58 of 365

Caught in the Act

So I think Tim's done having his photo taken

the new lens

So I'm not sure how I feel about this lens yet. I think I set my standards way high... because its not performing the way I would like it to. But I think it has more to do with user error then it does the actual lens. I do have to say, when I hit the focus, the lens performs amazingly!! Tim was not smart in standing right next to me as I opened the lens up and put it on my camera. Sorry babe, that's what happens!

Claire was just fine being a guinea pig.

Some more from outside

Alright, so some more from the day I got the timer. But taken without the timer. I was just enjoying watching Claire run around outside like she was enjoying herself for the first time. Before this day, when we'd take her outside and set her down, she'd just stand and not move. Then Tim or I would drag her by her arm all over the driveway. I'm sure our neighbors (who wouldn't know that she all out sprints in the house) were thinking we were just torchering her. But thats in the past - she's loving outside now!

When Olivia got up, it was clear she was not feeling right. So no great photos of her that day.

And just for fun..........

TOO CLOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the new toys

So I got myself three new toys this week. It's actually the first time I've bought anything for my camera since getting the camera. Exciting stuff!

The first thing to come was the remote to the camera. In the past, if I wanted to take a photo with myself in it, I had to set the camera up, set the 10 second timer on it, run to the spot where the camera was focused on, and look pretty until the camera clicked the photo. Then if I wanted to take another photo, I had to go through that whole process again. It's hard to keep looking pretty. The remote makes it so I can just set off the shutter wherever I am. Very cool.

This is the first photo I took with the remote. Not cropped. I really can be dense.

Then I discovered that the remote is not perfect. It does not set off the shutter every time I hit the button. Sometimes it takes quite a few times at pressing the button before the shutter goes. But like I said, I didn't know that at first.

And then during all this trial and error, Claire ran to me. She woke up before Olivia, and since it was nice out, rather then wake Olivia up with her, I just let Claire run around up front. Of course me being me, I kept hitting the button on the remote while she ran up to me. I've always known I tend to act a fool around my kids, but it's hilarious to see it caught on film. My goodness I have a big smile LOL!

so many photos!!

Man, I uploaded 87 photos today onto the computer! *phew* That's a lot of editting! I love it :)

54. Got that cocoon done! Not the best of pictures of it, but photographing this babydoll was creeping me out (plus Olivia kept coming up and taking her away from me)

55. Ahh lifesaving Advair. I accidentally about let my prescription run out. Bad news, because I really really really need it.
56. Bored waiting for them to wake up. Another Wednesday where the girls slept for an hour in the car. At least the weather was nice, so I took photos in the front yard.

57. Oooo that new lense is kinda cool. I got a new lense, and... I'm iffy on it. I'm going to use the heck out of it the next couple of days, and decide whether theres just a learning curve, or I don't really like it. But when I land the focus, man it takes a great photo. More photos from it to come!

Baby A

So Baby A is my parents newest next door neighbor. And she is adorable!! I'm beyond jealous of her hair (my babies were all baldies) and she was so sleepy! She let me move her all over the place, and would just fall right back to sleep! Thanks Mickey for letting me practice on her!!!

that old little chair

So more with that little old chair. For the record, I love the decor of my parents living room - it is so nice! Like out of a catalog! By sheer chance, I had dressed Olivia that day in an outfit that coordinated with the room. Go me!

Now, I explained to Karens neighbor Mickey (who's baby I'll be posting photos of next) that Olivia photographs one of three ways.

One: perfectly fine. For me, these times are when she ignores the camera completely. I lean towards a candid style of portraits, and acting like the camera isn't there is the best way to get those.

Two: TERRIBLY! This is when she totally acts like she's two and half. Lots of "NOOOO!" or "NO WAY!!!" Lots of flailing, and throwing ones self on the floor. Typically I get nothing out of those shoots.

or Three: Cheesy! Olivia sees the camera, comes running too close to the lense, and yells "CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!!!" I usually am not a fan of these pictures. But, when she's in that mode, it's easy to get her giggling, and those giggly photos look more natural.

Luckily, eventually Olivia pulled into a number three, and her and Haley posed with the chair.

Such a big girl

Looking a little sassy when Baby Claire runs into frame with the remote
Haley, ever the poser

Two lovely ladies together

Olivia looks uncomfortable, but she loves her aunt to death!

