Heidi has a Hobby

Babies....

2012-02-22T19:53:00.000-08:00

Today was "baby day" -where Marissa's adorable boy comes in (Marissa too of course!) to my classroom for an hour or so... here are a few cute shots from today's visit.

Then....when we got home, Lalie brought up their new puppy, Poppy...omg...sooo cute!!! And I love that name too...She is just a wee one but played for a good chunk of time in my yard in the wind with 2 fun girls. The last one is right after Julia fell and was crying and I was hugging her. Lalie came up with the tired pup and I put the tired pup in Julia's hood for some snuggles and she fell asleep. We unzipped the hood so that she could still snooze in that cozy place... ha!

Brownie Field Trip... back to the VA Hospital

2012-02-21T19:52:00.001-08:00

We took the Brownies to the hospital so that we could plant flowers in their courtyard... it was windy, rainy and cold but there was no whining, there were 5 hard working girls and a bunch of appreciative patients!

1. Parking was seriously scarce today.. I did NOT think that was THAT big of a squeeze until I saw this photo... I call this, "holycrapdon'tshowbarry"... Ha!

2. Remember the parking sitch? We got the wagon and flats of flowers out while it was squooshed in there!

3. They get a lot of attention just walking down the halls here..

4. They got a 3 min. briefing on how to plant bulbs... that is all they needed. They are third grade rock stars!!

5. These three had the corner patch of garden space...

6. These two had the side flower bed.

7. The three after they planted and pushed their "inspirational healing sticks" into the ground...

8. The two after doing the same...

9. Look how happy they are... so cute!

10. All finished...time for some hot cider and some banter with some of the patients... FUN day!

Tutorial Tuesday-water droplets...

2012-02-21T19:40:00.000-08:00

I will be doing this again-it is such a cool effect.... Look at some of the other entries too... off to find some patterned fabric!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday and last POTD!!! 361-365

2012-02-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

Wow-I have been taking a "photo a day" (sort of) for a year. There was a photo for everyday of that year but these last couple of months have been batch posted... I am loving photography and will continue to learn and grow in this area, as well as blogging... I am liking the "one photo per week" deal going on over at My 3 Boy Barbarians...Here we go with the Scavenger Hunt....

Love: I love these two who both love Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies...and excuse me, but when did my daughter grow up? She looks way grown up to me in these shots...

Duplicated: Yum! We celebrated my dad's birthday today...

Trending: The peace sign jacket and the droid smartphone...

Paper: All of the gifts were made of paper... don't you love it when kids feel like they have to write their last name even to their loved ones on gift labels?

Plastic: The shoes are plastic... they are the "I gotta run outside to do something" shoes-always by the door. I gotta go and clean my slider now... no judgement please!!!

POTD Day 358-361 Basketball game...

2012-02-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

I went to a bball game in which 2 of my students were playing... Great game girls!!!

POTD Day 354-357 More hearts....

2012-02-17T21:58:00.000-08:00

There are a LOT of super creative people in our school building. Kristen runs the library and she is one of those types. I took a few shots of her bulletin board and went all artistic with it...the last shot is the original bulletin board in its entirety... so impressive...

POTD Day 347-353 Heart Hair....Valentine's Day in a Classroom

2012-02-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

This girl's mom braided her hair into a heart shape..do you see it?

This is the hairstyle that one of these boys wears regularly. The other one got a haircut and came to school with the same hair. I had to photograph it! They were trying to have serious faces.

Here is a blinged out Valentine's Box that one of the girls brought in.

A typical spread on a kid's desk...

POTD Day 340-346 Jumprope

2012-02-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

POTD Day 337-339 Drink up!

2012-02-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

Hello my friends! I have been in a "non blogging" type zone lately. Things are busy at school-it is conference week now so it will possibly feel more like a routine after that.

The theme for the P52 this week was "Drink Up". I have this jar that I collect wine corks in (these bottles have been consumed over a long/appropriate ~~I am not a total lush~~ period of time!) Although, after my craigslist transaction today where the woman brought her strong hubby and then grandpa to take my gargantia computer armoire down the split stairway to the truck out front, I should be cracking open the wine!!! There are actually a few holes in the wall from it but I got $600 cash out of it so I can patch things up with some of that money!

Photographically speaking, I have been reading about using back button focus and have switched to doing that now. I plan to take some photos NOT in bbf and then the same everything but with bbf just to see. People say that it brings their focus to a new level. Does anyone else do this? Til tomorrow!!!

POTD Day 336 Another shadow shot...

2012-02-06T19:07:00.001-08:00

Then she and Lalie got to play (Lalie had to go to school but got home at 2:40...).. Tjaden and I are wearing capris and open toed shoes tomorrow to school.. Didn't this whole place shut down due to ICE a week or so ago?

POTD Day 329-335 Bubbles in the sunshine...

2012-02-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

What a day! I had my report cards completed, my taxes completed, it was a workshop day at school (for doing report cards) so Julia and I slept in and played...

POTD Day 328: Watercolor effect

2012-02-05T22:06:00.000-08:00

Isn't this a cool effect? The first shot is the original photo I took while in the San Juan Islands last summer. The second is the same shot with the "watercolor effect" described in the tutorial for this challenge. Isn't technology amazing? Seriously... what will we be doing in 10 years? 5 years? This year???? I sound like an old woman but seriously..

This place is "Speiden Island" in the San Juans. It has exotic animals on it so our eyes were peeled for any creatures we could find. I thought that the trees were cool too...It does not look like Washington as we know it!!

POTD Day 327: Shadow shot...

2012-02-04T22:29:00.000-08:00

This week's theme was shadows. Friday was one of the afternoons that was a pleasure to be out for the extra afternoon recess supervising.. it was so sunny and nice. And, my theme was shadows, AND I had some eager fifth graders that wanted to help me create a great shot. Here is one taking a shot with the basketball.

POTD Day 325-326 Read a Thon

2012-02-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

We had a "read a thon" today in my classroom. The upper grade teachers like to do one the week before report cards are due so that we can easily catch whoever has missed this or that assessment up. We did math, had a quiz on events of the American Revolution and did some goal setting. That left 2 decent blocks of "read what you want around the room" time. Here is the gang right before dismissal in their pj's...The second shot includes the book "Am I Normal?". We couldn't think of anything funny to do with it but I am sure that there are potentially hilarious ways to pose this...

POTD Day 325: Self Portrait...with Jodi too!

2012-01-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

Ha! The theme for the P52 this week was to do a selfie shot. When Jodi and I both got out our phones to play games while we waited for my hair color to cook up, I thought it was a humorous photo opp. I propped my camera on different stuff and set the timer to go off and then had to evaluate and resituate the camera and repeat a lot of times. Jodi is a GRANDMA.. can you believe it? Love you Jodi!!

POTD Day 322-324 I made a light box!

2012-01-26T22:27:00.000-08:00

Ashley presented the idea of making a light box...with a link to super easy directions for making one. I did it and tried using it a little bit tonight. Here is the box...all you need is a box, tracing paper, duct tape, scissors and a box cutter.

Oh yeah, you need some white tag board for the inside.

I really didn't have time to fully explore with this new thing but did take a few shots. Here is one..

A Day in the Life...I took one photo per hour for 12 hours...

2012-01-22T21:55:00.000-08:00

This was fun but I fought being stressed since hours fly by and I didn't want to fall behind... it all worked out though. Here is my day today:

9:00 am-After some coffee...I did some stuff around the house. You know, Sunday morning stuff.

10:00 am I processed the 9:00 photo.. :) Julia watched some tv.

11:00-Julia did her chores. I LOVE having the chore chart. Look at Hogan peeking around the door in my room. Away from all dangerous sounds and movements. I sort of like the blown out look in this one-it screams "morning".

Noon-I was trying to set this remote to my tv in my room-the Tivo in that room is a goner after the Comcast outage for some reason. Directions, remote, the tv... and then, it didn't work!

1:00-we went down to the Petos' for a visit. I brought some "Heidi Salad" and meant to take a photo of it before we ate it... oops. Here are the remains.

2:00 Erica at work on her tooth pockets. The local orthodontist is buying a bunch of them from her and she had to create more inventory! I had my computer, my camera and we chatted it up as we she worked...

