{G}

...is for 6 more weeks of winter thanks to a little GROUNDHOG :( I don't know if we can take anymore snow days. Yup school was cancelled again today. Jacey asked me if she was ever going to get to go to school again...HAHA poor thing has been stuck home with us and she is going crazy.

G is also for GEOMETRY Jacey is starting advanced math early, she just doesn't know it. This GIRL from the time she was little has been lining things up. I can't find the popcorn image, but when she was about 18 months she dumped a bowl of popcorn up and lined every piece up before she would eat it. She has always lined up her toys before playing, and don't get me started on how straight her clothes have to be-it is our every morning challenge, and now her lunch meat has to be in a perfect line with the edge of the bread. It was so cute to watch her make her sandwich for lunch today. She was still making it as I cleared my empty plate up. First she has to spread her "white stuff" in a thin but very even layer with none on the edges then she very carefully takes her round piece of lunchmeat and folds it until she has the edges she needs to line up with the bread. Notice the curve line on the curved side of the bread too. Then I have to cut it into squares or triangles depending on her mood for the day...what a NUT, but we love her for it!





So as I was watching Jacey make her sandwich I noticed something...The sun is getting higher in the sky, and you know what that means right...Spring is just around the corner! It used to be that when I sat down for lunch I had the sun shining right in my eyes, not today though...YAY!

So my National Heart Awareness Month tid bit...

Almost 80 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home and are witnessed by a family member. Currently the survival rate of cardiac arrest victims is approximately 6.4 percent. CPR can double a victim's chance of survival by maintaining vital blood flow to the heart and brain until more advanced care can be given.

I know that sounds scary/harsh, but most communities offer CPR classes and it would be a good idea for all of us to take advantage of those classes and stay up to date.

Hope all is well with you all-thanks for stopping by.

{F}

...is for lots of things today. Church had to be cancelled today on account of the FREEZING weather so we had a very nice FAMILY day with lots of FUN in the kitchen and our FAVORITE FOODS.







Some of our FAVORITE FOODS-French Dip and Guacamole (Jacey LOVES this yummy stuff as long as mom doesn't make it too spicy)





Had to add these cute bare FEET



Like most FOOTBALL games sometimes the cheerleaders are more fun to watch than the actual game Skye stole the show with her cheerleading skills, she did this anytime someone would yell YAY!



Our FAMILY portrait




So my National Heart Awareness Month tid bit...

Did you know-One in three female adults has some form of heart disease-kinda high odds coming from an immediate family of 6 women. Did you also know that women can experience symptoms of a heart attack much different than the *typical* TV symptoms such as chest pain, arm pain and pressure? Some other symptoms can include jaw pain, pain in the upper back (shoulder blades area) and fatigue-some of us might just brush that off as a piece of gum and a stressful day.

{E}

...is for EATING of course, something this family LOVES to do and Skye is quickly learning that real food is so much more ENJOYABLE than baby food. She will not go near baby food peas, she gags like crazy, but will eat the real ones like nothing else.







This is a photography trick to ENLARGE the house, or shrink the kids and because it is {E} day Skye's ELMO had to be included in the picture, but she wanted nothing to do with my fun pictures :) oh and yes that is an ELF on top of the clock. This is the longest I have EVER left a Christmas decoration up. He is sticking around to keep an eye out for Santa.



So my National Heart Awareness Month tid bit...

Did you know that if when you gain weight it is in your mid section (tummy) you are at a higher risk of having heart disease?

{D}

...The most devoted DAXTON!
This is his favorite meal-breakfast, lunch or dinner-it doesn't matter. Give this kid some cereal, yogurt, and milk and he is set, sadly not the most round meal but I don't think I need to worry about his calcium level.







...The most DESIRABLE curls around



...The most beautiful DAUGHTERS









...The most DEFENSIVE when it comes to his trains. He is the best big brother in the worlk to Skye, as long as she stays away from his trains. You know that saying "they want most what they can't have" totally true!







...DWELLER-Jacey BEGGED me to let this poor kitty come inside from the cold...I fell for that once and wont again-I like animals as much as the next guy, but let them take strays into their house. I let them live in the garage.





...is for DAXTON of course, but I had to include my beautiful DAUGHTERS, and our roof DWELLER, oh and yes it is still snowing, look how high up the snow goes only a couple feet from the roof...So how was that for making up the non-kid posts :) my chest/back is feeling a little better today I was actually able to sleep a bit last night and the IBP is actually working today as long as I don't move fast or do too much of one thing.

Hey did you all know that February is National Heart Awareness Month? Since it is, and because of the issues I have had with my heart I thought I would add a couple of tid bits that you may not know...

Did you know...
Heart Disease is the #1 killer in women and it will kill more people then the next 6leading causes combined!

{C}

Remind me why I hang this thing every year



This guy is facing the street the snow is swirling out there





This is our front door yes even snow on the door knob



This is our carpet in the front room and the snow is drifting up against the door, reminds me of South Weber.





...the most common word used to discribe the weather this week COLD! I would dare say it is the most common word used to discrbe the high end of the baromater. It is more than just COLD. Of all the days to cancel school today would have been a good one. I drove to the bus stop (which is only one house and an intersection away) because I thought I would blow away and I knew Jacey would. Many times today I would look out the window and could not see the house across the street, it was a white out for most of the day, you know those pictures I posted in Dec. it was like that x 5. We were planning to come crash the super bowl party this weekend, but that wont be happening...so enjoy it without us and know that we wanted to come.

I have to mention to those not familar with this house the pictures are of our COVERED (another C word) porch, and the horseshoe guy is facing the street. The first 3 pictures were taken around noon. We are all betting that school and work will be CANCELED tomorrow!

I don't want any of you to be worried about us, we are safe and sound and warm. The nice thing about wood burning stoves is that even if the power goes out we still have our main source of heat and hey I have even cooked on the stove before so we will be able to eat still...but we are hoping the power stays on!

So my other C word today is CHEST pain. I am not sure what I did, but man oh man does it HURT!! Working for 9+ years in an orthopedic clinic I am sure it is stemming from my thoracic spine/neck and is a skeletal (bone) problem but I could be wrong so if there are any medical professionals out there that would like to take a stab at diagnosing me, and prescribing a treatment plan other than IBP and ice (already doing that without results) I would be oh so grateful. It is not in my character to go see an actual dr. but if it persists I might just do that! I have rendered myself useless yesterday and today my house and pile of laundry can't take much more neglect. I have to applogize for the lack of kid pictures, but it hurts to hold my camera (I was wondering today if that is what caused the pain) and in order to take pictures of the kids I have to chase them around and get down on the ground holding the camera and I would not be able to get back up afterwards. Okay I am done COMPLAINING (hey it was a C word so it was okay to post) and we all know I could go on but it hurts too much ;)

good night and I hope you guys are all safe and warm too. I hear these storms we are getting are hitting Utah too.

PS) my spell check is not working with blogger so excuse the spelling

{B}

...The most commonly read books in our house. You are probably wondering where the kids books are (besides the cook books that they are so often fighting over), in my defence they are in the kids room and they are going to sleep and I didn't want to disturb them.

Jacey is learning to read and is doing so well. It amazes me every night when we read The Book of Mormon how many more words she can pick out.

