WIN a lensbaby!!!

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:34:15 -0400

I have been stalking a website lately that has some great tips on photography as well as tons of great info on photoshop. There is a giveaway posted today. Check it out to see how you can win a Lensbaby Composer: http://mcpactions.com/blog/2009/08/18/win-a-lensbaby/

If you aren’t sure what a lensbaby is...you can check it out here:
http://lensbaby.com/lenses-composer.php

I want one!!

Love,
Cami

Out of the blog habit...

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:53:25 -0400

It always amazes me just how much time has gone by in between blog entries. I don’t even know if my mom checks my blog anymore...lol. It is summer break and I have spent nearly every weekday trying to keep the girls entertained and happy. Frankly, it is wearing me out! We went to the beach today and had a great time...for the first 30 minutes. We went shelling and Jessica comes out of the water crying hysterically saying she was bit by a crab. Stop laughing. That’s what I kept saying to myself anyway. She was dead serious and not too happy about it. Her pinkie toe was bleeding but it was just a tiny cut. I’m sure the salt water made it feel terrific - that and all the sand that probably settled in the cut. So our trip to the beach wasn’t very long, but to be honest - it was long enough. I was so happy to see my friends Amanda and Kim again and had been looking forward to catching up with them, but Jessica’s “injury” did us in...she said she was not going back in the water or sand. That and I was getting hungry. :)

For those that didn’t know, I started taking some photography classes at USF. Next Monday is my last class and we have some assignments due. I wanted to work on some daylight slow shutter photos which the beach is perfect for. The photo above is one of my photos. The long exposure makes the water look kind of misty and soft...like a cloud. Not sure it’s what I want to turn in...but it was fun trying to get that perfect shot.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer. We have had some ups and downs this summer (thanks to this fabulous economy) but are working hard to deal with the hand we’ve been dealt. Nothing that thousands and thousands of other Americans aren’t dealing with too - but that doesn’t make it any easier. Trying hard to keep the girls from knowing that anything has changed. That can be challenging. I’ve also started getting into coupon-ing! Not sure that is a word...but I tell ya, I have saved so much money lately thanks to one of my best friends (CARI @ SWEET SAVINGS which can be found here: http://www.onesweetdeal.blogspot.com/). If you want to get serious about cutting your grocery bill in half or more than that...check out her site and get on her email list. She knows what she’s talking about. She told me it would become a game of sorts...trying to see how little you can spend on a cartload of groceries. I still have much to learn, but just as an example...last week I spent $75 and saved $64. That is $64 I would’ve spent before...and now that money stays in the bank. Gotta love it!

Love,
Cami

Hey 4-eyes!

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:31:35 -0400

I’m sitting here on the couch the other day, and out of the corner of my eye I see something moving. I look up to see this guy on my glass sliders. The bad part is - since I took the time to take a picture - by the time I went outside to nab him with my daughters shoes, he was nowhere to be found. Super.

And for the record...I know most spiders have 8 eyes. But have you ever actually seen 4 of them up close and personal?

Love,
Cami

Be advised...adult content

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:39:58 -0400

The other day I mentioned that we took the girls bowling. Keep in mind, the bowling alley is located right next to a clothing optional community. We pull up into the parking lot and Lindsay reads the sign out loud, in a questionable tone of voice. I hadn’t seen the sign yet, so of course I blurt out, “what did you say?!!” and she said, “well that’s what the sign says” and I took one look and just couldn’t stop laughing. Only in Land O Lakes....they are known for their dairy ya know.

Love,
Cami

Shuttle Launch

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:41:13 -0400

Before I say anything else - my newest little great-niece Abigail Rose is doing great now, breathing on her own and doing well. I haven’t seen any pictures just yet...I can’t wait! Congrats again Chad and Sarah!

Tom and I took the girls bowling today. I’ll post more on that next post. It was great fun - but the funniest thing was what was on their message board/signage out front. I about died when Lindsay pointed it out (the bowling alley is right next to a clothing optional community).

I am feeling a little ill tonight after getting a bit too much sun today. I floated around in the pool for awhile and was feeling fine all day, but now I see my skin is burned and I am feeling nauseous. Hoping I don’t wake up with that feeling. That would be a terrible way to start the school week.

Tonight we sat out in the front yard and watched the space shuttle launch. I have been to Kennedy Space Center before, but that was a long time ago and I can’t say I remember much, so I was excited to see it tonight. I took my camera outside with me with my 50-200mm zoom lens (not nearly what I need for that kind of distance). Now - I’ve decided to only shoot manually from now on, so I was setting my own ISO, f stop, aperture, shutter speed...... and it was dusk, so I had to boost my ISO to 1600 and I did NOT have my tripod....so there is tons of noise in the photos. But, it was still an amazing and beautiful sight. We could even see the shuttle break off on its own - how cool is that? Maybe I can get my act together with a tripod and a better understanding of my settings by the next launch. :)

Love,
Cami

I am a Great Aunt again!

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:56:20 -0400

The phone rang last night around 9:30...I’m a Great Aunt for the 6th time! Congratulations Chad and Sarah! Baby Abigail had a hard time coming into this world, but from what I’ve been told, the doctors got her breathing with the help of a tube down her throat. I don’t have any other updates yet this morning, but any prayers for Chad, Sarah and Baby Abby would be much appreciated. Tom and I were talking about Jessica’s birth last night and he was recalling how blue/purple she was when she was born. She came out with the cord wrapped around her neck and was not breathing. They whisked her over to the table to suction her out and she started breathing thank goodness. I can’t imagine going through any more than that. I’m sure Chad and Sarah must be so scared for little Abby. I am chompin’ at the bit to call my mom this morning to get an update.

