Fun in the corn maize

One Saturday in October we ventured over to the local corn maize.  Griffin had a lot of fun leading us through the maize, riding the little "moochoo" train, watching pigs race, sliding, and of course eating kettle corn.

We got bored in the maize and by the time we reached the half way point we decided to just jump the rope and be done with it.  Of course we had to buy some kettle corn, and a sucker!  Joe adores kettle corn. If ever we come across a kettle corn maker you can bet he will be in line waiting for his big bag of kettle corn.

Crazy to think this was only a month ago, and now the roads are covered in ice, the fields have been plowed and are covered in snow, and we are getting ready for our Thanksgiving feast!

Ella on the Tractor

'Nother pic' of Miss Ella!

Went for more of a vintage look with this one.  I just love her facial expression.

Edit of Miss Ella

Miss Ella is one of my favorites to photograph. She is full of personality and has all kinds of fun expressions!

I hope you like this Heather I am going to work on your cd...got to get mom's chip to you too!

Family Picture

Today we ventured out to take a family picture.  Joe scouted a place, and I brought the camera!  Getting a picture of Griffin smiling was no easy task.  He wanted to play with the ducks in the river, or run around through all the beautiful autumn leaves.

This is one picture we all agreed was a favorite. I am still working on editing some of the others but am anxious to get this printed and framed. I've had a bad habit of finding cute frames and then not putting any pictures in them!

I've still got a lot to learn about editing in photoshop and I am sad to say I ordered some of my prints before I was happy with my final edit...oh well...lesson learned.

Love these boys!

"Heaven may be hidden in the clouds, but I see it every day, just by being with you."

This little piggy...

Griffin had a really fun time in his sunbeam class.  They learned about food and made this cute little apple pig.  Griffin was so excited to show it to everyone!

Really I thought Griffin was going to want to keep it somewhere special but he had something else in mind.  I made him pose with it before he ate it.

Oh and in case you are wondering he ate the whole thing, apple and all!

I love his "smile for the camera" face!

Perfect Summer Day

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing,  the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent

I believe in Santa!

The other night LJ, Griffin and I went out to do a bit of Christmas shopping. LJ was showing Griffin all the animals and the fish tank when a man with a round belly and a long white beard came over.

Griffin was naming of the different animals and as soon as he saw "the man" he shouted, "Santa Clause!"  Then rushed over to start talking with him.  LJ apologized and a few innocent bystanders had to scurry away due to too much laughter.  "The man" just laughed and said it happens to him all the time.

Once we all met up both Griffin and LJ wanted to show me Santa Clause, but of course for very different reasons. I think LJ was completely mortified!  I must say he did look a lot like Santa except his outfit was more fit for Santa's wood working shop than Santa's sleigh!

Dinner time moments

Been awhile since I have blogged anything...not really sure why sometimes I blog more than others.  I really do need to make it a priority to at least update our blog once a week~

It's also been awhile since I've pulled out my camera and practiced.  Instead of actually doing hands on practicing I've been studying the books *wink*

 I am trying to master the art of taking pictures inside at night.  The temperature of these photo's has given them a yellow hue, which is to be expected since the lighting is indoor incandescent lighting. I really don't like this kind of lighting but I've got to be able to take pictures in it and like how they turn out....guess I will just have to keep practicing.

 Griffin and Joe were having fun while they were eating dinner so I took out the camera and just shot some candids.

A very serious talk was going on here.

This was the best photo of the night!  Just a priceless moment and I love how creamy their skin turned out.  I am hoping someday to be able to nail my exposure every time, and realize I need to patient with myself as I am on this quest of perfection...

Vacation Pics

Here is the handsome Tank.  He follows Heather around everywhere she goes. He is such a patient and loving dog.  Griffin pokes his eyeballs, pulls his tail, flosses his teeth, pulls him around, lays on top of him, and Tank has never growled or snipped at him.  Occasionally, Tank will retreat to higher ground so the kids can't bother him.

Ella loved eating food in her new high chair.  She was able to be at the same level as everyone else.  She is a super good eater and she gets the cutest little messy face and fingers.  I wouldn't think such a petite girl would be such wolf at the table!

Here is my cutie!  He loves to drink out of straws.  Since there is a Sonic's in my sisters town we had to go during happy hour to pick up a few drinks!

This photo just cracks me up.  Griffin was trying so hard to get inside.  He is actually hanging from the door knob!  If you look real close you can see some of the frustration on his face. LOL

We did a mock photo shoot with Ella in her cute little shopping cart. She is smiling so big because Heather was cheering her on.  We were pleased with how these photo's turned out. Ella was very photogenic and the lighting was superb!

