A Fresh Perspective

A Mile in His Shoes Winner!

2012-01-26T22:49:00.000-05:00

Okay, so the past couple days have been pretty busy ... or maybe I just forgot. Whatever! So tonight I remembered that I forgot to randomly pick the winner for the DVD giveaway. Random.org chose comment #1, which is Jill. (I'm being too lazy to take a screen capture and plop it in here so you'll just have to take my word for it). :)

Congratulations, Jill! I'll get your information so you can get your DVD soon!

Wild & Wonderful Wednesday #13

2012-01-24T22:35:00.001-05:00

Some weeks Tuesday nights sneak up on me! :) After a pretty busy day, I went to a Turbo Kick class at our local Zumba center this evening (loved it!). Then read to Alex, dealt with some PTO stuff, took a shower, and realized that I hadn't prepared my W&WW post yet. Yikes!

Before I share my photos, let me just say THANK YOU once again to everyone who links up! We broke another record last week. That's exciting to me! Although it makes it challenging to get around to visit everyone but I managed. Not sure how well I'll do this week as we are ordering our kitchen cabinets so I'll be working diligently to get some things straightened up/cleaned out/pitched in our kitchen over the next few weeks. But I will do my best to sneak a few moments here and there to stop by.

Anyway, on to the photos ... I wanted to share a few from our fun on Saturday. Friday night/Saturday morning Mother Nature decided to dump another 5 inches or so of snow on us. On top of the 3 inches we received Thursday night/Friday morning. After shoveling out, we enjoyed the snow by sledding in our back yard. When we finally got in the house, we had a message from a friend, Jennifer, inviting us over to sled at her house. The kids were excited to go, so instead of taking a much-needed nap, we went sledding some more. While there, we got to visit with the neighbor's horse and donkeys.

This is Cocoa. She is beautiful. Not that you need me to tell you that. :)

We sweetened her up by feeding her a few apples that Jennifer had given us.

And I discovered just how difficult it is to photograph a horse. She didn't like to be still for long. :) And the bright sun and snow combined with her dark fur made metering interesting.

When we were just about to get back to sledding, a plow truck came through. Cocoa got terribly upset and started running around and bucking and whinnying. I managed to get this shot of her even though it's not the greatest. I didn't overstep my boundaries and go into the pasture where picture-taking would have been better.

And you can sort of see the donkeys. I did take pictures of them too. Just no time to post them tonight. Although they were difficult to photograph as well. That's okay though. I love those learning opportunities.

Now it is your turn! Link up your Wild & Wonderful photos below.

Just a few things first ...

1. Grab my button for your post and link up below (or at least use a text link) so others can find out about Wild & Wonderful Wednesday. Thank you!

2. Link up your post URL (or Flickr photo URL), not your blog URL.

3. Photos must be yours please.

4. Try to visit and comment on a few other linker uppers.

5. You have until Saturday at midnight to link up!

Also linking up with these lovely ladies ...

Week 3 in pictures

2012-01-23T09:37:00.000-05:00

Near the end of 2011 when I was reaching the end of my second year of Project 365, I was determined I wasn't going to do another year. I mean, what could I possibly photograph that I hadn't already? But I'm really glad I decided to go ahead with another year. It gives me the incentive I need to pick up my camera every day. Especially on gray, gloomy days like today when the last thing I want to do is take pictures. I enjoy the growth I'm seeing in my photos - the getting it right (or at least better) IN camera, which requires less editing on my part. Editing is not high on my list of favorite things to do. I get bored with it pretty quickly. And no one likes to do something boring, right? :)

Anyway, you're not here to read my ramblings, so on with the photos!

{Sunday}

Alex had a blast trying out his new snowboard. He fell off a lot, but he kept right on trying.

This is my "active" photo for Inspire Me's Be Inspired Project.

{Monday}

I had to go grocery shopping this week since Doug has been working so many hours (he's usually the one to do our "big" shopping each week). While at the store I treated myself to a bouquet of flowers. Unfortunately all they had were different colored daisies. Now I love daisies, but I was hoping for more variety. Maybe this week. :)

{Tuesday}

Just playing around with Keira's nail polishes and my 50mm lens. One of the other photos I took of them ended up in this week's Scavenger Hunt.

{Wednesday}

I dusted off my sewing machine to do a little mending. One of my goals for 2012 is to learn how to sew and actually finish making something. I don't know what yet.

{Thursday}

I put another bird feeder right outside my office window in the hopes that I could get a closer photo of some birds. This little guy popped in for a snack just as I was sitting down at my computer and he stuck around long enough for me to capture him.

{Friday}

It is a rare thing for me to be up when the sun is rising. Especially when the kids have a 2-hour delay for school. But this day I was up. If only for a few minutes to take a couple photos then go back to bed. :) We may not have had a beautiful sunset this week, but the sunrise was pretty spectacular. I'm glad I got up for it.

This is my "start of the day" photo for P366 Rewind's challenge.

{Saturday}

We got a few inches of fluffy snow Thursday night/Friday morning. Then late Friday night another front came through that dumped another five inches or so. This time it was wet, heavy snow. Once we finished shoveling out the driveway (took me almost 2 hours! man, are my shoulders sore!), we had some fun sledding in the back yard. Then later in the day we went to a friend's house and did some more sledding (those photos coming soon).

This is my "I dreamed a dream" photo for My 3 Boybarians P52 challenge. I dream of the day when all three kids and the dog will cooperate and look at and smile for the camera. :)

On another note, I may not be around too much for the next couple weeks. We are remodeling our kitchen (YAY!) and I have some serious, um, reorganizing to do to prepare. This has been a long time coming and I'm so looking forward to having the kitchen done. It is the room you walk into when you enter our home and it is truly the ugliest kitchen ever. Literally falling apart. (You'll see that when I post the before/after pictures). But since it is the most-expensive room to do, we saved it until last. We now have enough money saved up to do it, so we'll have a new kitchen and NO DEBT when it is all done. That's the only way to go! I'm so excited!

I could also use some crock pot recipes since I suspect my stove will be out of commission for a while and we don't want to order pizza every day. Not that the kids would mind. :) So if you have a great crock pot recipe that you'd like to share, please do! If it is a link, you can share it in the comments. Otherwise shoot me an email ... kvensel {at} gmail {dot} com. Thank you!!!

Have a fabulous week! Go take lots of pictures!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 01.22.12

2012-01-22T00:07:00.000-05:00

This week's Hunt items are Sunset, Black & White, A Day in My Life, Four, and Colorful. Here are my interpretations ...

{sunset}

We didn't have many opportunities for a sunset this week. In fact, we only had two and neither of them were as vibrant as they can be. So this is as good as it gets this week.

{black and white}

While shoveling the driveway yesterday morning, I saw this little bird feather swaying in the breeze. It was already black and white, so no need to convert in processing. :)

{a day in my life}

This crazy crew is part of every day in my life. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

{four}

Honey was fascinated with something up in our neighbor's tree branch. Upon closer inspection, I discovered she was seeing a deserted tree worm nest that was moving in the breeze. As you can see, she was pretty determined to get to it. She would sit and look, then bark at it, then jump up even though she had no chance of reaching it (it was about 12 feet in the air). She can be pretty entertaining sometimes. :)

{colorful}

I was playing around photographing Keira's nail polish collection. I loved how it looked out of focus. So colorful and all that bokeh.

Be sure to stop over at Ashley's to see more great Scavenger Hunt interpretations! And to find out her exciting news!

And if you'd like to play along for next week, here is your list ...

Smile (Saun's suggestion)
Stand Alone (Saun's suggestion)
Rusty or Something Old (Saun's suggestion)
Artificial (Terrie's suggestion)
Repeating Pattern (Terrie's suggestion)

Happy Sunday!

Fitness Friday

2012-01-20T18:21:00.000-05:00

So another week has passed and I think I have done pretty well. I tried Zumba for the first time this week. It was fun but I felt terribly uncoordinated. I just can't seem to shake my booty like those ladies do. :) Although I was not alone in that respect, so that made me feel better. I look forward to going back. Just need to work it into the schedule.

As far as other exercise goes, I exercised every day. I did The Shred DVD Mon-Thurs, and on Wednesday and Thursday I decided to do both level 1 and level 2. Ouch! It was killer! But I'm not burning enough calories just doing level 1. I need to kick it up a notch. Today I shoveled/swept snow then did some Wii Fit, which I'm counting as my exercise. I burned over 500 calories in an hour, which isn't as good as running, but it still counts!

Speaking of running, I can't wait until the weather is a little more cooperative and I can try running again. I'm starting to miss it!

This week I also started using My Fitness Pal again. It really helps to see how many calories I'm consuming. I already know how many calories I burn since I wear my heart rate monitor when I exercise, but I hadn't kept very good track of my eating. Having to record it really makes me think about what I'm eating. I'm also still not eating sweets. In fact, I threw away some Tootsie Rolls today. Ugh, it pains me to write that. :)

I weigh myself on Sundays now, so I don't have a weight update. It was up this past week. Not sure why that would be since I've been exercising more and eating less. Oh well, weight fluctuates. Hoping it is down this week. Either way, I feel better. The headaches are less frequent. I think they were caused by my body's reliance on sugar/sweets. Hoping they go away completely soon.

Since the kids got their report cards today, I decided I'd give myself a report card. This week I would give myself a B-. Pretty good but definitely room to improve.

How did you do this past week? Stop over at Girl Talk and spread some encouragement or be encouraged.

A Mile in His Shoes

2012-01-18T13:47:00.000-05:00

Recently I was given the opportunity to review the movie, A Mile in His Shoes. Read on to find out what I think about it and for a chance to win your own copy.

