Would you like to see our Christmas card this year?  On a total whim, I grabbed the three kids, plopped them in front of the Christmas tree and started snapping away secretly thinking in the back of my head that if I got anything good, I’d use it for the card.  Take a look at it.  It’s obviously just a whim with NO preplanning!  One kid is in his PJs, one in a dress with a cute bow on her head and the other is wearing sweatpants!  Can you get anymore unmatched than that?  I wasn’t going for some spectacular portrait or anything.  I just wanted everyone smiling at me.  As is usually the case… it didn’t work out that way.  When I pulled them up on the screen I laughed out loud.  I decided I HAD to use these for the sake of every parent at home who has attempted the forsaken home portrait for the card session.  Here ya go.  This is my reality.

We finally got rain here in Virginia.  As with most places, we really need it.  That also means there was finally an excuse to wear those new rain boots I mentioned a few weeks back.  The boys were inside while my daughter and I went out to wait for the school bus.  So, the project isn’t complete but this is the best I’ve come up with so far to photograph our cute rain boots.

1/60, F 5.6, ISO 400

The splatters in this next one amuse me for some reason.  I wish the actual boots weren’t so blown out.  Perhaps I’ll play with the picture a bit and see if I can make it more than it was right out of the camera.

1/40, F 5.6, ISO 400

I usually like things like this better in color but I think this is a case where black and white may be the way to print.

Somehow the blow-out-factor is diminished in black and white to my eye.

On Wednesday, my husband and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary.  One of our favorite things to do together is have fondue.  Given that our anniversary fell on a weekday we elected to stay home and have our date in our kitchen.  I made my swiss cheese fondue that we both enjoy so much and cracked open a bottle of wine.

YUM!  50mm lens, F1.8, 1/15, ISO 100  I probably should have changed the ISO but I forgot about it.  I wanted to eat! 

Naturally, the dog tried the puppy dog eyes to see if she could have some too.

Didn’t work on me, so she tried it on the hubby…

Didn’t work on him either.  Finally, at the end of the meal, I did break down and give her some of the bread.  Offered her an apple and she turned her nose up at it.  Picky little pooch. 

Last week my husband was sick and he had a major work load in the office to contend with.  Like us mothers, he didn’t have the luxury to staying in bed.  Needless to say, he was a bit of a grump.  On Sunday morning when he was beginning to feel better, I was teasing him about how much *fun* he was to live with.  Then I went off to church to volunteer in the nursery.  My eldest and youngest went to church with me while the middle child went "adventuring" with Daddy.  "Adventuring" = our code for him taking one child with him for Daddy time while he runs errands.  When I came home from church I found a dozen pink roses waiting for me.  While out, he and my son stopped off to buy me flowers and he let my son pick the flowers for me.  He picked pink roses, "because you like pink, Mommy."  Isn’t that cute?  It made me happy. 

F2, ISO 100, 1/60

Here is what I love about this image… I love that I got to use my 50mm lens.  I love that the DOF has the flowers in focus and the boy who picked them for his Daddy blurred in the background.  Yet…  I think I’ll play with it just a touch.

Here is what I came up with.

A little more vibrant, eh?  Too much?  Too blue?  What do you think?

My children have a habit of waking up at an ungodly hour each day – typically before dawn.  Doesn’t matter when I put them to bed, they still get up at the same time.  My children are old enough now to occupy themselves by playing quietly in their rooms or the playroom for a little while too.  We even set the channel to a kids channel so all they have to do is turn on the TV and they can watch one of their shows.  They don’t like to do that though.  They usually come and wake us up for mundane, ridiculous reasons. 

• "Mommy, my Leapster isn’t working."
• "Mommy, Sissy called me stupid."
• "Mommy, where is my Magna Doodle?"

You get the picture.  My husband threatened them yesterday that they needed to be more considerate of Mommy or he was going to drive the point home and they’d have to eat mushrooms for breakfast the next time they forgot.  This morning, they came in repeatedly with the same minor issues so my husband made good on his promise.  They were served mushrooms and milk for breakfast. 

Isn’t that disgusting?!  My daughter actually ate it all!  My son ate some too.  This is what was left in his bowl by the time I entered the kitchen. 

My husband was surprised that they ate any of it.  I was shocked they didn’t throw it back up! 

I wonder what tomorrow morning holds at my house…  Hopefully, sleep until a decent hour.

I am volunteering in the nursery at my church this week for Vacation Bible School.  While I’m there, I’m taking pictures for the Sunday morning slide show to share with the congregation.  I also plan to give each parent of the children in my class a cd at the end of the week to show them what their sweet babies have been doing.  Here are a few of my favorites so far.

1/50, f 5.6, 1600 ISO

This is sweet baby D. reaching for me when he woke up from his morning nap.  And here is a shot of the tear on his cheek when he thought I was leaving the room.  He is quite attached to me and I’m totally flattered!

1/100, f 6.3, 1600 ISO

Next we have baby J.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen eye lashes so long and I don’t think I’ve ever been so charmed by drool!

1/60, f 5.6, 1600 ISO

And last but not least, we have baby N. at only 5 weeks old.  This little one is so charming and snuggly that I almost want another child… almost.

1/80, f 6.3, 1600 ISO

All of these are ROOC with no editing.  Thanks for looking!

Yesterday I spent 12 hours driving to and from my in-laws house so that my children could spend a few days with Grandma and Grandpa.  And, let’s be real, so I could have a few days off.  When I got up today, this is what I did…

(Yeah, that took 10 frames to time right and coordinate with the timer.  The things I do for your entertainment…)  Let’s call that my self portrait for the month.

Then I decided it was time to tackle the mounds of out-grown children’s clothes that have been hiding in my house.  First, I packed up 3 bags and 2 boxes of stuff to take to the Thrift store on my way to grab some lunch.  Then I came and tackled some more.

Each box has a size of baby boy clothes in it that I’m holding for two of my neighbors who I think might like to use them.  Whatever they don’t want is leaving my house to the Thrift store too.  It’ll be nice to have the space back but I have to tell you… holding each outfit that my boys wore and deciding where it goes is painful.  Sniff, sniff. 

To sooth my inner Mommy pain, my next task is to study my Photoshop book and see if I can learn something about this while my house is quiet.  Remember when I said I might be knee deep in Photoshop?  Drowning in it is a more accurate term.  To call the program overwhelming is an understatement.  It is not intuitive at all.  You MUST get a book in order to use the program.

That’s where I’ll be.  Yep.  Reading about how to edit a picture.  I lead and exciting life, don’t I? 

Now that is Pirate Gangsta ‘tude, People!  And with Thomas the Tank Engine shades, no less.