spring break

We took the kids for an extended weekend over spring break to Great Wolf Lodge....a huge indoor waterpark. Some friends joined us for part of the time and we had an absolute blast. It's one of the kids' favorite places and
I'm sure we'll return many many times over the next several years!

more photos

I think this week's lesson has been the "most exciting" yet! I've learned so incredibly much during these 5 weeks. You'll see what I've learned by looking at the pictures...fun things with panning and motion blur, depth of field, and framing.....the birth of a fantastic, exciting, new hobby. I love it!

minus one

Matthew lost his first tooth last night! Both he and Ben were late teethers as babies, leaving them late in losing teeth as well. But it happened after weeks of wiggles! He was pretty excited about getting his own visit from the tooth fairy! And not to alarm anyone, but after it came out, he passed out, which he has a tendency to do. Yikes! It was a little alarming for us since it's been almost a year since he last passed out, but he was fine within a few minutes and went off to bed to wait for that special visit. Apparently his nickname fits him....he's a softie like a peach!
here's a shot of his new smile, minus one!

birthday fun

here are some pics from the big day....
she was SO excited to take cupcakes to school to share with her class, and on Friday, Daddy brought home flowers for the birthday girl. Her first flowers from a boy! :-)
She was most excited about the scooter we got her. A pink one, of course. She told me later that she had been thinking that when she was 5 she would want a scooter like the brothers have, and then I got her one!

(she never told me she wanted it and was AMAZED
and convinced that I read her mind!)

Happy Birthday Abby

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

still learning

my latest photography lesson included a portion about depth of field. I have seen those pictures taken, mostly portrait type pictures, of a child or an object, or maybe a flower or something, and the subject is super clear while the background is a blur. I have coveted those photos. The subject just POPS. Well, I learned how!! I am super excited about it and didn't realize exactly what I had discovered until I had my camera out shooting some things for the assignment. I had jotted down where to set each setting, for aperture, shutter, etc. but I didn't really know what I was doing. Afterwards I discovered the application of all those settings and why I produced the shot I produced! My first day shooting in Manual! I have a long way to go, for sure, but I am pretty excited about learning all of this and discovering my camera's capabilities. I was so clueless and SO unworthy of this great camera!
Here's my favorite (I did have a pretty great subject :-) ) shot of my "shallow depth of field" assignment.