The Bonnie 5

3 funnies for friday

2012-02-16T20:04:00.003-06:00

It's been awhile since I did a 10 on Tuesday, or even a 5 on Friday... but I think I could manage a 3 on Friday. Sound good?

1. OK, let's dive in. If you follow me on Instagram you've already heard this story, but it's a pretty good one so I thought I'd share it here too. My mom's birthday was last weekend so I had the kids make cards. Here's an iPhone shot of Collin's card. Not quite what I had envisioned.

2. On Tuesday morning I had a yucky mom moment. I had just watched an episode of Hoarders which prompted me to rip every shelf out of my refrigerator and scrub it top to bottom. Thirty minutes later I was puzzled to find that I couldn't get the shelves back in right. Livia overhead me calling the refrigerator stupid (very mature, Karli) and informed me that if I ever said stupid again, Jesus was going to eat me.

Yum.

3. Nothing to say here, right? This is just plain old funny.

If you're a member of the color correction/skin tone police then perhaps this black and white is more to your liking.

That's all from here! Hope everyone has a great weekend! xo

tumblr catch-up

2012-02-10T13:12:00.001-06:00

Hi friends! If you've peeked in on TT's tumblr blog, you've already seen most of these pictures. I hope I'm not making things more complicated for myself by posting photos of Livia on Tumblr and then duplicating them here. I just wanted the tumblr blog to be a little place to post photos as I take them without having to write anything. And a special little part of the blogosphere just for my sweet girl. :-)

But since this is our main family blog, I wanted to document them here too... so here goes!

Thanks for looking & have a great weekend! :-)

the calm after the storm

2012-02-04T21:36:00.002-06:00

Happy weekend everyone! If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen a photo I took earlier this week: bright blue skies, red flowers and a beautiful 68 degree day. Fast forward 4 days, and we have this...

A winter storm began raging on Friday night...but tonight things were peaceful.

(Remember how to get those starbursts when you take pictures of lights? Just use a small aperture like f/22).

Also, I got hit with a nasty bug earlier this week so I haven't been on the computer hardly at all. I just noticed a little flurry of new followers! Hello!! :-) It always makes my heart swell to see new faces. xoxo

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

tt on tumblr

2012-01-26T13:39:00.003-06:00

Ugh you guys! My brain is not working today. I've tried to write the first sentence to this post like 5 times now, and it's not happening. So let's just get to the point.

I started new blog on Tumblr.
It's for Livia.
It's called "the tiny tornado."
I was waiting until I got some fabulous pictures before I shared it with you.
That's not happening.
So I'm going to share it anyway.

Here's the link.

Pop over and check it out. I'll wait here.

See? Just a little photo here and there of our day. Notice I didn't say "daily photo" or anything crazy like that. But I hope to do a couple each week. This was going to be my 'thing' for 2012, but it was so fun seeing her cute little face pop up that I added some favorites from 2011.

I'll be posting most of the photos here as well, maybe in a monthly re-cap or something... so if you don't subscribe to the RSS feed, you won't be missing anything. I just thought it would be a fun little project for me and TT. When I show her the pictures, she squeals "OH MY GOSH!!! That's so CUUUUUTE!" We're still working on modesty.

Thanks for looking! xo

last week looked like this

2012-01-23T19:02:00.001-06:00

And also these things happened...

(Oh, the little squares above? My Printstagram poster arrived last week - YAY!)

Hope you all have a great week!
xoxo

black and light

2012-01-14T18:54:00.003-06:00

Just a little parking garage fun... :-)

the day it was 62 degrees in january and we went to the park

2012-01-10T21:14:00.004-06:00

beauty around me

2012-01-06T13:35:00.006-06:00

It's funny. I was going to ring in the new year with this totally poignant post (which now sounds bit absurd since I actually had to google the word poignant to see if it even meant what I thought it meant). As it turns out I don't have a poignant thought in my head and should just stick to being me. I was going to share my feelings and frustrations about living in a medium-sized Midwestern city, that quite honestly does little to fuel my photographic creativity. But then I was going to inspirationally turn it around and write about how if you really looked, you could find beauty anywhere. Take off the blinders, dig a little deeper, see things in a different light... peel the onion ...

So after much reflection, I've realized...

When it comes to photographic inspiration, this medium-sized Midwestern city STINKS!

Having no cool, urban architecture or bustling city streets to photograph (my passion, although you'd never know it) STINKS!

Having no city night lights to photograph STINKS!

