Bits and pieces of the life I share with my little family who I love to BITS & PIECES!
Friday, September 21, 2012
Shock and Awe!
Thursday, September 13, 2012
My girl started school!
Jim and I have been back to school for almost two weeks now so that's old news. As much as I worry about starting every summer it's always fine and we get back into our routines quickly.
This year is special though because Stella got to start Pre-K on Wednesday! We haven't had her in any kind of pre-school up until now just because we didn't think she needed it. She had her friends at Sheri's and quite frankly I'd rather her just be able to play and enjoy being little while she can. We didn't feel like she needed the socialization (she gets PLENTY of that). She's also been in gymnastics so that has given her an activity during the week.
Since she spends her days in a home with a mom who she loves dearly, the one concern I had about her starting Kindergarten next year was just being in a schoolroom setting with a teacher she didn't know, raising her hand, following directions, etc. We decided we'd have her start Pre-K this year. She was so excited about it which just makes my heart smile (I think it's especially precious to teachers to see their kids excited about school).
I wasn't there to drop her off Wednesday, but I really just wasn't worried about her. Sure enough, I got a picture about a half an hour after she'd started and she had a huge grin. I left early to be there to pick her up and her face lit up when she saw me which was the best. She talked all night about her day and seems to have really loved it! I'm so glad that things have gone the way they have and she has the confidence to be excited about school and meeting new friends. I'm SO VERY happy that we had a great experience as opposed to the tearful stories you hear some people tell.
I know that she's going to thrive at school but I'm also pretty sure that with starting school there will also be a bit more drama. That's something we've been relatively spared thus far and I don't look forward to it. Overall though, I know this is the beginning of a lot of growth for my girl and I can't wait to watch her throughout all of her school years!
Here's her first of 14 "first day of school" pictures: (check out the feet - think she's a bit excited?) :)
This year is special though because Stella got to start Pre-K on Wednesday! We haven't had her in any kind of pre-school up until now just because we didn't think she needed it. She had her friends at Sheri's and quite frankly I'd rather her just be able to play and enjoy being little while she can. We didn't feel like she needed the socialization (she gets PLENTY of that). She's also been in gymnastics so that has given her an activity during the week.
Since she spends her days in a home with a mom who she loves dearly, the one concern I had about her starting Kindergarten next year was just being in a schoolroom setting with a teacher she didn't know, raising her hand, following directions, etc. We decided we'd have her start Pre-K this year. She was so excited about it which just makes my heart smile (I think it's especially precious to teachers to see their kids excited about school).
I wasn't there to drop her off Wednesday, but I really just wasn't worried about her. Sure enough, I got a picture about a half an hour after she'd started and she had a huge grin. I left early to be there to pick her up and her face lit up when she saw me which was the best. She talked all night about her day and seems to have really loved it! I'm so glad that things have gone the way they have and she has the confidence to be excited about school and meeting new friends. I'm SO VERY happy that we had a great experience as opposed to the tearful stories you hear some people tell.
I know that she's going to thrive at school but I'm also pretty sure that with starting school there will also be a bit more drama. That's something we've been relatively spared thus far and I don't look forward to it. Overall though, I know this is the beginning of a lot of growth for my girl and I can't wait to watch her throughout all of her school years!
Here's her first of 14 "first day of school" pictures: (check out the feet - think she's a bit excited?) :)
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
A new home.
One of my favorite friends has been a bit of a nomad. Though she's never actually moved further away than Oregon, because of her career I always thought it was just a matter of time. I hated the thought, especially since one of my other favorites has already gone. Well, she and her husband just bought a house! I'm thrilled for them and selfishly ecstatic that it means they're "stuck" here! :)
Today I got to spend the day with her helping to unpack a little. I put together a little housewarming basket but being the emotional, sentimental sap that I am, this is my favorite. I've loved this quote for some time and this was the perfect time for it. (H - I MAY have printed a copy for my house too!)
I made it in Publisher and just used basic shapes to create the house (a rectangle for the house, trapezoidal roof, and a rectangle and oval for the chimney). I saved it as a jpeg so it can be printed anywhere at any size. If you read my other blog you already know how much I like to do this.
If anyone (cough cough wink wink) needs "artwork" for a wee room I'm sure we could whip up some seriously un-baby like pics! ;)
Today I got to spend the day with her helping to unpack a little. I put together a little housewarming basket but being the emotional, sentimental sap that I am, this is my favorite. I've loved this quote for some time and this was the perfect time for it. (H - I MAY have printed a copy for my house too!)
