Photo Challenge Saturday: BROWN

I'm linking up with Marcia at The 123 Blog for her monthly photo challenge.  This month's theme is BROWN.  Admittedly, when I saw her post that theme last week, I was a little bummed...it's fall in South Africa, so I'm sure Marcia has lots of beautiful browns to choose from.  What kind of brown could I find here in spring???

It didn't take me long to get out of the idea of brown leaves to find plenty of brown, just in the pictures I've taken this week.

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I was going to meet a friend for coffee on Sunday afternoon, and I happened to pull into a parking spot in front of our downtown fountain...only to find a couple getting engaged, right in front of me!  I snapped a couple of pictures through my dash (this being one of them).  Then I waited a few minutes and approached them, to ask if they'd like me to take a few more pictures.  I've since emailed the pictures to the lady, and she was so very sweet.  :)  It definitely made my afternoon, too!

 

BROWN shirt and BROWN hair.  I love the way their feet are touching...I can just feel the emotion! 

My friend Karen met me at the park on Monday to play around with some pictures.  I shot into the late-day sun, and this yoga pose is one of my absolute favorites!

BROWN sepia tone.

The sun was shining so brightly on Friday morning.  I asked the girls to pause on the steps so I could play with the sun and shadows, first thing in the morning.  Baby A wasn't quite awake yet, I see now.  :)

Sleepy BROWN eyes.

On Friday morning, we had several errands to run.  The girls and I took a mid-morning break at the downtown coffee shop, where they ordered their first-ever hot beverage, a yummy hot chocolate.  They felt like such big girls when the barista poured heart shapes into their cups...just like the lotus flower Mommy gets in her latte!

BROWN hot chocolate.

Those BROWN eyes again, concentrating on her muffin...hot chocolate smeared on her face...and a "Priority Mail" sticker from the post office across her shirt.  The epitome of a four-year old!

BROWN hair, glistening in the sun...sitting at the bar after our snack, looking out on our downtown square.

And when we got home, Daddy called on his lunch break to check in with his girls.

BROWN eyes sparkling as she tells Daddy of our morning adventures.

 Thank you, Marcia, for the continued photo inspiration and encouragement!  I'm having such fun!!!

A Few of My Faves {PHOTOS}

I haven't been at it every day, but I've had several opportunities to snap pictures over the past week.  Here are some of my faves...

At home...

Making faces in the mirror.  :)

Walking around downtown after dinner one evening...

Standing in Daddy's shadow.

Love the light behind B, and the beautiful stained-glass windows.

 
Walking around downtown before lunch one day...

I love the peach fuzz on her face!

New shoes!  I love the geometry of the shadows of the girls' legs, too.

Playing outside at home...

Beauty through the eyes of a four-year old.

 

 

 

I told her to "Spin around for spring!"  Hahaha!

When the wind won't cooperate, you have to blow!

Love the perspective of this picture...B, playing with chalk, and A, in the background playing beanbag toss.

B's pants after playing with chalk.  (Yes, I let my child get dirty...go, me!!!)

Coffee with a friend on Sunday afternoon...

Stranger in the coffee shop.

Beautiful design in my latte, and another stranger studying in the courtyard.

Sitting across from one of my besties.

So very thankful for spring break AND some beautiful weekend weather!!!

Photography Catch-22

I don't know if "Catch-22" is exactly the right phrase, but I had to give myself a little talking to earlier in the week about taking pictures.

I am having SO much fun in the Superhero Photo class!!!  It's challenging...and there are some things I just can't quite figure out, which is a bit frustrating...but I'm taking lots of pictures and really enjoying it.  I've gotten some great shots, and it feels so good!

Here are a few of my favorites from this week...

Baby Sasha, looking at the neighbor's pup

B, looking for bunnies the first thing in the morning

Sasha again...my most willing subject!

B with a hot chocolate mustache

I love B's precious hand, doing something she loves so much...cutting with her sparkly scissors.

Baby A, deep in concentration...I love the focus on her right hand, with the fuzzy foreground and background.

I am a million miles from having this thing down, though...and I realized I'd been trying to be all "artsy"...and neglecting my "slice of life" pictures.  By "slice of life", I am thinking about those pictures whose purpose is to capture something the girls are doing...something I want to remember, to document...even if the lighting isn't great, and I have to use a flash, or there are yucky shadows lurking.  :)

I forced myself to whip out the camera a little more over the past few days.  While these aren't photographically brilliant, I love them just the same...

Silly faces with Daddy!

Snuggles with Mommy before bedtime

Look at my smile!!!

Last time in our Bumbo seats (more to come in a later post!)

B asked me to take a picture in her silly outfit.

Ideally, I'd love to get my "slice of life" pictures to be photographic masterpieces...but in the meantime, I'm going to keep snapping away.  No matter what the composition, I love these baby girls, and I don't want to miss a thing!

