I have mentioned my friend Karen numerous times. She really should have her own category. We met at Briercrest Bible College back in the day, and were roommates in Vancouver until we got married to our husbands a mere three weeks apart.
We both ended up in the Okanagan with our hubbies. Seven years and five kids between us, we are still the best of friends. Our kids are so close in age that they, too, are close. So close in fact that there has been talk of marriage.
No, we are not arranging marriages. But our children are.
Over a year ago Graham and I were talking about nothing and everything all at once. He loves to look at my wedding ring and ask me about when/why I married Daddy. I threw out the question, “Who do you want to marry?”
He answered the question with no hesitation whatsoever.
“Sarah”
I relayed this conversation to Karen on the phone. It turns out that she and Sarah had just had a similar conversation. Sarah announced she would marry Graham.
We find the whole deal quite funny, especially since it was all their idea and not ours.
This past Saturday, Karen and her family brought their camping trailer and parked it in our yard. The summer has been extra busy for both of our families. Karen and I usually talk at least once a day. We have been lucky to talk once a week. It has been awful.
The kids have missed their friends as well. The solution? A stay out here in The Sticks.
Graham and Sarah have been inseparable. Holding hands and telling us that they are going to marry each other.
(Yes, they are wearing jackets. I had to go and complain/brag about the heat. Summer got all pouty on me and hid in the corner. Come back, summer! I promise to be good! At least until next summer.)
We have humored the two of them (and ourselves) with questions.
How many children will you have? Two.
Girls or boys? One of each. Sierra will be the girl and John will be the boy.
Where will you live? Graham: “Faulder” Sarah: “Westbank”
How old will you be when you get married? Sixteen.
HOW ABOUT THIRTY?
As I sat and looked through the photos that I took of the two of them yesterday I was hit with a small twinge of something foreign.
I think that while all of this talk of “marriage” and such is funny, and cute, and endearing.
However.
It is also a sign that my first born, my baby, my Graham really is growing up. He does not need me to tie his shoes (or wipe his bum).
He does not need me to bathe him, or to dress him, or to even make him lunch.
One day, he will not need me to be the primary woman in his life. I know that, and I get that.
I am just not ready for it to happen any time soon.
Four Years Ago. Today. And Everything In Between.
Date: Monday August 25, 2008Posted in: Family, Nathan
Four years ago today I awoke to the sound of drizzling rain. August had been sweltering and almost unbearable as I was in my final few weeks of pregnancy. The rain was a welcome reprieve.
I got out of bed with eager anticipation. Today was the day I would meet the baby inhabiting my belly. My first labour and delivery with Graham had ended up being pretty frightening; he was almost ten pounds and had gotten stuck. I spent three hours pushing. They thought I would need an emergency cesarean and gave me a full spinal to get ready. They tried the suction. It failed. They tried the forceps but it was not happening. Then! The forceps finally worked in the last few moments possible.
To prevent that situation from repeating itself we were going to be induced ten days early.
We headed to the hospital once we got the call that they were ready for us. I was hooked up to an IV and the doctor told me that by the end of the day we would be holding our baby. We walked the halls, talked about who we thought we would meet. For the very first time in my entire pregnancy I was utterly and completely certain that we were having a boy.
A few hours later it was time to push. I gave it my all and the doctor told me the baby would be out on the second push. I remember thinking, “Darned if I am going to prove her wrong”. I pushed again with all of my being and for the first time actually felt a baby exiting my womb. I thought all of my innards had come out as well. I heard the doctor shout, “It’s a boy!” and then a hearty cry. They wrapped him up in a white terry cloth towel and placed him into my arms.
Nathan.
He looked absolutely nothing like his brother and everything like his Daddy. We was long and lean with the sweetest little nose. While a tiny part of me had thought a girl would be nice this time around, holding this little man brought me pure joy. He and his brother are only twenty months apart. I had visions of two little boys wearing matching outfits, playing together, wrestling.
It has all come true.
