I ♥ Faces - Best Face of Jan. 2011

It's People's Choice time over at i♥faces!

And, the theme this time is Best face of January, 2011.

Well, I think this is one of the best face pics I've taken in January.  It was a spontaneous, got-the-camera-in-my-hand-and-I-love-the-lighting kind of picture.  ;)

Have I said how much I'm enjoying my "new" Rebel T1i?  ;)

Browse some more great Jan. faces at i♥faces.

Shoot and Edit - Week 4

This week's Shoot and Edit theme was "Red".

I happened to take a picture yesterday with some red... and I love it!  :D  I'm not sure what I can do to edit it, but I'll have fun trying.  ;)

Linking up with Jill.  :)

Project 365 - Week 4

It's time for my Project 365 round-up!  :)

I remembered to take a picture every day!  Woot!

22.  My new frames on my face. :)

23.  Sunflare over Creekside.

24.  Goodbye, old Kodak.  Thanks for teaching me to "take it off auto".  You've served me well.

25.  Hello, new Rebel T1i!!  Woo-Hoo!  :D

26.  Ethan:  Look, mommy!  I think I can feel an ab!!  {cue me laughing hysterically... XD}

27.  My gorgeous girl.  My children have beautiful eyes.

28.  Five kids.  Baby trying to escape.  ;)

There you have it.  That's how Week 4 went by the creek.  Hope you can visit other projects at Sarah's.

Flashback Fridays

My baby brother is now 21.

Sigh.

If you've been hanging around here long, you'll remember our Prune.  (How does he keep getting older??)

I made him a sweater for Christmas.  It was the first adult-sizing article of clothing I have crafted with my own hands.  (He is trying to pull off a Michael face... do you think it worked?)

And now, for a flashback... here's Dan on the left with Patrick on the right... awwwww...

Happy Birthday, Daniel!  :D

You Capture - Happy

Yay!  I've finally got a You Capture post!  :D  It feels like it's been a long time.

I have a few reasons to be happy.  ;)

My baby boy loves his baby sister.

So does my biggest boy. :)

This makes me so happy!! :D

Why?

Because I am left-handed. My hubby is left-handed. And yet, our four oldest children are right-handed.

Looks like #5 could break that mold! :D

This picture of our outdoor cat Flo makes me happy. I *love* how it turned out.

And, last but not least.

This.

My cousin Kate and I just had a discussion on DSLR cameras, and I said I wasn't going to get anything until I could afford a 7D. Well... I found a really great deal on a Rebel T1i, and couldn't pass it up. So, I have officially entered the EOS digital world!! :D

(P.S. Any advice on what lens I should save up for next? It came with the kit lens and a EF 50mm 1.8 lens.)

So, there's my happy pics for this week.  For more warm and fuzzies, go to Beth's.  

Shoot and Edit - Week 3 Edit

So, I wanted to end up with a "dreamy" feel to this shot...

I *think* it ended up okay.  What do you think?

SOOC:

My edit:

I ran PW's Lovely and Ethereal, Coffeeshop's Baby Powder Room, Coffeeshop's Soft and Dreamy Texture, PW's Seventies, added a sparkle layer, a pink layer, a high pass filter and adjusted opacity on everything to what I thought looked good.  :)

Before and after:

I don't know if I think it's perfect... but I do think it's an improvement.  :)

Check out other edit's at Ashley's today!

Shoot and Edit - Week 3

This week's Shoot and Edit theme was "Goodnight".

I could have taken pics of all the various things that say goodnight to me... but I like this one.  My two girls.. flaked out on the couch together.  Snuggles before bedtime.  :)

SOOC:

Linking up with Jill.

Project 365 - Week 3

Time again for another 365 round-up!

I missed a day last week.  *grrrr*  I was thinking about what I should do ... got busy ... and totally forgot to pick up the camera again.

But!  I remembered the rest of the week!  :D

15. Forgot.  :(

16.  Six grinning kids! (My niece was here.  :)

17. Justin - last day of being 11!

18.  Justin making his own birthday pancakes.  He loves making pancakes!  :D

19.  My shells from Maine.

20.  Tragedy!!  Justin went to grab his e-reader off the table... and instead it dropped to the floor.  :(  He got it new for Christmas, so it didn't even last a month.  Sigh.

21.  My new frames!  :D  Me likey.

So, that's how it was around the creek this week.  I'm going to do my very very best to visit a BUNCH of fellow 365er's!  I've felt really guilty that I haven't made it around very much so far.  So, I'm off to visit others, and you should have a look, too!  :)

For Real...

Well, instead of doing a flashback, today I thought I'd do something a little different.

Now, if your kitchen is always perfect, and never, ever gets messy, please don't look.

If you can't imagine leaving a dirty dish for an hour... then leave now, and come back tomorrow.  ;)

If your children are perfect, and always put their dishes in the dishwasher, and their eggshells in the garbage.... please tell me how you do it.

And now.

For the rest of you, who are not perfect..

I give you...

My kitchen.

I didn't do the dishes or any kitchen maintenance for one day.

Yep.

Only one.

How does it possibly get so dirty in just one day??

Are there dirty kitchen gnomes?

Even the table had the disease.

Sigh.

Before you have a heart attack, and because you're recoiling in horror at the filth... it looked like this a few hours later.

Much better.  (But don't look on top of the microwave.  And yes, that is a headless dude, waiting to be glued.)

Me likey.

Now you can come over sometime!  :D

So there's my real life.

Does anyone else ever rebel for a day?  Please tell me I'm not the only one...

And now, back to looking at prettier pictures...  ;)

Shoot and Edit - Week 2 Edit

Okay, so I tried to follow some of Ashley's suggestions... but I have to say I got lost.  ;)

I did end up using Perfect Workflow, Baby Powder Room (still don't know if I did that one right...) and PW's Lovely and Ethereal.

But, I'm not sure if I like the edit.  The left side of her face is quite pixely... and I didn't notice that in the SOOC.

But, I've spent enough time on it, so here's the edit:

Before and After:

Looking at it together like that, I think I brightened it too much.  I almost think I like the SOOC shot better!  Might play with this one some more.

I'd take any suggestions to help me improve!  :)  Check out the other edit's at Ashley's.

Wordless Wednesday

Shoot and Edit - Week 2

The theme for this week's Shoot and Edit is Good Morning.

Nothing says Good Morning like my baby's crumb-covered face.  :)  Her big brother (who's 12 today!!) wanted pancakes for breakfast.. and (bonus for me!  ;)  he thinks half the fun is making them himself.  Although.. I think I might be the one cleaning up afterwards.  ;)

Can't wait to edit this one.  :)

He's TWELVE!!

Today is Justin's birthday.

My baby boy.

Why do they grow up so fast?  *Sniff*

Here he is in the hospital.  Aww.. he was such a brown baby!

This is one of my all-time favourite pictures of Justin.  The cheeks... the grin... the blonde, blonde hair...  what's not to love?

And now he's twelve.  He's turning into a man right before my eyes.  I hope that I've given him a great foundation, so that he'll continue to grow into a Godly young man.

Happy Birthday Justin!