Photography Workshop with Camille

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending a photography workshop by Camille Garrison. I have to admit that I've been using my SLR camera for almost two years and there was A LOT about it that I didn't understand how to use properly! But thanks to Camille, I now feel a lot more confident with my manual setting and I hope to never move it back to auto...

Here's Camille taking our group photo at the end of the class. On top of all she does, she is expecting her second baby as well!

Camille did an amazing job of explaining how the aperture, ISO, shutter speed and white balance work together and how to identify what you need to adjust in any given situation to create the best photo possible. We did some practice exercises and then went to a nearby park with some gorgeous models to put our new skills to the test. Here's some of my best ones:

 

(still working on getting rid of the blur...)





Talk about gorgeous people to photograph!
Camille teaches her classes twice a year here in Ogden and I HIGHLY recommend going to one. It will give you a great foundation to build upon, even if your only aspiration is to take great photos of your kids at home (like me).  So then I had to practice on my own little models...  





This picture makes me laugh so hard! She was holding her flowers for me photograph when all of a sudden she saw a tiny spider in her hair. So she's cross-eyed, trying to get the spider out of her hair. So cute.













Love them.I have a ways to go, but I'm so excited to keep practicing.Thank you, Camille!

Toddler Activity for the Letter E

A few weeks ago we stayed up at my in-laws for a few days and were in need of a morning activity. It was time to study the letter "E," so we made a hopscotch filled with lower-case and upper-case "E's" as well as pictures of animals and objects that start with E.

The only materials we used were scissors, paper, and masking tape! We drew pictures of an elephant, an egg, and an eel.

The girls threw a ball onto one of the squares and hopped to that spot, saying the sound of the "E" out loud or naming the pictures for me.

It was fun, quick, and simple!

Toddler Activities for the Letter D

Since our baby was born, I've been keeping things pretty simple around here. We are trying to stick to our usual routine which involves our Letter of the Week activities. My girls usually look forward to it, which keeps me going! But like I said, I keep it simple and don't prepare things until the morning of. Here's an idea for the letter "D."

Dragon Egg Charades
Since we had already pulled out our Easter eggs, we put them to use in our lesson on the letter "D." We talked about the sound of "D" and read some books with "D" words, including one about a dragon egg. Then I sent them on a hunt.

My oldest had helped me fill about ten plastic eggs with a picture of a "D" word and a small treat. She even drew some of the pictures herself. Once all the eggs were hidden, the girls started their hunt. Whoever found an egg had to look at the picture and act it out for the rest of us to guess (my favorite was when Hazel acted out "Dad.")

After our Dragon Egg Charades, we ate dragon eyeballs (tapioca with blueberries) and dragon bogies (green jello we happened to make a few days ago) for snacks.

See, it isn't all princess crowns and dress-up around here after all! We dig dragons too.

Easter Festivities

We've been getting ready for Easter this week with these fun (and relatively simple) Easter activities:


Egg Families: We found this idea on Family Fun and my four year old followed their picture to the "T" while my three year old made up her own. I love these activities that are adaptable to various ages.

Materials:

hard-boiled eggs

markers

yarn

ribbon

toilet paper roll

We boiled our eggs and let them cool before drawing their faces on with markers.

We cut toilet paper holders into smaller sections and covered them in paper "dresses."
Hazel followed the picture on Family Fun to the "T" and made a bib, a dress with a ribbon, a bonnet and curly hair. I only helped a little with the hair. She's so crafty.

 

Easter Lilies: 

Also from Family Fun, this craft makes a cute gift for moms and grandmas on Easter Sunday.

 

Materials:

white card stock

pencil

green construction paper

yellow pipe cleaner

tape

green straw

hole punch

scissors

We're visiting family this week for Easter and didn't have straws or pipe cleaners on hand, so we used a paint brush for the stem and yellow construction paper for the stamen.

 Trace your child's hand on white card stock and cut it out. Roll the fingers with a pencil so they fold out like lily petals.

Wrap the hand around the straw (or paintbrush) and tape into place. Cut two double leaves out from the green paper and punch a hole in the center where they meet. Slide onto the straw under the flower and tape into place. Fold half of the pipe cleaner in half and curl the ends down, then place it into the end of the straw.

Isn't she adorable? Oh my goodness.

I hope you all have a lovely Easter weekend!We'll continue with more Letter of the Week and some nice SPRING activities next week.I can't wait for warmer weather.