Guess What?

(Yes, yes, besides a chicken butt; where is your mind!?)

I just finished editing photos from a super-fun photoshoot with two dear, lovely hoots women. Ladies, almost 300 images are headed your way!

Here's a sneak peak:

All Astonishment

What a happy surprise! Check out the excitement at:

Easy Like a Sunday Morning

Tis' a Puzzlement

Here's a little math problem for you:

If a Mom volunteers to bring 2 dozen cupcakes to her Munchkin's class, then eats 1/2 dozen while waiting for the 2nd batch to bake, how many total batches will she have to bake? Keep in mind that each batch = 12 cupcakes and the Mom has only one cupcake pan.

Extra credit: if one batch takes 20 minutes to bake, what is the average time it took for the Mom to snarf eat each cupcake?

See, and you thought you'd never have a use for all those math classes in school, didn't you?

Brown Belt

Miss Munchkin and I are testing for our Brown Belts in martial arts class tonight. Some of the skills we will be testing over include:

• escaping from a headlock while being punched in the face
• hip throws
• a variety of boxing and kickboxing combinations
  
• preemptive strikes
• taking down someone who puts you in a headlock
• forms

In our school, a brown belt is only about half-way to black belt (unlike the photo above). There are 2 variations of brown then 3 of red in our future before we even can start thinking about becoming a Black Belt. It's approximately a 3 year process.

But, we're excited because this belt will put us into the "Advanced" class. Wait! That's where the big black belt guys hang out. Eeek!

Wish us luck!

Overheard

Master Munchkin's cello teacher: Have you ever heard the expression, 'Less is more'?

Master Munchkin: No. But I doubt it's true.



Me: Do you want to make Baked Oatmeal? It contains oats, brown sugar, eggs, milk, cinnamon, and baking powder.

Miss Munchkin: You had me at 'sugar'.

70 Years

My Grandparents are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary this week.

That's 25,568 Days of being married!

They were married in 1939 and are still living independently in the house that they built. They are amazing and I'm so proud to be part of their family.

"...there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live"
Five for Fighting

Or I will Go Mad

I've spent the past few days immersed in editing photos. I had two fabulous photoshoots last week and now I am weeding though the shots, picking out the best, and making them better. Edits such as cropping out extra background, adjusting exposure and contrast, and cloning out distractions all go a long way to making an OK photo look really good. However, I may need to take a break: yesterday I was having a conversation with my teenaged Munchkin and my right hand started twitching as I had an uncontrollabe urge to touch up a blemish on her forehead. With my immaginary mouse. :)

Come

"Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things." Chaim Potok

Senior Shoot

I had my first Senior High photoshoot yesterday. It was so much fun! Miss B. was fabulous and up for anything I suggested. I couldn't wait to post a few of my favorites..

O Say Can You See

While we were downtown for the St. Patrick's parade yesterday, I popped into a small antique store to kill some time. I'm always on the lookout for fabulous photo props. And I found one. Tucked away in a corner I uncovered a huge, cotton American flag. Scenes quickly flashed through my head:

Miss Munchkin wrapped in red, white and blue
The flag held overhead, billowing in the Kansas wind
A patriotic backdrop for all kinds of glorious shots

It was a steal so I stole it, I mean quickly bought it.

In the back of my mind, I wondered, "Are there rules for using a flag?" Sure, I knew not to drag it on the ground, but I wanted to research the issue a bit more. Just to be safe.

What I found: Here is the list of etiquette for the American Flag. And this FAQ gets into the nitty gritty, like "Oh no! My flag touched the ground. Do I have to burn it?" There were a few surprises in there for me, like putting the flag on napkins or cakes is a "no-no".

Bottom line: I feel like I can use this beautiful flag in my photography as long as I treat it with dignity and respect. I can't wait to see what I come up with!

I Wish You Not

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's day is coming up.

It's been on my mind ever since the Master recently asked, "Who was St. Patrick anyway?"

I thought about green beer and pinching and parades then racked my brain for information about "Patrick". I came up with.... nothing.

"You know, I'm not really sure. Let me do some research and I'll get back with you."

I found a children's book at the Master's school that told the story of a British boy who was taken captive by Irish raiders in the 400s. After a dramatic escape, he returned to his homeland only to receive a calling to minister to the Irish. Once again he traveled to Ireland, this time as a free man, where he lived among the people, teaching and preaching.

I read this book to the Master's class during Library time last week. They were spellbound. It's a fascinating story.

