Happy Paczki Day! LOL!

The view from breakfast this morning (excuse the "snapshots"... I was trying to use my speedlite and I have a long way to go before I get the thing figured out)...

Oh... and there was the added bonus that my camera battery was dead. I had to put it in the charger for a minute or two, then take it out... take one picture, then put it back in the charger again, etc. I forgot to check the battery before the kids started eating and with the way they were plowing through the paczki's, I had to do something desperate or they would be done before my battery had charged. So these are my only two shots.

For those wondering about Paczki Day... click here.

Well..... I need to go get ready. I think we're heading to the art institute again!

what a fabulous day!!!

My goodness... we had a great day today!! I love homeschooling every day (okay... most days) but today was just an amazing day. We decided to take advantage of the free admission special that the Art Institute is offering until the 21st of February. I thought we would spend an hour or two and come home. I didn't figure it would hold Alex and Clara's attention for more than that. Boy, was I wrong! We got there around 11 and didn't leave until after 4!! They only agreed to leave because they were getting tired and only if I promised that we would come back again next week while it was still free. They had an absolutely incredible time. They wanted to know everything... they wanted to read every description of every piece of art. We spent longer in one section of the ancient Egyptian artifacts than any adult did. The kids politely asked questions of the museum staff and were given incredible descriptions on everything from armor to artwork. AND... they were complemented on their behavior often (which is always nice for a mom). Clara did have a hard time not handling the ropes that ran around the perimeter of the rooms... which sent security personnel our direction quite often.

I honestly can't wait to go again! After leaving the Art Insitute we went to the art supply store so we could buy sketch pads for each of us. There were a lot of students from the art institute sketching at various locations around the museum... the kids wanted to try their hand at it when we go back.

I didn't take many pics because I had my 85mm on and I just couldn't get the shots I wanted. Next time I'll put my 50mm on and see if that helps... I just need something that I can shoot pretty wide open since flash is not allowed.

On to the pics...The kids trying their hand at writing Chinese characters.

This is how they spent quite a bit of their time... sitting in the middle of the floor of some gallery, looking through their guidebook, deciding which piece of art to see next. See the ropes... those are the ones Clara couldn't keeps her hands off of.

***

Isn't it overwhelming to stand in the presence of great works of art? I felt completely unworthy to be standing there in front of works of art that most people only see on postcards and in coffee table books.


***Just a parting photo with the lion. I'll have to try this one again next week. I forgot to change the aperture after shooting inside... the lion is in focus but the kiddos are blurry.

'nite!

its slightly blizzard-ish out

Wow! I had forgotten exactly what real winter is like until today! LOL! Thankfully we had nowhere to go and plenty of hot chocolate. It was just killing the kids to not be out in it so after lunch they went out.... for a whole 10 minutes before they had enough. The wind was whipping like crazy and they were being pelted with millions of little ice crystal snowflakes. I think Alex's face says it all...
And then a shot of Clara stuff in a snow drift out back...

And one shot of the street out front (and that white hazy look is due to all of the blowing snow)...

This was not long after lunch... its gotten worse since then.

I did manage to finish a layout today. That's a major accomplishment lately since I seem to have misplaced any creativity that I had. Here's the layout...

details here

Well... that's it for me today... pretty boring, huh? Maybe tomorrow we'll venture outside!

'nite!

One Fine Day

That's the name of an article that runs in the Chicago Tribune every Saturday.... it outlines "one fine day" from breakfast to dinner in and/or around the city. We were intrigued by last week's article so we cut it out and today we made our own attempt at "one fine day".

