Tongue Tied

Hi, mom! (Waves enthusiastically.)

I just realized I never posted my favorite photos of 2011. There were a lot. I don't know if I can pick one favorite from all of these. One thing I noticed as I sifted through my photos is that I can see that I'm progressing in my understanding of my camera. That's always good. After almost two years with my DSLR, I'm finally shooting on full manual. I have to edit a lot less because I know what settings I like. Focus is still tricky. You'd think it would be simple, but getting what I want sharply in focus is probably the hardest thing to do, especially with kids that move constantly. I should probably use auto focus when I'm shooting the kids (sounds violent), but I never think to switch it. I still feel like I shoot more by eye and am far less technical than I'd like to be. I don't think I could explain in detail what I'm doing. But who cares? I'm having fun. Also, I noticed I take a lot of rain-on-the-window shots. I can't help myself. Any

So, about Thing One. Maybe you other moms can relate to this. You feel like you are going stark raving mad. Your child is constantly pushing your buttons, testing the limits. After awhile, you feel the tension growing, the behaviors getting worse. Suddenly, you've had it up to here (hold hand way above head) with said child. You begin to wonder how much boarding schools cost. You prepare yourself for a child facing a life of crime. You pour out your emotions on your blog. And then the next day, *POOF*, said child is an angel. And has been that way for over a week. I mentioned this to my mom and she said she remembered going through that with us. She'd be at her wits end and then suddenly, it's like we'd reset and be perfectly good little children. I think part of Thing One's issues stem from change. He's never been a big fan of change, and in the last six months, we've had a lot of strange around here. New job for Seth, new hours, new bedroom for the boys on

Homegirl's morning look. Learning the Presidents. Afternoon PBS. Thing Two counting and writing numbers. Finally, some snow. Thing One feeding Homegirl. Kinda messy. Supper. This is probably why she's awake now at 11:00 p.m. Friday night awesomeness.