Saturday, March 12, 2011

Photo Phun

My dear friend has let me borrow her AMAZING camera for a little bit, which she can do since she has gotten an UBER-AMAZING camera recently. It has been more difficult to figure out than I thought it was going to be, but I have refused to let myself use the automatic mode therefore making it necessary to learn the ins and outs. The other day I was outside at my in-laws house with Ally trying to work on my camera skills. There are a couple pictures that I was able to snap accidentally but absolutely love them.

I love how Ally is out of focus.


It makes me feel a sense of wonder.


Like that could be me playing with the red wagon.


Or running without a care in the world.


This one I tried really hard to do and also love it.

So these are my first photos with a nice camera. It has been a really fun hobby to have added to my daily life.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

A Hazard Waiting to Happen

We moved into a house in June and it has been non stop fun... well adventure. There has been a couple of fun projects that we have completed that have greatly improved our living arrangements. When we finally got a food pantry we took living luxuriously to the next level. Well a couple of Saturdays ago we did our first major yard work project. There was this huge tree next to our house, well the trunk of it was huge anyway. The leaves and branches looked like it was a young tree but the trunk looked like it was old. Then it was painted in some places making it look like it had been termite infested at one point. Here is the before pic.

You can kinda see the paint to try and stop the termites. So that was the tree, big trunk and little branches. Then one Saturday our friend Calan came over and what did they want to do? Maybe play with a chainsaw and cut this bad boy down. So they go to work and what they found inside that trunk is astounding! It was completly hollowed out! There was a two inch ring and then the rest was completely gone. I was busy watching kids while the big part came down, so this is them toward the end:

Here is Pete digging in it:

Then standing in it, trying to show how deep it is:

Here is the awesome shot of the trunk:
And that is the story of our tree that was a hazard waiting to happen.



Sunday, February 13, 2011

Super Bowl in the Sand Box

Yes ladies and gentlemen, it has been awhile. I was encouraged to start blogging again by my lovely sister Jane so this story is dedicated to her. It was Super Bowl Sunday and we were chillin' at Pete's parent's house. We were all having a grand ole time in a packed house, lots of yummy food, and a BIG TV. Ally was running around with the other kids or grandma, I was feeding Tank, and Pete was watching the game. I had just finished up feeding Tank and as I am walking out of the back room I hear some little kid say: "no, Ally isn't out front with us". Then I hear Grandma say, "no, I haven't seen Ally for awhile". Then the search was on: random people started yelling out that Ally isn't there, no Ally isn't here, no Ally isn't anywhere! It was getting to the point where I was about to start panicking and then I hear, very faintly, "Ally is in the backyard in the sandbox". I rush to the backyard just to see her with my own eyes and this is what I see:
Oh, I love my daughter.