Friday, December 31, 2010

Good-bye 2010

This post will be short and sweet, as we are packing up to head to the BEACH today!! 

New Year’s eve at the beach … Yes!

beach weather Jan1 2010

How could we NOT go with weather like this?

 

 

 

I had grand ideas to wrap up my 365, which I still plan on doing…. just next week (:

However, I will leave this year with an image that my son & I took last week.  It ranks up there among my all-time favorites. 

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Good-Bye 2010!

 

~Kathy~

 

BFF

 

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~Kathy~

 

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Green Uggs!

 

Aren’t they pretty!

 

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~Kathy~

Lentil soup with thyme

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Made all by herself, except for the onion and carrot chopping (okay, I’m a little paranoid about knives!)

Tried to photograph a bowl of it, but, well, let’s just say the delicious taste was not indicative of it’s looks!

 

~Kathy~

Holiday Break!

I tell you what.  We are really getting into the stay-in-your-jammies-until-noon routine!  Monday is gonna be tough!

I have put most of everything aside to hang out with the kids, and enjoy all of this wonderful snow and the fun & games that come with it.  Ahhh.

(don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of sibling arguing going on ‘round here!)

 

 

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Saw this pole out in ‘our’ field, and new exactly what I wanted to do with it!!!

 

 

 

 

 

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I do love some sledding … who doesn’t?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ah my little model (:

 

 

~Kathy~

Monday, December 27, 2010

Merry Christmas Day!

 

We had a wonderful Christmas, and hope you did too.

 

 

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She was floored when she saw this … we really enjoyed the ‘aftershocks’ of “I still can’t believe I have my own cello!”

 

 

 

 

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The skates were a HUGE hit!

 

 

 

 

 

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Not requested or posed Smile

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Getting the hang of it. 

Big sis got a label maker for Christmas, and proceeded to label us all. Thus the sticker on her forehead!

 

 

 

 

 

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GREAT game – Thank you Aunt Jenny & Uncle Greg!!

 

 

~Kathy~

Dec.22 : Bike riding at Lake Johnson

 

First day of break from school, and our #1 requested activity was this!  Love it!

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Believe it or not, the kids found these trees and requested their photo.  They can really be hams sometimes … love that too!

 

 

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I love the back-lighting glow on his hair and face. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Good find my girl~

 

 

~Kathy~

Dec.21 : Violin in the Lobby

Last day of elementary school before Christmas break. 

Some holiday music for all the students and parents (attending last day activities) to enjoy!

 

 

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~kathy~

 

Dec 18 : Last basketball game

 

The YMCA decided to try something new this year, and have the younger group play basketball in the fall/early winter. 

NOT such a big fan.  Here it is the Saturday before Christmas, and with all going on, we spent our morning at the Y.  Was fun though!

 

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She shot went in too!!

 

~Kathy~

 

Dec17 : a bike ride

 

One of the many, many advantages to having children (!) is there is always someone there for you.  In this case I was in the mood to practice and try out some different camera settings with action photography.  Not to mention just to go outside and enjoy the nice afternoon!

 

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oops, wrong date on image.  should read the 17th.

 

 

 

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Ahhhh,  childhood. 

A pink horn and barbie in a basket.  Oh, and  dimple too!

 

 

 

 

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Dimple AND a tongue!!  hahaha

 

 

~Kathy~

 

Dec16 : Warming Up

At home.  Warming up & practicing before her big holiday show…. at the retirement center Smile

 

I tell you she has no nerves – I had the butterflies!!

 

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f/1.8   1/160   ISO1000

 

~Kathy~

 

Dec 16 : First Snow of the Season

I grant you, it wasn’t a whole lot BUT it was enough to play in and make snowballs!

 

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(Little stinker thinks it’s funny to watch me dance around and say “no snowballs while I’m holding my camera!”)

