Silhouettes

Stacy and I decided we better start on our assignment, since our last class is this week. We're supposed to take a silhouette as the sun goes down. We took Tracy out with us for our model.

Here's my picture.

Stacy decided to get a little creative by using some of the tricks Nicole taught us. I decided to experiment too. First, I had Tracy walk while the shutter was open. It was about a 8 second shutter speed.

Then I followed Stacy's example and zoomed in and out while the shutter was open. It was kind of fun. We got some funky pictures.

My Sister's Blog

After working all day, (yes on Saturday) I am very tired! I didn't have time to take my thyroid pill this morning, so that could be another reason. I went to bed at 7:00 p.m. and decided it was time to get up and get ready for bed. I decided I should do a quick blog post to try to keep up with the 30 day challenge. It's hard to come up with something everyday, especially when I'm tired. I saw that my sister Paulette finally updated her blog. She is new to the blogging world, and is just learning how blogs work. She is super talented! She is an excellent cook, seamstress, artist, etc. She makes her own bedspreads for each holiday and season. She works for an airline, so she gets to travel quite a bit. Paulette loves photography. It's fun to see the pictures she takes of the different places she visits and of her cute grandchildren. She is also excellent at turning her photos into slideshows and dvds. Check out her blog on the side, Behunin's Honeybunch. Since she is new to blogging, I helped her design her background and did the paper piecing at the top.

Black Friday

Another first! This is the first time in a long time that I have not gotten up early for the Black Friday sales. Jace asked where we were going to go and was very disappointed when I told him nowhere. Luckily he has a brother who loves the adventure of staying out all night for these sales. Cody took him to Walmart at about 1:30 and they stayed there all night. At least they got to stay inside and wander around. Walmart matched ads this year, so I took in an ad before I went to work and picked up something I wanted. Thanks Cody for letting me know they were doing that.

O Christmas Tree!

This is a first - at least in a very long time. Our Christmas tree is up!!! We usually don't get it up until right before Christmas, but today, Stacy and I headed out for the Thanksgiving Day sales and found this slim pre-lit tree. No more waiting for Tracy to put on the lights! Stacy and Jace did most of the work setting it up and Stacy decorated it! Oh, I have such wonderful kids!

Thanksgiving and Pies

Stephanie made her first pie today. Yea Stephanie! She said it was kind of hard getting the crust just right without tearing. I know what she means! I am the worst pie maker in the whole wide world! I have had more than my share of frustrating moments making pie crust every Thanksgiving for years! I always make lemon meringue pie too and that's even worse, trying to get the pie crust not to bubble after I finally get it into the pan! Anyway, I decided to save myself the trouble this year and bought some frozen Marie Callender's pies. I just love her lemon meringue pie! I know everyone associates Thanksgiving with pumpkin pie (I bought one of those too) but for me, it would not be Thanksgiving without lemon meringue!



This will be the first year that we will have Thanksgiving dinner at our house! We have always shared it with my family or Tracy's, but Tracy's parents are on a mission, and my parents are going to my brother's house. Marinda's going to work - she wants the time and a half, so it will just be Tracy, me, Stacy and Jace, plus Dallan and Kristin and maybe Cody, Stephanie and Brockton. They want to have their own Thanksgiving dinner at their house. It's always fun to have your own turkey and leftovers. Dallan hasn't been home for Thanksgiving for about 5 years, so that will be great.

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

New Ring Tone

I have a new ringtone! I love it!



Sleigh Ride has always been one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I love this version by Hilary Duff. Jace and Marinda helped me transfer it from my cd to my phone! Thanks kids!

It's one month until Christmas Eve!!! I better get shopping!

Happy Birthday Stacy!

My beautiful baby girl just turned 19! Where did the years go? I have enjoyed every minute of her life! I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to be her mom.

Here's my darling litte daughter on her third birthday. She didn't like cake back then, so I made her lemon pie. What did she choose this year? Frozen Lemon Dessert.

She has always been so compassionate. I remember the day she came home from fourth grade and told me that she had played with a boy at recess whom she had seen standing all alone. The school had just annexed in some of Syracuse and the little boy didn't know anyone. The next day, she saw another boy all alone and asked him if he'd like to play with the two of them. Those two boys became best of friends through the rest of elementary and I later heard from one of the mothers that they both had a crush on Stacy.

Stacy is my little sunflower girl. She has liked sunflowers since about the same time. I think they suit her. Maybe it's her freckles.

When I saw this sunflower down by our photography teacher's house, I had to take a picture of Stacy by it. Stacy didn't want her picture taken that day. Her brother had talked her into cutting her hair. She was a little worried about cutting it so short, but decided she wanted a change. I think she was getting used to it, but then her brother came over and told her he didn't like it short after all and that she should never cut it short again. So she kept telling me not to take her picture that day, that she looked stupid with short hair. I kept telling her that she is beautiful!

Happy Birthday, Stacy! I love you!!!

I have so enjoyed learning photography with her, even when she hogs her own camera! I love this picture that she took of me and thank her for lending me her coat.

The Verdict

I just got back from seeing Twilight. The verdict: Sorry to say it is not my new favorite chick flick. Give me Marcia Lynn McClure any day over Stephenie Meyer. Stacy liked the movie, but she agrees, Marcia's books are way better! It's too bad Hollywood hasn't discovered her.

Question about the movie: Did anyone picture the vampires that powdery white while they were reading the book? I thought they were supposed to blend in more.

I was talking to my sister and sister-in-law before I saw the movie. I wondered if it would pass all the box office records. Then my sister-in-law said that she though all the women would go see it with their friends, thus cutting out the male count. I hadn't thought about that, but I only saw a handful of men in the theater, including my honey.

When I bought the first couple of books, Tracy thought I was awful. He said Stacy and I should not be reading books about evil beings. Vampires are evil, period, they are of the devil. I reminded him that vampires are not real. When he asked me to put a "story" as he calls them on his ipod to listen to at work, I put on Twilight without telling him it was the "vampire" story. I asked him later how he liked it, he said it was okay so far. I said, "I thought you didn't like vampires." He said, "That's the vampire book, you tricked me?" Oh well, he listened to the rest of it and liked it okay. I haven't heard any vampire comments since then.

Twilight Mania

I thought I would change my blog background just for the weekend, to join in all those celebrating the release of Twilight. I have to admit that I didn't really love Twilight. It was okay. It might be because I listened to it sporadically while I was working. I hope I enjoy the movie more.

Brockton is 11 Months Old

Brockton came over for a little while this afternoon, and since he turned 11 months old last week, we decided we better take some pictures! It was starting to get dark so we had to use the flash and go off the manual mode. We tried to find a place light enough, as we walked we saw the neighbor's fun grove of trees, so we set him down on a rock in front. Hope that was okay.

Another reason we had to take his pictures is that we loved his cute little outfit!

He's walking!!! All over! He has the cutest shoes that squeek when he walks.

Watching the dogs in the backyard.

Jabbering and "barking" like the dogs.

It's Amazing the way the Lord Works

I was just reading Brittany's post and it reminded me of a story my sister Patty was telling the other day. One I heard before at her son's homecoming. Years ago, I introduced my sister to the book, James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. I had been reading The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease which I highly recommend to all mothers and grandmothers. Jim offers tips on reading aloud and then has a great list of books geared to different age levels. James and the Giant Peach was one of the books listed. I told Patty about the book and she read it to her children and they LOVED it.

Years later, Tyson went on his mission to California. He was teaching a family that was really receptive, except for the father. He would leave the room everytime the missionaries came over. One day, Tyson walked in the kitchen and found James and the Giant Peach sitting on the table. He picked it up exclaiming, "I love this book!" He told the family how it was one of his favorite books as a child. The little boy who was reading the book said it was one of his favorites too. The father realized these missionaries were real people and made a connection with Tyson. He started listening to the discussions and was baptised. All because I happened to mention a book to my sister years before. The Lord works in strange and mysterious ways.

My First Kiss and my Second

Okay, so I was going to write about my first kiss, but actually my first kiss (and my second, etc.) happened when I was in kindergarten. I know, I was boy crazy early on. I fell in love with Chris Riley. He was the cutest boy in my class. I don't remember the specifics, I just know that we used to kiss behind the filing cabinet in the classroom. At one of my first high school reunions, I found out a lot of the kids from that class remember doing the same thing. I wonder what our teacher thought. Chris eventually asked me to marry him and guess what I told him? I was actually a little more mature in kindergarten than I was when I was 14 I guess, because I remember my exact words, "No, I might find someone I like better when I grow up."

