then she was "Can we go now?"

She was just a little excited about her first day. That is until we pulled up to the curb to drop her off and then her voice started to crack a little and the nervousness slipped in a bit. I did good though, I didn't shed a single tear.

Until she was out of the van. LOL

How Time Flies

2010-08-24T12:11:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe a year (and summer!) has passed already and it's time for the kids to go back to school. Claudia starts middle school on Friday, Jesse starts HS and Ethan begins his last year of elementary on Monday, and Anakin begins all-day Kindergarten on Tuesday.

Obviously, since none of my kids have returned to school yet, I don't have any new pictures for Trendy Treehouse's FDOS theme this week, but I do have a pic from last year when Anakin went to his first day of PreK.

While we waited outside for the rest of the kids to arrive, Anakin was showing Mia all the "cool" stuff about his new school including the brick with the year the school was built on it. LOL Hard to believe next year it will be Mia's turn.

Beach Fun

2010-08-23T12:08:00.003-04:00

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is beach fun. We are lucky enough to live within an hour of many great beaches. This year we've not gone as often as we normally would because we've been renovating our new house but I did get some great shots one evening when we met Jason after work and spent a couple of quiet hours at the beach.

Anakin loves the beach because he loves to play in the sand. He never goes into the water past his feet, but he will dig and build in the sand all day. By the time we're leaving, he's covered head to toe in sand. I still don't know how he does it. LOL

Sew Relaxing

2010-08-18T18:57:00.004-04:00

This week's theme at Trendy Treehouse is My Favorite Things and I'm a day late. lol

Partly because it's back to school time and my house is crazy with getting four of the five kids dressed, shoe'd and supplied for the year. But I'm also late because it's a hard choice to make. I think of my kids first when I think of what's most important to me, but they are not things, they are my heart on (multiple pairs of) two feet.

Then I think of what things I have that make me happiest; do I pick the things that are sentimental in value like my rings my father bought my mother, or the quilt my grandma made? Do I pick my camera (obvious choice) or my Nook (also obvious if you know me IRL)? In the end I picked this:

I love to sew and find it very relaxing. I started sewing in high school in home-ec and found that I was good at it. I seldom use patterns; I love taking what is in my head and making it real.

I don't sew as often as I would like to as we don't really have a good space for it all the time and I'm busy with all those kids, but Halloween is coming and that means it's time to start designing costumes! I spend hours every year designing and sewing my kids' costumes; I've done princesses, and fairies, banshees and zombies and Sweeney Todd, a dragonfly, and a pirate.

Also, we're moving and I've promised the kids new bedding and curtains for their rooms which I will sew for them. Even better is that we have a small alcove off of the living room that I'm setting up as the homework/craft area so I'll have more room to sew!

Portraits of Hope

2010-08-02T15:31:00.006-04:00

This week at I Heart Faces everyone is posting about their experiences using photography to give back to the community to bring attention to a wonderful group of photographers that are giving back by taking photos for families of children that are ill.

Please click the image above for more information. :)

However, considering that I've just recently started shooting for people other than my family members, I didn't think I had anything to add. But I'd forgotten something.

Last year I worked with a group called Portraits of Hope in my area. Their purpose was to try to get information out to the public about children from our area in the foster care system. These are children that are either in foster homes or in group homes (sadly, all but one of the kids I photographed lived in group homes.) All these kids are ones that need homes and forever families and the hope was that getting their faces out there would help find them homes.

Now, in order for me to do this I had to sign away my rights to the pictures I took because I was working with the foster program. A small thing when you remember that these kids don't have families but I cannot share them here. I can however, link to a news report about Portraits of Hope that was on the local TV station and in it you do see one of my pictures (the girl with the pretty beads in her hair--she was so sweet but shy. She liked trying to pose for me though, and that picture was the one she liked. :) ) You can see a couple of others in the background.

Heart and Soul: Portraits of Hope

Doing this was an experience I will never forget and one I'm glad I did. Of course, I don't get updates on the kids (privacy and all) but I truly hope that they've all found families now. If I didn't already have five kids, I'd probably have been trying to bring them home with me. They were all great kids.

More Newborn pictures

2010-07-29T16:50:00.005-04:00

I edited a few more photos yesterday and wanted to share a couple more. I've found editing baby pictures to be a learning process, also.

For this one I was inspired by a pic I'd seen previously. I think I like how it turned out. :)

I also wanted to share this collage I made using some of the pictures I took. I did this just for fun. :)

Night Sky and the Full Moon

2010-07-27T21:24:00.003-04:00

Last night was the full moon and the clouds made the sky look really cool last night so I had to snap a quick picture. I didn't have my tripod so it's not very sharp but still wanted to share.

