Gillian came to me today asking to dress like the Pink Power Ranger.  So I looked through her drawers and found a pink leotard that is a hand-me-down from a cousin.  We put some pink leggings on.  She also has some pink boots.  Later she said it needed a cape because the animal power rangers have capes.  Sure thing.  We got a pink blanket and tied it around her for a cape. Bravo…here is my pink power ranger.

Lastly, Gillian posed for exactly 2 self portraits.  Thank goodness one turned out great.  

Here is the post where, unfortunately, the owner had to set some ground rules on critiques and comments on her blog and facebook page.  She fosters a learning environment so that all levels of photographers can post images and get advice on tweaks using photoshop.  It is a great learning site but lately some have turned hateful in their remarks.

The post she supplied today outlines some rules we shouldn’t have to voice to other adults about how to behave on the internet.  As a college professor I find I have to do the same thing with my students in online courses.  Each semester I send an email that outlines what will be tolerated speech in all communication.  It boils down to “If you could say it face-to-face then you can post it”.  I find that statement alone makes people think about what they are posting.

Too often people sit at home, alone, behind their computer and write nasty comments without thought of others.   There is no real consequence because their isn’t a live person to confront them on what was said.   There is a difference between being constructive and just plain old mean.  Don’t insult someone if you are giving a suggestion.  Just give the suggestion.  I see others argue that we have gotten to be such a sensitive society and we should be able to take criticism without personal feelings hurt.  Well, sure a critique should help but not if you start with “Your picture sucks, now here is how I would’ve done it”.  How does that help?

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Does the idea of a negative comment prevent you from posting on learning environments such as MCP Actions Blog?

The biggest offending area would be our backyard.  This is where we spend about 60% of our day when it isn’t mid-summer.  Right now the weather gets into the 80′s but it is tolerable because of the wind.  The shade always brings some comfort as well.  Each time Spring rolls around I can’t wait to get my hands dirty getting rid of all the weeds, mowing the first of the green grass and getting the yard toys ready for play.

We also have 2 wonderful garden boxes that my husband made.  They are really tall so I don’t have to be on my hands and knees to garden.  It also keeps hungry critters out.  Most every year we plant potatoes, peppers and herbs.  I have added to that squash, lettuce and onions this year.  We will see how that goes.  So far I think I am missing the mark on the onions. They aren’t maturing.  The squash and lettuce are having a field day.  When the vines get long enough I will be coaxing them to grow down the side of the planter on the ground.  A squash/cucumber/zucchini vine can take over the whole garden if you let it.

My kids also like to tend the garden. That amounts to mostly watering.  Gillian hates to get dirty and if I let Trey tend to any plants he will think he has freedom to pull plants at will.  When fruit starts to mature they will both help me harvest and then they actually enjoy cooking and tasting since it is something they watched in their backyard.  Yesterday I picked some lettuce for lunch with a small piece of leftover chicken.  It was so neat to not rely on a bag of lettuce but straight from the ground.  Added benefit, I know exactly what chemicals and fertilizers were used.

In between my garden boxes is a cement bench with a tile mosaic on the top of an alligator.  My parents made it as a housewarming gift.  We hadn’t found a place for it until we made the garden and now it sits in the perfect spot.  Off the back of the house we have a large patio with a couple chairs and a little fire pit.  Once or twice a week we light a small fire just so the kids can roast marsh-mellows.    If they agree to find some pine cones we agree to light the fire.   They don’t even realize they are doing a chore for us.  Along the back fence we have hoards of wild blackberry bushes.  We thought for years they were just weeds and we couldn’t get to them really well since they were on the other side of the fence.  It turns out they are blackberries.  Our dogs were eating them and we didn’t notice.  Now with since our sweet dog Monty has left us the blackberries are growing like crazy.  Mia, our boxer, leaves them alone so we harvest and eat when they ripen.

The kids use our backyard to play and explore.  I use the backyard to read, watch the kids and soak up some sun.  My husband curses the dollar weed but mostly enjoys the patio.  It is our perfect oasis.  I dread the day I have to leave it.  The house I can leave but I require we take the backyard with us.