Apparently, St. Patrick's Day was much more of a religious holiday in Ireland than here in the United States. In fact, people spent more time in churches on March 17th than in pubs. This is a far cry from how the holiday is celebrated today, at least in my town. I can't help but wonder what Patrick would think about all of this....

To learn more about St. Patrick and his holiday, check out this informative site from the History Channel.

Gently

Gently, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

“Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.” Rainer Maria Rilke

No Winter Lasts Forever

No Winter Lasts Forever, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

No Winter lasts forever, no Spring skips its turn.

A First

I have a couple of photoshoots coming up that I am excited about, including my very first Senior shoot. I've been on the lookout for inspiration and have definitely found some on Flickr. Check out these two talented photographers' Senior High work:

off the *deep* end

geneoh!

Boy, I wish they had been around when I was in high school!

Do Over!

This woman's incredible wedding photography makes me want to get married all over again, just so I could get pictures like these!

Moo!

I love creative "business" cards. When my children were small, I made a really sweet set of cards that I could hand out to other moms. It had my name and contact info on them and the title, "Homemaker". It was a creative way to exchange info with that mother I met at the park.

In the past few years, I've used this site to make some creative business cards. I especially like the Mini version. On the front I've posted one of my favorite photos and on the back I've included my email, blog address, etc. These always get a great reception!

Right now, Moo.com is based in England but shipping is fairly quick to the States. In the next few months, they will be adding a branch here in the US (happy dance!).

You don't have to put a photo on the front, you can choose a ready-made design. Aren't these cute?!

Or you can have fun with just words and fonts and colors (giddy laugh).

Your Saturday Smile

Here's something to make you smile today.
Click on the Gallery.

dakka-jonk!

^{I had a lovely kickboxing class recently. It was one of those days where my lazy body did not want to move. At all.}

puff ^gibber! groan

^{We started warming up by jogging laps. On the instructor's signal we slapped the ground and suddenly switched directions. That's always a bit awkward and people inevitably crash into each other a bit.}

swish (yap-smack!) ker-splash! ^{splash caw} bep MUTTER

After warm up, the real fun began. We partnered up and started boxing.

^slip *oink* slosh-braaaap ^whop MAAAAH ding-dong-ding-dong

Then we did a set of "Crunch and Punches". It's like a sit up but you punch something when you sit up, usually a pad. This time we came up throwing hooks. By the time we were done, I was missing most of the skin on my right knuckle.

splutter-splutter ^wobble fsssst! ^*NIK*

Then it was time for Bag Work. This is where you do various combination of kicks and punches on a heavy bag filled with sand. Feeling determined, I gave an extra hard kick and was rewarded with some instant foot pain.

^ting *chonk-chonk* ^pft (ker-pow-fweeeep!) urgh _oompah-pah fizz-pop! (FARKLE)

Next, our instructor threw in some Sits and Dips. One person sits against the wall, supporting their weight with their wimpy legs while other person uses their knees for handholds and cranks out triceps dips. Those are always fun.

^{ksssh! puff} klackety-klack-vrum-vrum!

Finally, to end the class, we played a rousing game of "Get the Belt" or something. Each person tucks a strip of fabric into their waistband and attempts to defend it while snatching each other's fabric. Kinda like Flag Football with out the football. I lunged for a man's strip at the same time he lunged for mine. Our heads collided.

dakka-jonk! thrum! buzz! *ow-ow!*

I don't remember much after that - things were a bit fuzzy. But I do know that I ended up with a goose egg and he got a small cut over his eye. Niiiiice.

Currently I am sitting at my computer with my foot up, waiting on X ray results, and having way too much fun with this site. Hit refresh for a new and exciting Sound Effect each time.

Blooming Color

Blooming Color, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer. Geoffrey B. Charlesworth

Anyone else ready for Spring?!

Quote

The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.
-- Somerset Maugham

Round We Go

Master Munchkin and I spent Saturday at a cello workshop. To help pass the time, I brought my camera. I thought I'd come home with some pictures of cellos and children. Instead, I discovered this:

Nestled in one of the stairways of the church was a beautiful round window. I think I stopped on the stairs and gasped out loud. Of course, I'm thinking, "Photo Op!" The Master and I spent most of our spare time hanging out here. Here he is eating carrots.

I changed my angle by kneeling down so that the parking lot wasn't visible in the background and turned off my flash. Ooooo, artsy. This is SOOC (straight out of camera):


When I got home, I simply changed one of my favorite photos to black and white in Lightroom and bumped up the exposure a bit. This brightened the light background, making the trees and sky "disappear", leaving behind a clean silhouette. A quick crop and I got this: