Miss Mischief strikes again. Ellie sometimes doesn't doesn't stay in her bed when she is put down for her naps. The other day she decided to reorganize (or de-organize) her room. Somehow she had gotten the step stool from the kitchen which allows her to get into things that are normally out of reach. She emptied a couple drawers in her room..
..into her fishtank!
I had never actually seen how much water two diapers can absorb. Trust me, it is a lot. Other things in the tank were:
So, maybe it wasn't a good idea to have a tank in her room. I figured something like this would happen sometime, I just didn't think she would get that much in there! We made her sit on a chair and watch while the tank was cleaned and some of her books and toys were thrown out. She then had to help pick up everything else that she had gotten out.
Somehow, the single guppy in the tank survived all this.
The clean up is still going on.. the next morning the fish food still in the gravel had made the tank very cloudy, so much so that it was hard to see if the fish was alive.
So, hopefully she has learned her lesson about messing with the fish tank. And I have learned to keep my big tank safely out of reach._____________________________________________
..into her fishtank!
I had never actually seen how much water two diapers can absorb. Trust me, it is a lot. Other things in the tank were:
- baby wipes
- lego blocks
- three socks
- stockings
- a car from the train set
- brush and comb
- two teething toys
- three small stuffed animals
- two books
- plastic shovel
- a bottle of Vicks oil for a humidifier
- the rest of the fish food
So, maybe it wasn't a good idea to have a tank in her room. I figured something like this would happen sometime, I just didn't think she would get that much in there! We made her sit on a chair and watch while the tank was cleaned and some of her books and toys were thrown out. She then had to help pick up everything else that she had gotten out.
Somehow, the single guppy in the tank survived all this.
The clean up is still going on.. the next morning the fish food still in the gravel had made the tank very cloudy, so much so that it was hard to see if the fish was alive.
So, hopefully she has learned her lesson about messing with the fish tank. And I have learned to keep my big tank safely out of reach.
Labels: Ellie
© Graeme MacKay
www.mackaycartoons.net
Labels: Climate Change, Funny
Photography is like any art form, the art is independent of the tools used, the art comes from the artist (see Your Camera Doesn't Matter). But a nice instrument sure makes it easier to get the results you want. Naomi has a nice violin that was given to her years ago, but if I pick it up it sounds terrible. She, however, can make beautiful music on it. But I digress..
Over the last 7 years that I have been doing photography my pictures and cameras that I use have improved. Here is a flashback to shutters of yore..
Pentax ME F
My first camera that I used for serious photography was a 1978 Pentax ME F. I dug it out of the closet back in 2000 and continued to use it for four years. This was a great camera for me to learn the technical side of photography on as everything was manual. No autofocus or easy exposure settings for this beginner. The camera was pretty basic with it's manual focus, manual aperture priority (you turned a ring on the lens to adjust the exposure to the desired exposure setting), confusing flash settings (a couple of sliders on the back of the flash that had to be set to match distance and ISO of your film), and hand winding of the film. With my main lens that I used you would have to adjust three rings on it: focus, zoom and aperture, meaning that quick action shots were difficult to get.
While it was good to learn on, it was, however, expensive to operate. I always knew that to press the shutter button was another 25 cents, so I didn't frivolously take pictures. I had to consider each shot more carefully back then, and always in the back of my mind was the questions: "Is it worth taking another shot of this? Will I be able to get a better picture? Probably not. One shot will have to do." This tended to keep me from experimenting much with my photography.
Using this camera was also an exercise in delayed gratification and disappointment. There were times when I could fill two rolls in a day, but most of the time I would only shoot one roll every week or two. Then it was a few days to get prints back, and I could never remember what my settings were that worked or didn't work for a picture. Back then, I used to be happy if I had one or two pictures out of a roll that I liked.
Dad used to have two of these cameras but one went missing during a family reunion years ago. He had set it down somewhere to join a game of baseball and then forgot about it when he went off to do something else. He realized it was missing once everyone else had left so we all went outside to look for it, but the search was in vain. It did turn up again several months later. One Fall morning after a particularly windy night that had blown off most of the leaves, I was eating breakfast by the window and looking out at the now naked trees.
"Hey dad, what is that black thing in the tree?"
"Oh no.. I think it is my camera..."
Cameras don't usually work well after four months in a tree.
Nikon D70
After using some point-and-shoot digital cameras I swore I would not go digital until I could get an SLR. But this was back in 2003-4 and the basic digital cameras were really limited and slow. Anyway, the Lord unexpectedly provided the funds for a new camera in spring 2004 and I purchased a Nikon D70. Finally, a modern camera, and a digital one at that! I was so excited that I hardly slept for two whole days. The sign of a serious geek.
