the moments in between

Snapshot

 

There is something profoundly satisfying about the sound of the shutter on my dSLR. But it isn't as convenient as my iPhone - it's bigger, I have to remember to grab it, I have to stop and think about the settings.

When it comes down to it - it's worth it. I never regret it. The photos are crisper. The details are clearer. I'm pushed to think more about composition, about what I want to capture. 

Lately, it seems that the dSLR only comes out on trips and special events. But I've had the Snapshot class at Studio Calico nagging at me a bit.. and pushing me to actually pick up the camera. This weekend, I heard Sam ringing his new bike bell. A perfect fit for the noise prompt.

I love this picture. It captures the bracelet he got for clipping up to "super student" last week, which hasn't left his wrist sense. I can just make out his flipflopped feet in the background - they're all he'll wear outside of school. And of course, there's the bike bell, which he's oh so proud of.

I almost just shot this with my iPhone. But I'm glad I didn't. 

where the boys are

I am a mama to three boys. I live in a world of superheroes and fart jokes and video games. I step over legos on a daily basis. I buy a lot of cargo shorts and tshirts. 

Even after 13 years experience, I can't say that I understand them. They are noisy, they are sweet, they are loud, they are giving and oh man, can they ruin a pair of jeans in nothing flat. I can't imagine life any other way. 

I'm contributing to a new website - Where The Boys Are. It's a collective of moms to boys, sharing photos and words that capture our experiences of raising men. I'm excited for this push to be more intentional about how I photograph our story, and hope you'll check it out!

full

this weekend was full of so many good things.

homeruns (courtesy of the college homerun derby)

fireworks.

friends.

sparklers.

shakespeare - and more specifically, the compleat works of shakespeare (abridged).

family & the lake.

so many stories, so many memories, so many photos.

not nearly enough sleep. but we'll catch up on that sooner or later.

a second look

i love phone photography because it lets me capture moments anytime, anywhere. the downside of this is that anytime, anywhere doesn't always have the best lighting or background, or even enough time to capture that moment. so i snap, and i take what i can get. 

this morning, i tried to get a photo of sam at school as his class lined up to go to their room. they had earned a stuffed animal day so there were a lot of excited kids this morning, and he wasn't too into the idea of mom taking a photo. i took these four, and they're all chaos, no story. blurry, funny faces, not so pretty backgrounds (though i do love that some of his classmates are in the background). 

as i flipped through them later, i was disappointed. i think we've all been there. i could have grabbed another photo of him after school, but i decided to see if i could work with one of these.

and i got this. editing with pictapgo made the colors much more true to life. cropping it ighter eliminated the busy background and the crazy face.  it made me notice how he's holding stitch by the ear - with both hands. i see his lunchbox out (ready to be dropped into the bin on the way into the classroom) and his backpack falling off (always!). this photo captures this morning - and makes me glad i didn't just hit "delete" on those less than stellar shots.

big SC news + camera batteries

check out the new studio calico blog!! it's it gorgeous?  and it's got more than good looks - rumors are that it will be more organized and even more inspirational than the old one. ;)  there's lots of fun new features planned - so keep an eye on it in the coming months!

in fact, you should start keeping an eye on it RIGHT NOW - there are some awesome giveaways in the works. ;) 

and why don't we keep celebrating, and have a one day sale?  still life, drafting table, and en plein air are all 20% off - but only until 10.4 at 12am EST.  i used all three of these addons in my october kit gallery and i love them all.  want to play up the pretty side of on the easel?  add still life. got back to school on your mind (and desk!)? - go for drafting table.  and for a dose of sunny yellow, en plein air is the one to grab.

as for camera batteries, this is the last pic i took at arbor day farm, before my BACK UP BATTERY went kaput.  i'd noticed that neither of my (three year old) batteries had been holding a charge as long as usual, and i should have replaced them sooner. i have quite a few pics of us exploring, but was left camera-less before we headed out to pick apples.

i did, however, have my phone, so i rocked the apple orchard hipsta-style. totally glad to have them, even if it's not quite the same.

i hope you all had a wonderful saturday!! we had a great time at the orchard - and i'll be sharing more pics once i sort through them.  i'm also hoping to make a couple more cards for the world card making day challenges, and to finish off the page i started for a 30min challenge on the sc board. hmm.  doing all that tomorrow sounds a bit ambitious - i'll have to see what actually happens, huh?

 

 

$10 well spent

before i start - i wanted to say thank you for the get well wishes.  i think i've finally kicked the cold and (knock wood) none of the kids have gotten it yet. matthew did, unfortunately, but he's better, too.

