Here are a few more of my projects from my photo editing class. It was really a lot of fun and I learned some great new techniques (which is why my blogging has been so delinquent!).
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Fun with photos; part 2
Here are a few more of my projects from my photo editing class. It was really a lot of fun and I learned some great new techniques (which is why my blogging has been so delinquent!).
Friday, July 10, 2009
Fun with photos
I have been taking a photo editing class on line learning some new and fun tricks. It is a two week class, and there are more projects to follow, but here are the first three projects. I was trying to show a friend, but he couldn't see them posted online since you have to be a participant in the class to view the photos. So I decided to post them here.
This photo was taken from Emma's birthday photo shoot a couple weeks back. She is so photogenic and the black and white adds a classic feel to her photo. This was my favorite shot from that afternoon. All I did was convert it to black and white and add the frame and the words. Pretty simple.
Logan has this thing for his rainboots. This picture was taken a few days ago. He is in his jammies tromping around the backyard in his boots. No matter the weather, the kid loves his boots! This one was a bit more complicated, playing with color to create a vintage, hand tinted feel. Then I added the text and the frame. I love the timeless feel to this photo.
This is one of my favorite photos of Cameron. I think I shared the original and it's story before. But in case you forgot...he collected rocks, plants and a fish from our pond and put it all in his wagon. Then he excitedly exclaims that he built a pond just like his daddy. Too cute. This techinque included blending textures and photo masks to achieve this result. I started with the black and white photo in this first one. But then I decided to put some color back in for the second photo. I like the one with color better, I think. Oh, and I added a frame.
This photo was taken from Emma's birthday photo shoot a couple weeks back. She is so photogenic and the black and white adds a classic feel to her photo. This was my favorite shot from that afternoon. All I did was convert it to black and white and add the frame and the words. Pretty simple.
Logan has this thing for his rainboots. This picture was taken a few days ago. He is in his jammies tromping around the backyard in his boots. No matter the weather, the kid loves his boots! This one was a bit more complicated, playing with color to create a vintage, hand tinted feel. Then I added the text and the frame. I love the timeless feel to this photo.
This is one of my favorite photos of Cameron. I think I shared the original and it's story before. But in case you forgot...he collected rocks, plants and a fish from our pond and put it all in his wagon. Then he excitedly exclaims that he built a pond just like his daddy. Too cute. This techinque included blending textures and photo masks to achieve this result. I started with the black and white photo in this first one. But then I decided to put some color back in for the second photo. I like the one with color better, I think. Oh, and I added a frame.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
First and last days of school
I like to take pictures of the kids on the first and last days of school. It's fun to see how they have changed physically over the course of a school year.
Logan was not in school this year, but he was not about to be left out either! He has matured quite a bit in these last few months. We don't have to sneak out on him anymore when we leave him with a babysitter! His vocabulary is amazing, and he speaks clearly so now most people can understand him! He also has learned some of his letters and knows Logan starts with L (he can even write the letter!)
Back in September, I thought Cameron looked so old when I took this picture with his back pack on. Now, compared to the other picture, he looks so little! He has come a long way since September. He came out of preschool knowing how to sit and listen, follow directions, cut, write his name, recognize some letters and know some of the sounds, and draw recognizable pictures. A kindergarten teacher assessed him, and said, even though he's young, he is ready for kindergarten. So come August Cameron starts kindergarten!
Emma has done so well in kindergarten. She learned to read and she reads really well. She got some chapter books for her birthday and she was certain she could not read them. But I convinced her to try, and though there are some hard words, she is doing great! She is a great writer, with neat clean handwriting and so many ideas to fill her pages! Even math comes to her easily. She really enjoys math, working on Briley's homework problems over to the side while Briley was trying to do her math homework!
Briley has really grown in her maturity this year. She has really shown us that she is growing up. Briley loves to read. Boy, does she love to read. And she loves it so much that other areas of her school work fall by the wayside. On her report card her teacher even commented how she would have to tell Briley to put her book away and get back on task! She ended second grade reading at a early 5th grade level. We might have to work on finding a little balance!
Logan was not in school this year, but he was not about to be left out either! He has matured quite a bit in these last few months. We don't have to sneak out on him anymore when we leave him with a babysitter! His vocabulary is amazing, and he speaks clearly so now most people can understand him! He also has learned some of his letters and knows Logan starts with L (he can even write the letter!)
Back in September, I thought Cameron looked so old when I took this picture with his back pack on. Now, compared to the other picture, he looks so little! He has come a long way since September. He came out of preschool knowing how to sit and listen, follow directions, cut, write his name, recognize some letters and know some of the sounds, and draw recognizable pictures. A kindergarten teacher assessed him, and said, even though he's young, he is ready for kindergarten. So come August Cameron starts kindergarten!
Emma has done so well in kindergarten. She learned to read and she reads really well. She got some chapter books for her birthday and she was certain she could not read them. But I convinced her to try, and though there are some hard words, she is doing great! She is a great writer, with neat clean handwriting and so many ideas to fill her pages! Even math comes to her easily. She really enjoys math, working on Briley's homework problems over to the side while Briley was trying to do her math homework!
