May 31: Day 144

The kids had a great time making me a delicious meal with their play kitchen. This is the mess that was the result.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

May 30: Day 143

We held our Annual Baseball & Barbecue with our neighbors yesterday and had a blast despite the gray weather. This was the first year that Ethan really understood that we were playing a game and he LOVED it as you can tell by his face below. He sat on my lap while I edited the RAW images and narrated the whole thing. That boy loves to play ball! I have a ton of baseball photos I'll share with those who participated. If you want an invite to the Snapfish Album when it's ready send me your email address.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/800 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

May 29: Day 142

We met my Mom in Amity yesterday afternoon so that she could take the kids for an overnight visit. We've left the kids with my Mom before, but never for no real reason but it was nice to get a break! We waited about 10 minutes in the car before my Mom met us so I took some photos to kill the time. I love this one of Grace because she was making a silly face at me and suddenly spotted Grandma and her whole face lit up!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 56 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

May 28: Day 141

In honor of my daughter's last day of preschool I decided this would be a good photo of the day. I tried to get a few photos of her at preschool when I dropped her off and picked her up but she wasn't interested in taking pictures. Of course she never is! This is the row of coat hooks in her classroom.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 33 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

May 27: Day 140

We made the world's best sugar cookies this afternoon to bring to the Indoor Park End of Year Luau Party tomorrow. Of course we had to sample one apiece! I took this photo in my favorite spot in the kitchen in about 30 seconds because that's all the longer he was willing to sit still. With the amount of sugar in these cookies it's no surprise!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

May 26: Day 139

I took this photo while waiting in line for a Dutch Brothers iced Annihilator right after picking my daughter up from preschool and driving up to Portland. I was about 3 cars back and had my camera next to me so of course I took about 50 photos before it was my turn to order. Just be glad I spared you the terrible self portrait I took in my rear view mirror. Yikes!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

May 25: Day 138

I used to think deer were cute timid creatures. And then we moved to our home in a subdivision and discovered that deer are not like Bambi. Oh no. The deer are pretty insistent that our yard isn't really ours though they do let us borrow it every once in awhile. They've munched on the azaleas and hydrangeas until they're barely poking out of the ground, have enjoyed eating our two ornamental trees, and seem to think our we keep our grass lush and green just for their snacking pleasure. They even drink the water off the swings on the swing set on wet days. No amount of me yelling, the kids roaring, or the dog barking seems to affect them in the slightest. In fact they don't even look my way when I bang on the sliding glass door to make them stop eating my flowers anymore.

So it wasn't a big surprise to look out the window yesterday and see two deer laying in our grass. One of them was right next to the kids' swing set. Our yard isn't very big and I didn't even have to step out of our house to take these photos. I just opened the sliding glass door a little bit (notice they didn't even bother to get up when they heard me do that) and snapped away. I did break out my 75-300 lens which I very rarely use. It's not my favorite lens and I feel like it's pretty soft but it worked.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 190 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

May 24: Day 137

It's been a busy day today and since we apparently haven't fulfilled our puke quota for the month my daughter naturally threw up in the car a little over an hour away from home. On our way to our last family dinner before my brother leaves. For the army. Tomorrow morning. With my preschooler puking and my toddler screaming his ear hurts I decided that maybe it would be best if we didn't stay for dinner after all, so we met my brother in the hotel parking lot near the airport for a quick hug and goodbye. And then we turned around and drove home. At rush hour. At least there was no more puke (knock on wood) and only small amounts of screaming (Ethan dropped his McDonalds fries on the van floor and Grace was mad I wouldn't let her eat anything other then crackers). And it was rush hour on a Monday, not a Friday. And I didn't have anything to rush home for, other then putting cranky sick children to bed.

Which is how we come to the photo of the day. I spotted this pretty calla lily in our neighbor's front yard as I pulled into our driveway after our rather miserable trip to Portland and back. I was thinking about what on earth I was going to take a photo of today and was thrilled that there was enough light outside to capture this pretty flower. It brightened my day.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

May 23: Day 136

Aren't they cute? They're singing The Bible Song. I remember asking my daughter when she was a toddler what song she sang at MOPS and she told me she sang a bible song. I figured that much but couldn't get her to tell me which one so the next week I asked the teacher. Turns out my daughter was right, they sang the B I B L E song...you know..."The B I B L E, yes that's the book for me! I stand up tall on the word of God, the B I B L E!"

