One last ride on this Carousel

Maybe I won't be recognized on here if I wear my shades, then I can enjoy one last ride! I'm guessing that's what she's thinking? Oh how fast they grow up! Hopefully I can get her to try out the new one at least one time. We had a nice talk about not caring what others think as long as we're having fun.

This is my little ham on the Dolphin :)
One last roar for the tiger!
If I were a Carousel horse, I'd want to be this one

In our local Mall we have a Carousel. My kids have both grown up with it. It has always been a presence there. I can remember when my daugther's class took a field trip to the Mall. It was either Kindergarten or 1st grade. At one time there was a pottery painting place there. They went to paint pottery, then lunch at McDonald's followed by a ride on the carousel. McDonald's is gone and so is the pottery place. The Carousel has always been there as long as I've known. Last week there was a news article that said yesterday would be the last for the Carousel. They were going to install a double decker Carousel. Sounds pretty cool, but still my children have both grown up with this particular one. We went to the Mall yesterday for just one last ride. My daughter at 12 1/2 only rode once (with sunglasses :) my son rode 2 times in hopes of riding the dragon. It was pretty crowded though, you only had to wait about one go around before getting on again, but he never would beat anyone to the dragon. Perhaps there will be an even better more awesome dragon on the new Carousel. Just an FYI on the photos above you can click on them to make them larger.

My Beautiful Children: Find Your Wings

Mark Harris - Find Your Wings
From the album The Line Between The Two

It's only for a moment you are mine to hold
The plans that heaven has for you
Will all too soon unfold
So many different prayers I'll pray
For all that you might do
But most of all I'll want to know
You're walking in the truth
And If I never told you
I want you to know
As I watch you grow

Chorus:
I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage
To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings

May passion be the wind
That leads you through your days
And may conviction keep you strong
Guide you on your way
May there be many moments
That make your life so sweet
Oh, but more than memories

Chorus:

It's not living if you don't reach for the sky
I'll have tears as you take off
But I'll cheer as you fly

Chorus:

A Day to play in the snow

Yesterday we thought it would be fun to go and play in the snow. We live in an area where it doesn't snow. Thankfully we are close enough to drive to it. All four of us still have a childlike approach to snow, not just the children. Neither my husband or myself have ever really had to live and work in the snow as adults. We both grew up with snow and remember how much fun it was. We got an early start and traveled about 3 hours north of our home. We could have found some snow closer but knew the areas to have fun would be better where we were headed. We got there just before lunch. We had a quick lunch and then headed for the fun. Lots of other people had the same idea, but it wasn't so crowded that it was annoying. We started with the little hills and worked our way up to the bigger ones. Most areas you could walk pretty easy, those were the areas most traveled that had been compacted down. There were some where I'd step and be knee deep. I strickly stuck to the sled you see me holding, even though it spun around on me, I never screamed once :) My bottom hurt a little this morning but I'm good now :) My husband took the kids down, they really enjoyed being able to ride with Dad. Surprisingly it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. I had a hoodie jacket on under my jacket, neither of which was very warm. At one point I had to take them both off to cool off. When the wind blew though then it felt cooler, glad we all had hoods and water proof gloves.

We didn't make the snowman, but I thought his image should be captured. Our day was more fun than a day at the amusement park! I'm so glad we made the trip.

Girly Comments & Graphics

The Altered Fairy

Scroll down to my previous post and see the original photo of this lady. I have been having fun playing with Photoshop. I removed the people from the picture. I've combined my love of Photography with my love of Paintings and look at her now, suitable for framing! Which one is your favorite? Be sure to click on each one so you can view them larger.

The Renaissance Festival

We went to the Renaissance Festival yesterday. Our weather was in the lower 70's. It was the perfect day to do something outdoors. Even though that sounds perfect, the sun get's pretty hot in these parts. The occassional refuge of the shade was nice. It's always a place where you never know what you'll see. The people that choose to make the Renaissance their living as well as the ones that choose to do so one weekend out of the year, are always interesting to observe. Some not appropriate for the children's eyes. We just direct the children in the way we want them to go and what they'll see. Not all there was appropriate but it was interesting for them. My daughter's first Renaissance Festival was when she was only about 5 or 6 months old. I think for my son it wasn't until he was 3. We bought her an adorable pink satin hat and we carried her around in our backpack carrier back then. A couple years ago was the first time she'd been back to one. She got a pretty princess crown that day. This go around I think my son had a bit more fun. He like looking at Pirate stuff and he enjoyed a ride in a hamock/chair swing. The sword swallowing guy hopefully didn't encourage him to try anything at home. I think in the end my daughter enjoyed it more than she was willing to admit. I admired this "Fairy-like" lady and her "Robin Hoodish" looking significant other. I should have just gone up to them and told them so, rather than stalking them with my telephoto zoom lens. Don't know why I didn't? Then I could have actually gotten a picture of them frontal, see their pic above. They did not work at the Renaissance but rather appeared to be dressed in the moment as many were. I'd really like to do that sometime. For those of you who know my husband, can you just see him now? :) Maybe not quite the Robin Hood type, but maybe more like a knight :) One of the last things we did was to watch the jousting. The "King & Queen" made their entrance and then it began. It was kinda corny but fun to watch. I have not done anything with the photos yet to touch them up in any way. I think it could be fun to play around with a couple in Photoshop. When I get around to it, I'll have to do that and post them.

