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This past week we let the dog start sleeping in Trent’s bed with him. One night I asked him if he wanted Icesis to sleep in the bed with him and he said yes. I called the dog upstairs and got her tucked in the covers with the boy. He was so happy and excited to have her there. We’ve been letting her sleep in there every night since. All of a sudden he has stopped procrastinating at bed time and gives us no problems when we say its time to sleep. It was cute seeing him so excited and curling up with her that first night. Now Icesis is in his room all the time and thinks that Trent’s bed is hers. I don’t think he minds.

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More stuff from Alainn Beaded Jewelry!

Sep 26 2009

The Latest Design

Posted by Marla under Uncategorized | Permalink | Edit Post | Leave A Comment | No Comments

Here is the latest necklace from Alainn Beaded Jewelry! Donna only has enough to make seven of these Lotus Blossom Necklaces, so if you really like it, get in contact with her!

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Today my husband took Trent to the coffee shop around the corner for breakfast. When they got back Trent had a big bouqet of flowers for me. Apparently there is a brand new florist in that little plaza with the coffee place. When they walked by it Trent stopped and looked in the window and said “flowers.” He started walking again then stopped, turned around and pointed at the flowers and said “mommy.” So Garrick asked him if he wanted to get me some flowers and Trent said yes. When they went inside Garrick asked Trent which flowers to get for me, and the little guy kept pointing at a bunch of different flowers. They ended up getting this for me. I was so touched when Trent came in the house with his first bunch of flowers for mommy.

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I am admittedly a geek. I go to Rennaissance Faires dressed in period clothing. I’ve got the corset and the skirts and everything. I try and get something new to add to my costume every year. This year we decided not to go since we have so much going on with trying to buy a house. We have been very busy trying to get ready for it so we figured that we would just wait until next year to don our geekery. Unfortunately we forgot about one thing: Elephants.

Now, you may be asking yourself, what do elephants have to do with going or not going to a Ren Faire. I’ll tell you. Every year at the Maryland Ren Faire they have an elephant that you can pay to ride on. This is a very important matter to my family because my oldest is OBSESSED with elephants right now. If we wait until next year the phase will most likely have passed. Right now, though, if we take him to ride on an elephant it will probably be the most exciting thing to happen to him in his entire two years and two months of life. Some of his favorite movies right now are Dumbo and a documentary about a herd of elephants in Africa. He is all the time telling us that elephants are big. In August I brought him to the National Zoo to see the elephants and he was amazed, it was almost impossible to get him to leave that section. I cannot imagine what his reaction would be to actually riding an elephant. So, we must go.

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I am trying out this new theme for a little while. I thought the site could use a fresh look. I liked this one, it looks simple and clean and has a little bit of visual interest. Might go back to the old one or different one altogether later.

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I have been putting off writing about this for a week, but now that I may have a solution to the problem I may as well get it off my chest. (I seem to treat my blog mostly as a diary) My husband and I are in danger of not being able to purchase the house we want to buy. It looked like everything was going really smoothly. We made an offer, the seller made a counter offer, we accepted. The seller agreed to pay the closing costs. The inspection went without a hitch. Then the appraisal…. (cue dramatic music)

The VA appraiser came in and said that the house is worth 25,000 less than the price we and the seller agreed upon. Eegad! Now the seller is super upset and wants to back out of the deal. Our realtor and mortgage consultant are trying to get the appraisor to reassess the value of the property, but she won’t. Says the house is “average.” The entire thing is very frustrating. So we have been scrambling trying to come up with extra money to cover what we need for a down payment. I’m hoping that an account I opened years ago and forgot about will do the trick. I was dumping money into it for years, and hopefully it will be enough for us to be able to buy the house. Tomorrow I will be making a lot of phone calls and trying to pull strings.

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Trent playing my old Gameboy Advance. We’re raising the next generation of gamers here.

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This is a great list of stuff, but I think there may be some missing….

50 Things You Need To See On The Internet Before You Die

Monday September 21, 2009 1:40 PMIt’s your first day on the Internet, and you have no idea what you’re doing. You have no clue what people are talking about. Peanut butter jelly time? “Star Wars” kid? What is all of this?

Well, don’t worry. We have 50 links that will get you up-to-date on the Internet faster than you can build a website on Geocities. All this stuff is going to litter your inbox soon enough, so you might as well get it over with here. We bring you 50 Things You Need To See On The Internet Before You Die.

(more…)

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Here are some good tips on how to compose a portrait from Digital Photography School.

6 Tips for Perfect Composition in Portrait Photography

Discover 6 secrets for great portrait composition!

by Christina N Dickson

Every on-location portraitist is faced with the challenge of paying attention to the details regarding his or her subject, such as posing, lighting, composition etc. Perhaps the greatest mistake made by amateur on-location portrait photographers is the lack of emphasis placed on a portrait’s background surroundings.

Photographers who do not closely examine the surroundings within the frame of their image are those who come away with images that have great distractions. No high school senior or bride will purchase a portrait in which a tree limb is sticking out of her head. Such distracting elements take emphasis off the subject, and are detrimental to the portraitist’s sales. There is nothing more painful for a portraitist than taking a portrait that is beautifully posed, gorgeously lit, and absolutely unusable … simply because no attention was given to background composition!

Posing and lighting both play enormous roles in the creation of a dynamic portrait. However, background composition is a forgotten component that requires an equal amount of time and thought.

Some things to consider when creating a perfectly composed portrait:

1. Fill the frame with your subject

A portrait is about the person, so don’t be afraid to zoom in close! Remember that zooming in does not mean capturing only face shots. You can also capture “tight”, close up shots of your subject sitting on a stool or leaning into a tree.

2. Keep eyes in the upper third

This is the most natural spacing for a portrait. Try not to divert from this rule unless you are deliberately creating tension. Another exception of this rule is when a subject is full-bodied in the bottom third of the frame.

3. Use framing to concentrate all attention on your subject

Rather than eliminate the environment, use it! Doorways, arches, windows, gazebos are all creative solutions that allow for maximum subject focus and heightened visual interest.

4. Create texture

Once again, if you can’t eliminate a distracting background, use it to your advantage! By pulling the subject away from the background and shooting on Aperture priority (f4.0), you will create a small depth of field to blur the backdrop and allow for artistic texture. Your subject will stand out of the background without completely removing all creative interest in the shot.

5. Use lines

Brick is the perfect background for a portrait! The lines add creative interest, but they also draw attention to your subject. Keep in mind that any “line” used in a portrait is strongest when it comes outside the frame and leads to the subject.

6. Change your angles

Sometimes eliminating a distraction is simply a matter of moving the camera to another position. To make the best use of perspective, work to change your camera-to-subject angle. Often by moving a little to the right or left, or getting higher or lower, you can completely abolish that distracting tree branch or telephone pole.

You will be guaranteed to sell your portrait creations when you concentrate on background details, make your subject stand out, and invest creative interest in the portrait’s composition.

Read more from our Portrait Photography Category

Christina N Dickson is a visionary artist and philanthropist in Portland Oregon. Her work includes wedding photography www.BrideInspired.com and leadership with www.RevMediaBlog.com.

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/6-tips-for-perfect-composition-in-portrait-photography#ixzz0RhUYtKSF

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