3:00 I took shots of a bunch of Erica's supplies for creating all that she makes. It is a cool set up-she is super organized and there are labels and bright colors.. See that ruffle thing on the top of the pile? It was probably some baby pants or something from the Goodwill. This is what she does-it is artistic and resourceful and fun.

4:00 Patty Simanek commented on Facebook about "nachos". YUM. They sounded so delish. We sent the girls up to my house to get salsa and cheese and sour cream. Erica had the chips, chicken and beans. Thank you Patty!!

5:00 Here is the screen with the email from our KSD PR guy indicating that there is NO SCHOOL tomorrow in Kent. We couldn't believe it! Pretty sky in the background, right?

6:00 I didn't look up exactly what time blue hour was but knew I was in the vicinity. Erica's house faces out over the valley. They can see lots of city lights from their backyard. This shot was taken through the window glass with no tripod.. Thank you, thank you very much. :) They have Christmas lights along their back fence ...pretty!

7:00 We all went to Walgreens and my daughter bought some candy and, like a good girl, she put it into the candy bowl at home as directed. I happened to see this when I went into the kitchen ... WHAT? ME???? Whatevs..

8:00 processing photos in our "office room" and I looked over at my daughter's "collections". I see this stack of colorfulness... they are tissues. Our amazing office ladies at school carry cute tissues around for kids at recess to use when they need them outside. Julia (and other kids apparently) collect them. OMG. They have amassed over the last few years. Is this stealing or is this cute and resourceful? Carol, Jen and Judy-I will meet you in the counselor's office to work this out okay? :)

9:00-I SHOULD go to bed at this time tonight. But. there. is. no. school. tomorrow. So I will stay up way too late watching movies and getting a few things done.

Let me know if you end up doing this-I got the idea from Leigh at "Leigh vs the Laundry". She is the one with Freakshow Friday...hilarious!

G'night all!

POTD Day 320-321 Poser

2012-01-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

We got out of the house yesterday since the roads were clear and smallfry wanted to pose.. who am I to deny when someone WANTS their picture taken?

A day in the life-who is in?

2012-01-21T19:37:00.000-08:00

Chandra and I are going to take one photo every hour tomorrow between 9 am and 9 pm. and then post them. Anyone else interested? I could make it a linky or post your photos on my blog...I want it to be easy for you and fun too. No worries if you have an uneventful day planned (like me)-it is a good challenge in looking for the art in the mundane... c'mon-it will be FUN!!!! Let me know if you are in...

POTD Day 316-319 Lalie visit...remember we were cooped up

2012-01-21T11:14:00.000-08:00

I had been reading about flash photography and wanted to play...the girls were upstairs so I brought all my gear up there and informed them that there would be a photoshoot. They are too cute (no bias here!).

These two are like cousins-Lalie is my best friend's daughter and they live right down the street. We mostly get together on Friday nights to hang out and debrief the week and that has been about all these two have seen of each other. Over this week, they played in the snow a lot and hung out...These photos make me smile.

And the lighting looks good! This was at night with dim lighting. I used a speedlight with a diffuser disk (another tutorial idea???).

The Sweet Violet Linky asks us this week to think about what inspires us. For me, it is life-whatever is happening. I also get inspired when I read about a new technique or gain a new understanding of something that I want to play around with.

POTD Day 312-315 Ice, Ice Baby....

2012-01-21T11:07:00.000-08:00

Oh Crop!! -A Tutorial

2012-01-21T11:04:00.000-08:00

Wow…give me several days of isolation during report cardseason and THAT is when I get inspired to write a little tutorial. It has beenon my mind for awhile since I have learned so much from other bloggers and wantto “give back” so here we are. Our topic today is cropping and how it canchange the entire feel of your photos.

Of course, it is ultimately best to compose your shot justas you want it in camera. Sometimes, I get a shot that I wanted and intended toget but I still play around with cropping to change the purpose or just seewhat the possibilities are. Cropping can change what the viewer focuses on inyour photos.

Here is an example of a photo I took today outside. (***Thetruth is, I was trying to get my dog to do his business outside but it is asheet of ice out there and he didn’t want to get on that scary stuff. I don’ttotally blame him. While out there trying to coax him onto that slipperysurface and getting him relaxed/comfortable enough to relieve himself, I noticedthe craziness that Mother Nature offered up today. Wow. All that snow that wason everything melted just enough to be “not snow” and then freeze up right awaybefore it all dripped or flowed off. The result was Icicle fever!!! So therewere shapes and cool effects everywhere.) I began snapping away…

Original photo-itis of that tree in front of my house that I love-I may have to make a collageof this tree during the different seasons and stages.

I just love that reddish color of the bare branches and howit contrasts with the color and texture of the ice. I wanted to get thebranches “reaching” and I wanted enough context to see the scale of the tree. Ialso had to think about what was in the background. No offense to my neighbors,but their power meter and hose reel do not add beauty to my composition! Iaccounted for the fact that I couldn’t control those things so set theaperature to 7 (low for the lens I was using…)in hopes of getting enough focuson that coolness in the tree and then blur out the background a bit.

Crop ONE: I wanted to minimize the distractions, stillinclude some of the red of the branches and include the ends of the ice coveredbranches but reduce the number of the branches so that the focus was more onthat icy beauty.

Crop TWO: I wanted to zoom in a bit and see what it wouldlook like with that one “clump” as the main focus. It wasn’t as in focus as Iwould have liked. I started to move the photo around the crop box to see howdifferent compositions looked.

Crop THREE: In looking at this photo so much, I began to seeice animals crawling on the branches-take a moment to see that-really…do yousee? I saw that one branch (you know,the one that looks like a dinosaur going “rawr”) was more in focus and includedthe red that I originally wanted.

I did some brightening to enhance the iciness and thebranches and am pleased with the result: red branches, good composition, focuson the ice, minimal distraction in the background but I cannot shake that dinoface-can you?

FINAL Image:

And another "animals vision" shot: I see frog legs reaching out for me...

POTD Day 311

How much cropping do you do?

POTD Day:309-310 I have a Dream

2012-01-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

I had so many ways I could have taken this prompt. I originally had the idea that I ended up going with (see below). BUT, since we had "state of emergency" level storms here and missed four days of school and were stuck in the house for over a week, I got a little ~~sarcastic/bitter/inappropriate~~ edgy. I will show you ONE of the "edgy" ideas:

>>I have a dream that, in the 8 inches of snow that started to melt and then freeze up, creating a layer of crunchy "owchy" icy ick on top of it, that my dog would be able to resist pooping in my daughter's room and get over his aversion to his 7 in long Miniature Schnauzer legs being crunched and squooshed into that 8 inch deep, cold mess and poop OUTSIDE. My dream came true! Note the HUGE area of white, unaltered, snow beauty and then..... the poop!!! (See it? It is in the top rightish corner of the snowy part of the yard...). I decided that this idea would be in bad taste and that I should NOT post it. So I went with something else. >>>

Another direction I COULD have gone was in the area of having a dream to have Internet access once again, as well as television access during the time that my daughter (who I love with all my heart and is the only person that I know of that I really could be alone in a house for 7 days straight with no breaks from each other) and I had so much "togetherness" time. I wouldn't have felt good about that idea since, the whole "I have a Dream" theme is to honor someone very important, who dared to step where most others wouldn't. He even lost his life in the midst of it. So...in that vein, I went with my REAL "I have a Dream" idea.

I have a blogging dream to "give back" to the blogging community from which I have received so much. There are some amazing, talented and communicative people out there who make up an awesome community of sharing photography. I have learned so much about photography, blogging, Photoshop Elements and Lightroom (and more) from them and am infinitely appreciative of that. My official photo that represents this for me is the one that I refer to in my first tutorial (next post!) about "cropping" images.

Icegeddon, Comcastegeddon, Meltageddon.....