Synopsis: Only a miracle can help baseball coach Arthur "Murph" Murphy (Dean Cain) and his losing minor league baseball team. As Murph sets out to recruit new talent for the team, he stumbles upon Mickey (Luke Schroder), a young farmer with an incredible pitcher's arm. However, Mickey's parents are reluctant to let him join the team because he has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. Murph convinces Mickey's parents that life in the minor league will benefit their unique son, but he doesn't realize just how much his new recruit will help the team's game and, more importantly, their spirit. Based on a true story, A Mile in His Shoes is an inspirational film that celebrates faith, determination and the power of friendship.

This is a wonderful, heartwarming movie the whole family can enjoy. Whether you like baseball or not, you can't help but cheer for the River Rats and especially for Mickey as he joins the once-losing team. Luke Shroder does an incredible job portraying Mickey, a boy with Asperger's syndrome, which I'm sure was no easy task. Dean Cain is also great in this movie.

It is just an all-around good, wholesome family movie. It even won The Dove Foundation's highest approval rating. Rent it this weekend and watch with your family. You won't be disappointed.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of the DVD movie, A Mile in His Shoes, just leave me a comment telling me your favorite family movie. (I need some ideas!) :) And check out these links for more information ...

Website: http://www.watchgmctv.com/video/mile-his-shoes#biography

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Mile-In-His-Shoes/270101973014772?sk=wall

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev2T0BFetH4

Dove Foundation Review: http://www.dove.org/reviewmasterframe.asp

The deadline to enter is Tuesday, January 24, at midnight. Winner will be picked randomly and announced here on my blog on Wednesday, January 25. Good luck!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Wild & Wonderful Wednesday #12

2012-01-17T21:10:00.000-05:00

Hi there! I'm so glad you are here! Time for another Wild & Wonderful Wednesday. I so appreciate all of you who stop by and link up or just leave a nice comment. And even you lurkers (you know who you are). :) I was super excited to see so many link up last week! The most since I've started W&WW. So THANK YOU!

One day last week we had some beautiful weather for January. Temps in the mid to upper 40s and gorgeous sunshine. Oh, it was wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that once I put Alex on the bus for afternoon Kindergarten, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to a local bike trail to do some walking/running. I, of course, took my camera along. Here are just a few photos I snapped while out that afternoon ...

A rare self-portrait. I don't know about you, but I have a very hard time with selfies. So for this one, I put my camera on a bench beside the trail, unfocused my camera (yes, you read that right) :), and set the self-timer. The funny thing is that I had to wait until some other walker went past before I could start. I sat there fiddling around with my camera for a few minutes until she was far enough away. I'm sure she would have thought I was very strange running back and forth in front of my camera. :)

I know this is just a drainage ditch along the trail, but the way the sun was shining on it made it look so pretty. Well, as pretty as a pile of rocks can be anyway.

This was just some grassy stuff along the trail that the sun was glimmering off of. I used Kim Klassen's Sweettart texture on it. I'm linking up with her this week for her "open" theme, since I was out on the open trail. Too much of a stretch? I think not. :)

Now it is your turn! Link up your Wild & Wonderful photos below.

Just a few things first ...

1. Grab my button for your post and link up below (or at least use a text link) so others can find out about Wild & Wonderful Wednesday. Thank you!

2. Link up your post URL (or Flickr photo URL), not your blog URL.

3. Photos must be yours please.

4. Try to visit and comment on a few other linker uppers.

5. You have until Saturday at midnight to link up!

Also linking up with these lovely ladies ...

Last week in pictures

2012-01-16T01:00:00.002-05:00

We finally got back to our routine last week. School is in full swing, Bible study started back up, and Saturday morning soccer started. We also finally got our first big snow and had our first 2-hour school delay. Of course, our routine is being interrupted already by a 4-day weekend. The kids have no school on Monday and Tuesday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and an in-service day. So much for our routine. :) But we'll have fun nonetheless.
Anyway, here's what last week looked like in pictures ...

Sunday

I just love Keira's new Bible cover. Makes me kind of wish I had bought it for me and not her. :) (My "something new" for Inspire Me's P365).

Monday

Alex had his 6-year check up at the doctor's. He looked so cute in his Dr. Seuss paper gown. (cell phone photo)

Tuesday

Such a nice day, so I went to the carwash down the road to spray all the junk off my car. This hose for the scrub brush caught my eye.

Wednesday

Nick has been really into Legos lately. He brought some new-to-him figures home from school today. Apparently one of his friends at school didn't want them anymore. This is my "made with love" submission for Project 52 with My 3 Boybarians. Nick made these Lego figures with love. :)

Thursday

A very rainy day ... before the cold and snow moved in. This is my "chilly" submission for Project 366 Rewind. The falling temps really made me aware that the snow was coming.

Friday

After school the kids and I went for a walk though our neighbor's woods to enjoy the beauty of the snow. It covered everything and was so pretty. It is amazing the difference a day can make.

Saturday

We had lots of birds hanging out in our maple tree and eating from our feeder. I was so excited to see not one, not two, but four male cardinals and one female cardinal in our tree at one time.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 01.15.12

2012-01-15T08:31:00.000-05:00

This week's Scavenger Hunt items are Stacked Up, Winter Wonderland, Sweet, Hole, and Frozen.

All but one of my photos this week have a common theme ... my youngest, Alex. Actually all of my photos have to do with Alex, even though he's not in all of them.
{stacked up}One of the fun things Alex and I did together on Thursday was play checkers. After we finished our game, Alex stacked them up, just like he always does. I asked him if he minded if I took a picture. He agreed but wanted me to make sure his bear was in my picture.
{winter wonderland}We finally got some big snow Thursday night/Friday so the kids and I went for a walk through our neighbor's woods. Alex was taking advantage of the winter wonderland by doing his favorite thing ... eating snow. :)
{sweet}What can I say ... isn't he sweet?
{hole}Sometimes pancakes are better when they look more like donuts. :)
{frozen}After helping me shovel the driveway in 20 degree weather with wind chills nearing zero, I was surprised Alex wasn't too frozen to still play in the snow. He asked me to bury him and was all smiles the whole time. Look at those rosy cheeks! :)
Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to play along, next week's items are:

Sunset
Black and White
A Day in My Life
Four (suggested approach: a set of four photos that go together...four photos of your pet, around your house, scenery, whatever you like)
Colorful

Have a great week!

Edit Me Challenge - Week 2

2012-01-14T18:31:00.000-05:00

This week's Edit Me Challenge photo was submitted by Tara from Wild Ginger Photography.

My edit of this sweet sleeping baby.

After some basic edits in ACR, I cropped and then ran Vanilla Pop from Paint the Moon. I then converted the photo to black and white. Finally I decided I'd like to see it in sepia. Nothing too complicated, but I like how it turned out.

Be sure to head over to the Edit Me Challenge blog to see more great edits!

Texture Thursday (on Friday)

2012-01-13T23:32:00.000-05:00

The kids and I went for a walk today through our neighbor's woods after shoveling our driveway for the second time. We enjoyed seeing everything covered in snow. Finally! We've been waiting for a snowfall like this one. Here's just a taste of what we saw.

This tree was very interesting to me. I wonder what these will look like in the other seasons.

Linking up with Audrey's Texture Thursday (on Friday this week) for all that natural texture.

Fitness Friday Update

2012-01-13T17:33:00.000-05:00

Since making a new commitment to myself and my health on January 4th (better late then never, right?), I've been pretty consistent in working out and eating healthier.

I've done The Shred DVD level 1 for 7 days now. I skipped Sunday (on purpose), but did some Wii Fit. I skipped Tuesday because the weather was too beautiful to stay inside; instead I went for a walk, with a little running, on the bike trail. And today I've shoveled snow three times, done the Wii Fit and some Just Dance, went for a walk through the woods with Keira and Alex, and plan to do more Just Dance with the kids this evening. Instead of popcorn and movie night, we are having a Wii night. :) Boy, my shoulders are going to be hurting tomorrow.

As far as eating goes, this is day 10 of not eating sweets. I haven't eliminated sugar completely because I like to have a little to sweeten my hot tea, but I haven't eaten any chocolate, cookies, cake, etc. for 9 whole days! Plus I've been more aware of what I'm eating as far as breads/carbs goes. I'm making an effort to eat less. So if I have a sandwich for lunch, I'll be careful to not eat carbs at dinner.

I'm also taking advantage of this griddle that Nick got for me for Christmas. The other side is like a grill. So we've grilled shrimp and chicken on it so far. It tastes just as good as if I cooked it outside on the gas grill but I don't have to freeze in this weather. :) Plus it is so much better to grill than to add breading and bake. If you saw yesterday's post, you might have noticed that I didn't eat the healthiest. That was the only day like that. And of course it would have to be the day that I document my day by taking pictures. :)

One bad habit that I need to break is eating before bed. I'm usually hungry and will grab a small bowl of cereal. Or sometimes, even if I'm not hungry, it has become such a habit that I'll eat anyway. Not good! Definitely need to break that bad habit!

So I'm making some changes ... need to make some more. But the Wii Fit says I've lost 2.8 pounds in 7 days. And my Wii Fit age is 29! Down from 32 a week ago, which was still awesome! :) Yay!

Now I'm off to do some Just Dance with the kids. You Can't Touch This! :)
Have a healthy weekend!

