Photo Friday

Well, this week we landed on the "Morgan's Reunion-03". There was a cute shot of Kevin with his head in the apple bucket, but I didn't think posting his "honey buns" would be good. So I went with the next one in line. As you know, part of my reason for the photo roulette, if you will, is to find new pictures to play with. It's also a great trip down memory lane. I get a bit overwhelmed when I look at how many pictures we have. This way I can edit a bit at a time and not freak out. I posted both pictures so you can see the before and after...I think I like the original, his blue eyes are just like Robs-beautiful! I'm still trying to figure out how to pull color into a b/w...we'll see if I can do it-then I'll post that one too.

I ♥ Faces-Creative Crop

Monday, Monday-my new favorite day of the week. This week at I ♥ Faces we get to do a creative crop. We find an ok picture and turn it into something marvelous (hopefully). So again I chose my favorite subject (sorry boys). Ryan was sitting at the counter having breakfast and I had just gotten my camera for Christmas. I was crazy woman, walking around snapping all kinds of pictures. I thought this one was great.

Then I got hooked on this great little site called I ♥ Faces and I realized a great shot wasn't just point and click. It was editing and cropping as well. Ryan is my focal point so I had to zero in on her. I got some free software and started playing around...

Now that I cropped it down, I moved the square over a bit to set her off center. A few touch ups here and there with the filter, contrast and sharpness and viola!...my new masterpiece. I love it and wanted to share it. For other pictures about creative cropping, go to I ♥ Faces.

Fun Photo Friday

This week we land in the New Smyrna beach file from 2005. I had to laugh at this roll for a bunch of reasons. First off, my parents are there now visiting with my aunt Marcia and uncle Paul, weird coincidence. Second, we took this picture as a joke, pile all the kiddos on the couple with no offspring. Well , I got a picture on FB this week of my cousin Kristy and she's lookin' so cute and pregnant with their first child. The kids in the picture belong to Rob & I, and my cousin Matt & his wife Maureen (Mo). I think Kristy and Dennie were into the photo but not too many of the kids were-they wanted to get down to the beach and play.

Happy weekend everyone!

I ♥ Faces-MESSY

Yippiee, I received a 5th place for this photo and I ♥ Faces gave me this cool button as a prize:) I can't wait to enter next week! If you want to see all the winners from week 8, click here:
I ♥ Faces-Winners Week 8

Yahoo! This week on I ♥ Faces--is MESSY. Anyone who knows Ryan, knows we have a plethora of "Messy" photos. When she went through the "two's" she went through the distructo-two's...it was WAY messy, anything from kitty litter sandcastles, to dumping an entire bottle of fuchsia nail polish on our carpeted bathroom floor (she thought her nails were beautiful). She finally outgrew it but we still have pictures. Go to http://www.iheartfaces.com/ to see what all the mess is about...

Getting ready to sit down for Thanksgiving dinner and we can't find Ryan. We discovered her in the upstairs bathroom trying to look presentable for dinner. I guess she thought she knew how to do her mascara from watching mommy and Gran.

I think it looks even better in B/W because it makes her eyes stand out more and mascara kind of -"pops" out at you...A HUGE thank you to Karyn on I ♥ Faces, her tutorial on photo size, made this picture larger then life.

This week they have a beginners category (yahoo!)

"You’re a beginner if you can answer yes to 3 or more of these questions...

• Have you recently started taking photos or taking photography more seriously?

• Do you have NO idea how your camera works yet?

• Are your skills average or below average?

• Are you clueless when we talk about Aperture?

• You don't even know what editing means.... let alone have an editing program for your photos?

• Are you willing to be open for constructive criticism from the other participants?"

So if you've been intimidated in the past-now is your week click on the button to get details.

Photo Friday-Let the good times roll!

Hey all, this week we rolled into The Disney 2006 File. Next stop was the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique in Downtown Disney. If you haven't been-it is a super fun treat for any little princess in your family. Ryan was so excited to do this (especially since she missed out on other things by having a broken arm). While they work on the princess their back is to the mirror and then the fairy Godmother dramatically spins them around to see their reflection. Ryan was having fun making faces at Gran and I while she was getting all dolled up--what a lady, can't you tell? :)

This picture is a classic in the HomerHouse. The dice actually landed on the picture before, but it was of Fairy Godmother Margrets' backside and that's no fun...so I deleted that pic and this one popped up-yay!

