A Walk with Charlie

The other day, as I "dumped" my photos from my point-and-shoot camera onto the computer, this is what I found. I like to call it "A Walk with Charlie."

He starts in the kitchen.



Then to the living room. I see the foot of the piano in the upper right.



Then he sees his trains, which I must say, he's quite good at putting those tracks together in neat configurations. Although you can't tell here.



Then he steps on a blanket. You can imagine how hard it is to keep laundry clean around here.



Here's the living room rug. I'm glad it's a little blurry - you can't see all the stains that way.



And now he's heading toward the dining room.



Hey Charlie, must you reveal our unhealthy eating!?! What can I say, Costco pizzas are yummy. ;)



One small step for man, one giant leap for...oh nevermind.



Ahh, now he's in our bedroom.



And here's the other foot, just in case you were wondering if it was missing.



Now he's in the master bath (aka my oasis). See that toothpaste on the rug? More about that later.



Oh look, Chandler! What a way to end your walk, Charlie! Chandler's waiting anxiously for his ever fabulous splash fest (or bath, whatever.)



About the toothpaste on the rug. Here's what the whole scene looks like. This is what happens when Charlie and Chance brush their teeth.



And lastly, Charlie decides to keep it real with this picture:



This is my life: laundry and dishes. But I need to teach my budding photographer to capture something prettier, cleaner, and less depressing, ya know? ;)



Ahh, that'll do, Charlie!! That'll do...

Another Day at the River

In the summer, my dad's schedule revolves around Saturdays at the River. The Guadalupe River. The River, that many people sit in tubes and float down. The River, that those tubers tend to flip into as they go over waterfalls. The River, that has lots of loot on the bottom from tubers flipping out. The River, that needs a SCUBA diver to keep its bottom clean. The River, that is my dad's treasure island. Ya followin' me?

And I have to quantify that, with this: My dad doesn't just dive for the loot. The thrill for him is to find the owners. His greatest joy comes at the various thank you cards he's received, and stories of how the personal items (watches, rings, wallets, etc) meant so much to the owners, and how much they appreciate Dad for finding them. There are other divers that would knowingly keep something even if they meet the owner, who's begging to know if their item was found. But not my dad. I don't think there's a greedy bone in his body. It's all about the hunt for him.

Anyhow, there are plenty of items that he doesn't find owners for, which he gives to us. Sunglasses, tshirts, towels, etc. And the occasional scary mask.

(Can you guess who's wearing it?)

The exciting thing for us shore-lovers is watching the water for Dad's bubbles as he dives below.

But occasionally we get bored with that and decide water gun fights are better. In tubes, of course.

Although sometimes we just cuddle up in the tube and pretend we really don't need a nap.

Sometimes we just soak up some Nana love.

And some Daddy love.

And some Mommy love.

But the best part of the River...is Big Daddy himself.

Hey Look, I found some funny stories!

Amusing Moments

Chance has a new thing, where he lays down by Chandler, puts his head near Chandler's feet (which are always moving and kicking), then says "Wook, Mommy! You see dat? Baby Chanwer kick Chance!" Then he laughs because it's just the funniest thing ever.

Chance also still likes to poke Chandler in the eye. But lately he will poke him, and say "Baby Chanwer (took a) widdle nap!" because Chandler closed his eye.

When the cousins were in town, Chance, of course, got possessive. Chalk it up to being 2 years old and the second child. Anyhow, when someone would be in the vicinity of Chandler, Chance would give Chandler a protective hug and tell everyone "My Baby Chanwer!"

The boys have been watching Toy Story 2 lately. So today Chance asked to ride the "horsey" (ride on my back), then proceeded to say "Yoda - lay - eee - ewww." He's yodeling like the Yodeling Cowgirl, Jessie.

Charlie's Bible Class teachers have been on break lately, which means he "gets" to go with us to the big church service on Sundays. A couple of weeks ago, our pastor was talking about the many times that Israel faced unsurmountable odds, in a time when people would've said "No way are they getting thru that" yet the Israelites had Yahweh on their side and were victorious. So he would say "No Way!" and have us say "Yahweh" in response. I had no idea Charlie was paying attention until he asked me the other day if we could play the "No way - Yahweh" game. He has me say "No way" then he exclaims "Yahweh!!"

