sunrise and photos

I watched the sun rise through the office window this morning.  Up came the beautiful, calm light over the mountain sillouette, casting muted hues on all of nature.  It was like seeing the world awaken from it's nightly slumber.  Such a peaceful sight.  It inspired me.  

The house was quiet.  

I was at work editing yesterday's photos of the kids for our holiday greeting cards.  I added a few new photoshop actions from here and here, and had fun fixing up the shots.  I wanted to capture them in our own environment, with a farmy feel.  So, we had to include the animals, right?  It was a bit tricky, but we did it.  And I'm happy with the final result.

I won't spoil the surprise and give you the final edited version...but here we are, trying to get the goats and chickens (and kids) to cooperate:   

Sam, sprinkling chicken feed around us to entice the hens to gather.

Taylor, tickling Sarah to change her grouchy face to a smile.

 Romney, petting the goats and telling them to stay still for a picture.  

Hmmm...don't think they quite understood...

Sam, offering the goats some hay so they'll pose for the picture.

Romney, petting chickens.

Eliza, bored, but obedient.

Hannah, perfect.

Taylor, still working on Sarah's grump face...

Classic.

Just factor in my hoarse voice, demanding everyone (human and otherwise) to stay uniformly still with perfect smiles and posture.   I know, pushy, pushy.

The results?  Not bad, eh?

why I love photoshop (and babies and hobbies)

My 2-month free trial for Adobe Photoshop CS4 somehow went over, but it finally just pooped out on me.  I LOVED it.  Like true love.  Like I don't think I can live without it love.

Now I have my eye on the new Photoshop CS5, being launched this month.  Talk about amazing.

But...
since it's way out of my budget,
and since I'm saving for a new lens and a bounce flash,
and since Pioneer Woman just converted her CS4 actions for use with Elements (woooohoooooo!  This was the clincher for me...)

I'm going with Elements 8 for now.  I just ordered it yesterday.  And I hope it hurries over to my house!!!  

So, here's an example of why I love photoshop (and why I love this precious baby face, belonging to my friend Ann's sweet baby Luke...and why I can't keep my baby-lovin' eyes off him):

Photo #1 is straight out of the camera.
In photo #2, I lightened it, used PW's boost, and I sharpened the eyes and drooly bottom lip with a layer mask and an airbrush.  Oh, those eyes!
Photo #3 is the same as photo #2, plus PW's black and white action.
Photo #4 is the same as photo #2, plus PW's seventies action, playing with the opacity a bit.  (Seventies is my personal all time favorite action!)

I love Pioneer Woman's photography tutorials.  And Miz Booshay's.  And this site.  And this.  And a thousand more.  And the internet, for that matter.  Sheesh there's so much out there.  I mean, really.  A few months ago, I didn't even know how to use my camera.  And I knew absolutely nothing about photoshop.  Nor did I know a thing about knitting.  I'm no expert in photography or knitting now, but both hobbies have added little sparks of joy into my life.

And I've learned that if there's something new I want to try, I can go and learn how to do it.  And so can you!  Take a few minutes each day, or each week, and read up on something that interests you.  Watch tutorials.  Find friends who have experience and can mentor you.  Or take a class.  Seriously, we are so blessed to have so many resources at our fingertips.  So find something you love and do it!!!

As moms, creative hobbies can spice up our lives and give us the energy and satisfaction we need to keep moving through our days full of responsibilities and chores and stinky diapers.  When time and energy are scarce, sometimes this is exactly the thing to rejuvinate our bodies and souls and brighten our homes and lives.  Carve out time to enjoy learning and practicing things that interest you.

And when our children see us learning and doing and growing, they will come along for the ride!  Through our examples, they will be inspired to become better people as we work at bettering ourselves.  It's a parenting principle I strongly believe in...and one that often gets tossed aside as we selflessly center our existence around the little ones we love.  We should center our lives around them.  We should give everything we have to their nurturing.  But let's make our own lives more rich and full as we do so, and invite them into our interesting world of literature, hobbies, current events, and everything else enriching and good.  Discuss what you're learning with your kids, no matter how young.  Show them things you make, and how you made them.  Let them try your hobbies.  Read excerpts of your favorite books aloud to them.  Sew with them.  Learn how to embroider with your daughters, or how to sew on Cub Scout patches with your boys.  Learn a new sport or board game together.  Try new recipes with messy little hands joining in the work and fun.  There is so much out there.  So many great things to enjoy!!!

Okay, that was more than you proabably wanted to read on an average Tuesday.  And frankly, more than I had intended to write as well.  But I just get a little (or a lot) over-the-top passionate about things sometimes.  So thanks for humoring me.  If you're still even reading this...

Hannah's new look

Isn't she darling?

These beautiful long blonde locks had been in a general state of mayhem, necessarily tied back into a prim ponytail to keep from interfering with this busy girl's daily adventures.

She decided to go short.  And I was (way) more nervous than she was.  I thought I was going to pass out right there on the Cookie Cutters' hair(y) salon floor.  But I kept my composure.

And we're both thrilled with the results!

10 inches cut and ready to be sent off to Locks of Love.

We had a quick outdoor photo-shoot to capture the new 'do, just as a few snowflakes began to fall.  See them there, like glitter in her shiny hair?  (that sounded rather poetic, didn't it?)

And don't you love those freckles under her eye?  Precious.

And this was her yesterday, in her new (late, but made) Valentine's dress.  I think she's beautiful.

On the inside, and out.

It's Monday...

and we all slept in.  Because most of us were up all night...especially the mom.

Some have head colds, some are coughing, and some have a tummy ache (most likely triggered by the excessive doughnut consumption at Saturday's sledding event).

 I snapped this photo yesterday while Sarah was explaining to me how unhappy she was about having to miss her nursery class.  Being out with a cold is no fun, no matter the age.

