A Trendy Treehouse Touch Up: Watering the Garden

Hannah patiently awaits for her watering can to be filled back up. Lorelei and Hannah were watering Grandma's garden and themselves at that. I had fun with this edit and really tried playing with the curves. Can I say how much I love that tool! I also saturated the color and changed the hue and of course brightened the photo. I also can't edit without adding contrast. I hope you like this edit and capture! I'm also using this for the Trendy Treehouse: Shutter Love Tuesday for Babies. Is Hannah still considered a baby? (Hannah at 16 months.) 

After:

Before:

For more Trendy Treehouse Shutter Love Tuesday shots of babies and Touch Ups please click their button below and have fun!

Black and White Wednesday: Hannah Jumps for Joy

Click the button below for more black and white photos! Have fun!

You Capture & RAW(e): Your Choice & Snacks

This is Hannah, my 15 month old snacking on an apple at the park. Miss Hannah started snacking on apples after her big sister Lorelei handed her the apple she was munching on some time back. I definitely have to watch what Lorelei shares, but she sure loves to share her snacks and has been that way since she was a baby. 

I love this photo and I am very happy to share it in its "straight out of camera" form. The photo is so simple and serene plus I enjoy it's natural contrasts. This photo is linked up at You Capture for "Your Choice" and RAW(e) for snacks. I hope you liked my unedited Hannah snacking down on her apple.

It's Another Black and White, Wordless Wednesday

I thought I would compile a sort of funny and happy Black and White, Wordless Wednesday fairly similar to one I did just under a month ago (look here). Well, I hope you enjoy a little funny today. Take a look.

Thank you for stopping by! Please take a look at other Black and White Wednesdays and Wordless Wednesdays by clicking their buttons below!

Touch Up Tuesday: Lorelei Plays Dress Up

I have not taken photos in days. This is not good, so I grabbed the camera this morning and started snapping away. We did a few projects I took some pictures and I tried to get some good photos of the girls. The photo I picked to use for today is of Lorelei playing dress up in some of her accessories and some of mine. It was hard picking from all of the photos I took this morning so I hope you like it. Please enjoy and thank you for stopping by.

The Edit:

The SOOC:

For more touch ups please check out the link below!

TMMAPC: Favorite Photo

This is one of my favorite photos from the last week. I just love that look Hannah is giving me. Yay! I might even use this photo for The Paper Mama's Brown Challenge tomorrow. We'll see, but for now it's my favorite.

Check out more photos over at Linkie Lueville, TMMAPC! Enter in your own favorite photo if you'd like. Have fun!

Wordless Wednesday: Hannah Looks At The Sky

Today seems to be about my little one Hannah. I have so many photos I planned on sharing today, but I just don't seem to have the time lately. Please forgive the lack of photos today. Maybe I can get in later to add some to this post. Here's hoping. For now, please take a look at Hannah's first look at freedom while hiking in the woods on her own two feet!

Looking at all the beauty in the sky! Oh and those big trees too!

This is what put her at peace. (Me too.)

Black and White Wednesday: Serenity

Over the weekend as a family we went down to watch all of the men, women and kids alike fishing for salmon. While Matt and Lorelei were watching all the fish come in (which were a lot) Hannah and I were doing this:

Please Enjoy Black and White Wednesday!

For more Black and white photos click the button below and enjoy!

Simplicity Photo Challenge: Snapshot (Everyday Happenings)

Here is a quick snapshot from the other day. The idea over at Simplicity is a snapshot to show what happens in your house at any given moment. This is a great example. Lorelei and Hannah are playing "Ring Around The Rosie." As long as Lorelei remembers Hannah is responsible for her own "All Fall Down" all is well. Hannah quite enjoys plopping down and laughs whenever anyone else does it and Lorelei couldn't be more thrilled when Hannah grabs her hand to play one more time and one more and one more. Well you get the picture. Please enjoy my snapshot.

Check out more Snapshots over at Simplicity!

Mellow Yellow: Hannah and Her Little Yellow Pail

Today on the beach Hannah picked out a little yellow pail to bring along. She filled it with sand, but her favorite activity was LARGE rock collecting. She insisted on carrying it as well. She also insisted on carrying it up the stairs while I basically held her under her armpits so she could make it up. I'm in trouble if Hannah is going to be just as stubborn as her sister, but it was cute watching her have so much fun!

Photos for the Mellow Yellow Link Up:

I just love the cute face she is making.

Collecting her rocks. Her favorite rocks are always the biggest rocks on the beach. She would carry a boulder if she could.

Swinging her yellow pale in the wind.

For more mellow yellow captures check out Mellow Yellow Mondays.

A Game: How Funny Are My Girls

Today I would like to play a little game in honor of the holiday and "last summer weekend." I would like to have a little fun with some funny questions and three choice answers. Please enjoy and have a laugh!

1. What did Lorelei thorougly enjoy with plenty off laughs when she saw it jiggle?

a. her jello

b. my thighs

c. a fish after being caught

2. What did Lorelei say about a women holding a large sign in the wind?

a. that she laughed hysterically hard when the sign kept falling.

b. that she felt bad for the lady.

c. that she wanted to help the lady.

