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June 30, 2008
Too many alien cartoons?
Me: Britta, what do you want for your birthday?
Britta: a cat!
Me: I heard Karsten tell Bestemor that you want a webkinz cat.
Karsten: Mom!! You weren't supposed to tell her!
Then Karsten leaned in to whisper to me.
Mom, erase Britta's mind!
Posted by jana at 5:47 PM | Comments (1)
June 26, 2008
What's up with...
... the tongue?
This is just from one batch of photos I uploaded. Glad I'm the one behind the camera so I didn't make the pool of photos.
Posted by jana at 2:43 PM | Comments (2)
June 24, 2008
New prime lens fun
I spent today testing out my new 50mm lens. It doesn't autofocus with my camera so I'm having to practice focusing. I get such good depth of field on this lens that I'm having trouble focusing the camera correctly on every shot. Maybe it is time to get me some glasses -- or contact lenses finally.
I can also see that I over-exposed a bit on this one, but I'm working on getting better.
I just finished reading this book, Photographing Children and it is the only how-to book I've ever read every word. (Too bad I don't do that with my CSS/DHTML books!) Anyway, it was a huge help in seeing photography in a new light (pun intended.) Highly recommended for the intermediate photographer wanting to take better photos of children.
Posted by jana at 9:39 PM | Comments (2)
The Norwegian Challenge
Bestemor has been teaching the kids some words and phrases in Norwegian so the kids would be able to talk to their Norwegian relatives. Today the relatives from Norway finally arrived. Karsten practiced all the words he knew in the car ride over to see them.
When we saw the kids and they were speaking in Norwegian that he didn't understand he said to Bestemor, "why didn't you teach me ALL the words?!"
Hopefully Bestemor will get right on that. ha ha.
Posted by jana at 8:00 PM
June 23, 2008
My "go-to" mom gets a blog
Brenda is the mom I go to for my Mom Information. Everything from what preschool to sign up for, to what to eat for breakfast, Brenda's got it down. She's also really organized and therefore I am in awe of her.
She's one of my only mom friends who can still talk me into doing a tequila shot.
Posted by jana at 9:30 PM
June 22, 2008
The park
I think this picture may just adequately capture how much my little girl loves swinging at the park. In fact I sometimes try to find parks without swings so she'll branch out a bit.
It was fun to watch Karsten push his sister on the swing.
Posted by jana at 10:51 PM
June 20, 2008
looking out for sis
This morning my son went beyond the basic "please" and "thank yous" with his manners. I witnessed an outright gentleman in him that made me proud.
He was watching a Ben 10 episode on my computer that he must have already seen because I heard him say to Britta, "cover your eyes, Britta!" She complied, and a few seconds later he said, "you can look now." It must have been something he thought was going to be a bit scary for her.
Another incident of chivalry:
A few years back I took both kids to the doctor for their yearly checkups. Karsten went first for his immunizations. He screamed. He hollered. He said he couldn't walk after the shots were injected in his legs. Then he realized it was Britta's turn and he yelled at the nurse, "don't you hurt my sister!"
Britta always seems to be the caretaker in the family, but it is good to know I am also raising quite the little gentleman. I like to see him looking out for his sister.
Posted by jana at 1:14 PM
June 18, 2008
Birthday Cocktail
8 drops of cipro into the eyes
4 puffs of Nasonex into the nose
1 antibiotic pill
8 teaspoons Robitussin DM
Sucrets and Riccola to taste
(over the course of the day)
Mix with friends and family calling/emailing/facebooking/dropping off goodies....
= not such a bad birthday!
Thanks everyone! By the weekend I should not be contagious even!
Posted by jana at 1:06 PM | Comments (1)
June 17, 2008
37 happy little things
37 ideas for my 37th year. My theme this year is Little Things.
36 was over run with me trying to do too many Big Things and as good as doing Big Things sounds, I realized it is the Little Things that matter the most to me and my family in keeping us all happy. (Perhaps this is because I am married to a man who plans to Rule the Mobile World. One of us should Think Small.)
