2011-02-28

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/60s, white balance auto

Watched a squirrel in our back yard this morning ... eating bird seed that had fallen from the feeder.  The thunderstorms that rolled through here last night left quite a bit of tree branches and twigs everywhere.  (Thunderstorms in February?!)  And that would be Honey's chewed-up boomerang frisbee there too.  :)

Oh, and Happy birthday to my nephew, Kyle!  He's 19 today!

2011-02-27

ISO 200, f/5.0, 1/25s, white balance auto

I was photographing this tiny Spiderman guy that Nick brought home from school - because it cracks me up how big its head is compared to its body - and Alex decided to attack Spiderman with one of Honey's tennis balls.  Alex didn't know I was getting him in the frame also.  Sometimes I need to be sneaky to get my kids in the picture.  :)

Week 8 Summary

Another week bites the dust.  I've been sick most of this week, so my creativity was at an all-time low.  I did still manage to keep up with my photo-a-day goal though.  Mostly.  :)


20 - Some flowers/weeds we came across on a nature walk with the kids.
21 - The knobs on our new cabinet doors that my do-it-yourselfer husband finished installing today.
22 - Sick day spent reading this book.
23 - My son, Nicholas, is our family goofball.  :)
24 - My new Nikon D3100 camera came today!
25 - Stopped at a local reservoir to see the geese.
26 - This photo of my daughter playing her violin wasn't taken today, but it was chosen as a Top 5 at The Daily Wyatt so I had to include it.  Thanks, Audrey!  I'm honored and humbled.




          
Edited:  I just hopped over to Grace Loves the Beatles and saw that my photo #20 won her weekly contest!  How cool is that?!  Here's the cool button I get to display!
Thanks, Grace!  I am truly honored!

2011-02-26

How exciting!  One of my photos got picked for Audrey's Top Five for the week!  So I'm making it my photo of the day even though it wasn't taken today.  I'm still sick, so I'm sure you'll cut me some slack, right?  :)

2011-02-25

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1600s, white balance cloudy 

(My first posted shot with my new Nikon D3100)

Today on my way home from the doctor's and picking up my prescription (bronchitis - ugh!), I drove past the local reservoir to see if the geese were still there.  They were.  I scared them as I was approaching and didn't get a closer shot like I was hoping.  These two weren't as scared as the others I guess because they took a little longer to move away.

2011-02-24

ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/5s, white balance auto

My new camera came today!  It's just a tiny step up from my D40, but I'm still excited!  Hopefully I will feel well enough tomorrow to take it out for a spin.  :)

2011-02-23

ISO 200, f/5.0, 1/15s, white balance auto

Nick is my goofball.  He didn't want his picture taken (surprise!), but I told him he had to let me since I don't feel well today.  It was the least he could do.  :)  So he's gesturing that I'm a loser.  Some mothers would see this as a great disrespect, but I just found it funny.  Today anyway.

2011-02-22

ISO 400, f/9.0, 1/13s, white balance auto

Not feeling well today.  Spent the better part of today reading this book.  And napping.  And reading some more.

2011-02-21

 

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/6s, white balance flourescent +1

We're big d0-it-yourselfers around here.  It saves us lots of money, which is good.  But it also requires a great deal of patience.  Mostly on my part.  :)  I really admire the fact that Doug knows how to do things himself.  And he also knows his limits and when to call in the professionals.

Today my sweet husband finished installing the cabinet doors he made himself.  The same cabinet doors that sent him to the hospital back in September with a broken finger and smashed hand.  They are covering the shelves outside our bathroom.  We'll see how long it takes for the novelty of them to wear off on Alex who likes to open them and hide inside.  And close them, and open them, and close them ... well, you get the point.  :)

2011-02-20

ISO 200, f/5.3, 1/200s, white balance auto

The kids and I went for a walk today through our neighbor's woods, down to their pond.  The pond is still frozen and looks really cool.  But instead of posting a photo of the frozen pond, I liked this one the best.  I'm sure these are weeds, but they are the first "flowers" I've found this year.  No textures were added to this photo.  It came out that way!  I love when that happens! I'll probably post more photos of our nature walk later this week on My Perspective.


Hooking up with Grace's Photo Challenge:

Week 7 Summary

Welcome to Week 7's Summary!  We had a fun week!  I hope you did too!


Here's the breakdown of our week:
13 - The boys bought their car kits for the upcoming Wood-U-Race.
14 - Alex's full treat box from Preschool's Valentine's Day party.
15 - My car's windshield had this cool-looking frost on it in the morning.
16 - Had some much-needed girl time at Panera with my good friend Laura.
17 - We were outside enjoying our spring-like weather when my daughter Keira requested a mini photo shoot.
18 - Alex had Silly Sock day at Preschool. 
19 - A Pussy Willow tree we saw in our travels this morning.


