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Wednesday, June 30

I'm excited!!

And very, very afraid!

Well, more excited than afraid.

Tonight is the night for the Annual Family Tradition of going up to the beach to watch the fireworks for Canada Day! Wooo! And not only that, but I'm going camping after at my sister's place! 
The only bummer is that Ty is working on Thursday. Boooo. So he won't come camping. Booooooo. So tonight will also be the second night since we were married that we won't be sleeping in the same bed!  I know! It's a big deal. 

And, coincidentally, the first night ever that we spent apart was also when I was camping at my sister's place. So congratulations, Adeena, you're a homewrecker! Bwhahaha.

I had a doozy of a night last night, Ducky for SOME REASON would NOT sleep in his own bed. He's been doing so great lately, it was really a shocker to have him crying and refusing to sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time in his crib. Also, whenever he was sleeping, allowing me to get some rest, TYLER would not stay on his side of the bed, he kept on elbowing me in the back and pushing me off the bed with his big old bum! And I know, those of you who know Ty will be thinking "Big old bum? Are you nutso?" and to that I will say "TRY SLEEPING WHEN THAT BUM IS JAMMED INTO YOUR HALF OF THE BED!" Needless to say, I did not get any sleep.  But I'm OKAY! Thank God for coffee. Seriously.
I have to get everything ready for tonight, I have to pack some warm clothes and blankets (because *shocker* the weather has changed, again, and instead of the humidity I was complaining about a couple days ago, it is now frigid. Freezing. Cold. Bleh. So, I must get my warm fuzzy flannel blankets out of the cupboard!) and I have to remember to bring warm pants! Joggers! They are the best. And I was a dumb-o last time and forgot to bring any, so I had to borrow Jeff's.  Not that I mind, it's not like Jeff is icky or anything, but still... a girl has got to have her own pants.
Now to get going on that list... actually, I need to make a list first, before I can start checking it off. First thing on the list is: Make a list. 

I'll get started, eventually. 

Happy Canada Day, everyone!


Monday, June 28

I feel humidity approaching

.. and it's getting on my nerves.

I live in Canada, so that means I complain about the weather no matter what it is. It's either too cold, too hot, too rainy, too dry, too humid, too nippy, or anything else in between. There are some days out of the three hundred sixty five where I'll sit back and say "This is PERFECT!", but they are few and far between.

I'm far too temperamental to be hot, sticky and sweaty today. This day has a lot of ugly potential to it... I have lots of chores to do, it's humid, and I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. With a numb arm. I hate it when my arm falls asleep and is all limp and useless and then prickly and painful. 

This is to say, I have to be on guard today. These are the "perfect storm" type days for me, where I could easily be swayed into sin by satan (notice the middle finger of grammar). I have to be extra, extra careful to be patient and kind to my son, who can be frustrating sometimes. I also have to be extra, extra, extra careful not to complain and grouch at my husband when he comes home, which I also tend to do when I'm hot, sweaty, tired, and woke up on the wrong side of the bed in the morning... with a numb arm.

Ty's birthday was last Friday, and that's why I haven't posted since Thursday. We had a busy, fun, busy, fun weekend! I love Birthdays, and I've finally infected Tyler with that particular disease, because he was looking forward to his birthday so much! Probably because he actually had his birthday off for the first time in 11 years!  It was awesome. I made him pizza for supper, and we went out to a movie which we both LOVED (by the way, everyone go see Knight and Day, it was hilarious!) (oh, and shout out to Rachel, thanks for babysitting D-man last minute! Mwah!) then Saturday we just hung out at home, watching movies and playing video games. It was awesome. 

On an unhappy note, Ty's birthday cake was a total FAIL by me. Just a complete cake wreck. Probably because I baked it Wednesday night, put it in the freezer and started decorating it Thursday, then got overwhelmed with chores and stuff I had to do, and so stuck it in the fridge -without putting a protective layer of plastic wrap over it- and then finished it Friday. But of course, it was all dry and disgusting by Friday. FAIL!  The decorating part of it turned out pretty well, but who cares how pretty a cake looks if you can't eat it without it crumbling to dust in your mouth. GROSS! So needless to say, it went in the garbage today, and I'll be baking Ty another cake. Just one more thing on my "to do" list today.
PERFECT STORM!!!!!!


Ah, it ain't so bad. I just haven't had my second cup of coffee yet, so things seem worse than they are. I'll be done cleaning and laundry and baking by 3:00 today, probably.... as long as D-man cooperates. 

Patience! Must be patient with the little fellow. 