Super Stuff on a Monday

So much “super” to be thankful for this week!

1)      I watched Baby A, counting out blocks.  She was intuitively grabbing two at a time…she was so close to counting by two’s!

2)      Baby A has been fixed on “100”…and she’s trying to figure out comparisons.  My favorite this week was, “Mommy, I love you more than 100!”

3)      On Monday, our task was to make a present and card for GG’s birthday.  The girls worked SO hard and SO diligently on it…it just warmed my heart.

4)      My Baby A has been quite the snuggle bunny lately.  A few nights, after supper, she’s asked me to come into the den.  “Mommy, please come snuggle with me.”  Of course I obliged…and she lay with her [now very long!] body entirely on top of mine…conforming to my lap and outstretched legs…as I read her a book.  Mommy was in heaven.

5)      I told the girls about the Superhero Photo class I’m taking.  B has been so cute to ask every day, “Mommy, what’s your photo challenge for today?”  And at least so far, they’ve been [relatively] willing participants.

Watching to see how high the ball bounced. :)

 6)      One afternoon after nap, I declared that it was “Game Day” at our house.  The girls and I each took turns choosing a different game to play.  B and I alternated board games and card games, while A picked “Frisbee” every time.  The girls had such a blast!  It was a great change of pace to focus our collective effort on one activity…everyone played…and everyone was a good sport.  And the girls have asked to have “themed” days several times since.  B’s request is usually for “Book Day”, while A would play games all day long, I think.  

7)      Daddy was out of school on Thursday and Friday, and the girls were BEYOND thrilled that he would be able to come with us to school, and that he would be there to pick them up.  They counted down the days all week, leading up to Thursday.  It was so very sweet.

8)      Baby B picked the nighttime story a couple of evenings.  Each time she said, “This is in honor of Daddy’s long weekend.”

9)      Baby B cracks me up…if she spies I’ve left the pantry cracked open, without fail, she’ll ask, “Mommy, may I close your pantry?”  Her organizational tendencies just make me smile.

10)   On Friday we enjoyed a family lunch out at the Thai restaurant.  We haven’t been there in a long time, as they only serve their lunch menu through the week, and we rarely eat out outside of the weekend.  It makes me so happy to see the girls experimenting with different kinds of food…and asking for THIRDS out of the large dish I ordered for the three of us to share.

11)   We usually go out to eat lunch on Saturday, but this week the girls and I had some errands to run, so instead we went out for a mid-morning bagel in between tasks.  The four of us ate lunch at home, and B said, “It’s a special treat to have lunch at home on a Saturday.”  I didn’t realize how much she would enjoy an “ordinary” lunch on the weekend.

12)   We took advantage of Daddy being home for a couple of extra days to score some one-on-one time.  Baby B accompanied me to the grocery store one day.  The next day, Baby A went with me to the mall.  It’s so easy being out with “only” one of them…we have such great interaction over the most ordinary of experiences…and I love observing them apart from each other.

13)   And a couple of quotes…

B was explaining to me the picture she'd made with her magnetic shapes. And what are these red ones? I asked her, of the shapes she had on each side of the cookie sheet. "Those are the cardinal directions, Mommy." Well, of course they are.

The girls were pretending to make up Easter baskets for their baby dolls. Baby A said, "She will have a chocolate, a Peep, a new book, and a toy rattlesnake." Just what every kid wants, right? I personally think I might faint if I found even a toy snake curled in the bottom of a basket...eek!!!

Looking forward to another "super"-filled week!

I'm Doing It!!!

I've been thinking about it since Mandy and Marcia did it last year:

Superhero Photo.

I watched them having so much fun with the online photo class.  I witnessed their joy in experimenting with their cameras.  And I marveled at the progression of their photography.

And I love the ensuing dialogue...the metaphors about photography and life.

Perfectionism can be paralyzing.

You often have to go through a lot of duds to find a jewel.

Don't be afraid to play!

Let your equipment do the work...cameras are equipped with auto functions for a reason...the hardest way is not always the best way.

Seek beauty.  It's not always there at face value.  Sometimes you have to lie on the floor...or climb a tree...or close your eyes to see it.

"Elevate the ordinary and explore the simple joy of creativity."

Heighten your awareness.  See the world in a new and different way.

Thanks to the incredibly thoughtful and extremely generous gift of a dear friend, and the encouragement of another, I'm doing it!!!

The class started on Monday.  It was a day of introductions, some housekeeping, and a bit of philosophy.  Yesterday was the first day I "officially" took any pictures. 

So far, here's my favorite.

Just a little glimpse into our game of life (or Candy Land, as the case may be).  :)

I'm so excited for this journey!!!