As always, if you wish to look at the photo/information in more detail, click on the link for that day.


Looking forward to seeing how everyone else's week went!

      

2011-02-19

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/250s, white balance auto, SKC Photography's Old Paper texture added

After Alex's soccer game this morning, I noticed this Pussy Willow tree at the school near the YMCA.  I'm sure my family was rolling their eyes while I stopped to take a few photos.  :)  They should know me by now.

2011-02-18

ISO 800, f/5.3, 1/10s, white balance auto - Coffee Shop's Velvet Truffle action added

Today was "Wear Silly Socks and/or Stripes" day at Preschool in honor of the letter S.  Alex doesn't own any "silly" socks, so he asked Keira if he could borrow a pair from her.  She gave him a couple choices and he chose the Halloween pair.  As luck would have it, they are silly and striped!  They were so long ... they went all the way up past his knees!  Too cute!

2011-02-17

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/200s, white balance auto

We went out to enjoy this spring-like 60+ degree day a little and Keira asked me if I wanted to do a mini photo shoot with her.  Of course I said yes!

2011-02-16

ISO 400, f/10, 1/4000s, white balance custom

After dropping Alex off at Preschool, instead of going to the gym this morning, I met my friend Laura at Panera.  We had a great kid-free couple of hours.  Looking forward to doing it again.  Soon!  :)

Laura writes over at Life Happens, Girl Talk, and she started her own Project 365 blog this year.  Go check her out!

2011-02-15

ISO 400, f/10, 1/200s, white balance custom

I went out to start my car this morning in order to take my daughter to school early for chorus practice and this is what my windshield looked like.  A lovely layer of frost.  I ran back inside to get my camera while my kids and husband shook their heads and chuckled.  Okay, so maybe I'm just a bit obsessed.  :)

Of course, the frost didn't seem so lovely when we went to leave and it hadn't melted yet so I had to scrape.  I hate to scrape.  :)

2011-02-14

ISO 400, f/10.0, 1/4s, white balance custom

Of course, I had to post something Valentiney today.  This is Alex's filled-up treat box from his Preschool party this morning.  I suspect he had a great deal of help putting it together.  :)

2011-02-13

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/25s, white balance auto

The boys bought their car kits today at church.  This ordinary-looking block of wood, axles, and wheels will soon be transformed into a super-cool race car that Alex plans to race in the upcoming Wood-U-Race at our church in March.  Daddy needs to help him, of course.  In a few weeks, I will post the finished product.

Week 6 Summary

Another week has passed already?!  The sun is shining and it is a beautiful day!  Here's the summary of my week in pictures:

6 - Nick with his game face on ... gearing up for the Super Bowl.  Unfortunately our beloved Pittsburgh Steelers lost the game, but Green Bay played a great game and certainly deserved to win.

7 - Daddy and Alex built a Lego tunnel for Alex's Polar Express train.

8 - Keira's basketball. 

9 - I just love watching the birds, like this Cardinal, hanging out in our yard.  So glad I bought a new feeder this year.

10 - Time to put away the snowflake ornament.  We've had enough cold and snow!

11 - Alex, my preschooler, writing his name on Valentine's cards to give to his classmates on Monday.

12 - Where we've been spending our Saturday mornings lately for soccer games.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Hooking up with:

  

2011-02-12

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/640s, white balance auto

Where we spend our Saturday mornings for soccer games (for now).  And where I spend several mornings each week exercising.  Our local YMCA has become an important part of our lives.

2011-02-11

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/25s, white balance auto

We finally got out of the house today, so we stopped and bought some Valentine's Day cards for the kids.  And we found them at the Dollar Store!  Love that I didn't have to spend very much money on cards that are just going to get thrown away.  :)  Alex was writing his own name on his.  He writes big so he had a hard time fitting all 4 letters on the cards.  :)

2011-02-10

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1600s, white balance auto

Nicholas bought this snowflake ornament at his school's Santa Shop this past December.  We still have it hanging in our living room.  But I think we've had enough cold and snow so it is time to put it away.  :)  

(SKC Photography's Textured Blues texture added twice, then opacity lowered to about 55% on each layer).

2011-02-09

ISO 200, f/9.0, 1/250s, white balance auto

Two sick boys and frigid temperatures kept us at home today.  The closest I got to going outside was to let the dog in and out.  :)  So I apologize for another cardinal picture, but this is as good as it gets today.

2011-02-08

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/10s, white balance auto

Keira doesn't have a basketball game tonight, but I photographed her basketball anyway.