AND - i know i promised some projects and a giveaway, but i wanted to give those their own post so it will go up tomorrow. =) this week has gotten away from me! we're trying to fit in as much fun as possible before school starts.

AND AND (lol) - just a reminder that it's sneak night over at studio calico - the peeks at the september kit will go live at midnight EST.  we'll be chatting from around 11pm on. =)  as a hint..  these pics are SO going on september pages.  the colors are perfect.

 

once upon a time, back in the olden days when i was little (hee), my mom used to bring my brother and i to this lake during the summer.

 

and i have to admit that i sort of forgot it existed, until we were out this way to go somewhere else.  it's in a state recreation area about 15min outside omaha.

 

yesterday morning i loaded up the sand toys, packed a cooler w/ snacks and lunch, and told them to put their suits on.  i didn't tell them where we were going. ben kept asking anyway.  sam kept telling him that we were going on an adventure.

 

i don't know if it's what they expected, but they loved it.  i wasn't sure ben would be into ooky lake water, but he was the first one all the way out there and in it. i barely have any pics of him out of the water. sam was good about not going in too deep.

alex went back and forth between swimming and building large sandcastles, complete with moats and lakes. sam spent a lot of time fishing plant life out of the lake.

 

we were there for 4.5 hours and i had to drag them out.  i'm so wishing i had thought of this earlier this summer - we will definitely be frequenting this place next year!

and the $10 breakdown - $4 for a day pass into the state park, $6 for a stop at mcd's on the way home (diet coke for mama, m&m mcflurries for the boys). totally worth it.  next year we buy the $20 annual pass and go way more often!

   
 

 

our long weekend (the back view)

(home run derby at rosenblatt, weds night)

(silhoutted at the science center of iowa, thursday)

 

(waiting for a ride at adventureland, friday)

we started our long weekend w/ a trip down to rosenblatt to see the 1st annual homerun derby. they brought in 7 of the best hitters in college baseball - they got to hit until they had 10 "outs" (anything that wasn't a homerun). defnitely fun to watch, and the winning kid hit 12 homeruns.

we hit the road thursday morning and got to des moines for a late lunch. we love the science center so we spent the afternoon there before checking into our hotel and then spending the evening with family. we spent all, and i mean ALL of friday at adventureland. we were there when they opened the gates, and they were shutting them behind us as we left.  adventureland is a good fit for the boys right now - sam finally warmed up to the kiddie rides, and there's a good selection of bigger rides for alex and ben.  ben rode a roller coaster for the first time - he was NOT a fan.

saturday morning we packed up the car and the boys dropped me off at the convention center for ckc and went on to see matthew's aunt and grandma - they ended up going to see a cardboard boat regatta, but he didn't take any pics.  i taught my 2 classes and had a few minutes to catch up w/ friend kelly - the classes went well and i had fun - here's hoping i get to do it again next year.

we headed home after my classes and i'm still trying to catch up on SLEEP from the late nights while we were gone.  i don't bounce back like i used to. ;) i had a slow start yesterday but i'm hoping to hit the ground running today - i have lots of scrapping to get done.  and dinner out w/ the girls tonight. =)

have a happy tuesday, everyone! and don't forget, it's sneak peek night at studio calico - they'll be up at midnight est!

wordless wednesday : picture summer

(these are my daily photos for the picture summer class i'm taking at BPS)

1st

 

2nd

3rd

4th

6th

(i didn't get a pic taken on the 5th, oops)

summer boy...

  

...has discovered bandaids.  =)

 i've been slacking the photo taking lately, big time.  and after going back and forth about it, i signed up for tracey clark's picture summer at big picture scrapbooking. even though july is crazy busy. or maybe BECAUSE july is crazy busy - this will force me to slow down and capture that craziness.  because, really, when is summer NOT crazy?  are any of you taking this class?

 

just a little psa : the lasalle and lewis & clark add-ons are now on sale at studio calico - 25% off.  i worked with both of these - i loved the oa wild cards + bright colors in lasalle, and lewis & clark is packed w/ basics - the label stickers, the word stickers, the brads, the bling - good, good stuff.  and that's not even mentioning the hambly rubons, which i have plans for. =) both are now under $20, and will ship for free with your main kit (which is still in stock, but not on sale) if purchased before the 3rd - as will any shop items.

i'm off to sneak a little desk time - i've got a page due today. happy july! =)

fuji friday : last day