2012-01-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

POTD Day 308-Camera Strap "Cozy" that I made when I was in my house for one week straight

I began writing this post 2 days ago, sitting in Starbucks to use their wi-fi and was having problems so just figured I would wait the few hours (haha) for my Internet access to restore. Here I am 2 days later-2 days doesn't sound like a long time for no tv and no Internet but it felt like it was. I was trying so hard to follow what I was asking my 9 yr old daughter to do: appreciate that we never lost power and LOTS of others did, read, do projects, get some chores done, call friends and focus on what is really important in life! The truth is, I use the Internet more than I realized. It is so nice to go to google and put in a few ingredients and type "recipe" and so many options come up. My daughter was talking about wanting to take a dance class. Normally, we would go to the Internet to find all the options in the area for dance class. You know what I am saying... anyway, it is hard to believe that I lived half my life NOT using the Internet and NOT having a cell phone. Moment of appreciation. I really do seriously appreciate that we never lost power and have no downed trees on my house, in my yard, blocking roads in our neighborhood, etc.. But I am SO happy to have the Internet back. I won't see my daughter for half the day though since she about DIED not seeing her shows. I have LOT of photos to share though!!!

Above is the camera strap cover that I made when I was Internetless. I have had the fabric for a LONG time! During the storm, at one point, I went down to Erica's house and visited her while she worked on her items for sale... she was sewing and it made me want to get my machine back out. My machine will have its own photoshoot sometime-it is OLD, avocado green and goes only backwards and forwards. It has been very reliable. I used to make clothing when I was younger and used it a lot. It has been collecting dust in the last few years though. Anyway-this is my first attempt-it isn't perfect but I still like it. Ahh....loving being back online and blogging!!!

POTD Day 302-307 Snowmeggedon!

2012-01-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

Here is day three of the snow days. Tonight, we get to know ahead of time that tomorrow we stay home again. I am getting stuff done and trying not to get stir crazy... Here are some happenings from our day today:

Lalie came over...we tried to create a funny picture...

Then I just took a few snow shots of our backyard...snow is so pretty and bright.

At some point I called Erica and expressed my concern that I hadn't left the house in a few days.. I went down there while she sewed. I took a few photos, yakked with her, played Angry Birds and just had a fun, laid back time..Her pincushion is pretty.. she made it-she made me one for xmas and she would make one for you too if you wanted to buy one from her.

Lalie was removing icicles from the trees outside and found that, on one of the bushes, that each leaf had its own icicle imprint. She brought one in-I tried to get a cool shot of it before her little hands froze off. Nature is cool!

I keep grouping a bunch of POTD together since I have skipped so many and trying to make up for it. I am also just really into taking photos right now and have a lot of time to do it so why not?

POTD Days 297-301: Snow day and report card avoidance.

2012-01-17T17:04:00.000-08:00

SNOW DAY!!! Home all day.. I corrected a few papers and then took a nap. Then, while J was outside with her friend, I watched Crazy, Stupid Love and sort of fell asleep so, technically, that is another nap. Then, the girls came in and I made them some popcorn.... I thought about report cards while I was making the popcorn.

Then, I wanted to take some photos so we posed the American Girl dolls and played a bit... all the while, THINKING about report cards.. I want to have the behavior section and most of the content areas completed before going back to school. Doing freaky edits is a great distraction from doing report cards (so is doing laundry and cleaning the house!).

The girls watched some tv and Hogan hung out with them. You know how that gets me right here...he loves his Lalie!

More play with the dollies...

Dolls given to J by the D'Angelos... Mary cut their hair when she was a young un and also painted the nails on some (with White out?)...

POTD Day 296: Texture Tuesdays

2012-01-17T00:45:00.000-08:00

Ha! It is 12:38 a.m. on a schoolnight. It has snowed all weekend here and we suspect that there will be a late start or, maybe even, no school tomorrow. I really did try to go to sleep and my mind was going... we have report cards to do and I didn't get as much done this weekend toward completing those as I had hoped I would. So...I got up to o~~bsessively check the school emergency notices~~ get a few online tasks done. :)

I decided to join in Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday this week. The deal is to add one of the textures that she creates to a photo. This week's prompt is "story". My story is that I cannot go to sleep so I played with my photos and textures at an ungodly time of day... :) I used the "KK evolve" texture.

Please go check out what Kim has going on-she is an artist and gives away a texture each week that she has made.. she teaches online classes on using PSE and the classes and the textures are REALLY fab. This photo is just of branches with snow on them but I am drawn to the color contrast...I will really pay the price for this middle of the night nonsense tomorrow if we go to school at the regular time. :( Off to turn my pajamas inside out and put a spoon under my pillow (these make it so it will snow...if you believe that is...).

POTD Day 292-295 Snowy day....

2012-01-16T15:54:00.000-08:00

I went upstairs to change the laundry and here is what my girl was doing.. Note the reading log there with a pencil ready to record the exact minutes read. She puts it in her bed at night when she reads so she gets it documented asap before sleeping. She cracks me up sometimes...okay, a lot of the time...

I made a bulletin board for our new office area! I knew I wanted an inspiration board of some kind and then saw a roll of cork at Fred Meyer one time. There was no price indicated but the cashier told me it was 4 cents since it was discontinued. Then, when I unrolled the cork, I realized that it was way skinny-too skinny to be a cork board. So I bought some styrofoam board stuff to go behind it. Then, I found a canvas stretcher frame thingie and bought fabric just this weekend. It needs adornment of some kind in place of the thumbtacks.... I will have to find the just right way to deal with that area... I was going to paint the frame but decided that I wanted to cover it with fabric (knowing I could remove it if I didn't like it).

POTD and Scavenger Hunt

2012-01-16T15:46:00.000-08:00

POTD 288-291

1. Stacked up

2. Winter Wonderland-Loving the color of the branches contrasting with the white snow...

3. Sweet-matching jammies!

4. Hole-she got her ears pierced and got to change them out for the first time this weekend... Peace Baby!

Project 52 and POTD days: 285-287 Made with Love

2012-01-14T18:48:00.000-08:00

I remember being a kid and seriously not believing my mom when she would tell me that "homemade gifts" and "messages from the heart" were more precious to her than anything I could buy for her. Of course, now that I am a parent, I totally get it and also prefer the treasures made or written by my sweet girl than dollar store items and the like. This is one of the handmade gifts I received for Christmas this year. It is a clay pot and you can see that I have put it to good use as a paperclip holder. Do you not love my blob of clay as much as I do?

Photographically speaking, I am still playing with my speedlight and reflector disk. I started with the white background (sort of high key) and then tried for a low key effect with the black background and then I played with the crop. I get a lot of mileage out of those 69 cent tagboard pieces! Which one do you like better?

POTD Day 282- 284 Fun times in town!!!

2012-01-14T18:24:00.000-08:00

1. We fit right in at the Goodwill today.. sweats, mismatched clothing and whatnot. This thing was only thirty bucks and it would be fun but... so not practical or consistent with our (my) desire to minimize around here!

2. Next, we went to Ben Franklin to look for craft supplies for various projects we all had going. These two had to use the kiddie carts! It was not long ago that it seems like they were the appropriate size to use them!

3. SNOW!!!!!

POTD Day 281: Words, words, words....

2012-01-12T20:57:00.000-08:00

We had "Family Reading Night" at school tonight.. My activity happened to be in Steph's room and she was putting her words up on the word wall while I was in there... she was a photo opp!!

POTD Day 280: Daylight Drive Home

2012-01-11T18:31:00.000-08:00

We did leave a smidge earlier than we usually do but, it still seems like it is staying lighter a little longer!!! This affects me physically... ahhhhh. The mountain was out and I was at a red light and it was there and I was there and my camera was there...

My sweet daughter spent the night at a friend's house last night so I stayed up late last night reconfiguring my photos and then starting over with Lightroom. I am happy with the system now!!! I think I jumped in too soon and then learned how to organize it all correctly. Do you like my rounded corners? Fun....

POTD Day 279: Baby day...

2012-01-09T20:15:00.001-08:00

Marissa and her sweet baby come to my classroom about once each month for an empathy program we do.. they are both adorable..here is a mommy/son moment...

POTD Day 276-278: Blue hour!!

2012-01-07T22:27:00.000-08:00

What a fun day we had today! Chandra hung out with us all day long and what a trooper she was... we went to lunch with my dad at Dukes.. (yum and great to see Papa...). Then, we went to Alderwood where my sweet cherub girl pulled out a map/itinerary that she had created including her path to American Girl Doll Store, Justice, Hello Kitty, Build a Bear, and Disney store. I have spent WAY too much time in these establishments lately!!! The gift card to AGD and the birthday money were burning holes in her pockets. Then, we went to West Seattle to catch "Blue Hour". Here is one photo that I took from that: I hope Chandra's turned out that blue!