Newborn Photography

2010-07-27T14:07:00.004-04:00

Last Friday, I had a chance to try some newborn photography. It wasn't until my babies were much older that I started getting serious with photography so I've never tried to take more than a snapshot of a little baby. Luckily, a girl I went to high school with was kind enough to allow me to come over and take some shots for practice.

He was the sweetest baby, and very alert. I was only able to get a couple of sleepy shots of him, mostly when I was checking my settings and the light. lol He was oh, so calm and good-natured though, and I got a few shots that I am happy with.

I also got some shots that I ended up not liking and no good full body shots. I'm not too disappointed, though because I definitely learned a lot from the experience and feel much more confident than I did at the beginning of the day. And really, learning was what it was all about. :)

I'm still editing and making decisions on the shots that I did get before he got hungry, but thought I'd share some that I've already done.

One of the shots I got while checking my settings.

This was taken when he was starting to get fussy. He had a bright turquoise pacifier in his mouth that shows a bit in the color version. The B&W hides it nicely. :)

Sports!

2010-07-26T23:07:00.002-04:00

This week's theme at Trendy Treehouse is sports and since I promised Anakin that I would enter a picture of him next, this was an easy decision.

This is my favorite picture of Anakin from t-ball this year. I love the way he's standing next to first base, how small he looks (he was the smallest on his team), how one sock is falling down and the pants are riding up, and how his bottom is already dirty and it was the top of the first inning. But most of all I love seeing how he was proud to wear his big sister's old helmet, Rainbow Brite stickers and all.

Purple and Periwinkle Princess

2010-07-26T19:49:00.004-04:00

This weeks theme at I Heart Faces is the color purple and you would think, having two girls (one that absolutely loves the color), that I would have more pictures featuring it. And then I started going through months and months of pictures and realized how few I really have.

I still wanted to participate though, so I decided to use a picture I took of Mia last month and shared here before.

These were taken one day when Mia was dancing around the yard in her purple and periwinkle tutu I made her. She's such a little ham; she loves to strike a pose. I have a feeling she's going to be the one to make me totally gray. She's already to a great start.

"Hi, my name is Chubby!"

2010-07-21T13:22:00.005-04:00

This week's theme at Trendy Treehouse is faces. I love faces, especially those of my children so I started going through some of my favorites to find one to share this week and kept returning to this picture of Mia that I snapped one day when she was being her normal silly-cute self. (No prompting there! She's naturally like that! lol)

Every time I look at it I remember being a kid and smooshing my cheeks like that and saying "Hi, my name is Chubby. I'm chubby. My mom is chubby, my dad is chubby, even my goldfish is chubby." Looking online I've found a few different versions of it, so I guess it's still around even though I haven't heard or seen anyone do it in years.

Fenwick in the Evening

2010-07-09T12:48:00.006-04:00

I love living close to the beach. Living in southern Delaware means that we are close to Ocean City, MD and Fenwick Island, Bethany and Rehobeth Beach all in Delaware.

On Wednesday, Jason called me from work and asked if we wanted to meet him after work to go to the beach for a couple of hours. He works close to Fenwick, so I got the kids ready, packed our bag and was there when he got off work.

When we got to the beach it was perfect. Barely any crowd, cool sand, warm breeze and even the water was much warmer than when we first went a couple of weeks ago.

Mia still loves the water more than any kid I've ever seen. She immediately heads for the water's edge and stays there playing in the waves until we drag her out to go home.

The tide was high and there was quite an undertow that evening so Jason made Mia stick close and hold his hands.

Daddy dug them a "pool" to splash in.

Anakin doesn't play in the water as much, still choosing to play in the sand and dig for sand crabs.

Mia did come out of the water long enough to lay in the sand and become a mermaid. :)

My favorite shots of the day:

Independence Day

2010-07-09T12:22:00.004-04:00

Well, it only took me five days to upload the pics and then another day to post them, but here I am! lol

This year we went to Laurel's Independence Day celebration again. This year it was on the third due to the fourth falling on a Sunday and Jason had to work so I took the kids for a little while that afternoon. We went back after dinner to enjoy the carnival and fireworks. I took my camera but it's a lot harder to keep track of all the kids in a crowd and take pictures so I gave up and just enjoyed myself.

I did want to attempt pictures of the fireworks again and even remembered to put my tripod in the van this year. However, I never got it out in time. I kept telling Jason that it was probably time to find a good spot to sit and watch them and he kept telling me we had time. Guess who was right?

I did attempt some hand held shots and a few weren't bad but it was incredibly frustrating for me to not be able to get good shots. I also really need to get a wide angle lens. I've been looking at them for months now and can't decide what I want or how wide I want to go.

When we came home we set off a few small fireworks. I did get my tripod out and get a couple of shots.

New fun blog photo contest!

2010-06-29T22:37:00.004-04:00

So, I was reading a blog I follow and found another site that does weekly photo contests. I love contests like these because I love seeing others people's entries and I love getting the feedback from others so I decided to join in on the fun.

