Summer Evenings at the Fair

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I am loving Summer evenings! Tonight we went out to the local Fireman’s Fair, which helps to raise money for our fire dept. Seeing Ian look at the rides for the first time was priceless.

He was in awe and wanted to see how they worked. He and I would finish riding the ride then he would be touching everywhere to check it out. It was hard to tell if he like the ride because he didn’t squeal but I think he did.

It was nice to be able to spend some time with my mom on the Ferris Wheel and the added bonus is we only had to spend 4 tickets on a 5 ticket ride and we rode for at least 10minutes! ChaChing!

My sister wasn’t into riding much since she gets sick on spinney things but I found the slide to go on with her. My first time hopping in a bag and going down a slide. It was a blast but didn’t last long enough.

Too bad I couldn't get my Dad to ride any rides, but he did pay for them and took the pictures of us on the Ferris Wheel and the slide. Thanks Dad!

Of course when you go to a fair you have to grab yourself a funnel cake (my Mom’s fav.) This is one of the biggest one’s I have ever seen!

Overall, it was a great evening and the time you get to spend with your family is the times you really cherish. I wish my Hubby could have been there though. Miss you!


Off topic (as usual!), it was time to get Ian some new shoes because little feet just grow too fast. It had to be the famous Chucks!

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I picked him up one in red for his size now and the one in the next size in black. You can’t go wrong with a classic shoe.


Speaking of things I got him, I picked him up a Wall-E shirt for $4!! It is not so much that he likes Wall-E but that his Mom saw the movie trailer and fell in love with all that mechanical robot cuteness.

"Some of the front"

Now I can go up to Ian and say “Come here WALL-E.” Haha, I know I am crazy. Maybe it is the way they say Wall-E in the commercial with the emphasis on the e. Whatever it is. I had to bring my child into it.

"The Back"

For all you keeping up with my 365..Here is one

23/365: Porch Spider

I can do Bokeh! But can US Air fly?

I hope you all are having a great Wednesday. Mine has gone alright. I think I finally have Bokeh photography almost down pat. A few days ago I took a picture of Ian

CU assignment for Rust

and noticed I accidently did it so I really tried for it today and shabam!

Look at my Bokeh!

I think bokeh is going to be a must in almost all my photos. Very addicting.


Other than all my photographyness I have not been up to too much. Sunday evening I went out to see my cousin again. Ian had a blast sharing again and I got in more baby holding. haha.

Ian and TJ

Me, Ian, Grandpa, and TJ

Monday, my friend Hallie and I spent a whole day together fishing, eating a nice lunch, and movie watching. It was great to spend that time with her even if we didn’t catch a single fish. Not our fault if the fish just don’t seem hungry!

Time for me to talk about the news… This evening I was doing my normal news watching and they were talking about how US Air has started carrying less fuel in their international flights. They are apparently giving the pilots the options but are pushing them to ask for less fuel. Are they crazy? They only carry 45 minutes of extra fuel. Any less than that..well, I just wouldn’t want to risk my life on that flight. What do you all think about this? Scary? Instead of doing this, why aren’t we working more on fuel alternatives for flights.

Enough of me complaining, here are more photos for your viewing pleasure..

21/365: Ian's first cookie

20/365: A lady needs new earrings sometimes

19/365: My shadow telling me to check the armpits. Way too hot outside!

Feeling Like a New Woman!

Finally yesterday I got to meet my new cousin for the for the first time. Since I have been living abroad I didn’t get to meet him till he was 6 months. Meet TJ..

He is such a chubbers! It was great how good Ian was towards him. Ian would go grab toys and bring it to TJ and help him play. It was the sweetest thing. Ian is going to make a really great older brother when he gets a sibling.

Speaking of siblings, holding my cousin made my realization of how much I miss having a baby really come out. I almost was holding TJ the whole time :-P Call me the baby hog if you’d like. Maybe in a few years but you all have got to help me make it that long!

Ian had a blast with his 2nd cousins and playing around with his great grandma.

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My grandma is already teaching him to be like her..cleaning around all the time :-P Got to get them started early, right?

Anyways, they are all going to come back out this afternoon, so I can get the rest of my fix in. I wouldn’t let my Aunt and Uncle go back home till I got one more in. That pretty much sums up my whole weekend.