Nathan is one of the neatest kids you will ever meet. If you want to make his day, ask him if he can give you a hug. His face lights up and he will run to you and wrap his arms around your neck. He is a lover, a cuddler, a true sweetheart. Friends and strangers alike are enamored with this lively, adorable boy.
How better to honour him than to share some of my most favourite photos of him from the last four years? I could post hundreds, but have kept it to the ones that I go back to again and again.
Happy Birthday, sweet Nathan.
You brighten my every day.
1. Use The Lowest ISO That You Can
I explained ISO last fall so I will keep this short and sweet. The lower the ISO, the sharper your photo. This all depends on available light, of course. Basically you want to use the lowest ISO setting that you can get away with so that you get a crisp photo with minimal digital noise.
Digital noise is not techno music, despite what you might think. It basically means that your pixels are all wacked-out and grumpy and not letting you have a crisp photo.
This applies to most of you using point-and-shoots too! I have a Canon Powershot and you can use manual settings. Don’t chicken out. Be brave. You will be happy that you did.
On a bright, sunny day you will want to shoot at an ISO of 100 (or less, if your camera lets you).
You will need to bump it up in lower light, but try to shoot at the lowest ISO you can get away with.
2. Use A Tripod
The tripod is your friend. Taking photos of your kids in the yard is not conducive to using a tripod. OF COURSE. If you are taking family, wedding, or macro photos you will want to use a tripod. Camera shake can be disastrous.
If you do not have a tripod handy try bracing your camera by pulling your strap tight. You can also place it on an fence, chair, etc.
I used my tripod to take photos of the laundry room.
3. Use Your Self Timer
If you are using the lowest ISO possible, just the pressing of the shutter button can cause camera shake. When doing formal portraits or still/macro shots you will likely want to use a shutter release cable. If you cannot justify the expense, and ten seconds will not kill you, use your camera’s self-timer function. You press the shutter button and ten seconds later your camera has stopped shaking so that you can take a crisp photo.
4. Shoot Rapid Fire (Continuous Mode)
Friends often find it humorous when I take photos and they hear the shutter fire off three or more times. It also surprises them if I have them take a photo of me and mine. They press the button and BAM, BAM, BAM! Three photos in a matter of seconds! It kind of freaks them out.
My camera is almost always set to continuous mode. The reason being that out of three or more shots, at least one of them has to be crisp and clear. If there is any camera shake from pressing the shutter button it is on the first frame and then the remaining shots are nice and crisp.
For group shots, the likelihood of everyone having their eyes open is also greater.
5. Play Your Photos Back And Zoom In
On the tiny LCD display of your camera photos almost always look like they are in focus. I have gotten into the habit of zooming in to make sure and what do you know? Sometimes they are NOT in focus. This little habit of mine has saved me many a headache. It also allows me to get crisp shots of my monkeys.
Welcome back to Foto Friday everyone. I hope these tips helped, if even a little bit.
A couple of months ago a sweet reader of mine named Ruth sent me an email asking if she could send me some books that her husband had both authored and illustrated. The books are for kids, of which they are not currently in possession of, and they thought I might be a good target seeing as I have three of the beasts lovelies.
To give the lowdown to those who do not have ads on their sites, it can get tricky. Advertisers pay good money and do not want to be competing with items that may conflict with their contract. I get that. I also do not want to forfeit the ad revenue I receive. I do not like to look a gift horse in the mouth.
(What the heck does that mean, anyway?)
So. I created a sub-site to this one that will not conflict with ads. I chose the name “This N’ That” as it is the name of my side blog. Over there. On the right.
I even made a new banner for the review site.
If you want to read about the goods that I received from Ruth and her (Gifted!) husband Royden, check out the post on my review site.
****
I had someone leave a comment yesterday making fun of the height I hung my photos in our laundry room. I blocked her IP to save her eyes from bleeding due to my apparent lack of skills. (Side note: the angle makes them look different than in real life. They are at a PERFECT height.)
