Taking off!

Day 172 {Road Trip}

We are leaving tomorrow for our three week cross country road trip.  Needless to say I won't be posting any pictures until I got back.

Day 171 {Happy Father's Day}

Day 170 {Not your normal ballet shoes}

Days 167, 168 & 169

Day 170 {Dress Rehearsal}

The girls are dancing to "Perfect Day" from the Legally Blond movie (hence the flashy pink costumes).   You can tell how much the girls love the dance by the constant smiles on their faces.

Day 168 {Rehearsal}

This was the first of their two rehearsals.  Their music for their ballet piece is quite dramatic and so was the lighting.  It made getting a good shot very challenging.

Day 167 {New Top}

They didn't have the ballet bun cover I needed at the dance shop so I stopped into Nordstrom to make sure the trip wasn't a total waste.

Day 165 & 166

I am sitting around waiting for a service man to come over.  Right now he is hitting the last few minutes of his two hour window!!!

Since the house is clean and the laundry is done I thought I would post the pictures from the past two days.

Day 166 {Teen Art}

My Dad can draw.  My sister can draw.  I can't draw.  Apparently the drawing gene skipped me and headed straight for Reid.  She can draw.  This is one of the first projects she did in Art class this year.


Day 167 {Agapanthus}

Agapanthus remind me of fireworks on the 4th of July.

Day 159 thru 164

The 8th was my birthday and one of the gifts my hubby bought me was a 50mm 1.8f lens.  He wanted to buy me a new camera, but I told him I would rather get some new "glass" first and a new camera later.

So all of these next pictures were taken with my new lens, except for day 162.  I need to get used to the focus (and get my eyes checked), but I am really enjoying it.

Day 164 {Eat them up yum}

I was in the mood for banana cupcakes this morning so I whipped up a batch.  Since my oven is broken I made these mini's in the toaster oven.  The first batch of 12 disappeared before I even got the second batch in the oven.

Day 163 {Losing the details}

One of the most difficult things for me to photograph are solid white and solid black objects.  I haven't quite figured out how to shoot them and maintain some detail.  But I am getting better with my black poodle.  I have less shots of her looking like a solid black blob.

Day 162 {That's a wrap}

For our last Girl Scout meeting of the "year" I had the troop over to my house for a sleep over.  I asked the girls if they wanted me to plan any crafts or activities and they said, "No thanks....we just want to play and hang out."

Now that is my kind of a meeting!!!

Day 161 {Oh come on...humor me}

Kate was ready early for school so I did a little begging to see if she would model for me in the early morning light.  Doesn't she look enthusiastic?

Day 160 {Progress}

I am always amazed at how fast plants grow.  I was checking out our tomato plants and discovered a few tom's have sprouted.  Yeah!  Now I just hope that they don't all mature while we are on vacation.

Day 159 {It's my birthday}

Before anyone could sing me happy birthday I had to play around with taking picture of the candles with my new 50mm 1.8f lens.  So much fun being able to take candle lit shots.

Day 151 thru 158

Day 158 {Summer accessories}

My new summer hat that I know my dermatologist would approve of.

Day 157 {Textures}

I used several textures and a new technique learned at Shadow House Creations to edit this shot. 

Day 156 {Swap meet}

The girls and I went to the swap meet this afternoon and found a vendor that was selling piles and piles of old jewelery pieces. It was a crazy mess but we had fun shifting through it to see if there were any cool treasures to be found.

Day 155 {I heart side walk chalk}

Day 154 {My Ballerina}

Today was picture day for Kate's Ballet class. Don't you just love that tutu?  It is the biggest, fluffiest tutu that she has ever had.  The best thing is that the tutu isn't attached to the leotard so she can use it separately.  I see some future cute shots with that baby!

Day 153 {Getting lucky}

I couldn't believe how lucky I got to catch these two humming birds in flight. Even though they look I was told that they are probably two males fighting for territory. Relax boys, there is plenty of garden to go around.

Day 152 {That was easy}

Today was picture day for Kate's Tuesday class (mixed dancing styles). They are dancing to a song from the Legally Blond musical, hence the bright pink costume.

Day 145 thru 151

Day 151 {Bubble blowing}

Taking bubble shots does require a willing bubble blower.  Kate and I had so much fun taking bubble shots this afternoon.  For Kate it was the best when I was trying to get the shot without letting the bubbles hit the lens of my camera!!

Day 150 {Bikini season}

The summer swimming season at Grandpa and Oma's pool has started!!

Day 149 {Party Girl}

Reid all dressed up for a birthday party for two of her friends.  At first the guest were a little annoyed that the dress code for the party was semi formal.......but in the end I think the girls liked having the opportunity to get dressed up.  It is always nice to see her in something other than skinny jeans and a tank top!!!

Day 148 {Queen of the world}

Do you remember that scene in the movie Titanic when Kate and Leo's characters are perched at the front of the Titanic?  Well, that is what Molly looks like when she rides in the car. 

Day 147 {Dancing feet}

Last year our Poodle Xena ate three pairs of Kate's ballet shoes.  This year I made Kate keep her three pairs of delicious leather dance shoes in a bag hanging in the garage.  The recital is on June 19th and so far all three pairs are still intact.  I am thinking that I need to knock on wood right now!

I can't wait to show you all how cute Kate's recital costumes are!  The tutu for the ballet piece is to die for.  :)

Day 146 {Hangman}

Kate was helping our next door neighbors play hangman.  Listening to a 4 and 6 year old play hangman with each other is very humorous. 

Day 145 {Completed fun}

As promised, here is the mixed media art project that I completed.  I totally copied the design from the article in the magazine (cloth paper scissors), but now that I have done it once I have all sorts of ideas for my own design.