Day 158

I thought I’d share a little before & after with you.  Even professional photographers don’t get a perfect shot every time.  And since I’m a self-taught beginner, I DON’T get it right most of the time.  So, I have to rely on a little help from Adobe Camera Raw & Photoshop.

Here’s the SOCC (straight-out-of-camera) shot.  I needed more light in this photo, but didn’t want to use my flash or I’d end up with some horrible glare.    

So, I used Adobe Camera Raw to increase the exposure and change the White Balance.  I also increased Blacks and Contrast.  Next, I opened it in Photoshop where I ran The Pioneer Woman Lovely and Ethereal Action which softened her features.  I used the clone tool to remove her wispy strands of hair and the edge of the framed photo in the upper left corner. 

The bones of the photo  (composition, pose, styling, etc.) were good but I needed some help in other areas.  These edits took all of 5 minutes and made a world of difference.  Gotta love computer technology!

I wasn’t feeling good today, so I called off sick.  I was struggling with bad allergies and some kind of virus with the following symptoms: headache, tight chest, shortness of breath with activity, etc.  The kids stayed home from summer care too.  Besides the fact that I knew they would be sad about Kenai, LilCrockett was suffering from similar symptoms and I wanted him to have a day of rest.  Well, by afternoon he’d had enough and was itching to do something.  The neighbor girls were babysitting some other neighbor kids and they using their small slip-n-slide.  I told them they could get out our big one and they were very eager.  They played on that slide for several hours, but at one point I made them pose for a group photo.  GothGirl isn’t in this shot because she had went to a friend’s house for part of the day.  I was glad that both of them had a little distraction from the sad circumstances at our house with Kenai’s absence. 

The kids came back inside later in the day and before long, I came across this scene on the couch:

I debated on waking him up since it was too late for a nap and too early for bedtime, but I knew he needed some sleep.  He slept for about an hour and a half and then woke up super cranky.  This boy has never been able to wake up happy….it’s like he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, after falling out of bed, and then being stepped on by an elephant.  It’s not pretty.

So, we went over to the neighbor’s house for another distraction.  Pretty soon, with the help of his buddy Lupa, LilCrockett got out of his funk.  It probably helped that Crockett came home with this new toy as well…a Honda Ruckus!  He’s been wanting one for quite awhile and he’ll use it to tool around the neighborhood and such.   

Day 157

Our world was rocked a bit tonight when we found out our beloved cat Kenai had been hit by a car and killed.  We didn’t see it but it happened in a short period of time, so I’m pretty sure he didn’t suffer.  The road we live on is a really busy road, but he’s been around it so long without incident and is usually very careful.  Crockett left to go on an errand and when he came back shortly after, Kenai was laying in the road.  He brought him home and called me out to the garage to tell me the news.  Both of us were crying hard over the loss of our wonderful cat.  And we didn’t know how we were going to tell the kids.

In the end (after consulting with our neighbors who have dealt with this before), we opted to tell the kids that night and let them say their goodbyes.  We felt that they needed some closure.  Fortunately there were no marks on Kenai….he simply looked like he was sleeping in his bed.  As expected, both kids were heartbroken.  Lots of tears were shed.  It was so sad, but we comforted them as much as possible and let know we were there for them.  And actually I think it’s Crockett who is taking it the hardest as Kenai always preferred his lap over anyone else’s. 

These photos were taken a few days ago.  They are the last photos we have of our furry friend.  I know most people would say that he’s just a cat, but we thought of him as part of the family.  He will be deeply missed.

Day 156

We woke up to rain, and to be honest I was relieved.  I needed a day to catch up on inside jobs like organizing the pantry, sorting paperwork, and rearranging several closets.  The kids had some down time as well and they spent some time watching TV.  At one point, I caught them sitting in/on the same chair…..without fighting.  This is a rarity! 

The rain stopped mid-morning and I continued to clean for awhile before going over to the neighbors’ house for fresh-fried fish and fries.  Crockett caught a beautiful butterfly this afternoon and put it in our bug cage to show the kids.  Before he took it out to let it go, I snapped a photo of the butterfly in the cage.  Good thing I did because when Brian got it out of the cage, the butterfly flew away as Crockett was holding it by its legs.  Poor thing left his legs behind!  We are all a little shocked.  So though I wanted to get a photo of the butterfly outside the cage, it didn’t happen.  What a beauty!

