We get sick.  It's hard to be sick but it's harder to be sick when it's soccer season.

Il ne se sent pas bon.  C'est terrible quand il est le temp de jouer au footballe.



I wanted to show that even though I walked through the photo I wasn't still long enough.  Je voudrais montrer que je marche devant le camera mais je n'ai pas dans le photo.


Tonight I shot the moon.  Not perfectly but I've been fiddling with it.  The best time to shoot the moon is when the moon is just rising over the horizon and the sun has set within an hour.  Tonight was not the ideal time.  I want a shot with the moon and Mount Baker.  Best location - Northwest soccer fields.  I have been teaching a photography class and tonight was night time photography which I absolutely love.  It was also the best night we've had in a long time to shoot the moon.  Most of the rules for night time photography apply to shooting the moon except for purposefully underexposing a moon shot. 
J'ai pris un photo de la lune.  Je toujours voudrais pris des photographies et ce soir j'etais capable de la faire.  J'enseign une classe de photographie et la lesson est comment de prendre des photos pendant la nuit.  Nous sommes presque finir avec la classe.  Je voudrais enseign un autre classe aux etudiants de lycee pendent l'ete.

Did StarWars specifically inspire the pump, it did inspire researchers to look at what could be done with computers and machine for modern medicine. We spent at least 1 1/2 hours in just that exhibit and I think Job could have spent another two hours.  I kept having to pull him away.  They had a robot programming center and Job has been working with Lego NXT programming so this was right up his alley. We had lunch in the car which was so close and then back into the museum to explore butterflies, underwater creatures, naked mole rats (a favorite of the kids - it's all in the name), a little about bodies.  Loved this day.  I talked all the way there, through the whole museum and all the way home.  I ran out of words for my husband.

Eyes, sparkly, vibrant, alive eyes.  That is what I'm trying for.  Do I acheive it every time?  No way.  However as of late, I have been purposeful in trying to acheive catchlights in the eyes.  A couple of things that are needed:
(1) subject facing a light source but not directly in the light.
(2) precise focus on the eyes
(3) willing subject (harder than the first two)

Sometimes when the subject is in bright light or the light source is strong I have them sit with their eyes closed until I'm ready to take the photo and then I count to three and click.  Here are some of the catchlights I've acheived.  Click on the photo and then click to zoom in.  Sometimes I can get a great reflection of me in their eyes.
J'aime les lumiere dans les yeux.   Cliquez sur le photo et cliquez un fois plus de voir qu'est ce que c'est dans les yeux.  C'est important du personne tourne vers la lumiere mais n'est pas dans la lumiere.  C'est aussi necessaire de mettre l'accent sur les yeux et le personne est agreable du photo. 

This was our teeth week.  Isaac received a new tooth.  He's half way through braces and that in itself has been an experience.  I'm hoping by the time Lona is done we will really know what questions to ask.  Back to Isaac though.  He is like his mom in some ways.  I am missing two teeth actually and he is only  missing one, however the other tooth is a peg tooth.  It is smaller then normal.  John probably should have checked teeth like they do with horses before marrying me.  This new tooth is attached to his braces only and will be there for the next year.  When the remove his braces, he'll have to wear a retainer and then the tooth will be attached to the retainer until that is no longer need and then he'll wear a partial until implants or a bridge.  I think at least one of my children should go into the dental field. 

Cette semaine est notre semaine avec des dents.  Isaac recois un dent nouveau.  Il avait un medecine appareil pour une annee.  Il y a seulment une annee plus.  Mercredi Isaac a recu un dent nouveau.  C'est attache a ses appareil.  Quand il fini avec l'appareil il va recevoir un mandate dentaire et apres ca, il peux recevoir un dent permenant.  J'espere qu'un de mes enfants devien un dentiste.

Eli Reinholdtsen is a photographer and author of a book called Chasing Reflections.  I bought the ebook from CraftandVision.com where there are many ebooks. This particular one is about reflections and taking photos that make the viewer look deeper into the photo.  This site has been a source of inspiration and learning for me.  So thank you Eli for helping me see more than I thought there was when I first approached the scene.

Il y a un photographeurn et ecrivian qui vend un livre des reflexions.  C'est marveilleux parce que je vois un scene different et veux prendre un photo avec des scene different. Alors je veux direr merci a Eli Reinholdtsen.



