O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree . . .

I was inspired by my post last year and by Elizabeth Kartchner's post on photographing your Christmas Tree to show the differences in camera settings and how you can make your tree "sparkle." Elizabeth's suggestion is to go as high as you can on the ISO and as low as you can on the aperture. I further suggest to anchor yourself against a wall if you do not have a tripod. Or at least use the poor man's tripod. I shot on the aperture setting {thanks Tracey} and here are the different looks to our tree - sans oraments. All but the 3rd were shot at 35mm.

Auto

ISO 400; no aperture or speed adjustment

ISO 800; f/5.6; shutter speed 1/13.

ISO 800; f/4.5; shutter speed 1/13

The 3rd picture should have been a bit darker than the 4th picture (that was my original idea) but because I zoomed out my picture also captured a larger amount light bouncing off of the floors and walls. I was also closer to the window behind me. It just goes to show that natural light wins out everytime. For more information on this I highly recommend reading "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson (thanks Kristi). Love that book!!

Forgive me . . .

Forgive me Marc Weissbluth of Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child, for I will sin this month of December in that Avery will probably not nap or sleep well these upcoming holiday weekends. I'm going to need to recite the Serenity Prayer each night for my own sanity {thanks Alicia for doing this with me}.

Pic: Holiday Cookies Take 1.

Cha Cha Cha Changes . . .

I am in the practice mode for January resolutions, changes etc . . . This blog is always evolving so I thought I would update you with the latest changes:

New Header {shabby blogs}
New Background {shabby blogs}
3 Columns {the cutest blog on the block}
Email subscriber {feedburner}
New host picture {me}

Stay tuned for some other changes blog related and not!

In the business of yesterday; I forgot to log on and say Happy Thanksgiving!! I am most thankful for {mine, close, near, far, extended} family. There is just no other way to spend your holiday season!!

Christmas Amoeba's

I thought we'd try to get a nice picture for our Christmas Card by making cookies with Avery. It did not go so well. Julia Child, I think not. Avery was upset with the dough. Did not want to touch it nor the cookie cutters. Not even the sprinkles. She did however want to sample the outcomes x3. That said, when they came out of the oven they looked more like Christmas Amoeba's than anything. Tis the season for amoebas!

ps we are still working on that Christmas pic!

Christmas Craft 2009

Looking for a way to do an easy Christmas craft and save a little bit of holiday money? I took a yd of muslin @ $1.75/yd; washed, ironed, and tore it into approx 1.5in strips (the tearing part was rather fun). I then stamped my own holiday greeting w/ a variety of ink. The result: my own handmade and rather inexpensive holiday ribbon. I'll have to show some pretty packages when I actually wrap them. Wait, I need to shop first . . .

Nostalgic

Just because I am feeling nostalgic and because I found this unedited picture of Avery taken @ 6mos . . . I thought I'd share a fantastic friday picture with you!

Potpourri

It was a great weekend where everyone was healthy!!! We got lots of outside work accomplished. Scott even helped out at church for Blue Jean Sunday while I got a head start at home. Our house smelled like this all day compliments to the Queen Bee. Check it out!
I took the paperbacks off my built in book shelves to store them in our dining room side table. {I selected a few to re-read while I was at it}.


Our daughter sported her Ohio State cheerleading outfit. As you can see we are in the playroom and not actually watching the game. This is what happens when you have a toddler who loves to play all day; as long as it's with someone else. I've spent many hours "dancing" to holiday tunes and disney songs.

Homemade hamburger soup. Our freezer supply was running low and it's a staple around here. I grew up on this winter make-ahead meal; props to my mom's friend Carol! Recipe to follow pic!

Hamburger Soup

2lb hamburger
1 or 2 large chopped onion
Brown beef and onions together.

4 c grated carrot (1.5 lb)
4 cans cream of celery, mush, or asparagus soup
2 cans water (above)
1 64-oz can tomato juice
1 T. sugar
1 bay leaf
½ t. garlic salt
2 t. marjoram
Mix the above into a large stove pot.

Simmer 2 hrs. (note I will do 2 cans of soup at low fat or sodium. Avoid doing the tomato juice at low sodium). We usually have enough for a meal, 1 leftover and 3 freezer containers. You can't go wrong with this soup. Avery likes to float goldfish in hers and I like a sprinkle of sharp cheddar.

Finally . . . before I forget; the overview for the Pennsylvania Verbal Behavior Project was posted on youtube. I really enjoy what I do at work. It is truly a rewarding and fulfilling experience. I rarely talk about my work; in part it's confidential and it doesn't define who I am but rather a small part of my daily activites. Thus I try to keep my work separate from what I talk about on my blog. I think if you were to walk a mile in any of these shoes you would really feel blessed every day. Even though this video only contains a small glimpse of the classrooms, children, and staff the project serves, it warms my heart every time I watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCkYqW1GDdo

We are almost back . . .

Stay tuned . . . we are almost back! Meanwhile, here are some scenes from a time when we weren't so run down with the flu: A lovely fall day at Longwood Gardens where the trees were in their prime of changing colors! Avery's favorites are the Topiary Garden and the Children's Garden. Enjoy!

On a side note: if you like pumpkin, I made this the other weekend: pumpkin banana bread from Gina. It was awesome and I am defrosting the other half tonight!