We didn't do it all, in fact, we only did one thing, but it took us into a neighborhood we haven't explored much, Wicker Park. We had lunch at Piece, and let me tell you, it was really good pizza. After lunch we headed to our "one fine day" destination.... Brainstorm Movies, Comics and Gaming. The writer of the article mentioned that he takes his preschool age son there and that the owners are great to point out age appropriate comics. I have to say that it was an incredible experience... one of the owners, Robert (I think) was so incredibly helpful, greeting us the second we walked through the door... he helped explain the different series that were available for Alex's age and even read portions to him to get him excited about the stories. We're just looking for different, fun ways to get and keep Alex excited about reading.... he's ready for more complex story lines but still gets bogged down in chapter books. Hopefully, its working because he took the comics to bed with him so he could read them. An added bonus was that while we were there, the man who wrote the article came in with his son! So we chatted just a bit and thanked him for the great suggestion! Oh... Jeff and I bought a comic book too... LOL! A couple of years ago Jeff and I read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay for our book club that we do each year. In the book the two main characters write comic books featuring a character called the Escapist. Well... after Jeff mentioned the book to the owner, he showed us the comic book The Escapist based on the book! So, of course we had to get it. It was a great time, and we definitely plan on going back.

Nothing much going on here. I took my camera with me today but it was so cold out that I hated even taking my hands out of my pockets, let alone take off my gloves so I could use my camera. I'm ready for some warmer weather!

Okay... I'm heading to bed!

'nite!

ETA: I almost forgot... if you or someone you know is interested in comic books or would just like to see what it's all about, May 5th is Free Comic Book Day at lots of participating comic shops around the country!

I've been tagged!

Okay... still haven't edited the pics from the museum. I did get my pics from the Noble Horse Theatre edited this week and burned to a disc today. They picked them up this afternoon so we'll see if/when they make their website.

Okay Noel tagged me with 6 weird things about myself and 6 things that make me happy.

Here goes...

6 Weird Things (besides my tendency to fall down):

1. If we eat at a sandwich place where I get a bag of chips (such as subway) I must stuff all of my trash into the chip bag when I'm done eating. This amuses my husband, I'm not sure why.

2. I can't sit "normal", I must have a leg (usually my right one) tucked under my other leg.

3. I LOVE pedicures, but I can't stand having a manicure (no clue on that one).

4. Dr. Pepper is my crisis drink... I keep little bottles in the fridge and take little hits from one all day long! LOL!

5. I hate to drive.

6. I don't feel hot, cold or pain on the entire right side of my body... I do feel a "sensation" when one of those is at an extreme level, but I never know which it is since they all feel the same.

Okay... on to 6 things that make me happy:

1. Alex's random acts of kindness.

2. Clara's giggle.

3. Jeff's thoughtfulness.

4. Milkyway Midnights (mmmm.... dark chocolate milkyway goodness)

5. Dr. Pepper.

6. Being back in Chicago.

Okay... who am I tagging???? Hmmmm... Kirsty, Amy, Shawna, Julie and Jen!!

Have a great weekend!!

ETA: Anyone out there been to Lyon, France? I may have the chance to tag along on one of my husband's business trips in May and was wondering if I should. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

okay... that's it!

I'm hibernating until spring and only coming out if I'm completely wrapped in bubble wrap! Can you believe that I fell AGAIN today??? This time it was on ice while crossing the street with my kids!!!!!!! I did fall on my knee this time instead of my backside, but now I have two injuries instead of one. I tell you, it was pathetic... there I was on all fours in the street (thankfully a side street) trying to get up slowly (because my tailbone still hurts when I bend) without anything to hold onto while on ICE!! Alex was like "Clara, stop, mom's fallen again".... sigh, he had to say "again" didn't he? I saw that you tagged me Noel... can one of the weird things about me be that apparently I fall down a lot? I really don't plan on leaving the house tomorrow (but that should give me lots of time to clean my kitchen which I'm ignoring right now).

I started to edit pics from Tuesday so I could post them, but it's just not going to happen. I'm calling it a day and going to bed before I fall over something else.

Wish me luck! I'm going down the evil hardwood stairs without my trusty gripper socks! LOL!

thank you!

Thank you all for the get well wishes! My tailbone is feeling much better. Although people have told me that it will continue to hurt for quite some time. At least now I can sit for a while at a time and I'm not hobbling around like an old lady!

It has been bitterly cold here so we haven't really gone outside much. So, given that, we decided to tag along with Jeff on his business trip to Milwaukee yesterday. Okay... it sounded like a good idea at the time, but as we were driving out of the city and this (see below) is what I was seeing out the front window of the mini(van) I wasn't so sure.

