Make-up Session (aka Date Night #4)

"We have dinner plans at 4:00, just so you know." That was the sour comment from Ray last Saturday around 12:00. We had been bickering non-stop since he failed to celebrate our anniversary on Thursday.

"Who cares?" is what I really wanted to say. Instead I just shrugged and went about my business. I mean, our anniversary was days ago...I had no interest whatsoever in celebrating it now.

Turns out, Ray had made arrangements with Sue (not sure how that happened) for her to watch the kids.

I have always wanted to eat at this place in Kenwood called Maggiano's, and that's where we went.

I got some shrimp in tomato sauce thing (which was good)

And Ray got some seafood thing which was even better.

We also got an AMAZING desert...this cheesecake. If I ever go back to that restaraunt, I'm ordering only the cheesecake and I'm eating every bite of it myself!! It just melted in my mouth...

After dinner, we went to the theatre in Fields Ertle by the new Wal-Mart and saw....

Eclipse! I was very shocked when Ray said we could see it. He's not exactly a Twilight fan.

Overall, I will have to give the boy kudos for a nice evening, but it would be nice if next time, I didn't have to fight and bicker my way there.

And some more...

I think someone needs to pry this computer out of my hands...it's 2:15 in the afternoon and I've been on this thing since 7:00 this morning!!! (I did stop to use the bathroom a couple of times, eat lunch, talk on the phone for a bit, and take a shower and put on some clean clothes, but I have done NOTHING else today).

This is the picture of Avery from yesterday. She was lying in my lap (that's my knee behind her head) and I had the long lens (or glass, as they call it in my book) on my camera, so the picture isn't tack sharp (how's that for some jargon?!) and the shadow on her face isn't very flattering, but I thought it was cute nonetheless.

This is the picture of Avery after touching it up... which would have been soooo much better if I had better focus on her face...



And these are the pictures of Avery after playing around.

(this version being my favorite, I think. It kind of has that dreamy look)

And to show that I am not just obsessed with someone else's kid, here are some pictures of the girls playing in the water part of the park:

Original:

A little bit of editing:

Running an action:

For my kids, this picture is my favorite (tied between the second and the third one) because they all look so happy and they look like they are having so much fun. However, yesterday made me wish I had been into photography more when my kiddos were little kiddos...I would have waaayyy more cute pictures of them. It's not as easy to catch them being as cute as Mya or Aaron or Avery. They give cheesy smiles and seem unnatural in front of the camera. Even yesterday, while quietly following them around the little water park, I had trouble catching them unaware. And then, even when they didn't know I was watching, I wish I hadn't been watching. Like this time; guess what they were talking about when I took these pictures:

(no editing on any of these pictures, by the way. They are SOOC (more jargon!)--straight-out-of-camera)

If you guessed, "acting like they were peeing," you would be the million dollar winner. In fact, Emily is only seconds away from saying, "Hey! Look how big my pee is!"

Nothing like the innocent water play (all pictures also SOOC ;-))

and boy-chasing

of sweet, little Mya!

I think if I knew back then what I know now of taking pictures, I would have dressed them up in all kinds of outfits and taken them to all kinds of places with all kinds of props and had at it! But then again, I wouldn't have the "free time" to spend learning the way I do now with the kids I have now. Catch-22, I guess. Perhaps I should start borrowing other people's kids before they start sitting on spouting water and acting like they are peeing!

Just playing around some more...

I have spent the morning (LOVE LOVE LOVE summer for this) on the internet reading about editing photos and exploring new actions for Photoshop. Today, I learned how to fix blemishes.

Here's the picture of Jo and Avery I shared yesterday with very minimal processing (do I sound professional?? ;-)) Make sure click on the pictures to see them close up.



Here she is after "fixing" her skin.




The trend I've noticed lately on the internet is to create "dreamy" pictures. I've been trying, and so far, this is as close as I have come. I would still like to make the colors "pop" a little more...(maybe less on Jo's face and lips?)




I don't know...still have lots to learn!

Avoiding the boy

I played around with some new photo stuff I just bought instead of going upstairs to my bed where Ray has been asleep since 10:00 ( it's now well after midnight and my buzz has worn off)without saying goodnight. It's not "serious" photogrpahy, but I thought it was fun to play with. And, as usual, there is more to come...