A Day in My Life ... or The Most Boring Post Ever

2012-01-12T23:42:00.000-05:00

I thought I would try to do the 12 on 12 challenge today where you take a photo each hour for 12 hours. But it quickly morphed into A Day in My Life. Not the most exciting post, but this should give you a glimpse into what my days can be like being a SAHM. I made most of the snapshots into collages so as not to bombard you with a gazillion photos. You're welcome. :)

From left to right starting at the top ...
Breakfast, Nick leaving for school, Alex eating breakfast while watching a DVD on his player, time to Shred, shower and make up, played Wii bowling with Alex, played checkers, bath time, leftover pizza for lunch ...

Read a book while eating lunch, waiting for the bus, sending Alex off to school, walked around and took some pictures of the raindrops, filled the bird feeder, started a load of laundry, Bible study time, did a little crafting, cleaned the bathroom sink ...

Keira doing Wii fit before the boys get home, folding laundry, Scrabble Jr. with Alex, Happy mail (Shutterbuddy I won on a blog giveaway and Just Dance for the Wii), listened to Keira practice her violin, helped Nick with homework, grilled cheese and tomato soup for supper, happy to watch Keira wash the dishes :) ...

Had a good time this evening trying out Just Dance on the Wii. The kids had fun, but Nick was getting a little frustrated with it because it wasn't reading his movements and Keira kept winning. :) The "it's just for fun" pep talk didn't really work.

Doug's mom and dad stopped in for a quick visit right around bed time (on their way home from some errands). Once I got the kids tucked in, Doug and I got to spend a little time with them. It was a nice surprise.

This isn't everything I did today. I didn't bother to photograph every little thing. Like checking in on Facebook or blog visiting or making Alex's bed or feeding the dog. I also spent some time putting some papers away in my office. You can almost see my countertop now. :) Tomorrow it will be cleaned off completely. I am determined.

I might try to do this again maybe next quarter just to see how much of my day has changed. Or not. :)

Wild & Wonderful Wednesday #11

2012-01-10T22:26:00.000-05:00

Hello! And welcome to another Wild & Wonderful Wednesday! First off, let me apologize for not making it around to visit everyone who linked up last week. I can't really blame it on anything other than our new Wii Fit Plus. Or rather, my infatuation with it. It is a great time waster. BUT, I'm burning calories while wasting time so it's all good. :) Anyway, I'll try to do better this week!

My photos this week make me giggle. I bought some party poppers for the kids to use on New Year's Eve. But we didn't get to because Doug went to bed early, not feeling well, and we didn't want to be rude and wake him by making a bunch of noise. So we just set them aside and had some quiet fun instead. Last week the boys must have asked me every. single. day. when we were going to play with them. So Saturday we finally had a chance. I told them I wanted to try to get a photo of them popping. I didn't get the photo I had pictured in my head, but the ones I did get just crack me up.

These are all basically SOOC because they weren't "great" photos and I didn't want to spend a lot of time editing them. Just some sharpening and resizing for the web.

Now, I don't want you to pay attention to the party poppers. I want you to see Alex's face as he's setting them off. Even though his face is out of focus because I was focusing on the poppers, you can still see his expressions.

I was using my 50mm lens and quickly learned that I needed to back up! :) That was a close one! I love that you can see the smoke though.

He was having a little technical difficulty with this one. :)

There we go! But I missed the pop!

His face in these just cracks me up!

Capturing the poppers popping was extremely difficult. I might have to go back to the dollar store and stock up so we can have some fun. And so I can get the photo I was hoping for.

Here's the mess we were left with on the floor afterwards.

As you may have guessed, this was my photo of the day on Saturday.

Now it is your turn! Link up your Wild & Wonderful photos below.

Just a few things first ...

1. Grab my button for your post and link up below (or at least use a text link) so others can find out about Wild & Wonderful Wednesday. (I reserve the right to delete links that don't follow this one simple rule. K? Thanks.).

2. Link up your post URL (or Flickr photo URL), not your blog URL.

3. Photos must be yours please.

4. Try to visit and comment on a few other linker uppers (mine too please! It is just rude to link up and not comment, don'tcha think?). We know how much everyone loves comments!

5. You have until Saturday at midnight to link up!

Also linking up with these lovely ladies ...

I Heart Faces Best Face of 2011

2012-01-09T21:43:00.000-05:00

I rarely enter photos into the I Heart Faces challenges, but for this one, I thought why not. Those of you that have been around for a few months may be tired of seeing this photo by now, but I still love it.

My sweet daughter is almost always willing to be my model when I want to practice taking people photos. :)

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 01.08.12

2012-01-08T08:59:00.001-05:00

Hello! And welcome to the first Scavenger Hunt to the new year! After a couple weeks off, I'm so glad to have something new to hunt. :)

This week's items are One color, Laundry, Empty, One dozen, and Soft. And here are my interpretations ...

{one color}

Now that winter is upon us, red is one color that is more difficult to find. Yeah, This one may be a stretch, but look at all the beautiful bokeh. :)

{laundry}

A load of laundry, folded and ready to be put away.

{empty}

Empty calories, that is. :) Something I'm trying to avoid these days. You have no idea how hard it was for me to photograph these and not eat them. I mean, after all, they are the Mint M&M's. And they are fabulous! :) Which makes them all the harder to resist.

{one dozen}

We still have candy canes left from Christmas. They will eventually get eaten. The kids like to have a candy cane with their hot cocoa. Just like their mama. :)
(Kim Klassen's Music Lovin' texture used)

{soft}

Honey got this soft Snoopy toy for Christmas. I loved Snoopy as a kid and was excited to find this one.

If you'd like to play along next week, the items to be hunting are:

Stacked Up (Honey Mommy's suggestion)
Winter Wonderland (Honey Mommy's suggestion)
Sweet (Honey Mommy and Sacha's suggestion)
Hole (Sacha's suggestion)
Frozen (Sacha's suggestion)

Be sure to stop over at Ashley's for more great Scavenger Hunt photos! Have a great week!

Project 366, 52, and Edit Me

2012-01-07T22:33:00.002-05:00

We're trying to get back to normal around here after the holidays. While I enjoyed sleeping in late and basically having nothing to do last week, I am glad that the kids are back to school and we are settling back into our routine. We all seem to do better when we're in a routine. Anyway, here's what our week looked like in pictures ...

The first photo of the year and I almost didn't get it taken in time. This was taken around 11:15 p.m.
Honey loves her new bed. We're still training her to stop sleeping on the couches though. :) I loved how the lamp from my computer room was lighting her fur. She was a little annoyed that I was photographing her while she was trying to sleep.

My first cell phone photo. :) Doug and I left Keira in charge of the boys at home and went kitchen shopping and ate lunch at Chili's. While we were there it really started snowing hard and since my DSLR was in the car, I tried out my cell phone. It's not great, but still not too bad.

Honey and I went for a brief walk in the snow. It was so cold and blustery and my fingers were freezing pretty quickly. Even my face was wind burnt for a day or so afterward. Thankfully it warmed back up within another day.

Nick was sick on Tuesday and Wednesday and missed the first two days of school this year. He laid around all day on Tuesday, in and out of sleep all day. Wednesday he was feeling a little better but still pretty weak, so he stayed home from school again. Once Alex went to afternoon Kindergarten, Nick enjoyed some quiet time ... just a boy and his Legos. Building his Star Wars ships.

Pretty sunset.

My Project Life kit arrived! I can't wait to get started working on it! This is my "fresh start" photo, because I'm getting back into scrapbooking ... making a fresh start and not fretting about how far behind I am. :)

Happy New Year! A few days late. :) The boys and I finished up the last of the party poppers today. I tried and tried to get a photo of one popping, but was unsuccessful, so I opted for the messy floor instead.

Next up is my submission for My 3 Boybarian's Project 52 - the prompt is Resolution.

While I'm not really a New Year's Resolution making kind of gal, I do have a list of goals I'd like to accomplish this year. Resolutions ... Goals ... whatever! You call them what you want; I'll call them what I want. :)
Anyway, one of my goals is to exercise 5-6 days a week (barring any illness), eat better, and lose 21 pounds by Memorial Day. I was down 25.5 pounds in October 2011, but managed to put 11 pounds back on after hurting my knee and getting lazy about exercising and eating right. So far I've done 4 days of The Shred (with these 2-pound hand weights) and we bought a Wii Fit Plus to go with our Wii yesterday. The boys and I had a blast trying it out last night and today. And I managed to burn some more calories, which is great. I can't see the Wii Fit being my main form of exercise, but it will definitely make it fun to exercise. Unlike The Shred, which so far, I hate. :)

And last but not least, the Edit Me challenge is back! Sarah of Naptime Momtog, who is now part of the Edit Me Team, submitted this week's photo of her sweet son, Dustyn and his dog, Dudley.

After some basic edits in ACR, I cropped the photo then ran The Coffeeshop Blog's Sun Kissed action. It already had some great sun flare, but the action warmed the photo up and added a bit more. Then I adjusted a few layers to suit my taste and viola!

Have a great week!

Fitness Friday

2012-01-06T21:52:00.000-05:00

So, I finally have something to contribute to Girl Talk's Fitness Friday. I was doing really well until I hurt my knee in October. I was down 25.5 pounds and was feeling good. Really good. Well, except for the knee. Then I got lazy. And stupid. And wasn't being careful about what I ate when I wasn't exercising as much. And I put 11 pounds back on. Ugh.

But ...

I'm making some changes. I bought Jillian Michaels' The Shred DVD for under ten bucks the the other day at Walmart. I just finished day 3 this morning. I hate it. It hurts and I want to quit every time. And I'm only on level 1. My calves are killing me and I'm very aware of almost every muscle in my body. But that is a good thing. At least I know I'm doing something, right? And I will keep going.