One of my sister-in-laws brought some pinterest inspired Easter egg popsicles.   She took the liquid and froze them in a large plastic egg with a sucker stick.  The kids loved it.  Then we had another pinterest inspired activity…Glow in the Dark Easter egg hunt.  We placed glow bracelets in large plastic eggs and some prizes.  The bracelets had to be twisted pretty tightly to get them in but we got the hang of it.  The yellow and green ones worked the best.

The boys hid all the eggs and the kids scrambled around the yard finding them.  It worked really really well.  Our yard is pretty big but we need more hiding places for next year.  The eggs were really easy to see even though it was super dark out.  Success.

Easter morning the kids woke to their Easter baskets.  Gillian is now the proud parent of Felicia the Siamese fighting fish (I didn’t tell her it was a boy).  Trey fell in love with his new Elmo and a little car wash.  They played for a couple minutes while I finished the homemade cinnamon rolls that I started the night before.  They were so yummy.  Church was packed but I have to say the kids did well.  Trey did really well since I walked him outside most of the time.  He still hasn’t mastered sitting still for an hour.

I made Easter lunch with ham, deviled eggs, potato salad, black eyed peas and rolls.  After nap time we headed to Stephen’s parents for some burgers.  Overall it was a really great weekend.  Here is a quick collage of the events.  I hope you all had a great Easter too.

In preparation for Easter Gillian has been learning the story of Easter at school.  They began with Jesus’ entrance to the city on a mule and ended with his death and resurrection.  I was amazed at how she recalled the story and then told me “Mommy, I believe in Jesus and I love Him.”

On top of the spiritual preparation it is fun to have the house decorated with the fun things Easter has in store.  I put some little things up that I have had our whole marriage and then added a little garland to go with it.  The garland was cut with my Silhouette cameo which made the job super easy.  I also made mini garlands for their Easter baskets.   The eggs are wooden eggs I hand painted way back when we were first married.  They have lasted almost 10 years liking just like the day I painted them.  I love them.

For about a month I have been searching for their Easter outfits.  Gillian’s I found at Old Navy along with the cardigan.  The shoes are Target.  On the cardigan I had my mother embroider a little fancy G and she found the perfect design….thanks Mom.  Trey’s shirt and vest are from Kohl’s.   I like to take pictures of them on a day that is not Easter since it is a little less stressful.  Here is my photo tip for today since it is Friday.   Take pictures of your kids before Easter in their outfits so you aren’t trying to get grumpy kids who just want to play with their Easter stuff or who are too tired, in a picture.  Also, while taking pictures of the Easter festivities take time to just watch.  Don’t be the mom or dad with the camera at your face the whole time.  Your kids want you to be a part and not wanting you to ask them to stop and smile the whole time.  Better yet, set up a video camera and just hit record.

Here are my beauties in the Easter best.

The following is what happens when you ask your 4 year to try to hold your 2 year old’s hand. I love my monkey.  Always expecting us to laugh at him.
My favorites of the day..she is stunning.

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Do you have any traditions for Easter.  I will share ours on Monday with some pictures of course.

Yesterday she found a tiny slug and brought it inside for me to see.  The rain had just stopped so I brought her outside and had her show me the slug.  We watched it crawl around her hands.

She was so proud of her little slug.

The problem with Mr. Slug is he had to stay outside.  At first she tried to put him in a bucket so she could find him later but I explained that he needed grass and his friends.  He wouldn’t be happy in a bucket.  So she released him on the patio.  It was heartbreaking.

But since mommy loves to take pictures and the rain had left the yard such a rich green color with an overcast sky I had to snap a couple.  Some silly faces and a couple of tickles later I got some real smiles.

What a fun day with my little girl.

Happiness is the sensation you feel right before you land in a huge rain puddle.

Well, anywhoo….

Since I work A LOT on the beach I have to deal with sand.  There are some of us that forget about our cameras and it collects dust.  Whatever your situation, your camera needs cleaned sometimes.

SUPPLIES

• Lens cleaning solution
• Non-abrasive or lint free wipes
• Can of Dust remover (air in a can)

I wouldn’t use window cleaner or plain water to clean your lens and your camera sensor.  Get lens cleaning solution.  It leaves no streaks and cleans all the little dirty bits that show up on your lens that may cause noise in your pictures. I little goes along way.

These wipes are what you put the solution on to clean your camera parts.  Don’t use a q-tip or a paper towel.  Make sure what you are applying the solution with is lint free.  You don’t want to leave behind lint on your lens that will show in pictures or worse yet cause your camera to try to focus on the lint instead of the subject.  What I like to do is take a q-tip and put the wipe over it when I need to get the wipe down in a small hole.