Having a beautiful, 68 degree day in January and having nowhere to go except the local (dead) flower garden STINKS!!

(Oh, and happy new year by the way!) :-)

So now for your viewing pleasure, some wrinkled up old flowers about 4 months past their prime.

But first...not to be outdone by the wrinkly flowers, may I present...... some shriveled up berries. (Let's all try to contain ourselves).

I'm not sure why I'm even posting these pictures. At first I secretly kind of liked them, but after the love goggles came off, it turns out they're not really doing much for me after all.

Well, good thing I didn't go with my original 'beauty around me' theme. Perhaps beauty can't be found in a local flower garden in January.

Or maybe it can.

don't mind me...

2011-12-26T16:07:00.002-06:00

Just popping in to document a little conversation that occurred after gymnastics last week.

Me: Livia, who took Gianna's circle and elbowed her in the neck in gymnastics today?
TT: I don't know.
Me: You don't know? I think you did it.
TT: No I didn't.
Me: Yes, you did.
TT: No.
Me: Oh really? So who did?
TT: You.
Me: Me???
TT: Yes. You did. I saw you.

*sigh*

the thankful tree

2011-12-16T23:29:00.002-06:00

At last... our 2011 thankful tree is done! The five of us sat around the kitchen table last night and wrote on little cards all the things we were thankful for this year. We actually ran out of cards, we were grateful for so many things!

Some favorites from the evening:
Doron: "mom, my best friend" (that's me!)
Karli: "the best kids on the planet"
Collin: "an awesome God"
Drew: "our verses" (no the kids were not prompted, they're just good kids like that) :-)
Livia: "an alien with a hat on it"

See? Not prompted.

If my pictures are looking "off" lately, the color on my Mac is completely different than on my PC. The two monitors are sitting side by side on my desk, and I can't imagine what you all are seeing! On the Mac this photo is very dark and the table has brown tones, but on the PC it's really light, and the table has red tones. Frustration!

If you read my post yesterday about how I've been falling behind lately, that's the reason for this quick shot of the thankful tree. If you'd like to see our our 2010 tree, feel free to click on over. You can get a better idea of what it looks like, but with a different design. Have a wonderful weekend! :-)

the most important thing

2011-12-15T19:08:00.004-06:00

I've had a lot of failures recently.
Deciding to make a Christmas card using this collage with 81 pictures.
81 photos on a 5x7 card? Fail.

I decided to give myself a break this year and not send out cards.
But as the cards came rolling in...so did the guilt.
Now I’m having to address and send out photoless cards that I hate. Fail.

At first my disorganization was endearing.
Now it’s downright obnoxious.

I just started Christmas shopping for my kids yesterday.
I forgot to take Drew to his first day of basketball clinic.
I forgot a chiropractor appointment. Again.
I took Drew to a birthday party one week early.
I waited too long to order the super amazing fantabulous crystal ornaments from Pottery Barn, and now they’re sold out.
Failures #11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Our Advent calendar got started on December 6th...

Our Elf on a Shelf has forgotten to fly on several occasions...

...and we still haven’t done our Thankful Tree. Fail.

But... I’m trying not to let my kids feel my stress.
I have great kids. I have easy kids. They disappear together for hours playing. Their laughter rings through our house.

I remember a saying I heard last year:
“Act as if what you do matters. It does.”

I try to do that with my kids. Speak to them kindly even when my brain is overloaded. Listen when they're telling me something when all I need is quiet.

Do I always succeed?
*snorts Diet Coke out nose*
Of course not. I have yucky mom moments like everyone else.
But I try hard not to.

My kids are happy.

My kids are healthy.

We’re trying to raise them to love and serve God.

And isn’t that the most important thing?

any given tuesday (part 2)

2011-12-11T14:40:00.001-06:00

Hi friends! Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I wanted to share a few more pictures I took of Livia last Tuesday. If you'd like to see part 1, click here. Thanks for looking! ♥

friday: i'm thinkin'...

2011-12-08T23:54:00.002-06:00

...that my little girl makes the holidays magical.

More thoughts here:

thursday: i'm thinkin'...

2011-12-07T23:16:00.000-06:00

I'm linking up with some of my favorite bloggers today for "i'm thinkin'..."

It's been going on all week, but because disorganization is my strong suit I'm finally joining in today.

Here's what I'm thinking.

I'm thinking that oldest brother better start locking the door to his room.

