Film Noir is the topic for today! There is nothing I love more than a moody black and white photo, so I was excited to have fun with a portrait today. My husband sort of volunteered to be the subject, so he posed before going out for coffee. I deliberately used a high ISO and underexposed to get that grainy look. When I converted it to black and white, I noticed he looks a little scary. He should have been holding a dagger!
What fun it was to do songs and puppets at Miles’ preschool today! I was definitely in my comfort zone, and Miles did a great job sharing his Gramma and Papa with his friends.
Here is Rags meeting the kids.
We did a snowman song and the kids were acting out the snowmen with their funny hats.
My husband is our guest photographer today and shot the above photos at the preschool. He did a good job, didn’t he?
At the end of the day, Miles earned a sticker for following directions.
We drove Miles home and he proudly showed his mama the beautiful Thanksgiving decoration he made.
Two boys- one having fun at home, one having fun at preschool!
Henry had his first experience with my puppet apron this morning while his brother and mama were at preschool. This relic from my preschool teaching days when my own children were small has five pockets, each with a puppet which goes along with a song. At Henry’s age, Miles would sit quietly and do all the motions with each song. We knew this wouldn’t be the case with Henry the whirlwind. He loved the puppets- but especially loved taking them in and out of the pockets (Nite-nite, monkeys!). Here he is playing with Mr. Frog.
We spent much of the morning at the community center gym, which is filled with equipment for the kids. It is in the same building as Miles’ preschool, so Caitlin was able to get a bit of work done too. Miles’ favorite activity right now is swinging on the rope; Henry likes the balls and being pulled around on the scooter board. Both boys had a great time playing firefighters and hiding from “bad guys”.
Happy Henry!
Miles is so proud of being able to swing on the rope.
“The bad guys are hiding under here, Henry!”
We’re here!
Miles is his Papa’s biggest fan and is seldom more than a foot away from him. He has grown up quite a bit since September- and is currently obsessed with his office supplies (checkbook, business cards, lists etc.). We gave both boys some new clothes, and Miles quickly cut off the tags- not because he wanted to wear the clothes, but because he needed them to add to his business cards.
Here are the two best buds:
Henry is still his exuberant, active, friendly, talkative self- at absolutely the cutest stage ever. His language skills have grown even more since we last saw him; every thought that goes through his head is immediately expressed. Miles was an observer and a thinker at this age (he still is). Henry is an explorer and a talker. And, like his mother always said, he says “I do it myself.” And like his Uncle Matt, he puts on his boots , says, “I go to work,”and walks out the door. The latest home improvement project is latches for the doors.
Henry is trying on some new clothes in this photo; he is trying to figure out the buttons.
Photography note: I am SOOOO glad to have the external flash for this visit. I remember my frustration last Thanksgiving getting my exposure correct. There was no way I could have taken photos inside in the late afternoon today without flash. The sun was so low in the sky even at 3:30 that I would have been using maximum ISO for every shot.
I am coming to the end of my second year of my Project 365. Next year, although I will still continue posting photos to this blog, I am not committing to taking a photo a day. This decision is based on days like today, when I am busy, the creative well is dry, and my easiest option is going with one of the daily challenges.
Today I am using yesterday’s challenge, which is hair. Good thing my husband got a haircut today. . .
Today the sunflowers get thrown away, so here is a bonus macro sunflower shot.
Clue #1: You can see this from inside.
Clue #2: You can see this from outside:
Clue #3: It has this inside!
Clue #4: We bought it from Joseph!
Clue#5: We saw this view on the way home:
Clue#6: This guy is very happy now!
There’s nothing like a new car to put a smile on a man’s face!
FYI:
Not being a camera snob, I took half of these photos with my iPhone (probably the best ones!).
It was all about Henry, while Miles was at preschool this morning.
Henry playing in his “boat” (with Cooper keeping a suspicious eye on the activity)-
And Henry playing Row Your Boat with Papa-
Today is Miles’s first day of preschool for the year. Here he is checking out his hair.
His mama is the preschool director, so it was her first day too. And it’s her birthday!
After they left for school, it was Henry’s turn at the sink. Brushing his teeth comes second only to washing his hands as his current favorite activity to do ALL MY HIMSELF.
Miles and Papa:
Upside down
Matching slippers
And then, here is Henry sitting in a drawer. . .
And, to prove that we are at Yellowstone, here is a young male elk making himself at home on the lawn.
And look who was here to greet us!
My husband is buried- literally- in paperwork this weekend. Since one of the topics of my Flickr group this week was STRESS- I thought I’d snap a photo him working.
And, in contrast, here is my grandmother’s album from when she was a young mom.
Our son, Matt, is coming home tomorrow to celebrate his 35th birthday (a couple weeks late). These are the shoes he wore on his first birthday.
My husband suggests I should have polished them before photographing them! There is a texture added- so they’re not quite as grungey as they look here!
melinda anderson photography 