Okay, on to my second kiss (besides the second kiss with Chris.) This kiss is one I will remember all my life! You will never guess who this kiss was with! Eric! Can you believe it? My best friend didn't, which really hurt. We went to the Bay City Rollers concert - we had stayed in line all night (with my older brother as chaperone) to get front row tickets. We both had our favorites which we both knew we were going to marry someday. We both carried banners. Mine said "Mary Ann loves Eric." Nancy, my best friend, loved Derek at the time. Anyway, there were stupid roadies in front of the stage most of the night, but one time I saw a little break and rushed to the stage (not on the stage, just to the stage.) I reached up my hand, looking at Eric. He saw me and seemed to not really care. I said, "Please." He walked over, took my hand, then kind of twisted it around his as he bent down and kissed me on the lips! (I have to add that because when I told Stacy, she said, "What, on the cheek?") It was the perfect kiss! (Probably because he had lots of experience.) Nancy had rushed over to Woody and missed the whole thing! It was hard for me to get a drink of water from the drinking fountain afterwards, I didn't want to wash the kiss away.

The funny thing is, it wasn't too long after this that I decided I wasn't going to marry Eric after all. I think I realized that we were never going to formally meet and talk and get to know each other. But you know, I wouldn't trade that time of my life for anything! Nancy and I had a great friendship because of the Bay City Rollers. We talked about them, followed their lives, bought all the magazines, plastered our walls with pictures, watched them on the Midnight Special and just had a great time dreaming about our future life with them. I don't think I would have done any of those things if it hadn't been for Nancy. She knew how to be a fan and taught me well. She was such a fun friend. I remember laughing so hard one night at Nancy's house over some antic of Woody's that my sides ached. It was just a great time in my life, one that I'll always treasure.

It was such a great time, that I named my first son after the Bay City Rollers' lead singer, Les McKeown. Remember I told you I'd tell you the story of his name someday?

Life Doesn't Always Turn Out as Planned

Sometimes that's a good thing. If life had turned out the way I had planned it when I was 14, I would be married to this good looking guy right now:

Okay, I guess he's not THAT bad. He's just looking kind of old. After looking at Nick Lowe yesterday, I thought I'd do another blast back to the past and show the guy I was in love with and what he looks like now. Now let me tell you, I am totally serious when I say I knew that we were going to get married someday. I was going to convert him and life was going to be grand. (Remember I was 14.) In doing searches of him online, I have discovered he was not the nice boy-next-door type I thought he was back then. Who knows, maybe I could have changed him, maybe all would have been bliss, I'll never know, because it just wasn't meant to be. But honestly, I'm glad life didn't turn out how I wanted it to (where he was concerned.)

Here's a picture of the guy I fell in love with:

Here's my sweetie in action:

Cruel to be Kind

Stacy and I were listening to songs from her ipod while driving down to Orem yesterday. Cruel to be Kind came on. This song came out when I was in high school. I loved the tune. It seems my kids do too. Marinda claimed it was one of her favorite songs a little while ago. Funny, that some songs have become popular again. Awhile ago, I decided to look it up on YouTube. This is what I found:



Then I unfortunately found this. Watch at your own risk. It made me feel VERY old! And I hate it when the words and mouth don't match, but it was the best one I could find.



Boo hoo, I'm old. (But he's older.)

Lighting Lab

Oh well, I missed a day! I wanted to make sure my link was showing up as the free photo book as long as possible so everyone would get a chance to sign up for the book.

Stacy and I went down to Orem for our lighting demo/lab today. It was pretty fun. Here are a couple of pictures from the class. Nicole provided 4 models for the 101 class. Here is the first picture I took for the day:

And here is the last, the still life food photography for 102:

Stacy and I decided to stop at Thanksgiving Point on the way home. I've never been there and I wanted to see what it was like. We practiced taking a few pictures. Here's one of my favorites.

Free Photo Book!!!!!

I found this great deal on Daisy's blog.They mentioned it on the Oprah show. You can make a free photo book from Snapfish.com. This offer only lasts until Friday so go here and check it out! I just did it and this is what it said: A credit for one free 8" x 11" custom cover photo book has been added to your account. This credit will be automatically applied at Checkout. To take advantage of this offer, you must create and complete your book order by Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008 at 11:59 pm PT.

Check out the link here: http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20081029_tows_messyhouse/7


Have fun!!!

Edited to add: Kallie wrote to say that the deadline to complete the book has been extended to 11:59 p.m. PST Saturday, November 22, 2008. Thanks Kallie! I was worried how I was going to complete it by Sunday night.

Photography Class

Stacy and I LOVE our new photography class! Nicole Hill is the best teacher ever!!! She makes us take everything in manual mode with no flash allowed. We have learned so much! Too bad she's moving to San Francisco in January. Here are a few of my photos from this week.

Juxtaposition - living vs. dead

Rule of Thirds

Okay, so this wasn't for the class and I didn't take it, but I had to put in this picture of Brockton and me.

