Update: Fall 2014 edition

Just a quick recap since I have been MIA almost six months.

*Kids are great. I officially have three (!) teenagers. My "baby" is full blown toddler. He is still really cute and we are quite certain he is a genius. ;)

*Football season is wrapping up. We are in week three of play-offs for my youth leaguers and we have about two weeks left for my high schooler. This was our first year with high school football and it has been a new and exciting experience.

*Photography is kind of on the back burner. I photographed my football players and really enjoy it. I just don't have the practice time I would like. At least two of my boys will be wrestling. I would love to photograph wrestling but I am limited by me gear at this time. If you are interesting in my sports work you can check it out HERE (youth football) and HERE** (HS football).

*The biggest change...WE MOVED. Ok, not as exciting as it sounds. We just moved to a new neighborhood about a block from our old home. BUT it is a big deal for me. We moved into a smaller home. This sounds insane because we have a larger-ish family. However, I really feel this is going t o help my stress level in so many ways. I was having such a hard time keeping up with housekeeping. My kids have chores and help out a lot. But the reality is that we are gone all the time. I leave at 7am and I am not really home again until 8-8:30pm. Saturdays are full of football games and cross country meets. I spend all day every Sunday cleaning, food prepping and doing laundry. I think a smaller home will help. So far, my theory has been right (but we are only 2 weeks in, stay tuned).

*I am still obsessed with nail polish. You can check out my nail art HERE. Please note, I use the word "art" lightly. Basically, I just have a lot of nail polish and know how to use stripping tape and a dotting tool.


**My albums are La Cueva vs. Atrisco Heritage, La Cueva vs. Cibola and La Cueva vs. Eldorado.

We're ready...

We're ready for some (spring) football.

We are not ready to be chasing a toddler all over the football field though...

Boys of Fall

I received a new lens for Christmas. Sadly, I have been working so much that I have not had much time to practice with it yet. I got in a quick 5 minute session with two of my boys they other day. I am bummed because the pictures are so grainy because I had to crank up the ISO due to my lighting conditions. Oh well.

But what I do like about these pictures is that it really captures my football loving boys. We always have a football every where we go. Quick trip to to the grocery store? Better bring the football. Running into Target for a few things? Better bring the football. I am not exaggerating at all.

Boys will be boys.

Radioactive

About 6 years ago my son begged us to play football. We were quite surprised as we are not really football fans. But he had some friends at school that played and he was interested. Evenutally we agreed and allowed him to play. In the end it was one of the best decisions ever. It was great for his self esteem, it keeps him in awesome shape (and away from the Xbox!), he is forced to have incredible time management skills and therefore has great grades. But one perk I did not expect was all the great friends I made along this journey. High school football will be a great experience but it was hard to say goodbye to this chapter.

The past two years were rough on our boys for various reasons. Last season ended 0-8 for them. And on a personal note, my son broke his arm during their 3 game. It was a rough season. But this season they came back fighting. The boys were in incredible shape and made it all the way to the semi-finals. It was a great experience for them and for us parents. I am so very proud of this incredible group of boys.

My life recently as told through my phone camera...

I am going to try this whole "My life recently as told through my phone camera..." every Monday but you know how that goes. I am going to try my hardest to keep up though.

This week...

Oh my lambs, this sweet face melts my heart

There were 4th of July festivities

Conor and I took a selfie

We went to pool party/team meeting (football starts in 2 weeks!!)

The husby and I had a late night Target run

The husby and I tried a new beer

There was trip to urgent care :( for sweet baby Conor (Ear infection, he is better-ish)

And that was my life this week in a nutshell.

Ch-ch-changes...

It was a big week. Monday was my daughter's 8th grade dance. Her first ever dance! She looked so beautiful. Tuesday night was her 8th grade promotion ceremony and now it is official...I am the mom of a high school. *gasp* How the heck did that happen? It kind of freaks me out to think she will be 18 in four years. That is CRAZY. I find myself feeling all panicky like, has her childhood been good enough? Have I been a good enough mom? How many happy memories can I cram in the next 4 years?! It is just so weird and surreal to have a high schooler.


I am so glad it is summer break. The school year stresses me out. I hate worrying about reading logs and permission slips and who has what due when. Ugh. I love the carefree summer days. I think the kids do too! ;) I am all about the carefree summer life.

The boys finished spring football last weekend. We are on a football break until July 22 when fall ball starts. My 11 year old and 8 year old both finished 3rd in their division so that was pretty exciting for them. I was ready for the break but I will be ready for the madness when it is time to start again.


Tomorrow marks the end of my formal training period at work. When I get to work tomorrow I have to take a big test. It is open book but I am still a bit freaked out. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. I CAN do this, right? Hopefully tomorrow I will be back posting a happy positive update for you all.

That is my life in nutshell these days.

Project 52-Week 17

Late again. I know.

Truthfully, I have taken literally hundreds of pictures the past couple of weeks. All my pictures stink lately. Part of the problem is that most of my practice is during my son's football games and sports photography is a whole other learning curve. It is tough. I am feeling extremely discouraged. I just deleted a couple hundred pictures. Ugh.