This week's theme at Trendy Treehouse is summer fun. I have tons and tons of pictures of my kids enjoying summer activities ranging from eating melty-sticky popsicles to playing on slip and slides, or hanging out at the beach which makes my choice a difficult one.

In the end I chose a new edit of a picture I took last summer which still stands as one of my favorite beach shots. This is a picture of my oldest, Jesse heading out into the ocean with the boogie board for his first time.

I Heart Faces "Pets" Week

2010-06-29T20:09:00.002-04:00

So, I didn't think I'd enter this week but decided to share an animal picture anyway. We don't have any pets (well, not since Magic the beta died last week) and even then he was very camera shy. I know because he'd always hide behind the plant when I stuck my camera up to the bowl. lol

I really like this squirrel picture and I decided that since I kept him quite fed and happy through the winter of blizzards, that he counted. :)

I actually took this picture one snowy day this winter as he was sneaking down to steal the bird food I'd put out. I guess he was waiting his turn.

More Editing Fun

2010-06-16T17:21:00.002-04:00

The Pioneer Woman is having one of her photo contests this week and this time the theme is bugs and creepy crawlies. They are always fun to enter (one of mine was even featured once!) so I decided to go back through some old shots and find a new one to play with and enter.

I love taking a second look at my shots after some time has passed because I always seem to find shots that I didn't notice before. I never even looked at this butterfly shot twice when I took it, but today it inspired me to play with the edit, upload it and enter it into the contest.

Before and After

2010-06-15T19:12:00.003-04:00

This afternoon I was bored and decided to go through some of the pictures I have taken recently and find one to edit. I decided on a pic of Claudia in the pool this weekend. (Yeah for summer weather!)

I decided to share the before and after because I like how it turned out and because I used Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 and not photoshop or lightroom like the majority of photographers and enthusiasts (I got it cheap and it's very easy to use so I've stuck with it. I've used Lightroom and love it but would rather put the $ towards a new lens or other item right now.) :)

I'm still learning and exploring all the changes I can make and what looks good and what doesn't, but I don't think I do too badly.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I will probably go back and make more adjustments sometime, but for now I am happy with it.

Play!!

2010-06-08T19:22:00.002-04:00

I had a hard time deciding on a picture to enter in this week's contest at I Heart Faces. Of course, having five kids, I have tons and tons of pictures of them playing. In the end I picked this one:

I love the expression on his face. And there's those green stripes he painted on his face. Because you can't really be a super-ninja-jedi-warrior without green stripes on your face. :)

Opening Day continued

2010-05-01T16:26:00.003-04:00

At the end of the parade, the kids all lined up on the American League field for the opening ceremonies.

Anakin's team lined up.

We were lucky that Anakin's game was first up for the day so we went straight from opening ceremonies to the field. Anakin got in the dugout and got his stuff togehter.

We had to tighten his ball cap so much and every time he puts it on without brushing his hair back it pushes his ears out and his hair hangs down and he looks a little elf-like. Oh, and of course he's like the tiniest kid on his team. lol

In t-ball, they have two innings and all the kids on each team get to bat each inning. There are no outs and no score taken.

Anakin's Opening Day (Picture heavy!)

2010-05-01T15:45:00.004-04:00

Last week was little league opening day. Anakin was so excited to be in the parade through town that morning. We had to be up and at the high school at ten minutes to eight in the morning for team pictures and to line up for the parade. We got him there and settle on his teams float and left to meet him at the end of the parade route where they'd be having the opening ceremonies.

Of course I had my camera and tried to get decent shots all the teams. I loved seeing how excited the little ones were and laughed at the less than enthusiastic older kids that were too cool to smile and wave.

A town cop led the way through town followed by Little Miss and Miss Sesquicentennial (we just celebrated out towns 150th birthday this past fall).

After that came the town's volunteer fire department vehicles.

And the marching band playing kung fu fighting. lol

And then the teams! First up are the tball teams, followed by coach pitch on up.

Here comes Anakin's team!

Of course the kids on the fire dept team really get to ride in style.

Our neighbor's team! He has befriended Anakin and even let him come play catch with him and his brother. :)

Love this one girl! lol

cont in next post!

The other picture

2010-04-28T13:28:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I said that I had to choose between two pictures for this week's challenge at I Heart Faces. Today I will share my second choice. :)

I took this picture one day when experimenting with manual settings and focusing manually. It's cropped really closely because I was really wanting to get better at photographing brown eyes.

I love the result. I love the silly little smile he's giving. That his smile he uses when he's trying to weasel Mommy out of something. The only thing missing is the slight cock to his head I usually get.

I love how his eyes are smiling, too. I love how long his eyelashes are. I love the barest hint of a dimple on his cheek. I love how his hair is swept slightly to the side. I love my baby boy.

