Quarterly Top Five Photos

This isn't a photography contest per se, but rather a chance to share favorite photos from the first three months of 2011.

So, in no particular order:

 

My daughter with her American Girl doll in matching outfits that my mother-in-law made them for Christmas.  I thought they both looked cute together.

My older son at the playground. He takes after me in that in many photos, he is blinking or his eyes are closed. In this photo, I managed to catch him with eyes open and he just looks healthy and happy to me with those rosy cheeks.

I like how I've caught my younger son just having what looks like the time of his life on the swing.

Love the concentration and determination on his face.  Also pleased that this was shot in manual with no flash.  This family room is so poorly lit and I often have to resort to using a flash if I want to get anything decent. 

This is one of our cats, Moe.  This is taken near the same window as the previous photo, and again, I was so thrilled that I caught a decent photo with no flash and in manual mode.  I also like the warm colors (and how Moe coordinates with the color of the woodwork surrounding him).

I Heart Faces: A Slice of Life

We had a week off over at I Heart Faces, but it's back and this week's theme is "A Slice of Life".

We set up the tire swing this week and I shot a few photos, but I didn't like any nearly as much as this one from last spring, so I'm going with this one:

It's sort of difficult to see what she is doing, but she is swinging from a huge tree in our yard while sitting in a harness.  My husband is good at switching out the 'swing' so sometimes we have the harness and sometimes a tire.  The kids love it, as you can see.

Project 64: Tickle Me Pink

This week we had to find "Tickle Me Pink".  I shot this photo tonight:

 I think the pink color of the life preservers works.  This is part of a game called Ring-o Flamingo that we played at my daughter's school's family game night tonight.

However, I think I like this photo that I shot in January better, and this is the photo I am submitting for the Project 64 challenge this week:

The girls' leotards match this color as well.

Frame-A-Day: Week 12: 3/19-3/25

 

March 19--It's a Lovely Day for a Picnic--Well, maybe.  It was about 46 degree when Trust insisted that she wanted to eat lunch outside and Earnest agreed.  To their credit, they lasted the entire meal.  Yes, it's always fun to eat a picnic still donning a winter coat, no?

 March 20--First Day of Swing--Today was not only the first day of Spring, but it was the first day of the tire swing being set up and ready to use.  All three kids were very excited about its return. 

March 21--Magnatile Madness--Earnest and Trust built a Magnatile dollhouse Sunday morning.  Here, we see part of it with the family in their rooms, and Earnest showing me how the skiing duck can fly over it.

 March 22--Meeting of the (Master)Minds--Kids decided to play a quick game of Mastermind before dinner.  I don't think Earnest really understood it fully, but he tried.

March 23--Puzzled--After breakfast, Imp took out a Thomas puzzle and did a pretty good job at working on it. Earnest decided he needed to help because it was almost time to go to school.

*March 24--Our American Girl--Trust decided to dress identically to her American Girl doll today.  She and Sarah are wearing the matching dresses that my MIL made, and we had to do their hair to match.  By we, I mean that Chretien did Trust's and I did Sarah's.  I stink at doing little girl hair.

March 25--Gamewright Game Night--Trust's school had its annual game night tonight. Similar to last year, they had many Gamewright games as demos for us to play. Here we see Trust playing "Rory's Story Cubes", a game I had eyed for her on Amazon at Christmas but didn't get. As expected, she loved this game. Earnest and her friend are enjoying her story as well.

Project 64: Scarlet

I went to a flower show this week.  I was on spring break from school, so I was a lady of leisure (ha--I took my almost three year old with me).  I knew that I'd probably see a lot of scarlet there, as well as a lot of other colors.

I wasn't disappointed.

 

 

I think this was the best match for scarlet (the lower flower) in the photo above.

I think the large flower in the lower left matches, too, but I think there are too many other distracting colors in this one.  I approach this project with the idea that the color should almost be one of the subjects and not an afterthought, and with so many other colors, I like the first photo better.

 

I think the leaves on the left are a good match for scarlet; the plant on the right might be a little too orange, but the overall photo is too shadowy/dark.

So I'm sticking with the first photo as my submission.

Frame-A-Day: Week 11: 3/12-3/18

*March 12--Playground Fun--The entire family spent part of the morning at Trust's elementary school playground.  All the kids had fun twirling in the swing.  I do believe that Earnest is twirling slowly here, although it doesn't look that way in the photo.

March 13--Cousin Ski Trip--2010 was the third year we've given the cousins a day of skiing as their Christmas gift, so it's become a cousin tradition to go to a mountain for a day.  Chretien, Trust and for the first time, Earnest, headed out bright and early to meet up with Cousins and Uncle.  Afterward, we all meet up for dinner.  This is the second year we've gone to this particular restaurant.  Here we have tired and happy young skiers awaiting their dinners.