Dax is not far behind he knows almost all his ABC's, he still gets confused with the Bb, Pp and a couple others but he is doing so good for his age. He knows how to spell and read DAX, JACEY and JACELYNN, SKYE, MOM and DAD.

We are currently looking for that train book "I think I can I think I can" if you see it around please let us know so we can get it for Dax.

Skye LOVE LOVE LOVES her books too. In church she goes from person to person checking out everyone's books. The Hymn Book has got to be her favorite one, as soon as the music starts she starts rocking back and forth and if she is on our laps she will start patting the book to the beat.

So I am editing this, yesterday I was in a lot of pain and wanted to put this in but spaced it in my hast to get off the computer chair...
I am very grateful for The Book of Mormon Greg and I would not be where we are in our life, marriage or parenthood without it, it has been a great source of comfort and a great resource for answers.

So there is B...oh yeah speaking of B-Jacey got to go watch the big kids play Basket Ball (gym class) today because they had a gas leak which was fixed tonight...and tomorrow she will eat breakfast there because of another gas leak...good thing I can tell in the future and know that everything turned out just fine, the leaks were repaired and the kids thought they were getting special treatment :) ...okay now I am off to do tomorrow which is today's entry

{A}

The most requested movie for quiet time. Dax and Jacey LOVE Annie and it cracks me up to watch them crack up at the same parts every time.

The best part is listening to Dax (and Jacey when she thinks no one is listening) sing "The sun will come out tomorrow bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there 'ill be sun...and the rest of the song" at the top of their lungs. I love it! These kids could take their show to Broadway too, they can act out the entire movie and do quite often while playing.

You know the hardest part about blogging every day...

...is coming up with new stuff. So for the next 26 days we are going to do "The Most...ABC" If you guys have any ideas for posts I am all ears!

Snow Day...

...Greg got a call this morning from his boss saying that schools were closed, roads were a mess and they were not going into work today. So we had a snow day and made brownies.

picking out the egg shells...













Greg gets as giddy as a child on Christmas Eve when he gets to make brownies





Caught ya all sneaking licks of the batter...except for Greg he goes for a spoon full right out of the pan.









This is what happens when you leave the brownies in reach of the kids, and we were so pleased that they were playing so nicely together in Skye's room.



and this is what our snow day looked like...did you also notice the nice sunshine coming in the windows while we were making the brownies? Honestly though the roads were pure ice sheets. We got the rain and then very cold temperatures the bit of snow was just for looks.

Happy Sunday...

...This is probably Skye's favorite day of the week. She gets so much attention from people other than Mom. She is for sure a handful and hams it up for all the little old (and young) ladies in church. This dress was made by my wonderful Aunt Debbie. She gave it to Jacey and Jacey gave it to Skye. She gets so many compliments and all the ladies were gushing over it so impressed with the talent!

Jacey told me tonight as we were putting her to bed that today was a "Happy Sunday" I agreed with her but asked her why she said because we all got to go to church as a family and no one was sick (last week the kids had tummy aches). Kinda cool when your kids remind you of the real happy moments in life.

So Greg and I both got callings today, we were starting to wonder if we ever would. Greg is an instructor in Elders Quorum, and I am back with the beloved Bears and Cub Scouts. I am actually very excited to be able to be back in scouts and to have the opportunity to be more involved in this great community.

Last week the couple that spoke had lived in the ward for 2 years and this was the first time they had spoken, so I came home and told Greg that we could probably relax because we wouldn't need to speak at least for 2 years. Well guess what we were wrong. We are speaking on 2/24 so anyone that wants to come up and hear these GREAT talks are more than welcome.

I hope that you all had a Happy Sunday and hope your week is happy as well! Enjoy the snow we are going to be sending your way. We were hoping to come down this weekend, but it doesn't look like it...bummer!

Did you know...

...the TV was invented in Idaho? Funny that until we moved here Grandma's house only knew one channel...which goes to show how slow they progress :) HAHA I crack myself up

Okay I am having a hard time coming up with a blog entry today, but couldn't skip. Sorry there are no pictures today, camera needed a day off. We went to Twin Falls again today and Greg had a second interview with Sears today. They were very impressed with his application and skills. He meets with the Regional Manager on Tuesday and basically will then have a pick of 3-4 jobs. YAYAY!!

Well I am off to bed! Love ya all!

Oh yeah I sent my very first digital painting in to be printed...kinda excited to get it and give it away :o)

No one has guessed all the pictures from yesterday...comeon and play! OK now I am going to bed!

How many can you name...

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


#9


#10


...All of these objects are native to Grandma's house and have been for as long as I can remember. How many can you name? There is a prize for the first person to name them all.

Sorry for all my blog fans that have never been in Grandma's house, but there is a prize for every one you guess correctly :)

So what is new with us? Not a whole lot. Greg is going to go meet with Sears tomorrow, hopefully that will work out!

We all seem to be healthy after Jacey and Dax's bout of pink eye/tummy bug.

Other than that I think life it the same as usual, I am ok with that! Hopefully tomorrows blog will be full of fun exciting news.

My Little Buddy...

...This kid and his trains are the ultimate pick-me-up! Not very wordy tonight, just wanted to share my supper cute, nutty buddy. Hope you all are well.

Choose your favorite before reading the rest...

...do you have your favorite one? If not go back up and don't come back down until you have it.

I am putting together a lesson for beginning photographers (I have taken on a couple mentees in my spare time) and thought it would be fun to experiment on you all.

I will bet that "centered" was NOT your favorite...was I right? Do you want to know how I know that or just continue to think I am amazing and must have psychic powers? The eye does not rest well in the center of an image, and since this image is centered your eye was fighting to leave her cute face and because you didn't want to you found the image uneasy to look at. While the other images are off centered and let your eye rest easily in the image. AMAZING huh?!

Now just for fun and because once you learn the rules of photography you can learn to break them here is a centered image that does work. Because of the empty/blank space around her it brings your eye back to her to rest easily.



Now if you really want to have some fun with this kind of stuff go measure your TV. Divide the height and length by 3. Cut a piece of paper to that size (1/3) your TV) now fold that piece of paper in half and put it dead center of the TV. Turn on a movie or show (it doesn't work well with commercials, but I wont go into the reason for that now. That is a different lesson) you will not miss anything important, as the creators know that the eye rests on the edges and corners of the screen easier. No one would watch TV if it were not easy to watch.

Are you amazed?

Oh yeah...the picture of Jacey is the same picture and size ratio just cropped to a different composition.

Okay the nerdy photographer is done boring you, at least she had some cute pictures to look at right?!

I dedicate this song to all of you...

...From the movie American Tales: Fievel Goes West-haven't seen that movie in forever, but it is oh so sweet.

Somewhere Out There
Somewhere out there,
Beneath the pale moonlight,
Someone's thinking of me,
And loving me tonight.

Somewhere out there,
Someone's saying a prayer,
That we'll find one another,
In that big somewhere out there.

And even though I know how very far apart we are,
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star,
And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby,
It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky!

Somewhere out there,
If love can see us through,
Then we'll be together,
Somewhere out there,
Out where dreams
Come true...

You pregnant women still with me ;)

And for fun a cute picture of Greg (yes those kids are supposed to be in bed. I caught them sneaking :)



Good night to you all...thanks for reading this it makes it worth doing every day :) Love ya!

Jacey's Original Paintings...