Add to this that it was only 1 degree out at the time. We saw all kinds of accidents and spin-outs but all we're in the lanes going the opposite direction.

When we got to Milwaukee, Jeff dropped us off at the children's museum and that is where we spent the day. The kids LOVED it! We spent a little over FIVE hours there and they could have kept on playing. It was really cool. I have lots of pics from yesterday but my tailbone is telling me that my computer time is up for the moment... so hopefully I'll get them up soon.

Back to the cushy couch!

mini blog hiatus

being the extremely graceful and surefooted person that I am... I fell on our hardwood stairs here at home and landed extremely hard on my tailbone (I also hit my back and my head, but they seem to be okay). Sitting in my chair for very long at a time isn't going well.... so I won't be sitting here much for a couple of days. :-(

emergency brainstorming help needed!

Anyone have any ideas for wording on a Chess related Valentine's Card? Nothing mushy... something friendship related so my son can hand them out at his Chess class on Valentine's Day.

Thanks!!!

too darn cold

Today we were going to go to the library to see a puppet show but the kids had no interest in going outside while it was only 8 degrees out.... so we stayed in. Since we really haven't created any news today I was going to share two finds with you.

1) We discovered the other day on our cable (Comcast) in the On Demand section there is a section under "kids" called Activity TV and in that section you can find all kinds of fun stuff. Our personal favorites are the Origami and the Paper Airplanes. We've made 4 different planes so far and one of the origami projects (we're going to go out and get real origami paper before we try many more). Its great to actually be shown each step and have the ability to pause and rewind. Fun stuff on a cold winter day.

2) This one I found out about through a Chicago homeschool email loop that I'm on.... Kiddie Records Weekly. We just discovered it today but the kids are totally in love. I've burned several of them to disc so they kids could listen to them on their own. Alex is sitting on his bean bag listening to Bozo (as in "the clown") and the Birds right now and laughing outloud. He seriously thinks he's just discovered some new character. I think these will be fun for in the car or for them to listen to in their rooms when they have some quiet time.

My fun thing announcement of the day is that I showed the Noble Horse Theatre some of the photos I took yesterday and they have asked if they could use them on their website! Cool, huh?

I didn't take any pictures today... nor do I intend too. Its just too darn cold. My fingers just don't function well enough when its below 20 degrees! LOL!

BUT... here are three from yesterday...

For some reason this depresses me.... heat lamps at the "l" stops are available until MARCH 31!!! I've forgotten how long its cold out up here.


Seriously... I have got to get a grip on the angling. My challenge for myself next week is to not angle my shots! LOL!

So... here's where we went today...

the Noble Horse Theatre. The kids absolutely loved it! They had such a great time watching the show and they loved petting the horses and riding in the wagon after the show. They have already announced that they want to see every show they have there (we saw Quadrille today).

Here are a few of the pics. I had a hard time with their lighting... it was very dimly lit. I started out with my 70-200 2.8 on but rather quickly I switched back to my 85mm 1.8 because I *needed* the 1.8. I got a few decent shots, but I definitely need more practice with these types of situations.

(for some reason they always lit this particular guy above with a wierd green light that was nearly impossible for me to edit correctly)

just a quick recipe to share

My friend Natalie told me about this recipe from the back of the Bisquick box so I decided to try it last night. It was a HUGE hit. Jeff and I both really liked it but we only got three tenders since Clara ate SIX of them and Alex ate SEVEN!!! They probably would have eaten more had there been any. (oh... and I used 5 chicken breast halves instead of the 3 listed). They're really good without a dipping sauce, but I made a honey mustard dip to go with them.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Ultimate Chicken Fingers

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless -- cut into 1/2 inch strips
2/3 cup Bisquick® baking mix
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 egg -- slightly beaten
3 tablespoons butter -- melted

Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray. In 1-gal plastic resealable food-storage bag, mix Bisquick, cheese, garlic salt and paprika.

Dip half the chicken strips into egg; place in bag of Bisquick mixture. Seal bag; shake to coat. Place chicken on cookie sheet. Repeat to use up remaining chicken. Drizzle butter over chicken.