The title of the post was taken from David DuChemin's blog.  Maybe it should be titled, boys and wagons do not mix.  However I thought the first was appropriate to this situation.  What possesses a younger brother to listen to an older brother?  Why does it sound like a good idea for a younger brother to get into a wagon to "surf" when it doesn't sound like a good idea for the older brother to do it.  Unfortunately there is no reset button for this. Our dentist was willing to take a look at it on Easter.  We decided to wait and after a quick xray it was determined that he did not expose the root and therefore did not need a root canal.  However, there was a break across the middle and one up the side of his tooth and we need to have a followup check in a week and in a month to see if indeed his root is dying.  The dentist though is optomistic and we need to fix his teeth anyway.  The small break up the side may help keep the built up "filling" part of the tooth on.  Hopefully we can get five years out of this filling before needing another one.  I'm pushing hard for my kids to go into dentistry.  When you have a good dentist it's like having a diamond.  We tried a few when we got here and were unhappy.  We had a great dentist in Montana and were dissapointed with service here until our current dentist. 


before the dentist, avant le dentiste



After the dentist, apres le dentiste

Heir, Job et Isaac pense que c'est un bonne idea de se tenir dans un chariot et l'autre personne tire le chariot.  Ce n'est pas un bonne idea.  Job a casse son dent.  C'est le pacque mais notre dentiste nous dit que si nous voulons il peut voir le dents.  Nous decidons d'attrendre jusqu'a aujourd'hui.  Tout de suite c'est maitin Job et mois allons chez dentiste.  Il lui voir et decide que il peut reparer le dent et une heure apres, Job a un nouveau dent.  Je me demande "qu'est ce que les garcons ont pense?" Et je decide qu'ils n'ont pas du tout penser.  Garcons, qu'est ce que je peut faire? Je les adores.

He's hilarious.  We just crack up laughing at our own little papa smurf.

Yes, it's true, we have snow the other day.  It rained hard all night and around 6 in the morning it started snowing.  We had large beautiful fluffy white flakes.  Some were larger than a half dollar.  Within twenty minutes the ground was snowing by 7:00 it had stopped snowing but rained a little.  Last weekend they cancelled soccer games because the pitches were so covered with water (standing lakes in some of them) that the pitch needed to recover before being torn apart by 10 hours of constant battles.  The pitch this weekend was great, not only did we play Saturday but Sunday afternoon as well.  C'est vrai, nous avons du neige aujourd'hui.  C'est incroyable parce qu'ill pleut tout la nuit et commence de neige a six heures du matin.  Le weekend passe nous ne jouons pas des matches du footballe au cause de la pluie.  Les terrains de footballe sont tout mouilles et il y a une lac au tour des terrains du footballe.   Je pense qu'aujourd'hui la neige va disparaitre a midi.

One of the greatest joys our kids have is jumping on the trampoline with their dad.  "Jump with us" they plead when it is not raining.  Somehow their dad can do things that I as a mother wouldn't even think of or feel in control when doing it.  I didn't grow up with a trampoline so I still feel like I have a little loss of control when I'm jumping and feel like I'm too high or there are too many kids on the trampoline. Although if I want to practice taking photos all I have to say is "let's take photos of you jumping."  Sometimes they come inside asking me to take photos of them jumping.  Win-Win situation. 

Notres enfants aiment le trampoline.  Ils ont demandes "s'il te plait, saute avec nous" quand il ne pleut pas.  Leur pere peut faire des chose que moi la mere ne peut pas faire comme saute plus haute ou saute avec beaucoup des enfants sur le trampoline.  Mais souvent j'ecoute "prends mes photo, s'il te plait."  Si je veux prendre des photos pour practique il faut que je dit, "Viens et saute sur le trampoline pour des photos."

It's not often that I can use the labels memories in the making and Leslie without adding any of the kids or soccer or or or ....
This was a memory with me and my friends.  It was Starbucks, Train, Soul Sister, wine glasses, dancing with Ipods, tears and laughter, listening and talking, photos and well more photos.  It was us being us, not being moms or wives, daughters, sisters, just us.  We learned a lot about each other and I think a little about ourselves.  We are still pretty enough to have our photo taken in the elevator from some young punk and his cell phone.  We are intimidating to others in a restaurant where the average clientel has 150 lbs on us because we are all that.  We needed some sun and fun.  Lyrics have been running through my brain and whenever I see these photos they will continue.  "Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brain...Hey soul sister I don't want to miss a single thing you do"  will forever be ingrained as this weekend's theme song.

J'etais allees avec mes amies pour le week-end.  C'est un temps de rire, de pleurer, de parler.  Nous buvons du cafe et du vin.  Nous allons au restaurant pour dinner.  Nous sommes la sans enfant, sans maris, juste nous.  C'est un weekend parfait.