Love That Shot: Reflections

Photo SOOC

 Every time someone tells me how sharp my photos are, I assume that it isn't a very interesting photograph.  If it were, they would have more to say.  ~Author Unknown

I didn't have the intention of falling in love with photography, I bought a new camera for my computer illustration class, in hopes to trace over images (because I cannot draw). Once I discovered manual mode, I was hooked. For a while I was obsessed with copying other peoples style, what was cool on the web, must be what I should do, but I quickly learned that looking at other photographs for inspiration all the time was not being yourself. I do not want to be a copy of other peoples work, so slowly I am developing my own style. The above quote is one of my favorites. I do not want people to tell me how sharp and focused my photos are, I would rather them look at the photos for the moments they represent. Anyone can master the technical details of photography, just go pick up a book or take a class. It takes a true artist to capture a moment that's worth remembering. Capturing the personality behind the eyes of a child, not just a perfectly focused picture of a child. Capturing those moments. I live for those, and my style is slowly developing as my own, not a copy of everybody elses...and I guess that's how I have always been. I have never followed the mainstream, and I probably never will. I am not the type to care what others think, and it saddens me to see those people who are such a slave to everyone else. Such a slave to appearances, I wish they would just break free. (Here is where I would normally burst into a warbly rendition of Free Bird, but that bothers my teenager, and she isn't around, so I will save it for later when I can really get under her skin:)

P is for Preschool

This year Mimi will be four, my sweet little Mimi beans, or Mimi Skies or one of the zillion other names she has...ok, I exaggerate.... there are less than 10 nicknames (I think). I have struggled with the decision to put her in preschool or let her stay home with me, and after much debate, I decided that next year, she will be in school full time, and since she is my baby, I will keep her at home for as long as I can. But, I realize the importance of certain pre-K skills such as letter recognition and cognitive learning skills. I am in the process of developing my own pre school curriculum with the help of the blogosphere. I am hoping for a semi structured program of about 2 hours a day 4 days a week with breaks for snacks and outdoor play.

So, yesterday I pulled out all of our homeschool leftovers, and plowed through it all (and made a HUGE mess in the process) and dug out the preK and Kindergarten workbooks and materials. I still have a lot to go through (particularly the art supplies) but here is the start of our little school. 

 The upper cabinets house most of the workbooks and hands on activities, top left I have our reading rods (the green and yellow notebook), alphabet and number games, memory games, scrabble apple for letter learning activities, and a fun game (a bit too old for her yet). The bottom shelf of the cabinets holds a huge pile of file folders for file folder games (link to the site below). Alphabet and sight word flash cards, our beloved Bob books (pre reader collection). Kindergarten art, science, phonics, history workbooks which can be whittled down to her level. ABC books, and one of my favorite books called "Fun with Mommy and Me".

The drawer below holds our "colors" watercolor paint, markers, colored pencils and crayons (as well as a random glue stick, lol). I am in the process of restocking and organizing our art cabinet that is going to be a chore and a half!  Pictures to come when its all finished.

Here are some of the blogs/websites I currently use and plan on using in our curriculum. 

http://filefolderfun.com/

This website has hundreds of file folder games and activities from preK up till 5th grade. My kids all love these games and activities.

http://www.ourpreschoolhomeschool.blogspot.com/

Lots of useful information here, including free printable lesson plans.

http://www.savvysource.com/

Very well laid out with lots of information and activites for preschoolers

And one of my favorites:

http://www.oneprettything.com/

Not really preschool related, it is a craft roundup, they however feature a "kids craft roundup" with links to blogs with children's crafts, lots of fun things to do there!

If I had all day I would list them all, however there is not enough time in the day:) I can't wait to start our little school up, and Mimi is excited as well. See: 

Her face says it all:) 

Stay tuned until Fall.....

Black and White Wednesday

I love this photo of my flower child, she looks so mischievous with that quirky grin. The original is a bright vivid photo with a hot pink background that brings out the red in her strawberry blonde hair. I'm kind of digging the black and white, it brings out the platinum in her hair. Oh, her hair, it is sooo beautiful and I am slightly jealous, it's not one boring color, it's about 15 colors all woven together, it resembles sunshine, just like her personality. What I am not digging about the black and white, it hides an explosion of to die for freckles. Head on over to The Long Road to China for more fabulous B&W Wednesday photos!

Love that Shot: Storytime:)

 My story is one of love, courage, bravery, commitment and pride. It is the story we as military wives live every day. I had the pleasure of photographing this Marines homecoming from his first deployment and recording a precious moment in this family's lives, the day daddy came home. In honor of Independence Day, so we don't forget the REAL reason we get to enjoy our long weekend, fireworks and BBQ's. These men and women give everything for you, thank a serviceman or woman (and their significant others and children!!) this 4th of July:)