Also my husband just picked up a Wii Fit Plus with the exercise board this morning while shopping. We set it up and tried it this evening. It is fun! It will definitely make it easier to get in some exercise. But I will have to do it when the kids are at school so I can get a turn! :)

The BMI indicator on the Wii Fit shows that I am slightly overweight. Duh!

So my game plan is to do The Shred 5-6 days a week and add in some Wii Fit plus some occasional walking/running when the weather cooperates. I wear a heart rate monitor when I exercise (which I will be guest posting about next Friday on Girl Talk, so be sure to stop by), which tells me how many calories I burn ... and I don't burn as many calories as I would like just doing The Shred. The exercise itself lasts about 25 minutes and I only burn about 250 calories each time. That's not enough for me. Probably because when I was running for 30 minutes, I'd burn about 350-400 calories. So I have that number in my head as my minimum for calorie burning. So adding in some additional exercise should do the trick.

I also have gone three days without eating sweets. That may not seem like a huge accomplishment to you, but it is to me. I have a terrible weakness when it comes to sweets. I had made banana bread last weekend and between Alex and myself, no one else got much of it. Although Doug is the only other one who will eat it anyway. But he mentioned to me that it seemed to disappear pretty quickly. And I had to fess up that Alex and I scarfed it down. Ouch. Nothing like having to admit you failed. Especially to your husband.

Also I have started reading the book Made to Crave again. That book is one big reason why I did so well last summer/fall in losing the weight that I did. It really made me think about my choices and made me realize that God cares about everything. Even my lack of strength to resist sweets. So I relied on Him A LOT. But since then I haven't, and I need to get back to that. To HIM. I joined an online study for Made to Crave also - that starts on January 15. If you'd like to sign up, just click on this link ... Made to Crave.

I'm also going to start logging my food intake and exercise on My Fitness Pal. I started to last summer, but got lazy about that too.

So I guess my biggest problem has been laziness. :) But I'm making changes. Positive changes. And I will be relying on God's strength to get me there.

Looking Back

2012-01-05T23:36:00.001-05:00

Since I'm not posting my photo a day any more (until I do a summary post on the weekend), I thought it would be fun to look back at 2011 and post some photos that never made it here. Mainly because I never got around to editing them. And since one of my goals for 2012 is to get 2010 and 2011 photos edited and printed (yes, I'm still working on 2010 - but I'm as far as August, so I'm getting there!), I can kill two birds with one stone, as they say. :)

So tonight I bring you a few photos from our trip to the local zoo back in July 2011.

Pretty (or handsome?) black swan

Slow-moving tortoise

One of the birds in the bird cage

Alex wasn't too sure about letting the birds land on him to eat.

A lioness taking a snooze. I took this through a window in case you are wondering how I got so close. :)

More "looking back" photos to come soon ... as I get them edited. Hopefully soon! :)

Wild & Wonderful Wednesday #10

2012-01-03T21:25:00.003-05:00

Hello! And welcome to another Wild & Wonderful Wednesday!

Well, we have been praying for snow. Not because we need any additional precipitation, because we've had plenty of rain lately. But because this is winter. And when you live in Pennsylvania, you expect snow in the winter. And in the fall. And in the spring. :) But aside from a few brief snow showers here and there, nothing has really stuck around for long.

Until now.

It started snowing yesterday and continued overnight. We woke up this morning to a good 6 inches of snow on the ground. However, there was no school delay, which really surprised me since it was only about 16 degrees when Keira had to catch the bus. I was pretty excited about the snow until I went outside and felt just how cold it was. :)

But out I went anyway. To help Doug shovel/sweep the driveway and to snap a few pictures, of course.

Honey, being the snow dog that she is, was in her glory. She LOVES the snow. It doesn't matter how cold it is, she wants to go out and play. So we did. A little.

Alex was having fun helping sweep the porch. Once he pushed all the snow off, he jumped in the pile he made ... naturally!

The wind would whip the snow up from time to time. And the sun was in and out all day.

Once he was done sweeping, Alex decided to go make a snow angel. I don't know what Honey was doing. Making sure he did it right, maybe?

Alex asked me to photograph his angel. He did pretty well!

Later in the day Honey and I went for a brief walk. Brief ... because the wind was really blowing and my fingers were freezing pretty quickly. It is really hard to change your camera settings when you can't feel your fingers. :) Even with two pairs of gloves on.

Right now the thermometer reads 7 degrees, which is kind of funny because the low for today was supposed to be 14 degrees. Tomorrow is supposed to be a more tolerable 31 degrees, so hopefully we'll get outside to play some more.

Now it is your turn! Link up your Wild & Wonderful photos below.

Just a few things first ...

2. Link up your post URL (or Flickr photo URL), not your blog URL.

3. Photos must be yours please.

4. Try to visit and comment on a few other linker uppers (mine too please! It is just rude to link up and not comment, don'tcha think?). We know how much everyone loves comments!

5. You have until Saturday at midnight to link up!

I will do my best to visit each of you this week. I do always try, but sometimes life just gets in the way. Please know that I appreciate each and every one of you that link up with me each week!

Also linking up with these lovely ladies ...

Shoot & Edit: Best SOOC's

2012-01-02T23:01:00.000-05:00

For the last Shoot & Edit/Good to WOW post, Jill asked us to create a collage of our best SOOC shots from 2011. I really enjoyed learning from Jill and Ashley this past year and want to express my appreciation again for all that they did. While I didn't participate every week, I was able to do most of them. And I learned a ton. I plan to continue to learn and grow in 2012.

I also thank all of YOU for your visits and kind words! Even though Shoot & Edit is ending, I hope you will all continue learning and improving and growing!

Make 2012 your best year yet!

Memories, Dreams, and Reflections 2011

2012-01-01T00:24:00.001-05:00

Linking up with Ashley Sisk for Memories, Dreams, and Reflections. Brace yourself for photo overload! :)

{me!}

I'm still learning the art of self-portraits so this one is from way back in February.

{i love you}

Even though they are sometimes less than cooperative, I still love them very much.

{still laughing}

Oh my, we had a blast at Girls' Night in early December!

{winter wonderland}

Had to go way back to January 2011 to get some snow photos. We just haven't had much yet this winter. But as you can see, we had plenty last winter! :)

{birthday}

{friends}

Keira with her good friend, Rachel.

{i was inspired}

by Sarah at Naptime Momtog to play one last time with my Christmas tree lights.

{spring fever}

The flowers were beautiful at the Erie Zoo back in April.

{travel or vacation}

Our trip to Niagara Falls.

{summer days}

I just love this photo of my nephew, Kyle, throwing Nick in the pool. So much fun!

{a day in my life}

It is pretty typical for me to be on the computer ... checking email or reading a blog post or two ... or ten. :)

{all smiles}

I know I've shown this photo a few times lately, but it just makes me happy that I managed to capture all three of my kids smiling and looking at the camera at the same time! :)

{autumn harvest}

Yeah, still love this photo too. :)

{family or home}

An attempt to get a family photo on Thanksgiving. Not great, but better than nothing.

{celebrate!}

We celebrated meeting fellow blogger, Melissa, from Louisiana. She came to PA to visit us in early December, thanks to Laura.

{let's do it again}

I'd like to run another race or two in 2012.

{i miss you}

We were only able to raise 6 Monarch butterflies in 2011. Mainly due to the drought. Their food supply just wasn't available. I really missed not having a bunch of hungry caterpillars in my house last summer. :) Hoping to remedy that this summer.

{beautiful}

No explanation needed. :)

{dress up}

Alex will probably kill me for this photo when he gets older, but he agreed to put on Keira's dress and this purple wig one day when the kids were playing. He put the wig on wrong but wouldn't let us fix it.

{macro}

This really cool-looking caterpillar is still in chrysalis form over-wintering in my kitchen.

{holidays}

I thought I'd break away from all the Christmas photos and show some July 4th fireworks instead.

{my favorite}

I didn't take this photo. Our friend, Rainey, took it with either Laura's or Melissa's camera (I borrowed it from Facebook). But this is one of my favorite photos from when Mel was visiting. We had such a fun time together.

{don't ever change}

Nick is such a fun-loving boy. I hope he never outgrows that!

{just because ... so there!}

Love this photo!

{hopes and dreams}

I think this speaks for itself. Could be any day now.

Happy New Year! I wish you all the best for you and your families in 2012!

And since this is really a rewind, linking up with Gina and Sarah for ...

Week 52 Summary

2011-12-31T16:52:00.000-05:00

Hello! And welcome to my last weekly summary of 2011's Project 365! I've really enjoyed participating in a second year of Project 365. Well, mostly. Some days I just didn't feel like picking up my camera, but I did anyway. And I'm glad I did. I look forward to putting all my weekly collages into a photo book to see how much my photography has grown over the past two years.

I do plan to continue to take pictures every day in 2012, but I won't be posting a photo a day or making a weekly summary collage like I have been. Instead I'm planning to participate in Tracey's Be Inspired challenge, and Sarah and Gina's P366 Rewind, and Life with My 3 Boybarians' P52 challenge. They are each providing weekly prompts to help spark creativity, which I could certainly use a little of right now. :) In the meantime, here's how this past week looked like in pictures ...

25 - Nick was so excited to get an Angry Bird in his Christmas stocking.

26 - Baby Christy (even though she is 2 now and is not really a baby anymore, I will probably still refer to her as Baby Christy for a while) :)

27 - Fun with slow shutter speeds and Christmas tree lights - thanks to Sarah for the cool idea. Tracey picked this as one of her Top 5 this week! Thanks, Tracey!

28 - Keira in the snow

29 - Honey stole my slipper again!