52 & 53

We don't get Chinese food very often, but when we do, we somehow manage to spend over $30 every time. Which makes for lots of leftovers. Luckily, all the leftovers are gone within 2 days.

And I made my weekend treck to my parents house on Sunday. Their neighbor came over with her new baby (EE!!) so I took some great shots of her. Karen wanted me to try to get a shot of Olivia on this rocker. I know it was Karens when she was little, and I think (I'm probably messing this up) that is was also her moms when she was little. I could be making that up - but its definetly an old chair (I'm always concerned it will break when kids sit on it - very creaky that thing.) So for day 53, I took a shot of it just by itself.

I had a great photography Sunday, so I have a couple more posts to follow!

Just your typical Friday (or Wednesday really)

Every Wednesday and Friday, the girls go with Grandma over to their cousins house. It's a great time for them... gets them out of the house, and interacting with other small people. The only downside is they tend to fall asleep in the car. Lately I've been dealing with the issue of "Do I wake them, or let them sleep?"

On one hand, if I wake them, there's no guarentee they'll nap again. They'll be cranky due to lack of sleep, and stay cranky for a long portion of the day.

On the other hand, if I let them sleep, I have to hover over the car until they wake up. Sometimes over an hour later.

Lately I've been letting them sleep. I'd rather them be less cranky later, then deal with the wraths of those two. Plus it makes for cute photos!!

I don't even remember how I got him

I have a lot of stuff (my basement is proof enough of that.) I used to have a lot more brick-a-brack then I do now... I went through a strong weeding out a couple of seasons ago... I figured with two small kids, having a lot of pretty breakable things that did little else then be pretty was a little silly.

But this buhemouth of a frog still remains

He sits on top of my microwave in the kitchen. And he's big for a brick-a-brack item. I don't know what he's supposed to really do, (his purpose if you will) but for some reason I like him. And he oddly matches the kitchen. And he's high enough that tiny hands can't reach him. Perfect brick-a-brack item ever!

Lets call it like it is

Exhaustion is not doing me any favors here. I can't wait for next week when I get moved to a later schedule at work, and have the ability of adding 3 hours of sleep to my schedule. It will be worth staying a little later.

almost missed another one

I realized at work that I hadn't taken a photo for Tuesday.

I hate Tuesdays... because over the weekend I go back to sleeping on a 'normal' schedule. Which means that come Monday, I'm not tired at 3pm, when I really need to go to sleep.

Yesterday, I had had about 3 hours of sleep before heading into work. I worked my shift, went and worked out, went to my mothers, fed my kids, got them down for naps, and about died of exhaustion by the time Tim got home. I told myself before I went to sleep that I'd take a photo when I got up. Got up, watched Biggest Loser with a bowl of cereal, and headed out to work.

Luckily, I got all bummed at work, and Adam asked what was with me. I whined that I forgot yet another photo, and he said, "It's not midnight yet - take a photo with your camera phone." Now I don't have a camera phone... but our clerk does!! Quick crash course, and here's our green belt. I intentionally made the photo look even worse in photoshop (because really, there's no saving a camera phone photo) but I'll take it!!

fifty four... plus a blanket

I'd been thinking about cataloging Olivia's crib toys for a few weeks now. After seeing the photo of her in her crib looking desperately for Mickey Mouse, I figured it was time. So the photos aren't all that great in terms of composition, but they do fully document just how many (54 to be exact) things there are in her crib.

Misc items

Kitty, Ingo, Lily the frog, Pink Mouse, Elfant, Elfant, Elfant (really Eeore, but she calls him elephant) Bear, Doggie, Doggie, Pony, Tinger, Pantsa, Doggie, Truck, and this weird square thing that she stole from Claire... she doesn't call it anything. All on her towel (its a blanket.. go figure she calls it a towel)

Current tally: 16

Dora and Blue

Big Dora, Little Dora, Big Bwu, Bwu, and Bwu.

