I Can Do It Myself

Photoshop... My New Favorite Toy

I have been playing around with some of my pictures in photoshop, which I recently purchased.  I have been having a lot of fun, but man is it time consuming.  I sit down to tweak something just a little and look up an hour later and wonder where the time has gone.  Here is a sampling of what I did today (keep in mind I am still learning):

Before                                                                                         After

Grandpa, Grandma & First Swim

This past weekend, Joe's parents came over from Idaho.  It was so great to see them and spend time with them.  Unfortunately, we don't have a big enough house for them to stay with us, so they stayed at a hotel not far from our house... with a pool.  Not only did Grace get to visit with Grandma and Grandpa, she got to go swimming for the first time.

What has Grace Been up to Lately?

Getting into Mommy's underwear drawer...

Crawling all over the house (I now have a very good reason to make sure the floors are swept and clean)...

Pulling herself up onto anything she can reach...

...And being so stinkin' cute it makes my heart swell with happiness. 

I love being Grace's mommy!

It Breaks My Heart

This past week and a half I have been dealing with a teething child... Not fun by any means.  However teething soon turned into a full blown cold and I had my first experience as a mom dealing with a sick child.  First of all, it breaks my heart to see my little one not feeling well, and second, babies sure are messy which means snot everywhere. I am happy to say that last night she slept well for the first time since this all began; ten nights, but who's counting?  Today she seems to be feeling better.  Unfortunately those darn teeth still haven't poked through.  Hopefully we get a little break before starting that process again.

On a completely different note...
We have had a sugar ant problem for the past month or so.  We've found a few here and there and had the occasional pop can attacked if left on the floor.  However, it was nothing compared to what I had to deal with this Thursday.  I had no idea so many aunts could be in one house. Now before I show you, I think I need to explain things a little.  I don't normally leave food just sitting on the counter.  I am a very clean person.  I like things neat and tidy.  Wednesday night I wasn't feeling well (pretty sure it was the lack of sleep I've been getting, see story above) and I didn't have much of an appetite.  So I set my half finished hamburger on the counter intending to throw it away when I did the dishes later that night.  I unfortunately fell asleep on the couch and went to bed without touching the dishes, completely forgetting about my half eaten hamburger.  And this is what I woke up to:

This doesn't even show the huge trail of ants from the floor up to the counter.  There were HUNDREDS of them.  Needless to say I got the bug spray out and half a can later made sure I had KILLED THEM ALL!  This spray works great to kill those you can see but it is not getting rid of the problem.  I have been told to use Terro but was wondering if anyone else out there had a good solution to getting rid of sugar ants, FOREVER!

In a Box

I have always been into photography. Not professionally mind you, but I've taken some engagement and family photos for people, and even got some compliments about them. While I am no where near as good as I would like to be, I have come to realize that a lot of good picture taking has to do with your equipment (a good eye for what makes a good photo doesn't hurt either). So I have recently purchased this

a 55mm 1.8/f lense. Which should be great for taking portraits.

And this

So that I can edit all my wonderful pictures.

Now I just need an excuse to try them out. Anyone need some pictures taken?