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

May 22: Day 135

I snapped this photo really quick this afternoon. It's actually pretty gray and overcast today but every now and again the sun peeks through the clouds so I lucked out and got this great shot. By the way, the only editing I did to this was a little bit of sharpening. No cropping, no actions, no tinkering with color...it's pretty much exactly how I shot it!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/1000 sec
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length:50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

May 21: Day 134

Our van's check engine light came on last week on my way to the pediatrician's office with my sick two year old. When it rains it pours. My kids took advantage of the empty garage by playing on their tricycle and cars inside while it rained outside. It didn't last too long since Ethan doesn't have a tricycle and he wasn't too happy about that fact.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length:50 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

May 20: Day 133

My beautiful and super talented friend Anna just graduated with her Masters from OKCU and her goal is to sing Opera. She is visiting home for a short time before moving to Boston and she put on a voice recital at The Old Church downtown Portland for family and friends. She did a fantastic job and I'm sure great things are in store for her.

The church lighting wasn't exactly stellar at 7pm but I sat pretty close to the front so I could use my Tamron zoom. I bumped the ISO as high as I could but didn't feel comfortable with going any faster then 1/100 on the shutter speed. Anything slower created blur. Since I was dealing with a bit of grain in the photos I converted this one to black and white since it's less bothersome to me.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length:30 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

Here's the gorgeous blue Cinderella dress she wore for the first half of the recital. I'm pretty sure my daughter would LOVE it! I wish I had more then 2 minutes to take photos of her in it outside. The church was downtown Portland and it was a great time of day for natural light photos. Would have been an awesome backdrop!

May 19: Day 132

I'm still not feeling good thanks to my darling son sharing his rotavirus with me. Since I spent most of the day on the couch in my pajamas I didn't exactly get creative when I picked up my camera at dinnertime. I do have to wonder though, why is Campbells chicken noodle soup so yellow? When I make homemade chicken noodle soup (which tastes 100 times better by the way) it is nowhere near this yellow. Food dye?

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length:50 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

May 18: Day 131

My poor sick little guy. We went to the ped on Monday and she diagnosed his fun stomach bug as rotavirus. From my online research it usually lasts 3-9 days but our ped said she's seen it go as long as 3 weeks. I really hope that doesn't happen. The good news is that he hasn't thrown up since Monday morning and is keeping bananas, applesauce, Rice Chex, and water down. He's pretty weak and spent most of the day laying on the couch watching a zillion children's cartoons.

Remember my reflector technique? I used that here since we were sitting on the kitchen floor next to the sliding glass door last night eating popsicles. Well Grace and I were eating popsicles since Ethan wanted nothing to do with them. The kitchen light was off and my sliding glass door is west facing so there's a lot of light coming from Ethan's left. The reflector made it so his entire face was lit even though he's facing away from the window. Plus I got some catchlights!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length:50 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

May 17: Day 130

I didn't even think about taking today's photo until after I put Ethan down around 7pm. It's been a long day with more puking and even more diarrhea diapers and I looked outside and saw the water droplets blanketing my newly planted flower pots and decided that some macro photography was just what I needed to get my mind off of today's unpleasantness. I really like macro photography and one of these days I would love to own a real macro lens. Until then remember I'm using the ultra-ghetto technique so getting anything in focus is a miracle. Especially at 7pm on an overcast evening and natural light isn't so great. I bumped up the ISO and called it good. I decided not to crop and leave the photos as is so the circle you're seeing is from the second lens and not some funky vignette I added in Photoshop. I had a hard time choosing my favorite I thought I'd share two bonus photos.

