Beach Boys

Last night I was stumbling and found a blog with a picnik tutorial, homemade by jill. She was creating cupcake toppers which is sort of ingenious. It's an online photo editing software. I have been trying to find a free photo editor for a long time. Mostly for red eye removal. Lots of light eyes over here.

I think I may even upgrade to the pay version. Because I could finally print some stuff. iPhoto makes me mad when I try to print, it's all bossy and expensive.

I think I'm gonna print these photos for my kitchen nook. I need to change what's in there and these are pretty cute. I used a Lomo effect for these. Which makes the color crazy awesome.

Toddler Photographer

I'm in the middle of a project right now. And it's way more complicated than I thought it would be. So while I was running back and forth between the house and the backyard, Hartwell got a hold of the camera. He's pretty good.

The first picture is of his brother!

Then he took a few, like five, of his feet.

 

Then I heard, "I wanna take a picture of the sky."

And here's one that shows his little shadow.

I need to get him a video camera. That would be some good stuff.

Sister's Are Asking the Universe For Themselves...

Our bathroom is tiny. Like super tiny. Like I have a book called Small Bathrooms and by small they mean 11' x 11'. And our bathroom is 5' x 8'. So. I guess they need a new book called,Ridiculously, Tiny Bathrooms.

But there is hope! This month's, (quarter's?) Do It Yourself magazine featured two bathroom remodels, with of the exact layout of my bathroom. Including the door that opens into your knees while you pee!

I will keep the photos close to my heart and on my vision board.

P.S. I know if I took off my door and had a wide angle lens my picture would match. But who's gonna take off a door?

edited to add: This is our only bathroom with the exception of a room in the basement that has a toilet in the corner. I call it the "newlywed toilet" because it's the one you use at the beginning of a relationship...

N-n-now th-that don't kill me, can only make me stronger...

I've been having trouble coming up with projects lately. I think part of it is lack of time to browse and drool over various websites. And part of it is because I am without my laptop. Seems my boys were playing and spilled milk on the keyboard. I took it in and they replaced the keyboard and it was only like $100. So that was pretty awesome. We thought she was a goner. I brought her home and set her back up, and downloaded a free drawing software a friend recommended. I started to teach myself how to use it and read some tutorials and stuff. Then I went to make dinner. Spaghetti and meatballs. Our house is set up so you cannot see the living room from the kitchen. After an eerily peaceful preparation, I took my bowl of spaghetti and meatballs and sat down on the couch to eat and read about Inkscape. I looked over and there were small puddles of water on my brand new keyboard. As well a glass tipped over on the floor.

I had my computer for 6 hours before it was drenched a second time. 

So I took it back. And this time? She needs a new motherboard. Now I had to decide whether to fix it or buy a new one. And that was a tough decision. I had to call in my panel of experts. Three phone calls, one hour of texting later, I decided, based on their advice, to keep the laptop and have it repaired. It's nice having my own tech department. 

Last night for dinner we had a frittata. Full of bacon, mushrooms, shallots, (grated. thanks, Cameron!), and leftover california vegetable blend. As I was plating my own dinner, in walks Hartwell with my cell phone. Which means they're in my purse. I walk into the living room to find my camera out with the lens not retracted. And it won't close. Lens error. 

It's like living with small, destructive aliens. 

I need to stop using The Secret for new things. Because, all that means is the universe breaks all my old stuff so I have to replace it. And it's starting to bug me.

Since I have no new photos to share, I thought I'd post my favorite Christmas gift ever. Thanks, Lynn*!

*I'd link to her website but she DOESN'T HAVE ONE!

This is where we do all of our living.

I was sweeping my living room floor last night and marveling at the number of cheerios and cheese crackers in the dustpan. And dog hair. I live in a day care kennel.

I made my neighbor come over and smell my house. Like a first impression smell before the playgroup came over. (I have the best neighbor ever). Unanimously dog. Stinky, stinky basset hound.

All this cereal covered stinkiness makes me long for a time before children and before sweeping the floor took three trips to the trash can. And I came upon this photo. I love it. It's like how my living room was supposed to look before I was storing toys in every crevice. And when we used the fireplace. Even with candles. Now there's a furni pad crammed up in the chimney because it has no damper. But we used to buy firewood! And had a fireplace accessory set! Nowadays I would be biding my time before I was hit upside the head with a dirty broom. And can you imagine the face of the kid who discovers the bellows?!

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had a white couch. White. Now I have a dark brown, ultra-suede arch nemesis. And there's no going back.

Family Photo Day!

I'm being profiled in our MOMS Club newsletter this month. Mostly because I'm friends with the profiler. And she was a little behind in her selection. So I filled out the questionnaire and then had to come up with a photo. John and I both take the pictures in the family, so one of us is always behind the camera. Therefore, no family photos. Now, I could go somewhere to have a professional take the picture, but my brother-in-law is a cinematographer. And I know he can take a good photo. So, why waste money on some picture with a lame blue background and fake fur seat? Here's what we came up with on a 10 second timer. That was after the second wardrobe change. I read somewhere that to make photos more spontaneous, you set the timer while the group is behind the camera and then run to your spot. We got pretty sweaty running back and forth all morning. And, thank Jesus that "dirty" does not show up on film. Both boys had dirt everywhere.

Butterwalk

Today the whole family went to the car wash. With the car. To have it washed. As we were wrangling the kids and keeping them from "helping," my husband noticed this butterfly. Turns out it was stuck in a spider web. So before I did anything, I took some pictures. It was my chance to get an up close photo of a butterfly in captivity! But it was way too bright for me to even see if I got any good pictures. So I gave up and used a pine needle to scoot the butterfly out of the web. I was thinking he would take off and flutter around my head in a spectacular gesture of gratitude. He just kinda limped away.
And then I thought, what if some catastrophic event happens today and it's all my fault? I freed a butterfly and somewhere in Minsk a bridge collapses. Just what I need.

Two for that, you must be mad.

I have been trying to curb my shopping problem lately. I decided that I can go to thrift stores and the 99 cent store and that's it. My little guy loves a thrift store so it's worked out okay. And I found this painting for $2. It's growin' on me.
I am still trying to figure out how to photograph anything in my tiny, dark house, so forgive the annoying reflection.