Standing in line...

Don't you just hate standing in line to use the outhouse?

While we were in Utah, I took (with the help of a handy-dandy tripod) my family's pics at the Benson Grist Mill in Tooele County. I LOVE this place! I saw this old outhouse there and couldn't resist doing a shot like this!

Check out Dad holding his nose, Andy checking the watch and Zach(on the end)- well, you can guess what he is doing! Cracks me up! I love this shot- it shows how crazy and funny my family is! Makes me miss being home and sitting around the kitchen table talking about things that shouldn't be talked about at a kitchen table! Mom, you should blow this one up HUGE and hang it above the living room couch for all the home teachers to see! Or maybe dad would like to put it in his waiting room at his office? Bwhahahaha!

For you photoshop folks- The sepia treatment on this was pretty complicated- I wanted it to look very grainy and vintage. I had to convert to b&w (used gradient map, + levels to bring up midtones), then added a brown color filter. Then I tried to add grain (which I had never done before) and realized that the grain looked colored (like noise) so I had to then convert it to Grayscale mode (which undid my sepia color), then add the grain again (Filter-texture-grain), then convert back to RGB mode, then readd the color filter. Whew! It was fun though- I love learning new things in photoshop! I think it still needs some more grain, but I didn't want to redo all of that! I'll remember that for my next outhouse shot!

Lots more family picks to come- just thought this one deserved its own post! Hope you enjoyed it and were not offended!

Obsessions

Those of you that know Jace well will find these pictures very fitting. It seems that whenever Jace finds something he really likes, he becomes obsessed with it. It started with his discovery of Buzz Lightyear. He didn't just like Buzz, he WAS Buzz- all day long every day. He only played with his Buzz toys, he always wanted to watch Toy Story and we had to write ANDY on the bottom of all his shoes. Although he still likes Buzz and Toy Story, he has grown out of the obsession, thank goodness! But then he discovered flashlights. About a year ago, Tim got Jace a little LED key chain light. Jace carried that thing everywhere- he even held onto it while he slept. He would lock himself in our dark bathroom and closets for 30-40 minutes at a time and just sit in there with his flashlight. And whenever he saw Tim's flashlights, his eyes would get very wide as if to say "MUST... HAVE...FLASHLIGHT"- you could not even talk to him- he literally could not listen. When we are at mutual on Thursday nights he is always asking people if they have flashlights on their keys and several people have given him their little lights.

Then he discovered the lights on watches- again, he became obsessed. When Tim's parents were out here last month, Jace managed to collect a watch from each of them and thought he was the coolest person in the world for having four watches on that ALL had lights on them. He would walk around glancing at his arm every 5 seconds to make sure they were all still there, looking so proud of himself. It was hilarious! He would show us how those lights worked over and over again. Such a funny kid!

I know that lots of kids go through stages like this, but I can't help but wonder if gets some of this obsessiveness from me. To this day, when I get an idea or something in my head, I cannot get it out- I will obsess about it for hours or even days. I think a lot of people in my family are this way actually. I think there are some good things about this trait- it helps motivate me to get stuff done, but I know it gives me lots of unnecessary stress. Isn't it scary sometimes how much our kids are like us? Yikes!

Well, I don't know what else to write so I will leave it at that! Hope you enjoyed these!

Nature

While Tim's parents were visiting last month, we did lots of site-seeing around here. These are just some nature shots I took.

We drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was so beautiful! It had just rained and the clouds were starting to break up. They were so close to the ground and moving so fast through the valleys below- you could almost reach out and touch them! The next few are from Crabtree Falls. I wish I would've had my tripod with me so the foreground was nice and crisp, but I still love this effect- looks like a calendar shot, huh! The leaf is just my pathetic attempt to get a closeup of a water droplet- hard to do with a 5omm lens, but I still liked it. And the last two are from the world famous, 5-star Lake Monticello beach (don't look too closely at the water- not only is it dirty, but I had to photoshop out a lady doing the back stroke and some buoys!) It was such a beautiful day- it seems like we rarely have sunny days with blue skies and puffy clouds like this. Reminds me of the sky in Utah. Had to throw some sun flare in there too. I should probably stop doing these shots so much- I am sure it can't be too good for my lens.

That is it for now- I have lots more coming, so hopefully I will get to them this weekend!