Hahahahahaaa...hm... hehe hm. That was a joke-hopefully Chandra is reading and seeing this.. Here is the truth:
We were pushing the time as it was (Blue Hour began at 4:35 and was going to be over around 5:30 and we got there in the 5:15 range and had to set up, etc..) and then I see that my cable release cord doesn't work with the new bgc. So I had camera jiggle bigtime! :( Here is the one shot that had the least amount of jiggle. The ferries are blurred since we had to keep the shutter open for a long time..

Here is the most "blue" I got tonight but there is bigtime jiggle...

After taking photos, we went to Angela, Peter and Laney's house and had pizza with them... what a sweet little family they are-LOVE them!!

Tomorrow, I will be in my pajamas all day (except for the 15 min. or so that I will take to show the gentleman that is coming over to look at my d3100!). Happy Weekend everyone!

POTD Day 274-275 Professor Watermelon day

2012-01-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

We are back to school. The structure is great but I am wiped out!!! This going to bed at a decent hour and getting up at the crack of dawn is for the birds!!! Ah well, it is good to see the kidlets again and my colleagues too of course. Photo number one-my student got another pair of Converse for Christmas..I blew out the whites.. cool huh? The other one is a bunch of my students writing during a cool writing workshop that we had today...

POTD Day 273: Kristen got a new car!

2012-01-02T20:23:00.000-08:00

OMG-my friend Kristen traded in her monster of a luxury SUV in for a Prius... a "100 mpg unless on highway and then only 50 mpg" PRIUS. And the person driving this awesomeness is a former student-SAM (Kristen's son), but that is beside the point. It was great visiting with the Peppers today.. xoxo

2012 Photography....

2012-01-02T12:42:00.000-08:00

While I am still finishing up my POTD project, I am thinking about what was challenging for me about it. Mostly, it has been GREAT since I needed to make sure I was using my camera a LOT so that I could practice stuff that I was reading about and learning from online classes. I will complete that project and do two others that seem a bit more focused and less pressure (pressure I put on myself of course!) which sounds great to me right now. Is anyone else going to join in?

1. MCP Project 12-It is one photo per month to a theme.

2. P52 hosted by my3boybarians-one photo per week to a theme.

3. Another exciting thing is that I met with Patty (a former student mom and current EP parent) today and I am now officially available to help her with anything she needs on a photoshoot-hold a flash/diffuser, vacuum out her car, press her clothes, etc... so that I may learn from a pro in real life! She already is letting me shadow her for a party in a few months! She said that she sometimes hires a friend to help with weddings to lug equipment, help collect the right people for particular photos, and even sometimes take some photos during the reception! She is a fun and laid back person and great photographer and I am excited to learn from her and have some fun along the way!

Memories, Dreams and Reflections 2011

2012-01-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

This is a neat challenge that the amazing Ashley Sisk is hosting where you find photos that match prompts in reflection of 2011. I was not going to to it but have loved looking at everyone else's photos coming through and was inspired. I didn't think that I had enough shots that I liked to participate this year but I do! Here goes...get a cup of coffee and get comfy-it is LONG!

Me! -What are you most proud of accomplishing in 2011?
~There is a photo of me in there.. see? There are not many with me in the shot as it turns out! In 2011, I accomplished getting into manual mode on my camera and taking a LOT of photos. It feels great to learn something new!

I Love You

~I love these two dependents of mine. They make me laugh and cry and everything in between!

Still Laughing...

~This is my niece. On our fabulous boat trip this summer with my whole fam, Abbie decided that she wanted her mom to do one side of her hair and for her to do the other side herself. This is said hairstyle and Abbie making a funny face to go with it.

Winter Wonderland

~This is my class from last year when it began snowing suddenly while we were in school (in February). We just had to go out for a moment to get the "ya ya"s out if we were to get anything done that day! Isn't it pretty? Miss those guys...

Birthday

~I forgot about this little collage that was made for our neighbor Max's birthday. It includes a few photos that I really like. Neighborhood friends and adventures-memories being created!

Friends

~Here Julia is with Lalie. Lalie is like a niece to me-she is my BFF's daughter and they live right down the street. We love Lalie!

I Was Inspired...

~This photo represents all the inspiration I get from online blogger photog friends! I have learned so much from tutorials made by people and it is awesome!

Spring Fever

~ Downside: this is what Spring looks like in the Pacific NW much of the time. Upside: you don't see the Floridian photogs creating textured window shots like this do you? :)

Travel or Vacation

~My dad has had a boat during most periods of his life. He LOVEs boating and plans summers where he just floats around in the San Juans on his boat by himself and friends/family can fly in and out at different times to hang out with him and he can come home for a meeting or something and get back out there to his paradise. It is truly his passion. This summer, darned close to my entire family came out and went boating for a week. It was so, so, so fun and memorable. One of the activities was hiking to the schoolhouse on this island. It was several miles altogether and everyone made it with minimal whining (the kids too!).

Summer Days

~Ahhhhh... laying in a hammock on a summer day....

A Day In My Life

~I am a teacher. Nuff said.

All Smiles

~These guys crack me up. They are the Brownie girlies...can you just feel the energy? Aren't you glad you weren't in that restaurant that day?

Autumn Harvest

~Again, I am a teacher. Fall means that school is starting. I do love me some school supplies though, I must say.

Family or Home

~My little family!

Celebrate!

~ This shot was taken at Auburn's Art festival. It celebrates art in a big way!

Let's Do It Again...

~ These are my "get my classroom ready to go for the schoolyear" crew members. 2 of them are former students (I had each of them for 2 years) (Hey! They didn't flunk, we looped and I had them each for 5th and 6th grades!). Anyway, I love hanging out with them (especially now that they are old enough that I don't have to be so "teachery" with them) and they help sooo, sooo much.

I Miss You

~Here is my teammate, Angela. We have worked together for ~~dang, I wish I remembered~~ a LOT of years and she had a baby this summer and has been on maternity leave from school. These shots were taken in my backyard at a "blue suite gathering". That means that my entire teaching team came over for a get together including food and laughing and whatever else we teachers do in the summertime. Thankfully, we loved Angela's sub and they both want to job share so we don't have to say goodbye to Brooke and we get to see Angela on a regular basis again (just in time for the Bachelor to begin too!). Angela brought watermelon to the partay... hehehe.

Beautiful

~As much as we gripe about the rain here in the NW, it is pretty darned gorgeous. This is my dad's houseboat neighborhood which is really cool. The other beautiful thing is my dad rowing my daughter and her friend.. I love their relationship so much-it touches my heart!

Dress Up

~The quality of this shot bites but the content is there...

Macro

~This was the first harvest from my garden-a sprig of rosemary to be used in making some porkchops!

Holidays

~This is of a ~~Halloween~~ Harvest party at school. I got my own students going on something partyish, had my teammate "babysit" for a few minutes and ran down to my daughter's classroom for some shots of their party. Benefit number 4,875 of having my daughter come to my school.

My Favorite

~I just love the lighting and the colors contrasting with his black fur. I am still in awe that I can see his details now in photos.. my old camera couldn't pick up the deets like this one can. Say it with me, "catchlights"!

Don't Ever Change

~My daughter has such a fun personality and is not afraid to express her true self. She is so girlie in many ways but is just as "rough and tumble". Her fashion choices perplex me at times, but who am I to argue with that? She really is the perfect daughter for me!

Just Because...So There!

Hopes and Dreams

~Peace baby! I hope for peace and love and fun and learning and friendship and travel and lots more.

Finally, as smallfry would say, "Peace out!".

POTD Day 274: Resolutions

2012-01-01T10:35:00.001-08:00

My TRX system...My mom got it for me and I put it up in my garage. Have you heard of it? My mom, dad, uncle and who knows who else are REALLY into it. It was created by the Navy SEALS who needed to be able to get a really good workout anywhere. It is these straps with handles on the ends. God knows what my neighbors think when they see it hanging down in my garage but whatevs. :) This photo was taken with my new speedlight. I took photos with the speedlight coming from many different directions to see the effects. Scope out the TRX-I did the workout tonight and it is a burner-and I am starting with the easiest possible options.

