31: Church Ambo

I was one of the readers at mass this morning. It's only the second time I've done it. I'm on the 'C' rotation, so I'm only needed when there are five Sundays in a month, about five times a year. Last year I helped out with the Children's Liturgy of the Word, but I never really connected with that ministry. So when it was time to sign up for this year, I decided to try being a reader, or lector, instead. So far it's been going well. I haven't really been nervous. We have a rehearsal the Wednesday before, so I have a chance to practice at the ambo (the lectern) with the microphone. I still need to speak louder and slower, but I think everyone can understand me! And hopefully my English accent gets people's attention for a moment :)

We're thinking of changing parishes though. We really like our current parish, but it doesn't have a school. So we're applying to the one in the next parish for Kindergarten for Elizabeth. The fee is more for families out of the parish, so if she's accepted we may well start going to mass at that parish instead, so the fees will be lower next year.

30: New Bed Linen

We've had this bed for almost 6 years now. The bottom sheet has started to get holes in it, and the comforter has been ripped up by the cat. So we decided to spend the Macy's gift cards we got for Christmas on a new bed set. I checked everything out for quite a while. The set I really liked was expensive, and didn't include the sheets, just the comforter and shams and extra pillows. There was a nice set on super sale, but we suspected that the thread count would be pretty low at that price. Then hubby had a good idea - get the cheap set, and get a nicer sheet set to go with it. So I got a set of 600 thread count Martha Stewart sheets, and the whole lot came to less than $150. I'm looking forward to sleeping in them tonight!

29: Water Fountain

I was out running some errands today, and I had to visit the sister church in our parish, the Catholic Community of Pleasanton. I haven't been there for ages, so I was delighted to see this fountain outside the church. Although it was midday, the light was good, and I got some really nice shots. This was my favorite. I really like the depth of field.

28: Field Trip to West Coast Gym

My daughter's preschool went on a field trip to a local gym. She had SUCH a good time, and she did really well. They did all kinds of activities from practicing different kinds of jumps on the trampoline, hanging on the monkey bars, and walking on the balance beams. Four different classes went at the same time and cycled through four different stations. At the end they all came together to play with the giant parachute.

Before Edward was born, Elizabeth used to attend The Little Gym every week, and she always had so much fun there. We were so sad when they closed down at the end of 2007.

I took over 200 pictures while we were at the gym today! I had to do a lot of playing with the settings, as it was a tricky place to shoot in. Of course it was indoors with artificial lighting. Some times I couldn't get close enough for the flash to work, so I had to slow down the shutter speed and boost the ISO. Other times the white walls and my daughter's white shirt totally blew out. Fine tuning in Photoshop afterwards took some time, but I'm learning some new techniques from a book I just got, and I ended up with a pretty decent set of shots.

27: Dewy Spiderweb

Shortly after I got up this morning I glanced outside, and noticed a huge spiderweb covered in dew, so I grabbed my camera and headed outside in my jammies! It was beautiful, so I put my macro lens and extension tube on and started shooting. I was frustrated because it was too high up to use my tripod, so it was really hard to get a sharp image. This is one of the best I got.

Before I headed back inside, I noticed that the dried rose head that the web was attached to was covered in a fine later of frost. We don't get a lot of frost where I live in California, so I tried to get a few pictures of that too. I had the same problems getting a sharp image, and was slightly less successful that I was with the web. I was able to make a few barely acceptable images in Photoshop later though.

I guess the moral of the day is, get up earlier more often, and seek out photo opportunities within tripod reach!

26: The Ants are Back

Every now and again we get an ant invasion, usually more in the summer. We had one in the kitchen last week, but my first instinct was to get rid of them, not to photograph them! So when some showed up in my daughter's bedroom, I remembered to get my camera out before the bug spray this time. I experimented with my macro lens and my new extension tube, and this was one of the best images I got. I'm really pleased with how much detail you can see on the ant, especially as they were very tricky to shoot. I couldn't use a tripod as they were moving too fast, which meant I had to use the flash. As a result all my pictures came out quite bright. I was hoping I could fix this in Photoshop, but I wasn't thrilled with the results I got. In retrospect, I think I should have dialed the flash down a stop, and I should have shot in RAW format. Oh well, I'll know for next time (and I know there will be a next time!).

25: Alien Nut Bread

My husband made this. It's nut bread. For some reason this loaf cooked with big holes in it, making it look like some kind of alien landscape! My husband loves to cook, which is great, because I hate to do it! He usually cooks dinner, I contribute once or twice a week with a crock pot (slow cooker) meal or pizza. He's always making cookies or brownies or bread too. Elizabeth likes to help him. She is still off school with this virus or whatever it is. She seems to finally be getting her appetite back though, so I'm hopeful she's on the mend.

24: Goodwill Hunting

We love shopping at Goodwill, but our local one in Pleasanton isn't very good. So every now and again we make a trip back to where we used to live in Sunnyvale. The Goodwill stores in Cupertino and Mountain View are nearly always full of good deals.

This time I got 3 books on photography, a little gift for each of my parents, and the kids got several toys (vehicles for Edward, soft toys for Elizabeth) and some videos. A good day out!