This picture was for the class. We were supposed to make a claymation, but Stacy and I didn't have the time or imagination, so I took a series of photos of Brockton walking with this little push toy. Brockton is walking more and more (and without the push toy). He can walk quite a ways now without falling. He's getting so big!

Sometimes Life Stinks!

Years ago we owned a Honda Accord. When we decided we were putting too much money into fixing it, we decided to sell it. We put a sign in it as it sat in our driveway. A few months later, a man knocked on the door and asked if he could buy it. We were thrilled. We told him all the problems it had and he said, no problem, he knew how to fix cars. This was about 6-7 years ago. Fast forward to now. I got a call from a collection agency today saying that Tracy and I owed them over $1,000 because the car had been towed and they traced the ownership back to us! We had gotten a letter from the towing company in July saying we needed to bring in the title and pay the towing charge to get the car back. We wrote them back a letter saying that we hadn't owned the car for some years, and to please check police reports and other states to find out who the real owners were. They never wrote back, so we thought it was taken care of. Then this phone call today. There is no way we could have claimed the car, we didn't have the title anymore, we don't even have a key. When I told the lady from the collection agency that we hadn't owned the car for years, she said, "That's what everyone says." I don't know if people are just saying that or if they are in the same situation we are. So, I'm warning the few people that actually read my blog, if you sell a car, call the dmv immediately and have them remove your name from the registration. Now, anyone know how I can raise over $1,000 in a hurry?

Stacy's Bike

Funny story...kind of sad though. Years ago, Stacy got a brand new bike for her birthday. Back then, we were really poor, so a brand new bike was a real treat. Stacy had the bike for only a week or two and it got stolen. I guess someone decided they needed a new bike for Christmas which was right around the corner. Stacy was heartbroken. We decided to have her sell Tony's Pizzas to earn a new one. She was very happy to have a new bike again. Yesterday, Stacy and I went to the park to take pictures for our new photography class. When we arrived, we saw this bike laying there. I said, "Look Stacy, it's your bike that got stolen years ago." Stacy took pictures of it, she even stood it up and took more pictures. I was half tempted to take it home with me, thinking, "Yay! We finally got her bike back." But how could we be sure it was her bike? We couldn't. I wouldn't want to be the one to make another little child cry by taking their bike. So of course, we left it there.

Today, we were showing our pictures to Tracy when he got home from work. We came to the bike pictures and said, "Look, Stacy's bike that got stolen." He asked if we had brought it home. I told him of course not, we didn't know for certain it was Stacy's bike. That was years ago. Then he told us that Stacy's second bike had been taken 2-3 weeks ago. He had gotten it down for Haeley to ride and it disappeared. We went back to the park, and it was still there. So we brought it home. Kind of sad that two bikes were stolen from Stacy, but kind of funny that here we were taking pictures of supposedly Stacy's stolen bike only to find out it really was Stacy's stolen bike.

Walking

Cody, Stephanie and Brockton came over today to visit. Brockton is taking more and more steps.

He also knows to turn around to go down the stairs. He was having a fun time going up and down the two little foyer stairs. And what do you think of his cute little jammies his Grandma Pam gave him. Aren't they the cutest?

Growing Up

I read somewhere that November is blogging month and that I should post an entry everyday. I've tried to do this since I read it.

Tonight, I am tending Brockton again. How I love to tend him. He is such a joy in my life. Stephanie and I were talking on the phone the other day, and I heard her gasp as he stood up in the middle of the floor. He did the same thing three times in a row tonight. He'd stand up, lose his balance, and try again. The third time he took a step before he fell. He is getting so big! He'll be walking pretty soon and gone will be the baby days as he becomes a toddler. While it will be fun and exciting, it will also be a little sad.

Last Public Post

I decided to post a couple of pictures from Cochran's that we took a couple of weeks ago as my last public post before going private. I love these two photos.

Stacy took this picture of a little girl up there. She was such a cutie and I love this photo of her!

And here's a photo of my sweetheart. I think he looks like such a stud in this picture. If you remember the photo of him and me on this same day in an earlier post, you were a witness to the magic of Photoshop! I shaved him in that earlier photo.

Remember, if you want to keep reading, to send me an e-mail at scatteralittlesunshine@yahoo.com

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

I've been shipping out poinsettias all day. Can you believe it? Who buys poinsettias this early?

My Little Piggy

Yesterday Brockton came over to visit. We always have so much fun playing. He likes to look at a peek-a-boo board book that I have and turn the page back and forth. The pig in the book has soft pink fur on his belly, and Brockton loves to touch that. Well, yesterday, I decided to oink (snort - whatever you call it) like a pig to teach him the sound. I was amazed when he started doing it too. I laughed and laughed. He is just too cute!

