Mr. Z & A.

Mr. Z. and A have a great friendship.  It's fun to watch them interact.  

Mr. Z is full of personality.  He's quite the goofball and usually has us all laughing at something.  Miss A. is very patient and really loves playing with her little brother.  

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I still don't have a lot of words for this blog.  Mostly just snapshots & glimpses into our new lives!

I am really in need of a new title for this blog, though.  If you have an idea, please share!  

American Girl store

When we told the girls we'd be driving through Denver, the first thing Miss M said was, "We can go to the American Girl store!!"  We knew such things existed, but had no idea there was a store in Denver.  

Miss A was super excited because she'd been wanting to get her doll Ruthie's ears pierced for quite some time.  The only way to do that from Orlando would have been to send Ruthie to the "doll hospital" in Wisconsin.  It's quite an adventure for a doll to make such a trip.  Apparently she would have been sent back in a hospital gown with a hospital bracelet on her wrist.  

Miss A's plans were set:  get Ruthie's ears pierced.  Miss M just wanted to wander around and fine something to spend some of her money on.

It was quite an experience:  a store full of beautiful products for these beautiful dolls.

Ruthie headed to the back counter and disappeared into the back room with a worker.  She received a 6-piece set of earrings as part of her ear piercing.

 Ruthie's back!  She looks good.

 

Examining her closely. 

 Miss A is happy.

Miss M enjoyed looking all around before choosing an outfit for her doll.

 

The boys sat down after awhile.

 

But, then Z found a wagon to pull, and he was happy.

 

The doll salon.  Fancy-shmancy!

inspiration

I recently stumbled upon a fabulous blogsite offering a free course on "Finding Your Inner Muse."  It's an inspirational course geared to fellow visually creative-types whether you be a photographer, designer, painter, scrapbooker or crafter of any other medium.  The class is an encouragement to find inspiration in the day to day things around you, in the places that you love and in the things that you love.  As you draw inspiration from those things, your work as a creative person becomes a reflection of who you are, an expression of something true about yourself.  As you get more comfortable doing this, your work eventually becomes YOU because it flows out of your own life and experiences.  

I love, love, LOVED this class.  I think it reminded me why I picked up my camera 6 years ago and began photographing everything and everyone around me with passion.

Because there is something beautiful in even the most mundane moments of life.  If we can just train our eye to see it.  To become aware of it. 

Here are some ordinary, but beautiful moments at my house:  bubbles in the courtyard.  Enjoy!

little miss ballerina

It's ballet week again.  It happens every fall and spring at our house.  Miss A began dancing when she was 3.  I'm not sure I'd start her so young if I had it to do all over again, although it has been a really fun experience, and she still loves it.  I guess I'm probably more relaxed now than I was then.  

Here she is:  a hummingbird.  It's an original ballet called "Reverie" by our fabulous ballet director.  It's and so fun and beautiful to watch!  I always try to take photos on dress rehearsal day rather than on the actual performance night.  We have a little more time at home and generally are more relaxed.

These were taken against a white wall.  The side lighting comes from French doors that are opened just to Miss A's right.

  

You can see the carpet and corner in the top left and below photos which take away from a professional look.  I'd crop those out if I wanted to hang these up anywhere.

And now, for the actual rehearsal photos.  Miss A leads her side of the stage out.

I just love the hummingbird's wings.  They spend a lot of time fluttering them.

 

They turn and stand in position while the other side of the stage enters.

 

Pretty girls!

 

And, now the steps:  passe, passe, tombe, pas de bourre, glissade, jette, glissade, jette....it's all French to me!  (I'm not sure how to add the accents, which actually really bothers me since I was a French major!)

 

The antagonist enters and the girls circle around her.  This is the last of my shots.  

 

I shot them all with my Canon 24-70mm lens at  ISO: 1000, f/2.8, SS:1/100 

If I had it to do again, I'd bump up the ISO so that I could increase my shutter speed a bit.  I don't mind the blurry background too much since I was focused on capturing Miss A, but if I had been taking photos for the entire group, I would have wanted to make sure everyone was clear and sharp which would have required a higher shutter speed.

Looking forward to the actual performance tonight!  Break a leg, Miss A!

last Christmas randomness

I found some random and favorite photos from last Christmas today.  I can't believe how little Z was!  A little baldy.  And, look at all those school projects my girls did that are pasted to the back of our front door.  Classy, I know.

I can barely remember last Christmas.  It's a big blur.  It might have something to do with the fact that I hadn't gotten a full night's sleep in 7 months at that point.  

