Wordless Wednesday
Homemade Adobo Sliders on Pandesal
Chicken & Spinach Ranch Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust
Everday Chocolate Cake (from the Smitten Kitchen's recipe)
Here’s the original recipe for SK’s Everyday Chocolate Cake.
Toddler Craziness
Ever since The Little Empress became a toddler, I’ve continually marveled at the seemingly random thought process of toddlers. It just never ceases to amaze and intrigue me.
A long time ago, we got a large yellow rubber ducky blow up bath for The Little Empress. She bathed in it from the time she could sit up until she was a little over a year old. Since then, it has been retired to life as a diaper holder in our master bathroom.
For whatever reason, The Little Empress decided on Friday night that Mr. Ducky is the bestest. toy. ever. and insisted that Daddy bring Mr. Ducky downstairs for her to play with. Daddy complied and TLE spent the rest of the night toting this rubber duck bath tub with her everywhere she went. Mr. Ducky is easily just about as big as her and quite unwieldy but TLE still insisted on toting him around.
TLE thanking Daddy for bringing Mr. Ducky downstairs
On Sunday afternoon, TLE was playing on and off with Mr. Ducky as well as just running around like a maniac, per usual. Oddly, she’d chosen a pair of pink footie pajamas as her outfit of the day. (This after wearing mismatching pajamas when we went out yesterday. I let her out in public in the most horrific of outfits but she’s so proud to do so. Who am I to stop her?) Eventually, she settled down (somewhat) to watch a few episodes of Futurama with Daddy while I attempted to wade through my work backlog. It was a nice change of pace as The Hubs ™ has been working 12+ hour days for the past two weeks so I think both of them were happy to have some bonding time.
About an hour into Futurama, I hear The Hubs ™ call out.
“Uh, honey? We’ve got a situation here.”
Situation, huh? I pushed back my chair and started to make my way out of the office when The Little Empress ran out right in front of me. Grinning, she handed me the diaper off of her naked butt and then promptly ran off. According to The Hubs ™, she had suddenly tired of her pink footies and decided that she wanted to run around nekkid. She continued to run around the rest of the afternoon, happily bouncing from chair to ottoman and to the floor again, reveling in the awesomeness of being nekkid. It took me about two hours to convince her to at least wear a diaper. (I’ll defend other families’ decision to EC but we are definitely NOT an EC household!!)
TLE & Mr. Ducky
Oh well. At least I got a few photos to embarrass her with later in life. And really, isn’t that what digital cameras in the hands of mothers is all about??
Photography Practice
Yesterday, I saw two of my closest friends, Blackberry and J tie the knot. Technically, they’d gotten married about nine months ago but yesterday was the actual Big Wedding ™ for their folks. We weren’t able to get to their first ceremony, a civil ceremony held in a bakery for Unique Points ™, surrounded by their friends so we were lucky enough to be able to attend this one.
As predicted, TLE fussed enough during the ceremony that I had to take her outside not once but twice. The ride to the church was pretty long and the wedding was delayed for about half an hour so by the time the ceremony started, she had run through her tiny little well of toddler patience. The Hubs ™ offered to take her but TLE was starting to (loudly) crow for boob. I was left with the options of either ignoring her cries and letting her fuss, with the cry of “BOOB” ringing throughout the church or I could give in. I gave in for the sake of Blackberry’s wedding. This meant that I ended up missing a good chunk of the ceremony.
Of course, I brought along my dSLR. Blackberry had asked me months ago if I’d be their photographer. I declined because 1) I’m not that great of a photographer and 2) wrangling The Little Empress usually prevents me from doing anything other than, well, wrangling her. As it so happened, there was a communication mixup and our friend that she thought was going to photograph the wedding didn’t get the invite. (Ooops.) So the backup photographer ended up being the primary photographer while I ended up supplementing some shots.
I didn’t get quite as many photos as I would have liked. I was far too afraid of getting in someone’s way, blocking someone’s view or otherwise ruining someone’s experience to get in to get some of the shots I would have liked. I think this is why I know I could never be a great photographer. Great photographers aren’t afraid to get the shot. I’m a chickensh!t. 