It is another beautiful day. Sun is out, sky is blue and there are little birds playing in the trees in my back yard. The girls were up early this morning and looking forward to a day of swimming. Hope you all enjoy this wonderful day!

Love,
Cami

Turning into fish

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:32:42 -0400

The kids are turning into fish. You heard me. Fish. It amazes me that I actually have to get stern to get them out of the pool - even after they’ve been in it the whole day. Never enough apparently. But I am so happy that they are enjoying it so much. It’s been so cold (for Florida) that they’ve been inside most of the time since we moved. Now they are outside - and I can have my TV and Mac back! When they are bound to indoor activities - all I hear is, “Mom....can we play Wii?” and “Mom...can we play on Webkinz world?” For those that do not have young children around - Webkinz world is an online site where kids bring their Webkinz stuffed animals to life (they are cartoon-character-like) and play games with them and decorate their ‘rooms’ and such. I am not thrilled about my girls being online at such young ages - but this is coming from someone that grew up in an age where Atari/Intellivision were the only computers we knew. There wasn’t such a thing as being ‘online’. The girls think that is hilarious. They can’t believe we didn’t have computers. Lindsay asked “well, did you have cars?” LOL...smarty-pants!

It’s a beautiful day today. Enjoy!

Love,
Cami

Long time...no blog

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:16:56 -0500

Well, we’re all moved. Not completely unpacked of course, but I think I’m just tired of it all and am wanting a break from this whole ordeal. We’ve been sick (and am still sick) from cold/cough, bronchitis and pink eye. It’s been a lovely, lovely winter here in our house. lol all the coughing and wheezing and ooze and phleghm (however you spell that). I am still enjoying coughing fits that make me want to curl up in a ball and cry. But other than that...we’re doing well. :)

The girls are getting settled in their new school - and from what I have been told - this new school has higher standards than their old school, even though they are in the same county and both rated the same. Which is good - but boy are they keeping me busy with the girls and their homework. My goodness...Jessica is in Kindergarten and doing book reports. She is doing really well in spelling too. In fact, her teacher is now giving her the 1st grade list and testing her on those words instead of what the other kindergarteners are being tested on. She has a goal of reading 10 books a month - and she is doing that in one week. She doesn’t get every word right, but I am still a proud mommy. As long as she keeps the love of reading - that’s what matters to me.

Lindsay is also doing pretty good in her new class. She is still reading way above her level and testing 100% on almost every comprehension test. Her handwriting and organization skills are still horrendous (it’s that right brain thing that left handers have).

We got the girls new bedroom furniture when we moved in and they are loving it. They each have a full size loft bed with a desk and dresser that fit nicely underneath. Their new rooms are a tad small, so unless we stick with twin beds - this is pretty much the only option. They both think it’s pretty cool to have their own little ‘cave’ underneath their bed where they can do homework...so it’s worth every penny just for that!

Now if I could just get my act together and get some photo updates for you. I’m working on it... not only has the move sidetracked me, but we have had a ton of company since the new year. Tom’s parents are here at the moment, but I believe our schedule is starting to slow down a tad, so I need to get back online, back to scrapbooking, back to my photography and most importantly - reconnect with my friends (whom I dearly miss!).

love,
Cami

Hope you had a happy turkey day!

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 15:55:06 -0500

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did - even though I broke down and just bought our turkey dinner from Target. I had already packed many things in my kitchen and dining room - and considering the mess of boxes everywhere I figured it was just too much to deal with the homemade Thanksgiving dinner. Clean up was quick since everything came in disposable containers. It actually worked out quite nice if you ask me. But next year I am definitely making everything myself.

So did you catch the beautiful sky last night? My friend Cheryl called to tell me about the moon and 2 planets all close together. I found several articles on this and it turns out it was the moon, Venus and Jupiter. It really was amazing to see these three so close together. The night before they were even closer - so close that if you hold your hand out at arms length, your thumb would’ve covered all 3. wow. Apparently in 2012 Venus and Jupiter will be close together like that again - but not for another 45 years (give or take...I can’t remember exactly) will we see the moon and these 2 planets so close to each other. They say that people in well lit cities like New York City and Hong Kong could see the planets just as bright as and astronomer sitting on a remote hilltop - that’s how bright they were. Pretty cool. The “earthshine” on the moon was gorgeous too. I don’t have much of a zoom lens on my camera but I tried to take a photo. A bit blurry - I just don’t have the equipment to get a great shot of something like that. I wish I would’ve had a telescope darnit...that would’ve been really cool!

More packing to do. oh joy.

love,
Cami

Silly picture

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:28:13 -0500

Packing for this move is taking me FOREVER! I am kind of sorting through things as I pack and I just came across a funny picture of my old dog Maggie. She was a crazy girl - but most Weimaraners are a bit hyper-spastic. She was a tiny little puppy here - but what is so funny is the size of her head in this photo. She reminds me of a bobble-head dog. lol She grew up to be an absolutely beautiful dog - I miss her so much. We gave her to someone my husband knows and I guess they have a nice big area for her to run around. We had moved into an apartment down in Coral Springs and could only have one dog. We already had a Dalmatian and sadly - he had epilepsy and knew we wouldn’t be able to find him a home - so Maggie had to go. I cried. I loved that dog. She got into a ton of trouble - but she had such a loving personality. She dug a hole through the wall by the back door once because she needed to go potty and didn’t want to go on the floor. I would’ve rather cleaned the carpet than have Tom deal with the hole in the wall - but she meant well even though the outcome was the worst of 2 evils. Maggie loved to swim and fetch balls out of the pool - she really was a fun dog to play with (considering the Dalmatian just wanted to sleep...all the seizures finally wore him out).

Anyway - here’s to you Maggie May...I miss you and love you!