Briley has really grown in her maturity this year. She has really shown us that she is growing up. Briley loves to read. Boy, does she love to read. And she loves it so much that other areas of her school work fall by the wayside. On her report card her teacher even commented how she would have to tell Briley to put her book away and get back on task! She ended second grade reading at a early 5th grade level. We might have to work on finding a little balance!
A new favorite pastime
Baseball has been America's favorite past time for generations. We have enjoyed watching baseball for some time. And now Cameron and Logan have discovered it as well. I can see our future now...and it involves a lot of Saturdays and baseball diamonds! The boys keep Andy outside daily, for at least an hour playing. And then they play together for a while longer. Cam turns 5 this year so he will be able to play next season. And he is sooooo excited!
Woof 'ems
Woof 'ems are a rather tasty dessert we usually eat while camping. We had all the stuff for woof 'ems that we had brought beach camping with us, but just never got around to making. The girls had a slumber party to go to on this night, and we wanted to do something fun and special for the boys since they were sad they couldn't stay at the party with their sisters. You wrap a raw biscuit around the special roasting sticks and roast it over the coals. When it's cooked you fill it with a pie filling and whipped cream. Yum! This sure distracted the boys from the fact that their sisters were at a party!
Happy Birthday Andy!
Andy celebrated his birthday this month as well. I have been making all kinds of cakes and cupcakes for birthdays and end of year school parties. So I begged Andy to pick anything but cake for his birthday dessert. We had apple pie instead. Yum!
Emma J is 6!
Miss Emma J turned 6 this month! Emma and I have always shared a particularly special bond. When she was an infant, she was needy and clingy, to a point that it bothered me. But because she needed me so much, and still does, a bond was forged between us that is different than what I have with the other kids. Why I tell you this I am not sure, except that it is on my mind as I look at these pictures from her birthday. She finished up kindergarten a few days ago and is moving on to first grade. There is something significant about going in to first grade. She is not little anymore. She is a kid. I didn't cry her first day, but I nearly did on her last day of kindergarten! 
Emma has a sense for style and fashion. So for her birthday, we got her a cosmetic box and filled it with sparkly pony tail holders and head bands, nail polish, shower gel and lotion, and her own silver hair brush. I have never seen her so excited for a gift! Not even her two wheeled bike!
Of all the possible cake designs and colors, all she wanted was a flower cake. I had to search all over the place to find that cake pan, it cracked when I took it out of the pan, and the frosting was almost crunchy because I frosted it while the cake was too hot, but that smile on her face was totally worth it!
Happy Birthday Princess!
Oh, and apparently we have done a good job teaching fire safety. She held her hair back all on her own!
Emma has a sense for style and fashion. So for her birthday, we got her a cosmetic box and filled it with sparkly pony tail holders and head bands, nail polish, shower gel and lotion, and her own silver hair brush. I have never seen her so excited for a gift! Not even her two wheeled bike!
Of all the possible cake designs and colors, all she wanted was a flower cake. I had to search all over the place to find that cake pan, it cracked when I took it out of the pan, and the frosting was almost crunchy because I frosted it while the cake was too hot, but that smile on her face was totally worth it!
Happy Birthday Princess!
Oh, and apparently we have done a good job teaching fire safety. She held her hair back all on her own!
Updates...
on the clean room...
Here we are a month later. I will find a thing here and a thing there. This I can handle. But their room is still more or less spotless. And they have never asked about anything that was given or thrown away. Guess I am not such bad mom after all!
on the little hunter...
He never quits. He comes running in the house, yelling, "I got one! I got one!" He was so excited to catch a lizard. Well, it's a cross between a snake and a lizard and we call it a salamander. But this one was healthy and fast, and he still caught it! He put it in a little cage he has for just such occasions, and brought it in the house. I kept telling him to take it outside before we lost it. Sure enough, the cage door opened and the lizard escaped. The bad news is that it escaped in Cameron's room, and we have yet to see it again. The faithful little guy asked Heavenly Father to help him find his missing salamander so it would not die. The next day, Cam caught another one. I told him it was the one he lost in his room. It snuck outside when we weren't looking. Who knows, it could be true! We still haven't seen the other one, dead or alive in the boys' room!
Here we are a month later. I will find a thing here and a thing there. This I can handle. But their room is still more or less spotless. And they have never asked about anything that was given or thrown away. Guess I am not such bad mom after all!
on the little hunter...
He never quits. He comes running in the house, yelling, "I got one! I got one!" He was so excited to catch a lizard. Well, it's a cross between a snake and a lizard and we call it a salamander. But this one was healthy and fast, and he still caught it! He put it in a little cage he has for just such occasions, and brought it in the house. I kept telling him to take it outside before we lost it. Sure enough, the cage door opened and the lizard escaped. The bad news is that it escaped in Cameron's room, and we have yet to see it again. The faithful little guy asked Heavenly Father to help him find his missing salamander so it would not die. The next day, Cam caught another one. I told him it was the one he lost in his room. It snuck outside when we weren't looking. Who knows, it could be true! We still haven't seen the other one, dead or alive in the boys' room!