Speaking of patience, I had to exercise that particular virtue yesterday, as I was in the nursery at my church for the first time. The 2 - 3 year old children nursery. And these 2 to 3 year old kids did not know me at all, and I didn't know them either. It was pretty awkward at first, but by the end I had made a few new friends.  And wiped more than my share of noses... what is it with men and nose wiping? They are just incapable of it. I had to wipe all the noses, and there were two other nursery workers (both men) that were also watching the ELEVEN (yes, eleven) two and three year olds. Why did I get stuck with kleenex duty? Probably because I was the newbie. Yeah, that's probably why. Well, next time, they can wipe their own noses. Bleck.

Well, folks, after that long and rambly post, it's time for another coffee. And then I'm going to go pull my hair out and chew off all my fingernails. Nah, I kid. I don't chew my fingernails anymore, it's way too gross. Have you ever seen what kind of bacteria and critters and poop and dirt is under your fingernails???? It's disgusting.

Until tomorrow...

~Sarah

Thursday, June 24

You Capture - Get down low


I always like seeing what Adeena and Elena come up with for "You Capture", and this week I saw what it was about and knew I had the perfect picture. :)



Last week, D-man and I were playing outside, and I was playing around with my camera settings and taking pictures of my happy guy. I put him in the trailer to try to get some different angles, and I crouched down low beside it, and took a picture of him from below. I loved it! :D

Like Adeena said, it's not easy for us Amazon types (5'10, 5'11, or taller) to get down low for pictures! So I was happy this one turned out well. :)

Go see more pictures at Beth's

Photobucket

Tuesday, June 22

Touch--up Tuesday!


I'm starting to figure out how to use the manual settings of my camera, but I still forget to adjust the settings according to the changes in light and shadow.

I was taking pictures of Little D in full sunlight, using 400 shutterspeed, ISO 100, and F3.5. Then D-man moved into the shade, and I snapped this shot of him eating grass.

I like his expression, how serious he looks, but I don't like how dark it turned out. 
 
SOOC


Edit # 1
Using Photoshop Elements
First I sharpened the image, then adjusted the lighting levels. I highlighted his eyes with the brightness/contrast tool, and then adjusted the hue/saturation of the colour to get rid of that heavy red shadow. Much better. :)


Edit # 2:

I took the original edit, converted it to black and white, and then upped the brightness to +33 and the contrast to + 80.

Edit # 3:

I took the b&w edit, ran the "adjust colour for skin tone" tool to turn it into sepia, then toned down the contrast to give it a softer look. Then I rotated the image, and added a small border. 

I think the sepia one is my favourite. :)

Join in the fun at Karli's! :)

Monday, June 21

Breakfast






*snicker*





Warning! Gratuitous Eyelash Photo approaching!



See those chompers? He likes to use them. He's gotten in trouble a few times for it, too.


That's all for today!

Busy much?

Oh my, yes.

Last week was insanely busy for me. I usually keep busy, just because I like to be active and industrious, but last week was a bit much.

I cleaned my whole house, mowed the lawn (including the ditch, thank you very much) did all the laundry (including putting it away, which I normally don't..) went grocery shopping, went to a baby shower, cleaned my fridge, and exercised 0 times. Oh, and I did this:


Processed, washed, and bagged 25 quarts of strawberries.

 

 That ice cream container was filled 3 times with tops and rejects.


 


 

I know the colour is a little funky, I couldn't figure out what settings to use in manual mode. :P  

Plus, my hands were sore, so I wasn't fiddling around with the camera if I could help it.

Seriously, it takes a lot of work to clean and bag that many strawberries.

But it is oh so worth it!



Mmmmmmmmmmm strawberries!

I'm hoping I have a little bit more time this week to blog! :)

Did you have a good, busy week/weekend? 

Saturday, June 19

10 months old!


My baby boy has been such a grumpy bear today... I'm trying to get these done for you, since I know you're wondering what is up, so here you go! I don't have much time to write any words, so just look at these pictures. :)




(Yes, he was walking when I took this. He's walking everywhere now! :D )

















He wouldn't look at the camera or smile! He is getting to be very opinionated... and he's looking so much like his Daddy these days.

10 months old already! Only 2 more months until he's a year old, gahk!!! 

Tuesday, June 15

Touch--up Tuesday!

Why? Because it looked like fun! And I'm waiting for my potatoes to cook so I can mash them, so I have to kill a bit of time, and doing dishes just wasn't as appealing.

Plus, Adeena did it, and she's who I wanna be when I grow up, so I might as well just start copying everything she does. :)
Here's my photo, SOOC...