Bake 12-14 minutes, turning halfway through bake time with pancake turner, until no longer pink in center.

Description:
"from the Bisquick box"

Oh... and the kids even got to help with this recipe... they loved shaking the bag with the chicken in it.

guess what we did today...

Yep... we went bowling.

Ever wonder where those little dents in the lanes come from?


they could be from Clara... or possibly Alex....


You've just got to love those bowling shoes...


Just some lockers I thought looked cool....


I took quite a few pictures today but I did chicken out on some potentially cool shots. I'm working on getting braver.

Tomorrow has the potential for some really cool photos.... I hope I get some. Check in tomorrow to see where we've been!

Kelley... yes, I had fun with the night shots! I would love to try more soon!

Amy - as for the exposure on the last shots. Honestly, on the spy store shot I bracketed to get the best exposure.

Okay... I'm going to bed.... ever have one of those days where you're busy all day long but you don't really feel like you got anywhere? Well... that was today and it wore me out!

'nite!

back on track (sort of)

Okay... so I was a total slacker and took no pictures for 2 whole days!!! Friday I was just a chicken and yesterday I was in a bad mood... we're having internet problems which STILL are not fixed... so if I disappear that may be the reason.

We were out and about a lot today but I waited to take some until tonight. I've had the itch to play with shots of lights at night. Well... on the way to dinner it was too cold (around 18 degrees and it was about a 6 block walk)... we were moving way too fast. On the way home I had all of my shots planned out. What I hadn't counted on was Clara hitting the pavement about 2 blocks into our walk home. She wailed and I do mean wailed (like a siren) the entire way home. Jeff carried her a bit but she's just too big to carry anymore, plus it was icy in spots. Jeff kept telling her that walking would make it feel better but in between wails she was screaming that it wasn't getting better and it wasn't ever going to get better. It was one of those moments where she was being so over the top dramatic that you had a hard time not laughing. Btw, it's fine now and was completely forgotten about once she got warm.

Anyway here are my two quick shots I got on the way home....

I've heard them mention these kinds of places on Law and Order... didn't know that they really existed.

note to self: stop angling the camera so dang much.

Okay... I'm off...

'nite!

bock... bock...

I'm a big ol' chicken. I took my camera out tonight when I dropped the kids off at the parent's night out deal but chickened out of taking any shots. Then, when Jeff and I went out to dinner I (gasp!) left my camera at home!

Will do better tomorrow... I promise.

day 4

Well... we didn't leave the house until after 4 o'clock since we were expecting a call (which never came, btw). And since it was like 22 degrees out, we didn't make it far.

First stop... our favorite sidewalk square (okay technically a rectangle). I have no idea why this is here... it appears to be totally random, there are no other painted squares around it and its off on a side street. The kids LOVE it though. We usually pass it on our way to the park. Everytime they take turns drawing an imaginary Chance card and "read" the instructions on it. Usually something like "take a ride on the slide, go straight to the park", etc.

Next is a random building on a street corner. Thought it looked cool... took a picture.. LOL!

The kids thought it looked cool too so Alex took a picture... this is them checking out his picture on the street corner...

Do you like Clara's bag? Its metalic pink and leopard print. She thought it would make a good camera bag... guess who got to carry it home!

Thank you all again for the comments! I'm going to be sad when my week is up (or should I keep going... hmmm). Miranda... I grew up in a town with no stoplight... I think that's why I love city life... such the complete opposite from how I grew up.

Okay... Jeff called and he's on his way home... I should be dinner in the oven!

ugh... day 3

I started out so well with this whole thing on Monday! And it seems to just all be going downhill since then! Today could have been good HOWEVER we were running sooooo late to class this afternoon that I had no time to even look for things to shoot, let alone photograph them! I took one shot for the el platform....

