T still loves his sink tubbies :)

Baby Booty

A quick pic of some sweet tootsies.  You are too cute Baby Annalise.

Low-Light Class

On Sunday Hannah and I took a low-light photography class together that we had bought as a groupon.  I had a great time!  It was my very first ever photography class, and the teacher loved that I brought my "Canon T1I for Dummies" book along with me ... yes, I'm proud to be self-taught for dummies, haha.  I never ever ever pretend to be anything other than someone who loves to take pictures of my family, so don't think I'm trying to get all camera fancy :)  But, we really had a great time learning more about low-light photography.  The class was at the Portland Art Museum, so here are some of my shots.  While I would always rather focus on an interesting or artistic subject, my objective here was actually just to have the correct exposure in the various lighting settings.  

 

This one just looked cooler in B&W

The instructor hinted that if you have to take a photo through glass, you may as well try to incorporate the reflection into the photo.  I like the result; I think it looks cool.  

I took several shots of this image at different exposures, and this one is actually under-exposed (correctly exposed for the flourescent lit subject rather than the room) ... but it ended up being the one I liked the most, go figure.   That's what I like about photography ... it's so subjective.  I like it, it's my blog, so this is what you get :)

I love repetition in photos.  This one was really tricky since it's lightbulbs, but I think it turned out cool.

After I got home, Gavin decided not to nap :(.  Oh well, it gave me a MOVING TARGET to practice some of my low-light skills on.  Ugh, toddlers are the hardest things in the world to photograph!!!  At least the art museum shots prove that I do know how to focus a camera :)  Most of these are a teensy bit blurry but G is just too quick!  Thankfully he is cute to me even out of focus.

As shot ... I promise, no editing at all (I was tempted to pop them out even more in with some editing but I wanted you to see how blue they really were, no tricks!) ...  those eyes really did come from this Italian mama.  It still surprises me (and I LOVE THEM).  

Baby Annalise

It's Mother's Day, and I have a whole hour to sit in bed with coffee, breakfast, and the computer.  I have been so spoiled this entire week for Mother's Day!  All week Matt has been working hard on my gift which is raised planter boxes (leveling them in the ground was a bear).  They are all set and ready to go for our little Jordan family vegetable garden.  Let's hope this brown thumb can maneuver her way through some lettuce, tomatoes, peas, etc.  Even if it does not end up being the most productive garden, I'm excited about it because I have been wanting to do one for years, and now Tyler is old enough to really help.

Kelly had her baby!  Annalise Corinne is precious!  She is smaller than the other Klos girls and has tons of hair.  She is one cute, cute baby girl.  Here are a few snapshots.  

Stink Eye

Congratulations Kelly on a third perfect daughter.  You are a great mom, and I love that I get to walk the road of motherhood with you daily.  Well, my hour is up ... time to rally the troops to get started on the day: church, lunch with the grands, and planting my veggies!  Happy Mother's Day to all of the hardworking moms.  ~ Jessica

Just One

I am off to bed, but I just imported some photos, and I loved this one of Tyler.  I think Hannah shot this one (we were sharing my camera the other afternoon).  Great shot, auntie ... I love it when I can see a photo of the look that I see so many times a day on my kiddos' face.   I love you Mr. T.  ~ Mommy

Ginny (the Wild Card)

Over the weekend when Matt was gone, we had LOTS of plans!  On Saturday night, we hung out with Kelsey over at the Klos' house.  I brought my camera just for fun but Ginny was the only one who wanted to pose for me.  At one point in conversation, Kelly, Kelsey, and I were describing the kiddos' temperments: Gavin is troublemaker, Tyler is the silly one, Ella is the irresistibly cute boss ... Kelsey goes, "Ginny is sort of the wild card isn't she?"  It's so true!  She is pretty even keeled and agreeable, but then sometimes she can be so stubborn or silly ... she will just surprise you.  She has the sweetest, most adorable personalility but with a definite spice.  Ginny, you are so cute!  I seriously dig hanging out with you.  ~ Jessica