Monochrome

1/10/16

Not much more to add. It was fun to get out and experiment again with my camera. Still so much to learn! 

 This was my other choice for monochrome, but I thought it has enough variety of color to choose something else. 

Camera Play

We needed more than just the library to get us out of the house. The boys needed to burn off some energy and I was eager to try out my new camera. 

I usually have something in mind when I start shooting. I was there to try out my lenses and catch some emotion. I got a photography book for Christmas and I'm reading about storytelling. Photos don't have to be posed, focused, smiling portraits. 

I went home to check out how I had done finding that roughly 1 out of 5 was close to what I intended to capture. Despite that, as I reviewed my work, Michael commented, "You've got perma-smile." And it was so true. I was in love with the crispness and clarity of many of the images. I was feeling good! 

*and before you think I'm too much of a jerk for taking sad/struggling pictures of my son read the article found here:

http://patch.com/california/alameda/bp--please-dont-help-my-kids

Puts it into perspective a little. 

A Relationship

1/9/16

He already has the love of books. Since he was able to write his name was said he was ready for the responsibility of a library card. A big day for this young man. 

Where I Stand

1/8/16

It was a long 1st week back in class. So I was happy to be enjoying some time sans children. I friend/colleague was celebrating 30 so I joined the fun before Women's Bible Study. 

Good for Me

1/7/16

My Christmas gift last year was a garden box. Gardening, it turns out, is good for me.

 I was eager to come home and see the daily changes in the backyard. 

I'm taking inventory of my seeds, looking over my notes and planning for this year's garden. 

Good for the soul, body & tastebuds! 

Pushing Myself

1/6/16

Rough day at school, hard time getting the kids into the car and home. Went into the house feeling blah. 

Rounded the corner into the kitchen noticing 1st Michael at the end of the kitchen island with his phone up, camera at me so he could catch my reaction when my attention shifted to his surprise. 

He read me the box and parts of the manual as we at dinner. 

 I charged the battery while we were at Bible Study. After the boys were in bed I got busy checking everything out.  

There will be a learning curve. I'm going to be pushing myself to get familiar with my new friend. 

Makes Me Happy

1/5/16

One of the reasons that I became a teacher is because I wasn't a strong reader growing up.

 I get sweaty palms just thinking about my elementary school days being called on to read. If I could plan ahead I would rush to the paragraph or sentence to quickly practice reading to myself before I needed to do it aloud. All the way back in second grade I can remember being partnered with one of the strongest readers in the class and feeling like a fool. On weekends I would read into a tape recorder to listen to myself. I would rewind and record again until my fluency would come close to my high performing friends. In high school, I would occasionally succumb to osmosis theory (the only thing it would hurt was my neck right?)

I wanted to be able to teach others to read at the most basic level creating a solid foundation for all the reading that would follow. 

I love the lightbulb moments that happen in my classroom. 

I cherish the sharing favorite books from childhood with my son. Tonight he begged to keep reading "Let me just finish this chapter" as he frantically turned to see how many pages were left. His love of reading makes me happy.