Freddy!!

Tristan has been wanting a dog. I really couldn’t resist having a new furry friend in the house. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been checking out PetFinder hoping to spot the perfect dog for Tristan. Then I spotted him. A German Shepard mix, about 1 to 2 years old, that was already housebroken and even knew some tricks. Without further ado, here’s Freddy, the newest member of the Hooper clan!

Two runs, one day

Last weekend, I did something absolutely insane and did two races in one day. No really, I did. I started my morning by doing a 5k with inflatable obstacles. I set off with two of my friends and one of my friend's sisters. It was in a huge field near our local airport. The organization benefiting from proceeds collected from the race is the National Mill Dog Rescue. So, I got to hold this little cutie - a spokes-dog for the organization. As you can see, I was quite content holding him. :)

My friend and her sister pushed themselves and ran ahead, while my friend Melanie stuck with my slow butt and pushed me along the way. She didn't let me stop (other than the water station). She pushed me to run for short distances and then keep a brisk walking pace. The group was uneven and we got eaten up by bugs, but I got it done in 51 minutes. 

After the 5k, the kids and I headed for the Big Dog Brag where I signed us up for the family 2k. The Big Dog Brag is a mud run that took place at a local off road park. They have a family 2k, with kid friendly obstacles and a 5k for adults (13+) only. Despite being tired, I had a lot of fun watching the kids get muddy, push themselves to do all the obstacles (Melayna skipped one, but otherwise, she did great), and endure the nearly 1.5 mile trek. Tristan, I believe, made me the most proud. He's normally very frightened of heights. He got through each obstacle not once complaining about the height (some were pretty high climbs). On one obstacle, a tight rope walk of sorts, I could see the look of determination on his face to get through it. I could tell he was scared to fall, but he pushed through his fear and got all the way across. This was officially, Melayna's first mud run. She did really well despite getting scared with a few obstacles. She also wanted to sit on my lap for both mud slides, which I happily obliged. And both times, because I couldn't control myself going down, we turned 180 degrees and went into the muddy pool of water backwards! So much fun!

 I have so much more I want to do when it comes to my fitness goals. Exercise is my drug. It keeps me going. I feel so motivated and excited when I see results. I feel stronger and fitter than I have been in a long time. It is so easy to feel bad for myself, to feel so defeated after all I've been through. Some days I want to crawl under my covers and not come out at all. And these days come and go. But with exercise, those days don't come all too often. With my goals in mind, I want to get up and do something.

The next big adventure is the B Strong Ride in Boulder, Colorado. Twenty-four miles with 1,000 feet in elevation gain. This is going to be tough. I really need to get on my bike more. I may try to do a 5k in July, too. Just a small, short-term goal to keep me motivated. In September, I may sign up for a 10k. Beyond that...I'm not quite sure. I definitely want to do the Spartan Race and finish it. Thinking of signing up for the one in Phoenix in February. I'm hoping to make a long weekend trip out of the whole deal. Maybe see the Grand Canyon while I'm out there.

I have weight loss goals, which is slow going, but I really don't mind so much. I have to keep telling myself, that the scale isn't what matters. What matters is that I'm doing it. I'm staying active. I'm eating better than before. And that I feel better. The weight loss will come in time. This isn't going to happen overnight. For now, my plan is to continue what I'm doing and add more to it. I want to do some strength training by lifting weights. I need a lifting partner, though. Someone who has an idea of what he or she is doing. Maybe I should pay for some personal training sessions, too? A thought to revisit later.

Happy Birthday Bubba Man

Tristan turned 9 today! I can’t believe it. Another year and he’ll be a decade old. Our bubba man wanted to eat at HuHot for dinner.

After dinner, we went to our friends’ house where we surprised another friend for her birthday. My friend, Dani, shares the same birthday as Tristan! So, of course, we hung out, sung happy birthday, had dessert, and played some games.

We didn’t have a party because of the Disney trip, but he had a good birthday nonetheless.

What a busy summer....and now its over?

Oh my gosh!  What a busy, busy summer it has been.  After Jacey's birthday, I've been busy volunteering at events, trying to do homework, doing things with the family, working like crazy, and now running our Toastmasters club (I was elected president earlier this summer).  I was asked to help photograph a wedding (and I am still not done editing the pictures).  And, of course, we've been prepping for school, which began this week.

So, let's do a quick photo recap of our summer and I'll post on about something I am very excited to share!

Tristan lost his first tooth!

The girls get to throw a "first pitch" at a Sky Sox baseball game!

Scott takes the girls out for some target practice.

We went to Renaissance Festival!  (Yes, we dress up in garb.  And yes, that is a man being apprehended in the background).

 

I got a haircut!

That is a quick recap, in pictures, of a few things we've done this summer.  Now on to school...in the next post!

A new toy

I know it has been a while.  I guess I have some updating to do.  Oh well.  Such is life. 
We move forward and get on with our lives.

Anyway, one of the things I love to do is photography.  For the last two or three years, I've immersed myself in the world of DSLR's.  Before this time, I loved taking photos of my children, but envied the pictures that others would taking using their fancy, expensive cameras.  I wanted to do something like that.  I wanted to learn more about how to take good photographs. 

About three years ago, I spent part of our tax refund on a Craigslist purchase.  It was a older Canon Rebel model.  It was only 5 or 6 megapixels, but it came with two back-up batteries, a telephoto lens, and a few memory cards, which was good since it used flash and not SD. 