We just finished our breakfast of leftover Sunday bread with butter and jam, and spiced hot apple cider.  There are blankets and pillows and books and card games piled up in the family room, where I'm heading now for a slow, snuggly school morning in front of the fire.

Happy Monday!

aperture, shutter speed, ISO...

these photography terms are whirling around in my head like an Arizona dust-devil (without the sagebrush, of course)...
thanks to Jami's photo 101 class. It was a complete success.  At least in my book!  We had a great turn-out and she did an excellent job teaching photography fundamentals.  I've read lots of tutorials online and practiced on my own, but I tell you, it finally clicked! (uh, no pun intended...get it? clicked?...like a camera?)  Woohoo!!!

Only time and practice will tell, but I think I'm on the road to better photos.  And I'm so excited, I haven't been able to put my camera down since (ask the hubby, who falls asleep to an excessive rustling of pages in my camera manual, and wakes up to find my camera equipment scattered on my nightstand).

Here we are Saturday, after three hours of instruction, intently practicing on live models (that's Jami in the corner, watching, smiling, and helping...oh so patiently...):

And below are a couple of my practice photos of the darling models (with a bit of photoshopping, I must confess.  Did I mention I'm obsessed with Adobe CS4 as well?  I'm still riding out my 30-day free trial, and plotting and scheming regarding how to purchase the program.  Talk about amazing!)

Stay tuned for more info. on Jami's upcoming classes (or go here to her website...she'll be posting info. soon).  Leave a comment here if you're interested in attending a class...if there is enough interest, she will repeat the Photo 101 class, plus she is planning on teaching some Photoshop classes as well.  

Happy clicking, everyone!  And thanks, Jami!!!

Oh, and Happy February!  (Sheesh, where'd January go?)

weekend on the farm

I took my camera along while helping Hannah with animal chores on Saturday.

For all the whining and complaining that goes along with feeding and cleaning up after these guys

(especially on cold winter mornings),

we sure love our sweet farm friends.

photography 101

One of my goals for the new year is to make time to study photography.  I really feel a passion for capturing those little moments of life that are so fleeting...the moments so tender, even life-changing, but easily blurred into the grand pool of our past or altogether forgotten.  I've noticed that through posting photos and blogging about them, I recognize and remember those special moments better...and so do my children.  They read and re-read the blog...they get giddy over their photos and the stories behind them.  I know they won't forget the essence of their childhood, because I've captured it through a series of photos and vignettes.

I've had a Nikon digital SLR camera for about a year (which I am frankly in love with) and I carry it around everywhere.  But I'm just now really getting a handle on the manual settings (but thank you, dear "auto" setting, you've served me well, my friend).

My former BYU roommate and good friend, Jami, has inspired me to work on sharpening my photography skills.  She gave me a quick tutorial last summer while our kids swam at her in-laws' pool, and that set the ball rolling for me.  She really is an amazing photographer.  She has worked hard for years to learn skills and practice them, attending workshops and classes, and just taking thousands of photos!

She took these photos of us in the fall at a local apple orchard (as well as the photo in my blog header):

And guess what?  She's teaching a Photo 101 class in Draper on January 30th.  For more information, go here.  If any of you locals are interested, leave a comment here or on Jami's website .  I'll be there, and I'm hoping to see some of you there as well!

I'll be posting new and improved photos in 2010...just wait and see!

merry making

Hope your day is magical too!

Easter weekend:

lovely.




Two egg hunts. Outdoor play with friends. Easter feast at Grandma's. Baskets and bellies full of treats.
Baking. Sewing. Crafting.
Smiles. Laughter. Being together.
Remembering. Reverence. Renewing.
Gratitude.


(this photo taken by Romney as I was finishing the hems)
After a couple of long late-night and baby-napping dates with my sewing machine, excessive doses of detailed gathers and hand-stitched bindings, 18 wooden buttons and tiny loops to attach, and red needle-scarred fingertips, the Easter dresses were finished just in time...whew!
Um...I love them.






I've been feeling rather earthy this spring, in anticipation of the sunny, made-for-wandering-outdoors months to come...and I'm loving the true cycle of the seasons we are experiencing for the first time in many years. Inspired by this, I chose natural linen fabric, and used the "village frock" pattern, designed by the talented ladies of the Sugar City Journal.
And truly, these little linen frocks seem to transport me to another place...perhaps a secluded village deep in the woods, vines thickly climbing walls of worn stony little cottages, surrounded with dense forrests full of sleeping ferns and tall willows, birds chirping, animals rustling...perfect for wandering and exploring...

By the time this little photo shoot in our backyard woods was over, my little peasant villagers had sullied these frocks with grass-stains and mud (rounded off with little spots of chocolate from their baskets). Thankfully these girls had already been to our Sunday meetings with prettily tied-back hair and shiny ribbons and shoes...and had sat pleasantly still...especially for villagers who like best to be outside having woodsy adventures.


















I quickly came up with these simple 15-minute muslin slips, strung with twill tape, to go under the loose-weave, nubby linen...




and I love how they peep through, ruffling up out of the collar of the dresses for a sweet layered look:


And today?
dreaming of a tidy little secluded cottage in the woods, and rather than wading through a nearby creek, I'm wading through a sea of plastic eggs, baskets, candy wrappers, dirty dishes and laundry, spread across every surface of the house
freshly laundered linen frocks hanging to dry, scrubbed free of yesterday's wanderings (and staring down at the piles yet to be laundered)
giggling children cheerfully helping (oh wait, that was part of my village dream...)

working to return our little suburban cottage to a livable and organized home after a festive and busy weekend. You don't suppose there's a washing machine in that woodsy cottage of my dreams, do you? And a servant child or two?
Happy Monday!