The Blog is on Sick Leave

The blog is officially on sick leave. Thurs-Fri posts on organization, well aren't going to happen. 2/3 of our family is struck down with the flu; it's Day 3. 1 of us hasn't had our flu shot this year due to all the other illnesses that Sept-Oct brought. So while we battle high fevers, chills, coughs, sore throats, laryngitis and a host of other nice ailments our blog will be recuperating as well. Our pediatrician's office was so packed that we spent more time on the phone with them first at 11:32pm and then again the next day at 3pm. I figured it's best not to show up at that sespool of sickness anyway. There is no point to seeing my doctor either. My immune system was down due to the prednisone, I didn't get the flu shot (and there are none available), and I held a toddler w/ flu for 24 hrs. It was really inevitable. I was ready for it. I even went grocery shopping on Thursday to prepare. Not sure what to think for next week. I plan to cancel school/work if there are still fevers. No point in pushing it with the holidays coming up. And it's the right thing to do. We are just hoping our other 1/3 doesn't come down with anything. Fingers Crossed {and as Scott would say "laces out!"}

Here is a link to a one page print out on the difference between the cold/flu/H1N1. Thanks Corrine!

http://www.uetigers.stier.org/frontpage/schart1028.pdf

"See" you when we are all recovered!

The Organized Pantry

Storage space is key. We turned a large walk-in closet in the office {which is off the kitchen} into a large pantry. Trust me, if I could find a way to build more storage in this closet I would. When we bought the house, this closet had rotting old wood. After a nice coat of paint, we installed closet maid shelving from Lowes. I was worried our marriage would not survive the early stages of installation. Scott would have me hold the shelves just in place and then take off to find his supplies. But never fear, we lived to install another closet. It's nice we can close off all the jars, supplies, cleaning products from curious, little hands. It's been a work in progress and still is. Note the large picture frame that hides the unsightly electrical box. {Kim if you are reading this; I've done it again. But this time I will know where to alert the fire fighters should they ever need it}. Note the recycling vinyls I got from Etsy! So we group by category, the door holds lighter weight items, cleaning supplies are on a higher shelf, pasta is in clear plastic containers and we try to replace cans when we run low so there is always some on hand. Whew I tried to cover everything but if you ever need something in our house, chances are, it's in the pantry. Next I am looking for a "Pantry" sign for outside the door! Happy Organizing!

Organization Day 2: Artwork!

Display your artwork! Okay, I stole this idea from Ballards. A large corkboard placed in the dining room. I think it provides stimulating conversation at dinnertime, don't you? Avery likes to imitate her painting skills and point to the babies on the wall. It's also a great spot for all her current artwork! Once we start rotating her artwork, we are scanning in all the pieces for preservation. I mean, we can't save every copy that she marks! When she's older I'll put together a photobook of her scanned artwork. Miss Jenny says she's really becoming the little artist!

Family Organization Part 1

I am going to steer away from my favorite blogger topic: Avery to bring a 5 part series on home organziation. We are a two income, two person working family of 3. My daughter goes to a local school 3x a week on the days that I work, my husband works away from the home 5x a week. I feel we've made it work pretty well so far. We eat well, our place is clean/tidy, we manage play w/ work (at least enough for Avery). The only area we are still working on is finding the time to workout! But that's a work in progress for sure. One of my favorite people, Kristin, did a recent post on I Heart Ikea. I loved the grundtal stuff she had installed and decided to do the same for my own kitchen. Let me preface by saying I love the square footage in our home. I wouldn't actually go any higher for our next place. Being that we have 4 floors I would say the layout is the most challenging. We actually have a galley kitchen which is really small & narrow so space: storage, counterspace, cabinet space is an ever evolving issue. The space above our kitchen island we really needed to maximize. Especially since Avery is now into everything that is eye level or below. You really can't "babyproof" enough. My favorite is the paper towel holders that I use for aluminium foil & wax paper - 2 all time cooking & baking pieces for me. It was easy to install and yes the first time was the charm (oddly for us). Though it's tiny, the kitchen is really my 2nd office and thank goodness it now resides next to our office. Tomorrow we'll review the pantry I created over many months!

Mexican Crock Pot

We love Mexican here; and we love the crock pot too! This was a perfect dish to have warming while we went trick or treating on the foggy Sat evening. It freezes great too! For our family of 3 we usually get one meal, one leftover meal and one frozen dish. Perfect for the busy, working family!

Crock Pot Tex Mex

1 lb+ ground beef
1 1.2 pk taco/chili mix
2 15 oz cans chunky mex style (Del Monte)
1 can Red Kidney beans
1 can Black Beans
1 can whole kernel corn

Brown gr. Beef, drain fat.
Add to crockpot.
Add everything together.
Do not drain cans.
Stir.
Cook on low heat 4-6 hrs.
Or high heat 2 hrs.
Serve w/ corn chips, sliced green onions, sr. cream & cheese.
Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!

She came, she saw, she got the loot! Above all, she enjoyed going in people's homes. Not everyone invited us in so Avery tried to slide past them anyway. Her favorite by far was Max & Sarah's where she got to play w/ Chessa. She scored big with a large shaker box of rasinettes at Dru & Betty's. By the end of the evening she had figured out to go double fisted really fast.