It's been droughting here, as you can see by the boys reaction to the much needed rain shower:
Rain! Glorious Rain!

Milestones

Charlie's self portrait.

Charlie can now recognize every letter of the alphabet, and almost all of their sounds. He is getting closer to reading every day!

Charlie has begun to compare things. Like who got more croûtons in their tomato soup. And how many cups of kool aid Chance got compared to him in one day. He has suddenly decided that if he can keep score on everything, he'd get more of what he wants. And if he doesn't, he has an excuse to sulk, pout, growl, fall to the ground, and cry, "You give Chance more than me!" I guess he's tired of having to share and has decided jealousy is the best way to get back.

Chance is saying more words. When I take the time to really decipher it, he is very descriptive. Once his annunciations catch up with his vocabulary, we're going to have quite the linguist! (Say that sentence three times fast, I dare ya!)

Chandler is loving the jumper and saucer now. He's also eating a jar of baby food a day. He's practicing sitting up by himself. And he's starting to tell stories - baby noises plus motorboat sounds. He also recognizes the tylenol bottle and gets excited. Sad, huh? All three boys were lil druggies at that age.

Chandler in the saucer


Chandler in the jumper


Laughing Chandler


Lovin' on Chandler

Chandler has had the painful reflux that Charlie dealt with, and he spits up more than any baby I've ever seen. It's a wonder he can even gain weight! And he has the recurrent ear infections Chance suffered from, yet his disposition is so sweet and happy. We are truly blessed.

Girls Versus Boys

I apologize for the lack of funny stories lately. Unless you count the 3 hour marathon of spankings the other day that led to the boys finally going down for a nap (and their momma too), we've been a little short on funny stories. I'm hoping to laugh about the spanking marathon someday. But the point is, the boys are pushing boundaries right now, and discipline is in high demand. And if you don't mind, please pray for Chuck and I - that we don't lose our minds!

But there is one observation that I have found quite funny.

Last week, when the cousins were in town, I got to spend the day with my one and only niece, Ruby. She just turned 3, so she's 6 months older than Chance. I thought I'd know how to best entertain this age... what I didn't think about is how different girls are!

So I handed her a box of sidewalk chalk and led her to the porch to so we could draw. She carefully took the pieces out of the box, arranged them in groups by color, and would draw a little bit. Then she'd carefully organize them back in the box. She even found the loose chalk laying around the porch and added them to her collection.

Watching her made me accept my own cleaning and organizing ways a little more.

Then a few days later, I handed Chance a box of sidewalk chalk. He promptly broke them all into pieces, then had a contest with Charlie to see who could throw the chalk the farthest off of the porch. Needless to say, he never even drew on the ground with the chalk.

I think it's a little obvious that there's a big innate difference between boys and girls. And watching the boys made me accept Chuck a little more. Ha!

This Post Is Not for Men

Early in our marriage, due to learning about the risks of losing a fertilized egg each month on the pill, we decided to get off birth control. I know this is a controversial issue, which I don't plan on delving in here, but what did it for us was learning that an obstetrician in Austin was refusing to prescribe birth control for any sexually active patient in his office due to the abortifacet properties. We did the research, and found that we couldn't deny that there was that risk.

But then we wondered "Where do we go from here?" I was more than a little scared about getting pregnant. That's when I read this book:

Your Fertility Signals

It was so easy to read, I wondered if it could really work. Wasn't health stuff supposed to be more complicated? But I knew of a few women who said it worked for them, so I gave it a shot. It enabled us to not get pregnant for over 2 years, then to be able to conceive fairly quickly when we wanted to. Even with our "surprise" pregnancy, I knew ahead of time that my body was fertile, I just didn't heed the signs.

But the reason I'm blogging about such a personal matter: this book has helped me with more than just birth control. It's taught me so much about how my body works.

For instance, yesterday I went to the OB and told her I suspected a cyst just because of a few signs like mood swings. I had a feeling the OB would say "You're crazy if you think mood swings are because of a cyst. You just had a baby! So of course your hormones are going to be imbalanced." But thankfully she didn't say that, she just checked and what do you know? A cyst! I knew with each cyst that something was going on (this is my third in the last 2 years). It's nothing worrisome, but it's nice to know why things are happening, and enables me to deal with it.