I made it in Publisher and just used basic shapes to create the house (a rectangle for the house, trapezoidal roof, and a rectangle and oval for the chimney). I saved it as a jpeg so it can be printed anywhere at any size. If you read my other blog you already know how much I like to do this.
If anyone (cough cough wink wink) needs "artwork" for a wee room I'm sure we could whip up some seriously un-baby like pics! ;)
Monday, July 30, 2012
MIA
I know I said it in the last post, but it's true... I just can't bring myself to spend time sitting in front of the computer editing photos and writing posts! I have tons to share too!
Jim was out of town for 6 LOOOONG nights (the longest by far we've been apart in our 14 years together) and I got to experience being a single Mama. While I dreaded it for a while before he left, and it went much more smoothly than I feared, I'm still very grateful it's not my everyday life! While he was away we completed several fun projects I'll share eventually.
We've been running around having a lot of fun too. We've made one trip to Yakima so far to visit my grandparents, we've had lots of fun little day trips, explored new trails, and we just got back from our first camping trip with kids yesterday. It was so fun, due in large part to the fact that we went with one of our favorite families.
Hopefully I'll get pictures of all of that posted soon. For today I want to post pictures of our less than successful beach "photo shoot" from last week. The photographer that we love and has taken all of our pictures has been posting pictures from evening shoots at the beach for a couple of weeks now and she's had me drooling over them. I decided I wanted to try and gave Jim plenty of warning and reminders. He's not a fan of my photo shoots. ;) We headed out and were planning to try a new beach... it was full. When we finally decided where to go from there and arrived the parking lot was full. The man on duty told us we could park in the "upper lot" and walk down to the beach. (1/8 mile doesn't sound bad at all does it?)
We gathered up all of our stuff (blankets, diaper bag, camera, and a light reflector I'd just bought) along with both girls and set out on the path. It wasn't too bad and when we got down there there was hardly anybody there so we got a little spot all to ourselves. By this time it was getting late and Little One was TIRED! She wanted nothing to do with sitting prettily for my camera and was not happy when we took her pacifier. Jim was embarrassed to hold up the light reflector, he felt bad for Lu and wanted to leave, Stella ran out of patience and we finally called it quits.
I was bummed that we hadn't gotten better pictures, but all was quickly forgotten as we started back up the path to the UPPER parking lot carrying all of our stuff. We pretty much got our butts kicked by that trail! Luckily a trip to Menchies cooled us off!
None of them took my breathe away or brought me to tears like Rachel's pictures do, but there were a couple that turned out ok (though since I'm their Mama of course I love all of them - like the sequence of 5 I caught Lu yawning!)
Jim was out of town for 6 LOOOONG nights (the longest by far we've been apart in our 14 years together) and I got to experience being a single Mama. While I dreaded it for a while before he left, and it went much more smoothly than I feared, I'm still very grateful it's not my everyday life! While he was away we completed several fun projects I'll share eventually.
We've been running around having a lot of fun too. We've made one trip to Yakima so far to visit my grandparents, we've had lots of fun little day trips, explored new trails, and we just got back from our first camping trip with kids yesterday. It was so fun, due in large part to the fact that we went with one of our favorite families.
Hopefully I'll get pictures of all of that posted soon. For today I want to post pictures of our less than successful beach "photo shoot" from last week. The photographer that we love and has taken all of our pictures has been posting pictures from evening shoots at the beach for a couple of weeks now and she's had me drooling over them. I decided I wanted to try and gave Jim plenty of warning and reminders. He's not a fan of my photo shoots. ;) We headed out and were planning to try a new beach... it was full. When we finally decided where to go from there and arrived the parking lot was full. The man on duty told us we could park in the "upper lot" and walk down to the beach. (1/8 mile doesn't sound bad at all does it?)
We gathered up all of our stuff (blankets, diaper bag, camera, and a light reflector I'd just bought) along with both girls and set out on the path. It wasn't too bad and when we got down there there was hardly anybody there so we got a little spot all to ourselves. By this time it was getting late and Little One was TIRED! She wanted nothing to do with sitting prettily for my camera and was not happy when we took her pacifier. Jim was embarrassed to hold up the light reflector, he felt bad for Lu and wanted to leave, Stella ran out of patience and we finally called it quits.
