Frustrated.

I'm having some camera/histogram frustrations lately. Mostly its just about me being incredibly nitpicky. Sigh.

My girls are totally obsessed with The Little Mermaid. TOTALLY. OBSESSED. Most of their make-believe play lately is one of them being Eric, the other Ariel. Sometimes, instead of Eric, they throw in Ursula.

If you ask either of them what a mermaid says, the answer is "Ahhhahahahaaaahaaaah..." (you know, the scene where she sings to have her voice stolen.)

Anyway. Here's Abbie, doing her best Ariel impersonation.

Just one at a time.

Have a bunch of pictures to share. Obviously I'm behind. But I'm only going to share a couple at a time. Drag it out for ya.

Matt took Miles on his first Father/Son Campout. Love that. I have a son. Apparently, it was quite cold. Miles little toes and fingers were quite pink and cold when they got home. Good thing his mama stuck him in a warm bath for awhile. Matt tells me that Miles particularly enjoyed playing with some sticks.



So, then today when they got home, Matt set up the tent in our backyard so that it could dry out/be cleaned out. The girls played in it ALL DAY LONG. I broke out the camera because we were having some particularly nice lighting.



And one more for today. A picture of me. Courtesy of Abbie. I'm doing something weird with my mouth... try to ignore it.

Trying out a new location.

Have a client shoot coming up at a location I've never used before, so I drove down with my kids to test out the light. My kids particularly enjoy this as they get to play at a park they've never played at before. And I enjoy it because it's a challenge. I love a good challenge. Also, when I'm shooting my kids, I can be more funky/creative than I would with a client.

Note: If you're a client, and you want funky/creative... Please! Let me know! I love that!

Poor Miles, left all alone.
Note: I intentionally chopped off Abbie's head. I love this one. It might be my favorite.
I don't normally take pictures of nothing. But I loved the way that the sunlight was filtering through the trees and putting a spotlight on this leaf. Didn't you know, it's Autumn here in FL.

Fortunately

Miles is a smiley enough kid. Well, that's not entirely true... he's a grumpy kid, but he does his fair share of smiling. You just wouldn't know it. He's usually got his thumb in his mouth. And he's mostly anti-social. Definitely not the busy socialite that his sisters are.

And well, getting him to smile while I've got the camera pointed at him... nigh unto impossible. But I had help. Matt pinned him down and tickled him while I snapped away. We got some happy shots.

The eye contact! It's so precious!Dad's apparently hilarious. Notice the crooked front teeth from doing this:
This is his usual expression when the camera is on him:
Yes. Rage little man. Show em your "Grrr!" face.

Relation

Having a sister can sometimes be the pits! I know. I have 3.

But I'm guessing it's times like these that make you so happy to have a sister. I know I miss mine. Jenny. Bekah. Rachel. See you in April, girls!

5.

She was pretty darn excited. As evidenced by this second picture. Love that one. Please ignore the extremely greasy, sweaty hair she's got going on. Total nastiness. I want it cut!!! But she's intent on growing it out.

Not the birthday girl.

Yeah, I know. But these are from yesterday. I've been swamped with Valentine's Day and Birthday... not exactly my most relaxing holiday. But it's mostly over.

I do have pictures from cupcake eating, and I'll post them tomorrow, but for today... you get Anna, being so darn cute. Poor you.

Proof that I'm totally mature.

If you're easily offended this is not the blog for you.

Story Part One or Why I Think This Is Hilarious: Forever ago, I belonged to a message board with some of the most hilarious people I know. I'm pretty sure it was Val's fault (blogless) that we all started using "THE WORD" again. I say again, because it's not a word I've used since... 4th grade, maybe?

Story Part Two: At my husband's work they have a roundabout for dropoff, etc. People were driving entirely too fast through there. Almost like in Roller Derby (geez! anyone remember that!?) when they would slingshot each other through the rink... where was I? Oh yeah. So, they decided to put in some deterrents. To the rest of the world: Speed Bumps, right? Well, apparently they made the speed bumps a little too tall and they failed to paint them for the first couple weeks. So, everyone and their brother were totally bottoming out. Finally, they put in a sign.

Here is where you see just how totally mature I am: I went to my husband's work today with no intention of seeing him, just to take this picture.

Also, do you think that the M. here stands for Men? Wow. That is fast!

Imagination.

I think, in my professional-mother-of-girls opinion, that boys use their imaginations more. I watch boys play and their toys just lend so much to greater creativity. Legos? Knex? Magnetix? These are toys that totally rock. Girls get Polly Pockets. Not really all that much to be creative about. And while it's fun to watch my girls play "Mom and Dad" and change the freaking Polly Pocket's clothes about 18 times, it gets old.

Lately, Abbie and Anna have been playing with my best friend's sons alot. Twin 5 year old boys. Their favorite game: "Bad Mega-Dragon". What is this game? We're not entirely sure. We think it involves pretending to kill dragons. Or fight dragons. Or fight each other. And while "boy-play" is more imaginative, it's also more violent! Hello?! Polly Pocket never gets out her lightsaber and slays her best friend because she took her favorite Jimmy Choos!!!

Anyway. Today, right before dinner, I used the last paper towel on the roll, which of course meant it was time for some binoculars. My husband quickly whipped them up and Abbie was off in the back yard, hunting for some animals.