Solids

It has been far too long since I updated my blog (okay, blogs), but I just wanted to add this one real quick so you all know we are still alive. Ethan turns 6 months in two more days and so it is time to start solids. This was from our first attempt this morning and I LOVE his expression- "what on earth are you shoving in my mouth?" He kept making this face every time we put a bite in, but I think he started to get the hang of it toward the end. I love starting solid foods- call me crazy but I actually think it is fun to feed them even when they just spit it right back out or gag on it. But I don't look forward to the day that he starts throwing his food on the walls, which I am sure will come sooner than I think! Hope you are all well! I have no shoots this week, so hopefully I will get caught up on all the photos I have to add on here and my other blog! So check back soon! Love you all!

Mandy

Not enough time...

Boy, I have said this a lot lately! There simply is not enough time in the day to get done everything I need or want to get done! And I only have two kids! Things have been crazy busy for me! All those sessions that I have had recently have piled up on top of me and it seems that in between taking care of my kids, I am at the computer ALL...DAY...LONG... Editing, cropping, preparing files for print, making slideshows, galleries... Lots of work! Don't get me wrong, I am THRILLED that business is going so well, but it is just a lot of work! Sorry my 'promise to write again tomorrow' didn't happen, I should've known better than to make a promise like that! And I am sure you have all been anxiously checking my blog 12 times a day waiting for my update (bwhahaha!) But anyways here are some updates on the happenings in our family:

Erica left almost three weeks ago and it is so very different around here! We miss her soooo much, even more than we thought we would! With her personality gone, we realize once again just how dull we are! Jace really misses her too. He keeps saying things like "When is Erica going to get off of that airplane?" "I want to go live in Utah, too!" and "I miss Erica." And he still starts out every prayer with "Bless mommy, daddy and Erica" (we still have to remind him about baby Ethan!); she will forever be a part of his family! The other day he even said "Erica is my sister". So cute!

As far as the drama of Jace adjusting to baby Ethan, things are MUCH better! Ethan is fascinated by Jace and loves to watch him and smile at him, and Jace just loves this! He seems to be doing much better now that Ethan can interact with him a bit. We still have to watch him with Ethan (the other day I came in the living room and saw Jace 'riding' on Ethan's back- Yikes!)

Jace has hit the 'WHY' stage with a vengeance! I remember when we first moved out here I was in the car with my friend Amy and her daughter Saige was 3 1/2 to 4 at the time. She talked non-stop, and I thought it was so funny and cute! I didn't think how 'cute' that would be if it happened ALL DAY LONG EVERY DAY! Here is a sample conversation I had with Jace on the way to town last week:

"Mommy, why's there no cars on the road?"

"Because everyone went to work"

"Why's everybody go to work?"

"So they can make money to support their families"

"Why do they need money?"

"So they can buy food, and clothes, and gas, and toys..."

"Why do they need to buy gas"

silence, (maybe if I Ignore him he will stop)

"Mom, why they need to buy gas?"

"So that they can drive their cars"

"Why do they drive their cars?"

"THEY JUST DO, JACE"

"Why they just do?"

and on... and on... and on...

AHHHHHHHHH! It is especially bad in the car. Maybe I should try turning the music up louder. Bless his heart, I know he is just developing and learning about the world around him, but it is can drive me absolutely CRAZY!

Ethan is growing- I am sure you could've guessed that much)- he is rolling over easily and can sit up for a few seconds before teetering over. He still hasn't slept through the night, but maybe it will happen tonight! I wish! He is still so alert and wide-eyed- I think it is so cute! But the other day we were in the grocery store and some guy walked by us and referring to Ethan said "WHOA! Look at those eyes- They look like they are going to pop out of his head!" Hahaha, jerk, thanks! Why don't people keep comments like that to themselves! Oh well, I still think he is the cutest baby in the world, even with his bug-eyes!

Well, that is about it. Good for you if you read through all of that! These are just some pictures I wanted you all to see. I took the one of Ethan and Jace last night at Palmyra (the oh-so-famous truck!) It will soon be gracing my mantle area in a 16X20 canvas- Yeah baby! WHCC (my lab) is having a 25% off canvas sale, so I have to take advantage! It's a big commitment though, I hope it looks good! Even at 25% off they are still expensive! I will take a picture of it on my wall when I get it. And the family picture will soon be on our walls, too! It's about time! And an outtake from the bunch (thought it was funny.) Had to throw one of Erica in there too, cause I thought it was so cute! We miss that girl!

Okay, I am done. Hope you are all doing well! And I promise I will not make any more promises about when I will post again (but I will try to keep up!) Take care!