...one day when she is famous these are going to be worth a lot! Jacey is a wiz at the computer and can do more things than most adults on the computer, and is always wanting to learn more things. I am learning to digitally paint (see a small portion of mine I will show the whole thing when it is all done) and she asked me to teach her how so I taught her the basics of it and set her free to do her own thing. These are her masterpieces. This painting stuff is totally addicting and surprisingly relaxing. This is what entertained Jacey for an hour or so today, she is so happy to be going back to school tomorrow. Pink eye is cleared up and tummy bug seems to have passed as well.

This one is mine :)

5 min. in the life of Skye...

...OK that was a bit of an exaggeration it was more like 3 min. This girl was on the move today.
Her roles included:
Dish Washing Supervisor
Menu Extraordinaire
Sunday Nap Rooster
Toy Inspector (Greg tried to pick up the toys she crawled right over and dumped the bucket)
Floor Sweeper
and mostly just being herself!

She had Greg and I rolling, too bad Jacey and Dax were feeling a bit under the weather cause they would have been rolling too :)

Twin Falls: and the beauty of it...

Beauty #1





This is what you see from the freeway...wide open flat land, there are mountains in the very far distance.



And then this bridge comes out of no where with quite the view! Look how small the semi truck is. You can't really see it in these pictures, but there is a house/building down there.

Beauty #2









yes there are houses right on the cliff...







Skye loved every min. of our adventure-actuall all 3 kids did they were so amazed with the cliff. Jacey kind of scared us when she said "mom I don't think I will be able to jump off of it, it is too big" AAAHHH!!





...Not a whole lot of words today...but look at the beauty around us!

We are so excited to have a temple closer than Ogden or Boise (both 2.5 hours away this one is only about 45 min. away) Twin Falls Temple is supposed to be dedicated in March.

Twin falls is quite similar to Layton or Ogden, but with this wondrous canyon in the middle of the city. You really do have to see this for yourself, it is AMAZING and will take your breath away! The colors are amazing the water is so green even the frozen waterfall is green. These pictures were taken just off the parking lot of Old Navy, Michales, Famous Footwear and Sportsman's Warehouse strip mall, across the street from Twin Fall Mall, which is just like the malls in Utah...go figure-civilization has progressed all the way up here in Idaho :)

We are really enjoying it up here, and although Greg said he could never call himself an Idahoan it is growing on him too...shh don't tell him I said that out loud for him :)

Greg has a job interview for Sears on Tuesday-Xing our fingers that it all works out, he really has learned a lot with his heating and AC job, but it just isn't what he wants to do and it will not fund the rest of his schooling so we have known it wouldn't be long term. We are very grateful for the job though as he quit his job in Utah on faith alone that everything would be alright and because of the people in our ward paying attention to the Spirit he had a job right away to get us by.

So my post that was not supposed to be very wordy turned out to be very wordy...but you knew coming into this post that I like to talk so you only have yourself to blame for your boredom...

Home Schooling...

Innocently working on writing as many words as she could come up with that had a long A with a silent E...





"NNOOOO"



"MMMOOOOMMM!" Oh it is okay Skye look Dax has the bum medicine to make it all better

...probably isn't for me full time! Thank goodness for the public school system and a GREAT school with an AWESOME teacher for Jacey. Jacey had to stay home from school today and half a day yesterday because of the dreaded pink eye. Poor thing wanted so bad to go to school so I told her we would just do school at home today. She thought that was a good enough idea, but I guess we should have waited for Skye's nap time. Usually I just let the images speak for themselves, but these ones deserved commentary :)

Jacey's eyes seem to be clearing up so hopefully she can go back to school Monday but we will see!

PS) It appears in these images that my kids never change their clothes, but I promise they do! :)

First the training...

...then the results. Yes that is Rachel Ray they are so intently watching. I am tempted to send this to her-what young fans she has :) I promise my kids don't sit in front of the TV all day, but when Rachel Ray comes on at 4:00 time stops for 30 Min. Meals. The other day I was a little late turning it on (shame on me) Jacey told me "Mom it is okay at least we didn't miss it all, and we got to see the really yummy food at the end" I am not kidding she really did say that. I was forgiven for my tardiness because she didn't miss it all and got to see the end results.

Jacey made dinner almost all by herself today. I turned on the stove and drained the pasta. You know there are studies that show the benefit of getting the kids into the kitchen cooking:

1) they are more likely to try new foods if they helped cook it
2) they feel like they are accomplishing something and contributing to the family
3) parents get to spend time with them
4) kids aren't spending time in front of the TV (except Rachel Ray)
5) they learn to cook
6) positive cooking expeirences can help build self-confidence
7) kids that cook with their parents are less likely to abuse drugs

And that is why my kids are in the kitchen as soon as they stand on a chair. It is my favorite time of the day-I know that I have said quite time or bed time is my favorite time of the day, but this really is my favorite time of the day!

Clingy Day...

...Poor Skye...and Poor Mom! This sweet little girl of mine was not about to let me put her down for anything today and holding her while sitting was just not good enough so we walked around and around and around and around...when my arm thought it was going to break off I found this little contraption and it saved my arm, but killed my neck! This is what we looked like ALL day except for when she napped (thankfully she did do that) I got the craziest looks when I pulled out the camera, it was like she was saying "you can still pull that thing out and get pictures of me even if you are holding me...dang!" As you can see from the pictures :)

Sorry for the downer post but I blogging every day there are bound to be a couple of bad days occasionally.

Bath Night...

...So I had originally thought about taking pictures of my *real* life at 5:00 but I thought it better to keep that angelic image of my kids in your minds :) 5:00 is by far the hardest time of the day. Actually from the time Jacey was tiny we set our clocks to her 5:00 fussy time. A lot of people are shocked to hear that my kids are in bed by 6:30-7:00, but once we have survived that hour we are all drained and ready for bed, and if we miss bed time by much we pay for it ten fold the next day at 5:00.

So enjoy the bath pictures. Skye is teething but still loves her bath! When she first gets in she splashes non stop for about 5 min. then she starts to play other games :)

PS) Sorry you lost Crystal...how long before Carrie is out too?

Pay Day...

...Yeah we are going to be poor as long as we have kids that are good enough for their allowance. I am sorry that this one is kinda boring but that is to be expected once in a while right?! Jacey gets one sticker every time she brushes her teeth and does her reading. Dax gets a sticker every time he goes all day without an accident...oh did I mention that he is mostly potty trained, YAY...and every time he brushes his teeth. For every sticker the kids get 1 nickle.

PS) can you see our elf sitting on the clock still, can you all believe that I still have a Christmas decoration up? He sits up there and watches the kids, if they are bad he goes and tells Santa :)

PS again) I love my magnet board. Thanks Mom!

Sunday Mornings...

...Thankfully we have the 11:00-2:00 session (My FAVORITE!) so we have time for this kind of stuff :0)
This is what I hear (whispered and I pretend not to hear it)
DAD: Hey Dax let go surprise mom by getting all ready for church
DAX: OK!
15 min. later
DAX: TADA!! I'm ready for church!

I was so not expecting to look up and see this! What a couple of NUTS, but hey it made today's entry pretty easy.

Grand Central Station...