I would not bring it up had I not blocked her (no need to feed the trolls), but I get a little nauseous when people make detrimental comments here, or elsewhere. My first instinct was to write a nasty email back, but there is no need to stoop to that level. I like to think that I am classier than that. If I could be as funny as Lindsay was in dealing with her troll, I might have taken the time to write mine a little note.
It is my opinion that the saying, “If you cannot say anything nice, do not say anything at all” is a good one. If I ever read a post that I do not agree with, I don’t leave mean comments. If it is something where someone is asking an opinion, I try to state it in the least offensive way possible. I don’t leave rude comments in someone’s online home, just like I am not rude to them in their real life home.
Maybe I really am crazy, but I expect the same treatment in return.
Why can’t people play nice? Or just step off?
***
I have slowly been working through photos that I have taken this summer. I have been overwhelmed at times with LIFE, but have managed to keep snapping.
I remember a conversation that I had with my Step Mom many years ago. She told me that her sister could not afford to develop film so she was just not taking any photos. My Step Mom told her to take the photos. She could develop them when she had the funds to do so.
We are now in the digital age, but the same concept applies. I tend to edit every photo I take, if only to bump up the contrast so that it is not so flat. When life is busy I sometimes choose to leave my camera behind. But sometimes, despite the crazy, I start snapping anyway.
These photos of Emily were taken the day after I returned from BlogHer. I was exhausted. We had company. She was so utterly adorable in that little dress from Mexico that I knew I would kick myself if I did not snap a few photos.
Awww, yeah.
Could she BE any cuter?
(Yes, I heard Chandler’s voice while typing that.)
On the move:
I know it is blurry, but it captures her. She RUNS everywhere. Apparently walking is for pansies.
(She has WAY MORE HAIR now. I must get caught up on my photo editing and show you.)
Thanks for coming out, folks. I’ll be here all week.
Those of you who know us, or who have been reading this site for a long time, know that we have been renovating our house ever since we bought it. SEVEN YEARS AGO.
(Helpful hint: Do renovations BEFORE you have kids, if at all possible.)
Our house is about 90% complete. In each and every room. The only projects that are 100% complete are the exterior of the house (Flickr set here), my craft room and our ensuite bathroom. Emily’s room is done except for the big girl bed and the light bulb hanging from the ceiling. I’m still pulling for a chandelier but Honey wants to use a boob light (not a literal boob, just one of those dome lights with a center circle).
This summer we made the commitment to get rooms FINISHED.
(We also decided to redo our great room (Kitchen/Living Room). It was the first room we finished. Fast forward seven years and our tastes have changed. Figures.)
The most recent room that we can add to the “completed” list is the laundry room.
Last fall while doing a Foto Friday post about White Balance, I used a photo of our laundry room to illustrate the different White Balance settings.
Nothing says “clean laundry” like a concrete floor and drywall dust.
Fast forward to today and the room is FINISHED. As part of the “finishing” process in our house, we are trying to hang photos on the wall. So that our house looks like some people might actually live in it.
When Matthew got the room completed I asked him what photos of mine I should develop. Some photos of scenery? Or maybe of some pretty flowers?
He had an idea that was far more brilliant than I could come up with. He thought it would be cool to get the kids to have a mud fight and take photos of it. Let me show you the end result of the room itself along with the photos we hung on the walls.
The photos on the wall:
(Is it me, or does he look sixteen in this photo?)
See? BRILLIANT. I married up.
More laundry room:
As I was taking the following photo I thought that it might be a good idea to clip a piece of fabric around the shelf to hide the stuff underneath. I’ll get on that. Give me a year or so.
The photos:
Our nasty deep freeze (Hey! It was free!):
The photo:
There are more mud photos that I plan on hanging in the kids’ bathroom. It is the next room on our “to complete” list.
I am pretty happy about how it all turned out. I am also happy to be married to a man who can renovate like none other and can make pretty much anything out of wood.
I am also happy to have one more room done. For now.