30 - My photo made the front cover of my county's 2012 Visitor's Guide!

31 - Our new Wii remotes are getting a lot of use this week.

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog this year and to everyone who left some comment love! Your words are always so encouraging! I wish you all the best in 2012!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Final Photo of the Day for 2011!!!

2011-12-31T15:33:00.000-05:00

We've been getting a lot of use out of our new Wii remotes while the kids are home on Christmas break.

A second year of Project 365 is complete! Looking forward to a fabulous 2012!

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

Top 11 of 2011

2011-12-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

Sarah at Naptime Momtog, Amber at Click. Pray. Love., and Courtney at Click It Up a Notch are hosting Top 11 of '11. We are to post our top 11 photos of our kids from 2011. As always, I had a hard time narrowing it down to just 11. I've really been trying to make an effort to photograph my kids each month and am hopefully improving with my people photos. :) Anyway, I picked three of each of the kids separately, two of them together, and bonus photo of our sweet Honeybuns. She is a member of the family too, ya know.

First up is Keira (mainly just because I chose to go from oldest to youngest). :)

We had a little photo shoot back in June just for fun. This is her favorite photo from our session.

This photo was taken for the Shades of Autumn purple photo challenge. I am very pleased with how it turned out.

I just took this photo the other day when we got about an inch of snow (finally!). The kids and I went for a walk then played in the snow for a while.

Next up is Nick. He's definitely my most difficult to photograph. He typically runs the other direction or covers his face when I pull out the camera.
We're working on that though.

On Superbowl Sunday back in February when the Steelers were playing, Nick was getting his game face on. This photo makes me smile.

I convinced him to do a little photo shoot with me in early November since I didn't really have any great photos of him from 2011. He surprisingly agreed and did very well. I have this photo in color hanging on my wall as an 8x8 canvas.

Again surprisingly Nick agreed to help me out with a Scavenger Hunt photo prompt. I just love his face in this one. He's a good faker. :)

Last in the line up is Alex, my baby. Who's not such a baby anymore. :(

On the bike trail one fall morning.

Playing in the leaves in the back yard.

Giving Mommy a bouquet of fallen leaves.

I did manage to get a few group shots this year also. Here are my two favorites.

I know this one isn't the clearest photo, but I love that they covered themselves in mud and then posed for photos.

This one is a 16x20 canvas hanging in my living room. I think this is, by far, the best photo I've taken of the three of them together. Ever. :)

One of my photography resolutions for 2012 is to get at least one photo of them together each month. It is a must.

And as promised, a bonus photo of our sweet Honey.

This was taken back in January. She was born in the winter and is definitely a snow dog.

It was fun looking back at 2011. Make sure to head over to one of the co-hosts blogs (links at the beginning of this post) to see more great photos. And link up your photos to be eligible for some great prizes. You have until January 4.

Happy Mail!

2011-12-30T16:23:00.000-05:00

Look what came in the mail today! My county's 2012 Visitor's Guide! And my paddle boarder photo made the front cover! How cool is that?!

Photos of the Day: December 27, 28 & 29

2011-12-29T21:13:00.000-05:00

The kids and I are enjoying the break from the normal school routine. However, my plans to get lots of stuff accomplished this week are just not happening. :) We are having fun ... sleeping in late, playing with the new Wii games and a few other non-electronic games we got for Christmas. We even spent some time at a friend's house today which allowed the boys to burn off some energy with their boys. And they really needed to get out of the house for a while and interact with someone other than their siblings. But Christmas break is almost over and my to-do list is still just as long. Oh well, there's always January, right? :)

Anyway, time to catch up on my photos of the day ...

{December 27}

Thanks to Sarah at Naptime Momtog for this cool idea. Christmas tree lights + a show shutter speed + a moving camera = this cool photo. And since the tree will probably be coming down tomorrow, I needed to play with it one more time. :)

{December 28}

The kids were so excited to get a little snow yesterday. We went for a walk and took a few pictures. The fresh air did us all good. Keira was my usual willing model.

{December 29}

Even though Honey got several new toys for Christmas, she still loves to steal my slippers right off my feet to chew on. Although I really could use a new pair. These ones have seen better days. They're just so comfy. But the question is, should I throw them away or give them to her? :)

Happy New Year ... Edited

2011-12-29T19:18:00.000-05:00

This week's edits are very simple ... just a few tweaks in ACR, then resizing and sharpening for the web. Mostly anyway. :)

{mouse over to see SOOC version}

I also rotated this slightly (like 1 degree) to straighten it. Because I can be anal like that. :)

And a little dodging/burning to brighten/darken the front kiss.

And since we all seem to be showing off a collage of our favorite edits for the year ...

Used Big Huge Labs to make collage. Thanks, Ashley, for the link!

I am so grateful to Jill and Ashley for sharing their knowledge over the past year! I learned a lot and feel that I have really grown as a photographer and editor this year.

On Monday I will have one last post for Shoot & Edit/Good to WOW ... a collage of my best SOOC shots for 2011.

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Happy New Year ... SOOC

2011-12-28T14:40:00.000-05:00

This week's theme for Shoot & Edit/Good to WOW is Happy New Year, which was a tough one for me. How do you portray Happy New Year? Then the other night, this idea hit me ...

I have all these Hershey Kisses that I didn't use to make Peanut Blossom cookies since I was sick before Christmas, so I may as well get some use out of them, right? :)

And you are supposed to kiss the ones you love at midnight on New Year's day, so why not a bunch of Hershey Kisses?

Okay, so maybe that's a stretch, but I didn't want to miss out on the last prompt for this fun challenge. Next week we will be showing off a collage of our best SOOC shots for 2011.

Be sure to head over to Jill's for some great SOOC shots. I'm going to go outside and play in the little bit of snow that we got last night/today! Yay!

Wild & Wonderful Wednesday #9

2011-12-27T21:10:00.000-05:00

Hello! And welcome back to another Wild & Wonderful Wednesday ... Christmas style. This week I'm just sharing a few snapshots of our Christmas celebrations.

Our tree on Christmas Eve once we put all the gifts out. We have been following the tradition for the past few years of giving the kids each only three gifts at Christmas, which we did again this year. But this year we also went a little smaller since we're saving up to go to Disney. I gave the kids a choice of having a big Christmas or going smaller and using the rest to put towards our Disney trip and they all voted for Disney.

Christmas morning was tricky this year with it being on a Sunday. We let the kids each open one gift in the morning, then we got ready and went to church. We opened the rest of the gifts once we got home. They surprisingly didn't mind doing this. Of course, I didn't give them a choice. :)

Nick is really into hunting this year, so Doug got him some hunting gear including this hat. He also got a hunting coat and gloves and a BB gun. Oh boy. :)

Alex still loves trains so we found a caboose car for his Polar Express train. He loves it! He also got a new, bigger bike and a snow board. He's been talking about learning how to ski, so Doug thought we'd try the snow board first. Now if it would just snow!

Now that Keira is in 7th grade, we decided it was time for her to have a phone. It is just a Tracfone, but it serves its purpose. She also got a one-year card with minutes and an iTunes gift card.

We needed some new remotes for our Wii since the old ones stopped working a few months ago. The kids were thrilled. We also got a few new games.

Alex is anxious to try out his new bike. We left the training wheels on until he gets used to the bigger bike, even though he didn't need them anymore on his old bike.

I kept trying to get a photo of Doug when he wasn't making a face at me, but I was unsuccessful. :)

Honey got several new toys--including this snow man from Doug's sister in Florida--and a dog bed. I'm hoping she'll stop sleeping on the couch/love seat now that she has her own bed. Hasn't happened yet. :)

(I let Keira use my old camera so that I could actually appear in some photos. She did pretty well with it.)

Doug actually listened to my request this year and got some Amazon gift cards for me. And he wrapped them in his own special way, which I will save for another post. :) I will be saving them to put towards the purchase of either a bounce flash or a new lens.

We enjoyed our afternoon with a visit from my mom and sister and Doug's parents. Doug had to work afternoon shift, so once he left, we just relaxed and watched movies. It was a very enjoyable day celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus.

Now it is your turn! Link up your Wild & Wonderful photos below.

Just a few things first ...

2. Link up your post URL (or Flickr photo URL), not your blog URL.

3. Photos must be yours please.

4. Try to visit and comment on a few other linker uppers (mine too please!). We know how much everyone loves comments!

5. You have until Saturday at midnight to link up!

I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Also linking up with these lovely ladies ...

Photos of the Day: December 25 & 26

2011-12-26T20:00:00.000-05:00

{December 25}

As crazy as Nick has been making me with the whole Angry Birds thing, I decided to get him one for a stocking stuffer. He was so surprised. And he's still making me crazy. :)

{December 26}

My brother and his family came today to visit and open gifts. I managed to catch Christy, my two-year-old niece, when she wasn't running around. She's a busy little girl, but such a sweetie. Hoping we can have a little photo shoot soon.

Week 51 Summary

2011-12-26T14:22:00.000-05:00

Only one more week of 2011 Project 365 to go! Sarah and Tracey are both changing things up for 2012, so I might keep going and do a third year. It may not include a photo each and every day, but I do intend to keep taking photos and gaining knowledge. So why not post some once a week, right? Next week will be the last week for this type of collage post though.

Anyway, this is what last week looked like in pictures ...

18 - "Half" prompt from Scavenger Hunt Sunday

19 - Berries in snow

20 - Got a new lens so I had to play!