These cans of air can be found in almost any store in the office supply section.  I for sure need it when it comes to removing sand.  Make sure to remove any loose particles before you start rubbing a solution on.  Those particles could turn your wipe into fine sandpaper.  Not good.

I try really hard to get my equipment clean before each photo session since people pay me to be professional and have my equipment in working order.   Aside from that it makes for better pictures.  If you have never cleaned your camera I suggest you do so.  The supplies aren’t very expensive and they last a very long time.

• overeating
• biting my nails
• playing with split ends
• talking too much

OVEREATING

This is being solved as I type with my awesome diet the 4 hour body.  I have lost 28 pounds in almost 3 months and the overeating has stopped.  So bad habit #1 is under control for now.

BITING MY NAILS

This habit comes and goes.  It is funny that when I bite my nails I am more often sick then when I don’t bite my nails.  That should be motivation enough to quit completely but it isn’t.  When I do finally stop biting my nails the trick for me is always finger nail polish. I hate messing up my nail polish so I don’t bite my nails.  For the past couple of months I have had all kinds of interesting nail colors on. I really don’t like the traditional colors.  The funkier the better for me.  My nails are kind of flat and not a real pretty shape so I like to make sure the color is interesting.  Anytime a stressful situation hits you will probably see me gnawing on them again.  It happens every couple of months.

You can see from the picture above my nails need a touch up.  I will probably spend part of tonight getting the awesome deep blue off my nails and changing to something neon and maybe a little glitter.

PLAYING WITH SPLIT ENDS

This one is a really horrid habit since it ruins my hair.  As you can see from the picture my hair is frizzy on the ends and needs to be lopped off about 4-5 inches.  I think this habit started in High School when I found school super boring and teachers would comment on my talking too much or doodling.  So instead I played with my hair. There is no end in sight for this habit.  Mostly now I try to limit my tampering with the broken ends instead of actually splitting my hairs.  Either way it is a bad habit.  My grandmother said I looked like I was picking bugs out of my hair…nope…just splitting ends.

TALKING TOO MUCH

Those who first meet me might find me a little shy and not very talkative.  This happens if I am in a situation where I don’t know too many people.  I shut down a little.  Sometimes I will hear from a friend where someone commented that I was kind of quiet.  Said friend quickly replies “Oh, you haven’t gotten to know her very well…she will open up”.  Ya, well, I talk  A LOT. I like to talk on the phone, in person, and to myself.  I guess it is fun for me to talk. My daughter has the same affliction.

So I have labeled this a bad habit because for a long time I have tried very hard to make sure to listen to others.  I would say since Middle School  I have worked really hard on this.  When I have a friend who I am talking to on the phone (PS my phone etiquette is pretty bad, I am always interrupting people….sorry) I try to make sure that after I have talked a little while, I ask something about their day.  They have taken the time to listen to my ramblings so it is only fair that I do the same.

The same goes for my husband.  When he comes home from work I know that all day long he has done nothing but talk.  That means when he comes home he would like to relax.  I usually wait for him to initiate conversation at dinner or after before I ask him about his day.  I don’t want to overwhelm him with talking.

The result of trying to manage this bad habit has been kind of a bonus.  I find that friends, coworkers and frankly strangers find me a nice confidant.  In High School I was picked by my classmates to attend a conference on helping your piers in stressful situations.  Everyone filled out a survey to say the mostly likely person they would talk to when stressed and I was one of the few picked.  The number one thing I learned from that conference was to not offer solutions.  If someone calls you and wants to confide in you their problems it doesn’t always mean that want you to solve it…JUST LISTEN!

Since my ability to talk a lot has been passed on to my daughter she is getting reprimanded at school for her chattiness.  With me I hated breaking the rules so if I was told to be quiet I would instantly stop.  With her she has an allergy to rules so her talking doesn’t stop.  I feel for her because I know she is just trying to have fun with her friends at school by talking and giggling but there are times we have to learn to control our bad habits.  It is going to be a long road teaching her this and hopefully in the next couple of years it will sink in.  I hate for her to be “that” child, the one who gets in trouble all the time.

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Do you have bad habits?  Have you been able to manage them?