 

 

 

 

Be ready for lots of faces here.  The light was pretty and everyone was happy…

 

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f/1.8   1/200   ISO250

 

 

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f/1.8   1/160th  ISO 250

 

 

 

 

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f/1.8   1/160th  ISO250   … definitely like the brown branch bokeh the best!

 

 

 

 

 

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f/1.8   1/160th  ISO250

MY girls Winking smile

 

~Kathy~

 

Dec 15 : Bells Of Christmas

Our oldest is a part of the church bell ringers.  She does a fantastic job, and we couldn’t be prouder!

 

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f/2.2   1/100  ISO1600

 

~Kathy~

Dec 14 :Tree Decorating

 

 

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f/1.8   1/100   ISO2500  no flash

For photogs: I am loving my camera these (indoor) days!  I was able to capture this image with merely the floor lamp in front of them, and the tree lights for ambience.  Let’s not forget the noise reduction in LR3.  Really quite incredible results!!

 

Every year I give my children a new ornament.  Something that will help them remember … and some day create a nice collection!

My youngest asked where mine was, and I told her the tradition is for them, not me.

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(same camera settings as previous image)

She decided to surprise me with a lego girl that has her own camera, and she put an ornament hook on it for me.  LOVE this girl Smile

 

 

Our tree wouldn’t be complete without our Hawaiian ornaments.  I can almost feel the warm breeze when I gaze upon them.  Sigh.

 

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~Kathy~

 

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

What a wonderful way to start our Christmas break … atleast 6 inches of snow!  Technically we had a white Christmas, since it started snowing before midnight. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday & I’m looking forward to catching up the blog in the next few days.

By the way, can you believe Jan 2nd I will have been blogging for 365 days?!  Haven’t quite decided what I’m going to do when my ‘365 contract’ is up, but one thing for sure, I’ll keep blogging …

 

 

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My son.  He just cracks me up!

 

 

 

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Some seriously fluffy snow!

 

 

 

 

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“Can’t see my feet!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And no snowfall would be complete without a good tasting by Elsie Winking smile

 

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~Kathy~

 

Friday, December 24, 2010

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas~

 

Yes, I’m still here … been thoroughly absorbed in the holiday season!

 

Here’s hoping yours is Merry and Bright!

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~Kathy~

P.S.  See you in a few days with lots of images to share!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Our Christmas Puppy

Hard to believe we’ve had this little guy for almost a year.  He was our Christmas present last year.

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Here is his Santa outfit from last year.  Biggest girl and I were trying to pose him in front of the tree …

 

 

 

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Success!

He is our sweet little guy Smile

 

 

~Kathy~

 

Amazing Biscuits

Woke Sunday morning to the smell of breakfast cooking.

My older two made the most wonderful breakfast!  And, they made biscuits that were not only much better than mine, but they were cut into Christmas shapes. 

Lovely!

 

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~Kathy~

Friday Night Lights

Kids were in a playful mood, and so was I! 

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f/2.8     1(whole!)second    ISO 640

Big Friday night fun Winking smile

 

~Kathy~

 

Friday, December 10, 2010

Letting Go.

Sometimes your kids do things that you think are not smart at all.  Like standing on a frozen ‘pond’ on the way to the bus stop before school.  What if the ice breaks?  Wet shoes and late for the bus….

Every part of me wanted to stop him, or tell him to be careful.  But I know he has been watching this ice for days now.  And why not celebrate this little victory?  He was so happy … so I did. 

I didn’t say anything except , “awesome!”. 

 

 

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Then it started to crack and he jumped off.  The end!

 

~Kathy~

 

Happy Birthday Shannon~

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We celebrated at his mother’s house – she made a delicious meal!

 

Goofing around after dinner – I love love this shot.  I am definitely into my wide angle lens, and ‘negative space’. 

One of my ‘new’ ‘things I’m working on is shooting from the hip.  Think I got this one!

 

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Check out my camera settings (LOVE my d300s):

f/2.8    1/125  ISO2000  no flash

 

~Kathy~