Camera old vs. new

So a few weeks ago we went and took some pictures of our family with our camera, plus a borrowed camera from my dad. Neither camera was really that fancy, and I wanted to see if we really did need a more advanced camera to do what I was wanting to do. We were able to get some pictures that were likable, but I did find I had some frustrations. We took these pictures in a park in a canyon near our house. The pictures have some really nice scenery which I really like, but for the most part the problems I had were:

• It took way too long for the picture to take, and as a result we ended up missing the cute moment way too many times.
• The resolution was so small that when we did catch a cute moment usually the child was too far away for me to crop it down to how I wanted it, and have it still be good quality.

My favorites from this shoot are:

Cinderella
A-1

B-1
Guy
A-1


B-1

C-1
D-1Sleeping Beauty
OK so this one was actually taken in our back yard. She was too tired when we were up the canyon, and we didn't really get any good shots of her.
A-1
My husband
A-1
My family
A-1


And some group shots
A-1

B-1



C-1
D-1


E-1

So we invested in a Nikon D3000. I love it. It has one mode where I can just hold down the shutter release and it takes continuous pictures. A great way to capture the moment with my kids who don't hold still. It also has a much higher resolution, so it solves that problem too. It also has a lot of other things, many of which I'm sure I have yet to discover.

We took more pictures on Halloween. This time we didn't have the time advantage to go somewhere so the pictures were just taken in our house and back yard. However the results much more to my liking.
My favorites from this shoot:

Cinderella

A-2

B-2

C-2

D-2
E-2
Guy
A-2
B-2
C-2
Sleeping Beauty
A-2
B-2
C-2
D-2

Family
A-2
B-2

A few group
A-2
B-2

Let me know which ones were your favorites.

Pasta Coona Macaroona

This is the name of a dish I made for dinner the other night. I created the recipe, and Cinderella named it. Being a creation the measurements are approximate. I've only made it once, so I don't have it down to a science yet. But my kids really liked it, so I'm sure I'll be making it again.

To make this dish you need:

Penne (I used about 8 oz)
Cooked Chicken cut into bite sized pieces (I used about 5 tenders, but if you area big meat eater use more.)
Normandy Vegetables ( I used a small bag of frozen)
Cream soup of your preference. (The soup I used is called Shirley J, it is a cream soup base. You add the powder to water and cook it. However if you are using condensed cream soup, you will need to reconstitute it with a can of milk or water. Or you can make a cream soup from scratch if you really want to. I would use enough soup so the casserole isn't too dry.)
Dried Basil to taste
Dried Oregano to taste
Shredded Cheddar about 1/2 cup
Garlic (I used one clove minced.)

Cook your penne. Drain and rinse set aside.
Steam your veggies, and cut into bite sized pieces.
Heat up your cream soup. Add cooked chicken, spices, and garlic. Mix in cooked pasta, veggies, and cheese.
Put in a casserole dish and bake at 350 until bubbly about 20 min.

Sleeping Beauty-6 months

So Sleeping Beauty can sit up now on her own, and can move from one side of the room to the other by rolling. So she now loves to be on the floor and get around. She loves to play with toys. Give her a toy and she is usually content. She turns 6 months this week. It is so amazing how fast the time flies.
She is totally a Mama's girl. But I don't mind, most of the time. We have made some progress with her sleeping during the day. Pretty much since she was born she only likes to sleep if someone is holding her or in her swing, but the past few days I have actually succeed in getting her to take some naps in her crib. I hope this sticks.

She is a very smiley girl. She loves attention from people and she usually gives a beaming smile in return. She also loves to make happy noises, especially during church meetings. I get afraid she will disturb someone, and I really don't want to have to take a baby out to the hall because she is happy, you know.