My OB has said to me before, "You are very in tune with your body." But this knowledge shouldn't be a secret. It's quite simple, yet it has a big effect on my expectations of myself.

So, if you read it let me know. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

My Faves

It strikes me that I've posted a lot of photos on this blog lately. (What's new, right?) But I have to show you my faves of each person. I've really enjoyed the opportunity to catch these shots! And now, in case you don't know, you'll be able to tell who the various family members are (all 2 dozen of us!).

First up, there's Luke. He's Mitsi's first born, the first grandkid, and our inspiration for having kids. Charlie owes his life to this boy, ha!







Then there's Ethan, Mitsi's second born, who will be 5 this month.




"You feeling lucky, punk?!"





Here's Mitsi's third kiddo, the only girl among many boys, Ruby. She's a breath of fresh air, after living with a bunch of boys!




(The nice thing about a girl - she doesn't mind a camera in her face!)





Ok, Ok, moving on....




Here's Beau, Mitsi's fourth and last. He'll be a year old this month. Which means he can't run from the camera yet ;)




He even got to ride a horse!






And here's Mitsi, one of Chuck's beautiful sisters.






And here's Paul, Mitsi's husband. (I know I showed this yesterday). He got thrown in jail for trusting his GPS which got them lost on the way to Enchanted Springs Ranch. Ha!




Then there's Melanie. Another of Chuck's sisters.


She's about 4 months pregnant with our next niece or nephew.




And here's her firstborn, also a year old, Kaleb.


Oh wait, how'd that get in here?!


Ah, that's better.




And here's Melanie's husband, Kaleb's daddy, Jason - with Chandler. He was on Uncle duty while I took pictures (thanks, J!).




And here's Chuck's youngest sister, Tammy, getting a happy reunion hug from Meesh.


Check out the earrings - they were once napkin holders.


And here's Tammy with her husband, Brandon.




And here are the originators of this beautiful bunch- Chuck's Dad and Mom.

Whew the photography monster is so full! :) It's been a fun couple of weeks. Tammy has already headed back, and Mitsi is leaving in the morn. We're so sad that our time together has had to end. It's been so great. Makes me look forward to Heaven, where we can all be together all of the time...

Enchanted Springs Ranch

Yesterday we spent the day with Mitsi and family at Enchanted Springs Ranch. I had heard of it, but never thought of going there. It is a must see!! It's a working cattle ranch, with a big Old West town set, and many people in costume everywhere. We watched the buffalo be fed, saw a gun and bull whip demonstration, took a hayride around the ranch, and the kids got to sit on a longhorn, and ride on a horse! If you're ever in the Boerne area, check this place out. Enchanted Springs Ranch.com

I had the urge to turn all of these photos to sepia or black and white to look old. I fought it off, most of the time. ;)

Watching the buffalo.


We even watched a real live arrest. Do you recognize those villains?!


A bunch of wild turkeys came blazing thru town.


I wasn't the only photog on the job!


Charlie and Chance loved dressing like Cowboys for the day. They're still having shoot-outs at home with their little pistols today.




Cousin Ethan was a fast shooter, as well!


We got our first family photo since Chandler's been born!


And Grandma got a shot with all her bigger grandkids.

Have I mentioned I love living here?! There is soooo much to do!

Fun Overload

So we spent last week in Austin at Chuck's parents' house...along with his sister, her husband, and 4 kids. AND did I mention that his parents' house is on the market? So in addition to having 13 people in a 3 bedroom house + RV, they had 2 showings! One of those showings gave no notice, so the potential buyer saw everything in all its glory... and they were still interested afterwards. Miraculous! ;)

Anyhow, we had so much fun. And I took so.many.pictures. I didn't want to disappoint, ya know?

In the garage is a moonbounce/jumphouse/whatever. So the boys got the tubes out and sumo wrestled:







Outside, the Grandparents had set up a pool.







Remember the ride-on toys? They were well used also.



There were bikes to ride.


Chance was riding Ruby's, thus the "princess."

Nana and Big Daddy dropped by to show some love.



Granny and Bubba also happened to be in the area for awhile.





We went to a playground.











And we went to a pool.


I love these shots of Beau and his Daddy (Uncle Paul).