Ian walking around with TJ's Blanket

Let me skip back to Thursday. It was time for me to make the plunge in having a different hairstyle. For most of my life I have variations of the same cut. I asked my hairdresser (my lifesaver!!!), what would work well with what I had in mind; which was something stylish, at my shoulders, highlights (my first time), and low maintenance (a must when you are a mom). She told me what she thought and we came out with this….

Just kidding (I just hate showing my face)..but here you go..

I know I am not looking straight on :-P

The side

How do you like it? I am in LOVE with how light it feels and how stylish it looks. This Momma feels like a new woman. The one thing I will have to say is it will take me a little while to get used to the highlights.

Time for me to get off this computer and give Ian some outside time. Happy Sunday!

17/365: For reflections..reflecting in the trash compactor

When Cookie Monster Goes Moldy

Look at that smile!

I know you all have been missing me posting WAYYY too many pictures of Ian. So, last night I got down to business and started snapping away.

Just chatting away

Hands and Feet

Just being silly

Ok so do you see that Elmo? We have a whole story! Sit down and grab yourself some popcorn. Ian has this crazy obsession with Cookie Monster. He likes to chew the eyeballs any chance he gets or will put them in his mouth and shake Cookie around like a dog would a toy. Funny right? Well since he slobbers all over it, we had all his different meals and his slobber on it. Sadly, Cookie could only be surfaced wash so I gave it my best shot and he smelled worse than before. Then my dad goes and soaks him completely and now he smells extra moldy.

15/365: When a Cookie Monster Goes Moldy

No way could I give this back to Ian. We went in search of a new Cookie Monster and I came out with a Washer and Dryer safe one, but he just isn’t taking to it like the others…it must be the eyeballs. I knew this would happen so when I was picking up the new Cookie Monster I got him a talking Elmo with oversized eyeballs. He has gone to chew them but can’t get his mouth over them so I did good! Pat on the back to me.

Giving his best lip

Away from Ian for now…Lisa has herself a new photo class assignment! Woot WOOT!

Here it is:

Assignment 1: I've been hiking and camping and generally spending a lot of time up in the mountains, Lets play with the landscape. This is pulled from week 19 , Landscape with a foreground element, or as the French say Repoussoir. I have a lot of trouble with making an interesting landscape, but I find that having an element in the lower corner really adds to the tension in what would generally be a flat landscape.From Wikipedia:In two-dimensional works of art, such as painting, printmaking, photography or bas-relief, repoussoir is an object along the right or left foreground that directs the viewer's eye into the composition by bracketing the edge. It became popular with Mannerist and Baroque artists, and is found frequently in Dutch seventeenth-century landscape paintings. Jacob van Ruisdael, for example, often include a tree along one side to enclose the scene (see illustration). Figures are also commonly employed as repoussoir devices by artists such as Paolo Veronese, Peter Paul Rubens (see illustration) and Impressionists such as Gustave Caillebotte Create a landscape with a foreground element that leads the viewer into the scene. Tag with cuwk13/1 , cu

Assignment 2: I've also spent a good amount of time in the movies, and summer is the best time for the big budget blockbusters. Create a movie poster for your summer movie! Doesn't have to be a big action type, and hopefully reflects a bit of who you are. Show us your summer movie! Tag with cuwk13/2, cu

Assignment 3: Grit - Show us your rust, your dirt, your slime, your flaking paint, your broken glass. You get the idea.Tag with : cuwk13/3, cu

I am really looking forward to it because it doesn’t seem too difficult like last week. Speaking of last week, I did Butterfly Lighting last minute when I was sick I ended up using my doll as my subject and it turned out so horrible I am not even going to show you all. It is all my Colds fault..really!

13/365: Aqua Fresca

Most awesome drink I have ever made and very refreshing for summertime. I added whip cream to the top.

Recipe:

1 large cantaloupe or 1/2 a watermelon, seeded and diced (about 3 cups) 1 1/2 cups water 1/2 cup sugar, plus more to taste 2 to 3 limes, juiced Pinch salt
Puree cantaloupe or watermelon in a food processor and pour through a fine sieve to eliminate pulp. In a pitcher, mix strained fruit puree with water and add sugar, lime juice, and salt, to taste. Chef's Note: This and other similar fruit drinks, which translate literally as "fresh water," are served all over Mexico and they're a cinch to replicate at home. The key is to strain the pulpy fruit to make a clearer liquid. Instead of melon, you could use strawberries, pineapple, mango, or any fruit that is soft enough to puree.

