Fun pictures with my Boys

Emily has dance class on Monday nights and sometimes, Carter and Casey come with me. This particular Monday, we stopped at a gas station for a snack and a drink and drove over to the dam in town to watch the water and take some pictures. The boys posed so nicely and we had an enjoyable time together while we killed some time waiting for Emily to finish up. I've had some really fun times with my boys while Emily is in her dance class. We have an hour to just play and be and have fun and no other responsibilities...






I was trying some new settings on my camera and new angles. I am having such fun with my camera. Especially when my subjects are having fun too!

Amazing

I think it is truly amazing what our bodies can do. ..

Friday, we went to Iowa City to have Casey's cast removed and then have his leg x-rayed. On the x-ray you can still see where the break was, but you can also see where the new bone has formed and already lengthened out to look like the original bone!! He was only in that cast for 7 weeks! I bet it'll only be a couple of years and they won't even be able to tell which leg was ever broken. Truly Amazing!

Getting back into our regular routine and acting so much more ourselves...
In case you are wondering, No, Casey can't walk yet. He tries to crawl, but after a few "steps" he ends up dragging his left leg. His spirits are good, as always, and he continues to try new things and figure out what he can and cannot yet do. He'll be up and running before we know it!! He has loved his baths, spending an hour or more in the second one he took, splashing and kicking his legs! It does my heart good to see him happy and being my baby again.



They had to "saw" up both sides of each leg of his cast and then they had a tool to pry it apart and then voila it just sort of popped off. I bought Casey a new Bob the Builder DVD for distraction, but it didn't really work. The nice nurse did show us on her hand that the "saw" didn't hurt, but it was loud and scary and not feeling the cast was pretty scary too!

Casey does say his leg hurts a little in certain postions, but we adjust and are heading out on this new adventure in our lives with our little ones.

Help me!

So, since I got my new camera, I've been taking tons more pictures. For practice, you know. Anyway, in about January of this year I had a friend whose mom works with computers from her home clean off my hard drive and then reload only what was necessary back onto the computer. I bought a portable hard drive and left the other info there. The reason I did this was because my computer was running extrememly slow.

Here I am in October of the same year with the same problem I had in January. That's a little quick for turn around for my tatstes! I must say my computer is about 5-6 years old. I probably need a new one. UGH!!

But my question is, how do you all store your pictures? How many back ups do you have?? Do you print them all?? I think pictures and an older computer are the crux of my problems.

That said, if I can manage to start saving money for a computer, do any of you have suggestions about things you love, or not, on your computer, or what you would really like to have, but like me are saving for??? Apple or Dell? Laptop or Desktop?

I could use some serious help here....

I see the Moon

My sister in law got a new Canon Rebel Xsi for her birthday and she has really enjoyed it. My brother in law is also having a ball with it. They seem to be taking different types of pictures, so there haven't been any major battles yet, but we'll see. *smile* Anyway, back to my point. Oh, I hadn't mentioned a point yet. Oh well, I'm getting to it.

My brother in law likes still photos, flowers, animals, the moon...He has been taking some awesome moon shots and has encouraged me to try. It has taken a long time and a lot of playing with settings and being brave, etc. But, I finally got some moon pictures that I am proud of.



I see the moon...
The moon sees me....
God Bless the moon...
And God bless Me!!!

Funny thing about all of these pictures is that it is the same moon on the same night within a few minutes of each other! I was intrigued playing with my white balance setting and seeing how it changed the appearance of the moon. Emily of course likes the pink moon! What a strange world it would be if the moon were pink...That could be a fairy tale in the making...

Cowboys

Last Sunday, Carter went with Dad, Emily and Casey played dress up, and I took pictures.

Cowboys was the theme.

It's fun to see my little girl pretending and playing dress up. There are moments when everything is just going so fast and she is growing up and not my little girl anymore. Then, there are times, like these, where she pretends and plays and life slows down. And I do my very best to savor each and every moment and enjoy them all!

Oh and by the way, have I told you that I LOVE my new camera???

Oh yeah. It's also now only 5 more days until Casey gets his cast off!! Woo Hoo!!!!

Happy Sunday Friends!

Autumn's Dresses

I must say that Autumn's Splendor is gorgeous this year...

(My personal favorite)

Kids

Why is it that whenever Mom asks them to do something, kids always respond by either ignoring her or saying no or coming up with some other creative excuse as to why they can't complete said task? But, if someone else, neighbor, friend, grandma, etc. suggests that helping out in this way might be fun, or if they just start said job, then the kids jump right in and take over?


