Fix-it Friday!

Ahhhh! I love fridays! :o) This week I tried some new things... First off, I downloaded, edited and posted the pic without looking at what anyone else has done. Usually I browse before I edit but I wanted to see what I could come up with, without mooching ideas off of everyone else first! :o) This was such a lovely pic to work with, it seems like the possibilities for it are endless!

Here is the original:


I can't detail all the steps for my edits but on the first I did adjust hue/saturation as there was too much yellow in the pic for my taste..... I also Desaturated the bricks in the background and blurred them as I thought they were too distracting. I made a duplicate layer with soft lighting and did both a Gaussian blur and vignette on the outside perimeters. I thought this picture really benefited from the dreamy look of the Gaussian blur. :o)


Here is my first edit:


Then I tried for the hand tinted B&W look again. I use the gradient map layer and adjusted it to about 80% opacity, I then did a Level layer and adjusted that to suite my taste. I then further desaturated and blurred the bricks. I used the saturation tool to add color to the areas that I wanted and then burned the edges for the vignette look. I also did the Gaussian blur again because I like it so much! :o)

Here it is:


And then I decided to try something new and do an angled crop. I again desaturated and blurred the bricks, applied a vignette look to the edges and played with the hue/saturation.....

Here it is:
Next time I need to keep notes so I don't miss any steps when telling you what I did, but at least I was able to give you a vague idea this week! :o) My apologies if I've missed anything important!

For more great edits visit Iheartfaces :o)

Insecurities

We are starting our homeschooling year here pretty soon. I have not blogged about it because, quite frankly, I am rather insecure about it. I have never liked to be the odd one out, though I pretty much always am so should be used to it by now! After researching different theories/methods of homeschooling (my research started with THIS great article) and much prayer, I/we decided on an eclectic/CharlotteMason (CM) type method for our family. I got a WONDERFUL book called 'Educating the WholeHearted Child' by Clay and Sally Clarkson. I have found it to be very informative and it really addressed what I was wanting for our home school. I did not want to just bring public school home, I didn't want school to be a drudgery, and I wanted it to fit with who we are and how we live. I wanted it to be Christ centered and I did not want them getting mixed messages from their curriculum and what we teach them (e.g. creation versus evolution). I perused homeschooling forums and looked at tons of stuff online and I kept coming across 'My Father's World' curriculum. It takes a CM approach but has everything lined out for me. I am just not ready to do it all "from scratch" yet! :o) We are also doing ABeka math and I will add a couple extra activities as well.
I guess what makes me insecure about it is that, after much research and prayer, I came to this conclusion but none of the other HS families that I know have. Now, I will be the first to tell you, the beauty of homeschooling is that you can tailor it to your family and your kids as individuals, but it is still awkward to be alone in my convictions. Once again I see just how different our family is from those around us, don't get me wrong; differences can be good......... but sometimes it would be nice to find a family that was really like-minded in some of the areas that are so important to me. Somebody to compare notes and booklists, share ideas and exploration days, etc..... with. It would be fun for the kids to have other kids doing similar studies to theirs......... I think the longing for a friend and the insecurities of doing this alone are greater because of our current living situation. With less than 500sq ft for the 5 of us I can't set up our learning area the way I want. I struggle to do things if they are not set up "just so" before hand. If I don't have things lined up and in order I get fearful that, once again, I will fail. It seems as if having someone walking the same homeschooling path with me would lesson my chance of failure..... Silly, but that's how I see it........

Anyhow, depending on what my sweet hubby says about certain business paperwork that I have to do.... We will either start tomorrow or next Thurs. My kids CAN'T wait!!!

Another Fix-it-Friday!

This picture was more of a challenge than I thought it would be. I had a hard time getting most of the red out without ruining the over-all color of the pic. I tried some new methods and ended up liking my B&W best.

So, here is the Original entitled "No Limits":




And here is my B&W, I tried for a hand tinted look......

One of the things I love about IHEARTfaces is reading through and seeing what others have done.... I learn so much this way!!! One of these days I will get better at this and will be able to write down how I achieved the look that I end up with!

