Day 56: October 31, 2011

I did get a quick photo of the kids before they went trick-or-treating, but it was taken with flash in the dark and the kids were super anxious to get going so it's not exactly great.  I took this one at the Indoor Park Halloween party earlier in the morning and think it's much cuter.  I love how the boys next to Ethan are so interested in his cookie decorating skills!

Day 55: October 30, 2011

This is a macro shot of one of the rings I wear.  This particular ring was given to me by David for Valentines Day in 2007.  We had just found out that we were pregnant with Ethan and so this ring represents our "family tree" with the four of us.  I don't wear a lot of jewelry, but what I do wear mostly has a lot of sentimental value.

Day 54: October 29, 2011

We went to a Potluck/Cookie Decorating/Pumpkin Carving party today which was a lot of fun!  At the end of the evening we set up all the pumpkins that were carved and lit them all to appreciate all our hard work.  The Batman on the far right is David's handiwork.  The witch with the cauldron in the middle is Grace's, she poked all the lines and I did the cutting.  I also did the two pumpkins to the left of the witch.

Day 53: October 28, 2011

Grace had her Harvest Party at school today so she wore her pumpkin outfit to school.  She came home with a matching pumpkin painted on her cheek so of course I had to get a picture!

Day 52: October 27, 2011

I woke up this morning to a stunning sunrise.  So beautiful!

Day 51: October 26, 2011

Whenever I look outside and see this kind of gorgeous light I can't help myself from grabbing my camera and heading outside!  Seriously, it's a compulsion.  In this case the whole family was outside for a bit enjoying what turned out to the be the last decently warm day of the year.  We barbecued!

Day 50: October 25, 2011

This morning I could tell it was going to be a pretty morning so I threw my camera in the van along with both kids and their school stuff for my morning of school drop offs and saw this beautifully colored bush in the church parking lot before Mops.  I snapped a few photos and love the sun burst!  Nothing makes me happier then my camera, a lovely subject, and sunlight that touches my heart.

Day 49: October 24, 2011

The sun was shining in the late afternoon and I had 10 minutes to shoot before getting the kids ready for Grace's soccer practice.  I found these pretty red berries in the scrub behind our house and was thrilled to get some sun flare!  Oh sun, how I love thee!

Day 48: October 23, 2011

We had a quiet day today which I think we all needed.  We're all feeling slightly under the weather and a day of rest and catch up was just what the doctor ordered.  David rested while playing Batman...  I'm mostly thrilled that I edited this VERY low light photo (taken at ISO 3200 f/2.0 1/200) to be pretty correct colorwise.  It's also pretty sharp for the amount of noise present!

Day 47: October 22, 2011

This photo is processed differently then I usually edit.  I used a cross color action for fun, mostly because it's a fast fix for terrible color balance!  I took this from our back patio looking in to our kitchen at night.  Apparently I need to do some glass cleaning.

Day 46: October 21, 2011

The Momtographer group I belong to had a chance to practice photographing a senior girl which was a lot of fun.  I've only had the chance to photograph a few seniors but I really enjoy it...mostly having a single subject that does exactly what is asked of them.  So fabulous!

Day 45: October 20, 3011

Grace's Daisy girl scout troupe had their first Awards Ceremony tonight which was a big deal for both Grace and my handsome husband (the only dude in the photo...he's the co-leader).  The girls are singing "I'm a Little Daisy" to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot" which was super cute!

Day 44: October 19, 2011

Baby M is my childhood best friend's newest baby girl.  My friend drove down from Portland for little M's newborn photos and I had a lot of fun playing with this sweet baby girl!

Day 43: October 18, 2011

I have a little over 30 minutes between dropping Grace off for first grade and Ethan off for preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and on nice days I let Ethan play on the preschool playground before it's time for class to start.  This morning was gorgeous and I'm glad I threw my camera in the car!

