Say Cheese(y)!

So just real quick, & unedited...

I'm excited to post some photos, but have to get to sleep before work tomorrow!

We have been seriously spoiled lately. The day after my "me" post, my parents bought me a Disneyland annual pass. Then a few days after my broken camera post, they bought me an early Christmas present... the camera I've always wanted!! (P.S. They don't read the blog so they don't know I even mentioned them here!) Anyways, I'm so, so thank-full. My parents-in-law also spoiled us (& saved us) because our washer machine broke and I came home from work last week with a brand new one already installed & whirring away. I can't believe it! What a burden lifted! I don't know what to say about all of this, except that I do feel a bit spoiled right now. Christmas came early for me, and it was way more than I could have ever asked for!!! Thank you thank you! What an amazing surprise. (Plural, I guess! SurpriseS)

On to the photos, though. This is mostly what I did today. Take photos. Of my backyard, garden, kids, inanimate objects (including a basketball, a Christmas ornament, a candle holder, a slug, the stucco wall...) I'm just fascinated by the detail I can capture and by how close I can get, the crispness of the images. I'm loving playing with my lenses & my speeds. I'm in heaven! And whenever I'm holding it, I'm extremely nervous-- I'm so afraid of breaking it! (Did I ever mention that at any given time there could be a lincoln log or matchbox car in my path? Or little hands pulling on whatever I have in my hands? It's truly scary!)

Here was an exciting moment for me. MID-JUMP photos!!!!! I can't even tell you how envious I've been of those mommies who have been able to capture mid-action shots. But now I can! Jake had so much fun jumping into the laundry pile today. I let him, simply so I could practice snapping away.

& the safe landing

Austin watching his brother

A diamond in the rough... I mean, a tomato.

Murder she wrote. This is a shot of her final moment. I'm pretty sure I had no qualms with the idea of using pesticides/chemicals/poison at this point. I'm sorry, black widow lovers. She is beautiful. But not in my children's "playground". (I found a huge egg sack under the workbench- don't know what to do with it. This lady has been around for a while-- I've been looking for her for months (as I recognized her web, but could never find her hiding place.) She sure is well-fed, isn't she?

The water drops on the grass- yay!



On my fridge:

& a picture of a picture taken on our cruise. This was my 30th birthday:

I'll come back later- but couldn't contain my photograph excitement! Heading to bed now!