Shooting the Moon and a shout out to MCP blog

I'm kind of a newbie follower to the MCP action blog but have found it quite fun and interesting to visit the last couple of months. I was surprised to learn that there have already been 1000 posts to it! Crazy! Where have I been?

One post that I really enjoyed (along with the numerous tips posted on facebook) was how to "shoot the moon"!

http://www.mcpactions.com/blog/2011/03/21/super-moon-photography-how-to-shoot-the-moon/

I've NEVER taken pictures of the moon, or even really looked at and enjoyed the detail! It was so fun a couple of weeks ago just to sit outside (in the cold!) and enjoy the beauty of the moon. I think I got a couple of decent shots for a first timer too.

Normally I would shoot for all the "recommended" settings. However, I learned by using a tripod, underexposing, and using a greater depth of field, the end results were much better and showed some awesome detail!

Here's a link to one of my favorites that I captured on super moon night!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixbyleslie/5541706725/

A little vintage

Before (sooc)....

After...(with boost, vintage, and edge burn actions applied).

I'm sure i'm the LAST to know about these totally awesome things called actions. I've been checking out pioneer woman photography blog here and there and kept reading about actions. You take a photo, pick an action (or two or more), push play, and bingo...photo edits at the touch of a button. I just downloaded a few freebies yesterday when I discovered to my surprise that Matt had downloaded photoshop on my computer. I think these are going to be FUN!

Thou shalt not commit adultery

I got a new primary calling two weeks ago in church and we are learning about the old testament. Sunday's lesson was the ten commandments. Now I teach the 8 and 9 year olds so I was a little concerned about how to explain the 7th commandment without bringing in a lot of unnecessary information! I thought I had a pretty good explanation so I was feeling pretty good. Needless to say, I didn't even need to explain it because one of the girls in class did it perfectly for me! I however got a good laugh about the class and am still chuckling about it! Here's kind of how it went down....

girl 1 - "What's adultery?"

girl 2 - "It's when mom's and dad's love somebody else that's not their spouse."

girl 1 - "Oh! I've had that commandment memorized forever!"

Later when we got to sharing time the primary president was talking about the Holy Ghost and what invites or causes the Holy Ghost to leave. Girl 1 got a chance to answer...

girl 1 - "The spirit leaves when we commit adultery!"

primary president - "um...yeah...it's not good to break the commandments is it?"

It was pretty much awesome!


As I was preparing my lesson, I found this funny joke...

A children's Sunday school class was learning about the 10 commandments and discussing the commandment to honor your father and mother. One little girl asks, "well is there a commandment that teaches us how to deal with our brothers and sisters?" A boy, the oldest in his family, peeps up, "Yeah, thou shall not kill!".

Haha - what a funny day it was:)

Tucker's 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday Tucker! I can't believe he's one. We had a fun day yesterday on his birthday. He did sleep 3 hours of it away but hey, kids need their sleep right? Tuck had a spaghetti dinner and ate a whole cupcake and ice cream (and some of matt's cake too!). This year has gone by amazingly fast. I'm sad to see it go because it's been so awesome to have this sweet little baby in our home! He makes me smile every day and I love him to pieces! Oh yeah - he took his first steps yesterday too!

New Styling Product!

Tucker discovered a new styling product today! A half a jar of vaseline and your hair will hold any style. It's waterproof so it doesn't even wash out! Awesome!

I was talking to my mom on the phone about ready to wrap up the conversation when I discovered what he discovered! I was laughing so hard I couldn't talk. What a treat it was to try to clean up! We washed his hair half a dozen times. Still soooo greasy. I looked online for "fixes". I'm apparently not the only one with the problem! So if your kiddo ever finds the petroleum jelly....try some cornmeal and corn starch, oil (I just so happened to have some of my massage oil here), and dishsoap. I think the oil (surprisingly) and dishsoap helped the most. Don't even bother with the shampoo!

Look what I found mom!

Had do do some styling!

After several washes....still greasy!

Next up....cornstarch!

I think he's about 95% better. Still a little greasy but hopefully another washing with some dishsoap will take care of the rest!

What a day!

Some recent pix

Handsome! Grandma was in town last week and bought Tucker a suit. We think if he got a little hat he could go gangster or mafia!

Mmmmm Spaghetti! So cute to watch this little guy slurp up noodles.

Ten Month Pix - Yeah I know that was a little while ago. I wish he would slow down!

Ten Month Pix - Just outside enjoying some nice weather!

Official Google Blog: A different kind of company name

Official Google Blog: A different kind of company name

We may not be in Kansas but here in Hawaii at the fairways at Mauna Lani resort it's pretty nice. Join us for style and luxury at an affordable vacation rental...and that's no fooling!

