The lovelies

I have two nieces(and two nephews) and two nephews(from my brother) who live a few states away from me. This weekend I came into town and spent some time with the fam. I usually stay over at my sisters' so I hung out with my nieces( ages 6 and 2) more. I'm not sure if I just never studied both of them before or if this it's just that their relationship with each other is evolving but I was intrigued by their interaction. The 2 year old is constantly copying everything that the 6 year old does. I mean everything! It was bizarre. If the 6 year old sat/stood/danced/ate/read, the 2 year old sat/stood/danced/ate/read (well, she attempted to read). At some point, the 6 year old whispered something in my right ear so her sister wouldn't hear, and , you guessed it, the 2 year old came over to the same ear (odd since she was on my left side and closer to my left ear) and 'whispered' into it. I laughed till I cried especially because the 2 year old never actually said anything! She just (practically) blew air into my ear - probably because that's all she could make out when her sister whispered into my ear. It was amazing just watching them relate to each other. In mimicking her older sister, she's learning a ton. When even I am tempted to speak to her in 'baby speak', the 6 year old speaks to her in complete sentences and she understands everything. She also responds in kind as much as she can. I wonder if that's the norm in most families. Do the younger copy the older? Do they mimick their actions, words, mannerisms? Is this even a good thing? What if the person being mimicked has horrid behaviour? Is this how 'one bad egg spoils the bunch'. Are we as humans unable to build character without mimicking others or having examples to follow? This would explain why the bible says ' show me your friends and I'll show you who you are'. What about Jesus as an example? Maybe we also need folks around us with whom we can interact daily to help build our character. Upbringing vs. genetics. hmmm...

About the only thing the 2 year old wouldn't copy from the 6 year old was going to bed. For some reason, bedtime is always a chore with the 2 year old. As soon as she heard the words 'it's time to go to bed', she yelled 'No!' and started wailing. I tried to make her understand she needed to rest up for the next day but she wasn't buying it, her wailing intensified. Eventually, my sister heard the commotion and took her to bed ( with much wailing in tow).

Bye bye Birdie

Here is another picture I took at the park with my oh-so-wonderful Canon 450D. I must have taken at least five shots of this little darling because it just would not stay still! It kept jumping around and eventually flew away. This particular shot is my husband's favorite of all my park pictures. I myself cannot stare at the picture too long because after a few seconds, it kinda makes me dizzy :^) .

I cropped and slightly adjusted the exposure.

Foooood...!

It's 11am and I'm starving. Not good, especially since I had breakfast :(

Invite Sample

I dabble in wedding invitations and this is a sample of a wedding invie I worked on a few weeks ago. I love the colors.

new

Test

test

One step at a time...

...I'm climbing my mountain ~ TBD

Playing around with my Canon at a local park today. Here is a picture pre- and post- processing (ha, if you call fumbling around photoshop processing)

I stood pretty far away from the deer and zoomed in with my Canon EFS 55-250 lens. I tried to move closer but that bugger was watching me like it would bolt if I made a false move so I kept shooting from afar. I kinda like the shot. I'm not sure why the left eye is out of focus though. Boo
I'm by no means well versed in either photography or processing pictures but I'm taking one step at a time and researching online. Eventually, I'd like to get some books and take some classes.

Original shot
Post processed - Adjusted the white balance