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The Military Wife
The good Lord was creating a model for military wives and was into His sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared. She said, "Lord, you seem to be having a lot of trouble with this one. What's wrong with the standard model?"
The Lord replied, "Have you seen the specs on this order. She has to be completely independent, possess the qualities of both a father and mother, be a perfect hostess to four or forty with an hour's notice, run on black coffee, handle every emergency imaginable without a manual, be able to carry on cheerfully, even if she is pregnant and has the flu, and she must be willing to move to a new location ten times in seventeen years. And, oh yes, she must have six pairs of hands!"
The angel shook her head, "Six pairs of hands? No way.
" The Lord continued,"Don't worry, I will make other military wives to help her. And I will give her an unusually strong heart so it can swell with pride in her husband's achievements, sustain the pain of separations, beat soundly when it is overworked and tired, and be large enough to say, 'I understand' when she doesn't and say 'I love you', regardless."
"Lord," said the angel, touching his arm gently. "Go to bed and get some rest.You can finish this tomorrow."
"I can't stop now," said the Lord. "I am so close to creating something unique. Already this model heals herself when she is sick, can put up six unexpected guests for the weekend, wave good-bye to her husband from a pier, a runway or a depot, and understand why it's important that he leave."
The angel circled the model of the military wife, looked at it closely and sighed, "It looks fine, but it's too soft."
"She might look soft," replied the Lord. "But she has the strength of a lion. You would not believe what she can endure."
Finally the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Lord's creation. "There's a leak," she announced. "Something is wrong with the construction. I am not surprised that it has cracked. You are trying to put too much into this model."
The Lord appeared offended at the angel's lack of onfidence."What you see is not a leak," He said. "It's a tear." "A tear?" What is it there for?" asked the angel.
The Lord replied, "It's for joy, sadness, pain, disappointment, loneliness, pride and a dedication to all the values that she and her husband hold dear."
"You are a genius!" exclaimed the angel.
The Lord looked puzzled and replied, "I didn't put it there."

Love that Shot: Beautiful Bokeh

Love That Shot Link Up: A touch of Whimsy

I'd Love to Be a Fairy's Child

by Robert Graves

Children born of fairy stock

Never need for shirt or frock,

Never want for food or fire,

Always get their hearts desire:

Jingle pockets full of gold,

Marry when they're seven years old.

Every fairy child may keep

Two strong ponies and ten sheep;

All have houses, each his own,

Built of brick or granite stone;

They live on cherries, they run wild

I'd love to be a fairy child.

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Sorry for the repeat post, but I wanted to link this to Love That Shot. They are having a huge giveaway over there to celebrate their birthday:)
 This is Flower Child having a fairy tea party with our fairy dog Mia:) (Dog's can be fairies right?). The neighbors thought we were crazy when we set the whole yard up, but it was totally worth it:)

I Heart Faces: A Touch of Whimsey

I'd Love to Be a Fairy's Child

by Robert Graves

Children born of fairy stock

Never need for shirt or frock,

Never want for food or fire,

Always get their hearts desire:

Jingle pockets full of gold,

Marry when they're seven years old.

Every fairy child may keep

Two strong ponies and ten sheep;

All have houses, each his own,

Built of brick or granite stone;

They live on cherries, they run wild

I'd love to be a fairy child.

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The theme over at I Heart Faces this week is A touch of whimsy. This is Flower Child having a fairy tea party with our fairy dog Mia:) (Dog's can be fairies right?). The neighbors thought we were crazy when we set the whole yard up, but it was totally worth it:) BTW click on the button below to check out other fabulous entries at iheartfaces.com

This Moment

Inspired by SouleMama. A single photo, no words, capturing a moment from this week.

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Self Portrait; June 2011

Through the Looking Glass

Once a month I plan on posting a self portrait. If you know me at all, you know how much I HATE having my photo taken. However, looking back at my photos over the years, once I started having children, I stopped letting people take my photo. That's not fair to my kids, they need photos of their mom for when I am no longer around or so I'm told, so as much as I hate it, this project is for them. This photo was taken with a remote, in my bedroom looking into my 1920's Vanity, although I didn't manage to get any of it into the frame this time:(

I Heart Faces: Yellow (blog move)

Someone told me there's a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.
Took my chances on a big jet plane, never let them tell you that they're all the same.
The sea was red and the sky was grey, wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today.
The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
as the children of the sun began to awake. ~Led Zeppelin~


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 She is my sunshine, my baby, my littlest girl..She is full of giggles and smiles and mischief and fire. I watch her grow older day by day and wish so badly she would stay...This photo sums up her personality...a picture is worth a thousand words...I get it.......

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Bubbles

Sometimes I can convince my teenager to be silly, oh who am I kidding, me and her act silly all the time. My Romeo says that us together is like watching Beavis and Butthead....does anyone remember that show? Anyone? Did I just give away my age? If you don't remember, it was waaaay back in the day when Mtv still had videos on 94% of the time, the shows generally came on late at night. There was Daria, Aeon Flux and of course Beavis and Butthead, ironically, King of the Hill was a spinoff of sorts of a character in Beavis and Buthead, lol.
Anywho, today, I wanted a silly picture, to enter in the Pioneer Woman photography assignment, you know, the one me and 25 zillion other people enter because Ree is funny, and charming and gives away shiny prizes to the winners of her assignments. SO, I handed J a pack of bubblicious and said, go for it....I really think the color brings out her eyes....don't you??