I'm back in business baby!

I worked at the preschool this morning for the first time in a LONG time thanks to my ears! I so enjoyed working with Mrs. Hannah's class. We had 7 boys and only 1 girl. Today we worked mainly with scissors....they scare me! Scissors now a days are REAL not the plastic ones I used as a child. It was really a lot of fun. We also had a tornado drill. The kids loved that! So now I see if my ears held up! I sure hope they do with no infections....we'll see!

Playing in the Mud...

Our big mess

Luke's muddy boots

I'm liking the pics on an angle for some reason!

I had to take a picture of the dogwood in our backyard...and yes the yard has been mowed since these pics were taken! Just call me Mrs. Craftsman! LOL!

Our backyard around our patio is one big mud ball! It doesn't help either that it just keeps on raining....and we have 4 dogs who love the mud! Every year we work at getting grass to grow by the patio and on our hill. It's just what we do. Usually by this time of year we have a good amount growing...but with the rain we haven't even had time to plant some seed. So Monday night, Luke cleared off some of the standing water from our side patio. It helped with the standing water, but it looks like crap now. Hopefully in a few weeks it will look better. It did help with this last rain today but probably won't hold up to tomorrow's storms. We hope some grass will help fix our problem! I'm sure you all think we are nuts anyway...with the 5 dogs...well and 2 cats...and that it's almost a little white trash...but we don't care! We love our kids and do what it takes to try and have a nice backyard! So enjoy the pics!

Brunch at Mom and Dad's

Yesterday we went to Mom and Dad's to have brunch after church. Mom made scrambled eggs, bacon (3lbs!!!!!), sausage, biscuits, scones, raisin bread, and hashbrown casserole. It was a feast. Luke and I left shortly after the meal...Michaels had their Cricut alphabets on for 40 bucks and I wanted one...ended up getting 3 though...thanks Luke! Oh and if you are wondering why my hair looks so crappy now...it's because I'm growing it out again..yep that's right. Go ahead and laugh....but it's what I do. I'm going for a bob look...we'll see if I can ever get there!

Party at the James' House

We had a blast Saturday night over at John and Nina James' house. They wanted to thank us for all the hard work we did on the Kingdom....and fixed us a wonderful dinner! John grilled steaks, and we had baked taters, steamed asparagus, 2 kinds of salad, bread, and a Strawberry Cake for dessert. It was wonderful. Luke and I visited with Joni and Jared Barker at the "kids" table. We talked about dogs and the annoying people at Home Depot. I even helped Joni load the dishwasher. It was a wonderful time. We are so blessed to have great friends like the James!

Historic Arkansas Museum

Notice the backgrounds are blurry? That's the aperture is set at a smaller number!

The shutter speed is set higher

To get the flow...it's gotta be low...that's the only way I can remember it!

Luke and I went this afternoon to the Historic Arkansas Museum. They had a literacy fair going on for kids and we wanted to check it out. We couldn't go without lunch, so we took a picnic and ate it in War Memorial Park. We even had some time for photography lessons....I am learning the lingo and he's helping me better understand it! I do better learning it first, then asking him...sometimes Luke is way too knowledgeable!

After the park, we headed to the museum. They had a guest speaker there, Tim Farley, whose Dad wrote the Black Stallion books. I am a huge fan of those books. I read all of them as a child, watched all the movies, and there was even a TV show I loved too. They had horses there...none of them black though....and the children could read to the horses. It's part of his Black Stallion Literacy Project....they can even do that in schools which would be awesome for children....my teacher side coming out I guess.

A pic I took on an angle

Mr. Tim Farley, son of Walter Farley

I thought this was sweet. That girl really wanted to read to the horse.

At one, we went to hear Lurlene McDaniel speak. I have read all of her books in JR High and High School. Most of my friends gave me a hard time about reading them because everyone usually dies in her books. Joe called them my "stiffness books" and Chrusty read a few, but didn't enjoy them like I did....she calls them, "my dead and dying books!" There were only 2 other people in the lecture besides me and Luke. I was really disappointed but it was wonderful to visit with her. Today was her birthday too! She writes books about children who face hard times and diseases. She said her motto is, "You can't change what happens to you, but you can change how you deal with it." I am an organ-donor today because of her books! I even got one autographed and a picture with her....eat your heart out Christylee! LOL!!!

Lurlene McDaniel

Lurlene and Me!

Our Dishwasher is in!!!

Luke is such a wonderful handy man. He installed the dishwasher all by himself. When the Sears delivery people came, they teased me about it being blue....but luckily for me, it was the sticker on the outside. I already have ran a load and it's wonderful! Luke is also fixing our squeaky dryer today and installing a new vent outside...he's a wonderful hubby!

Photography Sessions

I found a photography class online through my friend Ann. So in the next few weeks I'll begin to post what I learn....or think I have learned. I'm sorry if this bores ya'll, but I need someplace to write my thoughts and compare pics! What better place than the blog!

Week 1: Aperture

The size of your aperture depends on how much of your picture is in focus. So, the bigger the hole on the display, the more light that comes through the camera, therefore the less of your photo will be in focus. The smaller the hole, the less the light through the camera, therefore the more of your photo is in focus.

Picture 1:

On this baby I used the Aperture or f-stop on the lowest setting. Meaning a wide hole on my display. See how the background is blurry?

Picture 2:

This picture was taken using an f-stop of 8. Meaning the hole on the camera was in the middle size. See how the background is a little clearer?

Picture 3:

Ok, so this one is a little blurry...but the f-stop was set to 22 which means it was a bigger hole on the display. The background is supposed to be in more focus, which I'm thinking it would be had I not been shaky!

Week 2:

This week was on exploring the shutter speed and ISO. I had the ISO already figured out from taking pictures at the Kingdom. The shutter speed was a little different.

Picture 1:

This picture was taken with the shutter speed set at 1/80th. It didn't stop the flow of water on the picture. So, if you wanted to do a star trail or something to create a "flow" slow down the shutter speed.

Picture 2:

If you turn up the shutter speed to 1/1300th of a second it "freezes" the water. So if you were taking something on the lake....and you want water droplets...bump up your shutter speed.

** It's still hard for me to tell this....but hopefully on a sunny day I can try it in our kitchen sink!

Week 3:

This week works on lighting. Even outdoors there are different types of light from soft in the morning, to cooler during the mid-day, to orange at sunset. You can set your white balance on the camera according to different lighting you are under.

Picture 1:

This pic was taken using the lights on in the kitchen as they are usually. The white balance was on auto.

Picture 2:

This picture was taken setting my camera to the light bulb setting. It's a little softer looking...not as harsh looking.

Picture 3:

This picture was taken creating a custom white balance using a white piece of paper before hand. It's a soft picture but the white isn't as blown looking.

Well sorry this blog was so boring, I think I'm learning a lot, but we'll see!