Go see what these other gals are thinkin'... :-)

Happy Thursday!

any given tuesday (part 1)

2011-12-07T08:32:00.004-06:00

10 on tuesday (err, thursday)

2011-12-01T21:05:00.005-06:00

I don't usually do a pictureless post, but I've had these TT tidbits roaming around in my draft section for probably a month now. I need to just post it and be on my way. If you don't know the force that is my 2 year old, these tidbits might not be particularly funny to you, but trust me, if you could only be a fly on the wall... Plus, I'm really writing them down for me. I know they'll make me laugh all over again one day. :-)

Random TT tidbits:

1. How can you tell if a toddler has older brothers?
~~Example A:~~ Only example needed:
When Esther (the green scallion) from Veggie Tales appears on the screen and your toddler cries out: "Yook ma! It's Princess No-Arms!"

(reeeeally don't think she came up with that on her own)

2. TT loves California rolls. Does your toddler eat sushi too?

3. I wasn't able to take Collin out for a little photo session for his 10th birthday. TT head-butted him minutes before his party and busted his lip open.

4. I was less mad when Livia hugged me tight around the neck and called me her "special heart friend." ♥

5. Livia tells me no less than 50 times a day (literally), "I like you mom." One day I got an added bonus: "Mom. You have a nice face."

6. Livia is also picking up nicely on "tween speak." Last week she says to me: "Do me a solid and give me a hug."
(Yeah, I don't get it either).

7. Things that make you go hmmmmm: When your toddler comes up to you with a big smile and says, "I did NOT throw an orange oval into the toilet, mom." (I never figured this one out, but since she was so forthcoming I can be sure an orange oval was indeed thrown into the toilet).

8. A couple days ago, Livia couldn't get one of her games to work on my iPad. I hear "Come ON you lousy fang!!" Further evidence of older brothers.

9. Favorite TT comment of the week:
TT: "Mom. I like it here."
Me: "Where?"
TT: "In this house."

{melt}

10. Have you seen that holiday lego commecial? You know, total Hallmark moment. Children playing together, parents beaming in the background, little sister walks in and sweetly embraces a lego.... As I was getting a little misty-eyed, TT says with disgust, "Dude. You just kissed a lego."

And so it goes in the Bonnie household.

Happy Thursday! :-)

thankful for...

2011-11-23T16:44:00.004-06:00

...all of the above, and so much more. ♥

I used a free template found here, and took the high resolution version to a local print shop to have it made for our family as a Thanksgiving gift. It prints as a 12x12 image and I thought it was a fun look back at our year. I planned to take a picture of the finished product to show you, but I chickened out and I'm scared to take it out of the plastic! :-)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, friends! XOXO

'mac'ro monday

2011-11-20T21:00:00.002-06:00

Alrighty friends! The days of my computer locking up with every click of the mouse are (hopefully) finally over! My husband brought home a new friend this weekend (an iMac) and I'm almost in love! Almost...because it isn't totally up and running yet. We need some basic programs and we have to upgrade CS4 to CS5. (I didn't want to; you have to). Thank goodness Lightroom will transfer nicely with no upgrade/crossover issues.

Here are a couple quick shots of my new toy. :-)

I just realized I only took shots of the keyboard - duh! Well, we had a wild and crazy weekend...and putting up all four Christmas trees was just one of the many things on our list. :-) We totally re-did our family Christmas tree (if you remember last year, I said I had one year to change it from Hallmark to Pottery Barn), and each of the kids have their own trees for their rooms. One is cute and sparkly, one is stylish and cool, and one is gaudy and tack-tastic! My kids read my blog, so I will not clarify further. *wink*

Happy Monday all! :-)

more from the old market

2011-11-17T08:34:00.002-06:00

party of three: 46/52 (the vision/the reality)

2011-11-15T19:05:00.010-06:00

For this edition of party of three, I thought it would be fun to play a little game called The Vision/The Reality so you could witness a little behind-the-scenes action during a typical Bonnie 5 photo shoot. Fun, right? :-)

First up, the vision:

The reality.

The vision:

The reality. (distraction by squirrel)

The vision:

The reality:

The vision:

The reality:

The vision:

The reality: (brothers are yummy)

Is it just me, or is the reality more interesting than the vision? ;-) A few more pictures from our evening, in no particular order:

Yes, you've already seen this one. I love it that much.

