D40 Drama

*sniff sniff*

*a teardrop silently falls*

Well, my camera died.  I was happily taking photos of the kids at Kiwi Loco, and BAM! It just stopped.  I thought my battery was dead.  'Cause it would be like me to forget to charge it.

Instead, I saw this image:

 

Confusion registering on my face, I felt my eyebrows pinch together as I pressed the shutter button, again and again, and again.  Nothing.

I felt a panicking scream rising in my throat, but remained calm in front of all the patrons of the local yogurt shop.  Even though I know the owner, I'm pretty sure my freaking out in front of everyone would be frowned upon.

I swiftly walked out to the car, with kids in tow, and drove to the local camera guy's store.  {I can't stand his stinkin' guts, but hands down, he knows his cameras.}  Taking a deep swallow and pushing down vomit and pride, I entered his store.  Thankfully he wasn't there, and I got to work with one of his employees.

Diagnosis?  It's pretty much history.  I can send it in to a repair place, in Boise, but most likely it's not worth repairing and D40's have a history of doing this.

*sniff sniff*

We had a good 5 years, me and my D40.  This November, would have celebrated it's 6th birthday.

I'm in shock still, and worried about all the photo ops I'm missing.  What about Back to School night and taking my kids school photos?  What about Swagger's 1st birthday? What about those few senior photo shoots I do? What about Jocelyn going to Kindergarten?  What about Halloween? Thanksgiving? Christmas?  I don't do well with the thought of only capturing those memories in words.

I've even lost sleep over it. What a thing it would be to go out and drop a grand on a new Nikon body so I can just keep going, but that's just not an option right now.

I made the hilarious mistake of asking a close friend, who is selling his Nikon camera, but not his lenses, this:

"So how much are you selling your body for?"  That generated a laugh, but the only one in regards to this whole camera loss.

What I am going to do?

we all need a friend to lean on

One year olds, not sure they want to be friends, I guess.

Two years olds- still unsure.

And she moves on.

She has no mercy, either after her one attempt to show kindness.

And as three year olds- things have changed.

Besties.  Maybe not really, but they seem to really like each other now!

Sometimes it takes friendships a while to develop, while other times, you feel like immediate friends.  I was just thinkgin about some of my friends, and there really are people in my life that I believe were my dearest friends BEFORE I was even born.

To friendship.
And to the summer vibe.
And to friends who will waste the day away in the summer sun with you.

The Help has ARRIVED!

I've been waiting for this baby since April!  AND it's finally here!  Two days after it was projected to arrive on my door step!  I'll take it, even if FedEx was tardy.

Martha's been such an inspiration, and I've learned so much from her!  My plot planner is covered in post it notes, and it's nearly finished, to some degree.  In a few short weeks, after all the fun in the summer sun I can get, I'll be sitting down to the computer and getting deadly serious about finishing my first manuscript.

And now, I have this sweet baby to help me along the way!

I've been reading the Plot Whisperer in the sun, and  trying to get through it when I can and it's hard.  It's great help, but it's also homework and text book-like.  So it's not like it's boring, but it's not necessarily gripping with a star-studded cast.  The cast is me and my characters and our journey to a finished story.  Which is work. 

I'm loving it.

Selling Lemonade

My kids have been begging me to let them "Sell, SOMETHING, MOM!"

I thought it would be clever to sell something other than lemonade. You know, up their chances of making a few pennies.

Now I just know that other moms are smarter than me.

Taking an idea and running with it, left me outside four four hours, painting kid's faces-- some who paid and others who just got away with it because....

I thought I'd mow the lawn and work out side, and take breaks as needed, to paint faces.

As if.

I was swamped.

And I was doing pretty good, until one kid asked for

Lightening McQueen.

And after I scoffed at my lack of skills, he changed his mind for an ANGRY BIRD.

Oh boy.

But it was so fun, and I am so glad I spent the day outside with the kids.  It was the most perfect weather, and not a breeze to be felt.

And even if they only made $4 (after expenses) the kids had a great time, begging to do it again "tomorrow."

Yeah, Lemonade is sounding pretty good right now.

Takes less of MY time.

But knowing me, you guessed it.  

I'll not be giving them lemonade to sell.

Oh no.

Next comes a bigger, more profitable plan.

Which will take some time on my part, but hey, they're worth it.

I love letting my kids enjoy summer, they way a kid should.

That would be 50 Cents.  Forgot to add that part.  Oh well.  Most people figured it out!

Hungry Games Survivor

sur·vi·vor/sərˈvīvər/

Noun:

A person who survives, esp. a person remaining alive after an event in which others have died   Okay, not one person has died in the process of this Hungry Games, at least not yet. But it's been 10 days now, and I gotta say, it's going great!  The kids ration themselves really well. They tell others about the snack tray and they seem so much happier than before when it comes to snacks. AND THE BEST PART?  I haven't heard "I'M HUNGRY!!!" for nearly two weeks!

 Here are some examples over the last few days of some of the trays!

The Hungry Games

The Hungry Games. It's worse than after school snack issues. Much worse.

After I saw this, I went to bed thinking, I don't want my summer to be like this!

I know I am not the only one who has this problem, so I'm sharing my idea. I woke up the next morning, and pulled out a relish tray with dividers. I then gathered my ruthless Tributes and explained "The Snack Tray".

Such a creative name for it, I know.

I will put snacks on the tray everyday, but not until 10:30 am. There will be days the snack tray will not be available- like if we go to the lake all day. They do not have to ask me to eat off the tray, but when the tray is empty, it's empty. I have a tray that has several compartments, and I labeled them so that each Tribute has their District's commodities. So they're personalized compartments to avoid fighting and thieving. Though, Tributes will do, what Tributes do best: Fight and Steal.

Here is my list of snack ideas to fill the tray with, if you'd like ideas, and I'm sure there are more ideas based on what your Tribute will eat. (If you have other ideas to add- please do!)

Last but not least, I will add a sliced apple or halved bananas either early in the day and provide little else til those are gone or wait until their tray is nearly empty and then add the items that do best chilled or such- like cheese sticks.

I asked the Tributes what they thought of this Hungry Game, and I had all four tell me they LOVED it and Catelyn even said it's a great idea. So it must be.

And Jo Jo said she loved that ''she didn't have to ask me.'' Which I thought was pretty grown up for a 5 year old.

Cheese (sliced and sticked)
Goldfish
Pretzels
Nuts
Raisins, Craisins
Popsicle stick- Represents a frozen one, and then they turn the stick into me.
Apples, Grapes, etc.
Celery, Baby carrots, etc.
Olives
Fruit Snacks
Granola Bars
Graham Crackers
Wheat Thins
Ritz
A small sugar treat- like a Laffy Taffy or Starburst
Stick of Gum
Marshmallows

Anyway, I hope that this summer, I can keep the kids alive and well fed, while Kyle goes to work everyday. 

May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!

Writers Conference: The Outtakes

An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended as bonus tracks  or features, but not always, for the sake of humor. In terms of photos, an outtake may also mean the ones which are not released in the original set of photos.

FOR GOOD REASON. I might add.

Trees with painted trunks

A salad

This is how you zoom.

Return of the Weirdos. If your not sure what I am talking about, see THIS.

Dairy Cows like mine!

"What?"

Chicken Caesar Salad

Delicious Dessert

Uhhhhh....

Camera went AWOL

The misting restaurant

Camelback Mountains

Flying away...

Something I made

Something else I made.

Too much tooth?
But Destiny's girls are great!

What I had to clean immediately on arrival home.