CIUAN Week 3

Well like most things in life right now I can't get things done when I would like to. So even though picture share over on Click It Up A Notch was Friday and it is now Monday afternoon I am finally sharing. Some people might not know but my sister, Courtney, is the one behind click it up a notch. I am fortunate enough to be living in Okinawa with her so we hang out quite a bit. On Saturday she invited me out with one of our friends to take some pictures. I am learning to become more comfortable shooting on manual. I am really excited about the pictures that I was able to capture of both of the boys but I wanted to share one of my favorites of Jackson. Any Mother of an almost 3 year old knows how hard it is to capture a picture of a "true" smile and not a "cheeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssseeeeeee" smile.

This week was learning about the rule of thirds. If you want to better your picture taking skills, read helpful hints, or just check out others picture of the week head on over to Click It Up A Notch.

I ♥ Faces {Smirk}

CIUAN Week 2

These are a few of my favorite things!

55MM, ISO 3200, SS 200, f/1.8

Gavin turned three months old and pulled his pacifier out of his mouth and played with it. He loves his hands and I think he was surprised to have something in them. He held onto that paci tight. He loves his paci also. If he is having trouble falling asleep he loves to have his paci. His pacifier and his miracle blanket are his two favorites.

55 MM, ISO 400, SS 160, f/1.8

A boy and his dog. This is the closest that Jackson will get to having a dog. Ha Ha! Honey got him this dog and you can tell by the look of him he is well love. When we first moved to Okinawa I had to buy two more of these beanie babies so that I could wash him. :) He decided last week while we were in Guam that this dogs name is going to be Buster. Most of the time he just calls him Dawg. You have to imagine the most southern good ole boy calling his hound.

55MM, ISO 400, SS 160, f/1.8

Another favorite of Jackson's is his Honey blanket, or quilt that she made him. He wasn't feeling well yesterday so he brought his pillow and blanket down. I was able to catch him snuggled up with the quilt and his dog. My favorite thing about this picture are those little piggy toes. :)

A First

I have a few blog posts to catch up on but I wanted to make sure that I document this day. We started the day at the Rose Garden with Courtney and the gang. Their breakfast is so good and it has been a while since I have been there. I was so excited they called to ask us to come along.

After lunch we hit the BX to pick up a couple of things but mainly sidewalk chalk. Jackson's was all used up so he needed more and the neighborhood kids had been playing with it so you know he had to have some. Oh brother! We headed home for naps and Gavin (my sleeper) took a 3 and 1/2 hour nap. Oh the joy! Then there is Jackson who took a 45 minute nap. I sent him back to his room because as I told him "nap time isn't over". After tears and many times yelling down asking if nap time was over he made it another 45 minutes. We are still working on this. :) If Jackson slept like Gavin we would all be a bit more rested.

Since we ate brunch at 10:30 we decided to hit up a local restaurant, Yoshi Hashi, for an early dinner. This is where my extreme pride and accomplishment comes in. I haven't mentioned that Steve is gone on yet another TDY so I went to this restaurant alone with two kiddos. This restaurant also has tatami tables which can sometimes spell disaster because Jackson will just get up and walk around. However, with a little bribe of ice cream he sat still ate all of his yakitori and edameme.

As we were leaving the restaurant with a big smile on my face because I was so proud, no break downs, no crying, and no one running around, we noticed there was an eisa drum competition going on. YAY!!!! If you have been reading this blog for long you will know that Jackson is in LOVE with all things eisa. We stopped in to watch for a little bit. For the first time in about 2 weeks I forgot to bring my camera out. BOO!!! I love the joy on Jackson's face as he watch these other children play.

So what was a bit of a trying day during nap it ended great. I am so blessed that both boys would be so good out in public.

CIUAN Week 1

Hello All! Well I had these great intentions this week to have a fabulous picture with all of the practice that I have had. Thanks to the lovely hotel Internet being as slow as it is I won't be able to. It will just have to wait until we get back home. (Soon) Check back later to see the picture but I wanted to submit one for the week so I am going to post one that I have already shared with the world but if you are visiting for the first time you wouldn't have seen it. :)

50MM, ISO 100, SS 1250, f2.0

You can't beat a little shot of nature!