Collage

2010-04-20T21:28:00.003-04:00

I decided to enter a collage in this week's I Heart Faces contest but it's definitely not my best work. lol I think my brain is fried from editing pictures from a high school's friend's bridal shower.

I chose to use some fun pictures I took late last summer of Mia in her tutu and black boots. Even at three years old she has her own mind and fashion sense.

Anakin's First Tball Practice

2010-04-16T11:39:00.003-04:00

Anakin finally had his first practice last night. We'd been trying to have one for a couple weeks and had been rained out every time. Yesterday was a beautiful day out though and we were able to actually put his cleats and glove to use.

Oops!

Better, now if only we can get his glove turned the right way!

I've spent most of my week editing pictures from a wedding shower I shot last Saturday. I should be done with them this weekend, if I can get some time to myself to finish up. It's been quite an experience having to do all the pictures from a shoot at once instead of when I edit my personal pics and I might do one or two here and there as I'm inspired. I'm not complaining though...it's been a fun experience.

Assateague Island

2010-04-12T13:23:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day out, temps in the 70's and sunny skies, so we decided to ride out to Assateague and walk a couple of the trails and see the ponies. It was the first time we've taken Anakin and Mia as the flies and mosquito's can get really bad there and Claudia has horrible reactions to bug bites so we avoid it in the heat of summer. There were still some mosquito's but I think I'm the only one that got bit and it was only once. My elbow really itches, though. lol

We hiked through two of the three half-mile trails. First the forest trail and then the marsh. I think the kids enjoyed the marsh trail the best as it takes you out to a small beachy area that they loved exploring. We went ahead and purchased a year pass ($30 for the year compared to $15 for the week and we can use it at both Assateague and Chincoteague.

The marsh trail

The ponies

They had fun combing the beach and marshy areas finding all sorts of interesting items. :)

And Mia loved playing in the sand.

(More pics later when I have time again!)

Spring!

2010-04-12T11:31:00.004-04:00

I'm a bad blogger. Really. I have so many good intentions but I fail far too often. And to be perfectly honest, I'd really rather be outside in the sunlight (despite breaking out in hives within hours of getting sun) than be inside at the computer.

And along with the warm weather, Spring has brought even more chaos. Anakin starts tball tomorrow, and there's the flowerbeds to tend to and the grass to mow, and parks to play in and bikes to ride and walks to take...

So, I've been taking pictures but have gotten behind in uploading them let alone blogging them. I'll do my best to catch up, but well....good intention and all. ;)

This past week my tulips finally bloomed. A couple days before they finally opened I noticed the color just beginning to develop at the tips of the petals. It was beautiful and fascinating to see. I love nature. :)

(On a side note this second picture was featured on I Heart Faces last week! Yay!)

Angling for Sympathy

2010-03-22T20:30:00.003-04:00

Last month I was taking pictures of the kids being silly when Anakin decided that I was bugging him and he didn't want me to take his picture anymore. I shrugged and turned the camera on Mia who is always happy to pose for the camera.

Unfortunately, that only seemed to upset Anakin more as he is at the stage where he only wants to please me and he came up to me sobbing that he was sorry and that I could take his picture. Only he couldn't stop crying as he stood there looking up at me so I did the only thing I could do and snapped a picture.

The moment I did, he sobbed out a "thaaaannnnk yooooouuuu!", hugged my knee and ran off to play while wiping the tears away.

Playing Catch-Up!

2010-03-20T18:08:00.004-04:00

I have been taking pictures, but not posting them for the past week. Wednesday my husband and I celebrated our three years wedding anniversary. He took a few days off and we've mostly relaxed but have also gotten some things done around the house/yard. Mainly we enjoyed the beautiful weather we've been having!

Here's a quick description of what we've been up to!

On March 12th I made peanut butter cup brownies with a thick layer of icing on top. Mia especially liked them.

On March 13th Mia fell asleep coloring at the kitchen table.

Moments later, Anakin followed suit on the couch, clutching his wrapping paper tube lightsaber.

On March 18th Mia held her daddy's hand while rollerskating down the street.

and Anakin

practiced his Jedi moves.

And today, Jesse became a member of the mob while attending his girlfriend's birthday party.

Bundled Up

2010-03-15T20:40:00.003-04:00

Wow! It's been ages since I last participated in an I Heart Faces challenge. I mean to every week and then it seems that life comes along and distracts me from posting. I had a great jump picture of Jesse doing a back flip into the pool. I had the perfect hilarious outtake of Anakin making a face at his sister while she smiled sweetly at the camera oblivious to his shenanigans. I had a picture of Amelia's hand grasping her Daddy's tightly as she waded out into the ocean for the first time.
Did you see any of those?
Yeah, no.
Kids got sick, I got sick, there were dishes to wash and laundry to fold and I was barely finding time to post my project 365 pictures let alone take any. And really, it wasn't being fun anymore because I was too worried about not missing a day and not shooting things that made me happy.
So I took a break and now I'm back with this week's challenge, bundled up. This is actually a picture I took last year of Claudia. I had a ton of pics from the blizzard this year, but I couldn't pick one so I decided to go with an old favorite. I love how relaxed she is (she usually freezes up in front of the camera). I love the way her face is framed with the hood and scarf. I love her freckles and the specks of snow on the scarf and fur on the hood and the bright colors. I love how she looks comfortable and warm even though it was absolutely freezing out.