...er I mean Skye's room. I know you guys have seen a little bit of this room already but here is the full effect (although my camera lens is not quite wide enough to get much in the shot at once). This also serves as the playroom but Skye is the boss and will knock down the highrise if she does not get her way :) unless of course she is stuck in her pen. It was hard to take the bed out of this room as it was "Mom's" room, but the train station just wouldn't work on the bed and the toys didn't all fit in the room.

First Report Card...

...and what a smart girl I have!! Jacey got her first report card today and she had all 4's (4=Advanced Exceeds grade level standards) all E's (E=Excellent) except for in science and social studies she got the next highest grade! She is so smart and really loves school! We are so proud of her.

As for the silly face picture she begged me to do it!

Home Sweet Home

...I was asked to share pictures of the house. So this is the front room/office/playroom when Skye is asleep.

Quite different than what it looked like when we would come visit Grandma, but maybe this will lessen the shock when you all come visit :) We are so grateful to be living here and really do love it. I can't share the whole house at once cause I can only manage to get one room clean at a time. As soon as I walk away the room is messy again. So we will do one room at a time.

Exploring the white world...

...Dax and I went exploring today while Skye napped. It finally snowed here and warmed up, the sun was shining and a very nice winter-y day. So I don't have a lot to talk about today...*shock*...I know so just enjoy the pictures today! I have to say he is a tough kid to get pictures of. He refuses to look at the camera and when he does smiles are very hard to get out of him :)

"Are We Not Going To Be In A Hurry?"

...So the story is this-Since Greg moved up here he has taken over the job of getting up with Skye (*)in the night and waking us up with the alarm clock. Well for some reason we would not get out of bed until 7:15 or sometimes even later and with Jacey needing to be to the bus by 7:50 we were *always* in a hurry! I would have to set a timer for her to try to beat for getting dressed, eating, grooming, etc. I would tell her at least 5 times that we were in a hurry cause we did not wake up early enough.

So Monday night she asked me if she could wake up with my alarm clock. At first I said no that we would wake her up, but then I thought what harm would it be. We set the alarm for her at 6:50. As we were walking out of the room she asked "So does this mean we wont be in a hurry Mom?" Sure enough she woke right up and we were not in a hurry at all and we had pleanty of time to eat and get dressed at a Jacey pace. :) We should have done this a month ago and saved very many frantic mornings of running around and yelling "Hurry Jacey you are going to miss the bus!!" Go figure.

(*) Note to all moms...Make a deal with dad early in parenthood that you will get up as many times as needed while the baby is breastfeeding, but as soon as the child is on formula/bottle and for the rest of their childhood dad gets up with them. Make this deal in the middle of the night after your 3 feeding with baby and he is half asleep and feels bad that you have only slept 2 hours :)

Family Home Evening...

...One of the best things about living up here in Idaho is that we actually are together as a family for more than 5 hours (total) a week. It is so nice to have our evenings together and almost every Saturday! (at least for now-Greg and I are on the look out for a different job)

Tonight we learned our phone number. We also learned 911-lets just hope they also learned what constitutes a real emergency :)

PS) if you don't know our number let me know and I will get it to you.

Like father...like daughter...

What a cute dad my kids have huh?!


She was playing peek-a-boo with me under the chair




...Does she look tired to you? She should be in bed 2.5 hours after bed time but she is proving more and more the night owl like her dad. And yes these are more pictures of Skye (and her dad), but when I remembered to get some pictures she was the only one awake.

This girl is such a handful at church too...we have the 11-2 o'clock church so she gets both of her naps, but that just means she is wired and rip-rarin to go for church. She also is not a shy little thing, she THRIVES on attention and boy oh boy does she get it! I mean who could resist those big brown eyes. A fair warning too, don't bounce her on your knees unless you are holding on to her hands-she throws her self backwards as soon as you stop.

Hope you all had a good Sunday, see you tomorrow :)

Ah the best time of the day...

...some days it is faster come than others. Skye is on antibiotics for an ear infection she caught last week and man oh man does that stuff hype her up. The other night she was up until almost 12:30 hyper as could be. Greg had fallen to sleep as he needed to get up for work the next day, so I got up with her. We watched TV together until 11:30 when I was too tired to sit up anymore so I put her in her little play thing and I went to bed. It was hilarious to see her rock back and forth and just laugh...yeah she thought is was funny to keep mom up. I put her in her bed at 12:00 and heard her for the last time around 12:30...silly girl we now give her medications after her naps instead of right before bed. Then tonight Jacey and Dax were hyped up and at 10:00 finally crashed...ah the quite of the house is now upon us and I can go to bed now!

disclaimer: no children were awakened by the flash of the camera.

The ultimate toy critic...

...for Skye's first Christmas we wanted to make sure that she had some fun things to play with up until now she has been playing with Jacey and Dax's hand-me-down toys. So I went to work researching the best toys for nine month olds and this one was #1 so of course wanting to be the best parent we bought it. The display of balls popping out of the tube and rolling back down the slide is supposed to encourage brain development as well as hand eye coordination all set to a nice array of music. I got all kinds of looks from her when I plopped her down in front of this. At first she just cried when we would turn it on, it took about 30 mins of playing this game for her to even venture off my lap. I grabbed the camera to capture her and what do you know she crawled right over to the card board box. I put her back in front of the thing and got all kinds of looks including the "what the heck am I supposed to do with this?" look. You see in the pictures the only time she even touched the thing...we should have saved our $20 and just gotten a cardboard box. Maybe once we throw away the box she will like the toy.

Got JUICE?

...Jacey loves to do this! We had a friend give us a HUGE box of oranges, so many that we are getting tired of peeling them and eating them so we made orange slices (to freeze and use later) orange zest (also frozen for later) and orange juice. Too bad it takes so many oranges to make even a cup (2 if you are interested) but it is oh so worth it

If you know me you know I love to cook and I love Food Network (Namely Rachel Ray)... the whole family watches it and the other day we were in the grocery store and Dax saw Rachel Ray on her magazine and shouted out "Hey mom, look it is Rachel Ray, it's Rachel Ray!!" there were about 4 people in line that heard and thought that was the coolest thing! Yeah my kids are Rachel Ray Junkies...as a mater of fact we are watching it right now! Whats for dinner tonight at your house? We had Spaghetti Pie, when I told Jacey she got upset and said "no mom that is dessert what is for dinner?"

My good little helper...

...and Skye's rescuer. Dax is so good to go get Skye up from her naps. He learned that it is not good to wake her up to go play, but he loves to go play with her in her bed. This gives mom about 30 min to an hour to get stuff done around the house.

Happy new year!

Day #1 of a new year! So as a photographer I often forget that it is okay to take a picture that is not planned out. My new years resolution is to do just that...take more pictures of my family being my family. I have not decided if I will just put all the picture here or on the kids blogs or both...who knows I didn't say I had all the details figured :)

SO here is little Skye whos new favorite food is spaghetti...









Hope you all have a very WONDERFUL 2008 year!

Mother Nature's Beauty...

...that will keep us home if ever there is ever a storm in the forcast :) We loved visiting family and are very glad to be home safe and warm! But when our 2.5 hour trip turned into an almost 5 hour trip I don't think we will do that again. The kids were great considering...Jacey loved to point out to Greg that "we can't see anything not even the road".

I always thought South Weber had bad wind...well it does but it also has trees, houses, buildings and other objects to slow it down or at least devert it a bit. Here it is wide open range and not much to slow the wind down.

