A Busy Week

The mall we went to over the weekend was gorgeous! I’m so glad I brought my camera. I almost didn’t because I was afraid they’d search my bag and confiscate my camera or tell me to leave it out in the 100+ degree car, neither of which I’d allow. I wanted to make sure I captured the day we took our oldest baby to his first movie!

I spent about 10 minutes taking shots right outside the theater after the movie. It gave Elias an opportunity to run around and let off some much needed steam. I kept expecting someone from security to walk up to me and tell me to put the camera away, but luckily no one did.

Afterward we went inside and walked around the mall. I was hoping to find a toy store to possibly get Elias a Buzz Lightyear action figure, but to my great surprise, there was no toy store in the entire mall! The moment we walked in we found a Bath & BodyWorks and I couldn’t resist buying lotion, candles and their Wallflower air freshener. The refills were on sale and really cheap if you consider they’re supposed to last 8 weeks and cost less than most 30-day air freshener refills. I spent close to $80 in there, but I guarantee you that my house and I both smell great.

Noah 13 Month Update!

Noah is now officially walking! Well, he’s still taking no more than six or so steps at a time, but I know within a few days he’ll be toddling all over the place. He loves walking toys all around the house and one of his favorite activities is to push Elias around on a ride-on toy. Elias is thrilled at being pushed around and will tell Noah, “More ride” if he stops. I can’t believe I’m so close to not having a baby anymore!

Earlier this week, we put away the bottles for good and now Noah drinks only out of sippy cups. We made the transition around the same time for Elias. It hasn’t been much of a problem though Noah loves to throw sippy cups which negates using the Take and Toss brand we used with Elias. The screw-on kind are more expensive, harder to clean and he’s already cracked one.

Noah is a thrower. If I had to place my bets right now, he’s the athlete, though I believe we determined that when he was still in the womb. (Only soccer players kick that much.) It is so much fun to sit down on the floor with him and toss him a ball. He’ll toss it right back at you! If he misses and tosses the ball 5 feet in the wrong direction, no problem! He loves running after balls also. He’s always been drawn to them.

What’s Keeping Me Busy

My mom did this cute caterpillar project with Elias about a week ago and I finally got around to photographing it thanks to Faith’s first Simplicity eCourse assignment for week 2: Three examples of using focus and DOF on an object. These grab-an-object assignments are difficult since the boys are usually interested in ruining my set up. And I can’t go outside without them or they will both scream bloody murder. I’m loving the assignments. They’re more challenging than I was expecting and I’m enjoying seeing what others in the Flickr group have come up with for the week.

This week’s second assignment is flowers, so I think I need to tell Mark he should bring some home for me. We used to buy flowers all the time. It would be nice to have some in the house. I’m also inspired to go on a walk around the neighborhood with my camera to see what I can find.

Faith’s second photography course for SLR users only is now open for registration. I’ve signed up and would love to work with you! Please let me know if you’ll be participating also!

Speaking of flowers, Love that Shot‘s Blossom Workshop starts July 26! Since all I have is a 50mm and cannot afford a macro lens anytime soon, I just placed an order for this Close Up Filter Set to take more macro-like shots. It’s on Amazon right now for $11.25 and it’s eligible for Amazon Prime, so I get free shipping. Unrelated to the class, I also decided to get this Wide Angle Lens Filter. The retail for this is $130 and you can get it on Amazon for $7.39 plus shipping. It gets good reviews too, so I think it will be a fun $8 accessory!

Another thing eating up my time is preparation for the SITS ProBlogger Challenge which starts on Monday! There is still time to sign up! You don’t have to buy the book to join us, but if you want to, you can still get the 25% discount. I’m very excited that Francesca over at The SITS Girls asked me to be a community lead on BlogFrog for the ProBlogger Challenge! I look forward to helping others and seeing what they come up with during our month long adventure. Are you participating? If not, check out Erin at Nirvana Mamma’s 10 Mostly True Reasons to Take the ProBlogger Challenge with the SITSGirls. Then stop making excuses and come improve your blog with us!

Blog Buttons!

Finally, thanks to Christy at Skinned Knees, I now have some new blog buttons. Check them out and feel free to grab one!

This was created from my Through the Eyes photograph.

This one is from my Moon in the Sky photograph.

Finally, If you want to help promote Friday Finds, you can use this button The photograph used is New “Camera”!, used under the Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

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