23: Target Bird

I took this in our local Target parking lot. The cart was left in the space opposite where we parked, and the bird was sitting on it as we pulled up. He didn't move, so I grabbed my camera and snapped a couple of shots.

We LOVE Target. We go there nearly every weekend. My daughter always wants to buy a new toy every time we go, but I'm trying to get her out of that habit!

22: Sleephead

This is my daughter. She passed out on the couch late this afternoon and slept for over 2 hours. She hadn't eaten much all day, and when she woke up she had a fever of 101F. I gave her some Tylenol, and as of this writing she seems to have got some of her energy back. I'm hoping it's just a cold and not swine flu or something else. We're supposed to be going on the Walk For Life in San Francisco tomorrow!

Now, you may notice that Elizabeth is wearing shoes in this picture. No socks, just shoes. Indoors. She and Edward were playing with their shoes, and she wanted hers on. Then she fell asleep with them on! What can I say.

21: Still Raining

It's been raining all week, pretty heavy most days. I took this shot in the car waiting to pick my daughter up from preschool. They haven't been able to play outside all week. Instead they go over to a room where they can practice their gross motor skills. I gathered that today they played Duck Duck Goose, Hide and Seek, and Tag, as Elizabeth wanted to play all these games when we got home!

20: New Toys!

This is the lens I got to replace the one I broke (see day one). It's an 18-105mm zoom lens. It's great to have a wide angle again, and I love that it zooms twice as far as the old one did (only 55mm). However, I was bummed to discover that the filter attachment size is much bigger than my other lenses. This one is 67mm, my others are 52mm! So I had 3 options: buy a step down ring so I can attach my existing filters to this lens, buy new filters for this lens, or live without filters on this lens.

A step down ring is very cheap, about $5, but the drawback is some obstruction of the lens, which will impact pictures. A new polarizing filter would be about $30. In the end I decided to get a new polarizing filter (as that's the one I expect to use the most), and also get a step down ring to use with my other filters.

The other object in the picture is an extension tube. It attaches to the camera between the body and the lens (usually a macro lens), and allows you to get even closer with your macro shots.

Time to play!

19: School

Today I co-oped (helped out) at my daughter's preschool, Shining Light in Pleasanton. All the moms help out about once a month. I always enjoy it, it's always fun to see what the kids get up to in school. Elizabeth loves school. That is her teacher in the shot, Miss Kristin. Elizabeth LOVES her, and she is a really great teacher. Here they are learning the letter X. They are identifying 2 out of 3 pictures that start with X, cutting them out and pasting them onto a picture they later colored. I was at the next table, helping another group of kids make the letter X out of popsicle sticks.

18: Raindrop

The rain has set in. I've tried to get some pictures of raindrops splashing before, but wasn't too successful. I was a little luckier this time. This was the best shot I got out of over 200! I had to have the ISO up really high, and I had to go outside in the rain to get the shot, it was too dark to shoot through the window. It was still too dark to get the sharp shot I was hoping for, I should have gone out earlier in the day.

The object the water is collecting in is an upside down picnic bench that is sitting on top of the table and covered in a tarp.

17: Bumper Sticker

I spotted this bumper sticker on the car in front of me driving home from Office Max today, and it made me smile. I went there to get more ink for my printer, and ended up getting a bunch of new paper. I like to make my own greeting cards and thank you notes, but I'm never happy with the results. I'm hoping one of the samples I got today will yield better results!

16: Drawing with Daddy

While my son was still asleep, Elizabeth finally got to play with her design kit properly. Daddy helped. He's so good at that. I tend to get frustrated if she's not doing things 'right' with projects like this, but he just goes with it. They made Spirograph-type snowflakes for everyone.

15: Edward has been 'drawing'

My daughter got a design kit for Christmas. I set it up for her and let her play with it, and my son had a go too. I knew it would end like this, but I let them do ti anyway! She said they were being the Blue Meanies, from the Beatles movie Yellow Submarine. Fortunately it all came off easily in the bath!

14: Underwear is always funny

I asked Elizabeth to put her underwear on this morning, and this is what she did. She is developing a great sense of humor, and likes to act silly to make us laugh. As this was a spur-of-the-moment shot, I just grabbed my camera and snapped without checking any settings. It turned out I had left my polarizing filter on. It made the image a little dark (I lightened it up in Photoshop), but I was surprised it didn't make more of a difference. Good to know.

13: Blue skies after the rain

We had some rain overnight and in the morning, but then the clouds cleared and the sky was a beautiful blue again. I took this shot at my daughter's school waiting for class to finish. I used my polarizing filter again, and I love the contrast between the leaf and the sky. I took a couple of other shots with the leaves further away, but this one with the one leaf in close up was my favorite.

12: Storm coming?

Looks like we might be getting some rain. I took this picture on my way home from school, at the top of the street waiting at a red light in my car. I try and take my camera with me everywhere, as you never know when you will see a good photo opportunity. For this shot I used my polarizing filter to try and enhance the light and colors, and I really like the result.

