243/365 it's a rough life....

242/365 tickets

I have driven past this ticket booth several times and every time I do, I make a mental note to stop on my way back and get a few shots of it. I finally remembered to do it yesterday.

241/365

Monday was not a good photo day.....

240/365 junk yard

That's what my living room floor looked like Sunday afternoon. I actually intended this to look a little different. I could have changed a few settings but I liked the hot wheels bokeh too much ;-)

239/365 michael jordan?

The youth group had another pool party on Saturday. Most of the boys were playing "by" {like pig or horse but they shortened it to by because they had so many playing}. It was entertaining to watch.



I seem unable to keep caught up. It doesn't help that Em shared her germs with me and I was not feeling well all weekend. I have been taking photos. They're even edited and uploaded to flickr. My goal is to get caught up and stay that way!

238/365

What a week! We felt the earthquake earlier this week and now hurricane Irene is heading toward the east coast. We are not supposed to get much of anything here. Maybe just a little rain. Praying for all those who are in the path of it-stay safe!


There was a completely alive rose right next to this one but for some reason this drew me in. Hey, I never claimed to be normal. And if my dad, sister, children or husband are reading this, they're all exclaiming "amen!"

237/365 boxtops

I was recruited as the boxtops coordinator for Joshua's school this year. This week has been about finding the information I need and getting things ready to copy and send home with the kids.

236/365 bobbie

Bobbie asked me earlier this week to help her with a new profile picture for facebook. I was more than happy to get to shoot her gorgeous self.


Bobbie and I are from the same smallish town in Northern Michigan. I haven't lived there since I graduated from high school and she is a few years younger than me and went to different schools so we didn't actually know each other until we met down here 3 or so years ago. She has quickly become one of my best friends and I love her and her family to pieces. She is strong, determined, silly, loving....absolutely beautiful inside and out.

235/365

234/365 daydreams

Did you ever sit and daydream as a child? Maybe laying on your back and looking up at the clouds. Or sitting under a tree or by a lake. Daydreaming about what your future might look like. After high school or college. After getting married or having kids. Then you grow up and sometimes, sometimes those daydreams turn into nightmares. A good friend of mine got some devastating news yesterday. And it feels like she is in a nightmare. I hate to see her so sad, hurt and angry. I wish there was some way I could help. Something I could say or do to make it better. But all I can do is listen and offer my love and support. It just doesn't seem like enough.

I love you B. You are in my constant thoughts and prayers. My door is always open. I will do anything I can for you and your babies.

233/365 alex

232/365

Joshua asked me to take a picture of him with his sword last night. Can't say no to that ;-)


After I took it, I realized I had one from last month that was pretty much the same. Except that it was taken with my 50mm and last night I used the 35mm. I've seen comparisons between the 2 lenses using full frame cameras but not using crop sensors. So I thought I'd post them both so those interested can see the difference. Neither of these have been cropped.

I was standing directly above him in both of them.

231/365

After walking around Joshua's school all morning on Monday, I decided I needed some new shoes. My feet hurt. My old shoes are 3 years old and worn out. Since I'd rather not wear shoes at all, I wanted to find some that were really light weight and fit my narrow {long} feet well. A trip to Kohls and I found what I wanted.


I'm hoping that with the new shoes, a way to track my walks and cooler weather coming, I'll be motivated to start walking again.

230/365 rock star

You can't really see it in this photo but Joshua has rock star hair. When Matthew came home with a faux hawk, Joshua told him he had hair like a rock star. He has decided this week that he needs hair like a rock star too and asked me to fix it for him. Everyone at school loves it :-)


I've been struggling a bit lately. It feels like I've forgotten everything I've ever known about lighting and finding the light. And please excuse the lovely green color cast....

229/365

228/365 i think i'm in love....

I've been saving for this for....awhile. My house is fairly good sized but when you put a 50mm on a crop sensor, you run out of room fast. I'm also excited to have this now since I have a special project coming up in a few weeks that will take place inside and it could be tight in places. More on that later though, if I'm allowed to share.

Focus test....

Clearly, he's tortured.


I have not had a lot of time to try the lens out yet-it arrived late this afternoon-but I think my 50mm might be feeling some neglect soon. The 35mm is a bit loud when focusing. I don't know if that's normal for this lens or something I should be concerned about. Anyone know?

227/365 first day

I wanted to get this posted last night but after going through the stacks of paperwork all 3 kids brought home, I didn't have the energy for it.

Yesterday was the first day of school for all 3 of my babies.


7th grade

3rd grade

9th grade. I left before Em was ready in the morning and I almost forgot to get her picture last night. I don't like this one....I prefer the one of her I took Friday...but I had to post a 1st day of school picture. It's tradition! ;-)

I volunteered to help out at Joshua's school, showing kids to classes since it's a brand new school, so Joshua and I left quite early. I actually ended up staying the whole morning with another mom because there was other work that needed to be done. Can I just say that we must have the best elementary school there is? I mentioned before that we switched schools for Joshua this year because most of the staff we love from his old school was moving to the new one. I am so, SO glad we made the switch. I'm very excited that he can continue to be with the people he loves {and who love him right back. Seriously can't get any better than that}. I was able to express a few concerns yesterday and his special teachers were already on it and had the same concerns. I know he's being looked after and taken care of. If I could hug every one of them, I would. I'm also loving that my friend/neighbor Jen's 2 boys are going to the new school too and that we can both be quite involved. Joshua had a great day, loves his class and said he liked related arts science the best :-)

Matthew's report on his first day was that it was "really, really, really good." He's excited about his classes, loves his teachers. I had to make sure it was really Matthew I was talking to. He's the one who claims he doesn't like school.