Despite that, this chickensh!t photographer did at least get some decent shots, including one of Blackberry as she took her mom’s arm to walk her down the aisle. Blackberry later told me that she had only a handful of photos with her mom so this one would be extra special.
While I won’t share photos of the couple online, here’s a few shots I took of the decor and what not…
Bouqets on the train
Flowers at the church
Reception table decor
And of course, I have to include at least one picture of TLE and Daddy at the wedding.
TLE and Daddy
Gym and Lola’s House
For Day #3 of “Wear Out The Little Empress”, we went to a mother’s club play date at a local gymnastics center. I could barely get The Little Empress off of the trampoline. After all, who WOULDN’T love running and bouncing on a 20′ trampoline?? (A plus: her OT tells me that it is awesome vestibular input!)
J U M P !
After somewhat wearing her out at the gymnastics center, we headed off to Lolo & Lola’s house so she could get some quality time with her grandparents while I got some quality time (and aggravated my carpal tunnel) with my keyboard. Ugh, deadlines. But at least I got to take a quick break to get a photo or two. Here, my mom is holding her (you can see her hand trying to tickle TLE to make her smile. Didn’t work.) while posing her with a photo that her teacher took of her last week. One photo has nothing to do with the other but I think it looks funny. (Plus, I love the crooked, upside down sunglasses in the photo she’s holding. Classic toddler action!)
Double TLE
Later on, TLE decided it was time to practice piano. It is horribly out of tune right now but that didn’t stop TLE from playing. She looooooooves the piano at my parents’ house. Someday, we will move it to our house once we get the money for the move and a good tuning.
TLE and the piano
She got very into her piano playing at one point, banging on the keys with the utmost purpose. I see a tortured artist musician in the making…
Future experimental pianist
Weekday Farmers Market
In order to wear her the heck out so I can get some work done, take advantage of The Little Empress’ school vacation, I’m trying to fill the days with fun, low-cost outings to pass the time. One of the outings I decided on was to hit up the Concord Farmers Market in Todos Santos Plaza.
I try to hit up a Farmer’s Market or farmer’s stand at least every week or so, to take advantage of the fresh produce we have in this area. There are at least three Farmers Markets within ten miles of us and a countless number of family owned farm stands. (Antioch may be maligned for being way the hell out in nowhere land but it does have its advantages.) The Concord Farmer’s Market isn’t one of the close by Farmers Markets but it is my current favorite due to its location. Todos Santos is a beautiful city square with a park, kids play area and is surrounded by a good selection of shops. These shops include Half Price Books and Peet’s Coffee which is damn near my version of heaven already. Adding a twice weekly Farmers Market on top of it is just icing on the cake! The location is full of mature trees for shade so after meandering through the Farmers Market, you can sit on the grass and let your kid play while you enjoy some fresh produce and whatever hot food happens to be at the market that day.
The Little Empress and I wandered through Half Price Books for a bit before hitting up the Farmers Market. While I’m not nearly as much of a bibliophile as other folks I know, book stores and libraries seriously make me happy and I can stay there for hours. TLE is still a bit young and got restless and I was getting hungry so I decided to head out to find something to eat. There were a bunch of great hot food stalls to choose from, including Argentine Empanadas, tamales, wood fired pizza, gourmet hot dogs… yummy. I decided on a gyro which I thought TLE would like but she didn’t. Alas, no photo of the gyro as it disappeared into my gaping maw way too quickly. It was delicious.
We relaxed on the grass for a bit. Next week, I’ll have to remember to bring a good blanket to sit on as well as a ball for TLE to kick around. I’d thought that she would have wanted to play on the play structure but she was (surprisingly) uninterested. (Lucky for me. The play structure is meant for kids 5+ rather than the toddler set. That usually doesn’t stop TLE who is a total daredevil.) Instead, she entertained herself by watching other kids and running around on the grass near me.
