I don’t buy annual flowers if I can help it; I really prefer perrenials that I can plant and forget.

My mom likes her showy annuals, and she gets a bunch of them every single year. These Sunset Lantanas are always pretty, and I love how they have multiple different colors in the same bloom.

Over the last couple of months, Dear Readers have been emailing me and asking how I got the photos that I did.

Let me first say that it takes a lot of trial and error.

At Erin Manning’s photography workshop in Chicago, I learned to stop using the Auto functions on my camera. Instead of using the Auto mode, I almost always use the Program mode now.

For this shot, I was shooting with the Macro setting. The pictures were not coming out with blurred backgrounds like I wanted, so Istepped back and zoomed in.

At that point, the whole picture was blurry.

I remembered something I learned from Nick Kelsh’s DVD, and that is to up the ISO setting in order to get crisper pictures. I set it up to 400.

And I got this beauty with her buds in the background.

My love it.

Happily submitted to PhotoHunt (the theme this week is orange)

© 2009 – 2011, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

Sometimes, I sit down to write my Works for me Wednesday post, and I think, “That’s too pedestrian to write about.” But usually, I write about it anyway, and I hope that it helps somebody. Or at least gives you a laugh. This is one of those posts.

Grace was exhausted tonight. She was so far beyond tired that she cried and whined that My not tiiiiiiiired! for most of a half hour.

She found reason after reason that she couldn’t go to bed. Story after story needed to be read. Songs needed to be sung. Rhymes needed to be recited.

She was exhausted.

I have my first cold of the school year, and I’m not feeling especially perky, either. I wanted nothing more than to take a nap on the couch while Joe put Grace to bed.

Not long after they got upstairs, I heard Mommy hold me! and then Not yooooooou! My want Mommy! The conversation quickly deteriorated, and I abandoned my nap on the couch for Grace’s rocking chair. I wasn’t thrilled.

Sitting in the quiet, Grace asked me to read a Miss Spider book to her. Squinting in the darkness, and thankful that the pages with words were white, I read the book. When I finished, she asked me to read it a second time.

“Grace, how about I tell you a story instead?”

She paused a long time (in which I hoped she’d fallen asleep), but then whispered, Yeah. Mommy tell me story.

The next long pause was mine. I wasn’t sure what to say. I’ve never told anyone a bedtime story before.

How Did I Tell Grace Bedtime Story?

I started with Grace’s favorite story opener.

Once upon a time,

And then I included Grace.

there was a little girl named Grace.

Then I added in all of the things that I love about my baby.

She was so kind and so smart and so beautiful that all of the people who knew her were smitten with love for her.

I paused, and apparently, I took too long.

Again? Grace whispered, patting my chest with her little hand. I had to start over, but I said the same thing. That bought me a little time to think of what would come next. It couldn’t be anything exciting or scary. I wanted her to go to sleep, nightmare free.

I don’t know why, but the Wonder Pets popped into my brain, and that led to remembering that Grace was the helper today at day care.

Grace was such a good helper that everyone called her Super Grace. Whenever an animal was in trouble, Super Grace would save it.

Next I threw in some wishful thinking.

Whenever toys needed to be put away, Super Grace did it. Whenever a mess needed to be cleaned up, Super Grace cleaned it. She even helped her Mommy and Daddy with the laundry.

She didn’t respond to that. I heard one of the cats meow in the hallway, and I knew where my story would go.

One day, Super Grace was picking up her toys when she heard a sound like this: meow! meow!

She looked in her bedroom, but she couldn’t find the sound. She looked in the bathroom, but she couldn’t find the sound.

I won’t make you read it, but I went through every room in our house, including the hallways, basement, porches, patio, and the closet that the furnace is in. Super Grace left no door unopened.  After every couple of rooms, Super Grace heard the noise again.

Super Grace was getting worried. She thought she wouldn’t be able to help the animal in trouble. She heard the noise again, meow! meow! and she remembered that there was one more place where she could look.

The garage!