She was all bundled up. :)

It's been awhile

2010-03-11T09:13:00.002-05:00

since I last posted. Anakin was sick for a few days and then Mia and I came down with colds right after.

I spent March 4th remembering and missing my mom and the weekend after we had our nieces and nephew overnight.

Oh, and we looked at a house. To buy. Maybe. Probably. *faint*

It's an older house and my biggest complaint is the low ceilings. The kitchen's a little wonky too and it could use some paint and new floors, but it's structurally sound, and has a fantastic 3 bay garage (only a few years old and barely used; the floors are still clean!) in the back. We're waiting to hear about the septic system and get the report from an electrician before we decide. We're double checking everything because while we don't mind a little work, we don't want to get into something too deep.

So that's filled every waking thought for the past week. Now it's Thursday and yesterday was the first day that I'd gotten my camera out in days. I missed a lot of days for my project 365, but I'm still sane so I think I'm ahead of the game. LOL

The days that I didn't miss:

Day 57: Anakin snoozing on the couch while still sick.

Day 60:
A leaf that was on my windshield and wouldn't blow away. LOL

Day 69:
Yesterday! My flowers are starting to bloom and Spring is in the air! So is the pollen, but Spring! Warm Weather! No Snow!! Can you feel my relief?

Anakin

2010-02-25T23:21:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Anakin started running a fever. He seems to have the same thing Mia had a while back; high fever, mild congestion and cough with no major symptoms. Today he rested for most of the day but did perk up for a bit this evening.

Another Day Late

2010-02-24T17:03:00.005-05:00

I actually had my camera out quite a bit yesterday but by the evening when I was trying to go through them and get some uploaded my computer decided to rebel and freeze up on me. Poor thing is getting old and worn out. (It has taken some abuse in the past few years. LOL)

Anyway, I decided to give up and try again this morning.

As you can see it rained yesterday. I'm really starting to miss the sunshine. And now we're expecting more snow.

I also took some pics of Mia (she's my most willing subject) yesterday and decided to do something different.

Mondays

2010-02-22T22:00:00.003-05:00

Did I ever tell you how much I hate Mondays? Because really, I do. I hate mornings, too while we're at it. LOL

I made it through the day however, and pulled my camera out while the littles were brushing their teeth for bedtime.

Mia was mostly cooperative and possibly over-enthusiastic.

Anakin was a little silly and crazy.

At least their teeth are clean. :)

Super Mario

2010-02-21T23:42:00.003-05:00

So, I had good intentions today. There as nothing planned, just a nice relaxing day to spend together. I was going to try to get some nice shots of the kids as I'm really overdue, but instead I started playing on the Wii.

I just bought the new Super Mario earlier this week and have never opened it. That's probably a good thing because once I opened it and got started, I couldn't put it down and I don't know where the time went.

And I love my new pink controller!

Progression

2010-02-20T23:53:00.006-05:00

It was again at the last minute that I pulled out my camera tonight. I figured I'd just take a picture of the kids messy bookshelf. It drives me crazy that it always looks such a mess. I've considered buying bins to hide the mess but we have so many books that it never all fits. I try to straighten it all up but they are constantly taking the books back down so I've given up.

This is just the bottom shelf of the little kids books. The older kids have their own bookshelves. I love buying books.

After I took that shot, I sat on the couch playing with settings and got this shot of my feet. LOL I love my wacky pj's. LOL

I spend most of my time at home in comfy pj's and tshirts. Don't ever stop by unannounced if that bothers you. :)

Procrastination

2010-02-19T23:45:00.003-05:00

All day long I kept putting off getting out my camera. "I'll do it later." I never did it later.

Frankly, I'm bored. I am tired of being stuck inside. I'm tired of snow, of muck and mud, of cold weather and cloudy days. I'm tired of my boring house. Right now, very little inspires me and I'm in a complete rut. I need Spring. Badly.

My imagination is on winter hiatus.

So, I left it until that last minute. Until I realized the day was almost over and I had nothing to share. My husband is sleeping on the couch next to me and the 13 year old is socializing on the computer. As usual. So I got them both. LOL

Notice the earbuds in his ears? Yeah, that's so he can totally shut us out. I wish that would work for me. Instead they just get louder and badger me to death. LOL

Aftermath

2010-02-18T21:49:00.003-05:00

All the snow we've gotten is starting to finally melt. This means that there's mud and muck and yuck everywhere. It's unavoidable.