Am I biased?
I think this kid is pretty cute. He has this thing for his rainboots, and it just cracks me up. He doesn't care what he wears, as long as he's got his rainboots!
Beach Camping
The long awaited, highly anticipated event finally came! We all look forward to this camping trip all year long. It is a sort of family reunion with Andy's family, with family coming from Utah and Arizona and we all meet at the beach. It is so much fun to camp for a week at the beach. It was cold this year (I am so over that!). But the weather doesn't stop the boys. 
They start at the beach at about 9 or so in the morning and are rather content until we drag them off around 4 or 5. They did this for 5 days straight. (Man, I love this face!)
It was more than I could stand! The girls started about the same time only they want to come back to camp around 1 or 2. Half the fun camping is the cooking. Ok, I don't cook while we camp (well I had to once this year), but I get to make the menu. There is something wonderful and yummy about camp food. 
(mmmm...dutch oven cinnamon rolls!)
Maybe the magic ingredient is the fresh, salty air! Emma had her all school dance concert on the Saturday we left the beach, so she a rehersal during the week. Andy took her to that because he also had a commitment that same night. So I had to cook dinner. I felt so out of my element, but the dutch oven pizza turned out perfectly!
(the campfire for the s'mores came courtesy of Grandmere. She built it the night Andy and Emma were gone. I guess being the mother of 3 Eagle Scouts is not without it's benefits!)
We can't get enough of s'mores in our family! When we went camping as a family when I was a kid, the only dessert we ever had was s'mores. So when I got married and started camping with Andy and other friends, I learned some other really wonderful desserts that can be made while camping. I was so excited for these new yummy recipes! As my kids get a little older and have an opinion about what we have for dessert while camping, they always want s'mores! A timeless classic, I suppose!
One afternoon, while playing on the beach, this seal pup wandered out of the water and plopped down in the sand. He would open one eye occasionally to check out what we were doing, but then go right back to sunning himself. After a few hours of enjoying the sunshine (and the incoming tide covered up the beach), the little guy headed back out to sea.
The best part about camping at the beach is the cousins. Look at all those cousins! And this isn't all of them! They are Andy's cousins, and thus the kids' second cousins and quite a bit older, but they are so great with the kids. They are so kind and patient, playing with the kids at the beach, playing games at camp, riding scooters and bikes, and the kids just love it.
Ty, such a great sport, played frisbee with Cam FOREVER!!!! Thanks Ty! And Cam just ate it up! The kids get to experience a freedom they will probably know no where else. Their cousins watch out for them, so the kids just have to tell us which site they are headed to, and off they go. The one time in their lives they don't have to be only an arm's length from mommy or daddy! I think their freedom makes for a vacation for Andy and I as well! So thank you to all of our amazing family that love our children so much!
Until next year's trip...(the kids are already counting down!)
They start at the beach at about 9 or so in the morning and are rather content until we drag them off around 4 or 5. They did this for 5 days straight. (Man, I love this face!)
It was more than I could stand! The girls started about the same time only they want to come back to camp around 1 or 2. Half the fun camping is the cooking. Ok, I don't cook while we camp (well I had to once this year), but I get to make the menu. There is something wonderful and yummy about camp food. 
(mmmm...dutch oven cinnamon rolls!)Maybe the magic ingredient is the fresh, salty air! Emma had her all school dance concert on the Saturday we left the beach, so she a rehersal during the week. Andy took her to that because he also had a commitment that same night. So I had to cook dinner. I felt so out of my element, but the dutch oven pizza turned out perfectly!
(the campfire for the s'mores came courtesy of Grandmere. She built it the night Andy and Emma were gone. I guess being the mother of 3 Eagle Scouts is not without it's benefits!)
We can't get enough of s'mores in our family! When we went camping as a family when I was a kid, the only dessert we ever had was s'mores. So when I got married and started camping with Andy and other friends, I learned some other really wonderful desserts that can be made while camping. I was so excited for these new yummy recipes! As my kids get a little older and have an opinion about what we have for dessert while camping, they always want s'mores! A timeless classic, I suppose!
One afternoon, while playing on the beach, this seal pup wandered out of the water and plopped down in the sand. He would open one eye occasionally to check out what we were doing, but then go right back to sunning himself. After a few hours of enjoying the sunshine (and the incoming tide covered up the beach), the little guy headed back out to sea.
The best part about camping at the beach is the cousins. Look at all those cousins! And this isn't all of them! They are Andy's cousins, and thus the kids' second cousins and quite a bit older, but they are so great with the kids. They are so kind and patient, playing with the kids at the beach, playing games at camp, riding scooters and bikes, and the kids just love it.
Ty, such a great sport, played frisbee with Cam FOREVER!!!! Thanks Ty! And Cam just ate it up! The kids get to experience a freedom they will probably know no where else. Their cousins watch out for them, so the kids just have to tell us which site they are headed to, and off they go. The one time in their lives they don't have to be only an arm's length from mommy or daddy! I think their freedom makes for a vacation for Andy and I as well! So thank you to all of our amazing family that love our children so much!Until next year's trip...(the kids are already counting down!)
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