I love the IDEA of making resolutions. I want to(and have in the past) list out a gazillion things that I will do starting right now that will make my life immeasurably better. What a great feeling of order to have everything on paper and organized neatly, etc... Many of us, myself included, set lofty goals and end up feeling defeated when the reality is that we set something that was unrealistic. I must set goals based on how my life usually is-super busy with a ton on my plate and a constant fight of feeling overwhelmed.

That said, I cannot help but reflect and create a few focii/directions/targets to hit this year while I am on this 2 week break from work when I am relaxed and recharged, etc...

#1 ~~Write and submit legislation to implement "siesta" into mainstream American culture~~.... relax more-I don't mean just sit around or sleep more. I mean to take intentional time to RELAX and BREATHE. I can do this at different moments throughout the day by taking a deep breath, relaxing my shoulders/face/hands/everything, taking a moment and benefit greatly. PS-I really do love the siesta idea...

#2 ~~Get up 30 min. earlier each morning to focus my day through an intensive and structured daily journal writing exercise~~ Take a few minutes each morning to do what it takes to focus my day and center myself. It could be writing stuff down in a journal or it could be just looking at my day planner while I am drinking my coffee and thinking about what is most important that day.

#3 ~~Get up an hour earlier each morning-30 min. cardio and 30 min. stretching and resistance training. Chart and graph all exercises and record progress while I am at it.~~ Get my TRX routine established and do it 2+ x a week...walk frequently with doggie and/or do WiiFit with smallfry who is totally into that right now!

#4 ~~Plan my food the day before and stick to it. Make half of every plate veggies and fruits. Drink 64 oz of water daily and take my multivitamin.~~ Take my multivitamin, eat mostly healthy stuff only when hungry and drink more water.

#5 ~~Make sure that all of my guidelines are followed to a T.~~ Let go of guilt! Someone else just posted about how she hates cooking and her resolution is to make the easy foods (pre prepared/frozen) and not worry about "cooking" so much. I feel guilt whenever I feed my daughter fishsticks or nuggets, etc... but it is such a timesaver and is fine to do once in awhile (once a week or so??). That is just an example...I am a mom and teacher and lots of other things that really have "unending job descriptions". I must do what I can and then not feel badly about doing the things that are most important and letting some of the other stuff go.

POTD Day 270-272 Just a day jumpin' in the driveway...

2011-12-30T22:39:00.000-08:00

Selling a Nikon D3100...know anyone?

2011-12-30T13:17:00.000-08:00

I have had this camera for less than one year, used it a good amount and took very good care of it. It may as well have been in a booster seat, belted in while I was driving....

Asking $450.00

You get, the camera body, one lens (Nikor18-55mm VR), a battery charger with 2 batteries, all the manuals and software and other items in the photo. You would basically need to get a memory card and then she is ready to roll!

Scope out a full on review of this camera here!

Email me at hbuchwald@comcast.net if interested in ~~adoption~~ purchase of this well loved bgc (big girl camera).

POTD Day 265-269: Baby Time (and time at school over the break...)

2011-12-29T23:01:00.000-08:00

We went into school so that I could put the sweet cherubs' desks into rows so they don't yack my ears off when they return. Love. them. Really, I do but they really do chat it up more than any other class I have had. Anyway, Angela and Laney came in as well since Angela is coming back to job share with Brooke-what a win/win/win situation!!! It was great to see her and the baby..my girl was very good with the baby I have to say.....she even has herself and Laney as the wallpaper on her ipod touch!

POTD Day 261-264: Hogan loved Christmas as well...

2011-12-29T22:39:00.000-08:00

My daughter is an only child and I have a dog so they are as close to sibs as we are going to get around here! It touches my heart when they are so sweet together and Christmas morning was one of those times. The girl helped the dog with his stocking...Santa was good to him!

POTD Day 255-260: New photos from my D7000!!!!

2011-12-28T22:01:00.000-08:00

OMG...my new baby came in the mail today and he is a beeee yoot. :) My mama sent me money and I upgraded my BGC..not ONE level but TWO levels! I decided that this upgrade business could go on forever so I chose the D7000 that is getting fantastic reviews all over the place and is one that I can grow into and use for a LONG time. Anyone want to buy my D3100? It is a great one also... So I haven't even read the manual yet (and I do love reading manuals..I am not kidding..) but took a bunch of shots throughout the day with the new baby. I am in love.

Winter Break game table: Cheese Touch game-it is fun and funny... this looks like a poker game but with kids and with not poker and with not booze but apple juice and fish crackers. Hehehe.

Later, we went to Zoolights at Point Defiance Zoo. It was a huge gamble since we are having a wind advisory right now.. we figured that it wouldn't be crowded due to the rain and everything-NOT. It was very crowded but still doable. Luckily the rain poured on us in the car only... Here is Scuba Diving Santa and his elf.. I love the sharks in the shot....

Julia insisted on a smile shot and a "OMG I am being eaten by a shark" shot... she is SO my kid... hehehe.

POTD Day 252-255: Happy Birthday to Lalie!

2011-12-27T20:22:00.000-08:00

Hehehehe.... we snuck into Lalie's room while she was still out of town and hung balloons from the ceiling of her room. It is a little birthday surprise thing. What normal person wouldn't bring a flash and take photos of the outcome upon completion of the balloon hanging portion? I like the shadows and how abstract some of the balloons look. The one I converted to black and white and masked out the balloon color shows our street-follow it up and we are 7 houses up on the left!

POTD Day 251: Another try at Blue Hour

2011-12-26T23:28:00.000-08:00

Chandra and I had planned to go up to W. Seattle tomorrow night for some night photgraphy practice but the weather is supposed to be horrible so we are postponing. I decided to try for another shot at this magical time of eve....I cannot wait to get one of a cityscape...maybe I will set up shop tomorrow night at my BFF's house (house on the right in this photo) and try to get some lights from across the valley...

I was awarded the "Funniest Blogger in all the Land"...scope it!

2011-12-26T16:25:00.000-08:00

I love this contest...it is from Leigh vs. the Laundry and it is called Freakshow Friday-hilarious... I don't always participate since the captions that get submitted CRACK me up and I don't always come up wtih something... here is what this week's was...

And the winner is...
Heidi
That is what happens to little boys
who diss their mama's
"Classic Clear White bulb" choice for the Christmas tree.Heidiis the funniest blogger in all the land.
Be sure to visit her blog and
admire her fancy new award!

POTD Day 248-250 The night was young....

2011-12-25T22:53:00.000-08:00

Remember that night that we went to the American Girl Doll store and Snowflake Lane in the same evening? Well, we ALSO went to the Botanical Gardens in Bellevue. That would be THREE "events" in one ~~month week~~ DAY!!! Whew... there were lots of crowds but lots of fun too... this place was amazing-they don't just throw strings of lights on the trees, they actually sculpt out garden scenes.. there was a blue light river running down a hill and they made it look like water was dripping off some of the trees. Whoa... it was really beautiful!

I call this, "cool blue globs"...

POTD Day 244-247 Snowflake Lane!

2011-12-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting to processing some photos that I have taken over the last several weeks. Remember that American Girl Doll Store/Restaurant night? Well...we also went to Snowflake Lane that same night! It is in Bellevue and, everynight during the holiday season at 7 pm, they make it snow and have fun xmas music and characters dancing and whatnot. It is very ~~CROWDED~~ popular and festive!

POTD Day 241-243: Dear Santa...

2011-12-25T01:07:00.000-08:00

POTD Day 238-241: Christmas Explosion

2011-12-25T01:02:00.000-08:00

I was doing some organizing tonight and came across my printout of what Courtney at "Click it up a Notch" wrote about doing this cool effect with your Christmas tree. Crazy looking huh? It involves a tripod, slow exposure AND starting from a zoomed in position and bringing the lens back slowly while the shutter is open.

I like them all for different reasons but look at that third one-you can see the silhouette of the angel... More photos later on.. Merry Christmas to you all!

