Into each life, rain must fall...

...so we teach our children to celebrate and revel in the opportunity! Couldn't resist, once, I saw these the quote jumped into my head. We fortunately only had a downpour as the tail of hurricane Hannah passed us by. The kids had so much fun jumping in the puddles and running around.
I had to play with some of the new BnW techniques that were posted in my challenge on 2Ps. I'm likng this one a lot. I converted them in channel mixer, then did a slight cureves adjustemnt. I'm really digging black and white at the moment. Don't be surprised if a few color shots show up tomorrow, though- the rain makes all the green so vibrant, it's hard to pass up.

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First day of second grade

She was thrilled with herself- a big kid off to her big kid school- grades 2-5. Ever the princess, my oldest. She is just getting so big so fast. Sometimes I'd like to freeze a few days. Wednesday morning was one of those times, for sure!

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A few favorites from the beach

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I found a mermaid!!!

What do you think- she taold us if we captured her, we got one wish. Mine came true.
:0)

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Miss "K"

I was inspired to shoot while up at the lake. Unfortunately, my model was determined to not have fun. I'm generally pleased with these, but am mad I didn't diffuse my flash or shot with it off camera, as I ended up with pinlights from using it for fill. I WILL NOT HAVE FUN.

This one freaked me out a little when I opened it, because she doesn't look 7 to me. She looks much, much older. Please don't rush growing up, my little girl.
Rebel without a cause. I couldn't resist. I told you she didn't want to sit for me!

Thanks for looking. For anyone who is interested, here are my settings:

All were taken with my 100m lens. ISO 250.

1. 1. 1/200, f/8; TV mode (b/c I was using fill flash and couldn't figure out what I was doing!!!); flash at -1/3 ex.
2. 1/320, f4.5, manual, no flash. +.25 exposure in ACR.
3. Also manual, fill flash. 1/200, f 6.3, 250 ISO.
4. same :)
5. 1/200, f6.3, manual, fill flash at -1/3.

Thanks for looking, and as always, cc is appreciated!

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My DH (Dear Husband)

He's so good to me. I was frustrated when I shot a few quick shots with my "go to" 100mm and they were soft. So I asked him to stay still for a few minutes so I could figure out what was happening (backlit, so contrast was a bit dull). I love his expression here- "Really, if you need to... but you know I hate this, right???" mixed with amusement with my persistance in pursuing nailing the image.
Love you, Buddy!
Settings: 100mm, ISO 250, 1/100, f/4, exposure compensation -0.33 (AV mode).

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Pet of the week, Lil Frog

So here's the Pet of the week. S saw this little frog in the grass at Nonna and Poppy's house this weekend. So, Nonna let her build a habitat in their water table on the deck. The first one is Captain Frog aboard the SS OH.NO.
But she's afraid of flies????

Look at how TINY this little guy is. Nonna picked a leaf from the fig tree to be his float. Lucky froggy!

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Sisters picking clovers

This one jumped out at me when I was uploading the weekend's pictures. They are spending a few days with Nonna and Poppy- I miss them!!!

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SnuggleBug

"I'm tired. I've been sick. I've got my Daddy. Step away from the camera." that's what I'm reading in her eyes...

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S's Pet of the Day

My crazy S. She loves animals; birds, dogs and cats. And bugs that crawl. She's terrified of flying bugs, and come to think of it, isn't to fond of bugs with feet either. Unless they're long and worm-ish. What can I say, she's odd. When I was gardening, S created a "worm garden"- a whole little habitat in a glass bowl with the things worms need- dirt, leaves, sticks, a pebble or two, and an occasional flooding of water (so they can be happy!). She finds interesting bugs, worms etc. all the time. This particular critter was at Hobie's house. As you can probably tell, after swimming. She lovingly held him, talked to him and had great plans for how he could happily co-exisit with our two cats. That is, until he tradgically fell off the picnic table (he was sharing dinner with us) right between the slats in the deck (lucky guy- the fallt hat probably saved his life). Because he certainly was NOT traveling in our NEW CAR up to our home to live in a jar in S's bedroom as was her plan. Anyway, without further ado, we are pleased to introduce, "Inchy"

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Our fig tree

My FIL has a few fig trees,that have matured in the last few years. My DH, along with many others in our family and friends, love the fig trees. After some research, I found that fig trees can be grown in containers, and brought in during our cold winter to be dormant but not freeze. It was a great surprise, and he is now uber excited about his "fig farm"- because he is who he is and of course wants five more : 0
This is a pic of a few of our baby figs. It tickles our Italian American family roots, and those of our neighbors as well. So we're celebrating our heritage, while putting our NY-American, living in a townhouse, spin.
I plan to take a photo every few weeks to document our new venture.