Emaleigh had a great first day too. She is also loving her teachers, has made some new friends and didn't get lost ;-)

226/365 ready

and waiting for morning.

225/365 flutter by

I don't see butterflies very often down here. Especially not in my yard. So I was kind of excited when I saw this one {not in my yard}.


I used the 70-200mm lens for this, so I wouldn't scare him away.

224/365 Freshman First

Today was Freshman First at the high school. All the freshman get to go, run through their schedule, figure out where everything is, meet their teachers and see who's in their classes before all the "big" kids get there on Monday. It's also Em's first time riding the bus to and from school. She was nervous this morning. But I just asked her if she still was and she said no, it wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be. She had a good day :-)

223/365

Two orientations down, one to go. Joshua's back to school night is this evening. We're excited to see the new school and meet his teacher.

222/365

Matthew's 7th grade orientation was tonight. He had some major issues with his schedule-they had him in band and gym at the same time. We've hopefully gotten all that straightened out. So he's got honors language arts, honors social studies, advanced pre-algebra, science, band and gym {Get Fit magnet}.

221/365

The boys and I were on the way to the pool this evening when Matthew and I both noticed the sun behind this cloud. He suggested this as my photo for the day :-)

We had Emaleigh's freshman orientation this afternoon. After a quick schedule fix, paying a bunch of fees, getting her books and locker....she is ready to start her freshman year of high school. Freshman first is on Friday. When asked, she says she is more nervous than excited. But she was happy to see so many people she knows at orientation. And we were told she got excellent teachers :-) When I'm asked, I say no, I am not ready for my baby to be in high school.

220/365

This pretty much sums up the day. It's our last Monday of summer and we're all feeling a bit lazy today.

219/365

I'm not really liking this photo but it's all I took for the day.

218/365 back to school

We took advantage of tax free weekend and went back to school clothes shopping yesterday. All 3 kids now have their official first day outfits {we only buy one outfit for back to school because it's still so hot here. They can wear their summer stuff and we buy them winter stuff when it cools down}. Emaleigh has saved her babysitting money all summer, hoping to buy a laptop before school starts. So we went yesterday to see what kind of deal she could get. She found one she loves. Joe spent the afternoon setting it up for her {read: mom and dad are still in control ;-) }

217/365

216/365 nothing

is what I got. What I got, is nothing. Yeah. Hope I can come up with something decent soon....

215/365 has anyone seen....

....my motivation and/or inspiration? The heat seems to be draining it all away. We have just over a week until school starts so we're trying to get school supplies and first day outfits bought, backpacks, lunch boxes...next week we have registration/orientation for all 3 of them. And Emaleigh has freshman first next Friday. Then they all start on the 15th.



We had a great time with the scavenger hunt but I must admit that I'm glad it's done now. I ended up with 297. I was thinking I'd have a decent chance but there are 20+ people with well over 300. Oh well, it was fun.

214/365 reflect

Matthew's sunglasses :-)

213/365

It's the 1st of August! You know what that means, right? Time for school supply shopping! I have always liked buying school supplies. Something about all those blank pages, sharp crayons, empty notebooks.....the possibilities are endless.




And I am finally caught up! Whew! Now to catch up with all y'all {and get today's photo.....}

212/365 waterfall

The water level must really be down right now. Usually this whole area has water falling over it instead of just the middle.

211/365 hunt buddy

Of the 3 kids, Matthew is the one who seemed to enjoy the scavenger hunt the most. He was always willing to go hunting with me and he volunteered to do things like put underwear on his head {I took him up on that one} or wear false eyelashes {just couldn't let him do that one}. Saturday he and I went to the zoo, in 100 degree heat, to get the gorilla and alligator.

210/365 jump!

We had a downpour Friday afternoon. Since there was no thunder or lightening, the boys got to go out and play in it. Joshua had fun jumping in the puddles {it was his idea to wear all his rain gear}.




I had to take cover up on the porch so the angle is not what I would have liked.

209/365

Just trying something....

208/365 all about the cat

What else is there to say? LOL

207/365 homemade play doh

One of the scavenger hunt items was homemade play doh. Matthew volunteered to make it for me and Joshua wanted to help. It was nice to see them working together.

These were a lot sharper before I put them in the template....not sure what happened.

206/365 home again

We arrived home late Monday afternoon. This is my been traveling all day and just realized I have not shot a single picture shot. Cloud was not happy to be left inside while we went out to play with the dog.

205/365 tall ship windy

Sunday we woke up to rain. We had tickets for Tall Ship Windy so we drove over to Navy Pier hoping it would stop before the ship sailed. Thankfully, it did.

Joe and Joshua got to raise one of the sails. They're getting instructions here.




Navy Pier, as seen from the ship.

Chicago skyline from the ship

The kids loved listening to the pirate stories and getting to sail on the ship. We also went on the Ferris Wheel while we were at Navy Pier.

The view from the top of the Ferris Wheel.

Next, it was time for us to head home. We were sad to say goodbye to Tony, Jeannine, Aaron and Nathan but are already thinking about what we can do next year. Love y'all!