Prognosis - undecided

Well, a month has passed since I began a photography course at our local community college. I am really enjoying the class and have already applied a couple of things in my picture-taking. There are still a couple of lingering questions on my mind however that are yet to be answered...

Can I go back to school and retain my humanity?

I don't know yet as I am only a month into the semester but the prognosis is looking fairly good. I only scored 3/5 on a quiz and didn't have a meltdown. Yep. No going into the depths of depression and questioning my sense of self. I just figured out where I went wrong so I could correct it for next time. Yeah!

Can an old-timer like me work some old-time camera equipment?

Although for the class I use my Canon Rebel which is digital, I purchased a Spotomatic film camera in the summer at an antique sale.

I thought it was an interesting camera and might be fun to try taking a few pictures with it. As for whether I can figure out how to work it...I have my doubts. I have already had to consult a camera specialist and have ruined my first roll of film because I advanced it too far and snapped it out of the canister making it impossible to wind back into the canister.

Bummer! So I had to shoot a whole new roll of film. I don't even know if the camera works because I haven't had a chance to develop the film yet.

So I love my class but I'm looking sideways at the film camera wishing it worked more like a digital camera. What can I say? The digital age has spoiled me.

We Love the Wii

Our Wii doesn't get a ton of use because the kids are currently hooked on an online game called Roblox, but this past Sunday one of the boys suggested that for our family activity after Family Home Evening we play Wii tennis. Since then the boys have rediscovered their love of Wii sports and are hooked again.

Some moves are SOOOOO powerful you find yourself thrown to the floor...

I rediscovered how terrible I am at video games as my boys kicked my butt on Wii tennis. I need to hone my skills so I don't embarrass myself the next time this activity is chosen. Really. Not a single point for the old lady.

Future Star?

He may be the smallest kid out there but Smiley has always loved playing basketball.

Always.

His team has yet to discover his passion for the game and tends to throw the ball over his head to get to other team mates. Once they realize how much he loves basketball and what a good little (no pun intended) player he is, I'm sure Smiley will have his hands on the ball much more often.

Today started out with some great warm-ups.

Smiley kept up a fast pace on the court.

He had a few opportunities to handle the ball and was a team player making sure to pass to others.

It was one of those games where you kept checking the score every few seconds. I was almost tempted to become a nail-biter. Almost.

They have had some tough losses this season but today the team worked hard and pulled off a winning score.

Good job Smiley!

I Take it Back

Can you take a thank you back? Is that wrong?

The moderate success of our evening out with Brian Regan on Thursday made us bold enough to try going out for dinner on Friday. I think perhaps we were a little over confident or a little over eager with our new-found freedom. Or perhaps the little ones were a little over confident and a little over eager to have mom and dad gone a second night in a row.

We attempted to eat at the Olive Garden but we arrived too late and the wait was going to be much too long. We realized that going to a movie and eating dinner inside would take the same amount of time and settled on seeing Sherlock Holmes. We called Sheriff and informed him of the change of plans. We were interrupted with only one phone call during the movie with the question, "is there any of MY popcorn in the house?" (Sheriff has butter-free popcorn due to lactose intolerance). With that question answered we settled in to watch a great movie....

And returned home to this...

Do not be fooled by the label UNO on the cards. They are in fact Ninja stars. That explains why there are ALL OVER THE ROOM. Picture that last night after they cracked into their treat bags.

Oh dear.

Thank You

I owe a few thank yous for my evening last night.

First, thank you Sheriff for babysitting your three younger brothers. No easy task. I KNOW. I am their mother after all and I know what it is like trying to get them ready for bed each and every night. So no, I don't have magical powers to get Smiley into bed ... he just listens to me a TINY bit better than his older brother. (a tiny bit) Kudos to you for your patience as he sat on the bottom step and cried when it was time to go to bed. (Thanks for not dragging him up the stairs.)

Second, thank you to my awesome sister April, and her husband Drew, for coming with us. It is always fun hanging out with them and makes the evening even MORE enjoyable (even if you don't get my jokes).

My third thank you goes to Brian Regan himself for making us laugh until our stomachs hurt. From his rendition of a Christmas tree and the "meaning" of the lights, to getting older and the "no jokes" sign at the airport, he kept us laughing all through the act.

My final thanks must of course go to the son who will be folding all of the laundry today (he will remain unnamed). :) Said son had a tough time following the rules while we were gone last night and earned some extra jobs. Lucky for me I won't have to fold the laundry .... he will.