ETA: O.k, I realize this is a day late, but I couldn't leave this pic alone......... I decided to try a sepia filter on this pic. Just gives it a bit more warmth!


I may keep trying too! Since I have nothing better to do of course!!! lol!

editing

One of my new meds is making me feel rather icky and, as I don't feel up to much of anything and I can't my DVD player to play any of our movies with sound, >:o( I decided to edit some more pics from IHeartFaces. So here are 2 older pics that I edited this afternoon:

Original

Edit

The color on this looked much better before I uploaded.......... It was more vibrant, not so gray.


Original

Edit
Decided to try something new on this one. I've never done a border like this before and I tried several other new techniques as well......

An Answer

Way back here I was trying to figure out why I was blogging....... I finally have an answer, only it is not a simple one. There have been so many changes recently that I find myself floundering a bit, unsure of myself. When I started this blog it was a place for me to write out and work through this thing called life...... It was going to be primarily for my thoughts, opinions, values, cares, etc..... Basically, me. Along the way I decided to use it for family stuff, my dabblings into creativity, recipes, etc..... Recently I went through a loss of a long time friendship and through this I lost most of the confidence I had finally gained. I am by nature a timid, non-confrontational person and not prone to expressing my opinion if it is differs from the person I am talking too. My sweet husband has spent the last almost 9yrs trying to help me get over my inability to ever speak my mind. I had finally reached a point where I could express my opinions with those closest to me and be o.k. with the fact that we did not always agree. Anyhow, I find that I no longer feel like I can write posts that are anything but light, newsy, "safe" posts. I am trying to overcome this because sometimes I really want to share my thoughts with somebody......... Right now I would say that the reason I blog is no longer about sharing who I am, but is now about having a place to post my Fix-It-Friday pics and to give me something to think about that does not include wiping poopy bottoms, chasing wild children, or cleaning house! Crazy as it is I compose on average 3 posts a day in my head................ I won't ask you if this qualifies me for a stint at the funny farm, I think I already know your answer! ;o)

Fix-It Friday.......

Today's FIF is called "The Eyes Are The Window To The Soul". The little boy pictures has a skin condition and his Mom wanted tips for editing that.....

Here is the original:


Here is my full color (it is not as smooth as I would like.... just a bit too patchy):


Here is my black and white:O.k., so I was not happy with my first color edit so I played some more after the kids went to bed.... This one is still not perfect but it is MUCH better!




Check out IHeartFaces to see what edits others have done! It is so much fun........

A first.......

Today we went to do goats at our friends house.......... We milked the first 2 goats and everything was going just fine, except that their dog "Leche" wouldn't eat. When we milk the goats he comes into the 1/2 of the barn where we milk and we give him his food...... Anyhow, he was acting like there was something behind some tin leaning against the wall, that shouldn't be there. He seemed quite bothered so my DH decided to investigate....... He thought there was a raccoon or rat back there. What he as going to do if a mad raccoon had jumped out at him I don't know......... after we got home he, being the joker that he is, told me he would have knocked it in the teeth. I was incredulous, and asked him (while laughing at the thought) to be serious. He then told me that he would probably have messed his pants and run the other way! LOL!!! This response had the desired affect and I was left laughing hysterically at/with my crazy, funny man and unable to tease him farther with any questions. Honestly, that was NOT the answer I was expecting! Seriously though? He hadn't thought that far............ You know the saying "Curiosity killed the cat"? Well, let's just say I am glad we aren't cats! LOL! Anyhow, back to his exploration! He went of to the pile and carefully pulled back 1 piece at a time, he found nothing until the last piece and there, to his surprise, was this beautiful, fluffy, white thing that looked almost like a white flower on a black stem. He gazed for just a moment and then it sunk in...... He was looking at a SKUNK!!! Soon he was more than just looking.......... We had to evacuate the barn!!! We tried taking the remaining goat outside to milk but she wasn't too keen on the idea and all of the other adult goats broke out and we had to try and get 4 goats back into the smelly barn without letting the 3 babies out. In the fight to get the goats back into their odoriferous dwelling, Leche broke free and ran up to the house. Our friend then brought him back and could smell the unwanted to visitor long before he got to the barn. We managed to milk the last goat and get out of there in one piece, albeit 1 SMELLY piece! We laughed all the way home and then got in the shower. I am not sure the clothes will ever recover, though we didn't actually get sprayed directly! And I want to tell you something people............ Skunks REALLY do stink!!!! This was my first, and hopefully last, encounter with a skunk! There is nothing in the world quite like that lingering odor! So, as you go about your day, you can be thankful to be breathing fresh, clean, pure air - unpolluted by the naturally offensive odor of skunk. And yes, I am glad to have given you all something to be thankful for! lol! :o)

