Growing Up

Have you heard of garage lighting?  It's a new fad in the photography world... and yesterday I tried my hand at it.  I'm officially in LOVE with this technique.  All you need is a garage (minus the car) and a big sheet.  I used clamps to hang it from the back of the garage.  The idea behind it is that if you time it just right... you can used a shaded garage for a studio and get amazing light.  To get the amazing light, you have to open the garage door when the sun is shining on the driveway.  The light from the driveway will bounce into the garage and give your subject amazing, soft, balanced light.  All it took was the shade white balance setting to give these portraits a warm glow that I love!

After we did the garage experiment, we went outside and did these shots in the front yard just after the sun had gone behind the house across the street.  I can't believe my luck.  It's rare that I get a cooperative child, and even rarer that I get this many good photos to show off at school.  And yes, I did show them off today!

This last one isn't as focused as I would like, but it shows off his new toothless grin.  It makes me sad to see my baby growing up... and losing those baby teeth  is a painful reminder that it's happening all too fast! 

Self-Serve Breakfast

This is what happens during summer vacation when I get lazy.  The boys decided to make waffles all by themselves.  Aside from the mess Brayden made with the batter, they did a really great job!

Kindergarten Graduation

Yes, it’s true… my baby has graduated from kindergarten.  These kinds of things always make me cry, but this one was particularly hard.  It’s hard to describe why… I’m excited for Brayden to move on and start 1st grade.  But there’s something so final about it this time around. 

The kindies did some fun songs for us… a different version of the ABC song, and a rap version of Old McDonald.  Too cute!

Brayden with Luke (center) and Brian (left).  Luke is his BEST friend.  I am so thankful they got placed in the same 1st grade class together.  There would have been an excessive amount of tears if they hadn’t.

I think this is the reason I’m so sad to move on from kindergarten.  We got the best K teacher EVER!  Okay, Mrs. B from Dublin was right at the top of my list, but Mrs. C could give her a run for her money.  We were so lucky to get her this year!

   

Sea Life

One big perk of having all the kids in school is being able to go on lots of Field Trips.  This year I went with Brayden’s class on every field trip.  This one was especially fun, since they were visiting our new local aquarium and we’ve never been there before! 

This area was very cool – the kids could touch the starfish.  Brayden wanted NOTHING to do with that.  He wouldn’t even attempt to touch anything.  Oh well…

There were a lot of smaller aquariums…

and a couple really BIG aquariums too.

These sharks were residents of the biggest aquarium.  Watching them gives me the willies.

This poor seahorse accidentally got blasted with my flash… I thought it was turned off, but it blinded us both!

This tank had a kiddie tunnel tube… Brayden loved it, but it’s a little too claustrophobic for me!

After the rays were fed, they got pretty frisky and active… getting a picture of them was tricky without using the flash. 

All in all, it was a great visit.  They had a fun playground at the end for the kiddies, which Brayden loved.  In fact, once he heard there was a playground, he didn’t really care about stopping to see the rest of the aquarium… he just wanted to skip the fish and go straight there.   When the kids got back to the school, they had a pizza party in their classroom.  It was a great way to end the school year!

Random April Events

Children’s Museum of Phoenix:

Brayden and I went here with his kinder class for a field trip in February.  He loved it and they gave us all a coupon for one free admission if we came back in the next four months.  I promised him we’d come back over Spring Break, but that didn’t happen because I got sick.  So finally on Good Friday, we went.  (As did every other stay at home mom in the Phoenix metro area.)  It was totally crowded but the boys had a great time.  Ian brought a friend and Brayden finally got to do a project in the craft room, (which was something we didn’t have time for on our last visit.)  The only negative part about the day was the $25 parking ticket I got from parking in a lot across the street that I needed a permit for.  Oh well…

           

This is the boys at the top of the giant play structure.  It’s kinda like a McD’s playground on steroids, but all made from recycled building materials.  It looks really cool in person!

This was the little girls’ room.  The four sink at four different levels cracked me up.  And three of the mirrors have this funky reflector stuff in them, so you can’t even use them.  But they do look cool.

Driving a Stick: 

On Easter Sunday while we were all wishing we could nap off the sugar crash from easter baskets, Grandma decided to take Taylor out for stick shift driving lesson #2.  He did well.  He has the typical boy I-can-do-anything-if-you-will-just-let-me-do-it attitude.  Sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad.  Grandma has more patience in the driver’s seat than I do, that’s for sure.   

America’s Next “Top Shot”?

When’s he’s not asking me to borrow the car, he’s often in the back yard doing this.  He has big dreams of one day being on Top Shot.  We have a friend who sent in an application for Season 4, so maybe we’ll get lucky enough to know someone who’s been on Top Shot.  I like that idea better.

Flutes and Field Trips:

At the end of the month I got to go on a Field Trip with Megan for band.  Her school band performed at a Band Festival in Mesa and then went to Amazing Jake’s afterwards for lunch.  I’ve never been to Amazing Jakes before and I’ve avoided it because it seems so pricey.  But in reality, it’s a pretty good deal, especially if you have time to spend the whole afternoon.  All you can eat buffet (pizza, pasta, salads, drinks, dessert) and games for $15.  Some games are unlimited, and you get a $5 card to play the coin-op games.  I think we’ll have to plan a day to go this summer.  It would be a great way to get out of the heat for an afternoon and enjoy someone else’s A/C. 