Frozen SUV

We live in an area where it usually never snows. I have experienced something rather foreign to me the past two mornings. We've gone to get into my SUV and yesterday more so the doors stuck, they were pretty cold. Once inside I put my defrosters on full blast both front and back. I turned on my windsheild wipers only to find out they are covered with ice. I had no clue what to do, sad but true :) I called my husband in a panic now to get to school on time. He told me to hose off the car, ok where's the hose? It wasn't where it normally would be. Then get a glass of water and throw it on the windshield. OK that I can do, and it worked YEAH! My heart goes out to those that have much more to do than that. I can't imagine having to shovel the driveway or scrape ice off. As a child I grew up in the northeast but as a teenager and adult have always lived where it's never snowed. I did live in Colorado for about 3 months, but that doesn't count. New experience for me. Being a photographer, I should have taken a picture. If it happens again tomorrow, I will.

Renoir is my next Artist

I'm just Loving learning more about these Artists and their paintings! My next Artist is Renoir and the painting is called "Monet painting in His Garden at Argenteuil". I thought it would be fun to find out where the original is actually located. It is actually in Hartford, CT. I spent 40 minutes talking with the Librarian's assistant at the museum their the other day. I found out the correct pronunciation for Argenteuil it sounds more like Ar-jen-toy. It might be fun to let the kids have a crack at it. I'd say so far I like this one the best. I am appreciating them all in the process though. This one is just much more pleasing to the eye for me. I like the flowers and Renoir always painting things pleasing to the eye. He was quoted having said there were to many ugly things in the world that they didn't need to be seen in paintings. That not the quote word for word, but the basic meaning. I was happy to see that about 3/4 of the 6th grade class knew who Picasso was. I invite my daughter to critique me later that day each time I've had a presentation. How did I do? Her comments are always encouraging, this past time she said I did better than before :)

I have had thoughts of "what if" regarding the fact that I never became an Art Teacher. I'm not saying it was ok for me to be discouraged by an adult, nor to I suggest anyone do anything less than encourage your child to pursue all they have a passion to do. It may have been fate that I was discouraged from doing so though. I just feel had I become an Art Teacher, it would no longer be as fun having to do it on a daily basis. In college I thought I wanted to pursue Graphic Design. In High School I actually took a course at the vocational school because I couldn't wait. Oh to have that kind of time now, when I'm in school all day and actually think I've got time on my hands I'll go learn some more tonight :) I don't think I ever finished the class though. I loved doodling with letters and making flyers and greeting cards and playing around with typestyles... once I had to do it as class work, it wasn't fun. There was that pressure that just zapped the creativity. Somethings are just meant to be left as a passion you don't get paid for I suppose.

Thank you Michelle & Donetta!

Two dear friends have given me this award. I am so blessed by their friendship and consider it a honor they have passed it on :)
Right back at you ladies!

Science Fair Project Complete!

My daughter had a Science Fair Project due today. We are ALL last minute people here. We milk life for all it's got and then reap the consequences later ;) For the past several days we've been helping her to complete the project. The thought was to do a Pinhole Camera made from an Oatmeal container. I had done this in Art class back in Jr. High. On a side note there, my daughter will be in Jr. High next year and they actually have photo classes and darkrooms in Jr. High now! It's been a little while since I've been in Jr. High. I have thoughts of going back to Jr. High :) We toured the classrooms last week and they have so many cool classes I was so excited for her. So back to the Science Project. My daughter and husband constructed the "Camera" together this weekend. Thanks to our love of photography, ours and Grandpa's, we had all the supplies we needed to provide photo paper and chemicals to make a darkroom in our bathroom. What's a Pinhole Camera without being able to process the film. Otherwise you'd have to take it to a professional lab. A one hour photo wouldn't be able to handle this. So once the Camera was constructed, the photos could be taken. Each piece of photo paper had to be loaded in the dark into the camera. It was a labor some task for the two of them. In order for the photos to be taken the subject had to stay still for 20-60 seconds depending on the light source. All photos had to be taken outside. Once they were finished, the darkroom was created. The four of us went up to the bathroom and had to witness the magic of the developing process. The photos first are a negative image on the photo paper then they are sandwiched together with another piece of photo paper to make the contact print which then looks more like a black and white photo. They did 6-7 shots and they came out pretty well considering they were taken with an Oatmeal container. Then yesterday the task of putting together the info. then onto the display board. Finally it's all done and ready to turn in. I think it turned out really well and was a great learning experience for my daughter.