Orange?

Today's daily shoot assignment is "Make a photograph dominated by the color orange today." Well, I have to say that today was absolutely crazy, and I didn't take a single photo. I was going through my photos to see if I had anything that was dominated by the color orange, and my son and I found this one. He is wearing his favorite orange sweatshirt. My son said I needed to use this one because he was being crazy. That's my boy!

Keys

Today's daily shoot assignment is "Make a photograph that features metal or a metallic surface today." Yes, this new fancy keyboard is metallic, but I was also working on blurring the foreground of the photo. This keyboard looks all nice and shiny because it is new. I wonder how it will look in a few weeks...

Soup for you

Today's daily shoot assignment is "Make a photograph that illustrates being inside today." I was inside today, making a meal for my family, and one for another. One of my friends at work is going through some health challenges right now, but she has returned to work after a few weeks off. I made her a meal of homemade soup that she can take home with her after school tomorrow and warm up and feed to her family. I hope this simple meal will help her relax and rest after a long day at work.

Another chapter...

It's official. The little man is a reader. He is bringing home and breezing right through easy chapter books. He has caught the reading bug! I couldn't be prouder as he joins his sister and I in the ranks of avid readers in the house. I can't wait to see how many books he reads this summer...

Purple Sunday

March 26 of each year is Purple Day for Epilepsy Awareness. This is a special day for both my daughter and I because a dear friend of ours has Epilepsy. Every year we dress in purple to support her and all the other amazing people out there who have epilepsy. This year my daughter declared the entire weekend "Purple Weekend" in support of our friend. Not only did we wear some purple on Saturday, but we were decked out in as much as we could find on Sunday as well. My daughter had everything purple - right down to her earrings and socks.
Next year we would like you to join us in support of Purple Day.

New Kicks

Well, it was time. Time to go buy new sneakers for the boy. It seems like we do that very often - he tends to be much harder on shoes than his sister....but that is part of being an active boy! We took him to the store and he picked out these cool new kicks. Hopefully you will see him in these shoes for a long time.

Happy Birthday!

Today our baby girl turned 10 years old. Double digits. The decade club. It seems like just yesterday we were holding this precious gift in our arms. Where did the time go?

For her birthday she invited her one best friend and asked to go paint pottery. She decided on making a piggy bank - and she decorated it with yellow, orange, and pink. That is one bright and happy little piggy! We are looking forward to seeing how it looks after being fired in the kiln. After painting we ate out at a pizza joint and came home for a birthday cake.

Happy Birthday, sweetie. We love you.

Get out and play

Today the sun was out, but it was still chilly. After being stuck inside yesterday the little man just had to get out. He decided to dig out the wiffle bat, and he was using it as some sort of ninja sword for some imaginary game he had going on. He stopped for a brief second and I was able to snap this photo of one little boy who was happy to be outside.

Morning Music

The music teacher at the school where I work has a great thing going on. On Wednesday mornings college music education majors from a nearby university come to our school before the school day begins and tutor our beginner band students. They are split up into small groups all around the building. I host two flute players in my classroom. It is nice to be serenaded in the morning.

Temperature Tuesday

As I was cleaning up things today I came across this lovely thermometer on our kitchen island. Unfortunately we have used it too frequently this winter. I would like spring to arrive so we can put this little object away for a while.

Shoe laces

Shoelaces. The bane of a six year old's existence. Yep, those strings that never seem to stay tied. Or they get caught in a knot that you can't undo. And your fingers just aren't strong enough to tie them tightly so the knot will stay put. Yep, those shoelaces are nothing but trouble.

Blast off!

Today the sun was out again, so the kids had some fun playing outside together. They had a good time challenging each other to rocket launches. They stood at the end of the driveway and stomped on the rocket launcher. Then they marked how far the rocket flew with a chalk mark. What did the winner get? The opportunity to go first for the next challenge!

Celebration Saturday

Today we went to my parent's house to celebrate my father's birthday and my daughter's birthday. As my daughter astutely pointed out the day was perfect because it was 6 days after my father's birthday and 6 days before hers. We had fun hanging out with my sister and her family, sharing dinner and ice cream cake, and opening presents.

Friday Magic

Today all of my husbands family was in town. We had them all over to our house to celebrate our daughter's birthday a week early. We had a great dinner together and shared a birthday cake. Our daughter was happy to receive a magical gift card for a birthday gift. She will put that one to good use!

Take a shot

Today was the second day of practice for our daughter. Lucky for us, it was a little bit warmer than on Tuesday! Today they had a fun practice, with lots of drills working on shooting and passing. She is very happy to be back out on the field. Take your best shot, girl!

