flickr Test!

Mia, originally uploaded by julukeblue.

I have been trying to figure out the best way to edit the photos taken with my new camera. I could either use flickr (as I did with this photo of Mia) or use Photoshop (which I have an old version of) and/or use the software that came with the camera.

It seems like I could do the most with Photoshop, but I am wondering if I will ever take the time to do all that stuff or will I just be installing more junk on my computer that I'll never use? The software that came with the camera seems kind of complicated and it won't even do the special effects that Photoshop will do (like having only one part of the picture in color).

Ah, well, I guess I'll figure it out eventually. This post is actually being made directly from flickr - I uploaded the photo to flickr, then cropped it and made it black and white and now I am using their "blog" function which will send this entry straight to my blog.

Let's see how it works...

Last Post of the Year!

I promised to post before the end of the year so here it is! I have been practicing using our new camera and one of the best things about it is that I can take better close ups than I could before. I still need to read up on how to use everything. Here's wishing you a safe and happy New Year!

Goofy or Regular?

Hope you all are having a great holiday. We've had a nice one with my parents and James's parents coming over for dinner on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, Aaron was under the weather the whole time, but today he is feeling MUCH better!

Mia is very excited to have a new scooter, thanks to Me-ma and Granddad. We all enjoyed going outside today to watch her learn it. It's somewhat interesting to note that Aaron rides his scooter with his right foot on the scooter and pushes with his left foot. Mia rides with the left foot on and pushes with her right foot! Which one is goofy? I don't know, but Aaron rides like his mom and Mia rides like her dad. I wonder if it's genetic??

Anyway...I'll try to post more pictures before 2009!!

Mia's Big Girl Bed

Mia has FINALLY graduated from a toddler bed to a big girl bed. She has been ready for a long, long time, but we have just now gotten around to it. Here's a picture!

Mia's Thanksgiving Musings

My friend Allison issued a call for blog posts of hand turkeys. In response, here is my entry, submitted by Mia. Isn't it cute? She did it at school.

Her teachers also asked the kids some questions about Thanksgiving - you know, basic questions like, "What do you like to eat on Thanksgiving?" Well, Mia has some interesting ideas about Thanksgiving. See below: (click on it to see it larger)

Just in case you can't read it, when asked how her mom cooks the turkey she responded, "She makes it dead and she cooks it and brings it to the table and I eat it." (Her teacher told me that's exactly what she said, word for word. I laughed out loud for real when I read that. At first I was thinking - Wow Mia thinks we live on a farm or something! But then I remembered that I get the turkey from "the turkey store". Well, a turkey store that sells live turkeys? Which I then kill and cook?

Well, Happy Thanksgiving everybody...however you cook your turkeys!

Oh and one more thing...Mia never eats her corn.

Happy Halloween!

I spent about 10 total minutes thinking about the kids' Halloween costumes this year...and it shows! Aaron was VERY happy in his Clone Trooper costume, though! (He's the one on the left.) Mia was going to be a princess, so I was going to use a costume that we already had from last year. At the last minute, it was TOO ITCHY so luckily her ladybug costume from last year still fit her and she wore that.

We trick or treated for about an hour, and then let the kids play around in the front yard. They both had a great time and hopefully next year I can plan the costumes better!

Dinoland

A couple of weekends ago, we went to see the Dinoland exhibit at the Zilker Park Botanical Gardens. The kids enjoyed seeing life sized dinosaurs! It was a hot day, but the park was mostly shaded so we had a nice afternoon. I like the first picture I posted up here because it looks like the dinosaur is sneaking up on Aaron and Mia. Watch out!!

Aaron is a Cub Scout!

With all the hurricane madness I almost forgot to post about Aaron's first den meeting for Cub Scouts! It was Friday night. Aaron was SO excited to wear his new uniform that he was all ready to go an hour before we had to leave. It was especially exciting for him because his two best buddies who live on our block are also in our den. The Scouts got to learn the Cub Scout Salute, the Cub Scout Promise, and did some fun crafts - until they got too wild and were released into the den mother's backyard to run around like banshees.

The parents got to learn about all the different activities we will be doing throughout the year...it's going to keep us busy! I will be hosting the den meeting in November!

**Please try not to notice that I didn't put all the badges on his shirt yet - it was a busy week!

Note Regarding Hurricane Ike:

Just in case you are interested, I just talked with my mom in Houston and the worst seems to be over for them. They lost power around 1:15 am and the wind got worse about an hour after that. She said it was pretty bad - unrelenting loud wind and rain. Their house is intact and no flooding, so they feel like they can relax a bit now. It's still windy and rainy over there, but nothing like it was a few hours ago. Hopefully, their power won't be out for too long!

First Grade!

It's been a month since my last post! I have no idea what happened. But Aaron did have his first day of first grade! He's liked it so far. He seems to be figuring out that he is not the lowest man on the ladder anymore. He said to me, "Do you know what the best thing about first grade is? At recess when they blow the whistle the kindergarteners have to go in first!" Ha! Then he asked me if he was that short when he was in kindergarten. Too funny.