Enter exhibit A:
Have I mentioned before that I hate black walnuts?? Hate, Hate, Hate them!! Hate to smell them, hate to eat them, HATE to see them all over my yard!!! Okay, now that that is off of my chest...
I have been asking the kids to clean up the plethora of walnuts in our yard. I said it was a chore, I said it would be fun, we'd make a game of it, I offered money!!! all to no avail. Over walks the neighbor who asks for a broom to just sweep the walnuts off of the sidewalk with and Carter jumps right in and takes of the task of cleaning up the walnuts!!!

Thank you Carter!! Mom appreciates all of your help!!

I just wish I knew how to get you to agree to it easier...

Halloween Fun - a picture tour

Beauty wherever you are

This morning, amidst the hustle and bustle of literally "shoving" my children out the door for school, we glimpsed this; steam rising off of everything as the day warms up. I pointed it out to Emily and Carter on their way off to walk to school and then ran inside for my camera. Morning steam, it's hard to capture, much like fog. You can see tiny tendrils working their way up the tree here in this first picture.
It's harder to notice in this second picture, but I liked the sun shining through the tree. And looking at this picture doesn't make me feel like I am in town so much.
The I heard a chewing noise and glance up to see this squirrel happily munching on walnuts from our Black Walnut tree. Have I mentioned that I dislike. walnuts. very. very. much!!! They are such a mess and they are all over my yard right now. But...they are a good treat for a hungry squirrel. Oh and I forgot to mention that as I am looking up and admiring this squirrel eating his breakfast, I took one step back on our homemade ramp and promptly fell on my bum!


Back to my pictures of steam...

Finally, in the bend of this tree, without the sun as a distraction, I think I captured it. I ended up getting out my telephoto and I liked those pictures best.It is still an elusive thing, that steam, and a picture. I guess most good things in life are a bit elusive, but so worth the effort in the end.

Fun with my Camera

Here are some nice nature images to soak up and enjoy...

I apparently like bees....


I tried to catch a goldfinch. They were all over, but didn't like me much no matter how still I stood in the middle of the garden getting stickleburs? all over me....This was all I could get with my telephoto lens on.
I think this one is awesome!! I am really enjoying my new camera. I do need to take some time and learn more and definitely practice more, but I think I'm getting some cool shots so far...

Check It Out!!

Okay...so here's MY picture....

Now go to www.nikonusa.com and when the screen show comes up choose the camera Nikon D90 and compare the pictures!!!! My mom called the other day telling me someone STOLE my picture from the blog!!!


Wow! I knew it was a good picture! At least I thought it was a good picture. I could use it professionally! Ha!

Impromptu Birthday Party

Al's sister, Ann, came home this weekend and for a present for her birthday I made her supper and cake!!! I finally got to use my new Dutch oven table and made that turkey in the Dutch Oven that I was talking about! Yummy yum!


Then, Al's mom, Lucille, made party potatoes and I insisted they go in the Dutch oven because there's nothing like party potatoes in the Dutch Oven!!! Heavenly! Can you tell I like food??
Finally, Emily and I tried to make a Waldorf cake because Ann loves Waldorf cake...Not as easy as it looks and not just exactly as the recipe says. Needless to say, they had to help me make the frosting (because they are pros) and my cookbook has many notes on that page now! But it tasted great and we got to sing happy birthday!!
On a side note, Ann, got that new Canon pictured for her birthday! Be jealous! It's an awesome camera! Can't wait to see some of the pics!!!
Hope your day was great Ann!! Happy ** birthday!!!*smile*

Time Spent

I stayed home from work Tuesday and Casey and I baked an apple cake.




And read this book over and over and over and over and over....

Did I mention that we read Curious George goes to the Hospital?? We know the name of the Doctor and we talk about when we did the things that George does. Every. Time. We. Read. It. I better go out and buy this one and the library won't let me keep it. Will they??

Kites

Monday night Emily has dance class, so Casey and I usually sit and wait in the car because it is in a nearby town and not worth it to drive home only to turn around and drive back to get her. Anyway, Carter, most of the time, wants to go with Dad. This time he wanted to come with me. We brought a kite and headed out to the park.

It was so very windy at home before we left. By the time we got the kite put together and at a park where they weren't having flag football practice, it had died down considerably. In fact, the only thing keeping the kite in the air was our running!!!

We had a nice time together trying to make it work though.

When Emily got out of dance class, she wanted to try too so we headed home and stopped at a park there. This next picture is random. It was taken so that I have a picture of Casey in his "harness" seat belt. And he was looking so cute.
Here's a fun one of Carter. He is actually sitting on top of my van... What I won't do for a good picture!
Emily is blurry, but I thought it was a fun picture anyway.
Finally, Al came and found us at the park and he figured out that I had the kite hooked up wrong, go figure, and he actually got it up in the air. Wind, where are you when we need you??

Monday nights are usually pretty hectic, rushing back from dance and making something to eat and getting ready for bed, etc.
This Monday we forgot about all of that stuff and just enjoyed each other and being outside.