These few are from the freeway. Sorry to say I didn't think to get out the camera to capture the bad parts where we could not even see the huge semi in front of us. We were able to always see his tracks though and we prayed he didn't go off the road as we would have followed. I can't tell you how grateful we were to have a semi (or two) to follow. Those *stinky* trucks (as the kids call them) made our trip home much safer/easier. I didn't realize we were practically the only *car* on the road until it cleared up and we found out we were following 5 (thats all we could see at any given moment) trucks.







These images were all taken on our long drive from Burley to Oakley. Usually the trip takes 20-30 min. today it took about an hour. Greg and I were awe struck by the beauty of the weather. Images are worth a 1000 words or so they say, and while these images show more than our words could ever I am still not sure they tell the whole story. A story that can only truely be appreciated if you are in it, but we don't suggest it.







I know this just looks white, but that is what we could see when driving through the spots of snow. It would be clear(er) one min. and then we would drive through this.

Greg discribed it pretty good when he said it looked like we were driving through a white river spiling over the road.
































What a ride...we hope that this is the only way you have to make it :) we love you all and hope you had a very merry Christmas. It was so good to see all of you!

Hey Guys Guess What...

...I have a new blog :) I know...I know...how am I going to keep up with another one, what can I say I am an addict. I was drawing today and came up with the girls on the header and decided to use it for something... so I present www.frillsndeals.blogspot.com

The thing is I need some models...you know of any send them my way :)

Also check out my photography blog I am looking for older kids/tweens so if you know parents of any send them here... www.amynielson.blogspot.com

No pictures today cause I figure if you follow the links you will see the new pictures


OH and Merry Christmas to you all!

TAG I'm IT

TAG! I'm it, and while I have tons of work to do I am grateful for the little distraction!

So my cousin Scott tagged me :)
1-The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
2- Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3- At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
So here we go-

Five Things I was doing 10 years ago-

So lets see that was 1997 and I was 16...how am I supposed to remember that far back?
#1 I was a Jr. at Northridge High School
#2 I was a volunteer at Davis Hospital
#3 I was taking ski lessons
#4 I went to the Christmas girls choice dance with Mike
#5 hummm I really can't think of anything else...sorry

Five Things on my to-do list today-

#1 Dishes...done
#2 Clean bathroom...done
#3 Grocery shop...done
#4 Take pictures of my kids...not done...what can I say they are usually the last ones done for the season and I have too much other work to finish up. They might have to wait until after Christmas :)
#5 Write Christmas letters...done

Five Snacks I enjoy-

#1 String Cheese
#2 Grapes in Peanut Butter
#3 Wheat Thins
#4 Pretzels
#5 Mint Hot Chocolate

Five things I would do if I were a Billionaire-

#1 Buy some land, build a nice modest house (who wants to clean a huge house and who wants a maid) with a nice studio, landscape the yard to use for pictures as well as for wedding receptions.
#2 Buy all the lenses I want to go with my new camera (those things can add up so I may not get all of the ones I want).
#3 Take my family to Itally to see our villa
#4 Get as many degrees as I can
#5 Start a home for kids needing a good home.

Three of my bad habits-

#1 I am a nail bitter
#2 The WORST passenger driver ever
#3 Cracking my knuckles

Five places I have lived-

#1 South Weber UT
#2 Roy UT
#3 Itally for 17 days (having to stretch this list out)
#4 Switzerland for 2 days (stretching even more)
#5 Oakley ID

Five jobs I’ve had-

#1 Baby Sitter
#2 Little Chicago Pizza and Smoothies
#3 Physical Therapy Aide/Receptionist/Water Aerobics Instructor/Transcriptionist
#4 Photographer
#5 MOM...the best job in the world!

Five things people probably don’t know about me-

#1 I would go to bed at 8:00 if I could
#2 I hate, hate, hate cereal...will not eat it!
#3 I will only eat celery in my mom's egg/potato salad or chicken salad
#4 I am writting a book
#5 I want to be a wedding planner

The following people have been tagged by me-
Chad, Kathy, Carrie, Sephanie and Ellen
PS) I copied this onto my *public* blog since that is the one that my name links to :)

OH WHAT CUTIES!!!

Debbie you have some dang cute grandkids! Thanks for letting me come take more pictures of them. I had so much fun

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PS) I can make any of them black and white, just let me know what you want and we will do it!

Announcing...

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Here are your announcements :)
The more people that proof these the better!

~~Click to see bigger~~







Do you want the + or the heart?

oops I just realized I didn't put these all up

...sorry about that.



This is the wall display that I think would look great in your front room
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Monica's kids...

...You guys are so cute!! I am so glad I was finally able to take your pictures, you were great.

So Monica I am thinking that because of the difference in the colors of clothes black and white would be more uniform on your wall. I don't have a great full length of Anna, but I love these close ups of them all...









I like these ones too...

Some of cute little Alyx

~~Click on the image to see it bigger~~

1) My new favorite!


2) with this one a close second


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Here is little Kyleigh...

...and what a cutie she is! This is Lance and Kathy's cute little girl! (by the way guys did you know her name means boomerang, kinda fun fact :)

I can't believe how easy and laid back she was! I had fun doing these. Let me know what you think and which ones you want me to print up for you. Also come on over one day soon and we can make her cards/announcements

I love her expression in this one!









I couldn't decide which one I liked better of these ones. I am leaning more toward the one above.





Just for fun :)

What was I thinking?

That is the question of the day, and not just me but every single person that has ever or will ever climb Angels Landing. WOW what a rush for those that enjoy hikes, narrow ridges, and heights, not for those who don't. Here is a link for more info on this hike... http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-angels-landing-trail.htm and of course my own pictures.

Crystal, Kirsten and I made it down to St. George to visit Carrie and take some bridals for Crystal (check out the other blog for those). We had such a blast!! First time I have ever been away from both the kids and Greg for more then just a sleep over.

The weather was GREAT around 70 Saturday and Sunday and beautiful the whole time, except when it was time to drive back north and we ran into a snow storm.

Thank you Katrina for your hospitality and letting us stay in your wonderful home! You are a sweetie.

So the pictures...
this one is 4 of us 5 sisters towards the beginning of the hike...we wish Monica could have come!



The rest of these were taken near the top, and yes that is a very pregnant (34 weeks to be exact) crazy person sitting on the edge of the cliff.







This one is the far away shot...



And this one is the same basic shot zoomed in...



So Carrie can you see them now?

Happy 2007 Everyone!

Hope the New Year found you well!

I just wanted to pop in real quick and let you know that I have a blog for my professional photography here http://amynielson.blogspot.com/ . I will keep this one and it will be more for updates of my family. I will try to do better, but am not promising anything. So when I start to slack or when you need a nielson family kick just let me know and I will jump right on it :)
Love ya all!

Baby's First Christmas revisited

What do you supose these two are plotting?

So we shot some more of these cuties today...Big Brother was sick last time so we didn't even try. I am gald because I know we would not have gotten these shots with him sick! These ones are my favorites!

a few Christmas shots of my family!

So I have never been one to do Christmas cards or pictures, but wanted to try it this year. It is kind of hard to take pictures of your family with you in it. I have done self portraits before, and I thought that was hard :)

My kids (Greg included) were such good sports. Here are a couple...I am not happy with the ones with Greg and the kids, the sun was coming right through the window and landing on Greg, we will try those ones again.