Garden Boxes

The Garden disaster of last summer. Yeah I thought it would be a good idea to plant a garden last summer...so did the weeds. I'd like to think I was busy with a new baby, but probably I was just being lazy and not wanting to pick the weeds! Pretty much I picked a few tomatoes and that's about it.

This year I wanted to try and minimize the weed picking and we decided to make some garden boxes. We are SO NOT expert gardeners but hopefully we can get enough good produce to make these worth it! (AND NO WEEDS!)

Tucker is loving his new play area! Too bad we have to fill them up with dirt. Oh wait! He liked playing in the dirt too!

Playing peek-a-boo!

A nap works wonders!

 

Tucker was a super cranky pants a couple mornings ago. I put him down for a nap....too upset to sleep. Got him up to eat....too upset to eat. Put him back in bed....still too upset. Got him back up to read a book....calmed him down enough to eat....then sleep so back to bed he went. When I heard him in his room making noise, walah! This is what I got....one happy boy!

He's been pulling himself up on everything lately btw!

Christmas 2k9

We spent Christmas and New Year's (and the week between) in Evanston. It was such fun just being with family. Well minus the part about sharing a highly contagious dose of stomach flu. Christmas is all about sharing right? Matt and Tucker didn't get it but everyone else did! 11 of 13! Good thing is was a short one. It's fun watching kids at Christmas. Tucker and Parker probably don't get it yet, but it's still fun to see. We were eating breakfast when I honestly realized that we hadn't even opened our own presents! We all got some pretty good loot, and had some great food and company. Thanks Mom and Dad for everything. Oh, and Evanston can really put on a good fireworks show. I would say better than Boise on the fourth of July...and my mom said it was tame compared to their 4th!

Christmas 2K9

Merry Christmas everyone! We have truly been blessed this year and hope you all have been as well. If it doesn't seem like it, dig deeper! God's hand is in our lives every day whether we choose to realize it or not. Christmas always seems to come and go so rapidly and we hope you ave been enjoying it.

I thought this would be the last "safe year" for our Christmas tree. Tucker hasn't quite mastered the art of crawling, but that boy can get around! He is never in the same place that you put him down (well...he will sit and be quite mesmerized by Baby Einsteins!) He rolls a lot and rolled right on over the the tree and started playing in it the other day!

Tucker is growing up so fast. He started at just under nine pounds and took off! He was about 21 and a half pounds a couple weeks ago! I should be getting stronger packing him around right! He is such a happy baby and it has been so fun to watch him grow, explore, and experience his new world. We are so blessed to have him in our lives and it's hard to imagine life without him now!

Matt and I are great. Still running, biking (Matt), and trying to keep up with life! Tucker enjoys our runs so much that he sleeps right through most of them!

Speaking of sleeping, Tucker just couldn't wait to see Santa!



We wish you the best this Christmas, New Year, and always.

Love,
Matt ~ Leslie ~ Tucker

Zeitgeist

I ran the Zeitgeist 1/2 marathon last Saturday. It's been on my to do list for over a year. Being preggo this time last year I didn't do it but thought it would be a good way to get back into it after Tucker's arrival. Call me crazy! I've been a runner basically forever....started track in middle school and have been running ever since. So you would think it would be no big deal to do a 1/2 but it is. I don't know why i've never done them before. I like to run but have never really cared to go much over 8ish miles....those were long days for me. So this summer i started making my 8 milers into 9s then 10s then 11s.... (well I guess I had to start less than 8 after having a baby!) So at the beginning of September I ran a 1/2 at my family reunion...a trial go of sorts. Then last Saturday I did the big daddy. We'll call it that because there are some pretty good hills! I don't know why I wanted to do this one instead of a flat half. Maybe the challenge of it all. I don't love running hills and I didn't especially love it on Saturday, but I loved being able to finish and say "I did that"! When you're out there running it's like "what am I doing" then when you finish it's like "What can I do next?" So the verdict?? I think I'll do it again! Who wants to come? And no...I don't have any marathon plans any time soon! Can't really imagine getting done with a half and thinking "great! 1/2 way done!"


Passing off my Shirt to Matt and Tucker



This guy was a stud! I never even saw him....cuz he was ahead of me!

The big hill!

Ahhh the finish! Those last two miles were tough!

5 Months Old!

Tucker turned 5 months last week! Time goes by so fast and the days somewhat blur together. He is such a great baby...not that I have anything to compare to. Even still...We really are blessed with this one. In the last month he started rolling over...always from his back to his belly. That's his preferred position! He found his feet and is constantly holding on to them. I'm sure they will soon be in his mouth! He more so squeals with delight than laughs although we can coax some giggles from him (which make me giggle in return). He is sitting up on his own. Still unstable at times but getting very good at it. He was screaming when he wanted attention but that has kind of subsided for the most part. He has been waking up again in the middle of the night but will sometimes go back to sleep if I give him his binki. All in all we love him and are so glad he's part of our family!

