The Daily Shoot suits my mood

black and white maple buds, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

The Daily Shoot assignment was "black & white." The black and white treatment suits the weather today. It did NOT feel like spring today. The high was in the 40's, I think, and it was windy, cold, and blustery today. Really miserable weather for spring, but nothing compared to what people are dealing with in the South. The horrific tornadoes across the southern states are unfathomable to me. I have been thinking about and praying for all those affected all day today.

Track & Field Day!

Nathan racing, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

The second and third graders had track & field day today. Nathan ran in a few races and did a few other activities (potato shuttle, t-ball...something else). I don't think he won anything, but since they don't really recognize the winners, it didn't matter. He just loved participating. He had a huge grin on his face the entire time!

Kristi was there too (she's in 3rd grade this year) but she didn't participate in any of the activities. She stuck with her teacher all afternoon. She had a grand time too. I saw her yelling and jumping up and down like a cheerleader several times. I think she probably got more exercise cheering her friends on than they got running!

The only down side was that it was cold. And windy. And cold. And threatening rain. And windy. And cold. Nana, Grandpa, Felice and I ended up leaving before all the events were done because it was too windy. And cold.

Fancy finished up high school today. Zowie! She graduates on Sunday. The other kids have all next week, and then they're done for the year too. This year has been a challenge (with the school days being longer) but it's gone by so fast!

(I'm not sure if I've covered this before, but our school year is short this year because of a major construction project at the school. They have to be out - everything out - by May 6.)

There's so much going on in these last couple weeks of school. Field trips, concerts, activities, ceremonies...busy days!

Through the knothole

Through the knothole.jpg, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

The Daily Shoot assignment for today was "Make a photograph that features a circle today." When I was outside looking for circles I found a knothole in the fence. I liked the different (maybe quirky?) take on the "circle" theme.

This is what I really felt like all day...but I didn't take the nap. I probably should have.

Easter 2011

Easter 2011, a set on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
A few shots from our wonderful Easter afternoon.

This was a test to see how Flickr's new sharing setup works on photo sets. I'm not thrilled. Since it only brings square thumbnail photos into the blog you'll have to click the Easter 2011 link to get to the set on Flickr and see the photos in their true glory (or whatever). Thanks for looking!

Visitors!

My dad and my brother came for a short visit. During their brief time here we seemed to have a bit of a theme going on... I think these two were Velcroed together. I took other photos too, but the majority were definitely of Trouble and Double Trouble. I really did take some photos with my 7d, but I haven't even had time to upload them yet.

Argh!

Argh!, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

I wasn't kidding about using my calendar for today's post.

Via Flickr:
This calendar doesn't include my husband's full-time school schedule (he's in college) or my work schedule (I work at home part-time). Right now I am really looking forward to the middle of May!

Birthday Daffodils

birthday daffodils, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

My mother brought me these lovely daffodils for my birthday. I adore the vase! I should have taken the time to set up my lights and do this up right, but time is in short supply this week. I love how sharp my photos come out even in poor light with the 7d. It's awesome!

This week has gone from busy to crazy. I might just take a picture of my calendar tomorrow instead of trying to post some inspired creation. We have work, church activities, baseball, a school concert, family visiting, baseball, more school functions, more work, more baseball...

Next week we have more school functions, Special Olympics, graduation festivities, church activities, and guess what else...? Yep. Baseball. I just hope I get to see some of it! I also hope the weather warms up so it's fun to watch the games. We love to take a picnic dinner to the ball fields and eat out in the fresh air... Spit sunflower seed shells on the ground... Hand out brownies to more kids than we knew we had... Drink Capri Suns with the kids... Sounds like baseball to me! We didn't get to do all that last year - it was too cold all season. I'm really hopeful for this year, but April hasn't been encouraging. May will be great! I'm sure of it!

Anyway...I'd better quit rambling and get myself to bed. I have to get up early to finish the work I was too tired to finish tonight.

::sigh::

I was caught up once.

Birthday narcissus

Birthday narcissus, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

My local "birthday twin", JoAnn, gave me this beautiful plant for my birthday (tomorrow). I love daffodils/narcissus. They always look so happy and delicate.

Uhoh - I just remembered that I was supposed to get laundry done today. I guess I'd better not spend anymore time ruminating on my blog post. Bye!

A new self-portrait!

One of these days I’ll get a good shot of my new haircut (if I can get it styled like Corey did), but today you just get a quick self-portrait taken with my HTC Incredible and Retro Camera. I love my new haircut – it’s so springy, swishy, and sassy!