We went out to eat.


The big kids got their own table. Isn't that so cute?!

And we slept. Sometimes even at the kitchen table.



It was a great week, can you tell?

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Today is Chuck's dad's 70th birthday. To celebrate, all of his kids and their families threw a bash on Saturday. We drove out to the beautiful hill country town of Llano and had a day at the park. All of the kids, plus most of the in-laws (myself excluded - I lack musical talent. But I'm ok with that. Someone had to take pictures, ya know.) formed a band and sang his favorite songs. His favorite barbeque (from Cooper's) was served. Then a slideshow was shown with over 300 photos from his 70 years of life (not all taken by me, thank you very much). There were many happy tears and it was just a fun day! Afterwards we all cooled off in the pool, and had lots of fun with the 9 grandkids, and the various friends who joined our celebration. Chuck's sisters Melanie and Mitsi thought up most of this, and I'm so grateful. It was an unforgettable day!

So, now for those pictures...

We actually pulled off a family portrait!


Watching the slideshow. You can see a shortened version of it here.


Mom & Dad watching the show.


The band.


The birthday boy. Like the shirt? It says "Alpha Version."
(Remember these shirts from Father's Day?)

I have about a million other photos, so if you're interested, here's the link to the set.

So, all that to say, Happy Birthday, Grandpa!! We love you!!

And now I'm off to get the laundry done from the trip - hopefully tomorrow I can post about the rest of our week.

Photography is a Journey

Lately I've had a few sweet comments where people have asked me if I'm a (pro) photographer. From what I know about the skill and talent of a pro, I don't feel worthy of being compared. But getting to that skill level is definitely the goal. I'm realizing that the more I learn, the more I see how much I still don't know. But I'm finally getting a grasp on some of the foundational elements of it, which I thought I'd pass on to you...

Lighting. Recently my friend Stacia (who is one of those pro's I admire greatly!) blessed me with a little lesson on lighting. It's like the light went off in (no pun intended) in my head, and now I get it. She showed me what "feathered" lighting looks like, when the light source isn't pointed directly at the person's face, but on each side. I've come to see that's actually what I love about certain photos I've taken- I just hadn't thought about why I loved those photos. The lighting really can make or break the pic. And suddenly I find myself opening all of the curtains in the house to let the light in, even though it heats up the place. And I, well, really, the photography monster, wants some studio lighting equipment.

I also came across this article about lighting. You know I'm going to run out and get some marbles soon! :)

Composition. I've been also trying hard to clean up the composition of my shots. The composition is all of the stuff that's around your object (person) who's in focus. With my 50mm, there's no zoom, so that means really moving around to get the background just right, but it's something I am learning to pay more attention to. I'm seriously contemplating putting my dining room furniture on wheels so I can move it out of the way when I want to take a photo, so the background isn't too busy! LOL. I've also considered decluttering my house a little - ok, a lot! The photography monster also wants back drops for this reason too. Ha!

I think I've gone overboard into photography because when I see a beautiful place, I don't just see the beauty anymore - I see how I'd compose a shot with people in it!

Editing. I've finally felt my way around Photoshop Elements enough to have a grasp of how to clean up an image a little bit. I've had some big problems with the color (white) balance, but otherwise, I'm starting to think I can actually perform some basic edits, and layers, in PSE.

I have to give credit to the Pioneer Woman's recently launched photography site for much of what I've learned. A lot of things are finally clicking now, and I'm not so scared to open PSE like I was...

About color though...I'd been editing on my laptop (only computer we own that can run PSE because it's our only Windows computer. Chuck abhors microsoft, LOL.). I would get a photo processed, then try to print and it would be too dark and too red. You may have noticed it also from your computer as well. So we got a little contraption called "Spyder 2 Express." I have to thank Nicky, a flickr friend and pro photog as well, for that tip. Anyhow, finally, my laptop is calibrated correctly and I can see the true colors! The photography monster is satisfied again (for now at least). I still have one more problem, in that when I view the photo in any other program (like Picasa, which I LOVE), it looks normal, but when I open it in PSE, the reds are still a little stronger. If anyone knows how to fix this, I'm all ears!!