Super Grace opened the door to the garage and she saw Sammy the cat sitting there. Somebody had shut him in the garage by mistake. He was so happy to see Super Grace that he kissed her and hugged her and said ‘Thank you, Super Grace! You saved me!’

I paused, waiting for Grace to say Again Mommy! but she didn’t. She was already asleep.

Happily submitted to Works for Me Wednesday

© 2009, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

I mentioned yesterday that I took pictures in my mom and dad’s yard while they played with Gracie.

While I gazed at the flowers and the bees sitting in them, my mom said, “Oh, hey! Did you see my caterpillars?”

I don’t know how I missed them. I was surprised to see three big, fat monarch caterpillars munching away on the leaves of a weed next to the house.

I was drawn to this one, in particular. He was eating a leaf, and I was amazed to see the leaf disappearing right before my eyes. I watched for several minutes, seeing every bite. He was methodical, eating carefully across the leaf like a typewriter.

I didn’t realize that caterpillars eat so quickly, but I guess they have a lot of food to ingest in their two-week life span.

Happily submitted to PhotoHunt (the theme this week is surprise)

© 2009 – 2011, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

I have been a photographing fool in the days since BlogHer.

This week was the very first week of school, and Grace and I stopped by to visit Grandma and Pappy a few times on the way home from school.

One day, while Grace was busy harassing playing with my parents, I snuck around the flower beds to take some pictures. It was the best kind of photo session – free props, simple camera, and my newly acquired skills yearning for a test.

When I saw these two flowers, hidden in the shade of a maple tree that I planted, I knew they would make great photos.

Like siblings vying for the attention of a parent, the two flowers try to ease each other out of the precious sunlight.

I love how the photos turned out.

I hope you like them, too.

Happily submitted to Things I Love Thursday, A Thousand Words Thursday, Show and Tell Friday,Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek, Frugal Friday, Beautiful Life Friday, Friday’s Foto Finish Fiesta, Finer Things Friday, and Hooked on Fridays

© 2009 – 2010, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

Before I was married, I had very large pictures of flowers adorning the walls in my living room. I had cut them out of a calendar and framed them.

I thought they were exquisite.

The only other photos in the living room were 8x10s of my cats, which I also found exquisite.

When I got married, the flower pictures gave up their wall space for wedding pictures. Not too long ago, many of the wedding pictures acquiesced to studio portraits of a gorgeous 2-year-old.

I don’t mind the change. I love my baby and my husband, and I enjoy looking at their beautiful faces on the wall.

But I sometimes miss my flowers.

Not long ago, my passion for photography was reignited after a long hibernation, and some flower pictures may end up back on the wall.

I am enrapt by these photos.

I’m not bragging. I’m in awe that they came out of my camera.

In a lot of ways, they don’t even look like what I saw at the garden. They’re so much more special, more artistic.

This photo is a flower on a purple glory bush. The flower was gorgeous in person, but I missed the buds. In the photo, you can see that the buds were soft and furry.That’s my mom in the background, resting on a bench. This is one of my favorite shots from the Gardens.

These are water lilies. They only open during the day time, and I haven’t seen many of them this summer.

Oddly enough, they were in the Butterfly House. I was supposed to be looking for butterflies, but I was struck by the simple beauty of these flowers.

Do you know what these are?

Many people guessed (correctly) on my Wordless Wednesday post that they were frog eggs. They are, as far as I know.

I was under the impression that frogs only laid eggs in the spring, so I was shocked to see frog eggs in Pennsylvania in August. Nonetheless, there they are.

Next to the frog who is probably about to eat them protecting them from harm.

This little pond was off of the path, way up the hill near some pine trees. It was beautiful, and the edges were littered with frogs. They reminded me of a little frog prince I got for Joe when we were first married.

I’m not sure I have any words for this photo. I just love it.

I love roses, and I especially love the orangey-red ones like this. Like the first photo above, I think this photo is much more beautiful than the real flower was. The real flower was pretty, but this one glows.

I’m not sure what I did with the flower photos that used to be on the wall, but I do know that these are going up where they used to be.

