Science Fair

We got to the school early to see the Art Fair and get a parking place mainly. So we had time to play at the play ground.

Emmett had a great time

I didn't get pictures of all the things. You try pushing a double stroller and keeping track of the other 4 and take pictures. One of my biggest fears is loosing a kid. Granted we are at the school. Pretty safe. But one of the class rooms was up some stairs. Um Ok no stroller. I left Wes out side with the babies while I ran in and soaked up as much of Tylers Magnet Experiment as I could. Wesley's was about dental hygiene. Right up my alley. Kids had a great time.

Pinewood Derby 2010

Well it is that time again. We had our race early this year. I have a stake primary calling now so I was there all day. I did manage to get some shots of the boys. I took so many pictures of all the wards that raced.

Wesley, Oscar and Tyler before the race. So optimistic.
Carefully placing the cars. Essential. I love these shots. I used a 70's action on all the pictures to make the colors look old, yet vivid.
This shot of Oscar above was one where Tyler and Oscar were in the same race. Their cars are in the 5th and 6th row. Blue and green cars.
The Anguish

Great action shot.

Tyler and Oscar were cars 19 and 1 in this picture

When the dust had settled, Oscar got 9th and Tyler got 15th. Tyler was disappointed. We don't talk about it. Sadly for Tyler it was the last year he can race. I guess he will have to live vicariously through his brothers. He has plenty of opportunities to help. Hopefully in a couple years he will be a lot of help with the younger boys.

A tip on making the cars. Less wood. Make up the weight with the lead or coins. The wedge cars did really good too. Good luck

Lake at Sunset

Wesley started soccer yesterday and instead of running home and running back we decided to play around the lake. The boys were kind enough to strike a couple of poses for me. YY is never very willing. I have to work pretty hard for his.

Oscar actually ended up with some pretty great pictures.

Ok I learned a new thing on my program last night. It is called

‘content aware scale.’ It can squish pictures so you still get the elements in the picture but eliminate the empty spaces. I was pretty blown away. Here is a before and after.

Really enjoying my new hobby. Need to learn more about the photography part.

I will get some soccer pictures soon. Tyler starts his practices soon.

I also will get some pictures of Emmett. He is sitting up now. Such a sweet baby. We love him lots. YY is still loving his little brother.

Well on I go with the day. I have a happy content feeling I think it has to do with the rain.

Farewell

On Sunday we attended two Farewells. Nathan's Nephew Hunter is leaving at the end of the month on his mission and my parents left today. It was good to see so many people at both farewells. Mom and dad were overwhelmed by the support. The Shields went over today to see the Hawkers off. Just finishing up last minute stuff before they left.

Had to do the group picture two times. Burton looks oh so happy. I was hoping he would perk up if I let him take the group picture with me in it. He just doesn't like posing I guess.

Tyler just loves his Emmett
Oscar too.

And the Hawkers are off on the America Tour. Ending in Canada. They will be driving off and on for the next 3 weeks. We are excited to hear about their adventures.

Here are the pictures from the night before. We got to spend time with cousins at the Cowleys. Fun to visit.
Tanner, Monson, Ashlynn
Dallyn and Emmett. He is a great prop for pictures.
Peanuts on the floor.
Hunter just loves babies. Gentle soul. He will be a great missionary in Argentina.
Hunter, we wish you all the luck on your mission. We love you and are so excited that you have decided to serve.

YY's World

YY just loves his Elmo. Takes him on car rides. These were some cute pictures and I wanted to try the blurring effects. Little too much blur probably. Makes it look like it is 3D.

This one I blurred and I changed the color. Then I added a rust texture.

I didn't think I would like this texture. It is a piece of denim with dirt on it. Or something. I like it the best though. Pretty cool. The light was really interesting in this one, coming in from the kitchen window. Oh and the kid is cute too.

Before and After

Still educating my self. I got some photography magazines. Learning photoshop stuff. My new lens lets me take pictures with me in them. I had to use my shutter release today. The light was low in the living room. Shutter 1/8 1.8F for the aperture on this pic.

I have been shooting in RAW too. So I have even more ways to manipulate. Cool. I opened these in RAW and did my crops and vignettes and minor adjustments. Then on to photoshop, used my selection tool and selected the kid/kid and me and then blacked out the background. On the one with just Mitt I didn’t black it all out. Then I made it black and white and then I used one of my cool actions called Super Happy Fun. Brought down the opacity and yay. I really like them.

F/4.5 Shutter 1/8