2011-02-07

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/3s, white balance auto

I have a house full of sick kids today and it was raining and is now snowing.  Inspiration is hard to come by.  So I thought I'd photograph the Lego block tunnel that Daddy and Alex built for Alex's Polar Express train before it got destroyed.  That is a Transformers communicator keeping guard, I guess.  :)  Please excuse the fact that the boys' room needs vacuumed.  It is hard to vacuum when there is a train track taking up most of the floor.  :)

2011-02-06

ISO 400, f5.6, 1/15s, white balance auto

As you probably know, today is Super Bowl Sunday.  And we are life-long Steelers fans, so we are so excited that they made the Super Bowl again!  As we are getting ready for the game, I asked Nick if he would pose for me today.  This is him showing me his "game face".  He cracks me up!

GO STEELERS!!!

Week 5 Summary

I just realized that I forgot to add dates to each photo, so here's the rundown on this week starting at top left:

• Top left:  My daughter's bracelet that I found in the washing machine.  I don't check pockets and apparently she forgot to check hers.  :)
• Top middle: Some blackbirds perched in my neighbor's tree - after filling their bellies at our feeder.
• Top right: A branch covered in ice after an ice storm moved through overnight and cancelled school for the day.  More icy pictures can be found at My Perspective if you are interested.
• Middle row right: We had a tiny peek of sunshine in the morning.
• Bottom left: Alex is so proud after he puts together a puzzle.  He's not always so happy to pose for me though, so I'm very pleased with this one.
• Bottom middle: One of my carousel horses with the sun setting behind it.  To see another version of this (with the blending mode set differently), go to my Flikr page.
• Bottom right: A scrapbook I made a few years back that needs photos added.  I plan to do that soon.  Really.

Hooking up with:

Looking forward to seeing how everyone else's week 5 went!  Have a great weekend!  We will be glued to our TV's tomorrow watching our Steelers play the Packers in Super Bowl XLV!
GO STEELERS!

2011-02-05

ISO 400, f5.6, 1/20s, white balance fluorescent +1

{sigh} Saturdays seem to be my hardest day inspiration-wise.  Especially gray, rainy days like today.  We went to Alex's soccer game in the morning, then came home to just chill for the rest of the day.  And I don't want to post a picture of Alex playing soccer every Saturday.  :)  Plus four out of the five of us seem to be coming down with colds (myself included).  Ick.  Homemade chicken noodle soup has been started.

So I searched and played and finally decided on this scrapbook album.  I made it several years ago in a class at my local scrapbook store and have yet to add pictures to it.  Now that I have more pictures of Doug and myself together, I am going to fill it.  I am.  I promise.  :)

2011-02-04

ISO 400, f5.6, 1/250s, white balance custom (from earlier in the day - I forgot to change it for this photo, but I don't think it matters)

We had a much-needed beautiful, sunshiny day today.  A little above freezing, which helped to melt all the ice that has become my driveway.  However, Alex wasn't feeling well today so we stayed home.  Which left me searching for something to photograph.  The sunset was gorgeous, but I didn't want to show just another sunset.  Instead I put one of my carousel horses in my window and played around with getting a different shot.  I cleaned my window inside and out but you can see a little streaking, so I added the Lightly Worn texture from SKC Photography (her textures are FREE by the way - thanks Sharon!) and set the blending mode (?) to soft light.  It helped a little.

I also played around with different blending modes to see what they looked like.  Go here to see what this same photo looks like with the mode set to Difference.  Very cool!  Since I only like to post one photo a day, I resisted the urge to post it here also.  :)

2011-02-03

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/15s (not sure why so slow except for maybe the fact that the light was behind him?), white balance auto

Alex asked me if I would help him with his Toy Story 3 puzzles today.  Of course, I said yes!  I love puzzles!  And I love spending time with my little guy.  He gets better each time he puts them together (there are 3 different ones, although only one is pictured).  And he always has to put in the last piece.  I wonder where he gets his competitiveness from?  :)

2011-02-02

ISO 400, f6.3, 1/4000s, white balance auto

After such a miserable, dreary day yesterday, we had a tiny bit of sunshine first thing this morning.  Then right back to cloudy.  The sun did peek out here and there, but not for long.  We also went from 39 balmy degrees this morning to 25 now and an expected low of 14 tonight.  Here's hoping that groundhog is right this year and spring will arrive early.  :)

2011-02-01

ISO 400, f/11, 1/100s, white balance cloudy

The kids didn't have school today because of an ice storm we had overnight.  I was determined to find some beauty in the midst of this yucky weather, and I did.  Everything is covered in a thick layer of ice.  If you'd like to see more icy pictures, check out my other blog, My Perspective.