Funny, Silly Faces & Pets

I Heart Faces is having a challenge this week......... "Funny, Silly Faces" and "Pets". I figured that was a good excuse to blog! :o)

This is a pic of my nephew that cracks me up, I mean, LOOK at those LIPS!!! :o)




And this is our pet "Milo" chillin' :o) Isn't he cute!?!?!?!


ETA: "Milo" is our bunny......

Conversations with a 2 year old who doesn't talk :o)

My little boy is just over 2 and hardly speaks at all. This has caused me untold amounts of concern/frustration as both of his older sisters spoke very well, very early. I taught certain amounts of sign language to both of the girls but they hardly used it because they spoke so early. Thus I did not think it worth the time or effort to teach it to my boy........... Oh, the irony of it all, he is the one who needs it! We are both frustrated many times throughout the day at his inability to clearly communicate what he wants to. There are, however, certain things that he can and does communicate....... Currently his 2 favorite "conversations" are these:

#1 - Papa's Tractor

LM (little man, as I have not come up with any cute and clever bloggy names for us) : Pointing to himself -VRRROOOM (the noise he makes to talk about any and all motorized equipment and I am left to guess which piece of equip it is........ tractor, excavator, skidloader, etc......)
Me: Are you a tractor?
LM: Mmmhmmm
Me: Whose tractor are you?
LM: Papa's!
Me: Are you a BIG tractor or a little tractor?
LM: High pitched squeaky noises and shows me his fingers close together
Me: You are a little tractor?
LM: "Mmmhmm........ NO" Deep growly noises and arms spread are as far they can
Me: You are a BIG tractor?
LM: MMMMHMMM
Me: What color are you?
LM: BOO (Blue)

#2- His newest favorite is completely different...... NO MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT!!! :o) We, the entire family, are avid Beatrix Potter fans. I didn't realize how much attention he was paying until the other day when we played this (from The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse):
LM: Shaking head with fingers in mouth "TEED"
Me: I declare! Mr Jackson..... No teeth? No teeth!
LM:Still shaking head with fingers in mouth "TEED, No"
ME: Would you like some Thistledown? It's very soft...... (while holding out hand to him)
LM: PPBBBTTTT (blowing the thistledown)
Me: MR JACKSON!!! (very animatedly in mock horror)
LM: Laughs and Squeals...... :o)

The above conversations are repeated countless times a day......... and he expects me to know my lines! :o) He plays it with the girls too...... I just love to hear them quoting the books. I think they can quote more lines than I can!

Sweet Boy

Here is today's Fix-It Friday. It is called Sweet boy....... Now, if I could just figure out our to get the pictures larger............... Oh well, I guess you will kind of get the idea and that will have to be good enough. They just look so much nicer when they are bigger!

Here is the original:Here is my first "fix" - I reduced noise, adjusted the color saturation, can't remember what all else :oP Diffused glow maybe?

Here is the second "fix" - I reduced the noise, adjusted the hue and saturation, and ?..............

ETA: my latest attempt and, IMHO, my best yet........