3. What is Lorelei's favorite drink?

a. Gatorade

b. water

c. chocolate milk, but calls it hot cocoa.

4. What does Hannah climb in?

a. the toy box.

b. the baby doll pac n play.

c. the bath tub.

5. What does Hannah say to get what she is after?

a. pea peesh

b. ank u.

c. me me

6. What did Hannah swallow a while back?

a. a tiny plastic poodle.

b. a penny.

c. a rock.

The End

Three questions per child. How well do you know my kiddos? What do you think Lorelei finds so funny?

Answers:

1, b

Yes. My sweet little Lorelei bumped into my legs and noticed they jiggled and kept on smacking them to watch them jiggle. "Look mom. They are jiggling!" This of course was while I explained to her that it was not polite. She still thought it was funny.

2, a

I don't think this game is shedding much polite light on my daughter, but yes she did think it was funny that the poor lady could not hold the sign in the wind. After all the lady was laughing herself, but that was quite a large sign and I felt bad. Lorelei did say that she herself "laughed hysterically hard."

3, c

Definitely chocolate milk. She does of course call it hot cocoa and this love came after watching an UmiZoomi episode about where milk comes from. She now loves chocolate milk.

4, b

The doll pac n play must look like her old pac n play or just look like fun, but she climbs right in and laughs and smiles. The first time she climbed in I took it away because I didn't want it to break, but she cried so hard I decided it wasn't that big of a deal. Bad mom.

5, a

Pea, Peesh is her way of saying please please. My polite pal Hannah. So cute. She also says "ank u" for thank you after she gets the object. So polite.

6, b

We do have a very tiny toy poodle Lorelei got from one of those change machines, but it was in fact a penny. I felt absolutely horrible and like the worst mom in the world. To read more on my horrible mom moment click here.

There you have it, three new facts about each little girl. I hope you enjoyed every word. I enjoyed telling it. Well, I was a bit embarrassed when I realized my momming skills seem to be lacking. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and please enjoy your day!

Just leaving the parking lot Lorelei held onto Hannah's hand this weekend to show her around on her first hike (where she was old enough to wander on her own).

"Lets Play Catch Up" A Letter From Yours Truly

Okay, so I have to say that I have been very intrigued by the new possibilities I have come upon with all of these photo challenges. I haven't ever really taken notice to having any kind of skill level with photography and never thought I would be so pleased with taking "that" good shot. At any rate, I am very much so interested in photos these days. So much so that it seems like my content has just gone down the pooper.

Not that photos aren't great content, but I feel like my blog has been steered into a corner. My journey has lead me astray from a "MOM BLOG" and more into a "Photo Blog" or "PHLOG" if you will. (This will be the only time you hear me say "PHLOG".)

The photo challenges have filled a void. I was missing some beauty in my life and now I have found photos, but since I feel my sharing is lacking I will share some updates on my life as of lately.

Lorelei is sharing some hilarious stuff these days. Oh, and she is so smart. As her great grandpa said over the weekend "not smart, intelligent." The things she says are just priceless. I tell you, she has already passed me by. I talk to myself often and she likes to answer me. She is always right.

Hannah is trying to talk more and more every day. She will be fifteen months on the fifth so she has her own "Hannah language," but it is cute as ever. Her facial expressions are priceless. She of course loves to run and laugh and laugh if you chase her. She does not like french fries or to stay in the swings for long. She will how ever over eat her big sister at the dinner table any night.

As for me I have been my regular happy fun loving, mom self. Okay, so I have been a little crabby especially after vacationing on the farm. Oh how I miss the birds song in the morning sun. I love living on the lake, but I so miss walking outside in my pajamas and looking like a fool without anyone staring at me or gabbing. Does that sound antisocial?

And as for my husband he is working his hiney off as usual. If it weren't for him and his hard work I wouldn't be able to be home with my girls everyday, teaching them, caring for them, hugging them and making sure everything is okay. He is my rock and he is my equal, and without him I would not know where I would be.

And to those of you who enjoy my photos I already have some ideas in mind for tomorrow. I hope you enjoy! Please forgive me to the ones who enjoy my written word as I have been dazzled by the photo challenges. I would like to think it happens to the best of us. I promise I will be back on track soon and will get back to my sharing self.

Thanks again! Please enjoy my pretty photos as well as my pretty words.

~Nicole

Photo by, My Father-in-law (Thank you)

Sweet Shot Tuesday: Hannah at the Zoo

I had a hard time picking my favorite shot of the week. So here is my pick; one of my first official pictures of the Zoo! For my first ever Sweet Shot Tuesday I chose this photo of Hannah peering into the window in awe at the movement of the animals. I am in love with the way the blue shines and her cute little hand lays on the window. She sat at this window in amazement of this big beautiful animal and I was happy to get a shot of him swimming by. How beautiful. Please enjoy my first Sweet Shot Tuesday entry!

For more Sweet Shots go to:

An Edit: Hannah and a Wheel

So here it is. I am on the fence again. I enjoy editing, but the original is always nice as well. I see issues (I am not a photographer), but I like the calmness of the original photo. The edit is nice because I like the color on the wheel popping. My question is if her body language is suggesting a bright photo or more of a calm serenity. What do you think?