I have never used the red before, but I really like it! I will have to use it more often now!

Babies first Christmas

She is so cute! Stacey let me know if you want to use one of these, or try for one on Thursday when we do the other ones.

Mail

Time will Tell

Ropin'

Comfort

Bath Time

Home

Trespasser

Tipping

The Shed

Getting Water

Windy Day

House Cleaning

Time to remember our memories

The one thing I love most about photography is being able to look at an image and have it bring back a memory of some kind. This time of the year always bring back memories of growing up, and most of the memories I have I have because of pictures.
This past summer we went up to Grandma's house in Idaho and what fun it was to remember old times growing up, the summers spent as a kid staying with Grandma and Grandpa for the week, all the good food, fun, and laughter. The time we all spent as a family.

The point of this section of my blog is for my family, brothers, sisters, mom, dad, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all to remember times at grandma's house. *HINT HINT* Pass this link on to other everyone :)

If any of these images strike a memory please respond with a comment. I want to hear any and all memories, even if they have nothing to do with the image.

I will not add all my memories in my posts, but too will add them in the comments as not to over take my own blog :) Please help me with this. I am sure we will all appreciate this the older we get...so continue to add as the memories come.

Almost Full Moon...

I believe that tomorrow is actually when it is full but I was afraid it might be more cloudy so we shot today. I am pleased with the results I got today, but might try again tomorrow. I wish I had a bigger lens so that I could zoom in on it more.

Here it is...



I was also noticing that it has been awhile since I rambled on and on for you all. I think it might have to do with being pregnant, did you know that it is a proven study that pregnant women's brains do actually and literally shrink when they are pregnant and it takes up to 6 months after delivery to return to normal or near normal size. No that wont be my ramblings for today... But I will start to think and ponder so I can endulge that craving you all are having ;)

Our kitchen is starting to look a bit more finished. Greg took the week off, but poor kid didn't get a break from working. He, himself mostly has taken on the project of tearing out the carpet and laying tile! YAY!! no more carpet in the kitchen. It is looking so good. I am quite impressed :) I did help a little with painting, but really I have just been trying to keep the kids from running circles around Greg.

The kids were playing on the stairs while Greg was working today and we later found out that they decided to do some work of their own. There is crayon scribbles up and down the stairs. When Jacey was questioned she very honestly told me that she wanted to make that wall pretty too. Oh the honesty! Gotta love it!

Well good night all and enjoy the full moon.

Happy Halloween!

Here are a few halloween pictures. I will add more later.
This is Kason and Alyx (I think that is how they spell their names ;) )

These pictures are from a failed attempt to get all of the Nielson kids in a picture together...yeah right...5 kids 4 two and under...haha

Embracing grain...

Grain can be so much fun sometimes, I think it helps set the mood for some images. Like these, we were in the library with low light and hushed tones. I think the grain adds to that images story.

This is our Monday night trip to the library. We are trying to get the kids in a routine and help Jacey learn the days of the week, Monday is Library Day, Tuesday is all day with dad (poor me has to work all day) Wednesday is Scouts, Thursday is all day with mom, Friday is Movie night, Saturday is Treasure Hunt Cleaning (we have yet to make it to the treasure though :)) Sunday of course is Church day. It gives the kids something to look forward too.

Meet Monica's Family...

So this shoot was a bit rushed, we didn't have much time to find a perfect spot, nor did we have time to hike or drive to one so I am sad to say I don't have as many pictures to show for this wonderfully cute family!

These guys live up by Vernal and next time they are down or we are up (or is it just over?) we are going to have to try again especially for some of your kids separately so save me a couple of hours. I am pleased with this family picture though.

Meet Chad's family

...Of course he has his own blog, but updates it, if you can believe, less then me ;) just kidding Chad. At least you have (had) a good reason with school. www.welchkins.com for anyone that wants to check it out, maybe he will put up an update now :)

SO here are his families pictures...cute boys huh!?!

ps Chad I have others too, but I just posted my personal favorites!

Some more...

WOW what a fun...busy...full of pictures weekend!!!

Had to take advantage of the nice weekend we were having, and catch up on some much needed family photos. I will be putting up the other ones soon...so stay tuned. I thought I would start with these ones though.

This is my favorite time of the year, and maybe only because it makes such wonderful backdrops. I am not into the floral backdrops of spring, but am loving these ones! These were taken up above my parents house. We went wandering and found some cool things, okay honestly it was all junk and garbage, but I was in photography heaven!

There are lots so sit back and enjoy...oh by the way this is my sis Carrie, who now lives in St. George, but dreams of coming back up here to enjoy the cold and snow ;)












there are more, but I think I may have used up my space for this blog... we will start another

The many faces of Jaxon!

I have the cutest nieces and nephews, and until today when I was looking through these pictures I had never thought to post them to my blog for other people (including the parents who haven't seen these yet) to see. These are some I took in July of Lance (Greg's youngest brother) and Kathy's cutie, Jaxon. He has got some great facial expressions that really showed in this session! I have a cute one of the whole family that I will only post with mom and dad's permission, say the word and I will put that one up as well.



















I got to have a 4 day weekend this week and have really loved it! I am so happy the sun is shinning a bit today, it is getting too cold too fast. I have a newborn session on Wednesday and may have to turn my heater on so my house is nice and toasty.

Man Alive...It has been awhile.

So what is new with all of you (so many that read this)? It has been a fun craxy summer for us, and that is my reasoning for not keeping up with this blog. Of course come 8:00 the kids are in bed and I usually have the rest of the night to myself so then I use the reasoning of being pregnant and just too tired to keep up with it. Yep we are expecting another child the end of March, but we aren't due until April.

Jacey was VERY VERY convinced that there were two babies cooking and one was a boy for dad and dax and the other was a girl for her and mom. We went for our first appt the end of August and after stating Jacey's predictions my wonderful Dr. gave us an US. We only saw one baby, I thought Jacey would cry when I said there was only one in there. Her face was very sad and confussed. On the way out of the clinic I asked her if she was okay with there only being one and she said "yeah, but does that mean I have to share my baby?" What a nut!! She is very excited and asks me every day when my belly will be big so that the baby can come out. I am in no hurry for a big belly, but she sure is ;)

I wasn't even a little bit sick with Jacey or Dax, I would gag with bad smells and had my adversions to food (except with Dax I think I could eat anything) Jacey I couldn't eat pizza. This time it is Chicken and I feel sick every afternoon starting around 2:00 and lasting most the night, until I fall asleep.

Greg and I re-finished our front two rooms hardwood floors this past July. I really like them and can't wait to update our kitchen. We now have a nice big stain in the kitchen after Dax knocked over a tower of wood sealer and one of the cans opened up. WHO PUTS CARPET IN THE KITCHEN!!! If that fad ever comes back I swear I will do everything in my power to get it out fast!

Greg and I have been toying with the idea of selling our house, so if any of you out there want a very cute house, close to the freeway and Hill AFB just let us know!

I have so many pictures to share of my kids that I my blog should have movement for a bit. Here are a few that I took this week. We went on a picnic Thursday with the intent for me to take some pictures, but not let the kids know that was the reason we got all dressed up and ready to go play at a park.

