Off-Camera Flash-- It's about Time!

So this past weekend, I was blessed enough to attend an off-camera flash workshop (OCF) in Boston. This is a technique that I've wanted to learn (let alone, master) for a long, long while. I still have a long, long way to go, but I've had some fun learning. Taking your flash off of the camera creates more dynamic photos. The lighting that you can achieve is awesome. Here are a couple from my workshop and a couple from my own plays (in my own yard!).



Notice the shorts and tee-shirt indicating an unseasonably warm March. I think we had temps in the mid-80's this week! Wouldn't mind a March like that every year! My trees and bushes are blooming beautifully!

Thanks for reading!

The Dog Days

So we are a dog family now.

D-O-G.

How can something only three letters long cause sooooooooo much trouble? So far we've thrown away two pairs of chewed up shoes, two sippy cup lids, shampooed the rug two or three times, spot cleaned the rug about 200 times, retrieved tens of items from Merelle's mouth (Ted's PlayStation remote, the Tivo remote, Ted's phone, Eliot's toys, boots, shoes, pillows, blankets, wrappers, a cake, other food, the list really does go on...

It's truly like having another child. When I go out with Eliot it feels like such a RELIEF to only have to worry about ONE! But, as we're finding out, that's not true, as Merelle is an escape artist. She bends her crate and unlocks it with her nose. Usually, when we get home, Merelle has escaped from her crate, and yes, has caused MORE trouble. When she doesn't escape, I'm PRETTY sure she barks the entire time we're gone. In fact, that's how I know if she's out or not before I even unlock the door; if she's barking, she's still in the crate and if it's silent, she's gotten out-- again.

Okay, so it's not ALL bad. Merelle keeps Eliot entertained in the backyard for hours, which is fantastic. It's like he's got a constant playmate and companion which really is heart warming. Oh, and Ted's in love and the love is definitely mutual.

Then again, my poor cat won't even come upstairs. It's been a week and a half since Milo's been upstairs. We've been keeping the gate locked at the top of the stairs to keep them separate and not to force them on each other, but they see each other from time to time.. and.. Merelle barks at Milo, scaring him and causing him to retreat to under the bed. Poor Milo. I make sure to spend lots of time with him downstairs. Milo has my heart. Merelle has some proving herself to do.

Alas, what's a post without some pics. Enjoy!

Merelle

So Ted's wanted a dog his whole life. Actually, I think he'd take any kind of animal. He's often said he wants a donkey. A dog. Hmm... maybe not such a big deal. We have a house now.. and a yard. Let's get Ted (and Eliot) a dog. It seemed like a good idea.

We went to the rescue down the street from us twice. Neither time did we find a dog that clicked with our family (maybe I should have taken that as a sign). Ted searched through online listings of fostered dogs that needed adoption. That's when I saw a photo of sugar plum:

Oh, that face! She is half german shepard and half shar pei. BUT she's a puppy. I agreed to a DOG, NOT a puppy. I said no. A day later, after we didn't get a different dog we inquired about (whose best friend happened to be a cat), I changed my mind and told Ted I liked Sugar Plum and he could inquire as to how to go about adopting her. After a lengthy adoption form and interview (and a hefty adoption fee), she was ours... we just had to wait two weeks until the truck would bring her to a New Hampshire rest stop.

Alas, it was March 3rd. Adoption Day. We drove up and waited close to an hour for our pup to arrive. Then we saw the truck. We scurried over to see all the dogs getting delivered to their new owners and homes. It was truly heart warming. Then I saw her; OUR dog-- still in her crate, just waiting to be given to her new family. I called her name and I think she heard me. Then it was our turn and they turned over Sugar Plum to us. I had been in a funk that day-- having just lost my Papa-- and the dog literally turned my frown upside down. I felt so happy and thought we definitely made the right choice.


We decided to change her name to Merelle in honor of my late Papa (Merrill). After all, a dog is a part of the family. She's already responding to her new name. However, fast forward 3 days and I am finding being a dog owner quite stressful. The trouble she can get in in such a short amount of time-- oh, and did I mention she's not house trained? Cleaning up poop and pee isn't my idea of fun. It's like having a newborn. She requires much more attention than my 4 year old cat, that's for sure.

Ted, however, is in love. He actually told her he loved her the day we got her (even faster than he told me he loved me!). As I type this, she is whining and barking upstairs wanting attention. Milo is not a fan. Eliot likes the dog pretty much, but admits she is stressful. I asked if he wanted to keep the dog or give her back, and he told me he wanted to keep her. So stay tuned for more in the adventures of Merelle.