... and if I could remember what settings I used (I did use manual!) I would tell you. But I don't. So I won't.

Ducky wanted me to pick him up, he's so cute! But I didn't like how shadowy his face is. 


I have Photoshop Elements on my computer, so I used that to edit my photo.






First, I rotated and cropped the photo.
I used the "levels" tool to adjust the shadows and highlights until I liked what I saw.
I sharpened his face, and did a gaussian blur on the background.
I highlighted his eyes with some brightness and contrast, to really make them stand out!
Then I made a new layer, copied the picture, ran a "water paper" filter on the top layer, and reduced the opacity to 15 %. 


And voila! Me likey.










For the B&W version, I ran a "convert to black and white" tool, and then raised the brightness to +24 and the contrast to +60.

I really like how his jean jacket looks in the B&W one! :)













Now go be like Adeena and me and succumb to peer pressure and join in some good old fun at The Bonnie 5!



All about Babies!


This week at i heart faces, it's all about babies!

My baby is 10 months old (tomorrow! eek!), and it is so much fun to be his Mommy!

Ducky loves to be with me all the time, he wants to play and tickle and wrestle and laugh and do everything that I do. If I'm in the kitchen, he's with me. If I go upstairs, he wants to come up, too. And I love to take him everywhere with me! He's the best little buddy there is. 



This is his "Pick me up, Mom!" face. He was a little bit whiny because I wouldn't let him eat handfuls of grass. Aww.
I can't wait to browse through all the other baby photos, I love babies!! This is going to be so much fun!

Go join in, or just go ooh and ahh over all the splendid baby cuteness at i heart faces! Go, go, now! Now! I said NOW! :D



Monday, June 14

I got batteries for my camera!

"FINALLY!" is the general opinion, I'm sure. 

Unfortunately for you, I just got them about two hours ago, and then what with the making of supper, eating of supper, and subsequent dish-washing, I haven't been able to even touch my camera yet. 

Tomorrow I plan on taking pictures of Ducky, one day early for his 10 month photos, so I can enter into the i heart faces competition this week, which conveniently is all about Babies! Since I have one, it should be simple to get a photo of one.  And by simple, I mean excruciatingly difficult. Because he doesn't stay still, ever.

Speaking of Ducky, he has six teeth now. Yes, six. And he's regressed into the "I need to bite Mommy" phase that I thought I had gotten him out of.  I keep threatening to wean him, maybe one of these days I will. I have to start sticking up for myself. I can't just sit back and let everyone bite my nipples, so to speak.  (Sorry if that offends your delicate sensibilities.)

This week has started out well for me, I got my house clean today, did my hip-hop abs workout and then ran on the treadmill for 25 minutes! Yes, 25 minutes. I was very proud of myself. My knee has been feeling great lately, which I gotta give props to God for. There's nothing better than having your bum knee behave itself. Love it. 


Have I ever told you that I love spaghetti? Well, it's true, I do love spaghetti. I even love rice noodle spaghetti, which I'm forced to eat due to my pesky celiac disease.  It was so awesome.... especially with a glass of white wine. I love me some white wine.


In case you haven't noticed, I don't really have a theme for this blog post today. I'm just blathering. Probably because I'm trying to distract you from the fact that I haven't uploaded a picture since last Monday

This just in: My husband rocks. Yesterday he did breakfast dishes, made lunch, and let me use paper plates for supper so I wouldn't have to do dishes last night! It was an awesome day. 


Also, I hate flies. My home has been invaded by flies recently, I think because of the hot weather (makes them all bold and pumps them full of gumption), but on the other hand I have gotten a lot of use out of the flyswatter I bought last year. If you buy something, you might as well use it.


That's all until tomorrow!
~Sarah






Friday, June 11

Every second Friday


... Tyler has the day off.

I love Ty's weekends off. Sometimes they're full to the brim with stuff we have to get done, but sometimes, like today, there isn't much of anything we need to do. 

Today we slept in, had breakfast, watched a movie, I made lunch while Tyler played a hockey game, then we dozed part of the afternoon away until about 2 hours ago when Ty went outside to replace old rotting nails with screws in the steel roof of the shed.  I took Deklan out and played with his big yellow happy face ball in the grass, until it got too warm then we made our way inside.
I'm making breakfast for supper; pancakes, bacon, and hashbrowns! Yummo.

Every once in a while, it's nice to have a lazy day. 