Week 17
This picture made me giggle though. If you look really closely you will notice the kid with the ball lost BOTH shoes during this particular play. Football is hardcore.

I received my beautiful new speedlite today. I cannot wait to try it out. I think I am going to try some portrait pictures of my daughter. Of course, first I need to read about it and learn how the heck to use it. Stay tuned for this week's Project 52. Hopefully it will be on time this week but I am not promising anything.

Project 52-Week 16

A little late, my bad.

I call this "artsy shot gone wrong." I thought it would be a cute idea to take a picture of the boy's shoes during the football game. My idea seemed so perfect in my head. The execution, not so much. Live and learn, right?

Project 52-Week 16

Project 52- Week 14 and 15

I may be behind on blogging but I am still using my camera on a regular basis. I am really a shutterbug these days and I love every minute. I feel like I am improving and I have a better understanding of my camera but maybe I just want to believe that. ha ha

A shot if my 11 year old during his football game last week (April 6).


I really proud of my pictures from this past weekend. The conditions were not the best (bright sunlight around noon) and the baby was not content to sit in the stroller while I took pictures so I was holding him most of the time (while taking pictures). But I really think these are my best sports picture so far. There is minimum editing, cropping only because too dumb to figure out my editing software yet. During the football games I shoot in manual 90% of the time but I switch over to sports move or a couple plays because I do not trust myself. This week was the first time I kept it in manual the entire time. I am pretty damn proud of the outcome.

My 8 year old during his game this weekend (April 13).




I am getting a speedlite for my birthday (a mere month away) and I cannot WAIT!!

Project 52-Week 12

Our spring football season started last week (and by "our" I mean my boy's football season) . Football season gives me a great excuse to practice with my camera. This was my attempt at something artsy. It would be great except it was freezing and windy and I was nursing a baby at the same time. Oh well, better luck next time.

I am bored

When my kids tell me they are bored I give them a "mom" response. I tell them that I have some chores they can do or "Boring people are bored." But I admit it, *I* am bored.

Football and Cross country ended in late October. Then my 12 year old broke his arm in September so he was not able to wrestle when football ended. My 11 and 8 year old choose not to wrestle or play basketball. My daughter was part of Cross Country and the cooking club, both activities ended in October. This fall I was going crazy trying to get all three boys to practice and my daughter to cross country meets 5-6 days a week with a newborn in tow. I was so READY for the break.

Here were are, on our sports break and I ready to start the madness again. The truth is that as much as I LOVE cheering the kids on...I like the adult interaction. When I was working full time I like the adult interaction outside of office talk. Once I was home with the baby it was nice to be out of the house nursing the baby in an outdoor folding chair rather than my couch. I like chatting with the other parents.

Many of my friends work or they are home schooling older kiddos. Funds dictate that I stay home most of the time so museums, shopping trips, coffee dates, are out of the question. I am feeling really isolated and incredibly lonely. I look forward to the kids getting home from school every day so I am not alone. Sad, I know.

Next week I am starting a running program with a friend (and by running I mean a combination of walking and slowly jogging). I have a brand new jogging stroller, new running shoes and 5 kids worth of baby fat. I have no excuses. Anyway, I hope that helps my funk.

And if not, well track and spring tackle begin in March. I always have that to look forward to.

Please feel free to remind me of the above comment when I start complaining about football 3 months from now.

Kid Casino

Tonight we attended an end of the season football banquet for my 7 year old. It was held at one of those establishments I like to refer to as a kid casino. A kid casino is one of those awful places with loud games, terrible food, and kids running around like animals (AKA Chuck.E.Cheese, Pistol Pete's Pizza, Itz, etc). Our kid casino is Itz. These places should be required to give each parent a mug of beer and an Xanax upon entry. Seriously.

My children of course love places like this. And really, why wouldn't they? They get unlimited refills of soda and dessert...mainly because I am too distracted from all the mayhem to keep track of how much they are eating and drinking. Then there all the games with those stupid tickets. And of course they can buy toys with all the tickets they earn. Never mind that they just blew a $20 game card to buy one bouncy ball. I am pretty sure we can get a whole bag of bouncy balls for 5 bucks at Target. Ugh.

The food is terrible but I choked it down because I was forced to spend $10 on a meal for myself therefore feel obligated to eat. My husband was too full to eat but you are forced to buy a buffet for everyone so I made him at least eat his weight in jello.

Tonight I was so excited to find out the kid casino serves coffee. I love coffee. Good coffee, bad coffee, I do not care. I would drink coffee all day instead of eat food. Let's be clear. I am ridiculously addicted to coffee. As I settled down to drink my coffee, I managed to knock it over...all over myself, my diaper bag, and the baby's blanket (the Aden and Anais blankets I splurged on). Awesome.

3 hours later we emerged $60 poorer. The kids hopped up on soda and dessert. Baby crying and over stimulated. Kids ecstatic with their $20 bouncy balls and fake vampire teeth. Mom and dad exhausted and looking for the nearest liquor store.

We get to do it again in 2 weeks at our 11 year old's end of the season football party.

*sigh*