Life With a Camera...

I ventured outside (as opposed to going outside. I had my camera with me). I saw these bushes from across the yard.
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Hello, bush.

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I wouldn't leave him alone.

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Until I saw the sun on the berries.

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And then the fence post that saved the berries.

And then the bark that saved the fence post.

And then the pine needles that saved the bark.

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There are about 20 more variations of Bush, Berries, and Fence Post.

Shall I spare you those?

Here's one I couldn't spare...

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Tristan saved them all.

Anatomy of a Skateboard Fall

This isn't your ordinary, everyday, average skateboarding exhibition.

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Cousins are present. As are Uncles and Aunts that must be duly impressed.

Confidence is high.
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Some leaning left,
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Some over compensation with flapping arms,

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Some upping the ante by adding risk,

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Some past the point of no return...

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Some reality,

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And this is my favorite part of a skateboard fall....

The Look.

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It doesn't matter who else is present, this Look is reserved for The Mom.

A little bit incredulous, a little bit betrayed, a little bit am-I-okay, they can come up from a fall and look immediately at The Mom, in a crowd of 100 people.

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And this is the next best look.

It's why God designed Moms for little boys.

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Once they've caught your eye after a fall, they know everything is just fine.

Where are they going to look when we're not there anymore?

Or do they stop looking?

Maybe that's our job. To get them to the place where they don't need to look anymore.

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I'm going to miss it.

How to Draw a Volcano...

Drawing volcanoes involves a certain amount of intensity.
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Along with choosing just the right hue for the scorching, catastrophic and destructive lava.

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There, that seems to be about right.

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Mercy me. It's not a volcano. It's a treehouse.

"Mom!!"

I can see that now. Sorry, Sawyer.

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'tsokay, Mom.

Let's just get back to business.
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Drawing Treehouses requires a certain amount of intensity.
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Manifest here and correlating directly to the degree of gape.

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Did it turn out?
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Yep.

Treehouse. With Sun.

Faces

Look, he has a wrap around smile and I didn't even use Photoshop. I've been very impressed with the quality of faces I can capture on this new camera.
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They've been very impressed too.
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Electrified.
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I'll call this: Patience Wearing Thin.

Views...

Sigh. Just because you own a Nikon D90, doesn't mean you're Pioneer Woman.
Or ever shall be.
But I'm trying to get the hang of this thing.


Hot spot on the head. Face too dark.
Should I toggle the dynamic focus area to a1CFM mode?
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Hmmm. I don't even know what's wr0ng with this one. Or what I did.
Except I'm sure that dollop of whip cream shouldn't be there.
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This is a nice view.
Can't even see his face, but you could guess the expression. I like the attitude it conveys. Of course, I did not take this shot.
Daddy did.
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Aren't my children nice to let me practice on them?
It also enhances natural expression to say something like, "I need to practice shooting you". They feel off the hook and relax. There's no pressure to perform.
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Same for this static image.
No pressure, little Snake.
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This could be a really art-sy way of saying her favorite presents were American Girl and look how much she got--- or it could be reinforcing the principal that at least one eye should be in focus if the face of a person is included in the image.
Does it bother you?
Maybe I'm reading too many photography books.
He got me four. Not including the manual that came with the camera itself. I haven't looked at that one yet.
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This is a nice girly picture with the polka-dot pajamas and the stuffies all snuggled together.
She brought her most valuable stuffies with her because Daisy likes to sneak a select few off of her bed and systematically disembowel them to wheedle away her bordom while we're gone.
Poor Daisy, home alone.
Daddy imitates his best Daisy voice whenever "I'll Have a Blue Christmas Without You" comes on the radio. He sings it in Kiki's ear to torment her.
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Even though Daisy is a whole country away from us, Daddy put up a surprise stocking for her on Christmas Eve. Kiki woke up to find a Daisy present in it.
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This framing reminds me of the kind they use for Elementary School shots. Except there's no funky marble blue background, and no weird cowlick in his hair.

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Okay, I'm going to go try and catch my breath.

Outside the snow is melting and the ground is sodden.

Inside the wee ones are melting their eyes away on Disney TV.

There's shots to be found all around....

Grandma's House

Some one's been busy.

Don't these just invite you to pick one up and dash it against a tree trunk?

Or against your brother's retreating back?


But while sister was busy making snow balls outside, the boys were busy at the kitchen table.

Doing what boys do with left over wrapping paper tubes...

Making ninja swords.

And guns.


Grammy made sure to have some interesting new things to explore when they got here. It helped to bide the time before Christmas actually came.

You can really turn the cage in this Bingo game. And that made all the difference between calling out numbers you'd drawn from a regular ol' game box lid, or calling them out as they spun and dropped from this cage. Grammies know.

Sawyer couldn't believe he got to open a present early. It was actually a birthday present that could have cost $20 to mail to Canada. Smart Aunt Melissa waited until we came here and that made opening it that much more special.

Aunts know.

I was instructed to open my present early. A new camera! Kit! With a second lens, and a second battery, and a cable, and another weird looking cable! And a lens hood, and a petal lens! And a thingy! And a cleaning kit! And some caps that belong on something! And some filters that don't fit that we'll have to return! And a USB key! And a thinga-muh-jiggy to do remote control! And a manual the size of a french-english dictionary!

The whole thing was overwhelming. Perfect timing too. The virus I left home with followed me all the way down here and set up house in my lungs.

I just sat and tried shots and tried to learn the new camera.

I ventured outside one day and took a few pictures to get a feel for it....

Are these foot prints showing up on your screen? I like the detail I can get. Who do you think they belong to?

Hello Mr. Cardinal!

(But this is what I like about the new camera the best...)

Same shot, magnified--

He's looking at me!

I might never have known that. It makes me feel like he's my friend. All because of a camera. I wonder if Nikon knows it's fostering kinship between the species? And anthropomorphism?

I'm so glad Todd gave me the camera early. Husband's know. By the end of this vacation I should be stunning you with National Geographic like-footage and relating a Beatrix Potter-like knowledge of all the fauna around.

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I'll call him Mr. Sketchmudgeon.

Remember This Little Guy...

It's been over a year since little Nathan began his battle with a brain tumor. He is scheduled for surgery again this Tuesday. Please keep updated here for the latest information. Hopefully, I will be able to guest post on Darlene's blog to help keep her side informed while she and Aaron are at the hospital.
Please pray for the doctors' wisdom in how far to take the surgery and for strength for this mom and dad.

Can't Get Ahead

This virus has put me loads behind in laundry. So far behind that I can't put away a freshly washed and dried load before this happens....




Look at him. He's so content, and I know what he's saying to me with that expression--


I shall dub thee, Provider of the King's Throne.

This virus also laid me out so I had to miss Tristan's and Sawyer's Christmas show.
This is part of what their Circus/Gymnastics class put on:


Apart from the poor quality our camera can capture on video, aren't the images of Tristan stunning? He's there on the left with the red shirt and blue shorts. Blond hair. Or.... that could be the neighbor kid.

Or that could be your neighbor kid.

Hmm. He's the shorter of the two boys dressed like that and he goes out of frame for a good part of the middle section.



Sawyer is a little easier to see. He's the only boy. And he's wearing jeans and a navy sweater with a bold white stripe.

I wish I could have been there. But at least I have this video that captured the very essence. And really, it's the next best thing.