My daughter the Photographer

For more than one reason I'm thrilled that we are in a new school district. Still not sure why some are better than others, but with this new middle school Teaghan is going to, there are more opportunities than at her old school. One such is the electives offered. She is taking digital photography this semester and is loving it. The school "gives" each kid their own camera to use, not to mention that all the computers have photoshop. So not only is she learning how to take pictures, but she's learning to edit too! There are times when I want to go over there myself and learn:) She's just a sponge when it comes to this stuff.

So what prompted this post was this morning when Teaghan was showing me her work. Luckily I have the same Photoshop they are working with at school, just not Bridge. Which is fine really for my uses, though she knows how to use Bridge:)

Daughter has now become the teacher.

Anyway, she stuck her flash drive into the computer so she could upload what she's been working on at school, and I was amazed! For one thing, the teacher is AMAZING. For another, I think this girl may have some photography skills that she never even knew existed. Okay, I'm the mom and I think everything my kids do are amazing. (Okay, not EVERYTHING.) But I was super impressed!! And I want to share just little of what she's done. Granted they're not perfect, but for a 13yr old who's never done any of this, I think it's pretty darn good.





And she doesn't even use actions!! I'm so totally impressed by this. Manual photoshopping:) Hence the reason I need her to give me some little tips!

So here's a photo of a tree. Nothing super amazing other than the fact that I like the perspective from which it is taken. And I like trees in the fall. They're gorgeous! But here's what's so impressive. THIS TREE WAS GREEN IN THE ORIGINAL PICTURE. T took it and made it look like it was taken in the fall when the leaves had already changed color! She manually manipulated it. I just can't believe how much she's learned!! It completely dumbfounds me. But not only that, I wish I was young again and could take advantage of all this technology; soak it up like a sponge. Ya know when you were a kid and everything just seemed to come a little easier?? Not in all things, but most? I sure do. I wish my brain wasn't as convoluted as it is.



This assignment was to create something out of images already captured. So 13 isn't it???





So here's the story behind this one, cause I know you're wondering what in the world a strange woman is doing in Teaghan's photos:) I know, because I said the same thing.
The assignment was to take an already existing picture and age the person using photoshop. I know, SO COOL. I have been trying to figure out how to use these tools FOREVER and my daughter is picking it up like IT'S NOTHING. Makes me sick and proud all at the same time. :)
Nice bags under the eyes eh???
This woman once had blonde hair and was smiling. I can hardly even believe it. So T whitened her hair, turned her eyebrows down, and made her frown.
ISN'T PHOTOSHOP AMAZING!!

I'm trying to subtley hint that maybe she oughtta try to get on the yearbook staff in high school taking pictures. She just rolls her eyes. Okay, so maybe I'm not that subtle:)

Homework- what they do in Hell

Homework is a depressant. I think it was invented to get even with parents who they themselves were awful in school. I was a great student. I really was! I think I'm getting Doug's karma when he was a child. Nough said. My other theory is that homework is designed to let the parent know how important it really is to a child's education when said parent didn't think so when they were a child. Everything seems to take on new meaning and new challenges when one becomes a parent. Perspective and 20/20 have become regular mantra in my life.

So yesterday I spent from 3pm to 9pm, with a soccer break in between that doing HOMEWORK. Yes, perspective is great. I get that homework is necessary, but the five hours spent yesterday doing it was NOT FUN.

NOT FUN. I need to figure out how to blow those words up bigger.

Britt had so much of it, and stuff she needed help with, not to mention the book report that she procrastinated and the project that went with it that hadn't been started either and was due the next day. TODAY. Doug was at a "Meet the Firms" thing for work which left me to handle 4 kids with homework. Luckily Teaghan gets hers done on her own now that she's getting older, but the younger three....it was a lesson in patience is what it was.

I leave Britt with just her book report poster to do as I left for soccer at 5:30. I get home closer to 7pm and she's got the rough draft done, but it needs to be put together. In the midst of that I realize that we haven't done Andon's math flash cards that the teacher just sent home, not to mention his reading books that he has to pass off. I have him reading to me as I'm trying to cook dinner, which I detest doing anyway, and try to manage Britt getting her stuff done.

I was seriously about to lose it.