POTD Day 237: Hanging bulbs...

2011-12-22T14:54:00.000-08:00

This is another shot from that Brownie field trip to the glass blowing place.. really beautiful stuff in there!

POTD Day 228-236 More Elementary School Holiday Happenings...

2011-12-20T19:19:00.000-08:00

Assembly..Singalong=FUN!!!

Teammates on maternity leave come back to visit with babies... LOVE!

Teammate who left on maternity leave and never came back. Don't LOVE.. Loved seeing her though and that little 2 yr old Carson running laps around the audience...

Parties in the afternoon... I had my teammate across the hall "babysit" for a few min. while I went down to snap a few shots of my girl and her class... this is 2 of J's good buds who are in her class and in her Brownie troop..this one focuses on "A".

Focus on "C"

My girl and Annette (A's mom and my friend and she works in my classroom as our ROE instructor)!

Third graders.. one of em is the sib of one of my students and she. cracks. me. up. And another is moving away over the break..he is a sweetie and made J a cute little scarf/neck wrap thing for xmas!!!

Post party-this is how the "big kids" party.. it was CIDER don't worry!!!

POTD Day 225, 226 and 227: Hats Off!!!

2011-12-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

Oh my-what potential this had... today at school, we have a wonderful tradition of having a Christmas Sing along (Holiday Singalong..excuse me..). My class thought it would be fun to dress up a smidge. Many wore Santa or Elf hats.. at the end of the day, and we are talking three minutes before the dismissal bell will ring for kids to be out of school for two weeks, I asked the ones with hats to help me with a photo... I kneeled down with my BGC facing up toward the sky. I had the kids throw their hats into the air and then SNAP... It was a fun idea and they were crazy with energy, etc... FUN time with these nice kidlets... Have a great break to any kidlets reading this.. and anyone else who is reading it as well!

POTD Day 224: Restaurant for Dolls

2011-12-18T00:30:00.000-08:00

Look carefully-see the dolls in the chairs at the tables? Can you picture my father in this scenerio? Ha!!! There was a birthday for a one year old sitting behind us..all the singing began and we looked and it was the DOLL turning one year old. Get. Me. Out. We visited and laughed and had a nice time but the doll part was really a bit much and they didn't serve wine for the parents-that may have helped.

POTD Day 223: All Dolled Up...

2011-12-18T00:16:00.000-08:00

Justice, Build a Bear and American Girl Doll Store-OH MY! Please just give me the "mother of the year award" and we can all move on.

Yes, we went back to the American Girl Doll store. Mostly because, J had asked my dad to take her to the restaurant there for her bday. I had to save him.. this place is a cult for girls. It is really over the top. We went with M and her mom... The girls loved it but even they had a few eye roll moments about what happens in that establishment.

Here is the beginning of the trip, when the girls took their dolls to the beauty salon. Yes, a beauty salon for DOLLS. You pay them ungodly amounts of money for them to put a few ponies in their hair and tie with a pretty bow. Ka-ching. J had birthday money and chose to do this. I was trying to steer her toward the DVD that shows THEM how to do their own doll's hair (with the whole "teach a man to fish" idea in mind) but no... this was part of the experience there. Check it...

Then, the girls each got matching jammies for their dolls. A set of jammies for an 18" doll costs more than I would pay for pjs for Julia!!! Sheesh..The ones displayed above their heads are the ones they got. They do match Julia's cousin's doll's pajamas (and Abbie even has the matching set for her own self to wear). Please note that, if they ever have a Santa at the store for dolls to sit on and get photos taken, that it was MY idea!!!

More tomorrow... g'night!

POTD Day 222: Ornament Bokeh

2011-12-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

We too the Brownie Girls to this great Glass Blowing place. Cyndi (my co-leader) found a Groupon and we went... so AWESOME! Here is a shot of some of the gorgeous stuff they produce there. Photos of the girls making ornaments will come in the next few days...

POTD Day 221: Just messin....

2011-12-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

I am in a FUNK... not feeling like taking a lot of photos. I am even taking a class right now that is really cool and inspirational.. I get weird in the Winter time with the dark and cold and ick. :( Anyway, I have decided that the "Hump Day Hollah!" will be put on hold until I get more energy to promote it and grow it. THANKS so much for those of you who have participated in it!!!

I did install Lightroom while my daughter was writing her thank you cards and then I began fiddling around with it. I am sure that I have only scratched the surface as far as what it is capable of doing but -WOW. Then I added some texture to my photo (that I took a long time ago) and voila!

Goodnight my friends, Heidi

POTD Day 220: When Pigs Fly...

2011-12-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

This weekend, my cousin and his wife were here visiting from Virginia-they were on their way up with Nancy (my Bellingham cousin) to stay for a few days. They wanted to go to Pike Place Market and I hadn't been there in a long while so we went. It was nice to be child free for a few hours, scope out the Market scene and to sit and have delicious clam chowder and catch up with my cousins!

Hollah!!!

2011-12-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

The challenge is nothing more than to send in a favorite photograph that you took, preferably this week so far but anything is really fine, and submit here for your chance to win... yes.... a highly sought after "High Five from Heidi"! Photos will be judged by myself or friends or neighborhood kids or whoever drives by my house as I drink wine on my porch on Friday night (winners may be posted on Sat. morning-see "drink wine on porch section of post"). ***Linky will open on Tuesday night sometime and close at 11:59 on Friday night.

Here are some guidelines:

1. Anyone can participate using any camera-edit or not.

2. Try to take the photo this week but I will not be policing this-I just like a little no pressure/no stress uplift halfway through the week..bring on whatever you can!

3. Link up here-that means to grab a "Hump Day Hollah!" button for your post and then add your post to the list below.

4. Leave a Hollah! (enthusiastic greeting/amplified expression) for other participants because, doggonit, it is affirming and fun and interactive.

POTD Day 219: We met a real, live movie star today!!

2011-12-06T19:49:00.000-08:00

Today, Nathan Gamble (main character boy in Dolphin Tale), came to our school to do a little q and a with the fifth grade. He was like a ROCK star by the time he left. What a cool and impressive kid. Here are some shots..

then, my principal asked if I thought Julia would want to come down and meet him...uh-YEAH!!! So we got J and her friend A (whose mom was still talking to Nathan as well when it was all over) came down and got their photo taken with him!

Nothing about this visit increased student learning... we were starstruck though and it was just cool...

POTD Day 218: Little Girl Birthday party photo explosion...

2011-12-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

Wow... what a weekend.

I have become a big fan of the "do something big with just a few friends" versus the "do any kind of party with large numbers of kids". It is working for us I would say. The most difficult thing is for kids to decide who the "few" will be. Anyway, the party participants met us where J got her ears pierced and then we went to Build a Bear. If you have read my blog regularly, you know that I get anxiety at malls or other places that have lots of people and/or it is crowded/trafficy to park. ICK. Well, it all went really well. First of all, one of the moms came with me and she was so fun and helpful!

The little hearts that they are holding actually go inside the bear. They had a little friendship "moment" with the hearts... a safer way to be "blood sisters".

Then, to our house for dinner, cake and ice cream and a slumber party.

Cute and nice kids-they even cleaned up after themselves... Off to early bed for me tonight though!

POTD Day 217: Blue Hour -sooo cool!

2011-12-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

I am taking a GREAT online photog class from Kent Weakley called Night Photography. So far, I am LOVING it. He explains things so well and gives really detailed and thoughtful and consistent feedback to the participants.

Anyway, the first topic was about Blue Hour. I had never heard of it before..but it is really amazing. There is a "golden" (or BLUE) period of time when the sun isn't all the way up or all the way down and the light bounces off the atmosphere and back onto the earth. During that period, and with the correct camera settings, the sky will be different variations of blue. I took lots of shots tonight between 4:15 and 5:30 or so tonight just in my backyard to test the technique and effect. The first shot was taken at the very beginning of "blue hour" and the second was well into it. I will have to get a great shot of the Seattle skyline or an outside Christmas tree that is all lit up during this time and use this technique. Have you heard of this before or am I the only one who has now been enlightened?

POTD Day 216: PIERCED!!!