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Thanks JenH!

Thanks for sharing your vintage actions, Jen!
I've had lots of fun playing with them tonight. Here's one from a photo from mother's day I really like...

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Baby K

Just a few peeks at Baby K, who we FINALLY got to meet today! The girls and I were to happy to met our friend J's baby brother. I really was just snapping away in the late afternoon/early evening yummy sunlight, and wanted to share these few that just made me smile. Sorry, no sharing his beautiful little perfect face with the whole of Blog World.

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Poppy

This is Poppy. He is another man in our lives who has our respect and love. He has a special place in my heart because he is so similar to my wonderful DH. He is so easy going, and always has a million different ways that he shows his love to his family. Between building, gardening, driving, chipping in, being there- Poppy is always on it.
Poppy allowed Miss K help him prepare the ground for the garden. He taught her so much, and she loved spending the time with him.
He gave the girls turns riding/driving the tractor. They felt like they were the coolest kids around. Hey, they were!
And here's a shot basking in the sun with DH's grandma, his mom. Family is so important to him; he treasures geneology and hertiage. He has a vast collection of family photos, films, DVD's, 8 mms, etc. as well as books about Italy and American politics. But we won't talk about politics :0)

Poppy has an amzaing ability to listen, and make you feel what you have to say is important. He loves to laugh and have a good time; when he finally finishes his projects of the day, and after dinner, it's all about laughing and sharing good times.

So, today I thought I'd share why we love Poppy so much.

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Another chapter in a novel of life

"The Da"

It's time to talk about the Da. That's an Irish word for grandfather, and it's what my kids call my dad. I call him Da now, too.
This picture just makes me laugh. It's a silly snapshot I took last ime he was over for a little get together; I'm sorry to say it isn't very flattering (he's a handsome guy, I have to tell you!). But if you look at his eyes, you can clearly see the twinkle of mischief. He is always into mischief. He loves to tease, and loves to laugh. I love that about him. He and I can get going, so that we are just giggling and guffawing at some silly something. He can have a "raw" kind of humor, or he can just delight in the latest political goof up.
My Dad is a wonderful life partner for my mom. He is a lot of fun; but he also will stop and talk and have great debates. He is very knowldegeable about current events- a friend of the family teases that she feels the need to "read up" on current events before they get together.
My Dad has a kind heart, and is compassionate.
He chips in to do his share, making sure that he does his part. Growing up, Saturday mornings were for cleaning. Dad, Mom and I all were equally busy (of course, I always thought they made me do all the hard work :) ), each taking part in keeping our home clean and sparkling. Dad is the one who cooks, and as a general state of being, is someone you count on.
Dad is someone who loves to pull pranks, and who growing up would share all sorts of fun stories. I used to wish I knew Dad as a teen and young adult- I think we would have had a ball together. Now I know I would have had fun- but I wouldn't want anyone else as my dad.

In some ways, Dad and I are a lot alike. So no one can make him crazier than me (except of course his mother, but that goes without saying, right? ;) ). We used to get into the typical teen- I wanna be a grown up versus adult- you are my kid and will behave accordingly- which I love and respect him for. But even though we can both get crazed, and even though we both get fairly loud, he taught me some of the most valuable lessons of anger.

-getting loud is just volume- it doesn't mean you lose repect or care for the other
-being mad is temporary
-shouting might feel good, but it doesn't help you be heard :)
-always, always say sorry when you are calm and mean it
-always come back after tempers are lost, and talk out the problem with reason.

My dad taught me that a temper can be loud and uncomfortable, but he also ALWAYS came back after a row to "fix" it. It was never framed as "I'm right, you're wrong". Well, it was sometimes, but only if he was. It was more about, "I'm sorry I lost my temper. What I want you to know is...". It is such a gift. I grew up knowing anger is something that happens. I grew up knowing a good fight doesn't mean a thing in the feelings you have for someone else, so long as you "fight fair". I grew up knowing that although he might be furious with me, my dad always, always loves me.

That is such a powerful gift to give me.
In addition to the family gene for chocoholism.
And love of a great story.
And the joy of laughing till you cry.





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