I was bummed that we hadn't gotten better pictures, but all was quickly forgotten as we started back up the path to the UPPER parking lot carrying all of our stuff. We pretty much got our butts kicked by that trail! Luckily a trip to Menchies cooled us off!
 |
| Dancing |
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| Dancing |
 |
| Menchies had decent light too |
Monday, July 9, 2012
We're here...
I never blog very much during the summer. (I don't clean enough either). We still haven't gotten a new computer so my pics are stuck and frankly, now that this amazing summer weather has arrived we're having far too much fun to clean or be on the computer!
We've been taking family walks, trips to the beach, meals outside... There are many more activities planned so I do need to get to documenting though!
We've been taking family walks, trips to the beach, meals outside... There are many more activities planned so I do need to get to documenting though!
Friday, June 29, 2012
A quick little post about phone pics
School's out for summer and we've already been keeping busy! I was on our computer a week or two ago and the screen suddenly went black. I'm going to see if we can get it fixed in expensively for now, but I think we're going to have to make some computer decisions here pretty soon. We'd like to get a Mac but their pretty expensive and even worse, my Photoshop and all if my actions are for the PC so I'd lose everything! :( So... Only phone/iPad posting for a while here.
Anyway, I've seen a couple of posts lately with tips for taking iPhone pictures. None of them have been too earth shattering but there was one that stuck out and prompted a little experiment this morning.
Because I'm posting from the app, all of the pictures will appear at the end which isn't ideal but we'll go with it.
Since there's no way to adjust exposure on your phone you have to trick your phone camera sometimes. The girls were coloring by the window this morning and I wanted to catch it. So often you go for a pic like this and whatever you're trying to get is much too dark. You can adjust by tapping the screen and telling your camera where to focus. In the first shot I touched the trees outside the window. My camera adjusted for the light on them and you can barely see my lovelies.
In the second picture I tapped the floor in the very bottom of my screen (which would be the darkest place in my picture). When my camera adjusted for that it let in too much light and the picture is blown out. You can barely see the girls.
For the final picture I tapped on Lu's feet under the table. I can work with the exposure on that picture!
Try it out, it's kind of fun/interesting! Have a great weekend!
Anyway, I've seen a couple of posts lately with tips for taking iPhone pictures. None of them have been too earth shattering but there was one that stuck out and prompted a little experiment this morning.
Because I'm posting from the app, all of the pictures will appear at the end which isn't ideal but we'll go with it.
Since there's no way to adjust exposure on your phone you have to trick your phone camera sometimes. The girls were coloring by the window this morning and I wanted to catch it. So often you go for a pic like this and whatever you're trying to get is much too dark. You can adjust by tapping the screen and telling your camera where to focus. In the first shot I touched the trees outside the window. My camera adjusted for the light on them and you can barely see my lovelies.
In the second picture I tapped the floor in the very bottom of my screen (which would be the darkest place in my picture). When my camera adjusted for that it let in too much light and the picture is blown out. You can barely see the girls.
For the final picture I tapped on Lu's feet under the table. I can work with the exposure on that picture!
Try it out, it's kind of fun/interesting! Have a great weekend!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Father's Day
Father's Day was much more relaxing than Mother's Day! We did a whole lot of nothing but hanging out - just the way we like it. I did want to share the gifts we made for Jim in case you missed them on Pinterest, I really liked them (I even shared the idea with a couple of my students and one of my girls made her dad one too).
Plus, we just discovered Apple TV with Netflix and OH. MY. HECK! I don't know if I'll ever get to watch anything on the TV in the front room again - that thing is AMAAAAZING! If they'd only stream HULU plus I think I could entirely cancel our cable.
First, I interviewed Stella about her Daddy and I typed it up. I saved it as a jpeg file and had it printed as a 5 x 7. I'd seen the picture of the shadow sign on Pinterest and knew I wanted to do it, but we should have started much earlier... Luckily, the weather cooperated on Friday and there was enough sun for a good shadow. Sometimes the PNW sucks!
We just got a simple double black frame and framed them thinking he can put them up in his office.
The other idea we got from Pinterest was filling empty bottles. We made him chug iced Starbucks drinks (BLECH) so that we could have the bottles. The printables are made for pop containers so they didn't fit as well as they could have, but still cute. Both girls had fun helping to fill them.
Best present of all, just laying low and getting lots of time to snuggle his girls. *Once again, a post with mostly garbage cell phone pics - I can't wait for the iPhone 5 to come out so at least those pictures are a bit better!
Hope you all had a great day!
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