7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

I think the kids and I are finally in our groove homework-wise.  I have given up my dream of having them immediately come home and sit down and complete all of their homework before doing anything else.  Maybe they will want to do that when they are older but now it's just not happening.

So now they come home and get a snack and do half of their homework.  And then they get to play with their friends for an hour or so.  When their friends leave, we finish the rest of the homework.  And on nights before tests, we do more studying whenever we can like right after dinner or in the bathtub or right before bed.  The kids seem to prefer this broken up approach and there is much less whining, crying and huffing so I guess we are all happier.

--- 2 ---

The kids are already asking me when we can get out "that Halloween recipe book" and make something fun. They are referring to a book I've had for about 5 years now.  They love looking through that book this time of year and picking out something creepy and fun for us to make.  I think we've made everything in that book that I'm willing or able to make so I was tooling around on Pinterest yesterday and found this:

I think we could easily make these ghosts and these eyeballs and I think they would be tasty!  We love chocolate and pretzels around here.  (I would love to give proper credit for this picture but the link on  Pinterest just says google.com.)

--- 3 ---

The kids wore their "winter" uniforms to school today since it was chilly this morning.  I took some pictures with my new camera and they look horrible.  I am still learning how to use it but jeez you think I could at least hold the camera still.

--- 4 ---

And speaking of uniforms, I think the kids have finally adjusted to wearing them.  There is very little complaining any more.  This morning Sarah said, "I like wearing my jumper. It makes me feel like a princess - a poor princess.  Because no rich princess would wear a dress in these colors." 

--- 5 ---

And speaking of my new camera, I am still trying to learn how to adjust it to take the best pictures.  I am learning about aperture and shutter speed and light, oh my!  I am just such a slow learner.  And when I have time to practice, the kids are at school so I end up taking a bunch of pictures of inanimate objects.  This for example:

--- 6 ---

And this...

--- 7 ---

And speaking of the camera once again, I think I need a different lens.  I got a 50mm to take close ups and portraits and my intention was to get a zoom when Sarah starts basketball in January so I can take action shots.  But we are taking the kids to the zoo next weekend and the 50mm just isn't going to cut it.  So I may be getting the zoom a little sooner than I planned.  Merry Early Christmas to me?

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