For Christmas my wonderful sister in law, Michelle, gave me a group on for an online photo class from Flying Photo School and I finally got a chance to redeem it for this month. After much consideration I decided to take the Creative Composition class to make my photos more dynamic and interesting. I have been learning lots about:
Leading lines
Rule of thirds
Framing:
Silhouettes:
Reflection:
Macro:
And quite a few other concepts. I was a little disappointed that week 4 ended up being mostly review, but I did get the tip to use a telephoto lens to get good photos of them without stopping the action. I would like to take more online photography classes so if you have heard of any good ones I would love to hear about it.
I have to apologize, it seems that every time the kids have surgeries I stop writing in the blog almost completely. I'm afraid it is mostly because we tend to lay low during the three weeks the kids have casts on and don't do much. Yesterday the kids had their casts removed and we can do fun things again! Jason was excited, but nervous going into the hospital to get his cast off. He kept asking if it was going to hurt and if he was going to have a scab. It didn't hurt and he didn't even have much of a scab. I had forgotten that the Doctor had put a pin in his finger to try to straighten it out during his surgery. When Jason found it he tried to pull it out himself and had to be restrained until a nurse was available to take it out for him. Unfortunately, Jason inherited his mother's tendency to pick and has happily made it his hobby to pick the dry old skin off his hand and arm. I just hope he doesn't make it raw.
Elizabeth was much more easy going and let us take off her cast without too much angst. She had a much more extensive surgery and had much more scabbing than Jason. She is very willing to show everyone her fingers though. She even gave a high five with her new fingers to one of the nurses. She certainly has her own little issues though, we had to go through a couple of hard nights when we told her she didn't need any more medicine. I think she likes the taste and asks for it even when she isn't hurting. Both kids have been tentative to use their new hands, but from past experience that is normal and will wear off in a few days. Hopefully I will have some more interesting things to post in the next few weeks.
In other news I have been taking an online photography class (more on that towards the end of the month) and sometimes I take photos that don't show the principle we are working on, but I love none the less. I figured I would share some of those with you guys.
I can't believe our sweet girl is turning two today. I know I complained about her a bit last post, but she is normally a real sweetheart. Our girl loves to cuddle tons and tons. Her vocabulary is amazing and I love how much she talks to us (especially after Jason wouldn't.) She still has a little Irish temper, but she cools down quickly. She doesn't know how to respond when some one (especially her brother) apologizes to her so she will say sorry right back. Sometimes Jeff calls her our strawberry shortcake because she loves her strawberries, we always have some in the fridge. It is a little concerning how much she loves to run around without pants on, so we hope she grows out of that! Just the other day she was wondering around the house telling us she was "the prettiest princess ever ever ever". SO CUTE! I thought by now Elizabeth would fall into a nickname, Lizzy or Betsy or Beth, but she is still Elizabeth most of the time so that may not happen until she is older or happen at all. I made a slideshow of her first two years and it really felt like these past two years have passed in a blink of an eye. In addition I realized she had some outfits that I really loved! When I asked Jason what he would say about his sister to someone who didn't know her and he said, "she helps me when I need help with something." The older Elizabeth gets the more and more they like to play together. That is one of the most wonderful things to see as a mother!
Elizabeth you are our wonderful sweet girl and we love you so much!
So many times this weekend I caught myself thinking how much Jason has grown up. It was contrasted by Elizabeth who has entered the terrible twos a week early. There were lots of little things that made me realize Jason has really become a big boy. Every time he needed to get dressed or changed for bed he just got it done. He put his clothes in the hamper and picked his clothes or PJs and got into them. He did great ice skating and didn't get upset at all even when he fell over and over again. He cleans up his toys when we ask most of the time and while we were out back doing yard work he helped a lot cleaning up the debris. There are so many little things, but they really make a big difference when you put them all together.
Elizabeth on the other hand seems to be battling us about everything. She wants to drink all the time and that makes potty training more difficult. She doesn't want to sit in the stroller or be carried or hold hands. I can not count how many times during the day I hear "I do it" even when I know she won't be able to do it. I know this is a phase that all kids go through, but it would be nice if the terribleness was kept to a minimum. I'm even more concerned because on Friday both kids are having hand surgeries again. Elizabeth was the most difficult last time because she wants to hold everything, but doesn't have enough hands. It sure is a good thing she is cute!
So you guys remember the car that we got Jason for his birthday, he likes it and his sister loves it. So that he could keep up Jeff got a bike, well instead of his car Jason wanted to follow Dad around on his tricycle. So Jeff and Jason rode around the block like that a few times and we knew we had to get Jason a big bike. Jason was SO excited, but we were having a hard time finding a bike that fit him just right at some of the more affordable stores. He was so discouraged that at one point he said that he would just rather ride his tricycle. Finally we tried the Richardson Bike Mart, which was where we got Jeff's bike from. It was pricier than we wanted, but Jason loved it! He tried out a couple and we think this one fits him best.
Now he loves to go out cycling with Dad and gets upset when Jeff goes out on his own. Jason is getting a bit big to ride in the stroller so we put our double in the attic and on our most recent walk I had Jason ride his bike next to me. We do have a few kinks to work out, there is really no way to bundle him up really well when Jason is riding, so mornings can get a bit chilly. Also Jason can ride his bike downhill faster than I can walk so we have to work on him slowing down. Jason isn't the only one getting in on the bike riding action. Jeff also installed a child seat on the back of his bike. Elizabeth has only gotten to ride on it once, but she seemed to like it.
It is looking more and more like I need to get a bike to keep up with the rest of my family!
With two little ones it can get pretty tough to get out and spend some time together alone. Jeff and I didn't get to go out on valentine's day so instead we used the collaborative efforts of our parents to get away for a few days of skiing. My parents lent us their condo at a ski resort and Jeff's watched the kids while we jetsetted to the mountains. Jeff and I took a lesson our first day and felt like stars. I'm not sure if we needed a more advanced class or if the other people in the class needed to be in a lower one. We started the class with 5 of us and one lady left early on due to altitude sickness, then another girl got to cold and left after lunch and then there were three. The worst part was the other guy was AWFUL! I mean the class would stop in one place and he would stop 10 feet away and not be able to get to us reliably. He was out of control and Jeff and I were concerned to go down the hill anywhere near him. Thankfully no skiers were injured, but the same can't be said for at least one tree on the mountain.
Then next day we spent half of the day skiing and then went down the mountain to Denver for some shopping and movies. We took a break from skiing the next day and went snowmobiling in the morning and tubing in the afternoon. We kept saying that Jason would have LOVED the tubing. We rode this moving sidewalk type of thing up the hill and of course Jason would have loved tubing down! The day after that was our last day so we spent another half day skiing, returned our skis and headed back down the mountain for an early dinner and our flight back home.
On our return we discovered that our kids had been complete angels for their grandparents and we were so excited to see them! We left a few days later and have been returning to life as usual since we got home on Sunday.