Confession time (again):
I am one of those people that likes things to be, well, really clean. I like my white shoes to be...white. My husband's been known to laugh at me for taking a sponge of death to the white of my shoes from time to time. Right now, it's killing me to have my shoes so gross. I'd clean them right now if I didn't know they'd just end up like this again tomorrow morning.

Scenes from a regular, ordinary day

2010-02-17T23:23:00.004-05:00

Otherwise known as: Sorry this is so boring. LOL

In the afternoons after we've dropped Anakin off at school, I come home and clean up the kitchen from lunch. We have about an hour and a half before we have to leave to go back to school to get a place at the front of the pick up line (I like to be up front because Claudia gets off the magnet bus a good 10-15 minutes before the our home school lets out and the kids are out there alone for that time.) While I'm doing dishes and sweeping/mopping, Mia plays on Webkinz Jr.

Every once an awhile I look at her and see the young lady she is destined to become. She looks so grown up in this picture. Where did her baby face go?

(And please excuse the messy desk. )

Ok, there it is.
When we get in line at school we both settle in for about an hour wait. We sometimes listen to books on tape during that time but lately all Mia wants to listen to is my Glee CDs. "Don't Stop Believing" is her favorite with "Defying Gravity" a close second. (Anakin prefers "Bust a Move". LOL)

I always have a book with me and Mia has started bringing books with her to look at while waiting. She's definitely my kid. :)

Candy and Scentsy!

2010-02-17T00:03:00.003-05:00

The kids finally returned to school today but with a two hour delay. I hate delays as it messes with my schedule and makes me feel like I'm in a race with myself to catch up all day long.

Claudia came home with candy from friends and a couple of birthday presents. I loved lick'em aid/fun dip as a kid. I threatened to steal it from her so it was the first she ate. meanie. lol

The highlight of my day was receiving a package in the mail. I knew that I should expect a little something as a consolation prize from a person I post with on a message board (she sells scentsy and was having a giveaway). I didn't expect what I got, though.

I received a bar of black raspberry vanilla. Now my house smells so good and I can't wait to order some new scents. Great marketing, there! LOL

Confession:

2010-02-16T00:30:00.002-05:00

I love to color. I find it relaxing. I love the smell of crayola crayons, the feel of the crayon on paper, the bright colors. I'm not overly picky about the pictures I'll color but I find the geometric coloring pages to be the most zen, for the lack of a better word. :)

Orange is always my favorite.

So what do you like to do to relax that people would find surprising?

Claudia's Birthday

2010-02-15T00:22:00.004-05:00

This Valentine's Day was Claudia's 11th birthday. Saturday, I ran around all day (first chance I've gotten in a couple weeks thanks to the weather) trying to get last minute things done. It was quarter to one in the morning when I realized I never took a picture. LOL

I did manage to get a few today when everyone was over for cake and ice cream. It was a little hectic though with all of us. LOL I think everyone's been suffering from cabin fever just a bit. :)

Claudia's cake was Percy Jackson themed. The icing was blue and I drew a trident on it and placed some mini figures around it. She seemed to really like the Hades figure. (I think that's just because we laughed so hard at that part of the movie, friday night. LOL)

It seems these days that when we have people over the guitar hero gets pulled out almost immediately. And inevitably, Jesse ends up on the drums showing us all how it's done.

Of course, Anakin and Mia were more than happy to assist their big sister on opening presents.

Happy Birthday Kiddo! Now quit growing!!

(Please note that not once did she acknowledge me with the camera and even hid her face in many, resulting in less pictures than I'd have liked. I guess she is my kid after all. LOL)

Silly and Dramatic

2010-02-13T01:02:00.002-05:00

My kids are nuts. Anakin is a big goof and Mia is destined to win an Oscar. She was feeling much better today (still a mild fever, but not nearly as bad) but a little whiny still. And dramatic.

She's always dramatic.

Before:

I have no idea what set her off, I swear.
During:

Immediately after:

All within minutes. LOL

These days the only faces I get from Anakin when I turn the camera on his is either annoyed or silly. Today was a silly day.

Still Under the Weather

2010-02-11T22:31:00.003-05:00

Mia's fever spiked to 104.8 today. It stays down with medication, but when it's up, she's miserable. Called the nurse line and as long as it doesn't go above 105 or any other symptoms pop up, they just want us to keep her comfortable. Hopefully, it will break tonight.

Drifting

2010-02-11T00:02:00.003-05:00

Another day, another storm. We have damage to our roof and it's now leaking. yay. :/

We're just drifting.