Hi, I'm Mary Ann and I'm a Digiholic!

I love digital scrapbooking products! And most of you know, I love sales! Put the two together and I'm a lost cause. And what's worse, where I used to ponder the uses of a kit as a scrapbook page, I am now caught thinking, "That would make a cute blog page!"

I'm Setting my Blog to Private

I'll be setting my blog to private in a couple of days. If you would like to be added to my reader list, just e-mail me at scatteralittlesunshine@yahoo.com. I would be happy to allow any family and friends in. If you are a friend of family or friends, just let me know who you know and I'll gladly add you. Stephanie is also setting her blog to private so if you want to sign up for hers (she said my family and friends are welcome), click her link on the side.

Cody's Family Pictures

Stephanie and I were chatting on Facebook about a month ago and decided it would be fun to take her family pictures at a pumpkin patch. That's when we decided to check out Cochran's. Stephanie used to work for them when she was in high school. We finally went last Wednesday. Here are some of my favorites. Stephanie has more on her blog if you want to check them out.

There was a little boy there watching us take pictures. Brockton was having a great time watching him. I asked the little boy to move a little closer to Stacy (so Brockton would be looking more towards the camera) but he wouldn't.

Halloween

I guess I should post a little about Halloween. The day started out really fun. Stacy and I decided to go to the Fashion Place Mall to have Dallan do makeovers. We invited Marinda and Stephanie and of course our cute little Brockton came along. The makeovers were really fun, then we stopped at a Halloween store so Stacy could buy a Dorothy costume since Dallan wanted everyone to dress up as the "Wicked" or "Wizard of Oz" theme. We stopped at Taco Bell and Starbucks on the way home as Marinda had some coupons for free drinks. Marinda got hot cider, Stephanie got hot chocolate and I got a strawberry frapaccino. We shared with Stacy. We were almost back home when Cody called Stephanie to tell her that their house had been broken into. Their big screen tv, Playstation 3, xbox, games, controllers and movies were all gone. Well, that kind of ruined the rest of the day! I felt guilty for inviting Stephanie to go to Salt Lake. Cody, Stephanie and Brockton came to our Trunk or Treat after spending an hour or two with the cops. Dallan came with Kristen and her family. Here's a picture of Brockton taken at Cochran's a couple of days before.

He's Edward from Twilight in case you can't guess. Isn't he a cute little vampire?

Here's cute little Jayden with her loot!

Stacy and Dallan as Dorothy and the Tin Man.

Mia, Jayden and Haley.

Tracy as the Wizard, Stacy, Chaz, Dallan and Kristen.

We got these pictures after the trunk or treat, that's why we didn't get Brockton's picture. We were too frazzled to think before and were running late trying to get everyone ready.

The Adventures of Uncle Allen

I always loved to hear my dad tell about the adventures of his older brother Allen. He was quite the dare devil. Here's a three of the stories in my dad's own words:

"Whenever we did things, Allen would go first, then dare the rest of us. On one occasion, we were playing in the hay loft. We hung a rope from the ceiling rafter and placed a loop in the end so that we could swing from one side to the other. Then one day, we decided to swing out and put our foot up and see how close our butts could come to the floor, each having a turn. Allen being the most daring chose to come as close as he could, and ended up a little too close. With long slivers pinning his pants to the cheeks of his butt, we made a trip to A.Z. Tanner [the doctor.] The slivers had to be cut out. Some were 6 inches long and a quarter inch wide."

"Then there was the time when I was about 10 or 12 years old, we threw hay out from the hay loft door down to the ground outside, until we had it about eight feet high. Allen jumped first, out of the loft onto the piled hay, as I watched. He hit the hay and this flipped him over [like a springboard] and into the corral which was filled with wet sloppy manure, 6-12 inches deep, landing face first. Allen got really upset that I wouldn't follow and I made an exit down the ladder holding my sides with laughter. Allen wanted me to have the same fun experience and told me to go back up and try it. Mum made him strip and wash in the watering trough."

"Then there was the time Allen and I were lighting fire crackers in which there was always a dud. I told Allen to pick one up and puff on it to see if he could get it going again. He did exactly that. He puffed it a couple of times and BOOM!!! We were both old enough to know better, but... His lips turned inside out and swelled up three times their normal size. Another good lesson learned the hard way."

My dad and Uncle Allen were best friends. I had to wipe away the tears as I watched my dad saying good bye to his brother Allen. I don't think I've ever seen my dad cry before. Uncle Allen will be truly missed.