(Carrie, I took these cause I forgot to get you some when you were up here 2 weeks ago, Sorry, I guess this means you will be up soon to get em right?!)

Ever wonder how blind someone really is?

First off can you believe 2 posts in one week :)
On a forum that I frequent there was a challenge to shoot someone wearing shades. Usually the norm with photogs is to have the subjects take their glasses off for the shoot, but on occasion it adds character to the shot. So as I was watching the entries come in I wanted to be a little different (go figure me not want to do something that everyone is doing :) no need to worry about peer presure with me right?!). I got thinking of ideas, one was to have an awesome reflection in the shades that created an image of its own with the shades as a backdrop of sorts, and then it hit me...I wanted the camera to wear the shades.

Here are a few of the shots I came up with...

























After taking these I got looking and was amazed I could actually tell how blind I was. You see these were taken through perscription sunglasses. The camera focused as though it were my eyes and the surrounding image is what it looks like when I don't have my glasses on...WOW huh?! So if you are ever bored and have a camera and glasses give it a try.

So it has been awhile, where have you been?

If you want you can skip all of this and see the pictures at that bottom.

So May was kind of a flop of a month as far as posting on here goes...
Even now as I sit here and begin to compose my thoughts my mind is blank, and I am tempted to just put up the pictures and move on to update the kids' blogs, but alas I will not. I will instead just let my fingers move and see what comes of it (watch out my fingers can move upwards of 63-68 WPM).

The kids and I were trying to cool off this evening after dinner, it got up into the 90's today. I hooked up the Elmo sprinkler and let the kids run through it. It is one that if the water pressure is high enough it spins the water around, or you can flip a switch and stop it from turning. Jacey desided that she didn't want it to turn and asked me so nicely to please go make it not turn. I kink the hose and hand it to her to hold, I walk up to the elmo and that little stinker let go of the hose, yeah I am pretty sure that was her plan the whole time, but when I backed out of the sprinkler she pleaded for me to please make it stop spinning, and would you believe that I fell for it again?! She, and Dax thought it was pretty funny, I just can't believe I fell for a 4 year olds cunning plan :)

Jacey loved the water and ran through it many times, Dax was a little more timid. He would walk up to the water and let his hand or foot get sprinkled on, bravely take one more step and then duck out again. He was more interested in playing with his trains, or the rocks. Here are a couple of shots from today, I have been having such a hard time getting some of Dax, so I was pleased to get these (even if he isn't looking at the camera). My goal this month is to get he lower lip pout...you have never seen anything so sad and funny at the same time, with his great big brown eyes he can pout better than the best! Wish me luck with that one.


I worked on my metering, lighting, mood and tried some new black and white conversions... so enjoy and I hope to be back real soon. I have taken 100s of pictures recently and I hope to be a bit more consitent.

Greg's picture...

I hope my dear husband Greg doesn't mind me sharing this story, but it is one I want to remember. I love it and him for it! Greg had been home with the kids and they had been playing outside. Greg has been working very hard on figuring out my camera (my settings are constantly changed, and he is trying to figure out what works what, and doing a good job I might add) so he took it outside with him and was taking pictures of the kids. He looked at them and was so excited with them. When I got home he just had to show me the pictures he had taken, he started out with some he thought were pretty good, and then got really excited with the last 4-5 images. He made me close my eyes while he got them all set up and in order.
I opened my eyes, I tried to hold back my laugh because he looked so proud of himself, but just couldn't. This was one of the pictures that he showed me...



Now you ask why would you laugh? It is a very nice picture right.

Well you see I took this picture the day before, Jacey just happened to be wearing the same thing. It was very hard to break the news that this was not a picutre he had taken, but I had to explain my laughter (man I wish I could control that sometimes).

Here are a couple of pictures that Greg DID take, he is getting it! Love ya hon, hope you don't mind...

Daxton

So this was a bit more delayed then I had planned, but here is an image that is sure to make you laugh out loud or at least smile, or maybe it is just the mom in me.

Kudos to anyone who can guess where he is.

I hope you are not disapointed with the fact I don't have any words of wisdom...but enjoy the image anyways.

See things for what they can be...

A harder concept then it sounds I know but stick with me for a second, it isn't too hard, and with practice anyone can do it.

At first glance this is an ordinary slide on a sunny spring day in a park with grass and trees. But by looking past the obvious it can be oh so much more. See those colors, imagine them saturated. The curve, and demension will add direction and flow in the image. With a little digital help (or a little more time in the dark room) you can create something that is not ordinary in any sense.



Okay here goes Amy on her little tangent... :)

Isn't this true with people too? What if we stopped seeing people as they appear to be, and started seeing, helping, encouraging them to be all that they can be. I think that by doing this we will be able to more clearly see ourselves and who we can be.

There is so much to a person beyond what is obvious, and by looking a little harder you will find someone that helps you see yourself more clearly and provides the reason to become a better person.

Hey stay tuned, cause I have an image that is sure to make you at least smile, if not laugh out loud!

Sometimes it is good to shoot inside the box...

This was shot the other day, when to my surprise my daughter, Jacey, asked me to take he picture. That doesn't happen very often! Jacey will be four this month, oh how time flies.

So my ramblings have been few and far between as have my images. Now that we are starting to have nice days (okay besides the snow we got on Thursday) I am hoping to get out and shoot more. Spring is such a wonderful time of the year, new life begins and grows and covers the remains of winter.

So I was watching a movie the other day that totally sparked some excitement and inspiration in me, gotta love it when that happens. I will be starting a new project, as soon as I figure out how to start it, and can't wait to share it with you all. I am looking for some volunteers, so if you are interested let me know. Other wise you might all get sick of seeing me pose and test for myself :)

Inspiration is a wonderful thing. There is so much in this world to be inspired by. One day I was exiting the freeway and there was a man standing on the edge of the road waring tattered clothing, worn out and aged by the hot summer sun, holding a sign, of which I cannot remember the wording, but simply asking for some food or a ride. I wished so much that I had some food with me to offer him, and more then that I wished I had had my camera. I would have gladly bought him a nice meal for a few shots. Everything about this man intrigued me. His natural pose, the lighting of the summer sun 2 hours before sunset, right down the the depth of his wrinkles. This was more than 2 years ago and I can still remember so much about the moment, becuase of the impact it left, and becuase of the inspiration it stirred me to. (no this is not my new project, and no volunteers are needed for a recreation ;) )

I was asked recently which professional photographers inspire me? For me it has not been other photographers that inspire me, there are pleantly of photographers work that I admire, but for inspiration I look to the simple things in life. I look for moments that evoke feeling, and find the source and use that as inspiration. I find a favorite toy of a child and find inspiration. There are so many things that provide inspiration, too bad I don't always have my camera with me. I am going to try to take and post 3 images a week. I am sorry to say that I may not have such awesome ramblings with each image, but at least I will be practicing more and more.

On a Photography Point...

Thought I would throw this in today too. Or maybe I should save it for tomorrow's entry ;) , but no I want to come up with something for tomorrow.
I have been experimenting with some new conversions, trying to find something that will appeal to seniors today. Here are 4 options of the same image. I have found a way to change the colors to what everones the Sr. likes.
The first one is Pure Black and White
The second is a Dual Blend using yellow and purple
The third is a High Contrast Dual Blend (again using purple and yellow)
The forth is a Less Contrast Dual Blend, the same as the third just with less contrast and color range.

