Friday

I know, there really are other things that I need to do but I am procrastinating right now.  I decided to play along with the I Heart Faces blog today and do their Fix It Friday.  This is not my picture.  I took the picture and edited it my way.  I use CS3 and just did the basics- sharpening, added light , and I desaturated a little to get the soft, muted look.  The only fixes I did to the skin was to use the clone stamp took to take out the scratches and to tone down some of the redness on the lower cheek.  Oh, I also added grain and then cropped. I'm all about continuously learning so I may do this every now and then.  There is also a great before and after Flickr group that lets you see how people are processing.

It's 90 degrees here today.  If I had my swim suit on and was laying out by the pool it would be perfect.  Vienne went out for about 10 minutes and then said it was too hot.  Hmmm, what will she'll be saying in June?

Happy Birthday, Angel!

Natalya turns eight today.  I am keeping Vienne home from school today so that we can bake cupcakes to bring to Natalya at lunch.  I don't know if that makes Natalya or Vienne happier.  Then tonight we'll have a nice dinner and more cake in a celebration with the family.  

Natalya truly has been my angel.  I really became a better person because of her.  She is so kind and bright and full of curiosity and wonder.  I just can't wait to see where the next year of her life takes her.  Happy Birthday, Baby!!

Wii Are Celebrating

The Mondays keep coming, don't they?  We had a nice weekend, mostly.  The Grandparents came in from CA to visit.  The girls had been counting the days.  This week Natalya turns 8.  And she's a bit under the weather.  Oddly enough, she gets sick every year in February.  We made it through the whole season with no illnesses but we expected it to come this week.  It didn't disappoint us.  Today is day two and she seems to be getting better so hopefully she'll be back to normal by Saturday for her first ever slumber party.  Remember those days?  The most pressing discussion has been what movie they'll watch as they stay up 'til "10:00".  Apparently Natalya thinks 10:00 is late ;-). 

Part of Natalya's birthday present was a Wii.  We let her (and us) enjoy it a little early.  I've had to ban Vienne from bowling cuz she just can't get the hang of it and ends up so frustrated.  But other than that it we are having a blast with it.  But I'm totally convinced that I'm better at real tennis than I am at Wii tennis but oh well.  And I hate to admit that I was sore the after the first day.  You really have to move to play.  Am I right?  Someone back me up, cuz I don't want to know it's just me getting old.  Anyone?

Horsin' Around

Well, hello, Monday.  How ya doin'?  I really think I'm still trying to recover from the holiday.  My to do list is about as long as my leg but I'm slowly knocking 'em off one at a time.  I was finally able to get the play room cleaned out this weekend.  I think the girls will actually be able to play in it now.  I think it's just as hard for me to get rid of toys because with each toy donated is a memory.  I know that cheesy but everytime I asked, "Can we get rid of this?  I think you're a bit too old for it now" I think, man, when did they get too old for this?  And am I the only person that still has Christmas ornaments out?  All of the other decorations are put away but the ornaments are still out because I've been looking for the ornament storage boxes.  You know the ones with the dividers?  Hard to find after the holidays.  They probably will be safe if I just wrap them up and put them away but I really had my heart set on the divider boxes.  Anyway.

Yesterday, the stables invited the kiddos over to make horse treats and to decorate the barn for Valentine's Day.  So much fun.  The girls stuffed apples with molasses and oats and got to feed the horses.  I think the horse just might have a bit of a tummy ache today.

This is Natalya's favorite horse, Holly.

And this is Vienne's favorite horse, Blue.  Blue lets Vienne treat him like she does our dog, a little rough and a lot playful.

I'm thinking that first shot is My Best Shot for this Monday.  Here's to a great week.

One Word

You know, in school I was never good at the open ended projects.  I was always better when I was given more direction, a prompt, or better yet, a defined set of rules.  That must say something about me, hmm.  Prompts are always an easy way to jump start or get motivated.  So I've decided to try the One Word Project mentioned at Shutter Sisters.  I will choose one word a month and try to focus on that word and use it as inspiration for my photography for that month.  For the month of February my word will be "light".  I know that Winter here in South Texas is mild compared to most places.  But I really do feel the impact that less light has on me.  I'm ready to get inspired and energized this month.  And I'm ready to see the light.