I Heart Faces - Hands On Photo Entry

Besides selling Pampered Chef products, making jewelry, cooking, sewing, and my carpentry class, I have taken an interest in photography. Recently, I even joined the community photography club!

I took the picture of Ethan (my autistic 4 year old terrorist) during one of his calm moments (he was asleep- that's the only time he is calm!). And since it features his hands in a unique perspective, I thought I would enter it into the contest. 

The day I took the picture he was obsessing about Halloween. He wanted it to be Halloween again! Ethan couldn't understand why we couldn't have Halloween again. When else can you go around house to house and they GIVE you chocolates? Halloween was a dream come true for him. 

So, he donned his trusty Iron Man costume (which is in tatters now) and found a Halloween treat bucket and sat at the table where I was working on one project or another. I didn't have any chocolate candy for him that day - he had eaten all the chocolate in the house, so I substituted Oreos instead. My standard bribe for him is chocolate. We probably spend more money than the average household on chocolate candies and chips. They are a staple in his finicky diet. 

So after much ado, here is the picture:

My most recent photos

Here is a few of the plethora of shots I took on Wednesday after a FREAKISH night of lightning, thunder and rain. The lightning strike sounded like a bomb going off. It caused a bunch of the car alarms in the neighborhood to go off as well.

Thankfully, the next morning after more rumblings and rain, it cleared up and after dropping off the kids at school I fixed breakfast for Ethan and Aeron, got Madison a bottle, blanket and put on a movie for her. They were content for a little bit so I could go outside and photograph the neighborhood flowers in the morning light.

My friend Jennifer is right! The morning and evening hours are a good time to take pictures. The light is great.

Photography is my passion right now. I love it. I love shooting pictures of the kids, my chickens, my backyard garden, and most especially flowers. I love capturing their timeless beauty. It reminds me what a blessing it is to live in the beautiful world that Heavenly Father has created for us. In these time of turbulence, economic struggles, and depressing news, gazing upon these images gives me a much needed lift.

My next piece of equipment I want to buy is a "nifty fify" lens or a macro lens. I would have such fun with it - I'll have to save my pennies. With my current lens, I can only get so close. But, it works, as you can see. For that I am grateful!

Little hands

Little hands
Originally uploaded by bonniemomof5

I took this picture on Wednesday of my little charge Madison. I love little chubby baby hands. I love photography, too. It's my "thing" right now, my creative outlet. I adapted this poem from another poem called Handprints.

This photo is to remind you
When I have grown so tall,
That once I was a little babe
With hands so very small.

Ten on Tuesday

Pictures 1. Steven. 2. Aeron and my husband the Brigham Young wanna be - he's in a play at our stake and they asked him to grow a beard. 3. Bekkah. 4. Jonathon - the real wild one. 5. Classic Ethan - we had to take his picture when he got the potty seat stuck on his head. It's side splittingly funny!

Here's my Ten on Tuesday:

10. Ethan makes me laugh. He is obsessed with Batman. About six months ago, I bought him a pair of Batman Underoos and he only wants to wear the undershirt. Yesterday I had to wrestle the shirt off him so I could wash it. Then, he insisted on wearing the newly washed and slightly dry shirt to preschool. He wore Batman all day and then wore it to bed. Today he smeared ketchup on it. He doesn't like getting dirty. We took the shirt off and then he changed into his Superman pajama shirt and wore it to school. I don't fight with him anymore. If he wants to wear it, so be it. At least I can get him to wear a pair of jean shorts to school so he looks mostly presentable. I pick my battles with him.

9. My daughter, Rebekkah, is an angel. She is my right hand. She helps me tremendously with the younger kids and tasks around the house. I hope I am not doing her a disservice by relying on her too much. I need to tell her thank you more often. We do reward her too. Recently, we got her a cell phone. For Christmas she got an iPod. We don't want to spoil her but we do want to give her the things she wants within reason and she works hard.

8. Jonathon peed his pants twice today, once at school and the other after school while playing. That really ticks me off. He doesn't take the initiative to change his clothes. He stays in them until he is dry and smelly. Gross! How does an almost 8 year old boy do that? But of course he is a boy. Maybe boys are just like that.

7. I think Aeron has 5th disease. His cheeks are rosy. He had diarrhea and mild cold like symptoms today - runny nose and not feeling well. He also has a rash; some on the top of his shoulder, near his diaper area, on his ankle, and legs. It resembles a blister and is kind of blotchy. The frustrating thing is that there is nothing I can do about it. It can last from 1-3 weeks. It can be contagious. But if he has it, he has already passed the contagious period because he is contagious during the incubation period. Hopefully no one else in the family will get it. Thursday we have a doctor's appointment. We'll find out.

6. Steven just finished reading Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. I am proud of his reading prowess. When recently tested, he the results showed that he reads at a 12th grade level. Rebekkah, naturally being a huge fan of the Twilight series, convinced him to read the books. He has whizzed through them at lightning speeds. His teacher, Mrs. Rush, told him Monday that it has been 17 year since she had a student accumulate as many Accelerated Reader points as he has. Good job, my little book worm!

5. We had a Cub Scout Pack Meeting tonight. We are getting ready for the Pinewood Derby. Peter's calling at church is a Cub Scout Den Leader for the Bears. But, since he has this Cisco training class on Tuesdays, I am taking over his pack in the meantime. I enjoy it. I don't have to teach any of my boys. I like it better that way. I can be a better teacher to the Bears.

4. A couple weeks ago, I think I had walking pneumonia. That's when I had the 103.2 fever. I got antibiotics and cough syrup. The antibiotics have helped. I still have a slight fever and a chest cough. Thursday when I take Aeron in to the doctor, I am going to see him as well. I am going to ask for a chest xray. It may take a stronger antibiotic than what I was given. I hope I don't have it. I have been using an old inhaler recently to help with my chest tightness.

3. I love photography. I have been taking pictures here and there. I took this picture yesterday that I will post that I think is funny. It is of these weird cherry like looking orange spheres. If it is an edible fruit, it is one that I am not familiar with. I have thought of a funny title for the picture. I'm not going to spoil it by telling you what it is. That is what I think about in my spare time. Peter is happy that I'm so taken with photography. I take some pictures of the kids. Some are OK, but I like my photos of flowers best. They are pretty. Flowers make me happy. I walk around in my neighbor's yards and in the neighborhood, photographing flowers. I probably look like a nut. Oh well.

2. I miss jewelry making. It is hard to dedicate the space to it. Plus, with all of the helpful hands this house teems with, inevitably my project gets disturbed. Also, when I start a project, I develop tunnel vision; I just want to work on the project. I will leave my other responsibilities undone. I don't have the luxury to do that right now. I have too many little people that rely on me to meet their needs.

1. I haven't read a book since I was pregnant with Aeron except Understanding Exposure. It's a photography book. Oh, and I have read the last Stephenie Meyer book too. But, what I really enjoy is audio books. I have a monthly subscription to Audible. I love audio books! Right now I am listening to a book called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It is a young adult book, in the same genre as Orson Scott Card, science fiction. It is very good. It helps me get through the drudgery of my day to day chores. It also keeps my busy mind occupied.

Well, that's my ten. I've never done a Ten for Tuesday type blog entry before. I'm sure it is a little long winded. I think that should be my middle name: Bonnie windbag Gale. I like blogging. I should have included that as one of my ten.