Welcome!
It is my intention to post photographs that I would like to share. I welcome feedback from anyone willing to follow along. Just double click on any photo to enlarge.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Silhouette Sunday


I know I am stretching the shadow thing a bit here, but with all the dull grey skies lately there has not been a lot of opportunity for shadows. By solarizing and warming this photo a little I was able to emphasize the silhouette of these trees. I took this in my mother-in-laws driveway. She had us over for lunch today, as she is soon headed south to bright sun bright enough to cast shadows. Enjoy Meme. You can check out more shadow shots at: http://heyharriet.blogspot.com.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Superstition



I feel like I am living in a parallel universe and it's getting more and more confusing. We live in the northeast part of the country that has been getting pummeled with snowstorm after storm, yet we get relatively little. We seem to be in a vacuum. Blizzards swirl all around us, yet we remain unscathed. The weather men are even more confused than me. They now babble in circles , insecure in their ability and can no longer predict the weather with any accuracy. I can't even look them in the eye anymore. I am annoyed and sympathetic at once. The yellow bus in this photo shows up at odd times and drops the kids off, home early for the day with only light flurries in the skies. Some mornings we get only rain and still the bus does not show. Two weeks ago, the state closed early as we were expecting 12-18 inches of snow. We got 2 and a half. The kids don't seem to mind ofcourse; I see them walking around the house, up late on school nights, shirts inside out and backwards, and lately I have been finding spoons under the beds. Their superstitious ways seem to be working.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Shut -Ins












Today I feel like a shut-in and just a little batty. We had yet another snow day even though we didn't really get any snow. Go figure. I thought about taking my group to the mall since the roads looked just fine, but then came to my senses. We ended up just laying low and riding out "the storm". I decided to practice my photo taking/editing skills since I had so many captive people within reach. I bribed my son who I have hardly photographed in the last year to pose for a few stills ( he was actually playing xbox or wii or something like that most of the time, but at least he's not bolting from the room). My sweet daughter was more than willing to pose for me today and her littlest bro jumped in near the end of the shoot, always willing to ham it up. My other son was hooked up to his ipod "watching Fred". Who's Fred and is he okay for 5th graders?

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

My Cyber World

This is our computer desk where a lot of interest in our home is centered. We keep our desktop and a laptop computers here in this space just off our family room. We are able to monitor our children in this scary cyber world we live in. They use the computers for homework as needed, to play games, and our highschoolers, to chat with friends and browse facebook. When limited it is not a bad social option for young teens who you don't want out at night unsupervised, although recently we have limited their time to an hour on school days as it was too much of a temptation when there is homework to be done. I do like that they can get their social fix with friends from the safety of their home as I lurk nearby. "Mom, your a creeper" I have heard, more than once from my oldest son. Apparently this is face book slang for one who frequents your page and or looks over your shoulder. If I'm a creeper so be it, it's part of good parenting in 2010. Just when you think you have it all under control your 13 year old purchases what you think is an ipod with this Christmas money only to find our that he has unlimited access to the Internet, anytime, anywhere, any site. Shouldn't they write that is bold print on the front of the box? Just a little FYI to parents maybe? This was last year and now they have perfected the parental controls and you can shut their access down as an option, which we promptly did after much research and fretting. This year when our 11 year old spent his money on one for himself we were able to immediately shut this option down leaving him with what we thought were game applications and the ability to store his music. We were shocked to learn that he has texting. His is not a phone, but with a free texting application he was good to go. A ten year old friend shared this info with him. We were even more surprised to learn that even though he does not have access to face book via our computer because we feel he is too young and have not yet caved under his begging, on his ipod touch he can go on face book even without Internet access, providing he knows someones password and can then update their status and post photos. Scary on many levels, especially when it is your password he knows. All this technology worries me regularly and keeps us on our toes. Our youngest child, only 8 but quickly approaching 15, is an Internet surfing wiz. We will be creeping on him for years, I'm sure.
You can check out what's going on in other worlds here:http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/.

Ruby Tuesday


I found some color in my house. La la love it.
It's Ruby Tuesday, check it out:http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/

Monday, February 22, 2010

Eye Can See You


Eye thought eye would join in macro Monday this week with this up-close and personal shot of my son. Eye like how the high black and white contrast makes his lashes pop. You can see more macro photos at: http://lisaschaos.com/. Enjoy!

Vacation Week Recap

It is Mosaic Monday, and the day is flying by. The house is quiet; and kind of tidy which is nice. Woke this morning with visions of the week ahead, only to turn on the weather to reports of mashed potato snow. Really, that's how the weather man described it. The forecast for this evening will be cloudy with a chance of mashed potatoes, which will probably mean a snow day tomorrow. No school! My little one tried for a sick day today, with a stuffy nose, and a sore leg muscle from his wrestling tournament yesterday. I quickly gave him a light dose of ibuprofen and a pep talk. "You will probably be home tomorrow I reminded him if we get the mashed potatoes they are predicting." He smiled and ran out the door to catch his bus.
Thanks Mary at: http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Monochrome Home


Snowy photographs look grand in black and white. Throw in a birch tree and shadows cast and contrast is king. You can see many lovely monochrome pictures at:http://monochromeweeklytheme.blogspot.com/. Enjoy the contrast.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Parking Lot and Drive-by Skywatching




" They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." is running through my mind as I post this. I think the alliteration as well as the literal meaning helps it to stick. I took these photos this week while in transit this week heading from one sporting event to another. Yesterday I had" .....take a sled and slide down slope..." running around my brain. Check out my last post and it all makes sense. I think that is the theme of the week around here. And then, when you have a chance, go to http://skyley.blogspot.com.