TLE dancing on the grass
Soon enough, she tired of the grass and signed frantically for “apples” which is her way of asking for fruit. It took some convincing to get her back in her stroller. I normally don’t take a stroller anywhere but Farmers Markets are SO much easier to navigate with a stroller rather than carrying her on my back while carrying groceries. (Plus, have you ever had a toddler eating a plum while in a back carry? I personally find the sensation of dripping plum juice down my neck to be decidedly NOT PLEASANT.)
We wandered up and down the aisles of the Farmers Market, looking at all the yummy and delicious fruits. I like to make at least one round of the offerings, to see what’s being offered at what prices. Summer farmer’s markets are always the best, full of stone fruit, delicious berries and awesome vegetables. Plus, fully circumventing the farmers market means I get to pilfer samples from everyone. BWAHAHA. (These samples kept TLE satisfied for quite awhile!)
Free samples? YES PLEASE.
I saw some really lovely tomatoes and a bunch of Asian herbs that I desperately wanted but knew I had no time to really enjoy properly this week so I passed. Seriously, check out these tomatoes!! The heirlooms next to the Early Girls were even more gorgeous but I didn’t get a really good shot of those.
Tomatoes... gorgeous, aren't they?!
After my first round, I stopped at a vendor to pick up a few pounds of naturally sweet, stone fruit goodness. TLE was very happy to get her chance to dig in to a sweet-tart pluot.
Yummy pluot!
Nomilicious indeed!
Less than cooperative
Not posing for you, Mommy.
This photo was taken by my point and shoot. I haven’t had made the opportunity to use my dSLR in a long, long time. That makes me sad.
It also makes me sad that it has been quite awhile since I’ve gotten a photo of The Little Empress that I’ve been happy with. I’m not happy with this photo but right now, I’ll take what I can get. Always on the move, TLE has made it quite clear to me that she’s no longer willing to sit still, even for a moment. The second that the camera comes out, she whips about and if I’m lucky, I’ll catch her tail end.
She’s only standing still in this photo because I had the foresight to load a digital copy of Monsters, Inc. (her current favorite movie) on my iPhone. It kept her still for perhaps half a second. Unfortunately, it also gave her a great excuse to avoid the camera. But at least she held still.
Photo Woes
TLE eating (more) ice cream. No, this has nothing to do with this entry.
It is no secret that I love photography. I really love it. I must have taken over 5,000 photographs in first two years of The Little Empress’ life. Sadly, the third year of her life doesn’t seem to be as conducive to taking photographs. These days, The Little Empress gladly hams it up for my parents’ and sister’s camphones but when she sees my dSLR come out, she turns tail and hides. Or she sticks her face way into the camera and pokes at the lens. Either way, I’m not getting as many photo opportunities of her as I’d like.
Like most mom-photographers, I’m always behind the lens rather than in front of it. Considering I’m not all that photogenic (see earlier entries for proof of this), I’m fine with this. Usually. But regrettably, that means I am also rarely in the photo with The Little Empress and as a result, aside from the babywearing shots that I’ve taken, I have very few photos of us together. (Those that I do have were taken by the ever wonderful SEEN by Lam and Megs Photography. Alas, I am too broke to visit Cousin Lam and/or to afford Megs at the moment.)
I’ve been searching for an affordable local photographer to work with but am beginning to believe that “affordable” plus “photography” are two words that were never meant to be together in the same phrase. I’m a freelance writer so believe me when I say that I understand the direct correlation between talent, time spent and prices charged. Now, I’m not asking for free photos but some of the prices that I’m seeing for portrait sessions are just insane. I’ve seen prices upwards of $120+ for just a half hour sitting fee for a mini session. (I mean, seriously? I’d gladly pay that for an hour or more but a half hour? YIKES.) And then there’s how much folks charge for digital images. I saw one photographer charging $85 per digital image, after a $200 print minimum PLUS her session fee.
Maybe this is the industry standard. If so, I guess that the industry is telling me that portrait photography is a privilege like organic produce and sustainably raised meat and isn’t for broke folks like myself.