Happily submitted to Tell Me Thursday, Things I Love Thursday, A Thousand Words Thursday, Show and Tell Friday,Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek, Beautiful Life Friday, Friday’s Foto Finish Fiesta, Finer Things Friday, and Hooked on Fridays

© 2009 – 2010, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

Positive Parenting

I just posted a full review of the Positive Parenting course at Feels Like Home Recommends. You should jump over there and read it before going on.

The gist is this: Parenting a 2-year-old had me a bit frazzled. I felt inept, and I didn’t know how to manage her behavior. Of course, she was reacting to my uneasiness by behaving badly. The books I had on parenting and discipline didn’t quite fit, and I could spend all day reading without getting any real suggestions on what to do that didn’t involved spanking or time out (neither of which have worked for us). Enter Positive Parenting, via recommendation from my friend, Mariana.

I was (and continue to be) so excited about Positive Parenting that I asked Amy McCready, its founder, to present a webinar for my friends and Dear Readers.

The webinar will be held on Wednesday, August 26 from 9 to 10 pm ET, and it is free to you.

It’s all about the tools and the solutions, right? Amy is going to spend an hour talking with us about The Art of Consequences.

The Art of Consequences is a preview of one part of the Positive Parenting Breakthrough Course.

It’s not just for toddlers.

I am so glad that I found this program now, while Grace is still little. I’ve made lots of mistakes, but I’ve only been a parent for a short while.

I will be able to use the Positive Parenting ideas and methods for the next 17 or 18 years. If you’re the parent of an older child, tween or teen, you will still find a lot of value in The Art of Consequences.

Positive Parenting works with kids as old as 16 (and older!) because it arms parents with tools to manage their children’s behaviors without yelling, nagging, or punishments.

You will be doing yourself – and your kids – a favor by participating in The Art of Consequences.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be co-hosting this webinar with Amy McCready. I hope you’ll join us on August 26.

Read more or register at Positive Parenting Solutions

© 2009 – 2010, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

I was so excited to see this picture.

The flower was gorgeous, the buds were full of rich details, and my mom is in the background, resting on a bench. I love it.

These are water lilies. They only open during the day time, and I haven’t seen many of them this summer.

Do you know what these are?

Mah favorite

Come back on Thursday to read more about my pictures.

Happily submitted to Wordless Wednesday, 5 minutes for Mom, The Not-So-Blog Blog, Wordful Wednesday, Go Graham Go, Mom of 3 Girls, Newlyweds!, What’s that Smell?, Super Jenn, My Sippy Cup Runneth Over, Ordinary and Awesome,  A Daily Dose of Toni, and Moomette’s Magnificents

© 2009 – 2010, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

This past weekend, my sister’s dear friend from college came to Harrisburg for a visit. She wanted to see a few of our favorite local sights.

Not wanted to be left out, Gracie and I tagged along and did some sightseeing in our town.

I highly recommend it.

We spent Saturday in Hershey, where street signs (and some of the fountains!) are shaped like Hershey kisses.

It was hot and sticky. I wanted to jump into the fountain with Gracie, but I refrained.

I am a grown-up.

I am a grown-up.

But I was very hot and sticky.

I didn’t jump in. Because I am a grown up.

Despite the heat and humidity, we had a crazy fun time in Hershey.

Grace drove me around in a big green boat.

It’s like a big red car, only green and a boat.

But it was in the sun, and we gave up on the boat quickly.

Amanda carried Grace around the gardens because my back was sore.

But mostly Grace walked. She loves flowers as much as I do, which is a lot.

It was. So hot.

But we had such a nice day.

Happily submitted to Sightseeing Sunday and Your Life Your Blog

© 2009 – 2010, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

I have been trying forever to convince my point and shoot digital camera to take the kind of pictures that I want.

I love pictures where the subject is in focus and the background is soft and blurred. I think the subject stands out so much, and the whole picture has a professional feel to it.

I’ve been trying forever because I’ve never been successful.

Til yesterday.

At BlogHer, I attended a photography workshop with Erin Manning and learned some new tricks. At the Sara Lee Back to School Nutrition Summit, I visited with two professional photographers who let me in on their tricks. I picked up books on digital photography at both places.