Florida 2012

It's been almost a month since we had our vacation in Florida. So much has happened since then that it's hard to remember all the details that I would normally blog about. As soon as we came back, I spent a lot of my time trying to get my Papa to the right doctors and making sure he was well taken care of. I miss him so much. I still can't believe he's gone and it makes me so sad to think he'll never come on a family adventure with us again. We did so many things that included Nana and Papa; The Polar Express, 4th of July Parade, Florida, Santa Land in Laconia, Clark's Trading Post, the zoo, the list goes on... my heart just aches.

Even though Papa was sick and couldn't go to Florida this year (not that Nana wanted to), Ted, myself, Eliot, Emily & Derek took a vacation to the Orlando area. Our cousins, Lois & Shelby came and stayed with us for a couple of nights. Just like last time, Eliot took quite the liking to Shelby. She's all he wanted! He kept calling her 'that girl' "Where'd that girl go?"

I took Shelby's senior pictures and we all went to a petting zoo together which was actually quite cool. Eliot (and myself and Ted) got to milk a cow (her name was Sweet Lips). We all chased and caught chickens (and Ted caught a duck too). We held baby chicks and baby ducks, we went on a tractor hay ride, and got to touch and play with other cool animals too.


Then, of course, there were days by the pool. We had pretty good weather this year for most of our trip. If Eliot had it his way, we would have stayed in that pool the entire week.



Alas, we went to Disney's Wild Animal Kingdom. The best part of that was the open air safari ride. We got to see animals in the 'wild' such as hippos and cheetahs, giraffes, and elephants. It was definitely the coolest part. The not-so-cool part was the waiting in line. We had to wait about 30 minutes in line for each thing we did-- good thing we only did about 3 things. All in all, I think we all agreed that the petting zoo place was overall a better experience than Disney's Wild Animal Kingdom-- and 1/3 of the price too. Another moment at the Animal Kingdom, though, was standing in line waiting to meet Eeyore. We all know how Eliot's been attached to his Eeyore stuffed animal (a little less lately). He has collected 3 Eeyores and one puppy on a string and he calls them his cousins "Mom, can you make sure you bring up my cousins when you get up?" He's so cute. Anyway, him meeting Eeyore was beyond adorable. It was like he was star-struck. He couldn't believe he was meeting the REAL Eeyore! So sweet!

Rest in Peace, Papa Dick. I Love You Forever.

I am so sad to be writing this blog post. The man that I have called "Papa Dick" from the time I could speak has passed away this morning. He was more than a grandfather to me. He was a friend, a father figure, good company, a good man, and someone who adored my baby boy... and my baby boy adored him. Anyone who knew him can consider themselves lucky.

He had bowel ischemia and it was found too late. We did everything we could for him. I found him a primary care doctor, we took him to see specialists, they did every test a man could get and it wasn't until this past Friday that they finally found something. At first, they wanted to treat it conservatively, but in no time at all, his condition escalated and he needed emergency surgery. He came through the surgery OK, but the stress of it all was too much for his body and he was ready to go... but we weren't ready to lose him.

One of the last times that I saw him awake, he was on life support and not without a million other tubes coming out of every opening of his body. I said "I love you, Papa." He tried to open his mouth to say "I love you too." I knew he did. Then I said "I'll see you tomorrow" and he shook his head "no." Nana said "Do you love me?" And he shook his head "yes." so we knew he was ready to go. This world has lost a wonderful man and too soon.... too suddenly.

I have a copy of his license that I have placed in my wallet so I can carry him with me wherever I go. I love you, Papa Dick. Rest in Peace.

Pinterest is the Best Idea Ever!

So for those of you who have been living under a rock Pinterest.com is a website where you can go and create virtual pin boards. If I'm on a cooking website (yeah right) and see a recipe that I really want to try (again, yeah right), I can pin it to one of my virtual pin boards on Pinterest. I can name all my Pin boards whatever I want to... some of my names are Perfect Poses (photography inspired portrait poses), Gifts to Make (Ideas that I see online that I'd like to make someone as a gift), Kids (ideas to do with Eliot) and many, many more! There's a pin board for every area of life.. and then some. It's AWESOME! And what's even better is that you can look through OTHER people's pin boards to get ideas that they have pinned. (I swear I don't get paid to endorse this company-- It's just THAT awesome).

So anyway, this Winter, we've spent some time playing with some of the ideas I've found on Pinterest and other websites. First we did the water beads (see previous post). Then I did colored shaving cream painting:

The shaving cream comes right off. We even left it up there all day so Eliot could show Daddy his masterpiece and we had no problem wiping it right off-- no stains!

And some of Eliot being goofy in the water:




And then just this morning, I gave Eliot some Styrofoam, nails, and a small hammer and let him go to town. This was MESSY. Not the project itself but the aftermath and the toddler that doesn't listen to his mother when she tells him not to break up the Styrofoam. Even the vacuum couldn't get all those tiny white pieces up!


And of course, digging nails back up with (what else?) trucks:


I think that Pinterest is Eliot approved ;)