Completely Unrelated

1.)  You may have seen this picture in our weekly update from last week:

I typed a note that this is Sadie's favorite hangout.  It has been for the last couple months, though I guess it depends on the time of day.  If it's sunny out, she prefers to spend her mornings laying right in the middle of the walkway through our family room/kitchen area.  There is a bright spot of light that I would guess is really warm and she lays claim to that warmth.

However, most of the other parts of the day you will find her sprawled out behind our couch OR MOST LIKELY on the top step leading to our basement.  She takes the entire step because she actually stretches her front and back legs out.  When you walk by she stays like that and just her eyes follow you - it's sort of creepy.

If you actually want to go down the steps?  That's a big first step because SHE DOESN'T MOVE!!  You have to squeeze your foot to the right or left against the wall, or completely step over her.  It's super awesome when you are carrying the extra groceries to the fridge downstairs and your arms are full.

2.)  I have found this ad amusing all week:

It's from the Joann Fabrics Ad.  Does anyone else find this bag ridiculously huge?  I showed it to Jake and he said, "It looks like a Mary Poppins Bag!"  It's so big she could pull anything out of it.  It might even swallow her.  I can't even imagine how heavy it could get.  I bet those wood handles digging into the top (and bottom) of her shoulder are so comfy!

But then Jake and I actually read the description:

I don't think she's sneaking anything in anywhere anytime soon.  I also don't think this bag stands a chance of being less conspicuous than a little yarn tote.

3)  I think we would all really like a snow day.  One of my students came in dejected last night for his piano lesson.  The snow we were supposed to get hadn't even started - anyone around here assumes that means there is no chance for a snow day following.  The first thing he said when he entered: "We are NEVER going to get a snow day," followed by the saddest face I've seen in a long time.

This morning Jake told me that the weathermen needed to just stop reporting that we were going to get snow because they hype it up, then we only get a few inches and everyone's hopes are dashed.

At this point of winter everyone just needs a mental health day.

Project Life- Week 7

Official Valentine Day Week...a few extra hearts.

I'm a little nervous for this week...I don't think a single picture has been taken by anyone.  Keep your fingers crossed!!

The Music Man

This year Jake started band and has been working on his percussion instruments since last summer.  This past Saturday was his first band concert.

He was SO excited to play in this district-wide concert.  I bet we have heard about it every week for the past month at least!  At one point he even pulled his favorite piece up on YouTube for us to listen to.  He prefaced it with not knowing if he should or if it should be a surprise but he "just wanted everyone to hear how awesome it is!"

I'm so excited to see his enthusiasm for band.  It was something unexpected but I'm just loving hearing him talk about how things are going and I love when he tells us how much he loves playing percussion.

(And please note: He doesn't play drums.  He's not a drummer.  He's a percussionist...he plays percussion.  We had that drilled into us early on.)

Sorry about the quality of these pictures.  They are taken from halfway across a gymnasium and cropped way too much so I could get rid of some of the other faces.

Here's a video of his favorite piece: "Magma".  You may not want to watch it if you are prone to motion sickness.  The only way we could record sound was if we recorded a picture too.  Mike says he will be impressed if anyone can actually spot Jake in this.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our day began with a special treat for all of us: Valentine Donut Breakfast! 

Let me just say - half the stock was already gone at 6:15am at the Donut Connection.  Clearly I wasn't the only one with this brilliant plan today.

There is a little celebration going on during Jake's class today.  Not sure that we could top last year's Valentine hit we tried our best in the Internet search for someone else's creative idea.  We found it:

These were super easy to create (again - thank you, Internet!) and I was only too happy to realize that bamboo skewer sticks could be cut down easily and hot glued to the back of the mustache.  Better yet?  We had everything we needed and these were free!!  Even better - we aren't left with a half-bag of candy tempting Mike and I all day!

Mike and Jake gave the mustaches a test-run for me...and for you.

Maddie's school has dress-up days all week.  Today was formal day:

She pulled out the Christmas dress that also required her jewelry.  It started out at 30 degrees today.  It's supposed to get colder.  Luckily Mike is picking her up so it's only a short walk to the car once the temps drop!

If he's still sporting the mustache, I hope she recognizes him!

Week 6

When I started this project, I decided that each month would use it's own set of digital papers that I've had stored for ages.  February is going to be dedicated to reds, pinks, hearts and swirls.

Four Months Later...

Last October I took Maddie out for a photo shoot after school.  It was a very impromptu thing, but she's usually pretty game for pictures and the day was gorgeous.  The trees were also losing their leaves and I wanted some pretty colors before it was too late.

I told her it was more of a practice session for me, really.  I wanted to work on my focus issues as well as getting over the idea that I needed the "perfect background" before I could take a picture.  I wanted to find some areas that gave me a "little" perfect area - not an acre.

I think we did okay.  We found some great locations that I'm going to keep in mind for future use!  Here's what we came up with:

First there is a covered gazebo by the river.  I wanted to make sure her face wasn't too dark, and that she was in focus while being under a covered building.  We did okay here.

I also played around in Photoshop because I'm trying to figure out how to give pictures more of that vintage feel that seems to be so popular.

Next I took her to an abandoned gas station in town.  I've driven by it several times and I LOVE the white bricked wall.  However...she gave me one shot here.

What you don't see if me having pulled about 10 weeds right in her path. You also don't see the 50 bees that were swarming around the remaining 25 weeds about five feet away from her.  I had a zoom lens - I felt completely safe.  She....not so much.

I still want to shoot more photos here.  I learned a lot about the reflective properties of your surroundings - she was well-lit surrounded by all this white!

Next up was a large old church nearby.  The brick is so full of texture and they have a big open area of grass.

The sun was going to be disappearing soon, so we headed home.  However, I saw a spot that I thought would test me on my minimal-background aspirations.

We actually got several shots here that worked.  I don't think you'd guess there was a big townhouse and a large property sign so close.

A little further down the street we found a huge tree.  I was very curious if I could make it work.  It was the only thing that was going to give me color at Maddie's height but it involved her basically standing in one large open spot under the tree with very little light getting in between the branches.

Can I just say what a trooper she was?  This was right next to a pretty busy street and on top of that, there was a group of high school guys training for their track and field.  I offered to wait until they passed in case she was embarrassed getting her pictures taken but she just shrugged her shoulders and said it wasn't a big deal.

We got home and reviewed everything.  Then they sat on my computer for so many months.  Overall I think I did okay in self-tests.  I did have better focus, but I still have a long way to go.  I was very happy with our locations (plus a few others we found) and I have a little more confidence in shooting somewhere other than "the perfect tree" location.  Practice makes perfect!

Week 5 Catch All

I'm amazed by the end of the week that we actually have enough pictures to make it appear that we did something.  Maybe I'm just amazed that despite feeling like all we do is sit around, the end of the week shows me that we actually keep fairly busy!