I ♥ Faces-Week 7: Black and White

It's Monday and time for I ♥ Faces!! This week's the theme is Black and White, one of my favorites. If you would love to see all the entries for week 7 go to www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com or click the button below:

For my kids entry it's our daughter Ryan, again. She is growing up so fast and I am trying to soak it all in, hence the camera and gazillion shots. This picture is of her first time in the street when learning to ride her two-wheel bike. I love the light coming in. At 5 she easily made her brothers work extra hard to keep up with her...

This is Rob, my hubby, and high school sweetheart. We will be married 13 years this September (yay, lucky me!!) and in all that time I only have a handful of great pictures of him.
This is one of my favorites!♥!

Jonesboro Meet

This weekend was the "Last Chance" meet in in South Atlanta. It was a really exciting meet for all of our friends that were really close in making State cuts. Jared's kind of close in a couple events-but I expect that he might make State next year or the year after. No worries! He swam great and even added a new event-the 200 Breast. I was so proud of him, the only 9 year old in the event! He was right on all his times and he set 6 personal bests out of 9 events---AWESOME!! He had 1 DQ for a brain burp in the 50 Fly-he shaved off 8 seconds but stagger touched on the turn. He knows better and was not happy with himself. Live and learn. :) He's FINALLY starting to not do the anxiety dance every time he's on the block. He's getting more relaxed, figuring out how to get to his lane on time and clear his mind before the race. His starts this weekend were FANTASTIC, I didn't take the camera today, but next time I will get a better shot of him up on the blocks. Here's one of him from practice.Ryan did great yesterday and ok today. She had a new event on Saturday-the 100 back and we were super happy that she broke a 59 seconds for her 50 free. Today she started with the 100 free and that tuckered her out for the 50 breast and back. It's ok since she DQ'd on the backstroke (past parallel on the last stroke to touch the wall). She still swam her heart out and had a great time-that's all that matters. If you're keeping track, she broke 2 (out of 5 events) personal best times this weekend. Oh, and brag alert-we were happy to see that she earned a middle lane for her 50 breast. That's the only time she's been in the middle that wasn't a NT (no-time) race. That means she was seeded higher then anyone else in the heat. :):) Our friends from church have a son, Kyle, who adores Ryan. They spent most of the weekend together. We were SO excited that Kyle made the State cut for his 200 Breast-he missed by 1/100 of a second last year. Ryan rooted him on all the way!!
Here's a shot of her with her coach, Karen. I'll have to get a shot next time of Coach Falco-I think he'd take her home with him if he could ;)

Coach K and Pinkie

Photo Friday-On Satuday

Yesterday got away from me so I will do our random picture today instead...first roll was for the Costa Rica file, then we landed on 2007 trip, then Rick's camera (versus mine, Lars' and Bob's) and then we finally stop on this picture of Kevy and I. Good rolls, I don't usually end up in the front of the lens...

I ♥ Faces-Wisdom

This week's theme is ~Wisdom~ for the I ♥ Faces blog. To see all of this week's entries go to www.iheartfaces.com
or click the link below

For my kid entry I had to chose this one of Jared from Christmas. We were outside learning how to ride bikes without training wheels. The younger two were out and about, trying to get it right. Jared wasn't so sure this adventure was for him. He got on the bike and looked like he was having a conversation with himself, either that or he was making a deal with his bike. Regardless of his apprehension, he was two-wheeling in no time. He just needed the confidence to get out there. I love this picture of his sense of wonder....For the adult entry, I picked my dad. Honestly there are few in the world I would consider "wise" but my dad is at the top of the list. When I got my new camera for Christmas, my entire family just got used to the sound of me running around snapping shots of everyone. I was right next to my dad for this one, I wonder what he's thinking...

Photo Friday

Alright, I'm starting something new. When I started going through all my old photos for pictures to enter in I ♥ Faces, I saw some really cute old pics. My plan is to roll dice and find an album, roll the dice again for which picture. Complete random pictures every Friday. This will also help me with my editing skills---which need lots of help! Hey, it could be fun...we'll give it a shot.
Today's picture is:This is from the Easter File, Lake 2004. Ryan looks so stinkin' cute. Too bad her basket is mostly empty-the boys knew what to do and they were getting the job done-fast. She looked like a deer in headlights for most of the egg hunt.