135/365

It’s not midnight yet in my time zone, so I still haven’t missed a day! Whew – this one was really close!

Here are a few shots I took of the kids and their antics today…

Miss Virginia with her new basketball. She’s very proud of it! (For those who haven’t been following me for the last year+, this sweet little lady isn’t one of my passel of kids, but she’s here often enough to be considered part of the family.)

Andrew was having fun with shadow puppets. He’s kinda funny about having pictures taken, so I couldn’t ask him to move more into the light, or even let him know I was shooting. This was taken through the dirty dining room window. Gotta catch the moment, right?

Dale was inventing things again. He says the only drawback is that this design hurts his nose. I’m sure he’ll work on that.

Thanks for stopping by!

44/365

Today was a very busy day. We spent the morning getting the house cleaned up (well, sorta) and then spent the afternoon having a birthday party for Dale. Apparently it all went well…everyone seemed to have a great time, and I didn’t have to duct tape anyone to a chair. Success!

This last shot shows the Light Saber/Balloon Champions of the World!! These two kept their balloon in the air longer than anyone else! Whoohoo!

Day 364

Sunday snaps! Here are a few snapshots of my boys and Molly playing a game. The game is called 5,000, and the point is to get 5,000 points by catching the ball at the time the thrower calls it – either in the air, bounced off the ground, or whatever. Dale was throwing while I was watching, and I saw Andrew get points, and I saw Austin get points, but Molly didn’t seem to understand all the rules. She seemed to be under the impression that she would gain points by grabbing the ball and running with it. The boys didn’t give her points for that. Dale did say that she got 5,000 points during one round because she got the ball on the ground.

In that first shot, notice that there is a boy on the ground with Molly. They were fighting over the ball. I guess she untied his shoe in the midst of the fracas. I love that she plays like “one of the boys.”

Day 350

We have a houseful of sickies today. Most of the kids aren’t really sick, but they’re germy, so I kept them home from church. A couple just have headaches and a little cough. No biggie. But Dale has been sick for a few days, as has Caleb. They’re both still miserable. Poor guys. Tomorrow might be time for a call to the doc. :-(

Kristi hasn’t seemed to be very sick – just a little cough – but she was in the boys’ room with them this afternoon and Nathan bumped into her. Apparently that was very painful to her broken collarbone! She came out howling and settled into a comfy chair where she stayed (sleeping) for the next 4+ hours!

Sorry these aren’t studio quality photos…it just isn’t happening these days. I will have some soon. If I don’t get some great shots earlier, I should have some next weekend after I do a few more church sessions.

Day 234

I think I mentioned the challenge at Digital Photography School yesterday. Here are my shots (retaken today at the correct ISO) for the challenge. I was really happy with a few of them, considering that I could not shoot, chimp, shoot again, adjust, shoot again, etc. (For those who are wondering, “chimping” is looking at the camera’s lcd screen.)

We will be off camping Thurs-Sat, but I will probably post photos from my phone, just because I can. “See” ya on Sunday!

Oh! One more note – I won the bi-weekly challenge at OPS! It’s exciting! Here’s the photo that won it for me…

If you’re an OPS member, make sure to enter a photo in Challenge #21 – the theme is Summer Fun!

Day 209

(This is a very long post for my 365 because I just used the same one I posted on my family blog.) It has been busy, busy, busy around Scrivnerburg today!

The day started with Andrew concocting a new recipe…would you like some Fried Honey Dinosaurs?

Dale came up with an invention today – not a new thing for him, but I thought this one was pretty clever. One of these days he will be able to make some money off his inventions! This particular one is a new way to fill a water balloon…
 
The first photo is just to show what the contraption is (water bottle with a water balloon nozzle attached). The second shot shows him successfully filling the balloon without getting everything wet. Please also note the lovely grass behind him. Isn’t that wonderful!?!?

Tomorrow is Fancy’s 16th birthday, so we’re celebrating it today. Ken and I sent Fancy and three of her friends on a treasure hunt around town that ended at Fiesta En Jalisco for dinner. It took us a lot longer to prepare the excursion than it took them to finish it!

After dinner, Fancy and her friends came back to the house to celebrate with the rest of the family and extended family.

Here are most of the grownups who attended (I was busy taking the photo)…
 

Fancy opened her gifts…

(This necklace was a gift from Grandma – she had received it for her 16th birthday.)

(Fancy loves art, so this was a great gift for her.)

And then she and her friends went down to the basement (dark, dark basement – sorry for the grainy photos) to watch movies.

But it wasn’t all fun and games in Scrivnerburg today. Caleb had a crash-and-burn on the sidewalk today, and scraped his knee up pretty badly. It has been a terrible trauma for him.

This injury didn’t occur today (it actually happened 2 days ago), but I finally got a shot that really shows Austin’s poor eye. He and a friend collided on the playground, and it looks like Austin got the wrong end of the collision.

(I’m amused as I look at these last two photos – Caleb and Austin look like blood brothers, but they’re not. God knew what he was doing when He put this family together!)

So there you have it. A very busy day in Scrivnerburg!

Day 175

We were all outside enjoying spring weather…enjoying it the way it was meant to be enjoyed – watching someone work! Ken was seeding what IS GOING TO BE A LAWN! We have tried for 3 years to have a lawn in the front yard, and this year it IS going to happen!

While Ken worked, the kids were all watching, and I got an opportunity for a rare snapshot – all 7 kids in one frame!

Andrew and Nathan were trying to jump at the same time so I could get a shot of them in the air…
 

I never did succeed in catching one frame with both of them jumping. Oh well.

Caleb didn’t want to miss out on the photo fun, and begged me to take a picture of his pose…

He sure knows how to work it! 

They’re all just family snapshots today, but that’s just the way it goes.

E & S, I don’t quite know what to do with Bootcamp Assignment #3…I guess I’ll need to use one of my “same old” models and try to get it done this week.

Day 169

 

We took the kids to the park today. We live on a fairly busy street, so there’s no good place for the kids to ride bikes and scooters. The park has a blacktop parking lot that’s great for scooting! There’s also a playground and some great space for kite flying…

Day 157

I didn't take a photo today. It just didn't happen. But I needed a laugh, so I pulled out a terrible shot I took more than 3 years ago with an old P&S (point & shoot camera).

The Undermen!

Day 122

I decided to try using my flash off camera outdoors again. This time it was at dusk with my flash mounted on a lightstand, and shot through and umbrella. Three of my boys were quite willing to sit for me! Yay!

By the time I got to this shot it was getting really dark.

Day 120

I have an icky cold. Blech. So I spent most of the day on the couch doing nothing. While I was on the couch though, I played with light a bit. This was shot with just the direct (very, very bright) sunlight coming in the window. My aperture was at f/10 to cut out light except for the stream shining right on Dale.

Day 36

My boys and their ingenuity...

This is yet another creation by my oldest son:

(I didn't dare move it to a less distracting placement - it's only supported by wood in the bucket, and I was afraid of dislodging it.)

Basketball, anyone?