Not award-winning photography, but…

I love all the textures in this little patch of spring. The grass gives me hope that we will soon have warm weather and sunny days. I just liked the combination of pine cones, grass, sticks, lumber, and who knows what else. This was shot for the Scavenge Challenge on Flickr.

More pets!

I promise there are other beings in Scrivnerburg besides the pets. As I said before, it’s been a very busy week, so I’ve just snapped photos as the opportunity arose. I just caught this moment between Crunch and Molly. Two best buddies who like to pretend they’re not.

Again–apologies for a lack of posts

I had a couple very, very busy work weeks, and I just wasn’t able to get everything done. I had to let the blog slide until I was caught up on work. I’m thrilled to say that I am currently all caught up! Whoohoo! I don’t have to work extra hours, nor do I have to put in any over this weekend to “finish up.” Whew!

I think Queen Cheerio was feeling a bit left out with all the focus being on the recently shredded Crunch. She’s been much more affectionate and talkative than normal. I took a picture of her for a photo challenge, and to stroke her ego just a bit.

Easter Pretties

Easter pretties, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

My precious friend bought some Easter clothes for my kids. This is Kristi's dress and headband. I can't wait to see her in it! It's so girly and pretty! She bought dresses for her girls too, and I'm going to take pictures of all 3 girls in the Easter Pretties. Fun, fun, fun!

Look who came to visit!

Dove, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

This dove and another came to visit our yard, and I think they may have brought spring with them!

We celebrated Nathan's birthday today...here's my favorite shot from the day.

Crunch is home.

Crunch is home, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

My apologies...this should have been posted yesterday.

Here's the sequel to yesterday's sad story. Crunch is back home with a stitched and taped up foot, a shaved and doctored head, antibiotics, and pain meds. He was one torn up kitty! He and Kristi are both happy to have him home, but Crunch thinks he should be allowed to go outside. His humans think he should stay inside and avoid the shredder he obviously went through yesterday.

Date Night!

A converted version of my TDS Grid, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

We got to go on a date! Whoohoo! My sweet husband took me out to the steak house (dinner and peanut butter pie - magnificent!) and to see the movie Limitless. Based on the info I saw online I wasn't too sure I would like it, but it turned out to be a pretty good movie. I liked the premise. It had a bit more gore than I really wanted to see, but otherwise I enjoyed it. The date was wonderful! I enjoy spending time with my sweetheart. I guess that's good, because he says I get to keep him for a long time. :-)

Anyway...that's the news for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Sadness

Sadness, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

Sometimes only cuddles with Daddy will make it better. Kristi's cat is at the vet's overnight because he injured his foot and needs to have it fixed up. She is worried and despondent. Crunch will be fine, but it's hard to convince her of that right now.

Sorry - but this must be done.

I apologize - I realize I haven't even posted photos for the last couple days yet...and I didn't take any of these...but I loved every single one. I MUST share it! Please, please, please take the time to check out this link.

http://www.bestweekever.tv/2011-03-16/50-photos-of-basset-hounds-running/

I desperately need a basset.

Some assignments are hard!

The Digital Photography School weekend assignment was “street photography.” The idea is to shoot people and activities out in public – most street photography has an urban edge, they’re often black and white, and they generally have people in them. Stevensville is not urban. In fact, the sidewalks are practically rolled up on a Sunday afternoon. I strolled all the way down Main Street (both sides) and I only saw 3 other people the whole time! I did see this guy – he’s pretty reliable…

He’s made up of old vehicle parts. A very cool sculpture.
I got some exercise in, anyway. Yay!

It’s time for a family portrait!

Fancy will be graduating (GAK!) in a month, and then she will be heading off to Indiana for who-knows-how-long. I wanted to be sure to get a new family photo before she’s gone. I wanted to go down to Father Ravalli park and use the great expanse of grass…but it was quite rainy. Instead, we cleaned the living room, moved the furniture, set up the studio lighting (Felice, I LOVE that new flash!), and took a new family photo!

We tried to get Molly in the shot(s), but she wouldn’t cooperate, so we didn’t manage to get even one family photo with her in it. Oh well. All the kids cooperated, so I’m happy. After we were done shooting we went to the grocery store and everyone got to pick out candy as a reward for getting a good family portrait.

We finished up Saturday by watching Tangled. It was great! We all really enjoyed it! The whole day turned out to be a good Saturday in Scrivnerburg.

April Fool’s Fun!

We had an April Fool’s Day party at the church. We ate good food, played a lot of games, and had a great time! Glenda brought spaghetti and meatballs – in the form of cupcakes! What a great treat for April Fool’s Day!

If you’d like to see more photos of the fun evening, you can find them here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=286729&id=78635363756. (I hope! Facebook’s new photo stuff doesn’t always work the way I would hope.)