11: Back to school

Elizabeth's first day back at preschool (Shining Light Preschool) after the Christmas break. School actually started a week ago, but we were still in Pittsburgh, and then she was sick when we got back. She loves school, has done from the first day she went last September. I hope she still likes it in a few years! We have been lucky to have a wonderful teacher at this school, and great kids in her class. Her friend Jeni was apparently quite concerned when she heard Elizabeth was sick last week!

10: First grass cut of the year

It may still be January, but here in California the grass always needs cutting! So hubby got the job done the first weekend we were home. It's a chore he always does. Elizabeth 'helped' him, as she often does. This is the front lawn, the back lawn is still to be tackled.

9: Christmas is over

Time to take the tree down and put the Christmas decorations away. I must be getting old - I remember when doing this made me sad, now I'm just happy to have my house back to normal! It didn't take too long, and fortunately the kids didn't get in the way too much. I was pleasantly surprised that everything went back in the box, as we usually end up with more stuff that we started out with. If this year passes as quickly as last year seemed to, it won't be long at all until we're getting everything out again!

8: Now Edward has the bug too

Of course the day after Elizabeth got sick, Edward went down with it too. He seemed to handle it better than her though. He only threw up once, although he had a lot of diarrhea (he went through 5 pairs of pants and 3 tops that day). He was easier to keep hydrated though, as he is still breastfeeding, and never refuses when offered! He was over it in just one day.

7: Elizabeth has a stomach bug

After we arrived safely back in San Francisco, we had to wait around while Dave went to pick up the car. Elizabeth kept complaining that she was tired and cold. It wasn't that cold, but I thought she was just tired and hungry, as she hadn't eaten much all day.

As soon as we started driving home she fell asleep. However, about half way home she woke herself up by throwing up! Delightful. We thought maybe it was motion sickness, so we cleaned her up and continued home.

As soon as we got home she crawled into bed and went to sleep. It was pretty late, so we didn't think much of that. But she woke up a couple of times during the night to throw up again, and once more in the morning. She also developed diarrhea and a slight fever, so we decided it must be a stomach bug of some sort. She didn't want to eat anything all day, and just wanted to lay down and watch movies.

Fortunately she didn't throw up any more after that, and by the next day was feeling a bit better. She still had some diarrhea, and didn't have her usual appetite, but she had a lot more energy and was back to playing with her toys. The day after that she was fully recovered.

6: Pittsburgh Airport

I took this through the window of the airplane while we were waiting to depart for our journey home. It was still very cold, and the plane had to be de-iced before we left. The first leg of the trip was an hour flight to Charlotte NC. That went well. We then had a 3 hour layover in Charlotte. The second leg of the trip was more of a hassle. It was a 5 hour flight to San Francisco, and we didn't all have seats together, and no one was prepared to move. Elizabeth sat with Dave, and was fairly well behaved. Edward sat on my lap, and was good for about half the trip. He screamed during most of the descent, but we didn't mind too much, hoping that it would make the people who refused to move think twice about their decision!

5: William's Frogs

My nephew William got this for Christmas. It's a Frog-O-Sphere Ecosystem. They were selling them at Brookstone stores. It is a sealed tank that holds everything the 2 frogs need to survive. You just feed them pellets a couple of times a week, and change the water a couple of times a year. They're pretty cute, if you like frogs!

4: Visit to my father-in-law's grave

My father-in-law passed away in 2006. Every time we return to Pittsburgh we make a point to visit his grave. He is buried at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, a cemetery for veterans. It was bitterly cold on this day, it's a large, high, open space, and the wind was really biting. Our daughter, Elizabeth, had planned to build a snowman for Grandpa, and have a snowball fight. However, a few minutes was all she could take! She helped Daddy make a very small snowman, then we had to leave before we all froze. Although it was so cold, it was very serene up there, with all the fresh, unmarked white snow covering everything.

3: Edward and cousin Andrew reading a story

My nephew Andrew (12) really bonded with his cousin, my son Edward (almost 2) on our recent visit. They spent a lot of time playing and reading together. I think Edward looks a lot like him too.

2: Super cold in Pittsburgh!

We were on vacation in Pittsburgh PA, visiting my husband's family for Christmas. Driving back to the hotel one evening I noticed the temperature was reading 13F, the coldest it had been so far, and way WAY below what we are used to in California! I took this with my camera phone.

1: Dave trying to fix my broken camera lens

This is the first day of my photo-a-day project for 2010. It didn't get off to a great start. I left my camera (Nikon D40) in a precarious place, and my niece Rebecca walked past and knocked it down. At first I thought it was ok, as I could still take pictures ok, but then I tried to adjust the focal length of the lens, and found that it was stuck. When I took it off I found that the glass lens had dropped down inside the casing, and seemed to have come off the runners that allow it to be adjusted. My husband, who believes he can fix anything, took it apart and spent about an hour trying to fix it, but to no avail. I took this picture of him at work with my Samsung Flight cell phone camera.

Fortunately this was my least expensive lens, the 18-55mm kit one that came with the camera. I have 2 other lenses I can use, and in the meantime I'm going to order a better replacement for the broken lens.