Now Approaching... Sleepingbooty's Sept. PTR (We're BAAACK! 9/26)

[All7OfUs]

Hi Rebecca!

Just wanted to wish you all the BEST Easter! Have a wonderful day

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Thanks, Liesa! You too! He is risen!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Chapter 20. Real Life

I don't have anything new on the planning front, so I thought I'd just check in to see how everybody's Easter weekend went.

We had a half day off school on Thursday, and all Friday and Monday off - so the kids are back at school today finally. Oh, not that I wanted them to go back...

Actually, we had a really nice time together. Jenna has decided that she wants to learn how to play tennis. Gee, could this have anything to do with the fact that her best friend has come up with the same idea? I thought it was a pretty good idea, after all, we have courts in our subdivision and she and I could play together. Well, we could if I knew how to play, that is. She didn't really take to soccer or gymnastics, and she got bored with dance class, so we haven't really done any extra curricular activities since fall. With the exception of Girl Scouts, that is. Anyway, I like the idea of her trying something new. If it doesn't go anywhere, it will be a novel experience. But if she gets into it, its a great way to stay fit, AND I hear a lot of tennis scholarships go unused each year. Is it too early to be thinking about college? Keep in mind she's 9.

So, the other mom and I signed the girls up for a shared private lesson at a local racquet club. Boy, this teacher was amazing! She really taught them quite a bit in one hour. We did this on friday, and each day since then Jenna's insisted on going up to the courts to practice. So far so good!

On Sunday, of course the Easter Bunny came. I'm probably alone on this, but I would actually not be devasted for the girls to outgrow the Easter Bunny. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a party pooper - I LOVE all the secular trappings that accompany Christmas, but I guess I've just never understood the Easter Bunny. It seems so separate from what Easter is about. Maybe if I knew the origin of it I'd be able to appreciate it more. Why does this bunny lay eggs? And I really don't see the point of dyeing Easter eggs. What are you supposed to do with them after that? We dyed eggs on Friday. They went into the fridge immediately afterwards. On Saturday, the girls each ate one with breakfast. That's it. They're still in the fridge. Am I missing something?

Despite my bah humbug attitude towards the Easter bunny, I do love going to Easter service at church, and of course gathering for dinner with the family. The music was beautiful and uplifting, and we were blessed with absolutely gorgeous weather.

We had about 30 for Easter dinner. My mom and her sisters rotate the holiday hosting duties, and this time it was held at my Aunt Linda's house. They set up an egg hunt for the kids before dinner. This was absolutely hilarious. Each kid gets a different color, and we had two new babies that are now walking and old enough to join in - so we had to find a color for them. My Aunt Lynn (the babies' grandma) is sort of the organizer. She picked up a couple packages of 'camouflage' eggs - one was a lighter green, one was a bit darker. We didn't think about it as we were filling the eggs last Thursday, but duh! Those camouflage eggs were really hard to see! So poor little Matthew and Brody, the youngest of all the kids, not only had to try to find camouflage eggs, they had to determine whether they were the lighter or darker green to know if it was one of theirs. Of course their parents helped them, but it had us all rolling. I thought this was a sweet picture of Lucy finding an egg:

After the egg hunt, we all gathered around and held hands for the blessing, and then it was time to dig in. We do our holiday dinners buffet style. The host prepares the meat and drinks, and everyone else brings a dish or two. I brought a spinach salad with almonds, cranberries, and poppy seed dressing. I think my favorite dish was the macaroni and cheese my cousin Kristy made from the Paula Deen cookbook. I have NO idea how much fat and calories were in it, and I don't WANT to know!

Scott and I stuffed ourselves silly. I almost didn't have room for dessert, but I managed to hork down a small piece of my cousin Mike's Coffee Toffee Chocolate Cheesecake, and a slightly larger piece of cherry pie. I won't need to eat again until next week. Don't you wish it worked like that?

Anyway, we had a beautiful day. It was warm enough (though a bit windy) to set up the tables out on the deck. One of my favorite parts of family get togethers is seeing all the kids together. It seems like every holiday, there's a new baby. There are now 10 kids in the family between the ages of 6 months and 10 years old, and another due in August. My cousins, who are still having babies, always try to talk me into having another when I ooh and aah over theirs. Nope, I'm done. Our family feels just right with the four of us. They never believe me. I like even numbers. If I had another, I'd have to have two more.

Okay, I'm rambling. I'm curious to know what you all did on Easter. Any fun family traditions?

Click here for Chapter 21. A New Toy

 

[Dancegrl624]

I don't understand the Easter Bunny either. I almost didn't hide Madison's basket this year, but I did. I don't know how kids aren't creeped out by a super size bunny walking through their house hiding eggs. Why are eggs associated with a bunny??? I would post all about my Easter, but I already did on my PTR and another thread that I frequent. I don't think I have the patience to type it all out again!!!

