Happy Fall Y'all!

Where Does the Time Go?

Yesterday our little boy turned 12 years old. Aaron and I can't believe we are the parents of a TWELVE YEAR OLD now! It doesn't seem like all that long ago we were that age ourselves. Austin is such an awesome kid and Aaron and I are just so proud of him. We enjoy him so much (except when he teases the heck out of his sisters) and have really been admiring what a smart, responsible, good humored, mature, respectable young man he is. I think typically this is supposed to be a rough age (or maybe that's just for girls) but Austin seems more mellow, even tempered, confident and comfortable with himself than ever before. He is sooo excited about being twelve, about going to Junior High, about going to Mutual (youth group) and about the new activities he gets to be a part of and that excitement is rubbing off on me. I think I feel just as excited for him to do these things as he is to do them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN!!! YOU ROCK!!!

Man Oh Man...

Last night Aaron managed to make it home before dark and I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of him as he flopped down on the lawn to enjoy the evening. WHAT??? Is that an actual smile I see on his face? Aaron has been very supportive of my new photography obsession. So supportive, he even gave a rare smile for the camera.
Then he quickly replaced it with this face. This face we see quite often. It's his "staring into space, thinking about work" face. I know when I see this look on his face he is thinking about all the people he needs to call, the estimates he needs to give, the bids he needs to break down, the material he needs to order, the delivery trucks he needs to unload, the fences he needs to build, and the bills he needs to pay. When all those thoughts get to be too much, this "deep in thought" face is replaced by this face...
Who can blame him??? Just looking at that last face makes me exhausted!

Just to Brighten Your Day...

Photo 101

It's been a fun week. Last Wednesday I started an online photography class that will help me learn how to use my camera manually instead of shooting in automatic mode. At first I was a little overwhelmed and began second guessing my ability to do this photography thing but the more pictures I took, the more I seemed to "get it". Of course there is so much more to learn but after a week of carrying my camera around and taking pictures of everything in sight, I feel like there is hope. Our first lesson was on shutter speeds. If you use a fast shutter speed you freeze action. If you use a slow shutter speed you blur the action. Click on the photo and you can see that by using a fast shutter speed, I was able to freeze the motion of the water fountain. By slowing the shutter speed, the motion becomes blurred.

Frozen. Blurred.

Another thing that made this assignment interesting is the fact that the people in these photos are complete strangers and I had to step out of my comfort zone and ask permission to photograph them. Not an easy thing for me to do. It really surprised me how enthusiastic people were about having their picture taken. Everyone I asked was more than willing to show off for the camera and it was such a "high" for me to play photographer.

Look Ma, No Hands!

Over the weekend Amanda, Lauren and their friend Hannah decided to up their bike riding skills and learn to ride with no hands. After a bit of practice Amanda became a pro. She could even go around the corners without touching the handle bars. Lauren learned to let go of the bars with one hand which was a huge accomplishment for her. You don't know how many family bike rides we've been on where we all had to stop because Lauren needed to scratch her nose. I admire the girls for bravely attempting this new feat. Riding a bike with no hands is not a skill I could ever force myself to acquire. Believe me, you couldn't pry both my hands off the bars if you tried.

Hello There!

I guess it's time to check in and let you know that I'm still alive. It's been what, ten days now since my last post? I don't know what got into me. Actually, part of it is that I have really been cutting down on my computer time and trying to be more productive in the real world. I suddenly realized how much time I was wasting sitting at the computer getting lost in cyberspace and decided that needed to change. Since then I have been re-organizing, cleaning, painting the girls rooms, and trying to spend more quality time with the kids.

As I mentioned, last week I painted the girls bedrooms. Amanda's is a beautiful aqua blue/ green. It's a very peaceful, restful color and I am very happy with it. Lauren wanted me to paint her room lime green. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong shade. It is so insanely bright you feel like you need sunglasses on to enter the room. When the door is closed, there is a green glow emanating from the crack below. Lauren loves it. I hate it. The vibrant, nauseating, eye assaulting green must go. This week I will be repainting. I will still go with a lime green, just a much more muted shade. Wish me luck. When I get the painting done and finish decorating their room, I'll post picture for you all to see.