Life of a Child...

So it has been a few days since my last entry, sorry to those that missed my insight ;). I have to start this one out with an explanation of the image. Our 2 kids sleep in the same room and are actually pretty easy to put to bed. We go through the nightly routine of saying prayers and singing songs, kisses and hugs and nightly sayings..."good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite, I love you, I love you too" and that is usually it. Well tonight the kids were very tired but at the same time very wound up. After the nightly routine we continued to hear thumps and laughs through the floor. A while later little Dax came walking in saying "HIII". When the kids come down stairs Dax is the one that tests the water and then Jacey will come in when he is received well (tricky older sister). So tonight Dax came down and Jacey didn't follow. Greg went and took Dax back up to bed, Jacey was not to be seen. The search began. Jacey was not down stairs in our bed, she was not in her usual hiding spots. Greg found her like this, except see the corner pulled down that was up and all he could see was a bit of blond hair sticking out. This is a Jacey sized couch, turned upside down and unzipped so that she could climb into it.

I would love to know what she was doing or pretending when she fell asleep like this. It got me thinking...I know.... back to when I was a child. The carefree play and imagination I was allowed. I was blessed with 4 sisters, it is one of those blessings that are easier to see in hindsight, no really we had fun growing up. It really is too bad that that carefree play ends.

Originality...

Isn't is a wonderful thing? The definition is as simple as the concept, the power of independent thought or constructive imagination. I believe that originality is a gift and it can be lost when it is not allowed. I also think that there is far too little originality left in this world. I realize that there are some good ideas that should be taught and used and re-used, but where is the originality going. Am I the only one that sees a loss of not only in today's world, but even starting years ago? This is an image that I like to look at when I need some original thought. It was taken on a brisk spring morning on a trail in SLC. I like to imagine myself sitting on that bench thinking.

As a photographer I see this all too often. I would like to think of myself as an original thinker. Sure I might see an idea and think hey I like that, but I always try to follow it up with a hmm how can I make that my own idea. I respect the art of another and recognize an original idea and respect it. When I loose the ability to be original that is when I loose myself and become the making of another.

Food is another way that I like to express my originality. I like to cook, and my husband tells me my cooking is good, my kids will usually eat it and so will I so I guess it can't be too bad, but I cannot for the life of me follow a recipe. If I am ever asked for one my answer is always the same I don't have one. Now a recipe is an original idea that should be used, and re-used but for me it has always only been a guidline and an idea. There are times that I wish I could just buckle down and follow one ingredient by ingredient, but it is too hard. (note: I don't bake much) . I can practically say that I never cook the same thing twice. :)

So the oposite of originality would be a fad. Fads are so often the thing of the past, unlike an original thought, it never becomes old or out dated.

Re-reading this it might sound as though I am against good ideas being used and re-used, I am not, I am however against those that fail to come up with their ideas. I would be honnored if someone thought my idea so wonderful that they wanted to use it, but I would be more honnored if they took it and made it their own. There is nothing to be said about great thoughts, I would like to see more and more of them come out. I would like to see kids and adults alkie allowed to be original (as long as it was safe and legal ;) ). Okay that is my bout with originality. I will continue to try to find my own and hope that others do to. This world could be an awesome place if originality was a bigger factor!

On a side note: When I got home from work today Jacey asked my "Mom how was work?" I replied "It was good hon, how was home?". She replied "Mom it was really, really, really GREAT!" I asked her "What made it so "really really really GREAT!?" and she replied "I got to play lots!" Lets all get out and "play" more let that imagination of our childhood creep back out of us. I challenge myself to be more creative this week. (and to also not slack on the whole blog thing ;) )

Letter to my family...

This is one of my most favorite images and so I thought I would post it up here. My family is the most important thing in my life, and at times I am afraid I may take them for granted. We have been blessed with such loving, sweet kids. I would love for them to stay little forever, but know that growing up is going to happen. It is great to have images like this to remember the sweetness and joy.

Crystal came home from Argentina today, it was so great to see her and have her home. It really does not seem like she has been gone that long at all. Dax was only 4 months old when she left though. The whole time she was gone we had a picture of her up on the fridge and we would try to teach him her name, he would never say it. Today though while we were at mom and dad's house getting ready to go to the airprot to pick her up he said her name. YAY!!

Well today's is going to be a short one, but I did want to write how important my family was to me. I wish that we could see them all more often, but even though we can't I hope they know we love and think of them often!

Composing my life...

So the other day I had been admiring some photography of photographers that I admire and I started to think...When will my creativity hit? When will I get my big break? When will my photographs be admired? Is all of this [photography] worth it? I strated to feel discouraged.

Well...

The definition of creativity is the ability to create and the definition of create is to produce or bring acout by a course of action. Well there you have it no amount of sitting around was going to magically produce creativity.

I don't own studio lights, all of my portrait work is done using natural light (the sun) and since it was 9:00 at night that was out. I started to look around and what do ya know sitting right next to me on my desk is a lovely lamp and guess what it produces light, amazing, I know. So then I started looking for the victim, the kids were in bed and I thought better then to wake them up. I remembered a challenge/assignment, on a photography forum that I frequent, for Still Life images. I saw a piece of sheet music laying under the keyboard that is to often neglected by me. I grabbed it and just stared at if for a minute.

I loved how the notes flowed, as if they were dancing or bobbing up and down on the page, how the lines lead across the page. I loved that although I was going to use it for a still life it still had such great movement to it. I layed it on the table, played around with lighting and focus and this is what I got. I know that it won't speak (or I guess in this case sing) to some of you, but to me it taught me something I hope to never forget, just like this piece of music life has to be composed or put together and that requires an action.

I like to think of life as a piece of art, what I do with it will be my end result, and I hope that when all is said and done it others view it as a masterpiece.

Okay another thing I should explain is that I type really fast and haven't figured out how to do a spell check yet. You will have to read through my typos, and my sentences that don't make sense.
Like above where I said "I especially love to capture the fun spirits and a senior" it should be ...fun spirits and life of a senior.
Anyways that is who I am a mom who doesn't like to shop and when it comes time for spelling tests...well that is what Greg is for. :)

Grocery Day...and other ramblings.

Of all the days to start a blog Grocery Day has got to be the best. Right? If you know me you know hoe much I dislike shopping. I would wait until we were digging into our food storage if Greg and the Kids would let me. I have a nack for putting together meals out of nothing. Greg says that out food storage is for when we can't go shopping, and not for when we can but don't want to. So thus I shop every other week.

Okay really this blog isn't for you to read about my shopping experiences, but this is were I will keep track of life and thoughts. Here is my introduction...

My name is Amy Nielson. I am the wife of a wonderful guy, Greg. We are the parents of 2 wonderfully active kids, Jacelynn (almost 4) Daxton (almost 2). Together as a family we love to play games and just hang out.

Self portrait /
I have a passion for photography, I love being able to capture life and moments. I especially love to capture the fun spirits and a senior. With my photography I try not to do the usual shots, but step back and try things that are new, but that showcase you, your style, and your personality. 20 years from now I hope that your kids laugh at how goofy you looked in High School, but you can look back and remember the fun times of high school.

Well I guess that will be all for now...stay tuned for some great ponderings ;)

Another picture of me just to show the real team! (okay really the real team would be anyone oposing BYU!!