Girls Scrapbook Club

Some of the moms in our neighborhood have started scrapbooking on Thursday nights. Our daughters have all been expressing interest in scrapbooking too. One of the moms was kind enough to host a scrapping party for the girls this afternoon. They were all so excited to pick out pictures and do some cutting and pasting! Marc (our hostess's husband) is an amazing cook and surprised the girls with special cupcakes that he decorated just for them. We are going to try to make this a monthly event since they enjoyed it so much.

Action!

Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having with my new camera?! These shots were taken indoors, without benefit of any flash. Pretty cool, huh? Now, I know that some of the action is a bit blurry, but the overall quality is so much better than last year.

And while we're talking about things being better, you should see these 4th grade boys playing basketball! They seem to have grown so much in just one year. Not only are they taller and faster, their skills are so much better. And they're playing on courts with the net at full height. You should see them running plays with screens and their defense is getting really good too. It is so much more fun to watch their games now, not to mention exciting.

My First Newborn Photo Shoot

Today was my first attempt at photographing newborns in an artistic way. This sweet little boy was just one week new, and it was quite an experience! The process to get the pictures takes much longer than expected because of the need to take frequent breaks to allow the baby to eat, or to settle the baby down and get him back to sleep (and keep him asleep when the clothes/swaddle comes off). And then there is the physiological issue of what babies do when they are without a diaper... Regardless of these factors, I'm still really pleased with how the photos turned out. Here is a small sampling of my final results.

Embracing the Spirit of the Woods

There is a wooded area in our neighborhood that has become the location of a fort for the boys. Ryan, Brady and Gavin have been busy building and collecting and imagining for several months now. When Ryan describes it for me, he reminds me of when I was a kid and the fun I would have in the woods with Laura and Susan. They have created a world in their minds similar to the one in Bridge to Terabithia.

Sometimes the slightly older boys will come to play too, but they tend to scoff at the make-believe. Ryan was thoroughly annoyed with Brandon's attitude one time and said, "Look, Brandon. We know this is pretend, but we're having fun. You just need to embrace the spirit of the woods." I was so proud of him for standing up for himself and the other boys. And Brandon has begun to join in with these activities now too.

In this picture they are collecting grenades (pinecones), arrows (sticks) and other weapons for their armory.

A-Maze-ing

We were given this space maze when Ryan was about 2 years old. Kevin's uncle used to work for Back to Basic Toys and someone had returned this item. They usually sell for over $200, and he got it for about $20. Cool, eh? We only pull it out a few times a year since it tends to take up an entire room while it's out, but every time it comes out the kids have so much fun with it. I love it because I make them clean the playroom before I'll set it up! Sometimes it is a playhouse, sometimes they play hide and seek in it, and lately they've been playing a game called "crusher" which involves a group inside the maze crawling around as fast as they can trying to avoid the person (crusher) outside the maze who tries to, well, crush/catch them.

Willing Model.

Baking Brownies

I received a Perfect Brownie Pan as a Christmas gift from Nana this year. The kids were all very excited because they had seen the amazing things this pan could do on its TV advertisements. Then, Olivia and Katy were given personalized aprons from Aunt Melanie this weekend. We have finally finished all of the Christmas cookies, and needed to make something yummy to put into the kids' lunches. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to give the new pan and aprons a try.

We found a new brownie recipe to try on Allrecipes and we were off! The girls did all of the measuring, dumping, egg cracking and mixing with just a little supervision and advice from me. They even managed to crack four eggs without a single shell fragment in the bowl! I gave the brownies a final stir or two and poured the batter into our new pan. (FYI, I followed the advice in the comments section for the recipe and reduced the amount of flour to 1 cup because we like fudgy brownies, not cakey ones).

The recipe had to bake a little longer than prescribed because our pan is a bit deeper than a 9 x 13, but the end result was delish. Ryan commented that they were the best he'd ever had, and that the advertisements were true, they really were soft on the inside and a little chewy on all four sides.