Thanks to: The Food Network

The last of Ian for this post. I promise!

Got Sick? We DO!

My Dad, The Boat Driver

My 4th of July went great with a boat ride, fishing, grill party, and fireworks. My sister had her friends over this weekend so we took them on a trip to the lake where they all enjoyed being tugged behind the boat on a tube. They had their share of fly offs and I was there to catch it through pictures.

My Sister on the Tube

Hilary Flying off the Tube

Kyle, Flying High

Don’t hate me, but I forgot to bring my tripod with me so I was not able to get firework pictures. I have been a lot like that lately maybe because I am coming down with my son’s cold. The poor little thing has snot rolling out his nose and sneezing a lot. Had to pull out the Benadryl.

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Slowly my cold is coming on. The sore throat has started today. Cross your fingers that this passes fast for us both.

With the forgetting, I forgot to bring Ian’s milk cup to dinner tonight and so his milk came in a Styrofoam cup and well, he decided to grab it and stick his finger through it. Of course, it sent milk flying…even to my crotch, making it looked like I peed myself. Gotta love having wet underwear in public, ohh yah! ;) Maybe my hormones are revving up, but I almost cried. Cry over spilt milk! I even cried at the Maid of Honor Movie yesterday, which by the way is a great movie but most certainly a chick flick. Sexy Scottish Men for all you ladies.

11/365: Stocking up on $5 Bath and Body Works

My Grandpa unhooking the fish I caught.

Happy Dance

I am at it again. More photog practice and new assignments! Happy Dance!! Time to tell on myself, I never got around to the square assignment picture. Even though the time is up I think I will try to take a picture for that this week. I wasn’t too overly excited with the way my other two turned out, but I guess that is what learning is all about. But I have already started on my first picture for this week and it turned out AWESOME!

Here is what is posted for this week:

Butterfly Lighting - We tried our hands at Rembrandt Lighting back in Week 46. This week, we'll try "butterfly" lighting (AKA glamour or paramount lighting). In butterfly lighting, the main light is positioned above the camera lens and aimed down at the subject. The name "butterfly" refers to the shape of the shadow under the nose. You may want to soften the shadow under the nose by bouncing the light back up into the face. You can do this with a reflector or any sort of reflector-like thing (white poster board would probably do the trick). Note that this type of lighting is usually only recommend for women, not men (models that is...the sex of the photographer is irrelevant ;-).Tag with: cuwk12/1, cuweek12/1, cu

B&W Flowers - If there's one subject that just begs to be photographed in color, it's flowers. But since that's been done over 6,000,000 times, I thought we'd try something different. Give us your most interesting black & white flower shot! Tag with : cuwk12/2, cuweek12/2, cu

Poetry - Include the words of a poem in your image. The photo itself should be inspired by the poem. The words may be added using your photo editing software of choice, or you may photograph them. Major bonus points for writing an original poem for this assignment. Tag with : cuwk12/3, cuweek12/3, cu


My attempt for Black and White Flowers:

What do you think?

The Butterfly Lighting should be interesting. I guess I will have to end up using myself and make this like the portraits you get at places like Sears. Pile my make up on high and give my best cheesy smile.

As for my 365, I surprisingly have been keeping up. YAY ME!! But (yes, always a but), I did have a slip up because I thought one picture got transferred so I deleted it off the memory card, only to find out it is nowhere to be found on the computer. So here I am stuck with a missing day..I might have to call it 364.

Showing off Grandpa's Glasses (he loves to put these on then give them to me to put on)

The quality is bad because it is the only picture I took that day with a point and shoot and Ian was moving, so his left eye looks weird.

Heart Bokeh: Here is what it is and how to make it http://www.diyphotography.net/diy_create_your_own_bokeh

Speaking of Ian, he is walking a little more almost everyday. Since my husband is away, I had to get a video for him to see. Ian didn’t want to cooperate so I had to entice him with his toy. It makes for a funny me but whatever works, I say!





I am off to the lake for another boat ride tomorrow with a 4th of July celebration in the evening. Cross your fingers that I can learn to take good firework pictures.