Day 181

Oh wow, it's the last day of June! I'm so glad I started this project though it has taken waaaay more time than I anticipated. One good thing is how much I've learned about photography. I have a new-found passion (like I needed any more, lol) and I've joined i heart faces and Clickin' Moms to learn even more. My photog wishlist has grown by leaps and bounds and I'm now much more critical of my photos (and others too!).

So today was a good day. Since Anna had her surgery last Friday, it's been rough and we've been stuck in the house. She was really feeling a lot better today so I took all the kids (thanks for coming with us, Jenny) to run some errands, then go to the library and rec center. Dominic loves the library and I love watching him pull book after book off the shelf and read to himself. The natural light at the library is terrible so I ended up having to lay on the floor to get a good shot without blurring. I thought it might look neat to make the photo look like it was on canvas but I'm not loving it now that it's done.



There is still so much for me to learn! Thanks for looking!

Day 180

No piccie today!

Day 179

Stormy skies blew through about 8 p.m. this evening. There was enough distant thunder to make Rocky, our old lab, shake and cry, but we got no rain. I did get a good picture of the clouds though!



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Day 178

Anna was feeling a little bit better this afternoon so I let her take her doll outside for just a few minutes. We have a baby swing in the backyard installed just for Anna's dolls and getting this shy, sideways smile from her was a wonderful gift today.



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Day 177

I bought a prime lens in mid-May, a 50 mm, f1.8 D AF, not really knowing exactly how to use it before purchasing. But I'm a hands-on learner and I've been trying to shoot with it almost every day. Unfortunately, most of my shots have been too blurry to use. Here's a big d'oh moment... are you ready? The AF (autofocus) feature doesn't work on my D40 camera body! UGH!!! So I popped it onto Jenny's D90 today and got this shot of Charlie using the autofocus. Wow, look at that DOF!!! Sigh, I may have to think about re-prioritizing my wishlist from a Macbook Pro to a D90. Manually focusing, especially on fast-moving small children, just isn't working out that great!

Charlie is so cute, isn't he???



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Day 176

Anna had surgery today. She had PE tubes put in both ears due to chronic middle ear fluid (but no ear infections) and she had her adenoids removed. She was terribly brave and very scared. It has been a really, really rough day. I hate that she has to go through so much, it breaks my mommy heart.



Thanks for looking and for keeping her in your prayers today.

Day 175

No photo today! I didn't even pick up my camera today!

Day 174

A rare sweet, genuine moment between Anna and Dominic. This photo may be my favorite of the year!



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Day 173

Okay... would you believe that this little guy came literally knocking on my front door this afternoon? What am I? Dr. Doolittle??? He was huuuuuge, at least 3 feet long and quite curious about me. I thought it was very nice of him to strike a post when I pulled out my camera. ;)



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Day 172

Today was Anna's first visit with the new child psychiatrist. He was very nice and was really pleased with how stable she now is on the Abilify. I took this picture in his waiting room. Anna spends so much of her time in doctor's waiting rooms, doesn't she?



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Day 171

I could not get a good picture on Father's Day, grrr. I'm trying to learn more about going manual, shooting in RAW, using my prime lens... but the more I learn, the worse my pictures look. Ha. So I had to use Pioneer Woman's Lovely and Ethereal and Black and White Beauty on this shot to even have a hope of making it salvageable. Eventually I'll get there.



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Day 170

The kids were invited down the street for a kid's bingo night at a neighbor's house. This was shot in their front room on a bean bag chair in front of the window. I did very little editing, the sunlight was so strong. Dominic was so happy to be included in all the fun and Anna did surprisingly well!



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Day 169

Today I took the kids to Zilker Park and as we were sitting in the snack area feeding popcorn to the pigeons, this was our view! Barton Springs. Simply breathtaking!



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Day 168

I took Anna to the rec center yesterday for a little basketball time. She looked so tiny in this huge gymnasium and she kept making shot after shot. She is amazing!



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Day 167

Today I organized a nature walk with some of the neighborhood kids. We have a small stream in our backyard that is full of minnows (three of which are living in a flower vase on my kitchen counter at the moment!) and about 1/2 mile away, there is a beautiful man-made pond. Dominic was so excited to be going, though it was very hot and he was getting tired in this picture. We had such a good time and it helped create more bonding between my kids and the neighborhood kids. What a great childhood memory!



