Theme Thursday - Fashion

I am so bad with fashion. I rarely go shopping and do the girlie things. However, my daughter is really into being a girl. Here is a shot of her playing dress up.

And I am throwing in a shot of my son. Yesterday was crazy hair day at camp and this is how he came home.

That was a total mess to clean up during bath time, but he had tons of fun!

WW - Mmmm...Chocolate

Post about Nothing

Just some randomness for a Tuesday.

I went to bed at 8:30 last night cause I was so flippin tired from the weekend/Monday and I had a terrible headache. It was strange and nice to go to bed with the dusk light coming through the window. I feel tons better today.

I figured out that if I let my kids play with the remote to the camera they sit still long enough to get a shot of them. Why didn't I think of that before?

Why are weeds so pretty and why are they taking over my yard?

They only wear the sunglasses that belong to me. When I get them their own pair they refuse.

And a something funny. At dinner yesterday my hubby let out a burp. I admit it was loud and he was lax at saying "Excuse Me". Well Miss E chuckled and said, "Your burp sounds like a Big Daddy burp"!

PSF - Eating a Donut

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Here is my oldest daughter again. She totally loves to draw. This past weekend she was drawing away in the kitchen when she promptly got down and came into the living room with her masterpiece. She showed it to me and I was stunned. I proceeded to ask her who that drawing was of and she told me "My Daddy". To which I said, "Yes it does look like him". Then I asked what her daddy was doing. To which she responded, "Eating a donut". Of course I started to chuckle because not only do we rarely eat donuts but in this particular drawing, hubby is wearing a tie. Now, my hubby so rarely wears a tie that I did not even realize that my daughter knew what one was. But what I find the most amusing is that she thinks that in order to eat a donut, a man must wear a tie. She's too funny.

Theme Thursday - Summer Fun

I have two themes to share this week for Summer Fun. First is the kids playing in the driveway with their new chalk. I used to do this a lot as a kid. I first drew a heart on the driveway and my son proceeded to copy me. Here is his take.

Them my older daughter wanted to make her heart too

Then yesterday we decided to take the kids to the local Fireman's Carnival which we go to every year. The sky was threatening but we managed to get in a couple hours of fun time before the storm hit.

I decided to bring my P&S with me so I could lighten my load. Unfortunately these shots did not come out as I would like because I was fumbling with re-learning how to shoot with this camera. And, as I mentioned above, the sky was full of dark clouds so the lighting was terrible. However, I wanted to share them anyway.

Riding 'Dumbo'. Both the older kids were on this Elephant but I could only see my son.

The baby in the backpack waving to her siblings on the horsey ride.

Finally the kids on the big slide. This is a first for Miss E. They were supposed to go down the slide earlier in the evening but it was closed to dry out from the previous passing storm. So it became the last ride of the night. This shot is just awful due to the terrible lighting however, I just loved how they were holding hands as they slide down, so it was a keeper.

So that's our summer fun this week. Go visit Stacy for some more fun in the sun.

WW - In flight, but blurry....darn!

Weekly Winners

I forgot to replace Miss V's spare clothing at her day care. She came home in this shirt today. Of course, as a good mommy, what do I do? Take her picture in it. Then return in.



Fun with clip magnets.





River Birches



Poor baby girl had a fever and sore throat this weekend.



Love the sun flare look these days.



My big green-eyed guy.



And finally, my stargazers are in bloom. Mm, they smell amazing.

PSF - Terrible Twos have nothing on Three!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

This picture should really say it all:

I had forgotten about the Three's. Where did my sweet little girl go? Who ever came up with the "Terrible Two's" must not have experienced three yet. She is really trying to test me over and over again each day. I get that above face when I even mention bed time. Then the screaming, the yelling and the crying starts. I realize she wants to learn how to be independent and I am willing to help to some degree, but I hate it when she won't let me to ANYTHING to help her and then of course it takes forever for her to get her socks on. I know she will grow out of this stage and during some of her episodes she can be quite cute, but wow, its been a struggle. I just want my sweet girl back!

Theme Thursday - Unrefined (i.e. RAW)

I decided this week to focus on the aspect of raw shooting instead of the unrefined theme since I recently got some new presets for Lightroom. I rarely shoot in raw unless I am really interested in having the most flexibility in my editing. I am generally scared of raw since I know Lightroom (or ACR) pretty much nill, plus raw files are ginormous, but I wanted to practice with presets.

I set out to take a handful of shots in raw and use different Lightroom presets on each of these. After I applied the preset, I sent the images to jpg in PS and did some additional final tweeking. I have to say using the presets were tons of fun. I hope to perfect this editing soon.

This is the first fruit we are seeing from the trees we planted in the fall. This preset brightened up the blue sky and green leaves.

I have absolutely no idea what this plant once was but I thought it made for a good photo. This preset changed the background to a warmer mauve which I loved.

Of course I had to throw in the kids. This preset did a general color pop.

And the baby. This preset softened her some and made her 'glowy'.

And one outtake. There is so much wrong with this shot, including the toy curling iron, but I liked it anyway. This preset gave the photo an overall pink tone.

I continue to practice with my raw skills. If anyone has some tips for me, please share.

WW - Yes, ANOTHER lily

Back from Vacation & Weekly Winners

Home again, home again. We arrived home last night after a long long drive. We decided to drive the whole way home instead of take one extra night. After 8 nights, the five of us crammed into the camper, we all wanted our beds and our home. It was a great time at the beach, we had our moments where all five of us wanted to do different things, but all in all it was a nice time away. Of course it wouldn't be a post from me without pictures. I haven't participated in Weekly Winners in a few so here are my vacation weekly winners.

From our first night - Happy 4th!


E on the beach. Loved the sand but not the surf.


Z loved the water.


It took two days for her to love the ocean as much as her brother.


Body surfing, times 2.


Beauty on the beach.


Flying sand.


He could stay here all day.


Tatoo Girl.


And a big Happy Birthday to my silly six-year-old boy. This was taken on my oldest's birthday. We took him out to dinner to celebrate and this is the face I kept getting. So mommy joined in.

WW - Vacation

Photo Story Friday - Vacation Baby!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I am cheating this week and digging into the archives as a precursor to week ahead of us. Here are my two oldest, taken two years and two months ago at the beach.

Miss E is about the same age in these pictures as Miss V will be on this upcoming trip.

She wasn't all that thrilled with the water.

Mr Z, on the other hand, loved it.

With all that said, we head out tomorrow for a week of fun in the sun at the beach, with three small kids in tow - Oye Vey. I wonder if Miss V will hate the water as much as Miss E did? Mr Z will love the water as much as he did two years ago. I'm sure it will be fun and stressful so wish us luck! Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend.