Photography for Dummies

Well, it's been another busy week! Every night there was something going on. I was most excited for Wednesday though, because my photography class started! I'm taking it with my friend Amber and it's fun because we both have the same cameras (mine is a little older). Anyway, it's been 3 years since I graduated from USU, but in some ways it seems like a whole life time ago! Basically, I was kind of nervous to take a class again, but I don't know why because it's just for fun. So, I learned a lot my first class. . . . enough to realize I haven't been using my camera to it's fullest potential! Poor thing. This week I took lots of black pictures or ones that are so bright nothing shows up. The only decent pictures that turned out were the ones I used the Av, adjusting the F stop.Obviously, I'm not ready for Tv or motion pictures. And even if I figure it out, I don't know if ANY fast shutter speed can catch Kaleb tackling Eliza (in focus that is).

Another Av one.

I'm definitely not ready for using Manual. I think I need a better lens though, right Shandi? It only goes down to to a 3.5? One of the first thing the teacher said was, "Well, I hope you know you're getting into an expensive hobby." And he's right! Now I want a tripod, a new lens, new flash, adobe or some type of photo shop, and the list could go on. But, I need to practice for a few years before I deserve all that stuff :) Josh just flew in tonight and asked me to take their engagement pictures. I laughed. He really doesn't know how much inexperience he's getting into. But, we'll see how it goes tomorrow!

I just have to add this last picture. Braydan got Eliza dressed for church today. Yep, that's socks OVER tights.

Happy National Pancake Day!

I'm the biggest pancake fan ever--I probably make pancakes 5 days a week! But, today I thought I should celebrate by making a different recipe than I always use. This one is SOOO good. I loved it. It's from realmomkitchen.com of course. I used whole wheat instead of white, but kept all the sugar and butter : ) Guilty. It was worth it to be a little unhealthy one day. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour (I used whole wheat)
• 3 Tablespoons White Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 4 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
• 2 whole Eggs Beaten
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Corn Syrup
• ¼ cups Butter, Melted
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla

1. In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon with a whisk. Whisk well to make sure everything is combined.
2. In separate large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, corn syurp, butter and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture.
3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium/low heat. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto griddle. Brown on both sides.
4. Serve warm with maple-butter icing drizzled over the top. Makes 12 pancakes.

Maple-Butter Icing (I recommend doubling the recipe)

• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• ¼ cups Butter, Melted
• Dash Of Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
• ¼ cups Whole Milk (more If Needed)

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth, adding the milk slowly. Add enough mil for desired consistency.

Woodland Park Zoo

It was another gorgeous day Saturday, but Braydan wanted to work more on the cabinets (he's refinishing them). By 1:00, I couldn't stand it any longer and said, "we're not wasting this sunny day inside! We're going to the zoo!"

I think that's what the rest of Seattle was thinking because it was packed!

Despite the crowds, it was a cool zoo. Very jungle-like and natural. And we got in for free! My neighbor has a pass she let me use.
Eliza's favorite was the orangutans. She pointed and said, "Oo oo oo" like a monkey :) Kaleb liked the big elephants.

Here's a rare moment of love Braydan caught this morning between these two.

This Week

I'm still waiting for a picture to post about Valentines day, so I'll skip it for now. But, I just wanted to post a video of Kaleb riding his new scooter.

He's crashed on his head about 15 times already, but he likes it. I just think it's cute with his little legs trying to push it :) He's faster just walking, but still.....

It's been like spring this week. We walked to the park a lot and today Braydan got home early so we worked on the yard. I even planted flowers! Weird.

I've given up on finishing my curtains (long story), but finished my picture wall. I hung these frames probably 6 months ago, but they've been empty the whole time. People probably thought it was just a new style to have empty frames. I got all the frames, sconces, and clock from garage sales last summer. I spray-painted them and kinda antiqued them. I swear the wall is straight even though I can't take a picture straight.

I also finished Eliza's baby book. It's really cute and I had fun doing it at night while watching the Olympics (and old LOST reruns). I'm not a scrap booker, but my friend is smart in giving me a book that you just have to do what it says and it looks good.

My brother says I never write about Eliza, so here you go Zach:

She loves walking around with my phone saying "hi baby." I think she says that cause we always say that to her. Her new thing is pointing with her little finger. When I go in her room to get her from naps, she's pointing to the window or the lights and talking all about it (in baby talk).

In the morning, the kids sit on the bathroom counter and we all brush our teeth together. Lately she's been brushing hers too and she tries to spit like we do! She actually spits pretty good :) She also tries to blow on her food when it's hot (or even when it's not hot). People laugh when she walks because it's kinda like a big sumo wrestler walking around. Her belly sticks out a mile and she kinda waddles along. But she's pretty fast. When she wants to be held, she says, "me, me, me, me." This past week she's been hard to keep track of outside. At the park she just starts walking to whatever is most dangerous: strange dogs, water, the road, people swinging........!!!

Kaleb TURNS 3!!!!

On Saturday Kaleb turned 3! Ever since Eliza had her birthday, he hasn't stopped talking and asking about his. He really thought Santa was going to come again even though we told him it's NOT CHRISTMAS a hundred times.

He had a pretty fun day (even without Santa). We went to the Children's Museum in the morning.




We went to lunch and then Braydan was nice and built him a huge fort when we got home. Kaleb was in heaven hiding in there.
I worked on his cake. He requested a dinosaur cake a few months ago, but despite my lengthy time to think about it, this is all my creativity could come up with. The chocolate chips are supposed to be volcanoes and the nuts are gravel and rocks?? At least it has dinosaurs on it to save it.
That night Kaleb got to open presents. He got a scooter and a helmet! He was pretty excited and said, "I'm going to do some jumps." We wondered where he got that idea, but then remembered all the kids on our street have scooters and do jumps all over.
He also got some money from the "black Grandma." That's what he calls Braydan's Mom. We don't know where he got that because she is definitely Caucasian (he calls my Mom the "white grandma") When we asked him what he was going to buy with his money, he said, "trees!" The white grandma got him some awesome dinosaur shirts and Alisha got him a spider-man backpack filled with art supplies, which he won't let anyone touch. Thank you everyone for the presents. We also got him the primary songs on CD, but he didn't care about that much. I guess it's more for me since I'm in primary now :)
We had some friends for dinner and cake and ice cream. He sang happy birthday to himself all day, but when everyone sang to him, he just watched at first in awe. It took him about 20 blows to get his candles out, but he didn't give up :)

I love my little Kaleb. He makes me laugh with his funny one-liners. Today he came downstairs dressed for church, even with his tie on. I told him he looked so handsome. He looked at Braydan (who was not dressed for church yet) and said, "Dad's NOT handsome."

Here's some other new updates about him:

* The last month or so he's really gotten into FHE. He loves it and says,"can we do it again?" This makes me so happy. I use the Behold Your Little Ones nursery manual for the lesson and then we usually play hide and seek and eat ice cream.

* He's getting better with Eliza. He will come running to me if he made her laugh, "Mom, mom! I made baby happy!"

* His naps were doing so good, but they're disappearing! My only consolation is that he'll go to bed EARLY.

* He's getting so much better at playing by himself. He still asks me to play a lot, but when I tell him I need to get the dishes done or whatever, he'll run off and entertain himself. Phew!

* He's been in underwear a while now and never has had an accident, BUT he still needs help going every time. I know I shouldn't complain, but I know he can do it if he really tried. He kinda tries to unbutton and pull his pants down, but then cries that it's too hard. We need to work on it.

* He recognizes most of the ABC's and can even draw some! But, it has to be his idea if he wants to work on it.

I LOVE YOU KALEB! Happy Birthday!!

A Week In Pictures

I was going to leave it with just pictures, but I didn't want anyone thinking it was my car in the tree :) We were almost asleep Friday night when we heard this crash and thought someone was breaking in our house. Braydan ran downstairs and discovered a woman drove her car into our neighbor's tree! Three wheels were off the ground and one touching the sidewalk. It was pretty crazy with fireman, police cars, and ambulances everywhere. Braydan was the first one to open her door and I thought it was funny because she was calling her husband instead of 911! That's what I would do too :)

Stevens Pass

Well, I finally put my new skis to use! On Saturday we went up to Stevens for a long date (thank you Dyers for babysitting!) I was a little rusty at first, but Braydan didn't really let me warm up on anything easy :) We had lots of fun talking on the lifts and racing down......well.....not exactly racing. Braydan would go through all the trees he could to give me time. He tried to get me on seventh heaven, but I said no thank you! My boots hurt so bad that I finally skied without socks to see if they fit better. I think they're a size too small or something, but I don't remember boots hurting that bad. Anybody know? (Molly?) I got compliments on my skis however. I don't even notice other people's skis, but apparently mine are nice. Too bad I'm not very good. Here's a video to prove it :)

I'm sore today, and surprisingly sunburned! Who would've thought for Seattle! OH, and I just have to say the snow is so different than Montana and Colorado. It's harder to carve because it's more dense or something. Or.........because I'm just out of shape. Anyway, it was a fun day with Braydan. Hopefully I can go more than every 3-4 years now :)