Day 168: February 20, 2012

The king of the pout...my boy E!

Day 129: January 12, 2012

Ethan has the most adorable little boy eye lashes.  I took this photo in the van while we were waiting for Grace to get out of school.  Ethan and I spend a lot of time in the van together.

Day 125: January 8, 2012

Daddy had Grace record a video to post on Facebook to help her sell Girl Scout cookies.  So cute!

December 19: Day 346

We hit the road for our tenth 8+ hour road trip of the year (the kids were only on their eighth). That means I've spent over 80 hours in the car going between Oregon and Idaho this year. That might explain why long road trips with two small children no longer phases me. We stopped one time in Pendleton for a potty break and lunch (ate in the car) but otherwise powered through. I drove the less snowy first half and then sat in the back of the van to dole out chocolate milk and fries to the kids. Ethan fell asleep next to me and I watched the newest Shrek with Gracie to keep my attention off the nasty snowstorm we drove through over the Blues.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/250 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 1250
Flash: Off

October 14: Day 280

Can you tell what's wrong with this photo? Look closely. Notice that Grace is sitting in a blue car seat. Yeah, I totally put my kids in the wrong car seat and didn't even realize it until Grace pointed it out to me. After I buckled them both in. I decided it wasn't worth the hassle of moving everyone around and so they ate our McDonalds dinner (treat for an awesome dentist visit!) in the wrong car seats on the way to the craft store.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who's ever done this. I swear this is the first time!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/250 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 62 mm
ISO: 800
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 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

April 8: Day 91

Today was our errand day in town. I stopped at nine different stores/banks/dentist offices with two kids in tow. Needless to say, it was a long day and involved some sweet motivation for my "helpers". We hit up Walgreens towards the end of our trip and I scored three candy bars for $.78 with coupons. I gave my daughter the M&M's and my son split a Twix with me. Two minutes down the road on our way to our second Walmart of the day I heard "messy Mommy!" from behind me. I look in the rear view mirror to see my son completely smeared in melted chocolate. I honestly don't know how he managed to melt it and smear it that fast! Three minutes later I snapped the photo below in the Walmart parking lot and then I expertly cleaned him up (and his chocolate encrusted jeans!) with only two baby wipes. That's right, two. Either I totally rock at stretching a baby wipe as far as it can go, or I've cleaned my fair share of dirty diapers on the go with only one baby wipe left in the diaper bag. Honestly it could go either way.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

March 28: Day 80

I didn't get many photos on the trip home because I drove a good chunk of it. I drove from Pendleton to Dallas with a detour through Sherwood. I could have stopped several times on the drive from Sherwood to Dallas because there was some absolutely beautiful light and gorgeous rural views. Truly beautiful. But since I had a carload and cranky kids I didn't stop and instead you get this photo of my kids wishing I'd hurry up and unbuckle them because they want to get out of the car.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

March 19: Day 71

We're back from our Idaho Spring Break Trip so I can share the last week's photos with you. Not sure how long it will take me to catch up, depends on how often I get a chance to sneak into the office uninterrupted. I was busy trying to buy milk and eggs and other perishable items as well as attend an Easter party and stuff eggs for the preschool party on Wednesday...let's just say this process could take awhile.

The majority of Day 71 was spent in the van driving from Dallas, OR to Nampa, ID. We left here right after breakfast and got to Nampa at dinner time. It was a looooooong day. This photo was taken in front of a gas station in Burns, OR where we stopped for a bathroom break. Our 4 year old declared the bathroom in the Sisters, OR McDonalds to be too disgusting to use. The Burns gas station bathroom had a very strong orange dreamsickle smell which she immediately liked and declared that rather gross bathroom to be clean enough to use. At least she used it. When we drove to Idaho for Christmas she refused to use any potty for the entire drive. And yes, she made it.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 53 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

February 23: Day 47

Today's photo was taken in the car again. Grace fell asleep on the way to gymnastics so I took the opportunity to get a few little girl sleeping photos. There's really no other way for me to get any these days! Today is also the first time I've edited photos on a calibrated monitor. My husband can't tell the difference but I can! Sooooo much easier.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

February 11: Day 35

Today's photo wasn't planned. I had brought my camera to Grace's gymnastics class but when I parked the car and turned around to get the kids out of their seats I realized that Grace had fallen asleep during the 20 minute car ride. I snapped a total of three photos of her asleep. One of her face and two of her hands. I really like the photo of her hands because it's the small details like little fingers that I don't want to forget. So just anticipate a gymnastics themed photo another day.

Sorry if you're all getting bored with this particular group of actions but I'm still really digging them!


Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/50 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 60mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 18: Day 11

Today's photo was taken in the car on the way home from the Otis Cafe where we had a fantastic late breakfast with friends this morning. Ethan was playing with his toes because he had taken off his socks and shoes. Love the eye and lips in this profile shot!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 51mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 15: Day 8

I snapped this photo while I was in the car waiting for Grace to get out of preschool. In case you can't tell, it's my dusty dashboard. I kind of like the abstract nature of this shot and the texture of the dust.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 75mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off