SERIOUSLY. Some serious wigging out was about to occur. You know that feeling when you feel your temperature rising and you're going to explode? I was sooo there. And then right at that moment when I couldn't take anymore, that very nanosecond, my sweet Andon says, "Mom, you're the best mom in the world." And he said it so sweetly and so lovingly that I just melted. I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Heavenly Father knew what I was experiencing and prompted my son to say that. It brought tears to my eyes and instantly gave me just a little much needed push to just persevere. It was a great moment.

And then this is what I hear: No she's not! She's a stinky mommy."

Yes, my rambunctious 5 year old who I swear is going through the Terrible Five's, stated this with a Just kidding afterward.

Keeps one humble. No one said parenting would ever give you a big ego.

Conversation with Zak

My conversation with Zak the other morning in the car went something like this:

"Mom, why do people have bugars?"

(Really???)

"Well," said I, "It's caused by the air trapped in your nose. All the bad stuff that you breathe in gets trapped in there. That way you stay healthy." I then gave a good plug about using Kleenex and such to get those "bugies" out.

There was a brief pause, and then "Mom, does everybody have bugars in their noses?"

Me, "Yes Zak." Trying not to laugh.

Another brief pause.

"Mom, does Jesus have bugars?" Okay, so this was said with complete earnestness. He really wanted to know. However, I was trying to contain myself.

(I had to take a break in writing this post to get Zak a toilet wipe. He uses the ruse that he can't reach them on the back of the toilet so that I will come and wipe his little touchie. Ummmm....he's five, I don't like to do that anymore. Goes along with this gross post though:) )

Back to the story...

So I thought about whether or not Jesus WOULD have bugars, what with a resurrected body and all, and couldn't come up with anything. Really, this was food for thought for me. So I answered honestly and said, "I don't know."

He seemed to be okay with that answer. Then another brief pause.

"Mom, does Santa have bugars?" I am really trying to hold myself together here. However, I did know the answer to that question.

"Yes Zak, Santa does have bugars."

I'm pretty sure Doug and I have had to blow our noses a time or too. :) I think that qualifies as Santa having bugars!

Fun Finds & Desperate to Find's

This morning as I went downstairs to start making my kids' school lunches, I walked by this on the corner of my island.



I stopped, backed up, and discovered spidey on my flower pitcher. It made me smile.



Since this post is thus titled, guess what I discovered a couple of days ago?



Just so you can get the full scope of how these get lost, this bed post on our bed is level with the top of my EYEBROWS. It's super tall. Our bed is one you have to hoist yourself into. Yes, we love it. It's way cool! However, and I remember this now, I had gone to bed with my rings on, which I hate to do, and had stuck them on the top of the post as I have sometimes done when I am too lazy to get back out of bed. Yes, I am prone to laziness. And since my side of the bed is on the far side of the room and not nearest the door, I don't generally walk over there, until I get into bed at night WITH THE LIGHTS OFF. You can see why I didn't spot them:)



But I am so glad they're found. It's not like I can just go out and get another diamond. It was going to have to be a zirconia, ya know?

And since I didn't get around to posting my kids on the first day of school, here it is. They so love the camera. If one wasn't doing something goofy, then someone else was. This was the best one by a long shot. plus we were in a hurry, but at least it's documented right?

Guilty Pleasure for the Day

This little beauty came yesterday and I can't wait to dive into it! I thought about starting it last night after my kids went to bed, but if it's anything like the first two, I would've been up ALL NIGHT reading it, and I REALLY need my sleep. Soooo....

Today after Zak goes to school, I'm going to devour this book like I'm eating Bang Bang chicken from the Cheesecake factory.

CANNOT WAIT. As soon as I'm done posting this I am going to do my 'daily cleansing' of my house so I will feel absolutely no guilt when I do nothing for the rest of the day. :)

Missing

It's been three days since I lost my wedding ring. I can't find it anywhere!

Can I get any more dorkified?

Blankety Blank Blank Blank! @!*&!

With Zak in school, and three and a half hours to myself, I've realized that I will have more time on my hands than I originally thought. I figured that I would be running errands during that time, but really, I don't need to run errands EVERY day. So then I started thinking of things that I've wanted to pursue for a while but just haven't had time. Maybe I could take some photoshop online classes. Maybe I could finally be one of those Martha Stewart mom's who always have snacks ready for when the kids get home. I really liked this idea too. I imagined myself making little treats and fun little sandwiches that they would love so much. The possibilities of filling this time is something that I am having some fun imagining.