21 - Keira asked me to make her a bow for her hair

22 - Alex at Kindergarten's ice cream party

24 - The kids after Christmas Eve service at our church

23 - Candy canes

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Photos of the Day: December 23 & 24

2011-12-24T22:28:00.000-05:00

While I should be putting out gifts tonight, I'm posting my photos from the past couple days. :)

{December 23}

I've seen this a few times around the blogosphere and decided to try it myself. It is harder than I thought - trying to keep the candy canes together while photographing them. :)

{December 24}

The kids after Christmas Eve service. If only I could have gotten a photo of them with genuine smiles. {sigh} They were more than ready to go home at this point. :) I love the way our church decorates for Christmas. It is always so beautiful.

Photos of the Day: December 21 & 22

2011-12-22T21:49:00.000-05:00

Seems I've been doing this a lot lately ... posting two photos of the day in one post. I just had so much to do last night and, having bronchitis, have not really had the energy to do much more.

{December 21}

One of the things I was doing last night ... Keira asked me to make her a bow for her headband to wear to today's Christmas concert at school. So I found a tutorial on You Tube and made this in just a few minutes. It was so easy! And it got me itching to be crafty again, which is a good thing. I haven't scrapbooked in a long time! And my husband even built me my own scrapbook room about 18 months ago. :) Anyway, she loves the bow. And she told me after school today that a girlfriend of hers wants to know if I can make one for her too.

{December 22}

Today's busyness consisted of an 8 a.m. Christmas concert at Keira's school (I took pictures but they didn't turn out great inside the dark auditorium as far as I was from the stage) ... then Alex and I had to run a few errands to pick up some things for Friday's Christmas party at the boys' school ... and then I got to bring ice cream to Alex's afternoon Kindergarten class because they won the Campbell's UPC collection contest. If those Kindergarteners didn't like me before (although they did), they certainly do now. I overheard one little boy telling Alex, "Your mom is GREAT!" Six-year-olds can be pretty easy to please sometimes. :)

Holiday Traditions ... Edited

2011-12-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

I promised on Monday to post my edits of our Holiday Traditions today. It has been a crazy, busy day, and I'm sick with bronchitis ... so I'm a little late. You'd think I'd prepare my posts ahead of time, huh? :)

Anyway here are my edits ... mouse over to see SOOC shots ...

I don't really remember what edits I did since I did them on Monday and didn't write anything down thinking I'd remember. But then bronchitis hit and my brain turned to mush. So suffice it to say that I edited them in ACR as usual. :)

I know I adjusted the white balance on this one. It was a bit blue for me. I'm planning to sit down and really practice the whole white balance thing after the holidays. I prefer to get it right in camera.

I don't think I mentioned on Monday how hard it was for me to get Nick to crack a smile. And when he did smile, he would cover his mouth with his other hand. I finally convinced him that we'd get done with taking his picture sooner if he'd cooperate and just smile already. :)

We're almost done with a whole year of the Shoot & Edit challenge. While I may have missed a week here and there along the way, I have really appreciated the way Jill and Ashley have so willingly shared their knowledge and pushed me to be a better photographer and editor. Thank you, ladies!

Be sure to stop over at Ashley's to see more great Holiday Tradition photos.

Wild & Wonderful Wednesday #8

2011-12-20T23:18:00.003-05:00

Hello! And welcome! This week's Wild & Wonderful Wednesday will be relatively short and sweet. 'Cuz it is late and I am tired. And I have a cold. Ick.

However, despite all that I had a pretty good day. Alex and I got some last-minute Christmas shopping done this morning. I was finally able to pick up my Christmas cards at Sam's Club. (don't ask!) And I got the envelopes all filled out ... just need stamps, return address labels, and sealed. (When I have a bunch of envelopes to seal I always remember that Seinfeld episode when George's fiance died from licking all their wedding invitation envelopes. Remember that one? Makes me laugh every time.)

Anyway, when I got home from running a few more errands this afternoon (without my little helper), my wonderful mail carrier had left a package for me on my front porch. My new lens! It is just a 50mm 1.8, but I was still so excited. I ripped open the box, put the lens on my camera and ... had to wait about an hour before I could play because it was all fogged up from being out in the cold. :) But I did get to play.

Keira was her usual willing model. I love the fact that I took this indoors without a flash at ISO 800.

This is Keira's ornament this year. I'm so glad she enjoys the violin so much. Thursday is her school concert that we are really looking forward to. Except for the fact that it is at 8 o'clock in the morning. What's up with that? Oh, and she taught herself how to play another song today just by listening to it and figuring it out. I wish I could remember which song. All I can remember is that it is a Christmas song because that's the Pandora station I had playing. :)

This is today's photo of the day. Just because. Look at all that delicious bokeh! :)

And here's Nick's sweet little snowman he made last year in school out of a sock and rice. I just love this little guy. I wish we would get some snow so we can make a real snowman.

You'll notice I took all of these with the Christmas tree in the background. I can't get this kind of bokeh with my other lenses. Although this new lens is going to take some getting used to. My other three lenses are all zoom lenses and since this one isn't, I need to get my distance right. I'm sure I'll do a lot of playing over the kids' Christmas break.

Okay, so much for short and sweet, huh? :)

Now it is your turn! Link up your Wild & Wonderful photos below.
Just a few things first ...

2. Link up your post URL (or Flickr photo URL), not your blog URL.

3. Photos must be yours please.

4. Try to visit and comment on a few other linker uppers (mine too please!). We know how much everyone loves comments!

5. You have until Saturday at midnight to link up!

Thank you for stopping by and linking up! I would like to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas!

Also linking up with these beautiful ladies:

Be sure to stop over at Jaymi's to see some beautiful bokeh photos! You won't be disappointed!

Photo of the Day: December 19

2011-12-19T22:46:00.000-05:00

We got about 1/2 inch of snow yesterday - just enough to cover up the yucky brown. Today it warmed up and rained. Doesn't look good for a white Christmas.

Holiday Traditions ... SOOC

2011-12-19T22:13:00.000-05:00

This week's Shoot & Edit theme is Holiday Traditions. We don't really have any traditions from our childhood, so we've been starting our own Christmas traditions over the years. One is going to see the light display that I showed you last week. Another is letting the kids each pick a new, special ornament for our tree.

This year Alex chose a train. Surprise. :)

And Nick, after much careful deliberation (i.e. doing "eeny meeny miney mo" in the store several times) finally decided on Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers. (I have to look up how to spell his name every single time I type it). :)

Keira chose a violin, but I didn't get a photo of her with it yet. :)

But I did get a photo of her making sugar cookies, which is another tradition we do every year.

We have several other traditions that we haven't done yet. Like the candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church. And reading the Christmas story from the book of Luke. And having a birthday cake for Jesus.

Another thing we started a few years ago, although I'm not sure it qualifies as a tradition, is that we only get each child three gifts. Just like the Magi gave Jesus three gifts. That's actually been a hard thing to do because sometimes I see something that I know they will love, but I already have their three gifts purchased. It does make wrapping a breeze though. I wrapped everything in about 1.5 hours. :)

Anyway, that's it from my little part of the world. If you'd like to see what other's special traditions are, head over to Jill's.

And I'll see you back here on Thursday with my edits.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 12.18.11

2011-12-18T15:10:00.002-05:00

This week's Scavenger Hunt items are: What is it?, Children/fur babies sleeping, Joy, Window, and Half.

{what is it?}I got a little messed up with this prompt. Even though I had it written down correctly, I kept thinking "what's inside" and I had this picture in mind. I'm totally "borrowing" this idea from Tracey from Inspire Me Photography ... although I think she borrowed the idea from someone else also. :) Anyway, I love this photo of Nick. If he doesn't become a politician when he grows up, he will be an actor. He's good at faking. :)
{children/fur babies sleeping}I kept trying to get a photo of Honey sleeping but every time I got the camera near her face, she would wake up. So I opted for a different angle. :)
{joy}I bought these blocks last week at Target. Alex loves playing with them and saying the letters. You can flip them to say PEACE also.
{window}I love the way our Christmas tree lights reflect off the front window.
{half}This was the hardest prompt for me for some reason. So you get half of an apple. :) (I'm also calling this my POTD since I took it this afternoon.) :)
I was tickled when I visited Ashley's blog this morning because I learned that I won her giveaway from last week. Yay! I won a collection of digital papers and a premade logo or $25 credit towards a custom logo from Blues and Pinks. Thanks Ashley!
There is no Scavenger Hunt next week because of Christmas, but you can check out her Memories, Dreams and Reflections photo prompt that is coming up quickly!Have a great week and a Merry Christmas!

Week 50 Summary

2011-12-17T22:13:00.001-05:00

Another festive week. Things are finally starting to slow down around here. And I'm taking advantage of the time to chill with the kids and gets some things done that have been neglected. Christmas shopping is almost complete ... just need to pick up a few last-minute items. Will do a little baking this week, but not too much because I don't really want that much temptation in the house. :) Anyway, here's what this week looks like in pictures ...

11 - Decorated the bush in our front yard.

13 - Honey turned 3 on December 10 but I didn't get her photo until today.

12 - Beautiful sunrise.

14 - A Birthday rose from my husband.

15 - Nick's Troy Polamalu ornament.

17 - Finally bought a poinsettia.

16 - Our Christmas tree.

Linking up with:

On a separate note, one of the Flickr groups I'm included in called These Moments Challenge Group featured one of my photos on their blog today! There is a different theme each week ... this week's theme is warmth. And this is the photo I added to the photostream ...

I've had photos included in their weekly collage summary before but never featured by itself. I just thought it was cool and I would share. :)

Bokeh lights ... Edited

2011-12-17T21:45:00.000-05:00

So here I am ... a couple days behind once again. But like I've been saying a lot lately ... better late than never. :) Here are my edits for Monday's bokeh lights post.