And while I’m at it, let’s talk about mini-sessions. I researched these as a possible viable alternative to most photographer’s pricey full sessions. While I love the idea of mini sessions, I also have to say that they’re not a good idea for us. Most mini-sessions that photographers in this area offer are twenty to thirty minutes, in a fixed location. Taking TLE to an unfamiliar place, to meet unfamiliar people, to do something she has to be in the mood for, under a time limit is just asking for trouble. (Unfortunately, TLE’s unpredictability can wreak havoc on even the most well-intentioned outings.)
Maybe I just need to embrace lifeless Walmart portraits. I swear, sometimes I fantasize about starting my own photography business for affordable, quality portraits. Unfortunately, my skill as a photographer is non-existent these days and that still doesn’t solve my initial problem of getting a good portrait with TLE.
Cheeky Charmer
Charming little one
Something my sister and I have noticed is that The Little Empress is quite the flirt! Whenever we go out, it seems like she’s made it her personal mission to charm the pants off most everyone she meets. Whether she’s smiling at someone from the shopping cart while we’re at Target or toddling up and babbling with boys at the library, she’s sure to bring a smile to even the grumpiest of faces. No one can resist that crooked little smile of hers.
While she tries to charm most everyone, her usual targets of choice seem to be boys, particularly older boys! One memorable visit to the library had her following around and babbling to a cute little blond boy. He must have been 6 years TLE’s senior. He was quite smitten with her and allowed her to follow him around, handing her books and showing her what was on them. So sweet.
Though this makes me wonder about the nature vs. nurture argument. TLE has certainly never seen me or her Daddy or her Auntie flirting with random strangers. I guess kiddies are just naturally charming? Or do I have a born charmer. Either way, Daddy has been growling about it and is mumbling about getting his shotguns ready early.
What’s Your Play #40
What’s Your Play is hosted by Laura at Dolce Pics. She provides a SOOC (straight out of camera) shot and the folks post-process it and share the results. More info here.
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Here’s my entry for What’s Your Play #40 -Water Wheel
Software: Lightroom 2
What I did and why:
I didn’t do too much editing on this aside from enhancing the colors.
- Deepened the shadows and brightened the high lights by tweaking the curves just slightly
- I loved the sky peeking through the trees so I boosted the blue just a bit
- I thought the ground was a little too yellow so I toned down the yellow to more of a brownish tone to enhance to earth
- Sharpened the image to bring out the detail in the rocks and trees
- Vignette to finish off
I didn’t crop this photo. The obvious crop would be to focus on the wheel. I thought about it but decided that I’d lose more than I would gain, especially because I loved the litle bit of sky but didn’t want to sacrifice the ground to do so. I like the scene as a whole very much, especially the frozen pond. So I figured that I’d enhance the feeling of the cold, crisp scene of a water wheel in winter than just a water wheel alone.
What’s Your Play #39 – Rings
What’s Your Play is hosted by Laura at Dolce Pics. She provides a SOOC (straight out of camera) shot and the folks post-process it and share the results. More info here.
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Here’s my entry for What’s Your Play #39 – Rings
Software: Lightroom 2 — one of the first times I’ve used LR and I’ve fallen head over heels in love with it. So powerful! So shiny! So… expensive. Ow.
What I did and why:
- I tweaked the color a bit, boosting the saturation and vibrancy in particular as well as the white balance. I had tried using an LR preset that I just didn’t find myself very happy with. Playing with the sliders and working with curves was more familiar and gave me a better result than the presets.
- I started playing around with the sharpening slider and was amazed at the difference it made in the detail on the rings. Wow!
- I tried a number of different crops but decided I liked this 5×7 one the best.
- After all was said and done, I added a slight vignette to finish it off.
Whee!
About
My name is Michelle. I write, I shoot and I mom, not necessarily in that order. I'm aware that 'mom' isn't widely accepted as a verb but I think it should be.I'm a self-professed geek and caffeine addict. (Some may argue that the latter is a requirement of the former.) I live with my husband and our daughter in the California Delta.
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