And this PATHETIC grainy underexposed shot in the subway station. The thing that sucks about shooting in manual is that I miss some shots like this one when my last shot was above ground, in the daylight and now I'm below ground with ugly yellow lighting. My brain just didn't process things fast enough to switch settings (plus the kids were leaving me in their dust trying to get to class on time or at least not any later). I definitely want to try this one again... maybe next week.Finally... to try to redeem myself somewhat I speedily tried to get the right settings on my camera and try the shot again... however, the kids had already rounded the corner and were on their way up the escalator. So I hopped on behind them and took this. Very odd angle, I know. It was a quick shot I just fired off and this is an in camera crop... I have no clue what else to do with it. Oh... and I tried the urban acid action on it, just because I could.

Oh well... there's always tomorrow!! :-)

Day 2 of my challenge

First of all... thank you so much for the kind words about my photos from yesterday... it means a lot to me. I was riding that high when I went out for an afternoon walk with the kids. Unfortunately... I came down *real* fast. First of all... when they found out that I was pretty much going out solely to take photos, Clara asked if they could take photos too (with our little p&s). Okay, sure. But in order to limit too much random snapping (and to help with sharing the camera) we decided on a photo scavenger hunt of 5 items for them to find and photograph. Their list was 1) something red 2) a triangle 3) a mailbox 4) a dog and 5) a cat (this was the "bonus" one). We found 4 of the 5 before we got too darn cold (which is the second reason I came down off of my high from yesterday). I guess the third reason was that I just didn't find as many interesting things as I thought I was going to... but then again I was spending a lot of time looking for triangles and dogs and supervising the sharing of the camera.

So... here's what I got....

You've got to love this house.... look at all of those colors... must have been a bear to paint.

Anyone need a Mighty Man?? LOL!
This next one is the picture that almost wasn't. I basically snapped as we were walking away so I could remember the phone number. I'm really liking it now though...

Very interesting place. Just a little store front where they schedule cleaning services, but what caught our eyes was a huge cat climber thing in the front window complete with two cats (and since cats were on the list, we *had* to stop). They saw us looking through the window and invited us in to pet the cats (and dogs which we hadn't noticed before). Apparently they rescue alley cats and abandoned dogs on the side. They invited us to stop by any time we wanted to come and play with the cats and dogs. See what happens when you're on a photo safari! LOL!

Something I have decided though is that my 85mm is not a good walking about lens. However, I'm spoiled by the sharpness and color. I tried a couple shots right in front of our place with my 28-135 IS and am I nuts to think that the color just isn't the same with it v. the 85mm?? The problem is that I have no clue what lens would make a good sharp walking about lens. Hmmm....

Well... its time to start thinking about what I'm going to fix for dinner!

my challenge

... that I have for myself this week is to take my camera with me each time I leave the house. Everytime we're out and about I always see something cool and kick myself for not having my camera along. Well... this week is going to be different. Now the true issue here is probably not whether or not I have my camera along but whether or not I have the guts to get my camera out and shoot random things while out in public. When I don't have my camera along I'm very confident that I would have taken the shot... however, when I do have my camera I get self conscious and miss the shot rather than draw attention to myself. I'm going to force myself to get over this.

This morning we went to the library.... I was going to take pics of the el coming into our stop. HOWEVER... the trains were running behind so there were lots of people on the platform... I just couldn't do it... I couldn't get my camera out. But... on the way home the platform and the car we rode in was relatively empty... so I had no excuses. I got my camera out.... I took several shots. I even took a bunch on the el.... I had the grand idea of doing panning type shots of Clara looking out the window with the blur of the city passing by. Well... I was concentrating so hard and looking through my camera so much that I made myself "car" sick. Oh man... I really thought I was going to be ill. I put the camera away then! LOL!

Not sure what I may photograph tomorrow... we really don't have any plans to go anywhere... we've got to be home for a few workers to stop by and fix things at the house. Maybe we'll make it to the park or at least for a walk around the block.

Here are my pics from today....


If you want to see these larger... you can see them here.... 2peas.

Well... it's bedtime for the kiddos... gotta run!

go bears!

Okay.... so I'm not really a football fan (outside of my fantasy football team that is)... but it's hard not to get caught up in the excitement here in Chicago right now! Even Johnny Rockets got into it! We ate lunch there today after church and here are the balloons the kids got...