By the way, these photos are of my pretty pink geranium.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal Length:55 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

May 16: Day 129

Today has been a better day then yesterday that's for sure! We've been spending most of our time on the couch recovering. Ethan from the stomach bug and me from caretaking and late night ER visits. You'll notice my husband sacked out on the couch in the background. He's been busy helping care for a sick toddler as well. I wish I could nap but I foresee an early bedtime instead.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/50 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length:44 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

May 15: Day 128

Today was a long day. It involved a lot of laundry and even more vomit. If you want details visit my blog post here.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/50 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length:30 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

May 14: Day 127

Signs of Summer: Red Kool Aid mustaches!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length:42 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

May 13: Day 126

Can you believe I'm over a third of the way through this crazy Project 365 idea? Me either. Today's photo was taken this gloriously sunny afternoon while the kids and I played in the backyard. I took a zillion photos of Grace and only one of Ethan for a change. She was having such a great time on the swing and looked so cute I couldn't resist!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/250 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length:57 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

May 12: Day 125

This morning I took the kids to Grace's preschool field trip to the dairy farm. Surprisingly the manure odor didn't bother her (she's a girly girl through and through) but she developed a fear of cows the moment we walked in the barn. She had absolutely no interest in getting anywhere near one even after I petted one and told her they never eat humans. I really don't know why she thinks a docile 2 day old calf would have any interest in eating her. They obviously loved their big bottles of milk though! I thought they were adorable! Unfortunately my camera battery died after about 6 photos and my backup battery was in the camera bag at home. Oops.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length:42 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

May 11: Day 124

I took this photo late this afternoon in the empty lots a few blocks from our house. Such pretty golden sunshine makes even weeds look good!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/10.0
Focal Length:75 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

May 10: Day 123

Today I had the privilege to photograph a friend's newborn which was a lot of fun! She was a super cooperative baby and once we got her to sleep she was very poseable. I really enjoy photographing newborns, they are so precious and it's amazing how each one is unique and completely themselves.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length:50 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

May 9: Day 122

My fantastic husband grilled this yummy salmon for our Mothers Day feast this year. The salmon was grilled on a cedar plank with the yummiest salmon rub ever and topped with lemon, lime, and orange slices. It's a little taste of heaven.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length:47 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

May 8: Day 121

I had the privilege of attending a Mothers Day Tea with my mom, mother in law, and daughter! Yep, I'm pretty lucky. This is my teacup and saucer, I imbibed in some Earl Grey and about 50 cookies. Oh, and a few chicken salad tea sandwiches too!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/3.8
Focal Length:47 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

May 7: Day 120

Today's photo was taken at the park on a pretty day. Grace loved the swings but was super excited when she spotted some boys she knew and held her own playing with bugs (not her usual favorite) and sticks.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/320 sec
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length:60 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

May 6: Day 119

Today's photo is of my son watching the monkeys at the zoo. We stopped at the zoo for about an hour or so after we picked my mother in law up from the airport. Since we were only there for a short time I had the kids both pick what animal they really wanted to see and we made sure to see them. Ethan wanted to see the monkeys and Grace wanted to see the elephants. Ethan loved the monkeys at the Boise Zoo in March and was still entranced by them. He told us that "monkey likes me".

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 44mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

May 5: Day 118

I spent the majority of yesterday and today giving the house a thorough cleaning in anticipation of my mother in law's visit tomorrow. I'm not exactly worried about what my mother in law would think of a dirty house but having company is always the kick in the pants I need to do more then the cursory swipe sometimes. Thus, the less inspired photos for the past two days. Sorry. I'll try harder when I have more energy and I'm not completely pooped!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/320 sec
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 56mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

May 4: Day 117

Today's photo is of two little sunflower starts growing in a pot on my kitchen windowsill. We've been watching the pot every day and about two days ago they broke the surface of the dirt. They've shot up pretty fast!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 47mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

May 3: Day 116

We played outside for 45 minutes late yesterday afternoon. Grace played on the swingset and Ethan blew sticky bubbles and played with his Diego baseball and baseball bat. I foresee a lot of similar evenings in my future.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/500 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

May 2: Day 115

Grace loves to color. She will happily spend hours with her crayons coloring her color books, coloring her color pages she prints off the newfangled printer her Daddy taught her how to use, or drawing on blank pieces of paper. Yesterday she came with me on my super fun run to Safeway and Rite Aid and as a treat we stopped at the dollar store to let her pick out a new coloring book and to get one for Ethan. I cleaned out the coloring books the other day and all we had left were two half way filled princess themed ones so the poor little guy needed a more masculine coloring book. He got a Sesame Street one and Grace picked out a Precious Moments princess themed one. Everyone was happy.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/320 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 45mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

May 1: Day 114

I took my daughter to a friend's birthday part at the City Park this afternoon and this little guy's expression while watching the birthday candles was absolutely hilarious!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 75mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off