Tricky

Today the little guy brought home this writing project from school. March 2 is Dr. Seuss' birthday, and kids in schools all celebrate Read Across America on this day. Teachers usually have kids read Dr. Seuss books and do activities related to the author and his book. Our son's class did this writing assignment. He wants the cat - that fun loving, mischievous cat - to teach him his tricks. That could be a lot of fun, and a bit messy. Every little boy's dream.

Tuesday, Tuesday

Today brought the return of outdoor soccer for our daughter. She had her first practice tonight with her team. It was a cold one, so everyone was bundled up in jackets and gloves. Our son wasn't very happy at first to have to go along. But once he realized his buddy was there, he was really happy. The boys got a ball and started playing against each other while the girls team practiced on the field. Happiness abounds.

Monday, Monday

Today the little man went back to school. Because he was sick on Thursday last week, he missed the spring pictures - and the opportunity to show off his new outfit he picked out just for the occasion. He wore his new threads to school today. When we got home he posed for his own spring pictures, in our back yard.

A Milestone

Today our son celebrated his first communion at our church. Last week he attended a communion awareness class and learned all about the sacrament. At that class he made the first communion box and was given the small wooden chalice as he took part in a small communion service in the chapel with the other children and their parents. Today he was recognized at the late service and took his first communion in the sanctuary. We are proud of you, bud!

Sports Equipment Saturday

Spring sports season is right around the corner. Our daughter is getting back into the swing of soccer after a few seasons off. She needed new equipment, so off to the soccer corner we went. Shorts, shin guards, socks and cleats... everything she needed to be outfitted for the season. Now we need to figure out what the boy needs for baseball....

Random Collection

On Friday it was time to clean and disinfect the place to try and keep everyone else from getting the nasty virus. As I was changing the sheets on the boy's bed, I was struck by the collection of items he had on top of his dresser. Quite a collection of important items to the little guy. Toys, models, pictures, and sports photos and items. Happiness and memories.

Rainy Thursday

Thursday brought us rain, and the little boy got sick. As he slept off the flu-type virus, I watched the rain fall outside our window. This little bird sat perched on the deck railing in the pouring rain. As nice as it was to watch, I was happy to be inside taking care of the little guy, and not in the rain with the bird.

New Threads

Tomorrow is spring picture day for the kids. The past few days we have been discussing what they would like to wear for this event. We tried on a few choices, only to find that the kids have grown quite a bit this winter! Today we took an impromptu trip to the mall to find something new to wear for the photo. The kids had fun looking at all of the warm weather wear. Unfortunately for us it isn't very warm here yet! We had to find a compromise - what they liked, and what would still be warm enough for the weather. I think they made some good choices.

Imagination

Our son loves Legos. He loves building things, tearing them apart, destroying them, and doing it all over again. He has a few specific sets, but I am happy to say that he doesn't always keep the items put together in the way the Lego executives had intended. He mixes it up. The best part is watching him build and act out scenarios with his creations. Imagination - nothing better.

Delivery

There is always something exciting about finding a package on the porch. What is inside it? Did someone send me something special? Is it that special item I have been waiting for? Wait...did I order something?
Yep, a brown cardboard box on the front porch is definitely a great thing. Just make sure it is addressed to you and on your porch before you open it.

Smile!

Today's daily shoot assignment is, "Make a photograph of a smile today." So why is this girl smiling? She is smiling because you are looking at the girl who can do a back handspring all by herself on the floor of the gym! No mats. No coach. By herself! Her hard work and determination have paid off. Now she wants to work on connecting the handspring with round-offs, and with a few handsprings in a row. She is already setting a new goal for herself.  Now that is something to smile about!

Amusing

The daily shoot assignment was, "Make a photograph of something that you find amusing today." Our daughter loves to do Mad Libs. When we were at Borders earlier today, she found this Mega Mad Libs book in the bargain section. She had to have it. Once we got home, she got started right away. She loves asking us for various words, and then she reads the hilarious results to the family. The best part is when she laughs so hard she can't finish reading the mad lib. Good fun, and very amusing.

Strawberries

A favorite fruit in our house is the juicy strawberry. Our son loves strawberries. I can fill a bowl with sliced strawberries, and he can devour them in a short period of time. If you want one, you better get it quickly, or you might not get it at all!

Kids

Today I had another photography lesson. We focused on portraits: composition,  blurring backgrounds, shooting with the sun in your face, shooting with the sun at your back...how to make them look good and be interesting and pleasing to the eye. My kids were great sports and worked as models for me today. Here are two photos that turned out fairly well.

After school

As I was leaving school today I realized I forgot a few items, so I went back to the room to retrieve them. I was taken by the way the sun was shining in the window in the darkened classroom. I grabbed the camera and played with the manual settings to try and capture the beauty of the sunlight breaking through the shadows.

Berries

I was walking around outside the house today just checking things out. I noticed that our holly bushes still are covered with a ton of berries. I grabbed my camera and experimented some more with the macro setting. I still have a lot to learn.