So now we are back home again. I am getting over my head cold and almost feeling well enough to start working on my projects. I've got a baby blanket to finish and get mailed and some cards to finish.  Once these projects are done then I might try and use my skirt pattern to make a skirt, and I've got two pillowcases to make.

 Last night we made it to Costco so we finally have some food in the house, so I suppose that means I am back on dinner patrol.

Speaking of dinner Heather made some fabulous dinners while we were visiting. She is so good at planning meals and taking good care of her guests.  Heather's house is always fun! I just wish we could visit more often-

Happy Moments

Every once in awhile I am able to capture some really happy moments.  I absolutely love that Griffin was having so much fun with Pockie on this warm summer afternoon.  I am grateful I was able to capture a little bit of the fun on my camera to keep forever.

I have another sentimental photo of Pockie and Griffin but I swore to my Dad I would not upload it to my blog until I figure out how to photoshop it to his liking!

This photo was my Dad's idea. Love Griffin's little hands holding onto Pockie's thumb.  Again another happy moment for me as a mother!

Four girls and one boy for the weekend...

Griffin and I are currently visiting with Heather and Grammy!  Nate is out of town for the weekend so we all decided we would have an all girl retreat this weekend, of course Griffin is the one expetion to our all girl weekend.

I've been working on my photography assignments and I still am not pleased with my shooting style, but practice will give me what I am looking for! (At least this what I am hoping for*wink*)

I wish I could have got this picture without the post right behind his head!  Uuuuggghhh.  Such a cute smile!

We are all having fun and Griffin is having an especially good time because he gets to ride his trike all over the neighborhood. He just gets on it and rides all over.  Grammy, Tank, and Ella all love to go with Griffin around the neighborhood!

LJ and his new four wheeler

LJ finally got his four wheeler. The past couple weeks all we could do and talk about was four wheeler's! He finally found one he liked on Ebay and had it shipped from California. He is so happy with this purchase it just makes me smile because he is so happy!

He came in today and said,

LJ:"Tabby you said you wanted me to pose for some photo's well I've got a great opportunity for you"

Me: "Really?"

LJ: "Yes come and take some pictures of me on the four wheeler over in the circle."

Me: "Okay."

A few minutes pass and LJ comes running inside.

LJ:"Tabby you said we were going to take pictures I am waiting for you. The sun is going down and I want pictures in the day light!"

Me: "Oh, I didn't realize you wanted to do it right now."

LJ: "Well duh."

Had to get a picture of his pure concentration while on the four wheeler. He was sticking his tongue out a lot during our mock photo shoot! LOL

So everyone can enjoy the beauty of the four wheeler we had to get a close up of, you guessed it, the four wheeler! LOL
This is our favorite picture. It was also one of the pictures I turned in for my lighting photography assignment. This would be an example of side lighting.

Griffin

I love this picture of Griffin and I love Griffin. He is really hard to photograph because he is such a busy boy, but every once in awhile I can capture his cuteness!

Have a lovely day!

Manual Mode-Metering

Last week in my photography class we graduated to manual mode. So I have been practicing in

manual all week.

I must say at the beginning of the week I didn't really have a clue what I was doing but as the week progressed I got better. I learned this week that practice does make perfect! No, I am not perfect with my photography skills but I am learning things I never knew and I love shooting in manual, can't believe I waited so long to figure this out!Griffin was the perfect subject for me today. He just ran around and played and let me take pictures. He loves to run over and look at them on the LCD screen and then he says "Oh that's Grissen"!

The above photo has to be one of my favorites. He was dancing around and I just kind of stopped his movement, although a little is still showing.

This photo had a few things wrong with it but I touched it up in photo shop and I quite like how it turned out. It is kind of timeless and just a perfect way to remember Griffin. He is after all very serious about mowing.

Recording Motion Picture

This is my photograph of recording motion using shutter speed. I saw this flag at our Elementary school and I thought it would be the perfect thing for me to practicing shooting! (Remember I am talking photography here*wink*)

Griffin and I went on a nature walk today. He ran around collected sticks and threw rocks in the water while I practiced my photography.

Perhaps tomorrow Joe will take us for a hike so I can work on my next two assignments for this week. I am kind of behind but I am really trying to learn the concept before I move on!

Freezing Motion Lesson

I am taking an online photography class. One of the assignments for this week was to take a picture of something or someone moving and freeze the motion. We also need to take a picture to show motion but I haven't mastered it yet.

Joe was gracious enough to allow me to photograph him while he was at the skate park messing around. This was one of his favorite shots. I might share some of my other ones as well but this is the one I turned in for my assignment and so far I've gotten positive feedback, but haven't heard from my instructor yet.

LJ is staying with us and he has also been a good guinea pig. I took some photo's of him and Griffin playing yesterday. Tonight I have stamping so everyone will get a break from me and my camera but I have three more assignments to do this week. EEEKKS I've got to get started!