... only blue and orange balloons available today :-)

Nothing much going on here. We made the trek out to Ikea yesterday. We got this amazingly huge cabinet (did I mention that it's RED??) with a hutch for here next to my desk. We originally wanted the cabinet only but it was a package deal. I'm so glad that it was... once we got it together I realized that I now finally have my changeable photo display area that I've always wanted!!! I had picked up some frames while at Ikea and this afternoon I'm putting together a print order so I can fill the thing. I'll take a pic of it when I'm done.

Well... we're rather boring and I've got prints to pick out and order!

See ya!!

clara + concrete =

This is the damage from last night's fall.... not too bad... could have been much worse!

These dark winter days are depressing me in regards to photography.... these were shot right in front of our big sliding glass door, ISO 1600, f/stop of 1.8 and STILL only had a ss of 125... sigh.

Strangers with Candy

I know this is probably the first of many, but I had my first strange/creepy city encounter (since our return to Chicago) today on the el platform. A little background... we get on the el at the stop by our house, ride to the next stop, change lines at that stop and then get off at the very next stop. When we got on the el at our stop I noticed this guy who kept looking at the kids, this same guy also got off at the next stop when we did (not a huge deal since this is a transfer point for those lines... lots of people transfer). While waiting on the platform the guy kept looking at the kids, it was beginning to creep me out... THEN he walked up to me and asked "do you mind if I give them some candy?". Ummm... heck ya I mind! I don't know you!!! I was polite and thanked him for asking but it probably wasn't a good idea since we were on our way to class (it was the only excuse I could come up with at that time). He said it was no big deal and that was why he asked me instead of the kids. He did have an unopened bag of individually wrapped candies that he was carrying. He could have been a totally legit, nice guy, but I still find the whole thing rather strange. Time to have the stranger talk with the kids.... AGAIN... sigh.

The kids enjoyed their classes again today. One of the little girls in Clara's dance class asked her to come over for a playdate. The mom gave the standard... "oh wouldn't that be fun, but the mommies will have to talk about it next week at class" response. I'm hoping it goes through though... Clara is really desperate for a friend. Alex just likes to be around other kids... it can be different ones every time he just likes to play, but Clara craves an actual "friend".

Coming home we almost made it, we managed to successfully skate our way across icy sidewalks, jump over big slushy puddles, etc.... UNTIL we got right in front of our place... Clara was skipping/running to the gate, tripped over a bump in the sidewalk and landed on her face on the concrete. You should have heard her scream.... I was honestly scared to turn her over (she was just lying there face down on the sidewalk). I was having flashbacks from when she was about 1 1/2 and she did something similar but her teeth cut through her lips. Thankfully all that she did was scrape the skin off of her nose (the entire length of it). She looked at herself in the mirror after I cleaned it up and announced that it looked like a bee hive. Ummm... not sure about that... but if you say so!

Thank you all so much for the book suggestions... Muppetpinchess, I have heard of the Betsy-Tacy books because they're part of the homeschool curriculum we use (a higher grade than we're at though)... but perhaps I need to do some pre-reading! :-) Annie.... I must say that book you suggested sounds fabulous! I went on Amazon to read the reviews and there seems to be a bit of controversy surrounding that book.... that makes it sound all that more interesting to me! LOL! I'll look for these books on my next trip to the library (which should be this week) provided I finish reading the Phantom Tollbooth in time (we're limited to only 5 books out at a time for the first 30 days of our new library card.... so the kids get two picks each and I get just one).

Okay... I'm done rambling.... I'm going to clean up the kitchen and then head to bed!

'nite!

ETA: Amy... oops...I forgot to answer you... I'm shooting with the Canon 20D.

a little snow and a lot of cold!!

It's 14 degrees out and it definitely feels it (just got back in from walking the dog)! I've temporarily misplaced my favorite hat after our outing yesterday. No clue where I put it. Anyway... just a quick note (more later) since the kids and I need to clean house before Jeff's flight gets in mid-day. I tried posting these pics last night but Blogger wasn't cooperating. Just some shots from our snow day yesterday...


Okay... gotta go... I'll be back once my chores are done! LOL!