But this morning I realized that there is something else much more pressing, and relevant to my piece of mind. My fifth child. Yes, the fifth child.

I know what you're thinking:)

MY DOG. My blasted blasted dog!! I am going to be training my dog AGAIN.

AGAIN!!

I realize that training is ongoing, but never did I think he'd revert back to his old ways of being aggressive and territorial. I took him outside this morning and he was so out of control when a car drove by. I thought we'd cured him of that!???

And I didn't even want a dog!

I know that not all my time will be spent training this dog, but it's one of those things that is ongoing 24/7. I will most likely be interrupted making those cute little sandwiches to answer the door. Because he's CRAZY when the doorbell rings and I don't want him taking out anybody's hand because he hasn't calmed down yet. Once he's calm he's super sweet. AGAIN- THOUGHT WE'D CURED HIM OF THAT. It's so true- dogs are like your kids. So people, unless you want another child, DON'T GET A DOG! Wait till your ready for one.

And then, because I love to cook SOOOO much (please note the sarcasm here) I will stop making said little sandwiches and blame it on the dog. Hmmmm.... maybe the dog does have some advantage. "I'm sorry children, there will be no snack today. I fully blame it on the dog."

Scapegoats are always nice to have around:)

AAARGGHHH!

Just chillin with the elevator

There is some things I still need to post, like school starting, and something else that I can't remember just now, but since I'm too lazy to upload off my memory card on the camera, I'll just have to get to those later:)

What I need to write is about our Saturday's activity. You may have seen it on Doug's facebook, but I don't Facebook. I blog. There's just something odd about Facebook. I don't quite know what it is. Maybe it's talking about yourself in the third person. Maybe I just think blogging's more functional. It serves a purpose- journaling and later printing it, and keeping family and friends in the loop. No offense to all you Facebooker's though! :)

Wow. I REALLY digressed. I can't type without writing paragraphs of nonsense before making my final point. It's just not something I can do.

My Point. Finally.

Saturday Teaghan was scheduled to come in from Arizona. She had stayed with her fun aunt and uncle for the better part of the week. We had some errands to run and Zak's soccer game, so we decided that we'd all just go to the soccer game, pick up Teaghan at the airport, and then run to Ikea for school desks for the boys to do homework on.

So we pick her up, ALL 7 OF US, make our way to the airport garage, get on the elevator and wait to descend to the bottom floor.

Then we notice it stopped on floor 2. Doug pushes the button. Nothing. Pushes another button. Again, nothing. Starts pushing lots of buttons at once, and....nothing.

Really? We're actually stuck in the elevator??? REALLY!!!!

The first 40 minutes we watched two fire engines and the battalion chief pull up. The maintenance crew kept asking if we were ok. That was sweet, BUT WE'RE STUCK IN AN ELEVATOR! We watch them open the first door, but the fire door wouldn't budge. The boys had to go to the bathroom, so they handed us some plastic baggies with hand wipes. That was fun seeing the "pee bags" on the floor. But ya know what?

NOT OUR FAULT WE WERE STUCK IN AN ELEVATOR.

The next 40 minutes my daughters commented on how cute firefighters are. They proved their point when they said that my brother, they're uncle is one and he's pretty darn cute. Who can argue with that?? We laughed and made jokes to pass the time. Thank heaven for cell phones and games!

Doug finally asked if there was something he could do as they were jamming this long pole up our side of the fire door. He said he could see and why don't they just hand him their "tool" and guide him. The last 10 min was spent watching him finangle this tool and then wa-la! We were out! Now, why didn't they just hand it to him in the first place? We could have been out so much sooner:)

The elevator doors open, there's a crew of people standing there looking at us. I found that to be quite humorous for some reason. Also, I didn't want to be the one walking out with the pee bags! We joked that we should just walk out straight faced and hand one of the personnel the bags, and then walk away. But no one had enough guts for that. I think Doug got the unlucky job of disposing of the yellow liquid.

Luckily, the elevator stopped just two feet past the second floor, otherwise they would've had to hoist us out of there with a ladder or something.

We did make it to Ikea. We did stuff our faces at In N Out. I didn't get around to all the other errands I meant to do before school started however. And I blame that blasted elevator!!

Fort Bragg Trip

Right before Teaghan and I left for Girls Camp we took a trip to Fort Bragg. A trip that we do every year so that we can see our friends that we haven't seen in a year or so. Normally we camp, but this year Doug and I decided that since we were only going to have three days there, we were going to stay in a hotel. And yes, it was simply...

