Flip Flops

I just love flip flops.

Kid Bokeh.

he's all blury, but i kinda like it. his little smile is so cute :)

i spy shoes.

New shoes :)

Did you know?

This is not a POTD but I like to pass on information about photography and photo editing as I find it or if I think it would be helpful to my friends. As I try and learn more about my camera, I also try and learn more about processing my pictures. I've learned that it is all part of photography and photoshop (in my case Elements) is a tool. Photoshop is basically a digital photographers dark room. In my search for knowledge of digital photography and finding what I don't and don't like...I found that i REALLY, REALLY like a vignette to finish of my pictures...especially portrait style pics. Vignetting is basically a darkened edge of the photo. Or in some cases, a lightened edge.
I'd been searching for an action I could use in PSE for this effect when lo and behold......wait for it......PSE has a vignette tool built right in! No kidding!
Go to Filter> Correct Camera Distortion. A window pops up and you'll notice some sliders on the right. The first one is Vignette. Move the slider to the left for darker and right for lighter. Hello! how easy is that?!
Here is an example of one of my favorite shots. Left is SOOC. Right is sharpened using the unsharp mask at 25/50/0; increased color saturation and then the vignette tool.
Hope this information may be useful to some of you! :)

Growing.

This was supposed to just be my little herb "garden". But Jake wanted in on the action too. :)

Pink Camo.

New hats sporting the ranch logo. Girl style of course :)
Don't worry, we have ones that aren't pink.

Memorial Day

Best I could do for today. :)
Thought I'd make it look all vintage-y

Rain?

not a great picture..but I hope you can see the sprinkles on the ground. last week 150 degrees. Today I turned the heater on.
Spring in CA.

A piece of me.

Coffee Cake.

Have I mentioned I like to bake?
I have food issues!

Lunch guest.

This is the bear Megan has been carrying around all week. He just had to sit with her at lunch today too. :)

21st Century

I was sitting here reading emails when I stopped and looked at what was around me. The scene just kind of cracked me up. Do you see...there are THREE phones sitting here. At one point I was reading a text message on one and talking at the same time on the other two....and reading blogs on the computer. What has the world come to, huh?! I thought the other random stuff you can see here was a good slice of life too.
If only I had a sound bite to show you the screaming child in the back ground. For some reason Jake is running from one end of the house to the other screaming as loud as he can. And yet I just continue to type.

Happy Mail.

Not one, but TWO happy mail packages from some of the most awesomest girls I know! Thank you guys so much!! Seriously made my day!

Ice Cream.

It's hot. We need ice cream!
This is one of my favorite flavors :)

Wellies.

These are actually Jakes but she has taken them for herself and wears them everywhere. Of couse she's standing next to the fridge asking for more milk. She'd drink a whole gallon a day if I let her.

Casualty.

another bad shot.
one of the chickies died on Saturday. Not this one. I suspected the day we got them that there was one that was a little retarded. He just seemed kind of slow. I went out to check on them about an hour after we got home and he was gone. :(
The other 19 are doing really well. They are so funny..I wish I had a video camera. They have little races from one end of the cage to the other with their wings out. They run as fast as they can and then come to a skidding hault. The kids are really enjoying watching them.

Wet.

This is a horrible shot...but the best one I could salvage from the day. I need to remember in bright sunlight to close up my aperture. This is way over exposed.
Anyway, my Dad and Debbie came down for a visit and brought the kids this Nemo sprinkler. Of course Jake would have nothing to do with it...even though it was 105* outside.

Peeps.

Apparently, we are now turkey farmers too...along with the pigs, sheep and goats.
I picked these little turkey chicks up today at the post office. There are 20 of them and they came in a little box no bigger than a shoe box. The kids were SO excited! Megan was sqeeling with delight, looking through the holes in the box saying "heyyyyDO! meep! meep!"
Pete built this little cage in our garage and they will be in there for a few weeks until they're big enough to be let go on to the ranch. For now we will enjoy their little peep! peep! peeps!

Scraps.

holy scrapmess batman.

I Spy Flowers.

For We Spy : You Spy challenge blog.
Wild flowers at Lake Chabot.

Squirt.

Mothers Day.

What you see: Daddy and baby girl sleeping soundly in recliner.
What you don''t see: Mommy in the kitchen making lunch and dessert.
Isn't it supposed to be the other way around on Mothers Day?
I'm not bitter.
I'm not.

Examination.

relax...sort of.

Playing on Mommy and Daddy's bed before bedtime.

just me.

hi! :)

Wednesday.

New HP printer. Making brochers for Pete. Sipping AZ iced tea.

Something Blue

Our first trip to the pool this year. Megan loved it...she's such a water baby. Jake did much better than last year...jumping in and starting to doggie paddle :D

I'm Baaaaaack!

Well, I took a longer hiatis from this blog than I originally intended to. Just being sick for a while and then just LIFE getting in the way...lets just say it was low on my priority list. Did I take pictures every day anwya? Mostly. Am I going to post them here? Probably not. Am I gonna stress over it? Nah!
Consider this my do-over. :D