Day 155

My mom had driven up yesterday so that she could watch LilCrockett play baseball for the first time.  His game was scheduled for 10:30am and it was already super hot by the time we got there.  Unfortunately there is no shade behind the diamond and no dugout either (just a bench sitting out in the sun for the kids).  Mom, GothGirl, and I brought umbrellas so that we could have a little shade.  It still felt like we were basting.  I can only imagine how the players felt.  Guess it’s time to invest in a canopy. 

LilCrockett at bat.  He ended up missing all 3 of the balls pitched by the coach in this first inning, but hit the ball off the tee on the first try.  It was a great hit too.

Team hand slaps after the game. 

And afterwards, the coach leads the team cheers and chorus of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.  It’s very neat to watch.  We are lucky to have such a great coach (and assistant coaches!).

When the game was over, mom and I took the kids to eat at Head West sub shop (Brian was out of town working on our rental house).  We were all starving and itching to get out of the heat.  Though I had eaten there before, no one else had so I was happy to find out that they loved the sandwiches just as much as me. 

Upon arriving home, the kids wanted to go directly over to the neighbors’ house to swim.  Their dogs, who are brother and sister, were out and I used them as models.

Harper

 

Haddie

Later in the afternoon, we brought out our custom slip-and-slide.  It’s actually a slick canvas, old billboard sign cut in half.  It’s longer, wider, and much more durable than anything you can buy.  Add a little water & dish soap and you’ve got yourself a sliding extravaganza, big enough for 2-3 kids to slide side-by-side.  By the time we put it away, we had 8 kids sliding on it (our kids and various neighbor kids).

  

Day 154

It was my day off today and I spent the majority of the day in my craft room putting away stamping supplies from past projects and organizing some new-to-me supplies that I had purchased from a friend.  Crockett got off work a little early, so we hit a few garage sales before heading out to pick up the kids from summer care.  When I stepped outside for the first time, I felt like I’d been hit by a heat wave.  It was sweltering and the air was incredibly thick and oppressive.  Ugh….I think summer is here early!

After arriving back home, I fixed a light dinner (cheese tortellini tossed with parmesan & spices) and cleaned the house while waiting for my mom to get in town.  Then we sat outside in the neighbor’s backyard while sipping on some Sparkling Moscato.  I opted to leave my camera in the house and enjoy myself. 

Day 153

It was the last day of school for the kids and it was a half-day at that.  They had an Awards Ceremony for the 3rd & 4th graders and GothGirl asked me to come watch since she was getting several awards.  She ended up earning the following:

• TeamQuest Academic Challenge Certificate of Achievement
• President’s Award for Educational Excellence
• Outstanding Effort in Reading
• National Physical Fitness Award (top 50% of the nation)

I was a proud mama to see her get called up so many times! 

Though I took some pictures at the assembly, they didn’t turn out very well due to low lighting and the distance from the award recipients.  Afterwards, the school had a cookie & punch reception for the kids and I snapped a shot of GothGirl with 2 of her closest friends.  You may recognize them from a photo I took of of them together on Middle School Preview Night.  It’s kinda cool that all 3 of them wear glasses. 

Next, it was time for the 4th graders to head back to class for the final time.  Once there, Mrs. Haddick let the kids each pick out a new book as their goodbye present.  We gave her our gift as well: a set of hand-stamped thank you cards and a gift card to Culver’s.  I made sure to get a photo of GothGirl with her beloved teacher.  Can’t believe that my little girl is done with elementary school already.  Seems like she just started yesterday.  

It turns out that they had a small Awards Ceremony for the Kindergarten, 1st, & 2nd graders too; though I didn’t know about it until after the kids got home from school.  LilCrockett earned the Presidential Fitness Award (top 85% of the nation).  It was the only award that kindergarteners could earn.  Yea little man!

Day 152

LilCrockett had been dealing with cough & allergy issues since the weekend and wasn’t getting any better, so I took him into the doctor today.  He has a slight case of viral-induced asthma as evident by a slight wheeze in his lungs (only heard via stethoscope).  While he doesn’t have full-blown asthma, his body has a tendency to produce an asthma-like response whenever he gets a cold or virus.  The condition was a lot worse when he was a baby, but fortunately he is slowly growing out of it.  His response is pretty mild now.  Still, it’s a little nerve-wracking to see your child have lung issues, however minor they may be. 

Here’s an iphone snapshot I took of the little man at the doctor’s office (sporting his new shoes).

Later we were hanging out in the neighbor’s backyard and I got this shot with my Canon.