{mouse over to see SOOC shots}

Photo #1 - I increased blacks and saturation slightly.

Photo #2 - I adjusted the white balance, increased exposure, blacks, and clarity.

Photo #3 - I increased exposure, blacks, and clarity slightly; then cropped a little.

So that's it for me. Be sure to stop over at Ashley's to see more great edits!

Photo of the Day: December 17

2011-12-17T20:58:00.000-05:00

Finally got around to buying a poinsettia.

Our tree

2011-12-16T23:27:00.000-05:00

Our tree is not big and fancy, but it is ours. Full of ornaments that all mean something special ... surrounded by Alex's Polar Express train and a few gifts the kids bought for each other and other family members.

Notice Nick's little snowman on the windowsill? He made that last year in school out of a tube sock and some rice. I love it! It is one of my favorite winter decorations.

Photo of the Day: December 15

2011-12-15T23:32:00.000-05:00

Nick's choice of an ornament this year? ... Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He even has the long flowing curly hair. Love! :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-12-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

Celebrated my birthday today with breakfast at Panera with Alex (and Laura and Mike), shopping at Kohl's for a few things for myself, then Doug brought home dinner from one of my favorite restaurants. He also bought me two bouquets of flowers (roses, daisies, and carnations) and an Amazon gift card, 'cuz that's what I told him I wanted.

He handed me this huge box after dinner. As I held it, I thought it was pretty light for being such a big box. The smirk on his face told me he was toying with me. As I finally got into the box through the super strong packing tape that he used, I was greeted by brown packing paper. Lots of it. Wrapped around my gift card many, many times. The kids kept trying to guess what my gift was. Nick thought it was a pillow at one point since that was the shape of the packaging. Once I finally got through the multiple layers of packaging, I was delighted to find the gift card.

Doug prefers I not know what I'm getting for birthdays/Christmas. He likes to surprise me. But I keep telling him that I prefer to get something I will use every day (like a new lens) as opposed to something that will sit on a shelf and collect dust (like another carousel horse - even though I love them). I guess he finally listened. :)

With the gift card he gave me, along with the others that I had bought recently with the money I got for winning the photo contest and for taking pics of a friend's baby (she totally surprised me by giving me money since I did it for free so I could practice), I finally had enough to buy a new lens. It has been ordered and will be on its way soon. I can't wait!

Finished up the day with a phone call from my mom. She's as bad as me when it comes to sending cards :), but she always calls me on my birthday.

And just so you know ... I had fully intended on posting a self-portrait today in honor of my birthday, but it was so dark and rainy all day today that I just wasn't able to get a decent photo. I did try though. Maybe tomorrow. So today you get to see one of the flowers from Doug. With a little Christmas tree bokeh in the background. :)

Wild & Wonderful Wednesday #7

2011-12-13T23:17:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to another Wild & Wonderful Wednesday! I'm glad you are here!

One of our family traditions during the Christmas season is to visit the Hartwood Acres light display. We were able to go last Thursday, which turned out to be a great night to go. It wasn't busy at all, which is great with three not-so-patient kids and one not-so-patient husband. :)

Usually Doug drives but this year he still wasn't feeling well (getting over bronchitis) so he asked me to drive. I wondered how I was going to be able to photograph the lights and drive, but it worked out pretty well. I just stopped when I wanted to photograph something. And my pictures turned out better this year than in previous years when Doug was driving. I think because I waited until I was completely done clicking before driving away. :) Here are some of the displays ...

Of course, I had to photograph the train for Alex. Another train was my photo of the day on December 8.

Since this is a drive-thru display and you are not allowed to get out of your car (except for an emergency restroom stop), I couldn't get very creative with my photos. Except to capture a little light bokeh.

These candy canes are right before The Twelve Days of Christmas display. So we always have to sing the song on the way through. Which then makes the kids have to sing the song for several days afterward. Which then makes mom have to look for some earplugs. :)

Last year or maybe the year before when we went to see the lights I had such a nasty headache that this tunnel made me want to vomit. I had to cover my eyes until we were through it. The kids had a good time reminding me of that fact. How they remember stuff like that I'll never know. :)

This globe was a new display this year. I wish I had gotten a better photo of it but we had a bus full of senior citizens behind us so I couldn't stop for too long.

This tunnel is at the end of the park.

And I know I shared this photo for Scavenger Hunt Sunday but I really like it. This mansion is always so pretty all lit up. As I was looking through my photos for the hunt, I thought this would look cool with one of my moon photos in the sky. All I did was add it as a layer and place it where I wanted it. Since both photos had a black background, it blended right in. Too bad the moon wasn't really right there in the sky that night. :)

Okay, now it is your turn! Link up your Wild & Wonderful photos below.
Just a few things first ...

2. Link up your post URL (or Flickr photo URL), not your blog URL.

3. Photos must be yours please.

4. Try to visit and comment on a few other linker uppers (mine too please!). We know how much everyone loves comments!

5. You have until Saturday at midnight to link up!

Also linking up with these beautiful ladies:

Photos of the Day: December 12 & 13

2011-12-13T21:56:00.000-05:00

{December 12}

Got up early to go shopping all day with Doug. I didn't mind so much because I got to witness this beautiful sunrise and get my POTD out of the way early. :)

{December 13}

Since I failed to photograph Honey on her birthday, December 10, I made a point to capture her today. She is officially three years old. And she's as bad as the kids when it comes to the camera. She thinks if she keeps looking away that I'll stop taking her picture. :)

Bokeh lights ... SOOC

2011-12-12T06:00:00.002-05:00

This week's Shoot & Edit theme is Bokeh Lights. It seems as though many of my photos have included Christmas lights lately - either in bokeh form or starburst. I just love photographing Christmas lights! I wish we could keep our tree up all year just so I could play. :) But I guess eventually the novelty would wear off, so it is best that it is only up for about a month.

Anyway here are my SOOC bokeh light photos ...

I bought some colorful LED lights to put up on a bush we have in our front yard. It was looking a little lonely. :) Doug and the kids put them up yesterday.

I bought this snow globe the other day while Alex and I were shopping. My collection is officially up to three. :)

This photo was one of my possible choices for the Scavenger Hunt - cup of cheer. Since I went in a different direction with the hunt, I thought I'd show this one here. I put some crushed up candy canes in a goblet then added Sierra Mist (the only soda we had in the house - leftover from Alex's birthday party). It turned this pretty pink color. The soda wasn't as bubbly as I would have liked. :)

So those are my SOOC bokeh light shots. Be sure to stop over at Jill's to see more great SOOC photos! I can't wait to see yours! However Doug and I will be shopping all day today, so I'll try to visit later this evening. Have a great day!

Photo of the Day: December 11

2011-12-11T22:33:00.000-05:00

I bought a set of lights to decorate a bush in our front yard. Doug and the kids put them up today. I love all white lights but there's just something about the colorful LED lights that I really enjoy.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 12.11.11

2011-12-11T06:00:00.004-05:00

This week's Scavenger Hunt items were a lot of fun to find ... Less is more, Holiday lights, Ornaments, Cup of cheer, and Nativity.

{less is more}

A simple ornament.

{holiday lights}

One of our family traditions is to go see the Christmas light displays at Hartwood Acres. We were able to go this week. The lights were beautiful as always. This is the mansion that we pass on our way through the park.
(I feel the need to disclose that the moon was Photoshopped in. I thought it would look cool, and it does, doesn't it?) :)

{ornaments}

I haven't been able to get all 3 kids together to go get their ornaments this year, so Alex and I picked his out yesterday. It was no surprise that he picked out a train. :) Keira and Nick will get theirs soon hopefully.

{cup of cheer}

Hot cocoa with marshmallows and a candy cane. Yum!

{nativity}

This nativity set is pretty old. I've been looking for a newer one but haven't found the right one yet.

That's it for me. Be sure to stop over at Ashley's to see more great Scavenger Hunt finds!
Thanks for stopping by!

Next week's items to look for are:

What is it?
Children/Fur Babies Sleeping (Michelle's suggestion: 25 Days of Christmas)
Joy (Michelle's suggestion: 25 Days of Christmas)
Window (Kamana's suggestion)
Half (Kamana's suggestion)

Week 49 Summary

2011-12-10T21:22:00.000-05:00

4 - Teaching Mel how to shoot in Manual

6 - Snowman decoration at Santa Shop

5 - The birthday boy taking a train ride at the mall

7 - My husband bought me flowers - Tracey chose this as one of her Top 5 picks this week! Thanks, Tracey!

9 - Bought this pretty Christmas lantern
8 - Went to see the light display at Hartwood Acres - an annual family tradition
10 - I'm curly again! :)

Photo of the Day: December 10

2011-12-10T16:48:00.000-05:00

I'm curly again! :)

Photo of the Day: December 9

2011-12-09T19:15:00.000-05:00

I bought this Christmas lantern today along with a few new ornaments for our tree. I love Christmas decorations.

Shoot & Edit ... Edited

2011-12-08T23:13:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot to post my edits for Shoot & Edit! I have found myself so busy with the boys' school lately, that things that used to be routine are now being forgotten. I don't like that! But I am blessed to be able to help with their school, so other things will have to wait. For now.

Since it is late, I'm just going to post my edits with little explanation. Especially since I didn't really do much to them anyway. :)

{sooc}

{edit}

Increased exposure to lighten it up a little.

{sooc}

{edit}

Increased blacks.

And since I never got around to posting my Thanksgiving edit last week, here it is too.

