Wow, when I took this Pic I had no idea it was going to be so popular!!! It currently has 57 favorites!!! OMG - and that is only after 3 days. The highest number of fav's I've ever had before this was 25!

I am so happy!

Today we launched rockets with cub scouts. Dylan's ended up way out in the field and I was pleased to find the farmers hard at work so I didn't half mind venturing out into the field with him. I think I like this the best in its BW form. The clouds are so beautiful today. I hope to work on some more "farming" or rural pics soon. I certainly have the surroundings for it. :)

This is one of Dylan's pictures from today's outing to the Luthy Botanical Gardens. He was so cute to watch, going here and there and really concentrating on taking a good picture. He was really listening to Anne at first when she was telling the group how important it was to have the main subject be large. A few minutes later his attention to her was lost and in the distance I noticed him contorting himself to find the perfect angle at which to take a picture of a tree at the very same time that Anne was explaining to the group how important it was to kneel down to find a good angle on the subject.

I'm happy that he enjoys this. He is very excited to share his work on Flickr as well. To tell the truth - his best flower pictures turned out better than most of mine. I was really proud of him.

It's so cute and I just love watching him while he is photographing.

Looks like Flickr is playing a pretty good April Fools joke. I noticed all of a sudden I had like 20+ pictures in Explore and a lot were cat pics - and so then I went to Explore and almost every picture for any day is all Cats. CATs everywhere! I found a few discussions about the joke - just thought I'd share ... funny.

Look at those eyes. They're mesmerizing! I wish I had a set as nice as these. :) I was playing around with this picture and this is what I ended up with. It was beautiful in color but I wanted to focus on the eyes. I put on a layer of sepia and erased out the iris. I did no color touching up in the iris at all. Her eyes look really great with the sepia tone don't you think?? Beautiful.

I previously mentioned starting Dylan a flickr account. This picture of Turbo was taken by none other than the famous little broken arm photographer himself. You can see his pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62586786@N00/

He's been walking around the house all afternoon taking pictures. :) He even dictated the titles and description to me. He is really excited to see if people comment on his pictures. :)

Dylan was a willing subject this morning. He was pretty good about the whole thing. He even had a few suggestions for shots. With a "ooh I have an idea..." and "how does this look?" here and there - I began wondering if I was possibly brewing a little photographer in him. I may get him a digital camera for his birthday. He has taken some pictures here and there with our Sony. I'm thinking of starting him a flickr account. I think he would like that. He knows about it and all because he sees me on every day.

In this shot, he was in a fit of laughter. I had just asked him to give me his "nicest non-yawning smile" - because every time he would go to smile he would start to yawn. And then he'd have that face you get when you try to suppress a yawn - that really weird looking face - you know the one...

He's so cute.

I have realized today, how bad I am at portraiture. I have no creativity! When I'm on the spot I cannot think of any positions to put a person in. I feel like a dork trying to figure out a good position and then everything looks just wrong. I'm feeling a little frustrated at my lacking photographic talents right now.

I went to P Camera today and exchanged my camera for a new one since mine had something rattling around inside. They were really nice about it. I stopped in there last night after work and talked to them about it. They told me it didn't seem like a big deal but if I wanted to exchange it I still had 7 days. I was planning to stop in sometime later this week with Dave at my side for moral support but I heard the noise again this morning and it just made my blood curdle. I felt I had no other choice and would never feel right if I didn't exchange it. I took my stepmom with me and she bought a D70s too. She basically got the same setup I have. She was really excited about it.

:)

Anyway, I hope I can figure out how to take some pictures sometime soon. I don't want to settle for this mediocre "it looks better than the average snapshot" stuff I've been doing lately. I know I'm impatient but I'm starting to wonder if I have what it takes.

I had to blog about this one. Is it me or does Dave look just a little too dreamy eyed in this picture. I think he is about to faint! LOL!

We are having so much fun in photography class. Sam and I are the teacher's pets. Aren't we lucky??!?!? I really like this picture. I will probably make a print of it and hang it somewhere here at home because I love it so much. If anyone wants a copy let me know and I can send you one, or you can just download it from Flickr if you want. :)

Meet Ron. He is one of Dylan's new pet Guinea Pigs. We got him two pigs last Monday. Ron is my favorite but Dylan's favorite is the black one, Shadow. He named this one Ron after Ronald Weasely from Harry Potter because he has red hair and he's always nervous.

He really loves them. He has been waiting some time to get a new "small pet". He checked out books at the library to research whether he wanted guinea pigs, hamsters, or gerbils. He decided on Guinea Pigs and I think it was a marvelous choice. These guys are so cute. They jump all around making all kinds of cute noises and squeaks. They love to eat veggies and fruit. Its so fun.

Originally we bought a cage from Petsmart but we were misinformed and they told us to get a certain style and it was just all wrong. The bedding was flying out of the cage with every move they made and their toes were falling through the grate at the bottom so I returned it. We made them a cage based on the cages seen at http://cavycages.com/index.html YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THEM when we introduced them to their new home. They went NUTS! They loved it so much. There is so much room for them to run and play, unlike in the old cage. They are so much happier now.

I got restless on Saturday. So I went shooting. I packed up the camera and Dylan and we went driving. At first I told him to choose the direction, to just drive wherever and find something cool to take pictures of. Well, he tired of that quickly and with his library books in tow he was engrossed. So I was basically just going wherever. I decided to stop by ICC's botanical gardens. I knew it would be drab but they have some nice specimens there so I was curious to see what I could find. We were walking along the little trails and this purple stuck out like a sore thumb. They are so tiny but they were really the focal point of the garden to me. :) I was thrilled.

