Castle in the Clouds

I've been listening to Mur Lafferty , Scott Sigler , and JC Hutchins for the last couple of days. Episode 99 of I Should Be Writing 2.0 is a roundtable discussion of New Media. As some of the biggest names in the fiction podcasting world, Mur, Scott and JC's advice is worth keeping in mind for anyone interested in venturing out into the podcasting universe. I don't know that I'll ever podcast my novels. I might. I might not. I just don't know. That being said, if I do decide this is a worthwhile marketing ploy, I will make an effort to study what these three have done and what they're doing now. I really don't know much about Scott or JC. In fact, I have to admit I've never sampled any of JC's work and I've only listened to the first few chapters Scott's novel, Nocturnal , which I've very much enjoyed so far. Then there's Mur. She was the first fiction podcaster I stumbled across. I started listening to her podiobook, Playing For Ke...

This weekend we went trick-or-treat camping. I didn't get my camera out all that often except when it came time to get the kids dressed. Then I went a little crazy. I uploaded quite a few of the pictures to my Flickr Account (hint! Go there to see more adorable children in costume!). The highlight of my day was when my oldest decided to join in the festivities. Apparently, he's outgrowing Halloween, which I think is complete nonsense since I am still quite enamored with it myself. Free candy. Costumes. Come on! What's not to love? Still, he kept insisting that he didn't want to trick-or-treat. Since I refused to believe him, I packed a spare costume...just in case. Good thing! With about 15 minutes to spare, he changed his 10-year-old mind and decided get dressed. He wasn't thrilled with the mask, but at least he let me get a few good pictures before he tore it off and tried conning me into carrying it around the park.

So I get home last night to find my husband a little stressed out. Okay, a lot stressed out. The oldest child forgot to bring home half of his homework. Again. All of a sudden it's become standard practice to leave books and worksheets in his locker instead of stuffing them in his backpack. After dinner I offer to run up to the school to see if I can get into his locker to retrieve said homework. The first few doors I tried were locked, but eventually I found a way into the school. I explain to the only person I see what I'm there for and they let me wander through the hallways. Finally, I make my way to the Fifth Grade hall and locate his locker. Twirl the lock until the three digit code is accepted, lift on the little silver handle, and pull the locker door open. And see red. No wonder nothing is coming home. He couldn't find his homework or his textbooks if he wanted to! Papers, books, folders, and a sweatshirt litter the bottom of the locker. It's a good foot deep. ...

This weekend we took an hour or so to walk the new bike trail they put in near our house. I took my camera so I could experiment a bit more. You'll notice some of the pictures below are a bit on the blurry side...so much for shooting with an open aperature. Kids move too much! Not to mention the least bit of camera shake is noticeable as well. Maybe a tripod would have made a difference. Me & My Boys My Sister and Her Kids My Two Little Men Running the Dog

It seems to be a popular question, so I thought it'd make a decent blog entry. The youngest is doing stellar. I don't think he's brought home anything less than a 90% so far. Most of his work is actually nearer to the 100% mark. Of course, I haven't heard how the standardized tests are going - oh, how I hate those! The oldest is being diligent and showing very good character. He has homework Monday through Thursday by design. Most nights he averages 1 to 1 1/2 hours. This is a huge block of time when you consider we don't pick him up from the daycare until 5:30 and bedtime is at 9:00. By the time we eat dinner, get baths, and make sure the homework is done, he's left with about an hour to unwind. Even though the homework is time consuming, I'm grateful his teachers are so good about making sure the hubby and I are kept well informed of daily expectations. We get an e-mail every night outlining what he needs to complete before class the next day. Already thi...

I've decided I'd like to expand my photography skills and experience. This means I need willing models. So far I've got a couple of people who might be willing to let me practice on them. I'm excited but nervous. I want so badly to take amazing pictures and give them each something they like. Shoot #1: Mom wants me to take Christmas pictures of her three daughters. I'm very excited, but I also want a lovely background. I was thinking of taking them to a park or some other such setting where there's a lot of pines. The problem is that Fall has just arrived and these are supposed to be Christmas pictures. Any suggestions? Shoot #2: A senior. I think I'm okay on this one. She wants fall colors in her pictures, so I just need to wait for the trees to do their thing. Then its a matter of finding the right location. Now here's my real delimna: Where do I upload them so they can be printed to look like professional pictures? Rounded corners and im...

