Blogging Vacation

I have little/no internet access at home (unless I steal the neighbors wirelss) so I will be on a blogging vacation over the summer.

Big Girl Bed

Chad called me Friday after work and asked if he could buy Leila a toddler bed at a garage sale.  He said it was only $6 and was white plastics with little sides.  It sounded just like the bed I had contacted 3 people on craiglists for but never heard back from any of them.  I told him to buy it and he called a few minutes later asking if I wanted the mattress too because the guy was going to give it to him if we did.  I said no since we already have 3 crib mattresses and we really don't need another.  Chad set it up as soon as he got home.  I washed it up with bleach water and made the bed for Leila and when she saw it she was so excited.  She had to climb in to try it out.

Before bed we discussed that she could sleep in her big girl bed if she stayed in bed.  We told her if she gets out of bed she would have to sleep in her crib.  She climbed into bed, got her pillow, blankey and baby in the right spot, found all her pacis and asked to be covered up.

We said good night, shut the door and she went right to sleep.  We didn't want her falling down the stairs in the middle of the night so we put the baby gate up in the hallway just incase she decided to get up.  Around 12:30am I heard some noise in her room so I went to check on her and before I opened the door she started calling for daddy.  I went in and had to laugh.  She had her hands on the floor holding herself from falling out of bed.  We are not sure if she was trying to find her pacis (2 were on the floor) or if she was just turning in her sleep and happened to fall out of bed.  I layed her back down, handed her all the pacis and she rolled over and went back to sleep.  She did not get out of bed all night and it the morning she just called for daddy like she did when she slept in her crib. 

Gavin is 10 months old!

Giveaway wins!

I won two giveaways in the last few weeks!  The first was an 11 oz Lemon Pound Cake Candle from Village Candle.  The giveaway was hosted on this wonderful site Jessica Loves To Save Money that is full of freebies, money savings and giveaways.  Thanks Jessica and Village Candle!  I love the candle and it fills the house with a wonderful smell.

My second win was a $20 giftcard and free shipping for Plum Organics or Revolution Foods from EcoMom.

This giveaway was hosted by Me As A Mommy.  I decided to get Plum Organics Variety 6 Pack Fruit Purees for Gavin and Plum Organics Tots Organic Fruity Fingerfuls "I Heart Strawberries", Plum Organics Tots Organic Fruity Fingerfuls "I Heart Apples" and 4 Pack Variety of Organic Mashups for Leila. 

Gavin loved his first taste of his fruit puree.  He tried the Peach, Apricot & Banana flavor and LOVED it!  He sucked it easily out of the little tube and even held onto it himself.  He was kind of upset when it was gone!  We will be saving the rest for our out of town trip Memorial weekend since they are easy to pack up and easy to eat!

Leila tried the I Heart Apples first and soon wanted the I Heart Strawberries open too.  She didn't really want the grain bites but loved the dried fruit.  We ended up with a a pile of grain bites on the floor.  We then had her try one of the Mashups.  She tried the Grape flavor.  She downed that sucker like it was a cup of juice!  She asked for another as soon as it was gone but we said no since we had not had dinner yet. The next day she remembered they were there and asked for one again.  Needless to say her Mashups are gone. 

Thank you EcoMom and Me As A Mommy!  The kids really enjoyed their food!

12 Weeks To Better Photos - Lesson 4

You can find lesson 4 here http://sites.google.com/site/biowbiow002/04-Flash.pdf

I did challenge 2 for this weeks lesson.

Here are my pictures...

 

no flash

flash

And another take...

no flash

flash

12 Weeks To Better Photos - Lesson 3

You can find lesson 3 here http://sites.google.com/site/biowbiow002/03-Thecoloroflight.pdf
My take at lesson 3...

Again I had a hard time.  I took this weeks picture after 9pm on the kitchen floor.  I tried the cutsom white balance but the picture turned out orange and terrible.  I took the picture again with a flash (which is not recommended in this lesson) and the picture turned out better but still not like the lesson wanted.  I will be trying this lesson out again.

Here are my pictures...

Auto white balance

Tungsten white balance

Custom white balance

Custom white blanace with flash

Smiles!

I figured out how to get Leila to smile.  Who knew it was as simple as "don't look at mommy"?

12 Weeks To Better Photos - Lesson 2

You can find lesson 2 here http://sites.google.com/site/biowbiow002/02-ISOShutterSpeed.pdf

My take at lesson 2...
I had a really hard time with the shutter speed and correct lighting.  I tried pictures at the kitchen sink  but it was too dark even with all the lights on and light shining in through the window.  I also tried in the bathroom sink in the middle of the afternoon.  I then tried outside but the pictures were way too dark.  So, this is what I ended up with...

1/200 (lowest setting I could get in my situation)

1/1000

I did not complete the bonus activity since I was already having a hard time with the lighthing.

And here is my photo taken on 3 different M (manual) setting.

12 Weeks To Better Photos - Week 1

I have always wanted to take nice clear professional looking pictures of Leila (and now Gavin).  A year ago we bought a Nikon D60 to take "professional pictures" but they are just not "perfect". I decided to follow allow with the 12 Weeks to Better Photos program to learn some photo skills.  Here is the link to the lessons for each week. http://sites.google.com/site/biowbiow002/01-ApertureBasicTraining_weekone.pdf  After I learn better photos I would like to learn how to edit with photoshop!

Here is my attempt at lesson 1...
F5.6

F8

F22

Here is another attempt.

F5.6

F8

F22

It was quite windy out so I had a hard time focusing on the tree branch leading to blurry pictures but I got the point of lesson 1.

Amy and Joe's Wedding Weekend

Amy and Joe got married in Eau Claire on Saturday.  We had a wonderful time staying at "grandma" Wandas for the weekend.  Leila loved Wanda cat, dog, toys, food...ok Wandas house in general. 

Friday night we had rehersal and dinner at Sammy's pizza...boy was that pizza good!  Amy's friend Angie makes cakes and she brought this to dinner.  It even has there dog Otto :)

Debra (One of Amy's bridesmaids and a college friend of mine) and Gavin

Leila enjoying the car at Wandas.

Wedding Day

Deb and I all dressed up and ready for pictures

Amy and I - ignore my goofy smile

The Wedding Party

The Happy Couple and Otto

The Reception

Dancing with Daddy

Dancing with Mommy

Gavin taking a snooze

Ready for some dancing...they are so adorable!

Gift Opening - ok so no pictures of gift opening but my kids are cute :)