The movie we watched today is called The Book of Eli.  I thought it was very good, and would recommend it to others. I thought the plot was fascinating, the acting was great (Denzel Washington is one of my favourite actors) and the ending was satisfying. I hate a bad ending, The Book of Eli's ending definitely is not a bad ending. I don't want to give too much away, so I'm only going to say that people who have studied Reformation History might find it particularly appealing. :)

I still haven't gotten any new batteries for my camera, which is sadly dead. Not even enough juice to take a picture without flash... that's just sad.  Tomorrow we're going to the Farmer's Market, and we'll probably swing by the mall too, and I'll get batteries then. 

Have a good weekend!

~Sarah

Wednesday, June 9

Rainy Day


I don't know about you, but whenever there is a rainy day I never seem to get anything done.

I always just want to laze about, drink warm mugs of coffee or tea and snuggle underneath blankets to watch a movie.

Is anyone ever productive on rainy days? If you are, could you give me some tips?

I do have to start planning out a couple pieces of artwork today.  I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually.... oh, and Tyler wanted me to make him some banana muffins. I'll do that, later, for sure.

My camera's batteries are dead, otherwise I would have a brand new gratuitous eyelash photo for you... alas, I have none.  You'll just have to imagine.

Is anyone else cold this morning? It's COLD! My toes are cold. My arms are cold. I really, really wish that Tyler had restarted the furnace after he had cleaned it out.  I'm going to make him do it today when he gets home, I can't go on like this!

My coffee is ready (late start this morning) so I'm going to retreat to the warmth and comfort of my chair, cuddle with Ducky, cover my feet with a blanket and watch something on TV. Don't know what yet.. I don't usually watch TV in the mornings, or early afternoons. Is there anything good on? I doubt it.


~Sarah


Tuesday, June 8

Too True Tuesday


This is Stewie!

He was my ringbearer. He was a lot cuter then. Ha, I kid, he's still cute. :)

But, this isn't about Stewie. This is Too True Tuesday!  This story does involve water, though.

When I was little, Mom & Dad used to take us to the beach regularly. My Uncle lived (and still does live) a short walk away from the beach, so we'd go up there for din-din and a swim! I have lots of fond memories about the beach, but one not so fond memory.

It was a windy, windy day, and the waves were absolutely awesome! They were huge, at least to little me.  It was so much fun playing in the shallow water, and having the waves come crashing up and almost knock you over.

I was in the water, playing happily, and suddenly I was knocked head over heels. I didn't even see it coming, but it must have been a gigantic wave, because I was about 10 years old, so not extremely small.... 

It tossed and twirled me over and over and over, and no matter how hard I fought I couldn't escape the wave.  I was panicking, my eyes were wide open and I could see flashes of light but couldn't get to it. There were tiny stones and sand floating around me, and the wave carried me with them as if I were a grain of sand!

I don't know exactly how long I was trapped, but it seemed like an eternity. When I finally found my footing, I stood up and coughed and choked out the water that had forced itself down my nostrils. 

I was further away from shore than I had been when the wave hit me, but it was only up to my waist, and I quickly made my way to the sand, hacking and coughing up the water that had invaded my lungs.

I was embarrassed, so I didn't tell my Mom what had happened. I just pretended that I was cold so I could lay on the towel in the warm sand for a while, and get my breath back.

Then I made a sandcastle. 

The End. 


~Sarah

Monday, June 7

Play!




Brown Boy had his 6th Birthday this past week, but this wasn't his birthday party. 

It was Ava's, she was 3 years old at last and she wanted party hats!

And bubbles.

Anywhere you have bubbles, party hats, cupcakes, and approximately 18 children, there will be play. It's just inevitable.

I chose this picture because I like how I can see Michael's eye through the bubble. :)
Go to i heart faces to see more pictures of play! Or better yet, go play along! 



Friday, June 4

I'm still here...

... I just don't have much interest in blogging this week.

I don't know why.. it just seems like work.

You know how it is.

I'll start again next Monday, fresh and full of ideas! But I am definitely in the middle of a vacation from blogging. I just thought I should let you guys know. 

See you Monday!

~Sarah

Tuesday, June 1

Chalky Toes



 
 

This week at i heart faces, it's Angie & Amy's week off. Instead of having the regular competition, this week is to raise awareness for a charity called Soles 4 Souls. 


About Soles 4 Souls: Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. The charity distributes these shoes free of charge to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away over 7 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently donating one pair every 9 seconds.) The shoes have been distributed to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States. Soles4Souls has been featured in Runner's World, Ladies’ Home Journal, National Geographic’s Green Guide, and The New York Times. It has appeared on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, BBC, CNN and thousands of regional news outlets across North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS and donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Anyone can join our cause, and we need your help.

Soles4Souls