MAAAVELOUS.

The girls camped with our friends and Doug and I and the boys went back to the hotel. It really was SOOOO NICE. Cause Fort Bragg is cold! Darn coastal weather.

I love spending time with these people, though I didn't get as many pics this year as we left early for girls camp, so I only got a few with one of the families. But some is better than none I say!

Again, this is why I am so in love with photoshop. You're going to notice the same shot, just edited differently.

CAUSE I CAN'T DECIDE WHICH I LIKE BETTER.

And since I just spent the better part of the last two hours editing said photos, I'm going to post all of them. :)

Next year, I plan on taking more. And in the spirit of documenting, I will put myself in at least ONE. But that may be it:)



Gosh they love it when I make them sit for a photo.

















You may not notice the difference in this next set of photos, but I love how each one turned out. I can't choose!









They were such good subjects. I asked them to jump off a cliff...and they did!














Apparently Zak was in need on some warmth cause he planted his face in the sand. The sand really was nice and warm!





Poor baby! This was how he looked each night as we went back to our hotel. Granted it was usually around 11pm, but this kid is like the energizer bunny. He goes and goes until he's all powered out and then he just shuts down. See, the battery analogy works:)
(Note the dirt on the face.)



How I love little boy discoveries. Especially in hands and pails. I love hands, pails, and feet!

Way WAY Behind!

Zak's Birthday was back in July and I am barely getting around to posting about it. No surprise there though:)

We threw Zak's first "Friends" party for him and Doug thought it'd be fun to take the party to Sky High. We looked up the amount it would cost and then decided that we would save $85 by not actually having the party there. So we decided to let the kids jump for an hour, then come back to our house and have the "party." It worked out so good! The kids didn't want to leave. We ended up jumping an extra 20 min but nobody said anything so I guess it was okay. They were having so much fun jumping off the walls, literally, and us adults were having a blast watching them, that we exceeded our one hour jump time. Oh well.

So here's a couple of pics from the party. I didn't post all that I took cause some didn't turn out, and I'm not sure why. I guess my shutter speed was off. Who knows:)













We love you Zak!!!

Journal Jar Prattle #3...I think

I'm resurrecting the Journal Jar. Per Tuesday night's enrichment night discussion on journaling, it had me thinking that I need to get back to the jar. I shamefully admit that the last time I wrote from the Jar was in 08. Sheesh. That is shameful! So I grabbed it out of the dark recesses of my closet, dusted the outside of the jar off cause two years later it's missing a lid, (roll of the eyes here) and set it next to the computer.

So the same rules apply. Since I print this blog, the "Prattle" is mostly for my benefit so don't feel like you have to read on.

Truly you don't have to.

But you should.

JUST KIDDING. Seriously...just kidding.

Question: Where did you go to school? (Elementary, secondary, college)

Question: Secondary? Does that mean all schooling between elementary and college? Gosh, what a dunce I am:) I will just assume that's what it's talking about. And no, I never got points for having a high IQ. That would be my husband. I live vicariously through him. But mostly by osmosis.

Horizon Elementary was my first school. The year I attended kindergarten was the school's first year opening. It was the school for our little subdivision growing up. I have such fond memories of that red brick one story building. Life was much simpler, and so sweet. And because we didn't know better, we didn't mind putting on all our snow gear just to go to recess. Gosh that was such a pain!

Junior High, cause that's what it's called in Utah, was just as awesome an experience as elementary. It's taken me many years to say middle school instead of junior high. Many Friday's my dad would bring me lunch from my favorite burger joint and I would eat in the cafeteria with all my friends who would be salivating over my burger and fries while they plowed through a dry sandwich. It's making me hungry just thinking about it. I know this age is hard, and it was, but in so many ways it was easy. Especially my social studies class. The teacher would leave during the tests and the whole class would take the test together. Good times....good times. Looking back, I wonder if he knew that's what went on. He never seemed surprised that we were all on the same grading curve.

