74/365

the big ball at the children's museum of denver

we went to time's square for kids today for "noon year's eve." let me just say, never again. i am just glad we were members at the museum and it was free. there were WAY too many people there.

the ball dropped at noon, confetti shot out, & then the kids ran & jumped on a HUGE sheet of bubble wrap.

happy new year's! not sure i'll make it to see the ball drop. would be the first time in 6 years, lol. we were thinking of watching it eastern time, lol. i can do 10.

eta: and just to prove i wasn't exaggerating, here's an article from the local news:
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=106940&catid=188
(btw, they cut the ball's top off in the picture -- REALLY? doh!)

73/365

i have a lot of reading and practicing ahead of me with this soft box. for some reason i was getting pin lights from the pop up that is triggering the flash of camera - i think - when it shouldn't even be affecting the shot. ba humbug.

kayleigh's "crazy face" aka 10 clicks past "just one more picture"

72/365

we went downtown to the children's museum today & cashed in the gift card for the family membership my mother in law sent us. i purposely did not bring my camera in, i needed a break - but i did take some pictures when we were walking around the city. i love it down there so much. it reminds me of "home."

click for big on black

the kids rode their first city bus - although it was just the free mall ride, lol ... but it counts! the big kids loved it, we rode it three times! although this was the only time it was this empty!

we're going back down (minus john) for the "noon year's eve" party on wednesday, so i'm going to try to get some better shots then!

71/365

playing with lights. these are just with a small tree with red lights from kayleigh's room. in the second, i was attempting to make tree shaped bokeh, but i think i cut my tree too small, as i couldn't get any of the dinosaur in the shot. even raising my iso.

just fun with lights .... a heart

k for kayleigh

e for ethan

n for norah!

yes, i am a big geek, lol.

70/365

today the tree is finally gone, & the after christmas organization can begin. we're moving soon, so as long as all this stuff is just out of the way, it's a.o.k. with me!

the kids made a sun catcher today. kayleigh has one in her window, and now ethan will, too!


my sweet, innocent little dainty baby is W-I-L-D! i think it's because she wants to do what the bigger two do, SO BAD, but she's just not old enough. today alone she pulled a bowl of oatmeal off the dining table, knocked a bowl of scrambled eggs off the counter, and climbed on top of the computer desk while i was cooking dinner. here she is this afternoon quietly munching on some saran wrap since someone left the drawer unlocked. yum!

69/365

john got me a wacom tablet for christmas, and this was the first edit with it! :) it takes a little getting used to, i'm used to the dragging of a mouse, but it is super cool! i think it will really speed up the editing process.

we were super busy today, and this was the only shutter click! very unusal.

speedlight bounced, noiseware, and childish david b&w

i got the diapers in today from hillary that i had made for norah's birthday pictures! tonight i'll be sewing the aplix on so i can take the pictures soon! (i can't believe norah's almont ONE!) i got the westcott softbox in a couple weeks ago, but a little $12 adapter part to hold the softbox to the stand was sold out, and i couldn't try it out! that will be here tuesday along with a roll of suede grey seamless from b&h (courtesy of a gift card from my mama!) .... so look for some studio shots next week - YAY!

68/365

Merry Christmas!

67/365

the infamous twinkly light tree shot. i waited too long to try it, and the bigger two were in bed. little one is out of focus ... slow ss + wiggly baby = nothing but trouble! i think i'll try again tomorrow with all three. although there will be no presents under the tree, lol. santa hasn't come, yet, their the gifts our family sent under the tree.

66/365

kayleigh turned 5 and a half yesterday! i can't believe it!

65/365

so ... i started weight watcher's yesterday. all went well. i even got to enjoy a starbucks drink (albeit non-fat no-whip ... not really worth it) at zoo lights. here's my 365 from yesterday. my favorite yummy ww friendly lunch, and only 2 points!



i really need to visit strobist more to learn about using the speedlight outdoors at night. my iso was waaay too high (didn't notice until after), so this one of us at the zoo last night came out pretty yucky. it's better than the pop up, i suppose, as you can still see the lights!

64/365

idea totally stolen from allison, but none the less true. i now weigh more than i've ever weighed not pregnant! yikes. weight watcher's is beckoning. if we want to ttc this summer, i need to be a fit mama! so back on the wagon, and back to the gym i go ....

ps, i am addicted to smartwool socks! they are the best. i stole these from kayleigh. :X

63/365

science friday - err, saturday (sorry we're npr geeks!). :) today we made non-newtonian fluid with the kids again. they love it! if you haven't ever made it your self, you've got to! it's a blast & it can eat up a couple hours!

we've been dreaming about filling up a bathtub with it, lol.

john: ethan, what do you want for breakfast?
ethan: broccoli! (grabs a head out of the fridge.)
only my kid, lol.

more science! blowing bubbles with soap & straws!

here is why i've started shooting in raw. i'm trying to venture out of aperture priority mode & shoot in full manual. kids are FAST, & i haven't got it down, yet, to adjust my exposure quick enough.