Original:



Photo effect 1:



Photo effect 2:



Same effect on different picture:


I'm thinking I really like the hearts...:-)

Filling up my day

A choice I made 15 years ago determined that today was a day to be celebrated, and just because a certain boy neglects to celebrate this day with me, doesn't mean I should not be happy. Right?

So, here is just one of many pictures to come that I took today that reminds me of how full my life is with or without Ray's love...




Obviously this is of Jo Ann and Avery. We went to Winton Woods today (minus Ray) with Sue and Patrick and Mya (and my girls along with Hailey and Emma). (I certainly have waaaaayyyy more pictures of our adventures to come--I took over 200 pictures). After Sue left, we went back to the water part of the park. Jo Ann and I sat on a bench and watched the kids play. She also fed Avery. It was after that feeding, that the most amazing thing happened...

I had been talking to Avery, and she cooed a little and even smiled (like I said, more pictures to come),




but it was nothing compared to Avery's response when Jo Ann took her and started talking to her. Avery's entire being lit up. As Avery's eyes scanned Jo Ann's face, she recognized Jo as her mother, and she responded with pure, innocent love. I mean, Avery's not even two months old, and she already knows who her mother is and intrinsically adores her. Simply amazing.




These pictures, out of all the pictures of them that I took, show the love that Jo Ann has for her baby and the love that that baby has for Jo Ann. All I can say is, "Thank you for filling up my day with love."

15 years

Today marks 15 years of being married to this boy.


It also marks 19 1/2 years since this boy came into my life.


I was only 19 years old when he first held my hand and gave me a kiss goodnight after leaving a Wal-Mart Christmas party, and now that I am almost 40 years old, today marks the half-way point--Ray has been my main boy for half my life.


I wish I could say that I'm happily married to this boy. This boy is hard to love because he doesn't give freely of himself. He is closed up tight and even after 15 years of marriage, the door to his heart is still locked up tight.


Maybe I was naive all those years ago to think that I would be the one to unlock it, to get inside his heart and live there comfortably, without worry, with joy. But 15 years later, I'm still knocking and waiting for him to finally answer.


I know he is capable of letting people in. Hannah and Emily have an unconditional pass; they just slipped right on in seamlessly, without hesitation, and I know they will be there until that heart stops working. Sometimes I'm jealous. I want to be there too.


But, I'm not, so, since today marks 19 1/2 years since I gave this boy the key to my heart and 15 years since I told him to throw that key away so no one else could have it but him, I will go about my day hoping that maybe next year I will be able to celebrate the fact that I finally got in!

Dave and Buster's

YO YO YO How are you .... this is awesome. Looks like a great Anniversary present for Karen. I have the best husband in the whole world, I complain alot but I really do not mean it. I am sooooo fortunate to have the best of everything.

Ummm...yeah, not sure where that came from...except maybe my dumb husband who is trying to pawn a family trip to Dave and Buster's off as my anniversary present/dinner...like I said, "DUMB!" I even told him that night (over two weeks ago) that this isn't what I wanted...

Any way, Ray had some gift certificates from work, so we went to Dave and Buster's to eat and play games.

Hannah started playing this game...you have to push the button so that a small disc slides out and lands on a spot.

With Ray's help, she managed to hit the jackpot...300 tickets at once!

She was soooo elated that she was jumping up and down, throwing her arms up in victory, and couldn't stop laughing.

Emily wasn't that excited. She tried and tried to hit a jackpot, but it was a no-go. So we played a few other games.

But none garnered her any huge amount of tickets. So, she ended up like this:

Yep, she cried and pouted and tried to ruin our time at Dave and Buster's. I reminded her that the last time we were here, she had hit the jackpot (Jo's birthday), and Hannah was happy for her. "Who cares," she pouted. Well, low and behold if Hannah doesn't give that stinker some of her tickets. She can be very generous even when Emily doesn't really deserve it. So, they picked out some prizes, and off we went.

(just a picture of the setting sun through the windshield)

It was fun, but I'm telling you right now, if Ray thinks that that trip for the girls is going to count for me...well...tomorrow, just may be a bad day for the record books!