{sooc}

{edit}

Increased clarity, vibrance, and saturation.

To see more great Holiday/Christmas edits and to read a great tutorial on Lightroom 3 by Cedar, head over to Ashley's.

Photo of the Day: December 8

2011-12-08T22:03:00.000-05:00

We fulfilled another family tradition this evening by going to see the lights at a local display. They were very nice and there were some changes this year, which made them even better. And I drove instead of Doug, which is one reason why I think I got better pictures. He wasn't driving away while I was still shooting. :) This train was one of Alex's favorite displays.

Christmas Bokeh

2011-12-07T22:34:00.005-05:00

Doug bought me a bouquet of flowers the other day and I finally had a chance to photograph them. Or at least one of them. :)

I've been playing around with shooting in B&W instead of always converting to B&W in processing. This started as B&W and then I added a layer of light purple at about 70% opacity.

Be sure to check out the Holiday Bokeh Party & Giveaways @my3boybarians - link up for a chance to win some great prizes! Tracey picked this as one of her Top 5 favorites this week!And this photo was picked a favorite at Earth Wonders!

Wild & Wonderful Wednesday #6

2011-12-06T22:19:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to another edition of Wild & Wonderful Wednesday! The photos I chose for this week are so much fun! Not great technical photos ... in fact, they are all snapshots. But they are from our Girls' Night on Friday when we had sooooo much fun. We laughed so much that several of us talked of having "laughter hangovers" the next day (as no alcohol was involved in our fun).

The reason for the Girls' Night this time was Melissa from Baton Rouge.

Our friend, Laura, made arrangements for Mel to fly up here and stay with her for the week. I won't go into all the details of their friendship and how this all came about, but if you'd like to read about them, Laura's blog is A Hearty Overflow and Mel's blog is Little Mrs. Married. Go check them out! And you'll probably see more pics of our fun while you're there! :)

Here are a few more of the ladies that were at GNO. But first, let me explain something. Laura asks us to bring games that we can play together as a group. As the mother of a 13YO, an 8YO, and a 6YO my games aren't really geared towards adults and/or larger groups. So while out shopping with Alex on Friday, we stopped in at the local dollar store where we came across these great silly glasses. So I scooped up 6 different pairs and brought them along. What a hit! We had a blast with them. And with several photographers in the group, we took LOTS of pics of our craziness. It was the best six bucks I ever spent! :)

Kim

Melissa

Vicki and Karen

Me - You can't really see all that well out of some of the glasses, so I was looking over the top to see what was happening and someone snapped this photo of me. I'm not even sure who had my camera at this point. :) But I'm glad they took my picture, since I'm not usually in any ... I'm always behind the camera.

Laura, the hostess of GNO.

Laura and Jen

Laura and Beth - Beth is the cutest pregnant woman ever! :)

Me, Laura, Mel, and Rainey - the four bloggers. Rainey blogs at Sunshine on Rainey Days. (I wish I had a cool name that I could incorporate into my blog name). :) Go check out her blog too!

Rainey and I "met" Mel through her blog and she through ours. So it was really cool to get to meet her in person. We're planning to go visit her in Baton Rouge the next time!

I didn't get photos of all the girls that night. I'll do better next time. :) But if you go to Laura's or Mel's blog, I'll bet you'll see the few that I missed.

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our fun. We seriously laughed so much that it was like having a great ab workout. My abs hurt the next day! :)

Okay, now it is your turn! Link up your Wild & Wonderful photos below.
Just a few things first ...

2. Link up your post URL (or Flickr photo URL), not your blog URL.

3. Photos must be yours please.

4. Try to visit and comment on a few other linker uppers (mine too please!). We know how much everyone loves comments!

5. You have until Saturday at midnight to link up!

Also linking up with these beautiful ladies:

Scavenger Hunt and Shoot & Edit - A Little Late

2011-12-06T20:06:00.000-05:00

So I'm a few days late posting my Scavenger Hunt photos. But better late than never, right? :)

{portrait}

I'm sure you've all seen the hanging Christmas lights trick for a pretty portrait background, right? Well, it didn't quite work with my lens and set up. You could still clearly see the strands, so I draped a white sheet over them and voila! Still not perfect, but much better than what I started with. :)

{nostalgic}

A former co-worker still makes me an ornament each year. He is incredibly talented in woodworking. This one reminds me of what things must have been like many years ago.

{time}

My baby, Alex, turned six yesterday. It seems like I just brought him home from the Midwife Center! Where did the time go?!?! (On a side note, boy my dining room walls need a fresh coat of paint!) :)

{full of light}

We had a gorgeous frosty morning recently. The boys were up and asking for breakfast, but I had to make them wait so I could go outside and lay on the ground to get some frosty photos with the sun making everything sparkle. :)

{motion}

Some jugglers at our town's Light Up Night.

Next week's Hunt items are:

Less is More
Holiday Lights (Exploring with a Camera Prompt - click HERE for details)
Ornaments (Michelle's suggestion: 25 Days of Christmas)
Cup of Cheer (Michelle's suggestion: 25 Days of Christmas)
Nativity (Michelle's suggestion: 25 Days of Christmas)

While I'm trying to get caught up, I thought I'd include my SOOC shots for Shoot & Edit/Good to WOW! instead of bombarding you with a gazillion different posts. :) This week's theme is Holiday/Christmas.

I'm sure this is not an original idea ... our Christmas tree out of focus. My kids always tell me I take blurry pictures when they see pics like this. :)

We have colored lights on the outside of the house. My husband surprised me one day and put them up while I was out. He's so sweet. These are strung on our deck. The kids love having lights on the outside of the house. This year we might even string some lights on the inside ... just need to figure out how to put them up. :)

To see more great Holiday/Christmas SOOC shots, head over to Jill's.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to stop in again on Wednesday for Wild & Wonderful Wednesday!

Photos of the Day: December 4, 5, and 6

2011-12-06T17:58:00.000-05:00

Still trying to get caught up!

{December 4}

While Mel is still in town, Laura wanted to teach her how to shoot in Manual mode. So after seeing Footloose at the movie theater, we headed downtown for a mini photo shoot and lesson. We had a blast being goofballs once again. So sad that she goes home tomorrow. :(

{December 5}

On Alex's 6th birthday, the birthday boy and I went to breakfast at Panera then he asked to go to the mall to ride the train. He had to ride in the engine. (Notice that he finally lost that other front tooth? The new one on the other side is already coming in so no toothless photos like I had hoped).

{December 6}

I helped out at Santa Shop at the boys' school this afternoon. In between classes I photographed a few things that were there like this cute snowman. It's too bad that I told the boys not to buy me anything. :)

Week 48 Summary

2011-12-05T23:29:00.001-05:00

Do you ever feel like you are so far behind, you will never get caught up? That's where I'm at right now. I had such a busy week last week. Mostly FUN stuff, but still very busy. So to those of you whom I haven't had a chance to visit, I apologize. Hoping to get around visiting tomorrow and Wednesday. This week looks better. Thankfully. I need a break before the busyness of Christmas kicks into gear. Anyway, here's what last week looked like in pictures ...

27 - Put the Christmas tree up while the kids were on Thanksgiving break.

28 - Alex lost another tooth.

29 - Rainbow.

30 - Playing with starbursts and bokeh.

1 - Laura meeting Melissa in person for the first time (they've been online friends for about 6 years but never met in person until now). Melissa is from Baton Rouge and blogs at Little Mrs. Married. Laura made arrangements for her to visit us in PA for a week and asked if I'd go to the airport with her to pick Mel up. So, of course, I had to snap some photos of their first meeting!

2 - Girls' Night fun. Myself and Mel. I've been reading Mel's blog for about 2 years and she's just as much fun in person as she is on her blog! And she's got an awesome southern accent! :)

3 - We celebrated Alex's 6th birthday and bought him this ukulele that he asked for. (His actual birthday is today, December 5). He loves it!

Linking up with:

Monday Rewind at Chic Homeschool Mama

Photo of the Day: December 3

2011-12-03T22:57:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Alex's 6th birthday today (his actual birthday is on Monday). He was so excited that we bought him this ukulele that he saw at the music store last week! He walked around "playing" it all afternoon. :)

He decided he wanted to sit on the living room floor and open his gifts. I would have preferred he open them in the dining room (better lighting, better background - I'm sure you other photographers can relate) but I let him pick since it was his party. :) And yes, that is my golden retriever laying beside him. She gets a little jealous when she's not the center of attention. :)

I'm Still Here!

2011-12-03T09:32:00.000-05:00

It has been a few crazy, busy, fun days! Lots of things keeping me busy lately. And today is another jam-packed day, so I'll be quick. :) I at least wanted to get my last few photos of the day posted.

{November 30}

Just playing around trying to get the starburst effect with our Christmas tree lights.

{December 1}

Melissa and Laura - when we met Mel in person for the first time at the airport. She's here for a week-long visit from Baton Rouge. She and Laura have been online friends for 6 years and they finally got to meet in person. How cool is that?!

{December 2}

Myself and Mel at Girls' Night at Laura's house. Laura asks us to bring some games to play, but since my games are either geared towards 6 year olds or Scrabble (which isn't much fun with a large group since only 4 can play), I picked up some silly glasses at the Dollar Store to bring along. They were a huge hit! Best 6 bucks I ever spent! We had a blast making fools of ourselves. And we photographed it for all the world to see. :)

That's all I have time for today. Busy day again today with a Ladies' Christmas Luncheon, then Alex's 6th birthday party, then Doug and I are taking Keira to the symphony this evening. I'll probably come home from church tomorrow and sleep all afternoon! :)

Have a great weekend!