My day

2010-02-09T22:24:00.003-05:00

Sick kid:

Beat down husband:

I should have known last night when Mia was so cranky that she was getting sick. She woke up this morning with a fever and congestion. Overall she's just cranky and achy. We've had to resort to alternating tylenol and motrin to keep the fever down. Her appetite is low, but she's drinking plenty of water so I'm sure she'll be better in a day or two.

As for my husband? He's spent more time the past week, shoveling snow and ice than doing anything else. We are now getting the third storm in the last week and a half. Just this weekend we were slammed with the lovely blizzard of 2010 and now were expecting another 6-12 inches.

We're ready for Spring.

That's my picture!

2010-02-09T12:04:00.005-05:00

Right there! On Pioneer Woman! LOL

That' was pretty much my reaction this morning, when I hopped over to see the wonderful pictures she would have to share today. Imagine my surprise when the second one down is mine!

This is the picture I entered yesterday. :)

And to think I'd already entered a picture for today because I never thought that mine would be picked.

To say the least, this made my day. :)

Birds...

2010-02-09T00:02:00.002-05:00

and one curious squirrel. :)

Snow Fun

2010-02-07T22:28:00.003-05:00

Today we enjoyed the snow!

Snow really does make the world beautiful. :)

After the Storm

2010-02-07T00:22:00.003-05:00

Our power was out for half the day. We camped out and cuddled under blankets and just hoped the electric would be back before the house got any colder. It snowed all day and it didn't stop until it was nearly dark.

I finally went out with my camera after the kids went to bed and snapped a couple of pictures before everyone starts to dig out in the morning.

A neighbor's car:

Tomorrow I will get better pictures when the kids go out to play. :)

Snowpocalypse

2010-02-05T23:30:00.003-05:00

It started snowing at a little after noon. Small gently falling flakes.

(Remind me to buy a new tripod. Trying to photography flighty birds without one is not easy. Especially at such long focal lengths)

By the evening the snow was falling thick and wet.

At night the sky is almost purple. I was outside with my husband talking to him while he shoveled the driveway and lightning lit up the sky. It turned the sky green. It was quite eerie and I wish I'd caught that on camera. Instead I just got these.

Silly Girl

2010-02-04T21:41:00.004-05:00

Not a lot to say today. Took a few shots of Mia playing around being silly.

A light dusting

2010-02-03T20:41:00.002-05:00

Last night we got another light dusting of snow. The temps were warmer today though so it all started melting pretty quickly. The kids might even make it back to school tomorrow.

Winter is really hitting us this year. It looks like we have another storm headed our way for this weekend.

An Award!

2010-02-03T13:20:00.002-05:00

A while back I received an award for my blog from Merlot. It was such a nice surprise and I started to do my part and pass it along when kids happened. As with all good intentions, I meant to come back to it and forgot and forgot and forgot. But I didn't forget totally!

So here I am and here are the rules:

1. To accept the award, you must post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted you the award, and a link to their blog.

2. Pass the award on to approximately 10 other blogs that you recently discovered, and think are great! (Mine are not necessarily recently discovered, but I love them)

3. Contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

So here I go!

1. Razing Ruth-fascinating read

A bunch of Project 365 blogs I read. I love how they chronicle the every day things.

2. 2010 Project 365-cute baby alert!

3. 365 Days of Clean-nothing like motivating yourself to make a change in your life

4. The Whole Me- for being brave enough to post so many self-portraits. I avoid the camera lens; that's why I prefer to hold the camera.

5. Project 356-2010-handsome boys, cute kitties and interesting pictures!

6. 365 Penguins-because I loved the idea and the pictures already posted and I hope she decides to start up again!

7. Lens and Pens-scrapbooking and project 365! Fun!

8. Barb's 365- I love her pictures! So gorgeous!

9. Espinoza's Love-Beautiful Family!

10. Faith, Hope & a Whole Lotta Love-again, gorgeous photographs!

Thanks Merlot and thanks to everyone who writes about and photographs and shares their lives on their blogs!

Yesterday

2010-02-03T10:45:00.002-05:00

I just realized that I completely forgot to post yesterday. I took my pictures, but never posted them to the blog. I uploaded them to flickr, but never made it here. But I have a good excuse, I swear!

You see I received a package yesterday. And inside it, was this:

Isn't it beautiful! LOL

Charging...yes, I was a wee bit obsessed yesterday.

I really like the cover I chose. I couldn't decide what I wanted because I really didn't like the look of the elastic holding it in on most covers. I wanted something pretty, but none of the oberon covers appealed to me so in the end I went with simple and bought the Industriell cover. I love it. It smelled a little funny (new car-ish) right out of the package, but once it was aired out it was fine. I love the way the nook clips in (the newer version is even nicer than the ones in the pictures on the B&N website and it's very clean looking.

I've already been on a shopping spree and have added nineteen books to it. I bought all the Sookie Stackhouse books because I love them so much and knew I'd want to re-read them. I also pre-ordered the one that will be out in May. Then I bought a bunch of books that I've been wanting to read but couldn't get from the library. Now I just need to finish the book I'm already reading so I can really start to enjoy my Nook.