2011-12-04T11:29:00.000-08:00

Getting her ears pierced was her birthday present from me this year.. I thought that I would wait until she was around 12 or 13 to get the ears pierced but now is a good time-she is super responsible with stuff like this and she wanted it... so, why not? She was a little nervous but it "didn't hurt at all"! Fun time...

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

2011-12-03T18:29:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Melanie of Happy Jax who won this week's "Hollah!" with a great capture of her little buy post "got the ice cream out of the freezer and thought about digging in"... hehehe. Grab a button from my "Buttons for you" page Melanie!!

POTD Day: 215: Cool moon...

2011-12-01T20:16:00.000-08:00

Hi there! Remember me? I am Heidi, your hostess of Heidi has a Hobby. I haven't been taking as many pictures these last few weeks. I feel TIRED and do also tend to get a little funky when I don't see the light of day many days during the week. No excuses but that is it.

I am taking Kent Weakley's Night Photography Class. I haven't gotten very deep into it yet but did get out the tripod and took some shots of the moon. I envisioned that second shot but got the, what I think, is happy surprise of the moon with a cloud of clouds around it. I need to get a shutter release or to put my camera on the timer-some other shots I took of xmas lights, etc.. showed some shake, even while using the tripod. Ah, well. We are gearing up for a very busy weekend. Details about that later.

It is that time again...Hollah!!

2011-11-29T19:42:00.001-08:00

In the name of my "'h' alliterated blog title", I decided to call my new photography challenge, "Hump Day Hollah!".

For those that are not hip to the scene (like me, who had to call a few friends for guidance on appropriate use of the word...), "Hollah!" is a an enthusiastic greeting or amplified expression (definitions by urbandictionary.com and hollah.com....). What better way to greet the day that brings us halfway through the week than to Hollah!?

The challenge is nothing more than to send in a favorite photograph that you took, preferably this week so far but anything is really fine, and submit here for your chance to win... yes.... a highly sought after "High Five from Heidi"! Photos will be judged by myself or friends or neighborhood kids or whoever drives by my house as I drink wine on my porch on Friday night (winners may be posted on Sat. morning-see "drink wine on porch section of post"). ***Linky will open on Tuesday night sometime and close at 11:59 on Friday night.

Here are some guidelines:

1. Anyone can participate using any camera-edit or not.

2. Try to take the photo this week but I will not be policing this-I just like a little no pressure/no stress uplift halfway through the week..bring on whatever you can!

3. Link up here-that means to grab a "Hump Day Hollah!" button for your post and then add your post to the list below.

4. Leave a Hollah! (enthusiastic greeting/amplified expression) for other participants because, doggonit, it is affirming and fun and interactive.

POTD Day 214: Go Johnson!

2011-11-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

POTD Day 213: American Girl Doll-another cult my kid has joined!

2011-11-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

Oy vey! Julia got her first American Girl Doll last year for Christmas and LOVES it. She brushes the hair and styles it similarly to her own and, when her friend (who bought one after seeing J's) spends the night, she brings her doll along too for the slumber party. Julia chose to give all her dolls away at, what I thought, was a young age (it was 4ish I think...). So, her getting so into this doll at her ripe age of 8 to me was like regressing in an appropriate way.

Well, for J's bday, I am letting her get her ears pierced. It turns out that you can get your AG Doll's ears pierced as well. I told J I would pay half the 14 bucks if she wanted to pay the other half. It was a yes. We went to visit my dad today and did a little side trip up to Lynnwood to see the American Girl STORE. OMG. It was sort of odd with girls of all ages walking around with their dolls (my child included) and every possible clothing item and accessory was available for a not very cheap price for a DOLL. You could also get matching stuff for you and your doll. They even have a CAFE there where they have special seats for the dolls to sit while you all eat. Guess where smallfry wants to go with her poor grandpa for her special bday dinner? Yep...

When we took the doll to the "spa" area (I am not kidding), to get the ears pierced, they were so gentle and smiley and assuring to J that they would be very careful in the back while piercing the ears. Being the sick puppy that I can be, I imagined a hammer and nail being used to slam some doll stud earrings into the ears of the ~~hunk of plastic~~ sweet dolly. J is happy as a clam that the doll has pierced ears now and that there are gazillions of opps for cute outfits and whatnot for the doll. I have a student or two who I think are into them as well.

Whoever came up with this concept is one rich person. I deserve several stars on my "good mommy" chart for taking her up there today-even more than when I take her to Justice!

High Five from Heidi....

2011-11-27T12:06:00.000-08:00

goes to.... Rachel from Crinkle Photography. The whole set looked amazing-you can just get this couples' energy from the photos. Help yourself to a High Five button from my "buttons for you" page Rachel! Thanks for playing along this week everyone.. so fun to see peoples' photos.

POTD Day: 212: Good buddies

2011-11-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

Hmmm...8 yr old girls and the whole "BFF" thing... I try to tell my girl that it is best to just keep it to having lots of "really great friends" instead of telling particular people that they are your bff. Things change within a young person's life... if you tell someone they ARE your bff and then you feel differently later (or they do), it could well mean some hurt feelings. I am not making a big deal about it but she has lots of bff's. I guess that is better than if she didn't have friends! PS this has NOTHING to do with how I had what I thought was a "bff" as a young kid who was super manipulative and conniving.. who had myself and another girl in her web...we would follow her around like puppy dogs and be mean to the outside person just to be "in" with this powerful girl. ICK.

Mama backing. out. now. Where is the user's manual??? :)

That said, these two had a blast together this weekend. Note the matching outfits and that both have American Girl dolls (with matching outfits) and each has half a "Best Friends" pillow as well as matching BFF necklaces.

POTD Day 211: Kid Art

2011-11-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

Mark this day in history: I taught an art lesson to my fifth graders today! It was inspired by Picasso. The kids were to: fill the page, draw one side of the face turned to the side and the other side facing front. They were to use pastels and use "unusual colors". They look FAB. I was very impressed with their focus and their creativity... despite their chronic CHATTINESS. :) Love them but they talk. a. LOT.

H, H, H, Holllllaaaaah!!! C'mon everybody...join in!

2011-11-22T20:45:00.000-08:00

Hey there everybody! It is time for the Hump Day Hollah!

The challenge is nothing more than to send in a favorite photograph that you took, preferably this week so far but anything is really fine, and submit here for your chance to win... yes.... a highly sought after "High Five from Heidi"! Photos will be judged by myself or friends or neighborhood kids or whoever drives by my house as I drink wine on my porch on Friday night (winners may be posted on Sat. morning-see "drink wine on porch section of post"). ***Linky will open on Tuesday night sometime and close at 11:59 on Friday night.

Here are some guidelines:

1. Anyone can participate using any camera-edit or not.

2. Try to take the photo this week but I will not be policing this-I just like a little no pressure/no stress uplift halfway through the week..bring on whatever you can!

3. Link up here-that means to grab a "Hump Day Hollah!" button for your post and then add your post to the list below.

4. Leave a Hollah! (enthusiastic greeting/amplified expression) for other participants because, doggonit, it is affirming and fun and interactive.

POTD Day 210: Kids Waiting...

2011-11-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

Fifth Graders waiting to go on stage for the RESPONSIBILITY section of the assembly.

POTD Day 209: Gift from Student

2011-11-20T19:23:00.000-08:00

One of my former students brought this to me the other day... he LOVES to do art and he talks to me now way more than he did when he was in my class! Funny how that goes... I did a close up and then wanted to show you the whole scene... cute!

POTD Day 208: Happy Birthday Hogan!

2011-11-19T22:53:00.000-08:00

Here he is, the birthday dog... we don't always remember and celebrate but today we did. He got that cute little chicky toy and a bully stick. He has issues but we sure love him... He is four years old today!!

High Five from Heidi goes to....

2011-11-19T19:11:00.000-08:00

Gretchen. You MUST see the grasshoppers (I think that is what they are...) and the private moment that she captured. Thanks for linking up, everyone!!

POTD Day 207: Back at that Aquatic Center

2011-11-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

The flags all hung and J noticed the Guatemalan flag up there... it is the light blue stripes with white in the middle.. the blues represent the oceans on both sides of the country and the Quetzal (country bird) is in the middle ... very grand flag display!

POTD Day 206: Evie!