I read this article earlier today about the strain children can put on a marriage. It was an honest, open admission of spousal dissatisfaction. The author, a mother to 2 children with a "bun in the oven", comments on the fact that she and her husband's marriage has suffered due to their growing family. It hasn't broken, but there's definitely some tension between them. In the 13 plus years we've been married, ten of which we've been parents, the hubby and I have had tension. We've had arguments. We've chosen to not talk to each other, to make snide comments, or to otherwise make the other person miserable. The stress and worries of adulthood seem to be amplified by the presence of children. Yet, we've also been blessed with a very strong relationship that seems to have grown instead of growing stagnant. We're both pretty open people. If one of us is angry, there's really no way the other person can claim ignorance. Subtly isn...

Photoshopped to look Old Originally uploaded by Krheiser I've not perfected it yet, but I really like being able to take a sharp, colorful, modern photo and transforming it into something aged. I'm not sure what the official term is, but I like to call this photoshopped effect an antique wash. It's sepia, but it's not. You can see the hint of color seeping back into the photo. I've been playing with this effect for a couple of weeks now. I've taken a good half-dozen pictures of my newest little niece and modified them to somewhat resemble the picture showcased here. One problem...I can't seem to print them! My printer keeps putting a faint line through the photo almost as if the ink cartridges are running out, but when I send a full-color photo to the printer, it's beautiful. I'm frustrated but confident I can figure out a way to print the pictures. They're too cute not too!

I was in the basement, putting the puppy's kennel blanket into the dryer (he had vomited on it while we were at work yesterday), when I heard my hubby's angry voice through the floorboards above my head. Minutes earlier I had dragged myself out of bed and down the basement steps, leaving him and our five-month-old puppy in bed. Stuffing the blanket into the washing machine, I moved as quickly as my half-asleep body would allow. When I get upstairs and into our bedroom I was met with the most disgusting sight. The damn dog had taken a shit on our bed! On our bed, people! Okay. I can deal with this. Puppy spanked and taken outside before being unceremoniously deposited into his kennel. Toilet paper used to pick up and dispose of the puppy feces. Sheets, blankets and pillows stripped off the bed. Dump first load into the Washing Machine. All before my morning shower. This is not the way you want to start your day. Really. It's not.

Your child calls you sick from school and you tell him it's too early in the school year for him to take a sick day. Yes, I did. I'm not heartless, really. It's just that he's back on his meds now and we know there's a readjustment period when upset stomachs aren't all that unusual. Last time it took his system nearly three weeks to adjust to the early morning dosages. We learned then that toughing it out is sometimes the only viable alternative. Otherwise, the child ends up with too many absences. But what do you do when he calls a second time and tells you lunch didn't help and he almost hurled in the boys' bathroom? You send his father after him. What choice do you have?

With the kids back in school, life is adjusting to backpack checks and homework schedules. Even if the boys fail to bring home any homework, they're discovering mom and dad can always find something for them to do. For the last few nights we've had a scheduled reading time. Each boy is given a book and a set number of pages or chapters to read. Once they're done reading, they are then required to write about what they just read. I know! Evil! My 10-year-old is using his blog. I took a few minutes yesterday and set it up to send out an e-mail to me, my hubby, and his grammy whenever he updates it. I'm hoping this will remind us to go post a comment or two of encouragement. Must remember to do this next! My 7-year-old is stuck with pencil and paper. Strangely, he has the better punctuation, grammar, and spelling even though there's no computer to aid him. Not that we don't have run-on sentences and misspelled words. We do. They're just not as numerous as his o...

Silly Girl in a Raincoat Originally uploaded by Krheiser I know you can't see any faces, but sometimes it just doesn't matter. While we were walking to the beach in 88-degree weather, my niece felt the need to wear her rainjacket. I love the glimpse of her holding her mom's hand, as well as the contrast of their clothing choices.

Waiting for the Bus Originally uploaded by Krheiser Yesterday was the boys' first day of the new school year. The morning went fairly well, which means we didn't miss the bus! When we stopped at the end of the driveway I told the boys to hurry and get out of the car so I could get their first day of school photos. I managed to snap off a few shots just before the bus stopped at the neighbor's place. Don't they look less than enthusiastic?

The last three-day weekend of the year was spent at a nearby campground. So nearby that we could run home and grab whatever hadn't been packed into the camper. I know I ran back to grab the puppy's chain, baseball gloves that had been left in the backyard, and a few other odd items we just couldn't live without. At the campground itself we had football, ice cream, swimming, and campfires. We only took the kids to the pond on Saturday, though, because none of us moms were all that impressed with the beach. It was nasty on the toes, if you know what I mean. Slimy. Of course, that didn't stop the kids from having a blast. When the kids weren't swimming, they were either riding their bikes or playing touch football with their dads. I don't know how the dads could stand the heat, but they managed. The only problem being that my hubby thinks he broke his toe -- open-toed sandals are not condusive to football, not even two-handed touch football! Of course, camping is...