Quarterly Top Five Photos

These three months have flown. I can't believe it's time to post our five favorites from April-May-June.

As I am sure it was for you, this was difficult. I don't think it's a coincidence that four of the five photos that made my favorites list were from June. I've only been really working on my photography since January (doing a 365 project, shooting in manual, etc.) There were other photos that didn't make the cut, mainly because they were too dark or not quite right technically in some way. The ones I've selected are definitely not perfect, but I'm happy with these as my favorites.

I think my next big project will be to learn photoshop or lightroom or something to help me do a little bit of processing. All of these photos are straight out of the camera, since I don't know how to do any of those fancy edits.

Anyway, here we go:

This is my youngest son, Imp, back in April. We were trying to feed the ducks, but the ducks were overfed and couldn't care less about bread. There were entire pieces of bread just lying there, untouched. My older two and my husband were spring skiiing this day, so yes, this was awhile ago.

Imp again, at the playground. I love the colors and his expression in this one.

Imp and Earnest at the farm. I like the softness of this one, but I'm bummed that Imp is out of focus a bit.

This one took my breath away in real life when I caught them snuggled like this on the couch. I guess they really do like each other, which is every mom's dream, right? I love it despite it not being super sharp--I think it gives it a bit of a dreamlike quality.

Obviously you don't know Trust in real life, but when I looked at this photo, I swear I can see what she's going to look like at age 14. Do you ever get shots of your kids like that, where they don't really look quite like what they look like now, and it makes you think that you've just seen the future a bit? I just shot this one three days ago.

I Heart Faces: A Touch of Whimsy

I Heart Faces theme this week is a touch of whimsy.

I looked up whimsy and found that it basically means extravagant, playful or fanciful.

This photo just makes me laugh out loud.

Hee!

Frame-A-Day Week 25: 6/18-6/24

June 18--Play Ball?--Earnest, Imp and I went to my nephew's playoff game today, and to deliver my dad's Father's Day presents.  I caught Alex at a 'quiet' time.  Despite the relaxed pose, the Phillies beat the Cubs six runs to five and move on to the next game.  Hooray!  Go Phillies!

June 19--Up, Up and Away--We attended a balloon festival today.  It's been 11 years since I had attended, and it didn't disappoint, despite the 6 PM launch being delayed 90 minutes.  In addition to the balloons, there were crafts, a juggling show, a playground and a field to run around in and play with inflatable balloons and other outdoor toys.  The kids even made some new friends in the process.

June 20--To Infinity...and Beyond!--The kids have been watching all three of the "Toy Story" movies lately.  Earnest exchanged a Spiderman vehicle he received as an almost duplicate present for a Hulk DVD and Buzz Lightyear today. 

June 21--Summer Reading (List)--Trust learned the identity of her third grade teacher today. In the packet of information she brought home was the third grade summer reading list, which she perused on the back deck this afternoon. She said she read many of these last year, so we'll likely move on to the fourth (or maybe even fifth) grade lists this summer.

June 22--A Day at the Beach--Yesterday, Earnest asked to go to the beach.  Interestingly, even though we've lived in our town for eight years, we've never gone to either our own little local beach or the nearby state park which has a little bit of a beach on the lake. I reserved a library pass for the state park system and today, Earnest, Imp and I went to the state park, even though it wasn't quite a beach day...it was about 70 degrees and even slightly rainy, but the boys didn't care.

June 23--The Party's Over--Chretien took the kids to our local amusement park today to entertain them while I had a lunch meeting for work.  They were gone almost 12 hours, and didn't get home until a little after 10.  The boys just went to bed fully dressed, and perhaps it's an inkling of future parties which may lie ahead in another 15 or so years(!)  For now, it's cute.

June 24--"I Want to Read a Book"--For the past while, one of Imp's favorite things to do is "read a book"; that is, have someone read to him.  This thrills us, even when it's not a convenient time.  Who wouldn't want their child to be so interested in books?  Now that it's summer, we go to the library several times a week. 

Project 64: Goldenrod

The color this week at Project 64 is goldenrod.

I took my boys to the beach the other day.  It wasn't the best possible beach day, but they had fun...and I managed to get my photo for the week.

Project 64: Olive Green

This week's color at Project 64 is olive green.

Back in week 19, when the color was cerulean, my daughter's classroom store helped me out. In an ironic twist, Friday was her classroom's store again and she came home with this treasure, which she named "Yertle".

I Heart Faces: Let's Hear It for the Boys

The theme at I Heart Faces is "Let's Hear It for the Boys".

Here is my youngest, enjoying a visit to a local farm.

Frame-A-Day Week 24: 6/11-6/17

This week was Earnest's birthday, and the photos are heavy on him.

*June 11--Birthday Party--(This is not the actual photo for this day, and I am not even posting a photo of the full cake, since his name is on the part that is missing in this photo). Today was Earnest's Spiderman-themed birthday party. For much of it, he wore his Spiderman costume. There were seventeen kids in all who attended, including Trust and Imp, friends from preK, and a few friends of the family. The party seemed to be a resounding success.

June 12--Interactive Aquarium--Earnest received this interactive aquarium of sorts from one of his friends at his birthday party.  All three kids were fascinated by it, but Imp seemed to really enjoy watching the little shark swim around and around and talking to him by stating, "My name is Imp".

June 13--Take Me Out to the Ballgame--Tonight we took the kids and Nana and Grampy to a minor league baseball game.  It's been 11 years since Chretien and I tried to go back over the July Fourth weekend in 2000, so this was a new experience for everyone.  