I'm getting really excited and somewhat nervous about the upcoming photography class starting this week. I just can't wait. Photography is really the only thing I've found that is just for me. A completely selfish hobby. I'm kindof a follower when it comes to hobby type of things. I guess I never found anything before that screamed "ME". It's not because of anyone else, and I'm not just swallowing it and making myself like it. It is just so fun and relaxing to me. I really feel lost and in a new world when I can go out and just take pictures. Its an adventure and a challenge. Even when its freezing cold, and I find something really cool to photograph - I can't feel the cold anymore - it doesn't exist. I am lost in the photo and nothing else really enters my mind. It probably sounds weird but to me it is such a cool feeling because I have never felt like this before. It is really something I can call my own. But I was really inspired by a few people, mostly by Dave and Sam - and some other wedding photographers etc. Thanks for helping me find this guys, it means so much to me and even though its something I can do as I please and don't really need anyone to do it with - it is so great that you are here to share it with.

This is a picture I took on my 20 minute lunch break yesterday. This is located near Roxys in the Riverfront walkway area. I thought the sculpture was really nice. I'm not sure that I really like the finished result all that much however. I had to adjust the levels on the figures to bring out any definition because they were so so dark. And the result seems a little weird around the edges of them. I didn't really know how to correct that. They already looked like they were pasted into the picture so since I didn't do anything to enhance that feeling I felt it was OK. The background just naturally makes it seem like I've added these two to the picture, but I didn't. :) I guess its an alright picture... I'm just not certain about it quite yet. :)

It was Grandma Cornell’s 50th Birthday Party. It was a surprise. Most of the family from Chicago was in attendance. Everyone was very excited.

Aunt Kathy took Grandma out under the guise of a shopping trip for the day. They were not to return until we were all ready. Dylan helped put out decorations and make the place look festive.

All other conspirators carefully placed the decorations. Turquoise and Cotton Candy pink streamers hung wall to wall, the fragrance of fresh flowers filled the air, confetti on every table, and a cake, gifts and balloons welcomed the birthday girl. Dylan and Cameron peeped out the windows anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Soon we were all huddling closely in the dining room waiting for their entrance. As she entered we all yelled in unison, “Surprise!!!” It was a grand celebration.

Grown ups reminisced and laughed at amusing stories. The kids roughhoused and scurried from room to room.

Dinner was had and the cake was a delight. Dylan had an extra large portion with Neapolitan ice cream.

The night was winding down; several were heading out the door. A poker game was set up in the basement. Dylan and Kayla ventured into the living room to play with the balloons.

We were all startled by Dylan calling, “HELP!” I was watching the poker game downstairs and was startled when Teresea came to say Dylan had been hurt badly. My mind went blank and my heart stopped instantly. I was driven by something beyond my control.

When I entered the living room he was lying on the floor. Grandma was there, helping to calm him. His face was filled with fear. He was cold and sweaty at the same time. He couldn’t move his arm. He had been planning to karate kick a balloon from the ottoman when it rolled out from underneath him. After that, he reported, it was a blur. He couldn’t remember how he landed. Eric and I whisked him away to the hospital.

“Mr. And Mrs. Rusinski, please come with me for the results of the X-Ray, “ stated the Doctor in the hallway of the Emergency department at the hospital. Fear overwhelmed me. I had seen TV programs where the parents were asked to step aside and discuss the discouraging results of medical tests. As I walked down the hall behind the doctor I felt my knees going weak. The forced strength in front of Dylan was wearing on me. Without him near I felt weak. I was scared. As he showed us the X-Ray, he showed us that in fact Dylan’s humerus bone had been broken through-and-through just above the elbow. Tears overcame me when he revealed Dylan would need surgery to correct the break.

Back down the hallway I walked with Eric, squeezing his hand. As we drew nearer to my angel, my strength miraculously began to return. My eyes dried up instinctively and as I turned the corner to see him a smile swept over my face. He was so scared and in so much pain. My weakness didn’t exist when I was near him.

As they wheeled his bed away for surgery, the fear came back, very quickly. My baby, my little man. They’re going to fix him. He’s gonna be OK. But the tears were too much to restrain. My previous façade was broken. The strength of a mother is fickle it seems. The whole night was a blur for me. It was only a broken bone, but I felt like I was in a dream.

The doctor arrived to tell us the surgery went well and Dylan would recover nicely. The relief was tremendous and it was all I could do to hold myself back from giving the surgeon a big hug.

Groggy from the medication Dylan says to me, “I hope I didn’t ruin Grandma’s party.” Tears welled up in my eyes once again for this child who was in so much pain but only thought to mention his concern toward others. This is my boy.

Mommy loves you Dylan.

I did it! I got my camera. And guess who was there cheering me on? (As well as helping me remember all the things I never knew in the first place!) I'm so glad Dave came. It was really nice having someone there to be happy with. I was so excited I hardly noticed that there were other people in the store when I was jumping up and down squealing.

Oh well, these people don't care, they're all big dorks too. I'm just a squealy sort of dork. LOL. Of course, it was dark when I got home so didn't have any great opportunities but I did get a few shots around the house courtesy of my AWESOME SB-600 flash. (poke poke Dave).

I cannot believe how big of a difference this camera makes. Even the disasters turn out great in my opinion. :) I'm uber excited if you can't tell.

I have a feeling I might have to call off sick on Monday because my hands will be so cramped up from taking so many pictures I won't be able to type anyway. LOL.

I feel so alive.