We Do Things

IF YOU GIVE THE GIRL A CAMERA

The other night, we were having a spectacular cloud-filled sunset.

We hear The Girl's door open and a voice asking, "Mother may I use your camera to get a picture of the spectacular sunset?"

Having not played "Mother May I" for years, I vaguely recalled the correct answer to be, "Yes, you may."

The Girl spent the next 20 minutes or so capturing the evening.

She captured The Bunnies, doing their thing and trying to figure out why there was a human in the yard who didn't have food for them.

Please ignore the disgusting patio. We are learning that rabbits are not very neat creatures. Which is why they're in the backyard in the first place.

As a side note, Nova, our new bunny has settled right in. She can't stand us, but at least she and Annie are no longer tearing each other apart.

The Turtles got their portraits taken as well.

Dribble is such a people turtle. He loves us all and comes to hang out with us whenever he can.

Annie decides to catch some dinner while The Girl keeps Nova in hiding. Yes, she now sits in the tub of food to prevent Nova from sneaking bites of the good stuff. I've really come to love this Evil Bunny.

And the piece de resistance. We call it Hummingbird.

The Girl has talents that are only starting to show themselves.

Couldn't be more proud.

PRETTY PICTURES

Seeing as I had to dig through the recesses of my vast vaction photo pile, I thought it would be nice to torture you all with some of my more favorite shots.

Bodie, CA. One of the most amazing Ghost Towns we've been to.

The skies were perfect. The colors vibrant.

The Dad took that one.

He's a brat like that. Grabbing those great pictures while I miss the shot. By the way, that's with his little Canon Powershot. Not my giant humongous Rebel.

Did I mention he's a butt-head?

My picture. I like old, rusty metal things. One of the reasons I stay with The Dad.

Wait a minute! I took this one! I am redeemed.

Bodie, if you ever get the chance, GO!

49'er

RED DOOR

Every one else seems to have their red door.

I finally found mine.

I'm imagining all the pictures of The Kids I can take here.

If I could ever get them to agree to it.

LETS REVIEW SHALL WE?

I came across a neat idea at MamieKnits, she did a year in review with pictures, posting her first and last picture taken for each month. I'm such a copycat and I have nothing else to blog about, so I'm going to jump right in. I'm going to be candid, open, and honest, or lazy, depending on how one would like to look at it. If the pictures are not already photoshopped, I'm not going to touch them. Ready?

January 2008

 

Climbing a big hill while hiking.

 

Random picture of The Kids' bathroom.

February

 

I got up extra early one morning to ensure TGFFKids made it safely to school one day.

 

We took a trip to Calico, where The Boy worked on perfecting his picture taking pout.

March

 

Um...popcorn? To be fair, I don't think *I* took this one. I'm fairly sure this one came from The Girl.

 

Max came to visit for Easter. The Boy wrote a letter to Santa, begging for his buddy to come.

April

 

Zeb joined The Family.

 

The Boy played with his Legos. A lot. Like, all the time. Like he did nothing else for a very long while.

May

 

The Girl received an Award at school.

 

The Boy totally kicked TheBestMan's butt at darts. Because he cheated. A lot. I never noticed how dirty his walls are. Yuck.

June

 

The Dad jumped on board with my crazy eco-friendly ideas. Most of which we still practice!

 

I started cooking some yummy food after a long hiatus from cooking at all.

July

 

Lego creations littered my world.

 

We spent an awesome week in Ohio, hanging with our family. It was way too short.

August

 

School started. These kids are growing up way too fast.

 

We camped, with TGFF. It was a blast, especially when TGFFDad walked The Dog for us.

September

 

I made mini cookies and made The Boy very, very happy.

 

The Boy almost enjoyed his 3rd year of Soccer with The Coach Who Wasn't.

October

 

We enjoyed our first official Ranger event, a long day at The Show for sure.

 

We enjoyed Halloween and the massive year end sugar high it started.

November

 

The Boy did some extra credit kicking.

 

I gave up trying to shoot my children and went for a degree in Nature Photography instead. The leaves are much more compliant than my children.

December

 

The Ohio Grammy came out for The Aunt's baby shower, but stayed a few days with us first. She got to experience a long day at The Horse Show as well.

 

We rang in the New Year. With the only people that hang out with us at all apparently, TheGoodFriendsFamily. Thank goodness they love us.

That was kind of fun. I think I will work on making sure my first and last pictures of 2009 have actual people in them. It's lots more fun that way.

SUNSET IN SUBURBIA

The View from The Backyard the other night.

Even in suburbia, we get sunsets to enjoy. You just have to take the time to look at them.

SUNFLOWERS

 

Droopy.

 

Vibrant.

 

Is this fall?

 

Guess so.

VETERANS' PARK

The City built a Veterans' Memorial Park a few years ago. It's in an older part of town, kind of hard to get to, and I'm rarely over that way without a deadline for being someplace.

I've been meaning to get over there to take pictures. Finally, the stars aligned and I made it.

 

Of course, getting good pictures will have to come later. For some reason, my pictures were cruddy.

 

It couldn't have been the photographer, so it must be the camera. The bricks that are laid out, all have veterans' names on them.

It would be nice to go there and set up with my tripod. If I can find the time. And all the pieces to my tripod.

I LIKE TO PRETEND I'M THE ONLY ONE

That can take pictures around here. The simple fact is, I'm not.

The Dad has always been a great photographer. Truth is, he taught me a lot of what I know. Not that I would ever admit to that in a million years. I am so much better than him. Just ask him.

 

It's rare to have actual proof that I was at one of our family events.

Please don't think that I usually carry my purse along on family hikes, I had stuffed all my camera gear in there thinking it would be easier to use than my backpack that is made for the purpose of carrying my gear. I can be so smart.

 

See? They do belong to me. I have proof.

 

His version of that old oil rig.

   

He uses his little point and shoot, Canon Power Shot SD1100 IS. Even though he knows way more about Photoshop than me, I worked on these pictures. So, blame any photoshop issues on me, this time.

 

The pile of junk in the front yard of my dream house.

He's pretty good with that cheap little camera of his.

SIGNS

Now that The Kids are older, they didn't need quite as much supervision at the fair as they used to.  Ok, really, besides paying for stuff, they didn't need us grown-ups at all.  This new freedom gave me time to notice things at the fair that I've not before.  Like the signs. 

Such pretty colors...

I kind of wish we had gone at night.  Then I realized how much I like to be home and tucked into bed at dark and forgot about the pretty colors at night.

Besides, I probably would have messed up my lighting.  None of my pictures would have come out and where would I be then?

I would have been tempted to throw my camera down the clown's mouth into the trash.

This sign caught us all unaware.  I mean really?  Who does this?

There is no such warning on the large swings.  Wonder why?