Is it Wrong?

Remember how I was worried about going back to school? How I thought I would become inhuman? Well come exam time I will probably morf into a wild bear or rabid red-eyed badger (I hear badgers are really mean).

Anyhoo, for now I am REALLY enjoying my class. Is that wrong? Especially when some of the students are staring glassy-eyed at the instructor (in all fairness I think the guy behind me was desperate for a few more hours of sleep).

My first class assignment... motion and focus.

I don't think I have ever smiled so much in a class. Really. I should practice frowning. School isn't supposed to be this enjoyable. It's just wrong. Wrong I tell you.

They Grow up So Fast

I can still remember when I was 18 years old and my sister asked me to watch her little baby while she and her husband went out of town. It was the first time I experienced a little child actually WANTING to be in my presence. Little babies typically cried around me (and usually still do). I can't say I blame them as I usually want to cry in my presence too.

However, my niece is all grown up now and today entered the MTC (Missionary Training Center) to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She will head off to Boise, Idaho in a mere three weeks to serve as a missionary. I was lucky enough to have her visit briefly before she entered the MTC as well as see a couple of my sisters and my brother-in-law.

Sierra is excited for her choice to serve as a missionary and I know that she will have many wonderful experiences in the next 18 months. We will miss her but we know that she is serving the Lord and will help many people in Boise, Idaho.

Through a Lens Darkly

I'll be honest. I'm a little frightened to be going back to school at 41. I feel like I have lost so many brain cells over the last twelve years that I'm not sure if I have the mental capacity to be taking notes let alone writing papers and taking exams.

But my class is paid for, my supplies purchased and even my parking permit paid for so I am all set for Monday's first class. This intro to Photography covers quite a bit and I didn't realize until yesterday that we would be using the old-style 35 mm cameras. No problem, I thought. I bought one at an antique sale in the summer. But I hadn't yet tried it out.

I pulled it out of the camera case yesterday and inspected all the lenses and the camera itself. Running to the store I found some film and it took a few tries to insert the film and advance it a few frames. Wow, has it been a long time or what?

I looked through the viewfinder and .... black. No lens cap on. Weird. I went online to problem solve but could come up with no feasible answer.

Today at the camera store I explained my problem and the lady advanced the film twice and looked through the viewfinder. Working perfectly.

Oh dear. I might be in big trouble this semester.

Happy Tears

Life with kids is often a daily grind with the usual routine of getting them ready for school, helping with the mounds of homework that teachers assign along with book reports, projects and then managing all of the other extras that kids do like sports, piano, cub scouts and scouts. I won't even go into all of the micro-managing of laundry, refereeing of fights etc.

But every so often a moment comes along that brings those happy mother tears to your eyes. That moment when you look at your child and either you are so proud of them or you see how proud they are of their own achievement and your heart swells with emotion and you think ... wow... it's all really worth it.

A few weeks ago Giggles class was recorded reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and it aired on the radio yesterday morning. We gathered around in our living room and listened to it before school as a family. Giggle's face beamed as the sound of all the children in his class combined came over the radio waves belting out the Pledge of Allegiance. Tears filled my eyes as I listened and watched him. He has come so far since joining our family in 2007. He continues to amaze me with his abilities and I know that he can do anything that he sets his mind to. I'm so grateful for him.

Darn it... here come those happy tears again.

Ringing in the New Year

Well it is official. We are old fuddy-duddies. I don't know when this happened. It may have snuck up on us quietly but I would definitely have to acknowledge the official time as 10:50 p.m. last night when we went to bed instead of staying up to ring in the New Year.

As midnight hit this is what we were doing...

Well...that's not entirely true. That is what we WISHED we were doing but we were woken up by all of the wilder people in our neighborhood who had much more energy and life in their bodies. The sound of their fireworks scared us awake and kept us awake for the next half hour.

I must admit to being a little jealous that they could stay up for fireworks. After too many late nights with sick kids we just couldn't face another one however and snuggled into bed treating New Year's Eve like any other.

I told my sister that I haven't made any resolutions for the New Year. But that isn't entirely true. I have some secret resolutions. I don't want to say them out loud or write them down. That way I won't be too disappointed if I don't keep them right? :)

Change is hard. It is hard to accept and hard to accomplish. But the beauty of a new day and a new year is the opportunity to try again.