Archive for the “Picture” Category

Several months ago, I shared with you that I lost my beagle boy.   Losing Alvin, left us with one remaining dog, Murray. I told you about a few of his quirks here.

Well, for as long as Murray has been a part of our lives, he has always had another dog in the house to be his playmate.  So, when Alvin was gone – Murray became pretty depressed.  He started clinging to me more than usual.  He was eating more than usual.  He reacted differently when we came home from a trip to the store.  Basically, he just wasn’t himself.  I think he didn’t A) know how to be an “only” dog, and B) was really lonely.

So, I did some searching on petfinder.com to see if I could find him a playmate.  I really wanted another beagle, because their temperament seems to do well with children, they’re dog-gone cute, and relatively small.

I came across several dogs in our area – one in particular stood out.  A petite little girl that was in the same shelter that was once Murray’s home.  We made plans to go look at her. We took the boys with us to make sure she would behave with children.  We also took Murray to make sure she was not aggressive toward other dogs.  She passed both tests with flying colors and voila – we came home with a new dog.

Macie at home in my lap.

Since then she moved right in and made herself at home.  For the first couple of days, all she did was sleep.  She didn’t seem to be feeling well.  After a quick trip to the vet we found out she had Kennel Cough.  Once she had some meds, she perked up into a lively little spitfire.  Now she only stops for a brief snuggle before finding something to get into.

Macie snuggled on the couch.

Murray and Macie snuggled together in the sunlight.

I had forgotten that one habit that many beagles enjoy is digging.  Luckily, the place she is most fond of digging is in a barrel.  I figure if she’s gotta dig, that’s a great place because at least it has a bottom and she doesn’t tear up the yard.

Macie caught in the act.

"It wasn't me, Ma!"

I try to scold her, and she tries to tell me that she didn’t do it.

"Murray, did it! It wasn't me!"

But with a face like this, she gets away with just about anything.

A couple of weeks ago, I looked out my back window and saw this guy.  I was fascinated and creeped out all at the same time.   So, I opened the window and removed the screen so I could zoom in and get these shots.

He reminded me of the old Kermit song, “It ain’t easy being green.”

My photography class wrapped up last night.  (Yay! I can finally mark something off of my Resolutions list!!!)

I had a great time in the class.  I love that I finally know how to operate my camera in Manual mode rather than Automatic.  As the instructor says, “Now you’re taking the picture instead of the camera taking the picture.”  Which is a cool feeling, except that I also realize that makes me responsible for the bad pictures, too.

Here’s some of my class work:

Metering a light object

Metering a dark object (with a plug for our family friends at Circle S Vineyards, if you’re in Houston go see Uncle Dave. )

My favorite, playing with the f-stop to blur the background.  It’s like erasing all the busy distractions from the background, so that the focus is on one simple thing.  I’d love it if I could figure out how to do that in my day-to-day life.  Imagine how peaceful life could be if you could tune out the neighbor’s barking dogs, the children arguing over who knows what, the general noise that just seems to takes over.

More with the f-stop

Blurred Action vs. Stop Motion

So that’s what I learned in a nutshell.  Now, I probably can’t explain it or teach it to anyone yet.  But I’ll get there – slowly but surely – I’ll get there…

After much drama, a few tears, more drama, bribery of an ice cream sundae dinner, a bit of drama, and the blessings of a wonderful babysitter, and oh, did I mention the drama???    We are finally missing one tooth.

Cropped but straight out of camera

Cropped and applied PW Action Fresh and Colorful

Spent a little bit of time playing with photoshop this afternoon.  I found Ree’s (The Pioneer Woman) Photoshop actions and fiddled with them.  They didn’t dramatically change the pictures, but they now have a little extra punch to them. I think I’m in love. 

Cropped but straight out of camera

Cropped and applied PW Action Fresh and Colorful

We laughed, we played, we swam – then we came in to change clothes so we could fix supper. Well, some of us changed clothes – Tigger fell asleep on the floor before he could even get his swimsuit off.

At least he had a good time playing…

Yeah, I’m kind of surprised, too.

I mean, just last week, he was hogging down birthday cake.

And showing all the girls how smoooooooooth he was.

Then, when he turned 6 (the same age Woody is this year – goodness, I’m getting old…) we began to notice that my brother had some, um – shall we say, special qualities…

He was blessed with a “superstar” fashion sense,

and some killer sports skills. (notice the tongue)

But deep down inside, we all knew he was just a cute cuddly kid.

Who loved his dinosaurs so much, that I had to sing “Kum-By-Yah” when one of them had to be “retired” to the cedar chest.

But still – he had that “superstar” fashion sense.

And some super cool dance moves.

We all knew he could grow up to do anything he wanted. He could be a king.

or one of those cool dudes hanging out in the hot tub,

or a farmer,

or even the President of the United States.

But instead, he decided to become the King of Tex-Mex, and hang out with his super cool wife.

Today, he still has that cool “superstar” fashion sense,

but he’s learned some other skills along the way. He knows how to laugh,

and how to have fun.

But most of all, he knows how to be a loving husband, doting father, and generally, just a great guy.

Happy Birthday, Baby Brother! I love you!

Earlier this week, I saw an advertisement for a new hourly drop-in childcare facility. The ad stated they were having an open house this weekend, and that everyone could drop in to check the place out. And, since I’m in desperate need of sitters from time to time, I figured I’d take the boys and check it out.

It was a very cool place. The set up was fantastic – essentially, no walls, but lots of “center” type activities and a huge array of things for the kids to do. Of course, Woody and Tigger were immediately drawn to the Arts and Crafts area. While they were there, they had the luxury of having their faces painted. Oh the joy. I’m not quite sure why they chose Spider man faces, since they have never actually seen a Spider man show. But they had lots of fun showing off to anyone who would look at them…

When we got home they chose to play outside with their painted faces. I sure got some strange looks from folks as they drove by!

Woody opted for the “full face” Spider man look.
While Tigger chose the more subtle, “eyes only” Spider man look.

Yep, my boys are just your everyday super heroes…

Hubby has just won the “Husband of the Year” award, well, okay, not really, but he could have. He surprised me with my Christmas present a few days early…the super cool software program Adobe Photoshop CS3.

I followed some pretty simple instructions and figured out how to make eyes “pop.” I also figured out, after playing around with some of the tools, how to remove dirt and drool, and how to saturate the color of Tigger’s lips.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to hire a maid, governess, and chef to take over the house and children for me, because learning this software is going to be a full-time job. But, but, but… IT IS REALLY COOOOL!

I have a confession to make… I have a new love. It’s my new digital SLR camera.

I asked Hubby Santa for a dSLR for Christmas. Hubby Santa decided that he wanted me to have it early so I could learn how to use it, so I could take pictures at Christmas. (Goodness, he’s a great man!)

We purchased it Thursday, and I it has been in my hands most of my waking hours since then…I love this thing. I still have lots to learn, but I have already been able to take some really great shots.

Oh, am I in love!