Since I was making dinner, I sent Matt out with the camera. He did a pretty good job! Could've used a higher ISO and shutter speed for sharper pictures, but they work!

Here's the part that really gets me. When she came back in, I asked her if she saw any tigers, lions, elephants or giraffes out there. Her answer, "No Mom! Those animals live in Zoos, not in Florida. There are no Zoos in Florida."

First: Those animals don't live in Zoos! Yes, some do, but not all!!! Time for a safari!
Second: We do too have a Zoo in Florida!!! In fact, we live about 20 minutes away. No, I've never taken them. I know, I'm a terrible parent. I'm just waiting until I can afford a membership.
Third: Hello?! Have you no imagination!? You can't pretend you saw some animals?! Geez. Girls!

A couple more pictures for fun.

And finally, one of those, "hold the camera out as far as you can, and snap a picture" shots.

Getting tired of my kids?

I know I am!!!

Ok, only partly kidding about that one, but since I don't have any sessions (and I am terrible at still life and landscape--something I SHOULD be working on!) you get my kids.

But not today. Lucky you. Today you get my friend's kid!

Meet Ethan. He's got more energy than all three of my kids put together... and it's dizzying and exhausting... just ask his mother. But he's a hoot!
Took the kids to see The Santa Clause 3 today. While my kids enjoyed it, I have to say Please... please let that be the last one. I mean, we only paid $4 total (for the 4 of us), but it wasn't even worth that. Good thing the kids have TERRIBLE taste!

I have a fabulous story about my thief, Abbie, but it'll have to wait until Sunday or something. I have an 8am church meeting tomorrow (so wrong!!!)

It's almost that time.

Birthday Time.

Abbie will be 5 on Valentine's Day. And geez. When did I become a mom of a 5 year old? It's making me feel SO OLD!

So, in an effort to get some 5 year old head shots, I bribed her! Hopefully, she'll give me another try, because I'd like more than just a couple headshots.

I failed to set my CWB, which I'm now kicking myself over! My color is all over the place! Also, I have no idea what happened but my ISO was at 1600 for most of these... thank goodness for NeatImage!!!

My favorite! Love her tiny smile.
She was getting pretty ticked with me... I even have one of her crying. But she warmed up again. Just in time to give me this attitude.

Now I realize why.

Pictures of Anna are the easiest for me to take for a number of reasons.

1. She doesn't go to preschool all day.
2. She always wants to cuddle.
3. She's so patient with me.
4. Miles takes naps.

I'm gonna be so hurting for subjects if we decide to put her in Preschool this fall! Miles is not nearly so cooperative!
And again... Color? or Black and White?

For some reason, I feel like Anna's silky soft skin just looks amazing in BW.

Oops! Sorry!

I've missed two days in a row now! Darnit! I promise to be back up and running tomorrow.

Mornings aren't really my thing.

Evenings, heck yes. Mornings. Please for the love of all that is holy leave me to sleep!!! And yet, I haven't "slept in" (we're talking past 9am) in years. YEARS, people! It's a luxury I am not yet entitled to, apparently.

This morning was no different. Woke up at 6:54am to Miles crying. He's hungry and darn it for weaning. Throw a banana, some Cheerios and a sippy of milk at him... Went back to bed. Matt got up and got the girls breakfast. But by 8:00am, I couldn't avoid the inevitable any longer. Up it was.(Abbie reading books in our bedroom at 7am. By the light of the closet.)

Matt's doing this trying to get in shape thing. I fully support him... I mean, better him than me. I hate working out, especially in the morning. So, he went to Yoga this morning. I hear he really enjoyed it. I'm kinda sad I wasn't there to watch his downward facing dog! At any rate. By the time he got home, it was time for me to get ready. I had a date.

A date? What? No, not with a man. With Melinda. (Count your lucky stars, Melinda that I'm too lazy to pull those self-portraits off my card!) We got ourselves all dolled up and went to lunch and then pseudo-shopping. We were trying to pretend (at least I was...) that for a couple of hours we weren't mothers. Just very stylish women. I say pseudo-shopping because neither of us had any money to spend. But oh how we ogled that new Vera Bradley pattern, Peacock. And spent another 45 minutes inside a kids' toy store (I'm a sucker for that Playmobil and Melissa & Doug stuff!). And another hour at Target. And our grand total: $9 Two purchases by Melinda. I'm so proud of myself.

Note to self: when going inside several stores in a row, it is wise to turn off the headlights on your car, so that when you return to the car, it's not dead.

Self: Note taken.

Second Note to Self: When trying to jumpstart your car, you should always ask a man for help. Women know nothing! They will attempt to jump it incorrectly and then tell you it's your starter, at which point you'll nearly start to cry in front of your date.

Self: Wuss!

Third Note to Self: If you leave your husband in charge for several hours, he will clean your kitchen floor spotless, you know... the one you've been putting off for about a week. BUT... the rest of the house will be trashed.

Self: Thanks sweetie!

Distortion.

I'm really jones'ing over a wider angle lens. Perhaps a 28mm or 24mm. Or even the Sigma 30mm 1.4. I really love the distortion of a fisheye, but I can't shell out for it.

So tonight, we decided to play with my flash and my (get this...) kit lens. A 28-80mm. I needed the extra space in Anna's room. So I cranked it all the way out to 28mm and compensated with my glorious flash... seriously, couldn't have made a better purchase.
And one more bed jumping picture.
Love the eye contact.