Day 336

Just another Sunday snapshot today…but this one cracks me up. This photo doesn’t tell its own story, so I’ll have to share it with you. As you may have noticed over the last year, Kristi sometimes gets funny things in her head, and her newest one involves Molly. Her new favorite game is “Molly, make a dog face!” She usually says it two or three times, then praises Molly for making a dog face. lol. She then moves on to her next activity, but she comes back pretty soon to have Molly make another dog face.

On the rare occasions when Molly won’t “make a dog face” Kristi has found that she can tempt her with a few pieces of dog food and Molly will make the appropriate face. I’m so glad Molly’s training is in good hands.

62/365

It feels like time for a rant. It’s my blog, so I can rant if I want, right?
A little history…
Molly is a sweet girl, but not particularly obedient. We have tried and tried to keep her in our yard, but she finds ways out no matter what we do, so several months ago (October, maybe?) we started chaining her out front every time she needs to go out. We let her go in the backyard to play when the kids are there, but we don’t leave her alone in the backyard anymore. Ever. 
So. The neighbors behind us (who, by the way, have had the police called on their domestic disturbances several times) have recently gotten a bulldog. The bulldog appears to be full grown, and is very territorial. Unfortunately he believes our yard is his territory. Our next-door neighbor (not the bulldog owner) stopped us the other day to tell us that the bulldog was in our yard threatening him and his 2-year-old daughter. We tried to shore up the fence where we thought the bulldog was coming through.
Today the bulldog was back in our yard. It went right home when I went outside, but then it proceeded to growl, snarl, and threaten me from the other side of the fence. I put pallets up where I saw the dog go through. I can’t build a fence in a morning, so that was the best I could do. This afternoon the dog was at the fence barking furiously at the kids and Molly, and snarling like it wanted to rip people apart. I went back there and saw the young man who sorta lives there (I think he comes and goes as he pleases) watching the dogs bark at each other. I called Molly to the house and told the guy that the bulldog needed to stay on his own side of the fence. He told me the dog isn’t dangerous. Yeah. (can you hear the sarcasm?)
Then the guy’s mother(?) told Andrew that Molly goes over the fence into their yard “every day.” I don’t think she gets out much. Molly hasn’t gone into their yard in months! We stopped putting her back there so she wouldn’t go into their yard. Did they not notice that? ARGH!
Apparently, if our peace-loving, kind, gentle dog goes into their yard it makes it okay for their homicidal, blood-thirsty beast to come into our yard and threaten to dismember people.


Okay. Done ranting. It looks like the next major expense will be a privacy fence.
I did get out and walkabout today! Yay! I’m not thrilled with this photo because I couldn’t get back far enough to get the entire statue/sculpture in the frame without getting in the street (I didn’t have a wide-angle lens handy). I’ll have to go back with another lens. But here it is – I can’t remember the name of this one, but it’s made up of vehicle pieces and parts. Pretty cool.

Day 93

My two little friends came back to visit today! They even let me take a picture of them together! Well, actually, I took about 5, but this was the only one that came out worth posting. They are so cute, but once they hear that shutter click, they're DONE!

I also received my first order for studio photos! I'm excited! K and her mom were pleased with the shots we got on Saturday - so pleased that they chose 6 different poses to order! Yay! I am so happy that I was able to provide them with photos they love!

I've been having a little struggle in my studio...apparently Molly believes the floor prop is hers. Every time we're down there she has to get into the action...

This "pose" is the result of a stern, "Molly, OUT!" It worked well, wouldn't you say?

This was yet another occasion (both this morning). Yep, she's really gotten that "out" thing down.

Day 109

Amanda, I want you to know that YOU are the reason I'm posting today. It has been a crazy, busy, whirlwind, exhausting day, and I was just going to make an excuse and put it off. But I saw your comment on my Facebook status, and decided I couldn't possibly let you down. :-)

So here is Fancy...we were going for a cute shot of Fancy and Molly, but Molly licked Fancy's tongue, and Fancy wouldn't pose with her anymore. ROFL!!!