In order to keep myself on track or side tracked from those beckoning Big Things I have made a list of things to do this year. I'm also trying to keep the list fun because afterall, it is my birthday. You won't be seeing any "clean the garage" type goals on this list (well, maybe just one of those.)
- Create an ABC photo book for Britta.
- Visit a museum.
- Visit an indie gallery.
- Hear some live music that does not include a mosh pit or start after 11pm. Shesh, I AM old.
- Learn how to use the manual settings on my Nikon D60.
- Print a photo image to canvas.
- Go to the zoo.
- Create another photo book using Blurb.com
- Camp on Orcas Island.
- Write a will. This is the only non-fun thing on my list but I think it is high time I get it done. I'm embarrassed to type that I have yet to do this.
- Cook with my kids
- Go on bike rides with my kids. This means I will have to find my bike and maybe even pound the rusty forks back together with a rock.
- Row the rowboat to the Cove for a picnic.
- Download the printer profile for Costco's photoprinter and calibrate my monitor.
- Do more post-editing to my photos.
- Finish the effing bag I started sewing when I was 36.
- Make 6 pillows in 7 days.
- Get my irrigation system fixed so I don't spend my summer watering my plants and then watching them die because I won't always remember to water them.
- Get an inspiration board
- Spend the night in a yurt, or Andy's office. Can't decide which would be more of an adventure.
- Order moo cards
- Crochet something more complicated than a scarf.
- Take my kids to a concert.
- Spend almost every morning at the pool this summer swimming and playing tennis (Karsten anyway).
- Find a creative community to meet up with a few times a year. This might just mean hijacking Becca and Shawna for projects when I can.
- See something at SIFF.
- Schedule more movie club meetings.
- Create a new signature summer meal. Any suggestions? I'll need a summer drink to go with the meal.
- Take the family to Portland.
- Help my kids have a lemonade stand.
- Pimp my basement. looky
- Drinks and dinner on the Pink Door or other summery deck with a-mazing food.
- See the tulips blooming.
- Read this book for 2008.
- Read a classic book to my kids.
- Have my son read to me every day.
- Make homemade pasta with my pasta maker.
If I can cross these off my list by 38 I will call it a good year. If anyone hears me talk smack of starting a text messaging service for creative inspiration, you have my permission to box my ears.
Posted by jana at 9:35 PM | Comments (4)
June 16, 2008
Happy belated father's day!
Karsten served Daddy breakfast that he made in bed. Andy would have liked to have slept a few hours longer but who could resist such a cutie pie?
The menu: gummy vitamins, coffee, raisin bread with peanut butter and jelly, and apple jacks cereal.
Britta made Andy a picture frame of herself that said, "I'm buggy about Daddy" and glued foam bugs on it.
Watching the kids get so excited about making things and presenting them to daddy was great.
Posted by jana at 5:59 PM
June 13, 2008
Because I know you guys care
1. I ordered Weeds Season 3 : disc 1 from Netflix. The blu-ray version showed up. Really it was my fault for switching my account preference (for research purposes) and then not switching it back because I do not have Blu-ray. I reported the disc "mislabeled" and sent it back to Netflix.
2. In the meantime I thought I would just watch the first episode on Amazon Unbox. Not so when the player kept crashing. I finally gave up and went to bed last night.
3. Yay, got a the new disc from Netflix today. It is Blu-ray again even though I changed my account settings. Grrr. This time I reported the disc "un-playable."
4. Tried Unbox again. Crashed again. Re-installed the player. Will see how that pans out.
5. Thinking I could watch it on iTunes... but oh yeah, I already allocated over 5 machines to my itunes. No go there.
6. Thought about watching some sort of network television from abc.com. Had to install a special player on top of their flash player. Why? Turns out there isn't anything I want to watch there anyway.
7. Oh yeah, I could watch something on the "watch instantly" on Netflix. It only works in IE on the PC. For some reason I can't "update" the player because something is set wrong but I can't figure out what.
This is ridiculous. I may flip on the tv. But probably not.
So far I think MTV is the only company that has gotten the streaming right. I can watch full episodes whenever I want with commercials.