I poured over blogs and photography websites.  I learned what I could while enjoying the new range of photos I was able to take. 

Today, I have a Canon Rebel T3i.  I stuck to what I was already familiar with and what was capable of using my existing lens.  It still hurt in my pocket, but not too bad.  We purchased it after my son had a bit of an accident with my starter DSLR.  I don't think I'm too heartbroken to have gotten a new one.  I absolutely love it. 

Since getting the new camera, I purchase an inexpensive, fixed lens.  It is a 50mm lens.  I cannot believe the pictures I've been able to capture with this thing!

Anyway, fast forward to today.  I ordered a Light Scoop and SteadePod from Photojojo.com and they arrived today!  I haven't tested the SteadePod, but I have tested out the Light Scoop.  And boy, oh, boy, is it great!  I hate using my flash.  I avoid it at all costs. 

Here's an example of what I would do in a low light situation.  The following picture is set at f1.8, ISO 1600, shutter speed 1/80.  I only cropped the photo, so no editing.  

 This next picture was taken with the flash.  I believe my ISO was set at 800, f1.8, and shutter speed 1/200.

 

 Now, here's a picture with the Light Scoop. Same settings with just the flash alone.  This time, the Light Scoop took that flash and bounced it up to the ceiling for a more natural look.  I love it!

 

Photojojo also sends over a little stow-away in the package.  A little plastic dinosaur.  They encourage customers to take a picture of their stow-away and submit the photo with a caption.  

My son is on his way to being a paleontologist.  He loves dinosaurs.  He knows many of the obscure ones.  And he knows many facts about them.  So, we had to introduce the new little dinosaur to his gang of dinosaurs.  Here are some of my favorite shots.  

 I can't wait to try it out some more!

My little paleontologists

One really cool investment we've made was an annual membership to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.  We must have gone at least a dozen times since first joining last year. 

Additionally, Tristan has taken a keen interest in dinosaurs, and other animals (especially the reptilian sort).   I am not just talking about "I love dinosaurs" phase.  This kid has studied dinosaurs and watched numerous documentaries on various dinosaurs.  And he's only six!

He can tell you the three periods of the Mesozoic era.  He knows what therapods are and what traits they typically have.  He can name numerous species of dinosaurs and tell you that a Dimetrodon is not a dinosaur (not commonly known, by the way). 

So, I don't mind calling him my little paleontologists.  In fact, we like to encourage his current passion by purchasing books and looking up videos on the internet. 

During our last visiting to the museum, we visited the gift shop.  It is hard to leave empty handed with two kids.  However, when we spotted these dig/excavate a dinosaur "fossil" kits, we just had to get one.  Well, then Melayna wanted one, too.  So, we purchased a smaller version for her.

We headed home and quickly went to work.  It was messy.  It was dusty.  It was fun....for about fifteen minutes.  Then it was a lot of work.  And it was taking too long.  Of course, Mom and Dad had to step in and help them out.  Before we had to step in, I couldn't help but take a few pics while they were concentrated on their work.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any after pics because everything was so dusty and dirty.  I didn't want that to get into my camera lens.

Snow Day

This winter has been fairly mild compared to the past number of years.  We've had very little snow with little accumulations.  So, when it snowed this past weekend and didn't melt by noon, the kids and I took advantage of our sloped backyard for some sledding fun. 

I also took the time to do some photo editing in PSE 8.  I had fun playing around with various actions.

Angry Birds Birthday Party! Part 4

I can't believe this is taking me four posts!  Anyway, the kids had a blast with the games (covered in post 3) and the edible Angry Birds game (covered in post 2).  I don't think I have ever put so much effort into a birthday party before.

I didn't get any pictures of the food set up (I was just so busy working on everything that day).  But here was the line-up:

• Chicken Tenders (we were going to do Chicken Wings, but figured those would have been too messy)
• Boiled Eggs (I was going to deviled eggs, but glad I didn't.  The kids loved the eggs!)
• Pigs in a Blanket
• Bird Poop dip (recipe here) with graham crackers
• Bird Food (gummy worms and cheese puff balls)
• Veggie Tray 
• Bird Bath Punch (orange sherbet, Hawaiian punch, and ginger ale)

 For party favors, I used a few ideas I found online to create my own bags and favors:

• Solid colored bags using printable faces found online (printables found here)
• Golden Egg (plastic eggs on Oriental Trading Company)
• Filled with a few Angry Birds stickers (found sheets of them at Walmart and cut out individual birds and pigs to fit in the eggs)
• Scroll of Angry Birds cutouts (found here) with an egg shaped label with instructions
• To find the download link on the site linked above, just above the first picture is the following line: Download your very own Paper Angry Birds.  But Download is in a color that matches the background.  Hover your cursor over the blank spot where the word download should be and click.
• Good luck bird and pig made of pom poms, glass beads, wiggly eyes and felt
• Inspired by this blog
• Difference: I glue them on glass beads.  Years back I made good luck bugs for elementary students at a school I worked at.  By putting the glass bead on their bottoms, you can toss the bug any which way and they always landed on their "feet"  I took that concept and used it with the birds and pigs.

 

 Overall, Tristan's birthday was a success!  He was quite pleased with everything.