Because I love taking Pictures!

Mac n Cheese went exploring with mommy today.  During winter it is not always easy to get myself out and even harder to find inspiration while I am freezing.  Today was different though.  My sweet boy was willing to venture under a freeway to park our car and walk across a complete blind spot of a hair pin turnaround just to get up to the bridge. We held hands and cuddled and ran and hopped a little too. He asked me to carry him back and told me about the men we met on our adventure.

Along the way we met several men, one I think was waiting in his truck for a work call, others were unloading fishing gear, and one was just a travelin' man with his belongings packed tightly in his grocery bag.  We smiled and said hello and shared some space with these people for just a little bit. 

I had no intention of being inspired by this little walk, so I didn't bring my camera.  But, by the grace of God or out of sheer habit instilled in me by my dear husband, I had my cell phone camera.  I took a memorable shot that I want to share with everyone.

I doctored two of them. But, the original is just a little crop to get into the subject of the shot (no zoom lenses or manual settings to help me paint this shot).  I am considering another crop for more dramatic results but, so far I like these versions okay.

Lesson Learned: If going anywhere, take a camera! You might just get your artsy fartsy shot or maybe be a witness to something hilarious (like that hubby?). You just never know.  Just don't leave your camera in  your car EVER!

Pet Peeves

Someone please tell me that I am not totally mean for thinking these people need to re test for a driver's permit.  Their cars aren't even big and they hog two parking spots. Even I fit next to cars like this I don't dare park next to them.  If they can't drive forward then they must really really suck and driving backward. LOL! You can't pretend that you don't see the line when you step out of your car.  Come ON people!

REALLY...IT IS JUST NOT THAT DIFFICULT A SKILL TO MASTER! Okay, I am done ranting.  I am calm now. :o)

Gettin' Better

Went to the neighborhood park today to play with my camera. I met another mother there while our kids played.  And we really got to talkin' about kids, nursing, babies, life stuff.  She talked to me a little about some very serious life struggles of hers.  I am so pleased that I was able to meet her and that she was introduced into my life.  It turns out that her second oldest child knows my second oldest.  I hope to have a couple of play dates with her and our kids.

After she left with her kids (5), I had a few minutes to play with my camera.  And I am getting better with focus and lighting.  I didn't think it would take so long to master this particular lens but, I am happy with the results thus far. Here are the kidlets being themselves.  I wish I was as photogenic.

I like the shots of Pink's shiner on her left eye. She got that from one of her conditioning drills at gymnastics! I hope you enjoy the little snaps I take of the kiddos. They are my favorite people in the whole wide world.  In fact, they are my whole wide world.

One of My Favorites

Here is one of my favorite gifts from Christmas.  I even fooled myself with this thing.  It is a Nikon Camera lens drink cup.  I saw it first on Photojojo.com

Thank you Hubby, I love my mug.

All Your Bento Are Belong To Us!

I have decided to add a few of my son's bento lunches to the blog!  Why? Because I am fascinated by it.  I love packing his lunches. I love packing the other kids too but, they seem not so enthusiastic about lunch.  I need to work on the big kids bentos. For now, I will go with the preschool bento.
What made me get into this?  I have always used reusable containers to lower the plastic in the landfills and to lower the cost in our wallets at home. But mostly, I wanted to make sure my kids had enough healthy foods and not too much junk food. I started researching and there is such polarity on how you should feed your kids, that I thought I would follow my intuition.  (I really believe that being too restrictive in anything will backfire in the long run.) 

So, here is a picture of a preschool bento.

In this Bento: blueberries, 1/2 golden apple (cored), strawberry cream cheese on whole wheat sandwiches and chopped string cheese.

BTW--my preschooler isn't allowed to bring bananas, peanut butter, eggs, and something else that I can't remember.

What did I send for a drink? A cup of apple juice and ice (to dilute the sugar and keep it cool). And good old fashioned water.

One Last Christmas Party

Here is one last Christmas Party!  Oh yeah!  Here are a few more test shots of the family.  Nothing too different from other family get-togethers except that I know everyone in these pictures. :oD

 

Merry Christmas to the Jones Clan (and all of those that have married into it)! Thank you to our wonderful hosts--you are too wonderful to let us come over every year.  A great big THANK YOU!  By the way, Uncle D, the kids really loved their gifts and they had a great time.

Now, back to the everyday life

Never on New Year's Eve

A word to the wise-Never stay in a hotel on New Year's Eve (unless you want to join the party).  Although, it was interesting to hear these really LOUD kids cackle and chatter and yell about who knows what (NOT!), I would have preferred sleep.


We had our own little bitty "party" in the hotel that night too. This was some of us on 2011 New Year's Eve.

I am still not real adept with my new camera so I had lots of nice ideas that didn't come out in focus. So, here are my better shots. 
I neglected to take pictures of my kid's playing at Joe's Crabshack in the freezing weather.  We had a great dinner that night.  And we also got spend some time with my sister and bro in law and niece and nephew.  It was a great time. No planning, no invitations, no food spread or loud music. Just lots of other young adults being loud and us in this hotel room waiting til the new year blows in.