Home Again, Home Again

Happy Birthday, Mandy!

So my sweet, adorable niece, Mandy, is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen! She is pensive, and thoughtful, and gentle in spirit. And thanks to my precious husband, I was able to be in Maryland when she first came home from the hospital, and again this year to celebrate her first birthday.

Of course I had to bring my new appendage toy camera! I took a lot of pictures, as I am currently in the "spray and pray" phase of photography: you know, take a bajillion shots and pray that a few of them turn out. And then study those that turned out to figure out what I managed to do correctly. And for those that didn't turn out quite as I had hoped, play with them in Photoshop to see if I can make them better.

My sister and brother-in-law have seen the originals of these pictures, and I think they can vouch for the fact that I have made them better. Unfortunately I didn't do as well as I had hoped in capturing this event. But I learned a lot, and that's important too.

And one of the things I learned? My sister is an awesome baker! The cupcakes and giant cupcakes she made (from scratch!) were moist and delicious, and the frosting was some of the best I've ever tasted. Go Beth!

Winter Berries

Bella is Bella

When we got Bella almost a year ago, she was a cute little kitten, but her markings weren't that special and she was rather scrawny looking. She really didn't live up to the meaning of her name, but in the name of Twilight, I pushed for  suggested that name anyway. In a way, she reminded me of the little kitten that the very old man and the very old woman from Millions of Cats adopt at the end of the book. Well, just like that kitten, Bella has grown into herself and has some really beautiful, distinctive markings. And she is just as sweet, and diminutive as the kitten in the book. She's my little shadow who jumps her upper body up to meet my hand when I bend down to stroke her. She has earned a special spot in all of our hearts.

Before the Cut

We took Ryan to get his hair cut today, so I convinced him to let me take a few pictures before it got neatened up. I actually like it this length but it drives Kevin nuts. This is another one of those photos where I applied the color popping technique. I think I like the technique, but wish it didn't leave the skin looking quite so washed out. Have to see if there's some way to do this while leaving the skintone more intact.

By the way, while I play around with the camera and such, I would really love any input about the results--do you like techniques used or should I not fiddle so much? That kind of stuff. Feel free to be brutally honest, please. Perhaps I should post before and after pics? In advance, thanks!

Willing Model

Olivia is having fun with my new camera and keeps asking me to take her picture.  And she lost another tooth.

Being Artsy

Alright, so not only am I playing around with my new toys, I'm also playing with Photoshop. Apparently this technique is all the rage in portrait photography right now (the washed out color with popped eyes, not holding a cat's tail). I do like how it makes her eyes look, but not sure about the overall appearance. I'll keep playing with it though. The picture is just Katy being silly after dance class this afternoon. I asked her to show me a dance pose, but Midnight walked by and this is what she did instead. Gotta love that sense of humor.

Bokeh, Baby!

Bokeh: a photography term referring to a part of an image being fuzzy or out of focus. It is used to refer to the effect of shallow depth of field that creates a pleasing blur of color behind the subject. The type of lens and the depth of field play a large part in determining how out of focus the area is and whether or not it creates a pleasing effect in the image.

I'm finally taking some pictures (153 in the past two hours, but who's counting?). It's really fun. And I'm playing with all the settings, but I'll be honest I have no idea which settings I used from one picture to the next. Some of them turned out really nicely, and others, not so much. So next I need to start playing with purpose: taking a variety of pictures with certain settings so that I can review what is and isn't working (ISO settings, white balance settings, aperture and shutter speed and all the things I don't even know to be reviewing yet!

But for today, I'm enjoying the beautiful bokeh that is so easy to get with this camera, and the crispness of the portion of the images that I focused on. And the fact that I am getting amazing shots without needing to use any flash--loving the natural light.

And now it's time to go play some more. And maybe eat something.