Posted by jana at 8:57 PM
Farewell to Eva
In memory of Eva Carlstrom, Andy's aunt. She unexpectedly/expectedly passed away in her Ballard home this morning after battling pancreatic cancer for not quite a year.
She was a staunchy Norwegian woman who had a loom that took up the entry way of her living room, and knitting skills that no other can rival. We are proud owners of some of her heirloom pieces she knitted. She enjoyed her happy hour with her husband, and making amazing doll clothes for her granddaughters.
I'm happy she welcomed me into her family when I married Andy. We will miss her -- and her annual 17th of May parade parties.
(Oh great, now I'm all teary eyed.) Good bye Eva!
Posted by jana at 10:17 AM
June 8, 2008
Relaxation captured in pixels
Here are a few shots from our weekend in Hood Canal. I could not have asked for a better place for a photo shoot! This place had the cutest yard which was a pleasant surprise because their website didn't have any images of the yard. Of course just as Baby Kaj started turning on the charm my camera battery died. I am considering buying a back up battery because this is the second time I've had this happen to me.
As you can see I went a little Piknic happy. That tool is too addicting. Must stop editing my photos!
I am also going to need a polarizing filter if I'm going to continue taking photos in Seattle. At least I can try and fake some sun. If anyone else has any tips for making photos look sunny when you live in Seattle and it is obviously NOT sunny even though it is June, let me know.
More photos from our trip here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/janak/sets/72157605508829196/
Posted by jana at 10:00 PM | Comments (1)
June 5, 2008
The Big Picture - Boston.com
The Big Picture - Boston.com Great new "photo news" site from my former colleague, Alan Taylor. The site aims for quality images to tell lesser known news stories. Check it out.
Posted by jana at 1:51 PM
June 3, 2008
Final Notice
I was geared up to write a blow by blow report of my run in with the dog catcher but now I don't have it in me. Let's just say the F Bomb was dropped by both parties. Let's just say that I told her if she takes my dog in to the pound his death will be on her shoulders. She said she hopes my dog dies soon because she will take him in and his death will be all my fault.
Ok. That's it. No more memory trips down that scary lane.
My dog is safely passed out in his own bed.
On a happier note, Jerry Robinson, the publisher of the local paper ran a nice story on my dog last week. I did get outed for being the only person who hit my dog with a car. I won't link to that blog post because that is another memory I have no intention of re-living.
Before the story ran someone called to check on Lupe. Andy called the reporter back.
Andy: This is Lupe's dad.
Reporter: Lupe's dead? Ohhh, I'm sorry to hear that. Jerry was afraid that might happen before the story runs.
Andy: No, I'm Lupe's DAAAAAD. Lupe's still alive.
Lupe's safe from the pound and alive for one more day.
Posted by jana at 1:04 PM | Comments (3)
Bedazzeled
My kids aim to live glamorous lives.
Last night Karsten presented us with a concert with a song he made up on the fly. "I want to be a business company... like my dad." Andy was flattered. I was wondering why his song wasn't "I want to sell my soul to corporate America like my mom..." Truly that is the easiest path to chose in life.
Britta wants to wear sparkly clothes. She has a favorite sparkly shirt that is getting a bit too small but I am not ready to deal with the tears when we have to give it away. She got about four boxes of clothes from Naomi and many of the items had sparkles. Yay for new sparkly clothes. She wanted to wear a sleeveless sparkly shirt on this rainy day. I tried putting a long sleeved shirt underneath but according to her that was unacceptable. She even cried so we took it off so I put a cute little coat on over the top so she could stay warm.
Posted by jana at 11:00 AM
June 1, 2008
Karsten's birthday party Part 3
Laser tag is good.
I got creamed by the 10 year old kids who could bounce their lasers off of mirrors to shoot me. Daddy Andy (aka Ghost Freak) won Second Place for the first round. For the second round the 10 year olds developed better strategy than GF. Tom Rossman, ex-Army Ranger scared me. He really knew how to sniper the little kids.
The conclusion: Better than aerobics! And I saw another mom friend and her entire family who'd read my blog post before coming. She said, "we're peaceful people but we like laser tag."
Me too!
Posted by jana at 3:53 PM