I finally had a camera that would do some of the technical thinking for me and allow me to concentrate on the subject and composition .. Auto focus is way better than sliced bread. With a digital camera I could also experiment a lot more, take shots without worrying of the expense and see the results right away. I had to learn to use it fast because four days after I got it I had the first of many photo shoots for Word of Life promotional photography. Within 6 weeks I had taken my first 5000 photos on this camera and I could really see serious improvement in my photography skills.
Unfortunately, this was a very early production camera, one of the first off the line and it gave me some problems. Like when it died shortly after Ellie was born.. Imagine the predicament of an aspiring photographer being without a camera at such an important time! Out came the Pentax while the Nikon went into the shop to fix a problem most early versions had. After a few years it developed some other problems where it would randomly turn itself off repeatedly. This continued to get worse through the Fall of 2007 until we decided to replace it as it was sometimes almost unusable. Gone are the days when a good camera body will likely last 20+ years (unless you leave it in a tree, of course). But after 45,000+ photos, it has been a very good camera.
Nikon D300
Purchased in January, 2008, the Nikon D300 has been a joy to use. A much more professional and advanced camera than the D70, it has many new features that I have been using to improve my photography. I think I have taken some of my best pictures in the last few months with this camera. With its higher resolution, an image stabilization lens, greatly improved image noise reduction (great for shots of the night sky), auto ISO adjustments, etc etc, I have much more flexibility that has enabled me to get some shots I know I would have missed or not been happy with before. I have already used this camera quite a bit to do some stock photography for GoodSeed and had lots of fun using it outdoors capturing the beauty of nature or quirky moments with the kids.
You can check out some of my new shots that I have taken on the D300 at: www.troyandnaomi.com/photography/recent/_____________________________________________
Over the last 7 years that I have been doing photography my pictures and cameras that I use have improved. Here is a flashback to shutters of yore..
Pentax ME F
My first camera that I used for serious photography was a 1978 Pentax ME F. I dug it out of the closet back in 2000 and continued to use it for four years. This was a great camera for me to learn the technical side of photography on as everything was manual. No autofocus or easy exposure settings for this beginner. The camera was pretty basic with it's manual focus, manual aperture priority (you turned a ring on the lens to adjust the exposure to the desired exposure setting), confusing flash settings (a couple of sliders on the back of the flash that had to be set to match distance and ISO of your film), and hand winding of the film. With my main lens that I used you would have to adjust three rings on it: focus, zoom and aperture, meaning that quick action shots were difficult to get.
While it was good to learn on, it was, however, expensive to operate. I always knew that to press the shutter button was another 25 cents, so I didn't frivolously take pictures. I had to consider each shot more carefully back then, and always in the back of my mind was the questions: "Is it worth taking another shot of this? Will I be able to get a better picture? Probably not. One shot will have to do." This tended to keep me from experimenting much with my photography.
Using this camera was also an exercise in delayed gratification and disappointment. There were times when I could fill two rolls in a day, but most of the time I would only shoot one roll every week or two. Then it was a few days to get prints back, and I could never remember what my settings were that worked or didn't work for a picture. Back then, I used to be happy if I had one or two pictures out of a roll that I liked.
Dad used to have two of these cameras but one went missing during a family reunion years ago. He had set it down somewhere to join a game of baseball and then forgot about it when he went off to do something else. He realized it was missing once everyone else had left so we all went outside to look for it, but the search was in vain. It did turn up again several months later. One Fall morning after a particularly windy night that had blown off most of the leaves, I was eating breakfast by the window and looking out at the now naked trees.
"Hey dad, what is that black thing in the tree?"
"Oh no.. I think it is my camera..."
Cameras don't usually work well after four months in a tree.
Nikon D70
After using some point-and-shoot digital cameras I swore I would not go digital until I could get an SLR. But this was back in 2003-4 and the basic digital cameras were really limited and slow. Anyway, the Lord unexpectedly provided the funds for a new camera in spring 2004 and I purchased a Nikon D70. Finally, a modern camera, and a digital one at that! I was so excited that I hardly slept for two whole days. The sign of a serious geek.
I finally had a camera that would do some of the technical thinking for me and allow me to concentrate on the subject and composition .. Auto focus is way better than sliced bread. With a digital camera I could also experiment a lot more, take shots without worrying of the expense and see the results right away. I had to learn to use it fast because four days after I got it I had the first of many photo shoots for Word of Life promotional photography. Within 6 weeks I had taken my first 5000 photos on this camera and I could really see serious improvement in my photography skills.
Unfortunately, this was a very early production camera, one of the first off the line and it gave me some problems. Like when it died shortly after Ellie was born.. Imagine the predicament of an aspiring photographer being without a camera at such an important time! Out came the Pentax while the Nikon went into the shop to fix a problem most early versions had. After a few years it developed some other problems where it would randomly turn itself off repeatedly. This continued to get worse through the Fall of 2007 until we decided to replace it as it was sometimes almost unusable. Gone are the days when a good camera body will likely last 20+ years (unless you leave it in a tree, of course). But after 45,000+ photos, it has been a very good camera.
Nikon D300
Purchased in January, 2008, the Nikon D300 has been a joy to use. A much more professional and advanced camera than the D70, it has many new features that I have been using to improve my photography. I think I have taken some of my best pictures in the last few months with this camera. With its higher resolution, an image stabilization lens, greatly improved image noise reduction (great for shots of the night sky), auto ISO adjustments, etc etc, I have much more flexibility that has enabled me to get some shots I know I would have missed or not been happy with before. I have already used this camera quite a bit to do some stock photography for GoodSeed and had lots of fun using it outdoors capturing the beauty of nature or quirky moments with the kids.
You can check out some of my new shots that I have taken on the D300 at: www.troyandnaomi.com/photography/recent/
Labels: Photography
Naomi left me home with the girls one Saturday.. so I was at Ellie's mercy when she asked to put on her "pretty dress". So she pranced about the house all morning, including the potty training sessions. It was too much for this photography junkie to resist.
She will never forgive me when she is older..
One of the big bribes was that if she did a poopie (sorry for the cutsie parent code words) she would get to have one of her favorite things.. french fries at McD's. Soo... A few days later..
Big Moments in Life is brought to you by Parents of Young Kids Inc. and the letter B._____________________________________________
She will never forgive me when she is older..
One of the big bribes was that if she did a poopie (sorry for the cutsie parent code words) she would get to have one of her favorite things.. french fries at McD's. Soo... A few days later..
Big Moments in Life is brought to you by Parents of Young Kids Inc. and the letter B.
Labels: Ellie
Last week our little Ellie turned three years old. As with most parents, we are amazed at how quickly her third birthday has come and how much our little baby is growing up. Three years of giving us something to laugh about, to wonder about as she learns more each day, to be amazed as she puts ideas together, to take joy in this little gift from God.
Unfortunately our family was still recovering from the flu on Ellie's birthday, so the party was a rather quiet event. That doesn't mean that Ellie wasn't spoiled by many toys however.. She fully understands what birthdays are about. For days we were asking her about the special day coming up. She would answer that it was going to be her birthday. When asked about what happens on birthdays she would respond with an enthusiastic "Presents!"
We let Ellie open one present earlier in the day to keep her occupied as she was still feeling a bit sick. She got to open a Thomas the Train set, which has been her constant companion ever since.. Yes, my daughter still loves trains and tractors. Thomas is currently the favorite show to watch and now the favorite toy. Thankfully she received two trains, so when I get her up in the morning or come home from work she tells me I can come play with Duck the train while she plays with Thomas. If it wasn't for Duck, I would have to sit idly by and watch her play.
After supper we had some birthday cupcakes and opened the rest of the presents.
Despite some of us still feeling the ill effects of the flu, we had a good day with Ellie. We are so thankful to God for the past three years with her and look forward to getting to know this little girl more in the years to come.
We have a few more photos of the big day up at: www.flickr.com/photos/johnstonekids/_____________________________________________
Unfortunately our family was still recovering from the flu on Ellie's birthday, so the party was a rather quiet event. That doesn't mean that Ellie wasn't spoiled by many toys however.. She fully understands what birthdays are about. For days we were asking her about the special day coming up. She would answer that it was going to be her birthday. When asked about what happens on birthdays she would respond with an enthusiastic "Presents!"
We let Ellie open one present earlier in the day to keep her occupied as she was still feeling a bit sick. She got to open a Thomas the Train set, which has been her constant companion ever since.. Yes, my daughter still loves trains and tractors. Thomas is currently the favorite show to watch and now the favorite toy. Thankfully she received two trains, so when I get her up in the morning or come home from work she tells me I can come play with Duck the train while she plays with Thomas. If it wasn't for Duck, I would have to sit idly by and watch her play.
After supper we had some birthday cupcakes and opened the rest of the presents.
Despite some of us still feeling the ill effects of the flu, we had a good day with Ellie. We are so thankful to God for the past three years with her and look forward to getting to know this little girl more in the years to come.
We have a few more photos of the big day up at: www.flickr.com/photos/johnstonekids/
Labels: Ellie
It's amazing how good you feel when you're miserable, when you were just recently really miserable.