2011-11-16T19:57:00.000-08:00

Here is my former student/my daughter's friend/my colleaguefriend's daughter Evie doing what she does at a swim meet. She was Im press ive. :)

Waiting for her race...

Before the race/waiting but we have been spotted!

She is a twelve year old studmuffin!!! We were so excited and proud to see her do what she practices everyday for who knows how many hours...

Hump Day "Hollah!" time...

2011-11-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

Hello there everyone!

How did it get to be halfway through November already? Someone told me today that it was the 51st day of school (not a kid-a teacher!)... that is darned close to a third of the way there which is sort of close to halfway there which is sort of like a "maxi-hump day" for me, my colleagues and students. I will have to figure out when that happens and then do a giveaway or something!

Anyway, for now, we shall celebrate that halfway point through the week. Hollaaaaah! <pushes hands up in the air in a 'raising the roof' kind of fashion>....

Here are some guidelines:

1. Anyone can participate using any camera-edit or not.

2. Try to take the photo this week but I will not be policing this-I just like a little no pressure/no stress uplift halfway through the week..bring on whatever you can!

3. Link up here-that means to grab a "Hump Day Hollah!" button for your post and then add your post to the list below.

4. Leave a Hollah! (enthusiastic greeting/amplified expression) for other participants because, doggonit, it is affirming and fun and interactive.

POTD Day 205: Hangin' around...

2011-11-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

The Aquatic Center where E was swimming was HUGE. Her family was sitting up on the highest bench on one side.. right across from us were these towels in a cool sort of formation.

POTD Day 204: Gargantuan and teeny

2011-11-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

I went to a friend/colleague's daughter/former student's swim meet yesterday. They had my daughter overnight so I had dual purposes for appearing at this meet. Yesterday happened to be my former student's bday and she swam incredibly well. She qualified for a championship meet in 3 events! I am processing pictures of her swimming and the whole scene there.. but here is a shot of the huge diving area (with cool shapes) and the teeny, tiny people down below it.

POTD Day 203: Horsin' around...

2011-11-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

We went for a quick visit to the Open House for the future Animal Shelter that will be down the hill from us. They will be open in 2013 and are looking for sponsors to bring their grand and amazing plans to life. It was a small place, with lots of people and I saw around the place and that was enough for me. I will be back to visit the animals! I don't do well in situations like that-I had social anxiety so I took J and L out for the wagon ride outside. Aren't these horses gorgeous? And aren't the girls too? :)

Winner of the Hollah!

2011-11-12T17:47:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Ashley who gets the sought after "High Five from Heidi" this week! Get yourself a button Ashley and thanks for playing along everyone.

POTD Day 202: I have a thing about ...shoes.

2011-11-11T17:19:00.000-08:00

I love how shoes photograph. You got yer color, yer, shapes, yer texture and yer millions of ways to arrange them. I see personality in these shoes..maybe it is because I saw the personalities of the girlies who wear them running about Chuckie Cheese this morning (yes, a CC birthday party from 9-11 am!).

POTD Day 201: Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Veteran's Day to those who serve or have served. My grandfather is a retired three star general and he is on my mind today especially. We adults take our freedom for granted and kids really don't get the magnitude of what they have.

We took the brownie troop to the VA Hospital today. There was a great band playing (called Off the Hook) and the patients came in and we served ice cream floats. The girls were so great and the rec director said that they were even more conversational and comfortable with the patients than many older troops that come through there. It is so good for the kids to see this and to also see what joy it brings many of these men to have cute little scouts there to offer a treat and an adorable, "Happy Veteran's Day".

We put together some centerpieces for the Veterans.

Then served Ice Cream Floats

Then delivered Ice Cream Floats

What is my child doing? :)

The band offered to let the girls get their photo taken with them...they were a great band by the way!

POTD Day 200: Dark at WHAAAAT time????

2011-11-09T18:16:00.000-08:00

This is the last week of taking shots having to do with being a teacher (for the workshop anyway!). It is always shocking to get out of work and have it be so dark.. I decided, as I was driving, that I wanted to capture the teacher time to go home and the darkness... I sort of like the effect...

Don't worry, I waited until my car was STOPPED to snap...

It is that time again... Hollah!!

2011-11-09T18:09:00.000-08:00

This challenge is nothing more than to send in a favorite photograph that you took, preferably this week so far but anything is really fine, and submit here for your chance to win... yes.... a highly sought after "High Five from Heidi"! Photos will be judged by myself or friends or neighborhood kids or whoever drives by my house as I drink wine on my porch on Friday night (winners may be posted on Sat. morning-see "drink wine on porch section of post"). ***Linky will open on Tuesday night sometime and close at 11:59 on Friday night.

Here are some guidelines:

1. Anyone can participate using any camera-edit or not.

2. Try to take the photo this week but I will not be policing this-I just like a little no pressure/no stress uplift halfway through the week..bring on whatever you can!

3. Link up here-that means to grab a "Hump Day Hollah!" button for your post and then add your post to the list below.

4. Leave a Hollah! (enthusiastic greeting/amplified expression) for other participants because, doggonit, it is affirming and fun and interactive.

POTD Day 199: Girl loves school supplies...

2011-11-07T20:16:00.001-08:00

POTD Day 198: the Wall of Fall

2011-11-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

Whoa... we dropped some books off at the library today and we parked facing this TALL building wall that was completely covered in creeping viney/leafy things. It was very large and quite pretty. I had smallfry pose with the idea that I wanted the wall to look HUGE and for her to look small to enhance the hugeness of it.

She was actually in a fun mood and I took many shots over there. To prove that she was not in the "less than pleasant mood" that she looks like she is in above, I give you this:

POTD Day 197: Teacher Workshop Day

2011-11-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

We had a workshop day yesterday and I thought I would photograph our work table..it is telling. If I took a photo of the entire table, you would have seen:

5 Starbuck's beverages in Christmas cups.
4 Writing instrument pouches with colorful markers, sharp pencils and GOOD ballpoints...
3 Cell phones
2 People who don't need reading glasses on
1 Male colleague who LOOKS completely on task/like he is taking notes but is really drawing a pretty flower design on our school nametag thingie that we had at our table to identify us.

*** all ideas in the above list are fact while the actual numbers of each are rough estimates.

High Five goes to....

2011-11-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

Stephanie of "Chef Steph"... Love that pup and you and your enthusiasm! Take a button and wear it proudly on your blog!

As for me, I am sickie poo and going to bed early. :( I will rest up to get better and get out of my photography funk...

H

POTD Day 196: Students make faces at cute baby..

2011-11-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

Here is another shot from when darling William was visiting yesterday. I love the looks on my students' faces. I have to say that I am loving my class!!!

Hollah!!

2011-11-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

POTD Day 195: Baby day at school!

2011-11-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

Our principal has us doing the Roots of Empathy program again this year. And the baby is this little guy, son of one of my colleagues, Marissa. Aren't they darling? Annette did a fab job of leading the class and my class already loves the little guy!

On a technical note, I am starting to better tackle the blasted flourescent light nastiness that is in all photos I take at school. I am doing a more specific levels adjustment and I think it looks a lot better and not too much noise after brightening it all up.

POTD Day 194: Lazy, lazy Sunday...

2011-10-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

We have been super lazy today... it has been restful! I took a few photos and here is one. This frame is from Goodwill for some insane low price like $5.99 or something. I will probably end up spray painting it white so it is less shabby chic but it is okay for now..

POTD Day 193: Life as a Teacher..installment 4

2011-10-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

Conference folders and writing samples to view during conferences.

Friday folder files.. this is on a Friday afternoon after some students put all the stuff into the folders and passed them out to the students.

My licorice container post conference week. Never underestimate the power of a piece of licorice! Oh yeah, and the kids get some once in awhile too.. hehehe.

POTD Day 192: Brownies to the Science Center...

2011-10-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

We took the girlies to the Science Center and had a ball. We have a small troop of 5 kids and sometimes anticipate that it being problematic to have an odd number, but we haven't. We could put any two of these kids together and they would have a rip roarin' time together. LOVE. them.

Yeah, my kid likes to dance on benches in public, what of it?

POTD Day 191: water...

2011-10-29T19:36:00.001-07:00