David and I took a stay-cation while my parents kept the girls.  We took Z and just slept and ate and watched Harry Potter and slept some more.  It was fabulous.

This one was taken on Christmas morning.  I think Z has a crazy gleam in his eye because he wants to grab my camera lens.  I love this photo and his pajamas (both are keepers!)

How different our lives would be without little Z.  I just can not imagine it!  

On a more serious and deeper note, this is the week that little baby O. would have been due, had he been carried to full term.  It would be so bizarre to have another little baby at this point in my life--so bizarre I can not imagine it!  But, there is still sadness at not having met him and not having him here with us.  The sadness does not come very often anymore, though there are still occasional tears, but not as many.  I do look forward to meeting him one day.  I wonder what he looks like?!  It's incomprehensible to think of already having a little person waiting for us in heaven.  Sigh!

I'll leave you with this one of Z and his drooley face.

gingerbread house.

Hello, December!  

It's a good month.  It's the month of festive decorating, fa-la-la-ing, listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas album, sugar cookie baking, Christmas parties, trying to remember the real meaning of Christmas, purchasing gifts, sending out Christmas cards, my birthday...  Whew.  I feel tired just writing all of that down!

I've decided that Christmas in Florida can be just as festive as Christmas in other places, you just have to know where to go and not expect it to feel cold and snowy.  Once you're used to wearing shorts and tank tops all year round, you're much better off.  In fact after 5 years, I just may have acclimatized.  I no longer find myself cursing under my breath at the lack of seasons.  And, I secretly wonder if I'd ever be able to do "cold" again. I'm not saying I wouldn't like a little change of season, but I think I can deal with the weather here now.

So, feeling festive, I let the kiddos decorate a gingerbread house.  Little Z is really getting to be a "poser" for the camera.  Check out his head-tilt!

Miss A is horrified by Z snatching of a piece of candy off the roof.  It was quickly fixed by Miss M.

I can't quite manage to get all 4 of us in the shot anymore.  Almost.

Miss A gets her own photo.

three amigos

It has been an insanely long time since I've posted, and if anyone is still out there reading or checking this blog, I will be highly impressed.  The blog has been put on a back burner for now along with my digital photos which are waiting to be edited and screaming at me to download them from my memory cards.

My photo life is in such a pathetic state, in fact, that the photos you see below may just have to suffice for my kids' portraits this year.  Seven, 18 months and nine, in no particular order.  That would be quite sad, actually. I will have to get on those annual photos--quickly!  

What's on the front burner?  Schooling at home.  We are back to home school this year.  It has taken up most of my mental energy.  What else?  Chasing my toddler.  He's a good boy and at such a fun stage.  He's got his "cheesey" smile on for the camera now-a-days.  And, Jazzercise--it keeps me sane and keeps those good endorphins flowing.  I didn't mention cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping.  Oh, my, it's quite exciting around here.

Thanks for stopping by, whoever is still out there :)

Oh, the title of my post--that's my favorite part of school at home--that I get to see them all enjoy each other, and that they get to be around each other all day.  I guess that can be the worst part too, but most often it's the best part.  Until next time! :) K

dress rehearsal day

Yesterday was dress rehearsal day.  For the fist time in several years, I only had one bun and one face to put makeup on.  It was sure a lot less pressure!  Miss M has decided that ballet is just not for her--she's a beautiful dancer, but just does not love it.  And so now we have one little ballerina in the family.

Presenting our water lilly fairy, Miss A.  

Love this expression.  It's her truly delighted face.  The real smile, the one that only happens when she's filled with joy or tickled pink.  Love it!

We took these photos right after we fixed her hair and make-up.  I asked her to put her costume on for just a minute so that we could snap some photos.  We took, maybe all of 5-10 minutes to snap these.

Twirl, Miss A, twirl!

Notice how the back of her head is in the shadow?  I had some nice side-lighting coming in from an open door just to the right.  The background is just a bare, unpainted wall.  Yes, after 4 years, we still have unpainted walls.  But, I've gotten so used to using this wall as a plain backdrop, I can't imagine it any other color than white! 

My personal favorite from the bunch.

Except for maybe the photo on the right.  It's such a classic Miss A expression.  Sort of like her classic "are you serious?!" face. 

The real deal is on Friday night.  Can't wait to see the performance (again!)

Oh, and if you're wondering, she came up with all these poses on her own.  I just asked her to face the open doorway for me so that her face was in the light, and not in the shadow.