Yesterday, a family friend was visiting, and we took her to the Hershey Gardens. It’s a beautiful, beautiful place, and it’s perfect for taking lots of pictures.

I tried the tricks I learned in Chicago, using the Program mode and adjusting the aperture and shutter speed, but I still didn’t get the result I wanted.

We went into the Butterfly House, where I took lots of shots in the Macro and Super Macro modes, all with my camera zoomed way out. (I have an Olympus Camedia with a 10x optical zoom.)

My pictures were perfect! The flowers and the butterflies were often nicely in focus with a softer, blurry background, like this:

I wondered what would happen if I used the same techniques (even the Macro and Super Macro settings) outside, with people. That worked, too.

With each success, I experimented more and got better and better shots. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share some of the stunning flower shots I got, but here, I want to show you the success I had with Gracie Anna.

It was hot yesterday, and Grace and I sat down in the shade while the rest of our group was looking at garden flowers.

Grace didn’t know I was taking her picture. If she had, she would have turned around and said No peekters, Momma!

I held my camera in my hand down low – on the ground, on the Macro setting. The flash was off, but I had the High Speed Shutter mode on. I watched Grace play in the perfectly manicured grass, and I talked to her and pointed neat things out with my other hand.

She’s sweaty and tired, but that’s my sweet baby, perfectly captured.

We just played. It wasn’t me taking pictures and Grace playing. I was playing with her and snapping pictures silently.

I love the expression on her face in this one, but her face isn’t as sharp as I’d like.

Of course, I wanted to show off a few of the photos I took yesterday, but I also wanted to encourage you to experiment with the settings on your camera. I had no idea that I’d get such nice shots just by moving further the camera away and zooming in and playing with the perspective.

Try it! And then, don’t forget to come back and tell me so I can see your pictures, too.

Happily submitted to PhotoHunters (the theme this week is low, just like my camera as I was taking these shots) and Mommy time monday

© 2009 – 2011, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

This story begins long before these babies were born.

This photo is my Gracie with her Birthday Buddy, Kostyn.

Kostyn’s mom, Robyn, and I “met” on an online bulletin board for women pregnant with their first child. We were due around the same time, and we went to the same college. What’s more, Robyn was a professional writer, a career I’d always wish I had pursued.

As the months went by, we and fourteen other women became dear friends. We’d never met in person, but we shared so much: morning sickness and health scares and ultrasound photos and complaints and both elation and anxiety about the changes imminent in our lives.

When our babies were born, we shared the tales of our deliveries and photos of our babies. We gushed together over each one, and we proclaimed babies born on the same day to be Birthday Buddies.

It’s not overstating to say that these sixteen or so women were my link to sanity. I was an overly anxious and abnormally sick pregnant woman and then an overly anxious new mom. It helped to know that there was another woman to cheer me up or share my struggles during those days.

A few of the women in our group live close enough to each other that they were able to meet and develop friendships in person. I met two of them when they visited Washington, DC over Thanksgiving weekend in 2007. It was wonderful to put faces and voices with the personalities I’d grown to love so much.

Unfortunately, no one lived close enough that we could visit more frequently.

Until Robyn and her family moved to my city.

I couldn’t have been happier to hear that they would be living close by. I think I even said something to that effect, which probably caused Robyn get an unlisted phone number in fear that I’d stalk her like a crazy person.

It took us a few months to get together, but we finally did. I can’t speak for Robyn, but I’m so glad we figured it out.

I adore Robyn and her boys, and I know that Gracie does, too.

It was after spending time with Robyn, Kostyn, and Evan that Gracie proclaimed I want a little sister.

She’s been proclaiming it most days since.

How could I blame her when Kostyn’s little brother so clearly adores her?

Happily submitted to Tell Me Thursday, Things I Love Thursday, A Thousand Words Thursday, Show and Tell Friday,Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek, Beautiful Life Friday, and Friday’s Foto Finish Fiesta

© 2009 – 2010, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.