Three years of high school was spent as a Spartan at Murray High. What a fantastic school! It still is to this day. People fight to get their kids in. Of course the pool is no more. They had to make more room because there was so many kids. My class was the last small graduating class. We had around 400 graduate. The year after that was something like 600, and by the time my baby brother graduated, it was like 800. You get the picture.
Many extended lunch breaks were taken cause I had 6th period seminary; cheering at the football stadium sitting next to a cute guy was so much fun; hanging out with my girlfriends at all hours of the night; working and playing, and figuring out who I really was...trying to get past all the insecurities that seem so silly now; signing yearbooks at the end of the year promising to call everyone but never getting around to it, only to meet up at the start of school, picking up where we left off as if there hadn't been any summer at all; all this I wouldn't change for anything.

Two years of college was spent at Ricks College. Yes folks, when it was Ricks and not BYU Idaho. On a side note, I was seriously torked when we learned that Ricks was going to change. This was years after I'd graduated of course, but to not have any football team anymore?? Really???? Not dissing BYI Idaho, but Ricks was in a league all it's own. Even President Hinckley, when he was Prophet, visited and said that there's just a spirit there that isn't at the Y. It was where I learned that who I was was really okay. It was where I learned what having a "real" boyfriend meant. It was where I learned how to live with 5 girls. FIVE. It was where I learned that when six girls live together the menstruation cycle becomes the same for all parties involved:0 WEEEEIIRRRD. To this day I think that bit o science is still strange. It was where I learned that 6 girls using 6 bottles of hairspray leaves mega film on walls and counter tops. It was where I fell in love for the first time. It was where I met Doug.

This has been very cathartic for me, all this reminiscing. I'll try to keep the Journal Jar from getting relegated to the back of the closet again. But no promises:)

Getting out from behind the Camera

I have been following some of Kristen Duke's Photography tips on The Idea Room. One was about getting out from behind the camera. I would much rather take the picture than be in it, but she suggested to start putting yourself in more pictures with your kids and hubby. One of her readers commented about a woman who decided to do that very thing. She decided that she was going to be in a photo with her family every month, and she wasn't going to care that she didn't look perfect:) And so she did. Here's the quote taken from the She Left Proof Project:

"Many scrapbookers knew Aleida Franklin. She was a wonderful wife and mother and a brilliant artist. I didn’t know Aleida personally, but she taught me something I will never forget.

She emailed me last year to tell me she loved my blog and to ask if I liked my short hair-cut. This lead to a series of emails which eventually led me to remark that I really loved how often she posted pictures of herself with her children on her blog. And she replied to me, “Have you ever seen a photograph of your own mother and thought to yourself how fat she looked? Or how she wasn’t wearing make-up? Or wasn’t dressed in a glamorous outfit?” Of course my answer was no.
She then responded with saying that she made it a goal to take a picture of herself with her children at least once every month. And that to use excuses about how we look, as women, is ridiculous, since our children will never care what we looked like, but only that we had physical evidence of the bond between mother and child.

Aleida tragically and unexpectedly passed away in an auto accident in September of 2008, leaving 2 small children and a grieving husband. After she passed I thought of how those children must feel to have those precious photographs. I have made it my personal goal to follow her wise suggestion and I try to take photos of myself with my children….double chins, make-up free, bed-head and all.

I invite Mothers everywhere to take Aleida’s Challenge. To photograph yourself with your children each and every month. And to post them here so that we can see Aleida’s legacy unfolding"

It's not the complete story though I'm sure you could search for it. I found myself thinking that what she left her family with is something so very priceless. Her children will always have a memory of her, even when that memory may start to fade. This really got me thinking of what kind of legacy I want to leave my kids. Pictures is an easy way to start!

So I've decided that, once a month, regardless of how I look or how crazed I am, I will try to get a picture in with the kids, or Doug, or what have you.

Starting now.

There have been a few people that have asked to see my new "do" from the 'To be Blonde or not to be Blonde' post, so I am going to post a photo of myself. Even though that post was meant to be about the possibility that Blonde's really do get more attention more than it was a hair post. Not that I ascribe to that theory, but it was food for thought anyway. So as much as this makes me TOTALLY uncomfortable, I am going to do it:) Gotta start somewhere I suppose.

Why is it that it's so hard to post a photo of oneself? Does anybody else have this problem???

This one is me trying to take a photo of myself using the bathroom mirror.



Doug wondered why I didn't just ask him. Me too:) I guess I'm just used to being the one behind the camera. So I did. And he was happy to oblige.



So there you have it. I am going to count this as the photo for the month of July. Hopefully this will get easier as the months go by, especially since I won't be doing any more self portraits!