I have had a rather miserable week, physically at least. Last Tuesday I started to have a slight cough, which overnight turned into a high fever and headache that lasted for another six days. Ellie came down with it too after a few days so we went to the walk-in clinic to see a doctor. She didn't think it was anything serious, but 5:00AM Sunday morning Ellie's temperature was 40C (105F) and she was diagnosed with strep throat at the emergency ward. I went in later and was diagnosed too. Adelaine came down with it later that day and we are all now on penicillin. Now I am just dealing with a cold that I picked up as a result of not getting much sleep for a week.. but that feels much better relative to how I was a few days ago. Very thankful to be feeling better and see the girls doing better too.
In other news, we have changed our housing plans in the last few days. We had made arrangements for an apartment here in town and were to take possession of it this week. It was going to be a small, middle apartment in a complex without a yard for the kids. However, the Lord has provided a much better solution for us. A local family has made us a generous offer to use an old house of theirs. This is still a temporary solution for up to two years that will give us more time to save up and look for our own house. This will also give the girls an opportunity to have a yard to play in outside and some horses to watch! So with this change we now plan to move in June. The Lord continues to provide for and watch over us.
Ellie's third birthday is tomorrow, March 12. We had planned to have a big shared birthday with friends whose son is also turning three this week, but the sickness in our household forced us to cancel that. So instead we will just have a small family party. We are so thankful for our two wonderful daughters!_____________________________________________
I have had a rather miserable week, physically at least. Last Tuesday I started to have a slight cough, which overnight turned into a high fever and headache that lasted for another six days. Ellie came down with it too after a few days so we went to the walk-in clinic to see a doctor. She didn't think it was anything serious, but 5:00AM Sunday morning Ellie's temperature was 40C (105F) and she was diagnosed with strep throat at the emergency ward. I went in later and was diagnosed too. Adelaine came down with it later that day and we are all now on penicillin. Now I am just dealing with a cold that I picked up as a result of not getting much sleep for a week.. but that feels much better relative to how I was a few days ago. Very thankful to be feeling better and see the girls doing better too.
In other news, we have changed our housing plans in the last few days. We had made arrangements for an apartment here in town and were to take possession of it this week. It was going to be a small, middle apartment in a complex without a yard for the kids. However, the Lord has provided a much better solution for us. A local family has made us a generous offer to use an old house of theirs. This is still a temporary solution for up to two years that will give us more time to save up and look for our own house. This will also give the girls an opportunity to have a yard to play in outside and some horses to watch! So with this change we now plan to move in June. The Lord continues to provide for and watch over us.
Ellie's third birthday is tomorrow, March 12. We had planned to have a big shared birthday with friends whose son is also turning three this week, but the sickness in our household forced us to cancel that. So instead we will just have a small family party. We are so thankful for our two wonderful daughters!
Labels: Ministry Update
Since I arrived in Alberta I have been waiting for the opportunity to photograph the Aurora Borealis. I have been wanting to try and photograph them for years, but we are still a few years from solar max, so the night sky has been pretty quiet.
I had signed up for auroral activity email alerts to let me know when they may be visible and it paid off. Friday night at about 11:00 PM I checked my email and saw the possibility of aurora so I checked some space weather sites (Canadian Space Weather www.spaceweather.gc.ca/forecastmap_e.php and www.spaceweather.com) and saw that the sky show was on!
(the auroral activity ring that night)
I quickly packed up my tripod, camera, some warm clothes and headed off to a friends farm. I knew he was a poor shot so I would be safe walking around behind his house. I spent a couple hours out getting pictures from different locations. That time of night it is very quiet except for the distant howling of the coyotes.
Usually I was taking 30 second exposures and the camera would do a noise reduction for another 30 seconds. So I had a lot of very quiet minutes to just watch and contemplate God's beautiful creation and thank him for the opportunity to witness it.
After awhile the auroral display started to calm down to just a dim green glow so I packed it in and was home around 2:30 AM. Late night, but definitely worth staying out.
___________
This reminded me of a time years ago when a co-worker of mine wanted me to inform her any time I saw the Northern Lights. One night I saw them so I headed out to some fields to watch the display. I called her up on the old style bag cell phone that I had in the car. It was a rather unreliable phone, but I was able to call her and let her know that the Northern Lights were visible. She had to stay home that night with the kids so she wasn't able to go out and see them. Jocelyn asked me to describe what I was seeing for her. I informed her that the aurora had calmed down a bit and was now just a green glow. After chatting for a bit I said "Oh wait, here come some features!" meaning that there was some interesting features and movement appearing in the sky. Unfortunately, the phone died.
More unfortunately, Jocelyn thought I had said "Oh wait, here come some creatures!" -- and then the line went dead. She had visions of something killing and eating me out on the marsh. She felt much better when I showed up alive and well the next day at work
If you would like to see more of that nights activity, go to my Northern Lights photography page.
Labels: astronomy, Photography