Glasses again

So Cinderella got glasses earlier this year. She hadn't had them for very long before she broke them. However by that time we had moved far enough away that we couldn't rely on the warranty issued by the optical where we got the frames. So after we had new insurance, and life had tamed down a bit after having a baby, I took her to an eye doctor here, and got a new prescription and new frames. This time I tried to be a bit smarter and went with flex frames. (The kind of frames that can bend quite a bit and go back in shape.) Well they worked pretty good for a while, slowly getting more and more bent out of shape. Then one day Cinderella left them on the floor, and accidentally stepped on them. Thankfully they didn't break, but the lens did come out. I fixed the lens and took the frames to the optical and had them bend them back into shape. They told us we were lucky that they hadn't broken, they were almost there. That was about 2 weeks ago.

Well this morning Cinderella said to me, "You're not going to like this.... My glasses are broken again."
"How are they broken?" I asked.
"The glass came out again."
"Did you step on them again?"
"No."
"Then how did they break?"
"I don't know, I just went to rub my eye last night and the glass was gone."
"Do you know where it is?"
"No."
"Do you know when you lost it?"
"No."

How in the world do you lose the lens to your glasses and not notice? So then I went into panic mode. I have no idea where that lens could be. We looked in the living room, where she was when she noticed it was gone. No lens. Yesterday, she went to preschool, and we went to the doctors office. So it could be in either of those places as well as some where here at home. I don't even know where to begin to look. So it looks like we are going to have to order a new lens.
I just wish I could get her to be more responsible with her glasses. These kinds of things wouldn't happen as easily if she would just keep the glasses on her face, except for when she is sleeping or bathing. But how do you get a 4 year old to do that?

It's not a car, it's a van!

So Guy is pretty particular about his vehicles. You have to call it by the right name or he gets upset.

Yesterday we were going somewhere in the van as a family, and I just happened to be sitting in the back, next to Sleeping Beauty. She was enjoying my company, and I asked her if she enjoyed me sitting by her in the car. At this point Guy yelled, "It's not a car, it's a van!"


Another time, we were at my parents house. They have a toy tractor of some sort. Guy was playing with it. I asked him something about his tractor, to which he replied, "It's not a tractor, it's a bulldozer." OK. Well a little bit later he turned to me and said, "I said it was a bulldozer, but it's a DIGGER! Isn't that silly?"
What I find silly, is his sense of humor.

Camera suggestions anyone?

This is a post mostly for any of you who know more about digital cameras than me, because I know that at least some of my readers do.

Every time I take my children somewhere to get their picture taken, I seem to come home dissatisfied. True I have never used a private photographer, and maybe I would be happier with their results. But I often feel like, if I had a a nicer camera than I do, a few props, maybe a back ground or two, and a little bit of know how, I could get pictures just as good as the ones I am paying a lot of money for.

Now true I know nothing about photography, so I am willing to admit, my pictures might be worthless too. Anyway, I am contemplating the idea of getting a better camera, and I want some advice from someone who knows about cameras.

My current camera is an Olympus Camedia with D-535 zoom, and 3.2 megapixel. I would like to get a camera that has a better digital zoom, higher resolution, and one that doesn't take forever for the picture to take after you push the button. I don't want to go so fancy as to have lenses that I need to change, or have a flash I have to attach. Built in flash is fine. But I want something that would take nice enough pictures that I could print off an 8 x10, that would be high enough quality to hang on my wall, and not have it be grainy, or blurry.

So if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thanks.

No more boosters!

So ever since Cinderella was about 18 months old she has been sitting in a booster seat at the table. Guy joined the ranks when he was about 18 months as well. Well yesterday Cinderella asked if she could have her booster taken off her chair and just sit on a regular chair. I told her that was fine, and that I would take it off and clean the chair. (I'm terrible about cleaning under the boosters and they can get really gross.)

Well yesterday I didn't have a chance to take care of it, and she remembered at breakfast this morning. I told her I would try to take care of it today. Then Daddy suggested that she could just move her chair back into a corner and use a different chair. She seemed to think this was acceptable and so he helped her move it. After he joined me again in the kitchen, I looked over and saw, Guy get down from his chair, push it into a corner. Then he walked around the table, took my chair, and slid it back to his place. I think he wants to be done with a booster too. Don't you think?
This last picture is in here because Sleeping Beauty wanted her picture taken too.