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Day 166

Walking the neighborhood with Anna late this afternoon and I was looking through my lens at common objects. I love how the light way playing across the front of this fire hydrant and snapped a picture. Something about this just grips me... I don't know what it is exactly. Maybe the fact that we overlook it everyday, taking for granted that if we had a fire, it would be there. My daughter's boyfriend is a firefighter and today, I take a moment to say thank you to him and all firefighters.



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Day 165

Ack, the dreaded bathing suit search begins. I hate buying bathing suits... the whole process reminds me of all that I hate about my body, the embarrassment of appearing in public in the hated garment, and the humiliation of squeezing my squishy flesh into these tight contraptions. I did end up buying this top and I found some board shorts that don't make me completely humiliated. What would a day in the life of 2010 be without the bathing suit dressing room shot, right?



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Day 164

Walking through the neighborhood on Sunday, I was struck with the beauty and symbology of these yellow ribbons. This family has a son serving in the Armed Forces and they put them up for Memorial Day. I wanted to honor our veterans by devoting a photo to them. Thank you.



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Day 163

My4Hens is an incredibly talented photographer and Photoshop action queen. She is having a little contest featuring "son-shines"... our sweet little boys who brighten our lives so much.

Calling All Son-Shines!

Of course, I have to enter my sweet boy! For this photo, I did the whole My4Hens treatment... starting with the Photographer's Tool Box, I used her basic editing workflow, soft pop, and eye pop. Then I ran the Total Softy action. Simply stunning! The winning photo will have a boy-themed action set created just from his photo! Thank you for this opportunity, Sarah!!!



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Day 162

My father's mother I called Nanny and she had an affinity for butterflies. When she passed away years ago, I started noticing butterflies more and more. Whenever a beautiful butterfly crosses my path, I think of her, and usually the winged creature will flutter about my head. Today, this huge, gorgeous butterfly visited me and beckoned that I follow. Hi, Nanny.



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Day 161

We spent the afternoon at the park today and Dominic was being a little ham. I used My4Hens' "Watermelon Blues" action to finish off this photo and I love the effect.

You should check out the incredible squirrel pictures I got today too! You can find them on my blog, Elusive Tranquility.



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Day 160

Look what I found in my front yard today!



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Day 159

Gosh it's been a busy week already! Today both Anna and Dominic had their 6-month checkups at the dentist. I had the idea to bring Audrey, Anna's favorite baby doll, with us since she has two teeth sprouting in her chubby little face. Anna got to practice brushing Audrey's teeth in anticipation of her own cleaning and this was by far the best visit yet. She even let the hygienist put gloved fingers in her mouth! Both kids had good checkups and I'm so proud of both of them. (Thank you, Jenny, for giving up part of your day to help me... I love you!)



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Day 158

Today was a follow-up visit with the ENT. He tried a conservative approach to treating Anna's chronic middle ear fluid by prescribing a 3-week course of antibiotics then waiting an additional 3 weeks, but her tympanograms were still flat today. So that means surgery! She will be getting PE tubes and her adenoids out on June 25th. She was pretty good for the doctor and the audiologist today. I'm not sure what she was looking at or thinking about in this photo, but she looks so serious, doesn't she? We had a really rough afternoon and evening, so I'm happy I got at least one good picture of her today.



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Day 157

This is Chris, Jenny's boyfriend, with Dominic. Chris is such a great guy... treats Jenny so well and is a great big brother to both Anna and Dominic. I loved seeing Chris so happy today and it tickled me pink to get such a great picture of "my boys" together. This is almost SOOC... I just lightened the shadows a tiny bit, ran noiseware, and added a bit of pop... I did not touch their eyes at all!



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Day 156

I spent some time playing with my new Speedlight and 50 mm prime lens (that I got for Mother's Day) this afternoon. I liked this shot of Dominic the best and added Paint the Moon's Sea Delight action at the end. He is such a cutie-pie!



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Day 155

Anna and I took a walk around lunchtime to see if any neighborhood kids could come play. The house at the corner with the stunning garden had all of these beautiful yellow flowers in bloom and as I was snapping pictures, I zoomed in to see a teeny tiny inchworm making its way from one flower to another. I used my macro setting and got super close. This worm must've only been 1/2 inch long, it was sooo tiny! I thought this photo might be even prettier with Paint The Moon's new free texture called Timeworn Soft. I like it!



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