I had so many more pictures to share, but the fact is I've got a ton going on this week and my computer is crashing. Like really crashing. My screen has gone completely black several times today. (eek)

Also, can I just tell you...the comments you guys left yesterday on my inspire me post truly warmed my heart! Thank you to every single person that took the time to encourage me, and I will be around soon to visit you too! ♥ I'm a little slow because of my computer that doesn't want to cooperate and keeps locking up, but thank you so VERY much! If you haven't had a chance to read yesterday's post, be sure to click over because in it I shared the style of photography that truly inspires me (and it might not be what you think!) Thanks for looking! :-)

inspire me

2011-11-14T12:39:00.002-06:00

If you've followed my blog for awhile, you might remember me saying the style of photography I do is not the style I love. I feel like my last few posts have been mediocre snapshots of my kids, and I've felt the creativity draining from my body.

The photos in this post inspire me. It's a bit of a departure from my regular clean, clear style... so if you don't like them, please don't tell me as I am extremely sensitive and will turn into a pile of sniffling goo.

These shots speak to me. They inspire me. The make me want to get out there and take a million more.

They have a feel, a mood, a quality that reminds me of why I fell in love with photography in the first place.

When I take shots of my kids, it feels like something I have to mentally prepare for. And I'm so afraid the session will be a failure.
These shots are effortless. They come naturally.

Just the world as I see it; me alone with my camera. It's pure enjoyment.
Not trying to make anyone smile or laugh or look natural.

While looking through these pictures, I realized I don't give myself enough time to go out and shoot just for me. From an hour in the Old Market, I have 256 pictures that are keepers. Most of the shots turned out exactly the way I envisioned them in my head. That's because I was doing what I love.

Not to worry friends (and mom), I'm not abandoning my clean style. :-) I'm not giving up trying to get better shots of my kids. This is something I need to do every once in awhile to keep the creative juices flowing. Photos just for me.

I couldn't decide on a realistic number of shots to share - LOL! and I didn't want to overwhelm you. More to come this week. Happy Monday! ♥

tt and the trike

2011-11-07T13:08:00.002-06:00

party of three: 44/52

2011-11-05T15:28:00.010-05:00

I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to take Collin, Drew and Motion Blur out to the backyard just minutes before going trick-or-treating last week. But that's how we roll (says my 10 year old)...so here are a few quick snapshots before the evening festivities.

I can't comment on the fact that Drew's head thing is inside out. My only responsibility was to dress the ladybug.

Three kids in the same shot? Shocking.

Are you ready for a blurry blooper? I certainly didn't get many shots of all three kids together due to machete swiping and bullying.

Oh wait! Before you go, here's a story that (if you know me) won't come as much of a surprise. On Monday the 24th Doron came home from work early, we got the kids all dressed up and headed to the annual Boo at the Zoo. We were amazed that on our way to the zoo, traffic was rather decent.

We were also amazed to find an empty parking lot. {gulp}

Gotta love my kids. Not one of them was phased in the least. In fact, the boys just laughed. :-) (Have they come to expect this behavior from me?) So we promised to take them to the actual opening night of Boo at the Zoo (Wednesday), and took them to the park on our way home.

Everytime I see this picture, I think "Shiiiing!"

We did a Boo at the Zoo re-do a couple nights later and the kids had a blast!

Happy Halloween! ♥ Hope you had a great one!

glimpses of october

2011-11-01T12:57:00.002-05:00

Well, it's that time again! Here's a little peek at our month of October. I'm a little short on words today; we just got back from a 3-day getaway in KC and I have 134 emails patiently waiting in my inbox. ♥

And last night, Photoshop crashed on my computer and I lost everything. Everything. I had all my actions backed up except for one set, but it's just months of organizing and personalizing Photoshop the way I like it. Actions organized in certain 'favorite' folders (gone)...all my saved shortcuts (also gone), all my original actions that I worked so hard to create (gone - I never even thought to back those up).

I realized I don't even know how to flatten an image - LOL! Two years ago, I made flattening an image F4, and now all this time later, I only know it as F4! All those shortcuts were deleted, so I have to figure out everything again. Fun stuff!

Welp, onward and upward, right? :-) Here's a look at October.

Oh! Did you see the pictures of my sweet TT at the library last week? If you haven't visited my Instagrid in awhile, feel free to check it out. Be sure to click on the 1st picture in the 3rd row; Livia in a shopping cart looking up at Collin. {melt!!}

Hope your week is off to a great start!

sniffles and hats

2011-10-25T19:44:00.002-05:00

TT was a little under the weather today, so we were goofing around in her room this morning trying on hats. She agreed to model one for you.

That's all I got! Happy Tuesday! :-)