(click to enlarge)

the photo on the left is what it looked like in raw since i wasn't able to adjust quick enough when she came around the corner. the photo on the right, is with a quick adjustment in raw on the exposure & fill, with a quick run through noiseware.

still nothing print worthy (but might be with more time {and knowledge!} in photoshop - but who wants top do that?), but still salvageable. with jpeg, going that much lighter would have turned it into a mess. there are a lot of blown spots in my quick edit, but with more time, it could look a lot better, lol.

still, the goal is to get it as close to perfect in camera - but it's nice to be able to save one when you just didn't get it spot on.

62/365

finally mailed out our christmas gifts yesterday! spent an hour in the post office - yikes.

i have about 4 loads of laundry that need folding ... but ilp & stephen colbert are looking like more fun.

61/365

two things off my sewing list! i quilted the quilt, added the backing, made the binding, and finished it up last night! this morning i made the wristlets. woo!

today was norah's 11mo birthday, and she slept it away! by the time she woke up from her nap, it was almost dark! so, i am going to try again tomorrow for pictures.

tonight our neighborhood had their christmas parade. the kids really enjoyed it. john's on nights, so he missed out. poor guy. i didn't know the best way to take pics at night outside, but i had the best luck pointing the speedlight forward at a 45 degree angle.

60/365

i've been in the mood to sew the last few days. i have unfinished projects dating back to march! so i am setting a goal to finish the small list i have in two weeks!

59/365

yay! we got to use it f'real, f'real! the kids loved it. all the kids at the bus stop got a turn. lucky john. ;)

58/365

we got a sled! finally! it was too late to go sledding when we got home from the store, so ethan just pulled norah around the house in it. :)

57/365

ugh. yesterday was a day of cleaning! no fun at all. i went to bed at 10:30 with the worst headache. john was on nights this weekend, so sunday we just hung around the house, and i did a bazillion (really!) loads of laundry, and the rest of the cleaning i've missed out on the last week while things have been so busy. thrilling, really!

i JUST finished putting the last load away, and i'm going to do a quick load of towels and i'm taking the rest of the week OFF ... yeah, right!

i'm still learning the speed light. i'm getting better at avoiding pin lights, and getting bigger catch lights. this was about 7:30 last night when it was pitch black outside, with the speed light bounced of the ceiling. my soft box comes today, i'm so excited. i'd saved my gift cards to b&h from my birthday to get something i really wanted instead of just a couple more rolls of seamless. of course there's a ton of snow outside today, so ups will probably be late, lol!

56/365

saturday we went to the colorado railroad museum for the santa clause express. as i expected, ethan wanted nothing to do with santa. i'm sure norah would have sat with him, had she not been so tired. we stood in line for over an hour and a half, and she was falling asleep, but the trains went by every 5 minutes blowing their whistles thawrting any chance she had to fall asleep. she saw him and screamed.

kayleigh enjoyed him, though! :)

55/365

croc attack! you either love 'em or hate 'em! the crocs watrehouse is just 5 minuted from our house! friday they had their first warehouse sale, and it was a madhouse! we left spending $100, and getting a ton of stuff! kids crocs (all styles but the fuzzy ones) were $5-10, and adults were $10-15. we spent $100, and finished off some christmas shopping!

54/365

playing catch up again. we've been so busy the past few days!

thursday we went to outdoor world to look for a few things for christmas gifts. we were unsuccessful, but they did have a neat christmas wonderland.

53/365

ethan & i played in the snow for a long time today. he could be out there all day. i am so glad my kids finally get to see snow - i've really missed it! i have such great memories of the snow back home.

my favorite snow memory is one where we were trouble makers. the street i lived on had a HUGE hill. it was THE best sledding hill. we had a snow day, & spent most of the morning sledding. then, the plow man came. our whole group held hands & formed a chain blocking him, lol! he honked for a while, then called his boss & gave in. he came back after dark & we got to spend the rest of the day going back down & up the hill. i can't wait to take my kids sledding!

52/365

so ... norah will be one in a month!! i'm trying to get a good picture of her in her birthday dress for her cards/invites. much easier said than done. more in my flickr.

51/365

this is a test. this is only a test. if this had been an actual pregnancy, you would have been instructed to come bonk me on the head. lol... well, i've about had it with these crazy nursing periods.

isn't it weird, how even if you aren't ready for another baby, it's still a little sad to see a big fat "Not Pregnant." ? I'll test again in the morning one more time just because I'm a crazy nut, lol ... but I'm pretty sure it's just the whole nursing thing throwing me off.

on another note, john's aunt passed away yesterday. she was still pretty young, and passed away from a stroke. we're not sure if john'll be able to make it back to pennsylvania for the funeral friday or not. if you could keep his family in your thoughts it would be appreciated. thanks.

50/365

our sad christmas tree. the limbs are so weak, lol. see me? :) first is no flash, second is with the speedlight bouncing to the left? ... well, my left, lol.

click to enlarge.