Tuesday, February 16, 2010

It's Snowing Again






































February vacation.....
snowing.....
sliding......
falling....
fun.....
friends......
enough said.






Monday, February 15, 2010

A Macro for Monday


That's it, I need color! And warmth, and sun; and flip-flops and flowers! This one is from the archives, needless to say. I took this on a warm late Summer day and to my surprise there was a teeny tiny little fly posing for the camera. You may have to click to make larger to see the little guy. He's there though. So cute. You can check out more up close and personal shots at http://lisaschaos.com/.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Shadow Shot Sunday and a Monochrome

What the hey, I decided to throw in a monochrome photo as well, but it insists on posting before my original shadow shot of my beautiful bracelet. Did I mention that I love turquoise? You'll have to read on below to see what that's all about. Anyway, I took this photo a few days ago in my backyard, the day after the blizzard that never was. We were supposed to get over a foot of snow and only received 2 inches. The kids had the whole day off of school and they even let state workers out at 1 that day to keep everyone off the highways during the storm. We all huddled inside and waited. Two and a half inches and 8 hours later this was the result. Not very impressive, but beautiful still for a monochrome photograph. I entered this photo in The Pioneer Woman's depth of field challenge this week. I do find this challenging, but love the result when you get it right. I like how my turquoise bracelet looks like little planets all perfectly aligned. Take notice that only two beads are actually in complete focus. Now that's some narrow depth. I love that Pioneer Woman, that's for sure. Last year she chose my snap fish album in one of her photo challenges and I could not have been more flattered. Could never figure out how to claim my prize, but basked in the glory anyhow. Check out the rest at :http://heyharriet.blogspot.com.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Sky Watching


Just a peek of the brilliant blue sky that graced our view today. It was just heavenly out after a day of snow. Be sure to check out the rest of the world at: http://skyley.blogspot.com. Enjoy. :)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: Speechless

Lily the parakeet is absolutely speechless. Where is the snow?? Now she is not only kept captive, literally, but captive with 4 school age children who could have gone to school today, at least a half day anyway. There is the exception, the 11 year old with a case of the Chicken Pox, yes Chicken Pox, despite a vaccination and a booster shot. He gets to take the whole week off, even thought he is symptomless. She is helpless, stuck in the house with a very surly 14 year old who has been skipping home work and is now cut off from texting and face book, and now a day off of school. At times this can be like having a tiger on the loose. But at least she has her cage to keep her safe. And now a blizzard that they keep talking up on the TV, but is nowhere to be seen. Damn weather man!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

I Heart Kisses


I am re posting my favorite photo for this weeks I Heart Faces challenge. As I have said in the past, I heart this photo with all my heart. I love the intimacy of the composition and the way I captured my daughter's little hand on her brother's cheek. I also love her braids and big yellow bow. I love braids on little girls, they are so timeless. Wow, I can't believe they are both in high school now. I swear I took this picture just last week. It was a cool sunny morning and they were playing in the living room, in and out and around, toys everywhere. We had just finished reading our library books. I was exhausted from having a 1 year old that still did not sleep through the night and actually started to nod off as I was reading to them. I was looking forward to nap time, when maybe I could sneak one in too with visions of more babies dancing in my head.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Looking For the Sun

All week I have been dreaming of sunny warm days. I think I may be lacking vitamin D. This mosaic is a compilation of eyes and skies. Check out the rest at http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com hosted by Mary.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Sky Watch Friday



I hope I am not boring everyone with these off my front stoop shots of the sky. I often long for wide open spaces and big sky, not much of it around here. These were taken two days ago after a cloudy day and a half began to take a turn. That is usually when the best sky drama occurs. The darker one is earlier in the day, and the watercolor-like photo was at sunset. Don't forget to check out the sky drama around the world at: http://skyley.blogspot.com/.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

You Capture: Faces


This is a picture of Gabriel basking in the late afternoon sun as we sit waiting out front of the high school for my daughter to finish track practice. Nearly everyday within a half hour of Gabe getting off the school bus we pile into our minivan to bring his brother to wrestling practice and pick up his sister. Some days this entails a five minute wait, and some days up to an hour!! I have decided to just give in and cherish this time with him. He enjoys hopping into the front seat as soon as I park to get a good view of all. He knows many of the high school boys and loves to call out to them and wave as they too arrive for practice. He is very talkative and will give me many details, far more than any of my others, about his day at school as well as his hopes and dreams for the future. Seriously. The boy is a chatter box, sometimes very random, but always well thought out. One day we watched a sad drama unfold, as a troubled teenage girl had an argument with the principal, as she stormed out of the school swearing and lit up a cigarette. Eventually she was picked up by the police and her grandfather after she stomped off of school grounds in nothing but pajama pants and a light sweatshirt. Part of me wanted to go after her and offer help, knowing a little of her background. Gabe was mesmerized as I tried to explain some of the pain this delinquent teen was going through. He told me that she needed to make good choices, and that when he was at school he would think of what me and his Daddy would do in different situations. "I want to be like you guys, because I love you" . "That's how I decide what to do". Wow. What a gift that was on a cold winter afternoon.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Monday, February 1, 2010

Mosaic Monday Muse

Since I seem to be in a picture taking rut I have not been inspired to make a mosaic lately. I am looking forward to warm sunny days and colorful flowers again. My daughter turned 16 recently, my oldest child and only girl. She has always been a muse for me and a beautiful girl inside and out. We are blessed. So is the inspiration for this mosaic, and made with a full heart. La la love you doll.
Check out all of the heartwarming mosaics at: http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com.