   

   

Oranges

Brayden has had a loose tooth for weeks.  I am generally unwilling to traumatize my kids trying to help them get teeth out, so we will wait until they are hanging by a thread and bleeding before we intervene.  Last weekend Brayden’s loose tooth was causing him some distress.  It kept bleeding, but it didn’t come out easily.  So, I had an idea and cut up an orange.  He loves to suck on orange slices.  On slice number four, this is what happened:

The best part about this technique is that all the blood from his mouth was absorbed into the orange slice.  Why didn’t I ever think of this technique before? 

A small part of me is a little sad to say goodbye to Brayden’s baby teeth.  Once they start loosing their baby teeth, their cute little smile is never the same!

Heat Wave

Yesterday we had record heat.  97 degrees on April 1st.  Very uncool April Fool’s Joke by Mother Nature. UGH… I’m not ready for summer!  This has been the first real hot spell this year.  Two weeks ago we were pushing it at 90 a couple days, but it didn’t last long and it still got cold at night.  (Cold at night here translates into the 50’s.)   When the boys got off their bus, they were so hot and miserable.  They decided today would be the first swim day of the year.  Here’s the problem… the pool is only 68 degrees right now.  They didn’t’ let that deter them.

As soon as they went outside I had the thought… GRAB THE CAMERA!  As I rustled around for the camera, I heard the splashes of their cannonballs, but grabbed the camera and ran out the door.  I didn’t know how long they would last in the freezing cold water and I wanted to grab a couple pics.  I was worried that the lens that was on my camera wouldn’t be the right one, it was the 70-300 zoom that Eric got me for Christmas.  But look at the results!  I am in LOVE with these two photos.  In love.  It’s rare I can get Ian to genuinely smile at me.  He is very self conscious of his teeth, and so it tends to affect how he smiles.  You can tell by his eyes that he’s smiling, but he gets to keep his teeth hidden.

And this is the epitome of cuteness.  I know I shouldn’t brag, but I can’t help it sometimes.  And I am so thrilled with how that drop of water is dripping off his chin.  (Taylor thought it was drool.  It’s NOT. It’s pool water.)  Turns out they were shivering after about 5 minutes, so they came inside, wrapped up in jumbo towels, sat down to watch a movie and begged me to make them some hot chocolate.  Not bad for a Friday afternoon. 

Kids Say the Darndest Things

This picture has nothing to do with the post... I just like it!

This morning I was on my bed reading the Book of Mormon with all four kiddos.  This rarely happens anymore because Taylor has to be out the door on school days at 6:15 a.m., but we are on our 2 week fall break, so we all get to be a bit more lazy than normal and spend lots of time together!

Anyway, after the 3 older kids and I had all taken a turn reading, I was helping Brayden read the last couple verses of 2 Nephi, chapter 4.  I was helping him with the very last verse, when he said the funniest thing... it went like this:

Me:  "....therefore, I will lift...."
Brayden:  "therefore I will lift"

M: "...up my voice unto thee...."
B:  "up my voice unto thee"

M:  "....yea, I will cry unto thee, my God..."
B:  "yea, I will cry unto.... wait, did it just say cry?  That's lame... why did they put that in there?"
 
So, we had to interrupt what we were reading to quiet the laughter, and explain that when they say they will "Cry unto God" in the scriptures, that's a fancy way of saying that they are praying unto God. 

At least I know he was paying attention, right?

Back to School Photos

I was so frazzled last year that I never got one single "first day of school".  Not one... and later that week, I could have taken them, but never did... and the longer it got from the first day of school the more I regret not getting any photos of them last year.  So I got extras this year to make up for it.

Taylor had a great first day yesterday.  He liked all his teachers, including the new Seminary teacher, who we have heard nothing about.  His biggest disappointment?  Getting "C" lunch.  We'll have to pack extra snacks for him to eat after he gets done with Swim Academy.

Megan was also nervous about her first day.  We didn't know any of her core teachers going in, but come to find out one of her best friends from the ward next door is in every single class with her but one.  Seriously... what are the odds of that?

Ian had a great day too, despite the fact that his best friend is in another class.  They have been together for 3rd and 4th grade now, and I didn't realize what a comfort that was to my special little homebody.  Last night well after the other kids were asleep, I went into his room to put something away only to find him sobbing in his bed.  Apparently, he didn't make any new friends on the first day, and he doesn't know anyone in his class very well, and he wanted to stay home and be home schooled.  No kidding.  As if staying home with me would solve his problem of making friends.  This kid is the sweetest boy you ever met, but he sure has a hard time with change.   I'm hoping today goes better and he finds a new friend in his class to pal around with.

Brayden was so excited to go to school yesterday.  He did really well, and I didn't get any phone calls after the lunch hour, so he must have survived the cafeteria.  He has a severe dislike of bread and crackers and can smell it from a mile away.  Whenever we sit next to him with those things, he wigs out.  I've been worried sick all summer that he would have a screaming fit on the first day of school when all the kids around him had sandwiches, but he says he was good.  My mother-in-law (bless her soul) came up with the idea for him to "use the Force" to keep the bad smells away from him.  Most of the time it works.  Notice we got him a special Jedi t-shirt to wear on the first day of school to help him remember. 

I felt so bad for him this morning though... I don't think he understood that he's going to school every single morning.  It was hard to convince him that he had to put the Lego's away and get dressed and ready this morning.  If it wasn't for the promise that he would get to ride the school bus to school this morning, I would have had a real battle on my hands. 

Just walking to the bus stop gets you hot and sweaty right now... can't wait for things to cool down a little bit.  He was so excited to get on the bus today... thank goodness all the buses are now equipped with a/c.

Now I just need to prepare myself for the meltdowns tonight.  They are inevitable for the next two weeks while the kids get used to their homework load, their new teachers and the routine.  Maybe I should make a trip to Dollar Tree to arm myself with some good old' fashioned bribery.  Works like a charm!