This was pre-lick...

This was after Molly was banished...

I didn't take the time to make sure my lights were just right, or even use my reflector. Fancy wasn't really into posing, and I was too tired to try to get it done in the time I had. I can see all sorts of things I would fix if I did it again. Oh well...that's a task for another day. 

Day 121

It's a rainy, rainy, rainy day here today. I tried to get some photos of a robin that stayed out in the rain, but the photos just didn't come out because it was raining so much - they just looked blurry because of the rain between me and the robin.

Caleb and I made peanut butter cookies for an after school snack, so instead of a spring-y robin, you get photos of our cookie-making...

In case you can't tell, that's Tigger's face imprinted on our cookies. You can't really tell that once they're baked, but Caleb doesn't care. They're yummy! If you need a very easy cookie recipe, these were made with 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 egg, then baked at 350 for about 13-15 minutes. Doesn't get any easier than that!

Here are a couple bonus shots I took later this afternoon. Caleb really wanted his picture taken with Molly...

Molly wasn't quite as "into it"...

(she was looking at Ken - I think her expression says, "Daddy, save me.")

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 342

Andrew and Molly
Originally uploaded by snaphappee.elli

I'm kinda cheating (again) for today's post. I did take a couple photos, but they're just snaps and I haven't edited them. This is a very short video clip I took while Andrew was playing "fetch" with Molly this morning. It cracked me up...I like Molly's take on "fetch"!

Day 69

I am soooo tired today! Good golly, Miss Molly! The sweet dog is freaked out by noises...and the wind kept flapping the dryer vent cover last night. So sweet Miss Molly kept us awake for a good (or bad) portion of the night. I took a nap, but it didn't help as much as I would have liked. I was able to get something done after my nap though...

(I did not take these shots - Ken and Fancy did.) It takes me about 35-40 minutes to buzz these 5 heads. I leave the girls' hair to the professionals.

I also took this shot this morning out my front door...

Day 21

Well, there's no earthshaking photos here today...you get Miss Molly again! She's so sweet and funny! Dale and I took her out to the neighbor's grassy/leafy yard for some photos and she played jumprope with her leash, chased her tail, and tried to follow me everywhere. She's such a silly girl! I had a very hard time getting a good shot of her. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get a nice portrait once she knows what "stay" means.

And just for kicks...here's some video of our sweet young lady (and Austin).

April 14, 2012

Molly loves being outside with her kids. Even when she’s not playing with them she just wants to be out there. The kids were shooting Nerf guns, so Molly was just enjoying the sunshine in the presence of her favorite people.

Blessings:

1. Mom and I had a fun time puttering around town this morning.

A treasure I found while Mom and I were at the thrift store. I told Mom she needed "party sweats" and she (rightly) pointed out that when I say "Mom, you need this" you can be sure she does NOT need whatever it is. Hmph. But really... How can she NOT need party sweats?!?!

2. More fun with Mom.

My mom looked at this and said, "Wouldn't it be easier just to put your waffles on a plate?"

3. It is a gorgeously beautiful day.

4. I have waaaaay too much fun creating things to cover Little Man’s backside. This one is a waterproof diaper cover.

5. Two adorable little boys just brought this to me and told me it's a heart-shaped "wuby." They are just too cute! (One of the boys is a loaner – we have “that” house where all the neighborhood kids congregate.)

Day 78

I can't believe it! I missed my first day! In the busyness of getting the new modem working, and getting all the homework done (Mondays are always heavy on homework) it just slipped by me. Ergh.

I was working on an idea for the Reflections challenge on OPS, and I couldn't get the shot I wanted because my main model was not as cooperative as I'd like. I did get this shot though - not exactly what I was hoping for in terms of composition and clutter, but I loved how clear Molly looked in the shot.

(This shot was taken on the right day - just posted a day late.)

July 12, 2012

Blessings:

1. My husband does dishes – even when we’re camping. He’s awesome.

2. We had a great camping trip.

3. We went back to The Ice Cream Place today and had lunch. Yummy burgers!

4. Ken’s parents took care of our Molly girl for us while we were gone. She was great for them, and they loved her. In fact, Nana told the kids she wanted to keep Molly!

