Hanging On

One last little Marigold still hanging on out there on this very frosty morning. The rest of the flowers are gone and the leaves on the trees have all fallen but this little guy is giving me a splash of color to brighten the day.

Thanks little guy.

Simply

black & white

The Lights

Small Christmas trees have been placed all around the park for the holiday season. People can "purchase" a tree in remembrance of someone and decorate it as desired.The lights are so pretty and there are so many trees, quite a beautiful sight.

Jim and I went out for awhile and I managed to capture a few pictures but it is cold out there! I didn't get quite what I wanted but I plan to try again when I am dressed a little warmer and maybe when there is some snow on the ground. Yes I said it, snow!

The Winter Wonderland Parade

The Winter Wonderland parade brings Santa Claus to town!

So Many Socks!

Elizabeth's Birthday is finally here! When she was little it was so hard for her to have to wait while Alexandra and Tori had their birthday's first. She wanted to help them open those presents. Ripping open those presents was what was fun!

So...to help her with the love of opening presents, we wrapped each pair of socks individually. (Liz loves socks just as much as she loves opening presents.) I believe she ended up with 30 pairs of socks!

So many socks!!!

Isn't it just too cute! Gracie got Liz this pillow.

Happy 18th Birthday Elizabeth!

Music

If you look deep enough, you will see the music; the heart of nature being everywhere music.

~Thomas Carlyle

The...

Potato

Found him as I was peeling the potatoes for dinner.

Family

 & friend. Even Jack managed to poke his head out just in time for the picture!

Birthday Girl

Happy 18th Birthday Victoria!

(I love the little bokeh hearts floating around her head!)

I Saw...

...across my desk this morning. 

The sun shines in through the window and hits the glass picture frame that sits on my desk. How wonderful is that!

Ripples

Oh my, what on earth can I take a picture of tonight?! It rained all day, foggy and misty, not much of an inspiring kind of day. Well I let the dog out and saw this little puddle getting dripped in. Hmmm, what have here....

Plop, plop

I used the flash and it gave me some awesome definition of the drops!

Wonderful patterns in those ripples.

Birthday #1

 Happy Sweet 16 Alexandra!

 

A special balloon delivery from big sis at school.

Awww, isn't she cute! Grandmother made this Panda hat and the red hat from above too!

Dinner, presents, cake and ice cream...Happy Birthday!

Deer Season

The first deer of  the season.

The Winner

My niece Alexandra is in her second year of high school wrestling.The only girl on the team and a little girl at that, she makes us all quite proud of her for her determination and dedication to this sport.

She has improved 100% since her Freshman year. Much more confident and agile!

And she proved that she has improved! Way to go!!

Bubbles Galore!

I made a jar of Bubble solution for my science workshop the other night. After the workshop I dumped out the rest of the solution however, a bunch of bubbles stayed inside. I brought the jar home but forgot it in the car (hey, I've been working late for the last two nights!). I brought the jar in this morning thinking how neat it was that there were still bubbles in there and what a neat picture they would make, but off to work I had to go. Long story short, or is it too late for that, the bubbles were still there tonight and this is what I got.

amazing

A teddy bear! What truly caught my eye was that square bubble.

It's like tie-dye heaven in those bubbles!

The bottom of the jar, just as amazing as the ones with color.

LIVE

Sara has this in her window sill at work and I have always been struck by the reflection, 'cause ya know I luv reflections! But the sign is white and apparently I didn't listen in class about white balance so I have not taken a picture of it that I was happy with (this wasn't the first time I tried to capture it). But I have to work late again tonight and I wanted to give it another go. I used my nifty fifty lens, tried to mess with the balance a little, then just switched it into black and white. But then I had to see what I could do with it in Photoshop, hence the pink tint.

Blurring and Text Boxes

Tonight in my workshop we learned how to blur the background and add text. It may sound like simple tasks but it was a little more than that. It seems everything in Photoshop takes awhile and you really need to be precise when using the tools, especially the quick tool! I do believe that I will be needing to get my eyes checked to help me with that precision! I snapped a few pictures on my phone, used what I learned in class and this is what I came up with. A bit sloppy but I'm blaming that on just being darn tired!

Hands-On Science

Presented my training on Science to a crowd of child care teachers tonight. We put water on a penny to show surface tension, we tried to "explode" a baggie with vinegar and baking soda (apparently I didn't get the baggie sealed completely), we made our own wind tunnel with a baggie & straw and observed condensation and then we blew bubbles through a t-shirt to see what would happen! I think everyone had a good time and went home with some new ideas to use in the classroom, that's all I could ask for!

Skeeter

I'm trying to get ready for my training that I am presenting tomorrow. I honestly do like to do them, but boy do they stress me out. And yes, I admit it, I put off prepping for it until the last minute. So whose fault is it, surely not mine! I'm working at the table, looking for that last minute idea or activity that I can add when this little mosquito falls from above, lands on his back and just lays there. He wasn't dead, but he laid there for a long time, long enough for me to get the camera and take his picture. Maybe all that science I was looking at was just too much for him to handle...or maybe it was all the whining :)

Just Quacky

Another wonderfully warm day, just a little on the windy side. (so windy it could blow you over!)  I headed out to the park to gather some items for my upcoming training and to snap a few pictures while I was there.

The lagoon was full of geese today.

There were just a few ducks swimming around the lagoon. This little guy was taking a bath.

Enjoy the day, everyday.

Another Day

Another day 

has come and gone away

I just wanna go home,

mmmmm, I've got to go home

      ~Michael Buble

Hello Dolly

The Andy Warhol effect again, but used a different technique this time. Photoshop has the "click here" button and it turns your picture into this. Easy as Pie!  My McFry Guy was made using the quick tool and the paint bucket, not as easy.

Soon I will stop doing these things to my pictures but for now... :0)

Friends are...

Yes, I am talking about you. I just wanted you to know!

McFry Guy

Another lesson in Photoshop referred to as the Andy Warhol effect.

Mother Nature

Mother Nature gave me rain today but she stopped it long enough for me to get out and take a few pictures.

Raindrops are wonderful little things.

There's No Place Like Home

 The Wizard of Oz was on television several times over the week-end so that is where the sparkly shoes come in.

Then... I am taking a Beginners Photoshop class and I am learning  some new things, like how cool the quick selection tool is! Here I have selected the legs and shoes to stay the same. I changed the background to white then picked some setting called Posterize. Neat!

Puttering

It was one of those days where I did a little of this,a little of that. I call it puttering. 

I've wandered in and out of the house several times looking for something exciting to capture since I have no real focus. Some smiling faces is just what I needed.

The wind was blowing as I was taking the picture of this rose bud and guess what I got?!

This cute little happy face!

IMEA Musical Festival

We attended Elizabeth's last performance for IMEA District Band at Western Illinois University. She has been preforming there since she was in 8th grade. The first couple years she played her Clarinet, the last three have been with the Bassoon.

This year Elizabeth was 1st Chair which allowed her to have several solo pieces.

We are so proud of her, she is amazing if I do say so myself!!

Grandmother is one of Elizabeth's biggest fans.