Snapshot Sunday

Tired little boy. Today was Thanksgiving, Part III, and Sawyer was asleep within minutes of the car ride home. Xander followed shortly thereafter, but he woke up when we got home!

Up Close & Personal

Some of the first pics from Mommy's new toy . . .



Someone slinking back down off the dining room table after swinging from the light fixture (imagine that!). Sawyer has rediscovered an old past time the last few weeks.



Xander looking outside and wishing it was warm enough to play on the slide (Buster, who's lurking the background, wishes someone would take him out for a walk).



The big puppy, laying in one of his favorite spots in the bay window at the front of the house - keeping a close eye on his yard and any trespassers. How would you like to see him barking at you and hopping up and down as you walked by on the sidewalk? Don't let his bark fool you though, he really just wants to play!

Guess how many photos I've already taken with my new toy? It's over a hundred, and it wasn't fully charged until late yesterday! Not all of them are good, mind you, but it's been fun practicing and learning. It's amazing how much better the lighting and flash features work than on my old one, and how detailed the images are. There's no hiding from that powerful lens now! The kids are less enthused, of course, because the Momma-razzi is worse than ever!

(In case you were wondering, Connor is still at the lake visiting with Grandma and Grandpa, so his close up will have to wait until the first of the week!)

A Whole New Level

Say good-bye to my trusty Sony Handycam camera. Not completely, of course, but for still shots this is the end of the line. It will still be extremely useful for DVD video recording, and the occasional still photograph when necessary (as in when I don't want to pack two cameras to events). It was a nice long run, with several thousand digital photos taking up space on our computer and archived on CDs, but it's come to an end.

Say hello to my new toy, the Nikon D60 (the complete kit, with two lenses and a convenient camera bag). I have been coveting a Nikon camera for over a year, and my good husband recently surprised me with that little envelope in the picture. He had Connor hand-deliver it to me one afternoon during a therapy session with Miss April and the little guys. It took me by complete surprise. With the economy and building slow right now, I wasn't expecting such a wonderful early Christmas present. Yes, he's definitely a keeper, that husband of mine.

My gift came on Wednesday, and it's been burning a hole in my pocket ever since. I've been looking online - shopping, comparing, trying to decide what I wanted (or needed) and how to spend my gift money. I liked the ones a step or two above this one (that D90 looks amazing), but decided it was too much to spend on a toy just for me. And, as fate would have it, the local camera store decided to run a three-day after Thanksgiving special on the Nikon cameras. So, I braved "Black Friday" to take advantage of the huge savings over the normal price and managed to get the last one in the store (what timing!). On the way home, I took that savings and invested in something the little guys will love - a portable DVD player for the truck that was also on sale for the holidays.

The D90 would have been nice, but it's too much camera for me right now (and was just too expensive to justify). And the little guys will get years of enjoyment out of that DVD player.

I am, of course, still reading my manual and learning. But it's going to be fun, I assure you. I love taking pictures. Mostly of the kids, but other things, too. It will be a fun challenge and hobby. Who knows, maybe one of these days when I get my kids off to school, it could be more. Either way, it's one of the best gifts ever from an amazing husband and father, and I'm going to enjoy it for a long, long time to come!

While It Lasted

"Daddy always was my favorite," Sawyer thought to himself, after Daddy brought home this amazing blinking light one day. He had seen it at Lowe's a few times, and decided it was worth $30 to amuse his quirky and cool little man.

Lights and motion are one of the things that fascinate Sawyer. He can stand and stare, transfixed, for quite some time. He does this at Cracker Barrel (the blinking stop light that is usually above the restroom entry), at Sam's Club (the scrolling light on one of the check out register lanes that highlights a daily sale), or even just a flashlight that he's holding and knows how to operate.

Finding this little gadget was a great discovery - it was inexpensive, cute and would make Sawyer immensely happy. We had thought about putting it either in the play area (up on a shelf) or in the little guys bedroom (depending on how Xander took to it).

Unfortunately, it didn't last that long.

After about three hours, of continuous blinking, Mommy was getting a headache. So, when the little guys went upstairs for nap / "down" time, I turned it off. When they woke up, I fully expected to turn it back on. As did Sawyer, who immediately went right to where it was sitting on the kitchen counter top. I pushed the button. Nothing. I tried again. Still nothing. It was broken in less than a day.

When Josh got home from work that night, he opened it up and took a look. All the wires were plugged in the appropriate places and everything looked like it should. It had just shorted out, after three hours. We decided against getting a replacement, if that was the life span, and just took it back for a refund.

So much for our great find - guess Daddy will have to keep looking to stay on top of Sawyer's favorite list!

Photo Flashback

The giant puppy, just seven months old in this photo and already huge! (October 29, 2003)