A few family pics

We've been having a great summer with Tucker with all the learning that goes along with being new p's. Once you think you have something down the next day you realize that you don't! What an adventure. We have been on one over night camping trip and are planning a three nighter for a family reunion next weekend. I am also doing my first half marathon! Hopefully all will survive:)

One of my friends/clients took these for us. It was fun to do our first little photo shoot:)

Smiles Swimming and a Little Bit of Puppy Love

Swimming swimming in the swimming pool
When days are hot and nights are cool in the swimming pool!
Breast stroke side stroke fancy diving too
Oh wouldn't it be nice if we had nothing else to do!
But...

Anybody remember that song from girls camp???

I took Tucker swimming for the first time yesterday in my friend Lisa's pool. He did awesome and didn't cry once. It's actually the first time he's been submerged in water. His cord stub was way slow in falling off so he's not even really been in the tub with much water. It finally came off last week (Matt helped)! So now he has a new hobby...swimming:) And a little bit of Puppy Love. Our friends gave us these adorable slippers! And last but not least...Smiles! Tucker actually started smiling at me before he was four weeks old! And these are genuine (not in his sleep) smiles! It makes me happy:)

One Month Old

OK so maybe I'm a little camera crazy, but I have at least one picture every day of Tuckers first month. Yeah - sometimes many many more than one. I can't believe that my baby is already a month old. Everyone keeps saying they grow fast. Guess I believe it. He's already changed so much and is getting pretty big to boot! We love having him here though. I don't know why we have been so blessed to get such an easy baby (I won't question it though)! Not that there are not challenges, but seriously...he's wonderful! He even slept from like 11 to 4 last night...woohoo!

We've been on a couple trips so far. Once to McCall and a couple days in Pocatello to meet GG and Papa and see Parker, Mel, Grandma, and Cait. He always amazes me how good he is.

Here's some of my favorites for each day...

A close second...

Tucker Jackson Howe arrived late Saturday night (the 23rd) at 11:40 p.m. eight days late! Yeah I'm a slacker getting pictures up but it was such a great/crazy/bittersweet first week home that I really didn't get on the computer much at all. Anyone with babies should understand!! My mom came down with Caitlyn in time for the delivery and I was soooo glad to have her here....in spite of the crazy week. She was more help than she realizes! Dad and Rikki came down that night too.

Tucker weighed in at 8 lbs 13 oz and was 20 in. It was hard to believe that he actually fit in there once he was out and yet he looked so tiny to me that it was hard to believe there was almost nine pounds on him! The delivery was unexpectedly hard (I'll spare all the details) but so worth it. I would do it again to get the sweet little boy that I got!

Here's some highlights from Tucker's first week home if you haven't already seen them on Facebook... You can click on them to see larger images.


I also lost my sweet Grandpa Jackson last week. It was tough not being able to go to the funeral with the rest of the family. I really wanted to take Tucker up to Washington this summer to meet GGJ. I'm glad Grandpa isn't suffering or in pain anymore. These last few months have been kind of rough for him. I hope he is having one big party/reunion with Grandma and all his siblings and friends. I'm glad that this life isn't the end all!

Grandpa last summer...still mowing the lawn at 91! Love that man!

The result is in!!!

And the winner is.....





Not me! Checked out the robin nest tonight to find 3 little fuzz balls with wide open beaks. Hungry little fellas! Hopefully I'll get some pics tomorrow. The light was too far gone and mama bird was not happy with us being there!

The Race is On!

Just a couple of spring treats I've found in my back yard this last week. I'm again amazed how fast the flowers (in this case the lilacs) don't seem to last. I guess you have to enjoy them why they are out! They were looking a little brown today:(

I was weed wacking the other day on the side of the house and a robin just started going nuts! She was flying all around and chirping like crazy. I looked up in the pear tree and saw the cause of her dismay....the nest. Apparently she didn't like my company! So instead of being good and leaving her be, what did I do??? Brought out a stool and had a little peak. I couldn't quite get the camera high enough from my little stool to get a full on shot of her three pretty blue eggs. I got a couple of them in the picture though!

I've been checking on it all week to see if there are little babies yet but not so. Apparently some babies like to take their time:) Which brings us to the fact that it's D Day and still no baby for us either. I guess if I were miserable it would be a big deal but since everything has been pretty great..I'm fine with this little guy taking his time to greet the world. It is a little hard to make plans though...sorry Mom!

So the race is on....which baby/babies will arrive first folks? Stay tuned...!

Twilight with cheeseburgers!

Some people have a lot of times on their hands...other people get to laugh at the products from those people!