Pics To Snag

Hey, y'all! I'm actually back again, but not for long today!

We are on our way out of town to a wedding (outdoors -URG. Bless the bride. She's been planning it almost a year. She had no way of knowing this would be the hottest summer in 30 years).

I love that our family called friends to stay with (for free) so that we can afford for our dog to stay at her $25/ night Bed and Breakfast. Sheesh. Of course, they won't let us pick her up late Sunday afternoon OR Monday, so a one night trip is costing us $75 for her. Good thing we like her.

One thing I'm going to work on while we go is my list of pics to take for the month -- an idea that I got from this site.

Sad, but true, that I have to make myself a list, but I am not naturally a picture taker ... unless I see something fascinating like this, of course:

But my family? Not so much. So this web site encouraged you to make a list of 10 pics to take per month (to give you an idea, for September it recommended "leaves changing color" and "Family in sweaters" -- neither of which will happen in this state). So I'm working on my own list of "must-have pics for September" today.

If you would like to print out your own handy list, go here. I would love to get some ideas of what you come up with! What is a must-have September picture for you?

Our Life In Pictures

I really had hoped to blog a little more this week... it just isn't getting done, you know? I guess you do know, if you are still here.

One thing, besides the subjects of these ample photos, that is taking my time these days is figuring out my new camera. My friend, David, who let me rip off his pics of Dana and her family, gave me some camera-shopping-for-the-chronically-cheap-frugal tips. So, I shall let you see some of my latest handiwork, or, as I like to call it, why the Stirmans never eat dinner

before 8 p.m.:

Here is Saturday's soccer game. Riley throwing the ball in:

And THIS spectacular kick (Riley is the one whose foot has just engaged the ball) turned into an amazing assist and scored a point. Yay!

So Ashley got bored and took pics of Troy, tuning out the other parents:

And me, watching the game....

So on Monday once the clouds blew away, we had tennis for Ashley, my Mann Falcon:

This kind of cracks me up. I think Ashley has 'Charlie Brown feet' here: (can you hear the music?)

So, the next day we had a band concert. Some of you may have figured this out a LONG time ago, but I have not. My children are in a LOT of things. Most of the programs are simply photocopied pieces of paper, but I want to remember that Ashley was section leader in band, and made All-Honor band, etc. So... I took a pic of it. (I took a pic of the inside, too where all the names, etc., are listed). I can keep these with the scrapbook pages of the same pictures. I am SERIOUSLY trying to declutter around here, and who needs a million more pieces of photocopied paper when a picture of the paper will suffice?

So.. I'm still trying to figure out the camera. I put everything on 'auto' and snapped a few pics when the band first came out to warm up. Here is Ashley pointing to me, asking the girl behind her, "Whose mom is THAT taking all those pictures???" I was VERY disappointed with the automatic pictures.

So... I started thinking... David encouraged me to get this camera because it does well in low light. So I took it OFF of automatic, messed with the aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. I have no idea what they mean, but know where they should be for a decent pic. And took a few decent shots (no flash!) :

I forgot to include the obligatory pic of the whole stage that included the back of the bald guy's head...

And Ashley had to take a few shots of me trying to figure out the software that came with it. Seeing my posture makes me realize why I need to get to yoga more...

So that is approximately 72 hours in the Stirman family life. Some 3 days periods are slower, some are faster. Right now, I'm missing out on watching the movie 'Dave' with my man. Do you love that movie? I do.

Have a great weekend and take lots of pictures!

A Pic for Saturday

It's not always an entirely bad thing to have to make your 2nd trip of the day to the grocery store. If you keep your eyes open and look around, you'll probably find a blessing the Lord has for you.