The Rest of My Life

There's a quote from When Harry Met Sally that sums up how I've been feeling for the past 6 weeks: "when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." Okay, it's not entirely accurate, I've already known who I want to spend the rest of my life with for some time now. But I did realize what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing as far as a career is concerned, and waiting for that to start has felt interminable.

When January 1st finally rolled around and I could make the purchases (gotta maximize those tax deductions!), I felt giddy. But then there was the wait for them to start arriving. My camera bag came on Wednesday. My lenses came on Thursday. And my new baby came on Friday. But then I had to wait for the battery to charge. And then I realized that I didn't have a memory card--it supposedly shipped on the 3rd, but I was notified on the 6th that my order had been cancelled because they were out of stock. Huh.

So today, all of my stuff was ready. Today was the day that I could finally start to play. I'm embarrassed to say that I found the prospect thoroughly overwhelming. Just look at that monster! It's a really big camera. And it's got so many buttons and knobs and screens and things that I don't understand. So I sat, and read my manuals, and looked at it, and couldn't bring myself to actually take a picture. Lame. I know.

I guess the rest of my life can start tomorrow, because tomorrow I WILL pick it up and start shooting.

Mommy Playdate

What better way to kick off the weekend than with a Mommy Playdate? Ryan was outside playing with his friends, and Barbara came over with Mia, Carly and her new Scrabble board. None of the other mommies in the neighborhood were available to play (until Allyson showed up a little later). We enjoyed some wine, snacks, Scrabble and laughs, all while waiting for the UPS man to show up with my new toy...

Evening Dash

Katy helped get drinks ready for dinner tonight. She loves taking the drink orders and then preparing what was requested. And I think she only licked the chocolate off of her own spoon, but I can't be certain about that!

After dinner, we piled into the van and headed back up to the school for the Science Fair awards ceremony. We received a call from the school this afternoon letting us know that Ryan was one of the top three students for the fourth grade. Not bad considering there were over 180 entrants. He was thoroughly embarrassed when I rushed up to snap a picture, and refused to look over at me.

Baby Book

Olivia's teacher is getting ready to go on maternity leave next week. She'll be back in March, and plans to stay active with lesson planning during her leave. The teacher's assistant will still be in the classroom, so a level of continuity will be maintained for the kids. We are planning a small shower for her on Friday, and one of the gifts is a scrapbook that I am putting together from her students. Each child was given several writing prompts from which to choose, (When I was a baby I liked... or The best thing to do if a baby is crying is... or If babies could talk they would say...). Today I took pictures of each of them holding a babydoll which will go on their page along with their sage advice. In addition to her advice to give a baby lots of love, Olivia commented that she thinks her teacher's new baby will be very cute. I'm sure he will be too, but not as cute as my sweet girl!

Just in Time

I have always been a procrastinator when it comes to projects, and have tried to instill better habits in my children. Generally, I've been successful, but this particular project that spanned the Christmas season was an exception. There was just so much else going on throughout December, that I didn't stay on top of Ryan to get it completed earlier. Oh, and there was the issue of our not purchasing him the sugar cubes until two days ago that may have had an impact. But the project is done, just in time to be turned in by tomorrow's deadline.

While helping him to get the numerous photos into smaller formats, he commented "Mom, I really appreciate what you're doing for me." Without any prompting from me or Kevin. I was floored, and touched, and made to feel worthwhile with that one little heartfelt sentence. If only they understood how something so little means so much.

ETA:
Ryan won 2nd place for the entire 4th grade in the science fair! We are so proud! And is it bad to say thoroughly surprised?

