The Second Photography Class

I had my photography class this morning. I emailed Stephen some of my favorites photos I took last week and he said I had some good ones. He pulled our photos on a monitor in a program called LightRoom. In LightRoom, he could edit and do all kinds of shit. I wanted it, so just a few minutes ago, I told Mike about it.  :) The pics below are edited through LightRoom. We had homework again and got out of class a little early.  I grabbed a quick Eileen's Bakery bite and drove to my rules meeting for Derby. 

After that, we drove a bit aways to see the Flying Circus Air Show and it was awesome.

Loops, amazing take-offs, pyramids, wing walkers...

I took a lot of pics at Crypts practice, trying to work in back light and flash, but they all came out horrible. I hope this week I can get something...

The Warm Fuzzy Factor

We've implemented the warm fuzzy reward system that my kindergarten teacher, Ms. Costello used on my class.

Ami earns warm fuzzies by showing voluntary acts of kindness and responsibility as well as completing  her chore (sorting out her and Ollie's clean clothes).

Five warm fuzzies reward her a 23 min long show (Dora, Diego, Curious George... ya know).
If she wants, she can save up her warm fuzzies for two shows or a small toy.

Last night, she had saved up her ten warm fuzzies and decided to get a small toy.
After gymnastics today, we went over to Target where she picked out a hot pink pig piggy bank. It's kind of awesome... she carried it around the store... sometimes putting it on the floor, forgetting it as we walked away. After she realized she had left it and returned to the pig, she said, "I found you, pig!" along with something like, "I won't do it again" or "I'm sorry!"
She also dropped it once, chipping it's ear.

After all this, though, we got home and noticed her pig wasn't in the bag.  I called Target and said we can pick up another one.  She didn't seem to mind too much, though.

I'm sad the picture above turned out so blue :(  I'm glad I learned to change the setting though so I got a warmer shot for the one below.

The egg carton in this picture is Ami's warm fuzzy box. She puts a warm fuzzy in a numbered cup. I left the last cup of each row open, of course. 

Photography Class

I had my first photography class with Stephen Graham.
We talked about the triangle of camera exposure: aperture, ISO, and shutter speed.

This is was our hand out.  It was our hand out exactly.

It makes me feel stunted that I'm going to a class for something that I can get off the internet, but I need the interaction.

Our homework is to take photos over the week and email him a few so he can hook his computer to a monitor for next class and we can go over our photographs.

After my class, I went to a roller derby rules meeting. There I got stuck in a ditch and got pulled out. I also brought chocolate cookies and salty oatmeal cookies. I met a red bone coon hound named Boomer.
I also tried to implement some info I learned from my class and took pictures.
I also took pictures at home...

We played when we got home. I made some food... you know, the usual ish.

Oh!  I made this grilled lemonade vodka spritzer which was really tasty.

I'm just exhausted now.  Mike is home.
Kids are in bed.
I'm going to watch some Don Juan DeMarco and eat some cookies.

Fart Tale...

Last night I was getting Ami ready for bed, and of course, she was prolonging the process.

As I was trying to get her night time diaper on, she was moving. Then she started wiggling her butt.

She said, "I'm wagging my fart tail."

The End.

Derby Workshop and Gymnastics Show

On Saturday, I got up at 3:30am for the first part of the Derby Workshop in Hagerstown, MD.

Ppl have seen my eyeballs that late... but not that early.

Teflon Donna, one of  the top skaters in the US, taught us (not-so-basic) basics like hockey stops and backwards duck walks.

We lined up to hit and be hit, using a cross over for momentum to hit our still and breathing dummy. I got hit so hard I was on the floor for a few seconds longer than I normally am.

I came home around 12:30 and got Ami ready for her date w Nina at the Y.  Nina's kids were having a show for Healthy Kids' Day.

Ami did so amazingly well.

Ami had such a great time and she felt like a big kid. 

Sunday night I went to Part 2 of the Derby Workshop.

We worked on offensive and defensive blocking. I took and gave some hits.

We learned strategy and scrimmaged.

I got home at 12:30am I believe and I was exhausted.

I am so fortunate to have been able to be part of this. I learned so much and will utilize all of it.

Bug Box

One of the rewards on Ami's poopy chart was a trip to the Bug Box. 5 poops rewarded her the trip.

 

This bee toy was probably her favorite thing at the Bug Box. She didn't want to leave it.