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Sunday, November 16, 2008

Holy Late, Batman!




















I know that Halloween was a few weeks ago, but I am finally getting around to putting up the photos of the boys. Hopefully this post will be the introduction to me getting back on the blogging bandwagon.


We spent Halloween this year at the UVA Lawn once again. For those that are not familiar with UVA, there are rows of doorm rooms that line a grassy area on the backside of the Rotunda. They were built by Mr. Thomas Jefferson himself and certain students get invited to live there(apparently it is a huge honor, as they are really old and have community bathrooms that you have to go outside to get to- not my idea of fun!) Every year the students and some faculty members hand out candy there- there are tons of people! And the doors are all really close together so you can get lots of candy in a short amount of time, an idea which Jace really caught onto this year.


We went with Sonya B. this year and her little cowboy, Sam. Earlier that day Tim had a sinus procedure up in Warrenton that we were at all day, so we had to come straight from there. I remembered to bring the boys costumes but I forgot my camera. And I must say it was actually kind of nice! I got to enjoy what was going instead of walking around with one squinty eye and the other looking through a camera lens. But thankfully Sonya took a few shots for us. And you even get to see me in a frame- a rarity! The rest of the shots were taken on Nov. 1. I dressed the boys back up in their costumes so we could go show our neighbors their costumes and take some photos. Speaking of their costumes- I probably spent 14+ hours making these things. Crazy, right? Who spend 14 hours on their kids Halloween costumes? Yes, I am crazy indeed. But it was worth it- I couldn't resist doing the dynamic duo. Have you ever seen a more adorable Batman and Robin? You better say 'YES' or I will have Batman get you with a bat-a-rang.


Other updates: Jace turned 5 this week- can you believe it? Man, he is getting old fast(as am I)! And I played hookie from church today because I have a horrible cough. Really, I don't think I have ever had such a bad cough. I have probably only gotten 3-4 hours of sleep the last two nights because I just can't stop coughing- it is miserable! My jaw and my abs/ribs are so sore, I am tired of laying on the couch and I am running out of movies to watch! And I am a little nervous because I am scheduled to have surgery on my bellybutton this week and I am worried about how they are going to work on my belly button if my stomach muscles are constantly contracting from coughing. Can you cough when you are put under? I wonder... By the way, the surgery is for a hernia I got above my belly button after my last pregnancy. I want to get it fixed before I have #3 because I was told it will get worse.


Oh, other BIG news for me- I got this lens last week and it is AWESOME! This is the mother of all sports lenses- if you watch any sports you have probably seen the guys with the black and white lenses- this is that lens. Only I got it in black because the the white one was on back order. I haven't had tons of time to play with it yet since I have been sick, but I used it on my last session and it was amazing! It is really fast to focus and the bokeh at 135-200 is beautiful! And it is super sharp! The vibration reduction is such a cool feature- Tim took a shot at night inside at 200mm with a shutter speed of 1/15 and it was still pretty sharp. Seriously, that is amazing! Typically you need to have your shutter speed 2xs your focal length(in this case 1/400), so to even attempt shooting at 1/15 is unreal! Yep, this is going to be a great addition to my arsenal. And such a great sports lens for when my boys start sports! But man it is huge- the weight doesn't bother me, but it is LONG! It is about finger to elbow length with the hood on. It looks like a bazooka! I hope it doesn't scare away the kids I photograph! I will try to get out and do some test shots with it. I want to compare it to my 85 and see the difference in color, bokeh, etc.


Anyways, I better get going. My bag of cough drops and that indentation in the couch are calling my name. I wonder what movie I will watch tonight...


I will try to post again soon! Enjoy the photos!

7 comments:

camie said...

ahhhhh, mandy! i love your pictures!! you inspire me to actually learn what i am doing! i've been meaning to do that for over a year now.
and great costumes! i made joel's this year too and it was totally worth the work.
so talented missy!

Katie said...

Yay! It is good to see you guys again! :) I love the costumes, they are awesome. I'm sorry that you are sick, though! I have had a cough like that before and it was not fun. Good luck with your surgery! I hope everything goes smoothly.

Keiauni said...

Great Scott, it's Batman and the boy wonder!!

They look so dashing.

Mel said...

Gorgeous, fun photos and amazing costumes. I was much more lazy with Halloween this year. I hope you're feeling better and I hope your surgery goes well. It was great to see a post from you. I've missed you!

Ryan Smart said...

Um...HELLO!!!! It's Ryan Smart! Yes, you have a blog and we can be friends again. I can't belive you have two boys that are so old! They look just like you! If you're going to be in UT this Christmas let me know, it would be fun to get the whole clan together! check us out on 3smarts.blogspot.com

Leanne said...

Hey guys! I hope you still read the comments on this (old) post :) It's Leanne (and Danny) Johnson from the USU ward, your kids are so cute!!!

check us out: dannyleanne.blogspot

Melanie said...

Mandy, am I going to have to harrass you again for a new post? I miss your photos! And I want to see pics of the bathroom before/after makeover.
Hey, you should join Facebook. There are a bunch of people on there from the old ward. It's been fun to see everyone. I'm just going to email you. I have several links I want to send you anyway. . .