Getting Ready

I am so excited about launching this photography business! I am spending ridiculous amounts of time going to other photographer websites to get ideas about what I do and don't want to include in mine. And then there's the time spent in Photoshop trying to design a logo. I've registered my domain name and gotten it linked to the host site and have set up a custom e-mail account, and purchased a book about HTML and CSS so that I can hopefully design my website myself rather than having to pay someone else to do it for me. I've spent countless hours researching cameras and lenses and figuring out what do I have to have to get started and weeding out those things that I'd like to have but that can wait until I'm making some income. My gear has been ordered and should all be starting to arrive by the end of this week! Oh, and I have my first newborn client--Olivia's teacher. I've offered to photograph her baby for free in exchange for allowing me to use any good pictures I happen to take in my portfolio. So excited to see where this career will take me and my family, and having a hard time waiting for it to start already!

Science with an Ulterior Motive

All students in the 4th and 5th grades are required to submit a project for the Science Fair. Ryan has been talking about his project for over a month and we finally bought the sugar cubes today so that he could complete the testing. He wanted to see what effect temperature, agitation and acidity would have upon the rate of dissolution of a sugar cube. Cool, right? But as soon as we got the sugar cubes open, the real reason for his decision to conduct this experiment became apparent as he began begging to "please let me eat just one!"

Extracted

Olivia got a DS for Christmas along with a game that has allowed her to adopt and train several puppies. She hasn't complained about being bored once since she got it. Guess she knew what she was talking about.

A New Year, A New Project 365

It's a new day, it's a new year, and it's a new Project 365. I can't wait to see where this year takes us, and I welcome you to join our family's journey. And what better way to begin a new year than with a well-organized garage? There are also all new shelves on the wall to the left. Kevin's favorite part? So many shelves are completely empty! What a great feeling to know there is some room to grow, if needed.

I Did It!

Zirkle Project 365 is complete for 2009! I can not believe that a whole year has passed since beginning this endeavor. Time has a way of flying by, but I'm enjoying reliving the minutiae of the year as I review the pictures that I've taken.

And now it's time to evaluate the project as I gear up to do it again in 2010 (hey, that rhymes):

• I love my results, and feel as if my photography skills have really improved over the past year, but the pictures and accounts seem to be a bit one-dimensional since nearly all of the pictures were taken by me and all of the updates were written by me. In 2010, I plan to give the camera to other family members more often and have them supply the written update to correspond with their pictures.
• I need to make sure that I get the pictures posted more frequently, because doing more than a week's worth of pictures at a time is really overwhelming. And I also need to recognize that posting the updates on a daily basis is just not realistic. So, continue posting each day's picture and update, but perhaps every 3 days, instead of daily or weekly or (ahem) monthly.
• More reader input would be greatly appreciated! See a picture that you really like? Leave a comment! Did a post crack you up? Let me know! It is so much easier to keep up with this type of a task if I know that folks are reading it.

Thanks to this project, I have been inspired to turn my passion for photography into a business, so be looking for some updates about that in future posts. I can't wait to take a picture of my new camera!

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year with our neighborhood friends at the Christiano's house. The kids came too for a fun night of games, karaoke, and general frivolity. We're not talking about the table though. Sigh.

Necessary Mess

Kevin has been frustrated with the shelving in our garage for some time now. So now he is building new shelves that will get a lot of stuff off the floor, allowing more room for bikes and scooters. Of course, before new shelves can go in, everything needed to come off the old shelves. Seemed like a perfect excuse for me to get all of our Christmas decorations put away since all of the tubs were already down. We're both looking forward to starting the new year with the house cleaned up and a bit more organized.

Gaming with Gram

One of the girls' favorite new games is Parchesi. Gram was patient enough to play it with them four times during her visit with us. That's saying a lot because the game is not a fast one, and they can get a little distracted after the first 30 minutes of play. Today's game followed a fun girls day of shopping with lunch at Panera while Kevin and Grandad started work on new shelving in our garage.

Devoured

Baking with Nana

Nana brought a new recipe with her for old-fashioned pound cake. It required sifting the flour three times! She had a special cake pan shaped like a circle of Christmas trees and she sprinkled the finished cake with powdered sugar and red and green sprinkles to make them look like they had been decorated with snow. It was so pretty, and the cake was quite tasty.