 June 14--Pre-birthday--Today Earnest, Imp and I went to see Nana and Auntie L to celebrate Earnest's birthday a day early and Auntie L's a few days late.  It was full of mostly Spiderman gifts, a nice lunch, and then some birthday cupcakes.

June 15--Happy Birthday, Earnest--Today was Earnest's fifth birthday!  We gave him a birthday of a five year old boy's dreams.  We went bowling in the morning (his choice) and then out for lunch, ice cream and balloons.  At night, we headed over to Chuck E Cheese for fun and pizza.

June 16--Farmer Boy--Imp, Earnest and I went to a farm today.  Despite the overalls saying "Thomas (the Train"), Imp looks like he fits the part of a true blue farmer here, don't you think?

June 17--N-35--...or O-67 or B-8 or all of the above and then some!  Earnest received this Bingo set for his birthday and Imp has enjoyed rolling the balls out of the mixer and down the chute.

Project 64: Timberwolf

The color this week was timberwolf. I never knew there was such a color! Evidently, it's a shade of gray.

I took this shot at the zoo while my boys and I shared our Cheez-Its with the birds.  Evidently, they really like them.

I like this photo, but I think we've seen ground/sidewalk photos already this week.

So, I'm going to go with this one, a photo of a Lladro statue that I have.  I never really thought about how her dress isn't really white, but more like...well...timberwolf.

So this is my submission.

Enjoy your week!

I Heart Faces: Bright and Vivid

The theme at I Heart Faces this week is Bright and Vivid.

I think this photo of my daughter fits the bill in both respects, in my biased opinion. ;-)

Frame-A-Day Week 23: 6/4-6/10

June 4--Come Fly With Me--Trust loves this ride, although she often rides it 'alone'. She frequently befriends some of the other riders. Today's new friend is a woman who works at the nearby ice cream stand and offered free ice cream the next time we come and she's working...Trust likely will not forget this offer.

June 5--Don't Burst My Bubble--We went to a children's museum today.  It had been over 2.5 years since we last visited this one, and this was Imp's inaugural visit.  Many of the favorite exhibits were unchanged, including the giant bubble maker at which Trust tried her luck.

June 6--Three Little Fishies--Chretien went to his cousin's wedding this past weekend. He brought these cookie favors home for the kids to enjoy.

June 7--First Lost Tooth--Earnest fell Sunday afternoon, hit his tooth on a brick, and cracked it across the front horizontally. Today we went to a pediatric dentist to have it pulled. This dentist was sweet and told Earnest he could eat a lot of ice cream to make it feel better, so that is what we did tonight. I think her advice worked!

June 8--Upside-Down--Earnest has been practicing standing on his head. Not sure if the view is better upside-down or what the deal is, but he's enjoying it.

June 9--Long Lost Relatives?--They boys and I went to the zoo today. We saw the usual suspects--giraffes, zebras, a lion and a tiger, the small mammals, some birds, a few fish and reptiles. My monkeys also visited this gorilla and baby statue; it's quite impressive.

 *June 10--Poets' Tea--Second graders at Trust's school have been studying poetry; the culmination of this was "Poets' Tea" today, where the kids each shared an original poem, followed by some songs and thank yous to the volunteers and the long-term substitute who has helped her class twice this year.  This photo was taken when she first entered the classroom.  The original photo I selected for my "Frame-A-Day" book has her name in it but it does show her reading her poem, which was entitled "Rainbow of Colors".

I Heart Faces: From a Distance

The theme at I Heart Faces is "From a Distance".

www.iheartfaces.com

Project 64: Salmon

 

The color this week is salmon. I didn't think it was as pink as the Crayola version seems to be. So be it.

My daughter's shirt is what I'm matching, although my son's shirt, while not salmon, sort of complements hers.

Frame-A-Day Week 22: 5/28-6/3

 

May 28--Teeter Totter--We all went to a nearby playground tonight. Isn't it nice how well Trust and Earnest (appear to) get along?

May 29--Gone Fishin'--Today was the annual kids' fishing festival at a local state park. Collectively, we only caught one fish this year, but it was still lovely and full of snacks and prizes, so how could we go wrong?

 May 30--Dinosaur Delights--This is a dinosaur set Earnest received for his birthday last year and forgot about, until I pulled it out today to capture yellow orange for Project 64.  He knew most of the dinosaurs by name.

May 31--Just Reading a Book--This photo sums up how book crazy Imp is these days. He is

always asking us to "Read a book for (to) me," which makes both C and I very happy.

We pulled out the hammock today and the reading/hammock combination just screams summer, doesn't it?

June 1--Mowin' Da Lawn with Daddy--What a sight awaited Trust, Earnest and me when they returned home this afternoon.  I spied Chretien mowing the lawn, and wondered where Imp was.  Then, she saw him helping Chretien with the landscaping in his matching outfit and burst out laughing.  I suppose it's never too early to start earning your keep.

 
June 2--Moving Up--Today was Earnest's "Moving Up" ceremony from his pre-K program.  It was much more casual than a graduation.  Here the kids are shown singing one of the five songs that they sang--"Color Song", "Silly B-I-N-G-O", "Skidamarinky--dinky dink", "Old McDonald Had a Farm" or "A B C Rock n' Roll".   After the songs, they received goody bags and then we enjoyed a potluck picnic.

June 3--Not Tire-d of Climbing--Imp, Earnest and I went to a playground near my parents' house. Imp really wanted to climb this tire ladder, but it was tough when he got to the top and couldn't make the leap to the platform. I am still a little nervous with his climbing attempts after last year's broken hip debacle.