Photoshoot

Earlier this week my cousin's wife invited me to go the park with her and their 2 kids (I can never get it straight in my head...... they are my second cousins? my first cousins once removed? I have had it explained but still can't ever remember so I will stick with my cousins cute kids! :o). I decided to take this opportunity and try my hand at taking pics of other peoples kids...... I definitely need to work on my confidence and my creativity. I did get a few good shots and thought I would post them and my PS versions.

Here is R: The original (isn't he a handsome guy!)



PS 1

PS2

Here is A ( she's just too cute!): The original

PS1


The original

PS1

PS2
I have been trying my hand at both intensifying color, black & white, and sepia....... I definitely have a ways to go but I am having fun! :o) So, which is your favorite?

Giveaway!

So, I posted recently about finding THIS website...... Today I went on and they have an AMAZING giveaway! I am totally drooling over that lens (o.k. don't panic, I didn't mean literally!). Having only VERY recently acquired a DSLR, I have never had need for lenses before, so have not used the Tamron brand. I have seen the name quite a bit and would have no problem giving it a try! :o)
However, as I never win anything, I am not holding my breath..... just dreaming! :o)

Frustrated

Today I am feeling like a whiner......... I went to my Drs appt yesterday to get my food sensitivity results, and lets just say I thought it was hard before! Before this visit we have been gluten free (wheat, rye, spelt, kamut, etc.....), casein (dairy) free, corn free, oat free, MSG free, spy free, and we try to avoid all artificial colors and flavors because my middle daughter seems to be sensitive to most things chemical. Way back when, we started off just gluten free because of the many health problems that my middle daughter had (chronic diarrhea, stomach aches, night terrors, poor eye contact, hyper, angry ALL of the time, poor social skills, etc...........) We noticed some improvement right away and noticed that oats (even GF oats) were a BIG problem. When we took out dairy we made HUGE leaps of improvement with her and then 1 by one we have found other things and you could meet her today and have no idea that she ever had so many issues. Now, as I have taken things out of our diet for her, I discovered that many of these foods were indeed problematic for me too, I could also tell that I had not found all of my "bad list" foods. Well, thanks to my amazing new Dr I have found them......... As I am still trying to wrap my mind around my "list" I will not post my new "bad" foods yet. Let's just say that we probably will never eat out or at anyone's home again......... Oh sorry, that was my whiner again. I am an emotional eater and I love food so this is rather a challenge, made worse by the fact that my food choices are going to be more expensive and that most everything will need to be made from scratch and carefully rotated so I don't create more sensitivities by eating 1 thing all of the time(read STRESS here). Not too big of a deal I suppose if I had energy (Dr's still working on that one) and a kitchen......... O.k. so I have a kitchen it just was designed for people who cook boxed foods - think MINUSCULE! I think my walk in closet in our last house was bigger than my kitchen here..... :oP Unfortunately my Dr can't help with that one! LOL!
Actually the 3 meals since my appt have gone fine..... and my SUPER AMAZING Mom said she wants to sit down with me and my list and help me plan meals. Talk about helpful! I think that if she will help me get the first week or two written down then it will seem less daunting. I do have to say though that it (Ahem, excuse my language here) totally sucks to have dietary restrictions in a society that revolves around food! BBQ's, potlucks, lunch meetings, etc..... Pretty much any and every occasion where people get together there is food, and it is not allergen free!

O.k. so enough of my whining! Hope you all are having a FABULOUS week!!! :o)

Fix-It Friday.......

So, I recently stumbled upon this site. They have a fun feature called Fix-it Friday. They give you a picture to download and then you fix it with whatever photo editing software you have. You can then link to their site and people can check out your editing. I find it fascinating and the stuff I am learning is sooooo fun! Anyhow, I realize that it is not Friday, though it probably doesn't matter because this is not even this Fridays pic, but here is one I downloaded and played with. I tried several new things on it and, in general, had way too much fun. I am getting faster too, which is a VERY good thing! ;o)
Here is the pic I downloaded, it is called Sad Little Guy:
And here is the edited version:
I only did one quick play/edit session because I have a lot to do today, but I was pleased with the results............