Style. Every photographer has their own style, and I'm slowly starting to form mine. While I like shooting wide open (f2 on my 50mm), which makes for a lot of beautifully fuzzy backgrounds, I've decided I'm not a photographer that wants my object of focus to be fuzzy, usually. That probably doesn't make much sense...sorry. Anyhow, I also have figured that I'm not much into selective coloring (black and white with only one color showing), and I'm not good at taking shots of anything but people, pretty much. But it's people that interest me most, so we're good. I also have come to realize I enjoy taking pictures of people in their natural state, not with the cheesy grins for the camera. And I totally enjoy taking pictures of kids for that very reason. They are so expressive, and every child is so beautiful and different. I guess it's nice to have variety, not to mention I burn my own kids out on being the model sometimes.

My challenge with style is having the courage to ask someone if I can take their picture. I get really uptight, thinking I'm going to annoy people with my incessant photo taking.

And I guess it'd be kinda funny to leave this post with no pictures, so here are a few recent ones. And tomorrow I'll work on the photos of the last week and hope to post them as well. I'm really excited about the lighting and composition on a few of those. Can't wait to hear what you think!

This one I love! The composition and the lighting. Not much editing here, except the words and curved corners, of course.


Elijah and Ryan from a recent visit. I love the lighting, but not the composition (all the stuff in the background.)


Finally achieved good composition, the lighting is fair, and I took out Chance's big scar between his eyes with photoshop!

Stars & Stripes Forever - Muppets Variation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDA9NbPAK8o

Fool's Gold

Last month our water company told us our bill would be going up - and it doubled from $30 to $60 a month. Yesterday I received our utility bill. I had heard that their rates were going up, but nearly fainted when I saw that it's now $100+ more a month!! At what point do we consider this fuel crisis a "depression" instead of a "recession"?

Anyhow, all that made me regret spending $5 on this movie at Blockbuster:

With ol' Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, I was expecting something clever and funny like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." I was sorely disappointed. Am I the only one? Predictable plot, cheesy acting, weak comedy - all around waste of time. Did I mention there's a part where a woman on a boat who flashes her boobs (which had nothing to do with the movie)- and it's still rated PG-13?

I think I'll go back to renting the $1 movies from the little kiosks at HEB. Anyone with me on this one? Have you seen any good movies worth renting lately?

When Bugs Attack

This morning I overheard Charlie say to Chance, "Be careful with that, ok? Do you understand? Say, 'Yes Sir.'" Yikes, does he have me down or what?!

Sickness has struck our home this week. Somehow we made it thru the entire winter and spring without any sickness, so I guess it was time. Chandler ran his first fever ever Monday night. I just happened to have a doctor's appointment for him Tuesday, and the doctor said maybe it was because he's got another ear infection. The fluid never drained from the last infection (tubes, here we come). Anyhow, the nurse also mentioned that there was a stomach bug going around, which would better explain the fever, since he didn't get fever with the last ear infection. And surely enough, within 24 hours the fever stopped. And then Wednesday night it started for Charlie. I guess you'd call it a stomach bug, but other than fever, there are no symptoms really.

This is going to be a random post (as usual, right?!), if you can't tell.

Chandler has started cereal, and while it took awhile to warm up to the idea, he loves it!

And in the last week, Chandler has honed his motor skills. Instead of flailing his arms in hopes of hitting his toys above him, he's now moving them very slowly and purposefully. Last night he had his little monkey firmly held with both hands. He's also getting good at grasping hair - uh oh! Maybe it's time for a haircut for me? ;)

Meesh, Ryan and Elijah Boston came to visit this week. I unfortunately don't have the photos up yet, but Chuck has some from when he took Charlie and Chance with them to the zoo. The boys had a great time, and I'm so glad the Bostons came to visit.

The kangaroos have babies!

Chuck's not nearly as into taking photos of people as I am, can you tell? He did manage one of Elijah though, that I love:

Update: this (Thursday) afternoon Chance started running fever. Then I talked to Meesh, and poor Elijah has it as well - and has been vomiting all day :( We are officially under quarantine until this has passed.

We were hoping that the sickness/bug will run its course thru our house in time for us to meet up with family in Austin for July 4th. It's been so dry here we're not sure if there will be many fireworks this year - which I know will disappoint Charlie and Chance. What are your plans for the 4th?