While waiting yesterday, I did take some pictures so I wouldn't be completely boring. It was a snow day again and the kids decided to paint with watercolors. Anakin decided to use the watercolors as war paint.

Also, while waiting for my package to arrive I occupied myself by tossing some bread crusts out to the birds. A cute little squirrel decided to get in on the action and I was able to snap a couple of cute pics from my front door.

February 1st

2010-02-01T21:12:00.002-05:00

We finally got to go out and play in the snow today. The kids had a blast. This is the most snow we've gotten in a few years and today it was really packable, making for lots of fun.

I was snapping this picture while Anakin was getting ready...

to ambush his sisters. LOL

And then he turned his sights on me.

Face plant

My daffodils are growing quickly.

Ethan's Birthday

2010-01-31T23:40:00.002-05:00

Ethan turned 11 on Friday. Today we'd planned a small birthday party that ended up even smaller as the snow we got yesterday kept his grandmother and aunt & uncle and cousins at home. We weren't going to make him wait by postponing the celebration, so we had cake and ice cream and presents with just us.

We got him two Halo block sets, a Nerf gun and bullets, a new webkinz, the terminator figure he wanted, a steering wheel for the wii, and Guitar Hero 5. He couldn't wait to start building his Halo sets.

His cake was even Halo "decorated". He couldn't decide what kind of cake he wanted and he really seemed to want some sort of "toy" on his cake after his brother had the lego block cakes that I put real lego guys on, so I just dyed the frosting to match the figures. LOL

There's nothing like licking the frosting off the candles!

Snowy Night

2010-01-30T23:39:00.002-05:00

It snowed today. It started snowing early this morning and didn't stop or even slow down much until after the sun set. And since it's a birthday weekend in our house (Ethan's 11th) Jason and I had to run out in it for last minute party and cake supplies. Not how I wanted to spend a cold snowy day, but we got what we needed and came home.

It was so cold out and snowing so fast that the windshield wipers could barely keep up and the heaters were going full blast trying to keep the snow from freezing immediately.

It was snowing too much to go out with my camera in hand for most of the day so I decided to go on a little walk after the kids went to bed. I didn't last very long as it's very cold but the snow was beautiful. And deep. Well, at least for around here where we're lucky to get two inches of snow at a time. There were times where the snow in drifts came up to my knees almost.

I love the way snow sparkles and icicles form.

I love the way snow makes everything peaceful and quiet.

And then I love it when it melts. LOL

Last Minute

2010-01-29T23:05:00.003-05:00

Today was yet another last minute day. I've really found that it's hard for me to find time to get my camera out. Most days I don't think about it until the kids are in bed and I finally get some time to myself. By then it's late and I just want to relax. On top of all that I feel like it's getting a little monotonous.

The good thing is that I really feel like once Spring comes, the lure of getting a picture will get me out of the house more. It'll be a great excuse to go to the park, the zoo and other fun outdoor places. For now, it's cold (barely making it to freezing today) and wet and dreary. I don't do cold.

The bad thing is that Spring is still weeks and weeks away.

Today I finally decided to pull out an object from my past. My first lunch box was a PacMan lunch box and I absolutely adored it. I remember how my sandwich fit perfectly in it, how I would swing it by my side by the handles, how different it was from everyone's plastic lunch boxes. I'm not sure it was ever meant to be used as a lunch box, but that's what I used and I loved it. And eventually lost it.

Years ago when ebay was a new thing I was searching for items from my childhood when I found it. My lunch box. I bid on it immediately and was thrilled to win. Now, every time I see it on the shelf, I smile.

And to add to things that make me smile:
the Teenager.
He was on the computer, shooting me odd looks out of the corner of his eyes while I photographed my lunch box. I'm sure that he was telling whomever it was he was chatting on facebook with that I was totally weird and crazy. So I turned the camera on him. >:)

I love how he can't totally ignore me but he's trying so hard not to smile. LOL

Fish Lips

2010-01-28T23:31:00.002-05:00

Today I let Mia play on the computer while her older siblings were at school. At one point I looked over at her and noticed the funny faces she made while playing Webkinz. I couldn't resist sneaking my camera out and she looked over at me right as I snapped the picture. Perfect timing!

2010-01-27T21:51:00.002-05:00

Today I decided to walk around my yard and see what interesting things I could find to photograph. I started with my cute new sneakers. :)

I found lots of signs of winter and leftovers from autumn.

I loved the way the sky looked with the setting sun behind the clouds and the tree branches silhouetted against it. I had fun with some editing and I like it even more. :)
I also found a few vestiges of color left in the world like the green moss growing on a tree.

Best of all, I found hope and a sign of Spring to come.