Day 42: October 17, 2011

David asked me to take some photos of him with my studio setup in the garage.  He usually avoids my camera like the plague so I gladly jumped on the chance to photograph my handsome hubby!

Day 41, October 16, 2011

It was a weekend of family sessions, this evening I photographed my friend Sara's family and got some super cute ones of her girls.  I love C's smile in this one!

Day 40: October 15, 2011

I took my friend Meg's family photos this afternoon and loved this sweet photo of her oldest two kiddos loving on each other.  So adorable!

Day 39: October 14, 2011

 Since the weather was pretty I jumped on the chance to photograph the kids in their Halloween costumes.  Grace is a pink Bat Girl this year and I love the poses she came up with for me!

Day 38, October 13, 2011

I didn't get a photo today until late at night so I took one of David using the iPad in the dark.  The only light in this photo is coming from the iPad which I think looks pretty cool!

Day 37: October 12, 2011

Ethan received his first Cubbies patch tonight so I made sure to bring my camera for the Awards ceremony.  Unfortunately the lighting is super awful in the church basement and E was too excited to get his patch to stay still so I'm sharing a photo of him doing his art project instead.  He loves Cubbies!

Day 36: October 11, 2011

Ethan got a cool sidewalk chalk paint set for his birthday from his friend and couldn't wait to use it.  We waited for a day that was dry and decent outside and today was the day.  The kids had a great time making a lovely work on art on our driveway.  Ethan LOVED it!

Day 35: October 10, 2011

I got my new super sophisticated (not!) flash diffuser in the mail today.  I bought it for $3.99 off Ebay and it works like a champ.  I played around with it in our living room which has terrible lighting (at night) and was pleased with the results.  My biggest beef with flash photography is that you can always tell when flash is used but the diffuser really helps minimize the "flashy" look.  Don't you love E's big purple lip?

Day 34: October 9, 2011

I was pretty tired after our church campout weekend so the best I could summon up is this photo of Dexter hanging out in the Costco box again.  The box has since made it to the recycling bin :)

Day 33: October 8, 2011

I love pulling my macro out on wet mornings!  I found this cool looking moss growing on a stump next the lake at our church campout while teaching some high school girls how to shoot in manual. 

Day 32: October 7, 2011

Today is Ethan's fourth birthday and the only photo I got was from the early morning when he opened his presents.  It was around 7am in our living room with the curtains closed which means the lighting conditions were terrible.  Ethan was too excited about opening his presents to care, he really liked his space toys!

Day 31: October 6, 2011

Ethan was the first person in our family to celebrate his birthday at school during the school year.  The rest of us are all summer birthdays so it was a novelty for us!  We bought special sugar cookies at Safeway for him to share at preschool for snack and he got to wear this special birthday crown.  He wore it for two days straight he was so excited about it!

Day 30: October 5, 2011

I've been taking a lot of low light photos lately since that is the theme for my Momtographers challenge this week.  The weather has been cooperating which I guess is a plus.  This one was taken in our bedroom with no lights on, just window light on a dark overcast afternoon.  I did use a reflector though!

Day 29: October 4, 2011

Today's photo is of Grace doing her math homework.  Now that school is up and running her homework load is a lot for her.  It takes us about an hour to finish her spelling, math, reading, and sight word flashcards.  She's a little slow but I can tell the extra time spent on homework is helping.  She loves practicing her spelling words and got 12 out of 12 correct on her spelling test last Friday!

Day 28: October 3, 2007

Today's photo is of the last blooming orange flower in my backyard.  It's hanging in there!

Day 27: October 2, 2011

Today's photo was taken on our last trip to the beach Sunday morning while camping near Tillamook.  David was playing with the kids and they had a great time.  You can see the storm clouds rolling in...

Day 26: October 1, 2011

Grace, Jessi, Vinnie, and I went on a walk Saturday afternoon while the boys snoozed in the yurt.  We found some a fabulous nature trail and Grace had a great time climbing all the gnarly tree trunks.  She's a monkey!