*March 14--Bath Time for Brothers--Not sure which boy loves the bath more.  It's nice that the boys can still take one together and enjoy playing after getting washed up.

March 15--Spring has Sprung...--...or bounced, as the case may be.  What with the return to Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, tonight was the first night that the kids played outside after school/daycare.  To me, that signifies spring has returned, despite what the calendar says.  The kids were  so happy to be playing outside that they dashed from toy to toy, not really stopping very long at any one activity.

There will be time for extended play.  This was the first night of many.
 

March 16--A First Visit to the Dentist--Today was Imp's first visit to the dentist.  This dragon is a cute way to introduce him to what is going to happen, although he still seems a bit unsure.

March 17--Flower Show--Imp and I attended a flower and garden show today, St. Patrick's Day.  There was plenty o' green, and orange, and red, and purple, and just about every other color you could think of!  I had a lot of fun experimenting with different settings, and a lot of my photos came out blurry because I didn't have any type of monopod or tripod and even if I did, there was no room to set up the camera for any length of time.  It was crowded!

Here are a few more from the show.  The colors are gorgeous.

March 18--Mommy Hugs--Every morning, Imp gets up and wants to snuggle.  While I try to get him dressed, he'll stop each step of the way and insist on cuddling.  Who am I to argue?  This photo was taken with the timer (I learned to do it a few weeks ago, but hadn't had the opportunity to try it out.)  Fun!

I Heart Faces: Sun Flare

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "Sun Flare".  This is a tough one to do this time of year in my neck of the woods, so I hit the archives and found this:

I will admit that the sun flare you see here was unintentional, but I like how it coordinates with the colors in the photo.  This was taken last July, when we took the kids fishing.  Imp had broken his hip a few weeks earlier in a playground fall, so he was in his spica cast, but he still managed to get some fishing in, despite his immobility.

Project 64: Plum

This week's color over at Project 64 was plum.  I think of that color as more red than what is shown in the Crayola crayon.  When I went searching in my kids' big box of crayons, it was funny; plum was right on top.

I colored on paper and it does come out a bit more reddish than how it photographed.

I had a few candidate items to photograph, but then on Thursday, I snapped this photo and realized that Trust had a plum ponytail elastic on her right braid.

This is her for Pioneer Day at her school.  We decided to do her hair a la "Little House on the Prairie".  I don't think her shirt or the left ponytail holder is the right shade, but the right one matches pretty well and there is a plum looking swirl in her apron design.

To get the full pioneer girl effect, you need to see the entire ensemble that she created.

Yes, I know that the colors are a bit interesting, especially for this audience, but she wanted to wear this combination, although I suggested some alternates.

So that is my plum.

Frame-A-Day: Week 10: 3/5-3/11

March 5--Stuck in the Mud--It was about 53 degrees today and Imp and Trust went outside to play in the yard.  Imp decided to get a jump on mowing the grass, even though none has grown yet.  Look at the effort he's giving in pushing the mower through the mud.

March 6--Scavenger Hunt--The wooden figure represents a town physician and library trustee who fought in the Civil War and helped establish the town's first hospital.  The figure is part of a town-wide scavenger hunt for 12 life-size figures.  We noticed one at Trust's school last Wednesday and have seen several more since then.  Today Trust, Earnest and I went to the Main Library for the scavenger hunt kick-off and were given a list of all sites where the figure is hanging out.  We are going to try to visit them all and document with a photo.

March 7--Tickle, Tickle--You know you're a skilled father when you can tickle both sons simultaneously.

March 8--Homemade Homework--Trust's homework tonight was to make something with your favorite color.  She decided she wanted to make modeling clay.  Or rather, that I should make some modeling clay.  So, right in between arriving home and eating dinner, I whipped up a batch of playdoh with flour, salt, water and enough red food coloring to make it pink.  I love that you can see the action of her hands rubbing together.

March 9--The Jumping Bean--Look at Imp jump!  He's a regular jumping bean.  This is a big deal, since Imp doesn't really jump and it's a skill he lags on for his age.  I also like that I caught motion for the second consecutive day. 

March 10--Pioneer Girl--Today was Pioneer Day for the second graders at Trust's school, which included the making of a pioneer doll out of yarn.  Trust decided she wanted to dress like a pioneer; she wound up being the only one, but she didn't care.  She had me do her hair a la "Little House on the Prairie".  It came out cute.

March 11--A Rose for My Aunt--My aunt died on Monday; her funeral was yesterday.  As per tradition, I took one flower from the many at the cemetery to bring home.  My cousin did a eulogy similar to our grandmother's, where she brought props and pictures to share with us.  She concluded by saying her mother was like a rose--beautiful and thorny.  By sheer coincidence, the pastor took a second rose and built on the analogy. 

I will miss her.