Current tally: 21

Babies

Baybee, Baybee, Baybee, and Baybee

Current tally: 25

Backyardigans

Tasha, Tyronnnnn, Pabwo, Eeequa, aStin, (the ones laying down are 'bad' ones... she rejects them frequently) Tasha, Pabwo, Tyronnnnn

Current tally: 33

Yo Gabba Gabba

Foofa, Pwex, Brobeee, Brobeee, Uno, Tooootie

Current tally: 39

Other toys on TV

Monster, Eenie pig, Pinky, Tyler, Ikmin (purple pikmin... from a video game) and Wubsey

Current tally: 45

Platypus

(from bottom) Sessy Pus, Gween Pus, Pupol Pus, Sessy Pus, and Sessy Pus

Current Tally: 50

And finally

Mickey Mouse

(she was watching "Meemee Mouse Schoolhouse" when I took this, which is why they're not in her room)

Innie, Meemee Mouse, Innie, and Meemee Mouse

Final score: 54 plus a blanket

That. Is insane!

Happy Valentines Day... late...

Well I'm ditching the white outlines on my photos on the blog. I loved it, don't get me wrong, but without them the photos can be larger, and therefore easier to see. And really, its more about the photos then about the borders, right?

Catching up on the 365 we have...

Where's Meemee Mouse!?!?!?!?!?!

I don't know Olivia... maybe under the twelve thousand toys you have in there

It gets wiped away

Olivia had drawn a pretty good person/animal/cartoon on the magna doodle. It was the first almost anatomically correct thing she'd ever drawn that I had witness (and I mean the thing had arms and legs and eyes and nose... get your mind out of the gutter!) So I ran to get my camera, and Olivia chased after me... but not before erasing what she drew. Claire was drawing this when I got back.

I thought the card was pretty

I love Tim. He's simple. I love simple. I need simple, and he always delivers. *smooches*

Big girls brush their hair

I knew styling Olivia's hair would be a battle. She's full of will, I tell you! I bought tiny barrettes specifically for Claires hair, because she's rocking one heck of a mullet. The barrette helps hide that a bit. I decided to try to put one in Olivia's hair as well. Uggg... she smiling here, but that was after an hour of her pulling it out and me putting it back. Ideally, I'd have her wear it always - her hair is getting in her eyes, and it bugs me.

The MLP Photohunt

Well I took the time to take all of the photos, and I'm pleased with how they came out. So I'm showing them off... regardless of the fact that there are My Little Ponies in the photos LOL! I'll post the steps so you know why I took each photo.

Step 1: Ponies at work/school. Let's see those ponies doing your job for you!

I can't bring a camera to my real job, so I went with my second job. I submitted two pictures, because I wasn't sure if I could include a photo with myself in it.

Step 2: Ponies at the playground. Your photo must include at least 1 adult and 1 baby.

There's the horse! Its cool, right!

Step 3: Ponies and food. Are they in the freezer? Or cooking? Maybe raiding the cookie jar? We'll see - as long as their symbol is food related.

This ponies symbol is popcorn... so she's going after the popcorn. Yeah, I'm that witty.

Step 4: Ponies and the mail! Lets see those G3's climbing a mailbox.

G3 refers to the generation of pony. There are three generations - the third being the generation out now. I primarily collect the first and second generation, but there a few G3's that I really like.

Step 5: Ponies go shopping. Are they window shoppers? Or maybe they like to ride in the cart!

It's steps like this that show who's playing for fun and who's playing for real. I have no shame in walking into Walmart with a camera and a pony, and taking my time setting up a photo. Last year there was a step where I had to set ponies in produce... waaaay more in the open then the card isle. Easy peasy man!

Step 6: Ponies on fire duty! I want to see your ponies on a fire hydrant or fire extinguisher!

I have a hydrant right out front of my house, but the surroundings are pretty ugly (ie: the bad neighbors house/car.) I wanted a simple plain background - so I actually went searching for this fire hydrant. Such a dork am I!!

Step 7: Ponies surfing the Arena. We all love it - so do our ponies! Gotta see the Arena on your computer.

The Arena is one of two rather large message boards that MLP Collectors go to (the other is the mlptp.com) The Arena is the one hosting this hunt.

Step 8: Ponies getting clean. Are they cleaning the house, or themselves? Who knows? Only you!

Hey I didn't write the steps, just followed them (could they be any cornier!?)

Step 9: Ponies with pets. Do your ponies like to go for a walk too?

Pet steps are the worst to me, because my pets suck at cooperating for anything. Luckily Jo was just lying around... maybe setting this up easier on me.

Step 10: Ponies dressed up! Maybe it's going out for dinner, or getting ready to trick-or-treat. Let's see those glamour (or horror!) shots!

Play with depth of focus on this one. I love that lion costume (yeah yeah, keep laughing... but I do! It's cute!!)