5. We had a nice afternoon/evening with Ken’s parents.

Bonus: Everything is unloaded from the trailer already! Whoohoo!

200/365

Day 200!! Zowie Howie!!

Since Ken had the day off we all went to the river for some water fun after the errands and chores were done. I didn’t get any great shots of the kids (I was too busy watching 7 young kids!) but I was happy with this shot of Molly. She just loves the river!

 

I don’t know this kid, but I liked this shot of him jumping off the bridge. I get nervous every time I see them do this, but a friend of mine assured me (several years ago) that the river is quite deep enough here for bridge jumping.

Here’s one of Caleb at the river. He really enjoyed the inner tube.

(Little bit of a topazish adjustment on this one.)

Day 301

Just some Sunday snaps today. Nathan has a new favorite game – Throw Pillows at Nathan. Ken would throw the pillows at Nathan, he would fall on the couch in hysterical laughter, and Molly would bite Ken. Great game!

(Molly always bites at Ken playfully when he’s wrestling with the kids. It cracks me up!)

Day 226

Just a few snaps today…I didn’t get creative with photos because it was a very busy day! We spent a few minutes outside visiting with our great neighbor, Vance. (That link will take you to a blog that explains why he’s a great neighbor.) His dog, Shady, seems to believe that she’s the queen of the universe, and she wanted Molly to know it. I snapped a couple shots of the two dogs making tentative attempts to be buds. As long as Molly understood that Shady was queen, all was good.

265/365

Only 100 days left in this year!! Crazy!

I wasn’t too thrilled with the topic at The Daily Shoot - “Communicate chaos, disorganization, or messiness…” – so I just went out and shot what I saw. Today it happened to be Sweet Molly Magolly. She’s such a good girl now. She’s definitely my dog, and she goes everywhere with me if I let her (even to the bathroom!). Today she went looking for photos with me, and became the subject. It’s been a while since she showed up here, so here she is.

56/365

Thankful Thursday – spring weather! I’m so thankful for beautiful weather and being able to have the front door open. Caleb and Molly are enjoying it too.

Caleb was “nuzzling Molly’s ear.” I didn’t even know he knew “nuzzling.”

• f/1.8
• iso 400 (because I had been shooting inside)
• 1/4000 (camera was on AV mode – it set the shutter speed for me. If I’d realized what it was at I would have lowered my iso so the photo wasn’t so grainy. Oh well.)
• The photo was converted to b&w with Pioneer Woman’s B&W Beauty action.

Day 20

I didn't take this first shot today (I took it yesterday, but I'm including it for those who only read my 365). This is the newest member of our family, Molly. She's a sweetheart that we adopted from the local animal shelter. She's great with the kids, has nice manners (except that pesky potty training bit), and she's just been great so far!

 

Here is today's 365 - it's not one shot, it's 4. But that's because I couldn't get our activity in just one photo. Today was our turn to clean the church, and as you can see, we get everyone involved (except Fancy, who was off at speech/drama meet).

138/365

Well, it’s been a very, very busy Tuesday, and I didn’t get a dedicated “texture” photo…but here’s some nice texture! My sweet son Dale bought these roses for me last night. Not only did he see roses and decide to buy me some, but he thought it out – one rose was $3.98. A dozen was $12.98. A dozen was a better deal, so I got a dozen! Good boy!

Here’s a storyboard I just had to put together. Molly is learning to obey, and she now stays in the yard when the kids leave for school, but she doesn’t do it happily.
 
She’s really turning into a great dog. Whew!

Day 40

Yet another day of no great photos! But I did take a whole series of shots of Caleb playing with Molly. He was "hiding" from her (that's why his head is tucked in), and then "peekabooing" at her. She thought it was great fun! She rolled and licked and played happily!

(As always, if you click on the image you can see how really terrible the photos are. lol.)

This great template was another freebie from Jenn at DesignbyJenn! Thanks Jenn!!