Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Page by page...

I am grateful for Anna.

Henry had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's today, so I had Anna all to myself. Our evening together reminded me that sometimes I need to just slow down and "be" with my kids, one on one. Especially Anna. She doesn't get that time very often. But it really is a gift to both of us.

Tonight, Anna and I went for a walk and collected rocks and ate popsicles and held hands. And we talked about grasshoppers and the park and her friend Emily and the moon. She is amazing. She is smart and sassy and so full of life.

And she is getting so big. She has these long, powerful, mid-summer tanned legs, dotted with waterpaint splatters and part of a leftover frog tattoo and little kid shin bruises because sometimes when she runs, her top half gets ahead of her bottom half . . . . And she still has crazy curly wisps of hair.

In a blink, she goes from jumping on the bed and nearly diving off the side, to snuggling up close to me with her nuks, asking to read a book. But regardless of mood, she always has a little glint in her eye that keeps everyone guessing about what she might say or do next.

Right before bed, Anna wanted to read a book all by herself. So she read "Yummy Yucky" (by Leslie Patricelli) but she read it the "silly" way. She read that "Spaghetti is yucky and worms are yummy. Burgers are yucky and boogers are yummy." Page by page, she swapped the words. And page by page, she laughed . . . a big, three-year-old belly laugh. A laugh that says "I-am-the-funniest-kid-ever." A laugh that I'll remember, because it made for a perfect moment. Together. One on one. Page by page.

For Anna, every day - - every minute is a wild adventure of new and bright and beautiful. Life is passing by quickly and she doesn't want to miss any of it.

Neither do I.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

A gift...

Today, I asked Grandpa Pexa if I could take some photos of him. He said of course. He said he would do anything for me. I believe him.







Monday, June 21, 2010

Ham it up...

Guess which kid is the ham of the family, and which kid I have to bribe for even the quickest shot?? (hint: the ham is the family drama queen, too!)



Friday, June 18, 2010

Tripod...

We has a pretty amazing storm come through last night about 8 p.m. The sky seemed to change color every ten minutes. It was quite dramatic. I must admit a little scary too.

It was almost dark when the downpour ended, so I pulled out my tripod, slowed down the shutter speed and got these shots. I had never used the tripod with my camera before. I know -- using a tripod seems like a pretty simple thing to do, but for me, it was kind of novel.

I guess everything is novel when you're an amateur. And I guess that's okay. At least for now.







Sunday, June 13, 2010

Cousins...

Henry and his cousin T.J. spent the day together today.

I found out the key to getting my kids to agree to have their pictures taken: have them pose with a cousin/friend. The boys were all ready to ham it up for the camera together. T.J. tried to make Henry laugh by sticking his fingers in his nose. Henry tried to make T.J. laugh by making sounds that only a post-kindergartener could appreciate. Yup, they are six years old!!

Not only do these pictures represent another installment of "practice and post," but I also did a little editing with the curves tool for the first time. Wow, that is quite useful!!

















Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Practice and post...

It is late. I should be in bed. I have a very early morning. (alarm set for 4:00 a.m.) But, I need to start. To take action. To start doing, rather than just circling all of these thoughts in my head. Kelly Rae's course is really challenging me, in a fabulous and inspiring sort of way. If I really want to learn to take great pictures, I need to do two things regularly: practice and post. That's it. Practice taking pictures everyday. And then posting them to my blog. Even if they aren't great pictures, and if no one in the world sees my blog, I still know that the action of posting is critical. I am putting myself out there. I need to put myself out there. Posting also forces me to learn and expand my creative horizons. Obviously, if I make posting a priority, I will want to post something that I like. Something I am proud of. So, my pictures will improve.

Practice and post. Practice and post. I know that I always make such a big deal about things. Make things more complicated that they need to be. Wait for perfection. For the perfect time to write and take pictures. But, if I make "enough time" my stop-gate, I will never do anything. God knows, I'll never have enough time. I just need to take what time I do have and make something out of it. Something meaningful. Intention demands attention.

So, here I am. Up and out of bed . . . .

Earlier today, I practiced a bit, taking a couple shots before Henry was off to his last day of kindergarten. And now, I'll post. Nothing too earth shattering, but I like them.

And then again, maybe this is earth shattering . . . . !!






Friday, June 4, 2010

Big step . .

I'm so excited! I'm taking this course:

BWS tips button

A really big step in the right direction.