 

[klacey1]

Your Easter sounds lovely! DBF and I went to his parents' house and had dinner with them, his younger siblings, and cousins. It was a lovely day-- a bit low key. We always do church in the morning, but even growing up, we didn't do much for Easter in the secular sense. My mom hid eggs for us to find, but we always knew they were from her.
We had beautiful weather and a nice day with the family-- as well as celebrating our love for Christ. That's really what Easter is for us.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

I don't understand the Easter Bunny either. I almost didn't hide Madison's basket this year, but I did. I don't know how kids aren't creeped out by a super size bunny walking through their house hiding eggs. Why are eggs associated with a bunny??? I would post all about my Easter, but I already did on my PTR and another thread that I frequent. I don't think I have the patience to type it all out again!!!

I'll have to head over and catch up on yours!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Your Easter sounds lovely! DBF and I went to his parents' house and had dinner with them, his younger siblings, and cousins. It was a lovely day-- a bit low key. We always do church in the morning, but even growing up, we didn't do much for Easter in the secular sense. My mom hid eggs for us to find, but we always knew they were from her.
We had beautiful weather and a nice day with the family-- as well as celebrating our love for Christ. That's really what Easter is for us.

Thank you! It was lovely.

Yes, sometimes low-key is best. Gotta keep focus on the real meaning of the holiday, after all!

 

[Charlefours]

Have you checked UG best/worse park days again? I just checked mine today and they crowd levels have dropped and the a few of the best/worse parks changed. Wow great price for your flight tickets!! That is what we would cost, for three of us!

Happy Easter!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Glad you had a good Easter. The symbol of the eggs is a debated even among historians and theologians. Basically, nobody knows for sure. Google search will give you dozens of theories though. Some make more sense than others. I'm with though on looking forward to the "no longer interested" stage. As to desposing of the remains, we turn them into deviled eggs for family Easter dinner get together.

 

[eandesmom]

I was informed by Eric that he didn't believe in the Easter Bunny or the tooth fairy anymore. I am ESPECIALLY relieved about the tooth fairy.

We did discuss that IF there was such a bunny, magic rabbit holes ala Alice in Wonderland would really be the only travel method that made sense.

We too (I mean my dad!) turn them into deviled eggs. Dozens and Dozens of them.

It sounds like a lovely day!

 

[All7OfUs]

Tennis is my hands-down favorite sport! and i can't wait to get back to the States to play. I stink at it, but it's super fun. I like raquetball too, but last time I played I nearly broke my nose by bashing myself in the face with my own raquet. I thought I'd drown in my own blood and they had to call in lifeguards to help evacuate everyone from the building.

What a lovely Easter day you had! We usually turn our eggs in to Creamed Eggs on Toast for Monday morning. Mmmm...mmmm.!

Glad you were able to get down to the significance of the holiday, though. Eggs or no, without an empty tomb, there'd be no need to celebrate much else.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Have you checked UG best/worse park days again? I just checked mine today and they crowd levels have dropped and the a few of the best/worse parks changed. Wow great price for your flight tickets!! That is what we would cost, for three of us!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to you too!

No, I haven't checked lately. My subscription expired, and since I've decided to flout their recommendations - I guess I won't bother paying to subscribe for another year! I am sorta interested to know if my crowd levels have dropped...

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Glad you had a good Easter. The symbol of the eggs is a debated even among historians and theologians. Basically, nobody knows for sure. Google search will give you dozens of theories though. Some make more sense than others. I'm with though on looking forward to the "no longer interested" stage. As to desposing of the remains, we turn them into deviled eggs for family Easter dinner get together.

"Deposing of the remains" I like that. I managed to get the girls to eat another egg this morning with breakfast. I suppose what troubles me the most is, why do we dye/decorate them - if we are only going to pop them back in their container and put them right back in the fridge. I mean, if we displayed them - they'd surely go bad in a hurry, right?

 

[Sleepingbooty]

I was informed by Eric that he didn't believe in the Easter Bunny or the tooth fairy anymore. I am ESPECIALLY relieved about the tooth fairy.

We did discuss that IF there was such a bunny, magic rabbit holes ala Alice in Wonderland would really be the only travel method that made sense.

We too (I mean my dad!) turn them into deviled eggs. Dozens and Dozens of them.

It sounds like a lovely day!

Jenna actually did ask me a couple days before, "Mom, is there really an Easter Bunny?" In a very skeptical voice. I was so taken aback that I didn't know what to say. I said, "If you don't believe, you don't recieve!" Not that I'd really stop doing Easter baskets, it just popped out. As much as I'm ready to be done with the Easter Bunny - I'm worried it might lead to nixing Santa as well - and that I'm NOT ready for! So I'm thinking that Jenna knows, but she's keeping it to herself.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Tennis is my hands-down favorite sport! and i can't wait to get back to the States to play. I stink at it, but it's super fun. I like raquetball too, but last time I played I nearly broke my nose by bashing myself in the face with my own raquet. I thought I'd drown in my own blood and they had to call in lifeguards to help evacuate everyone from the building.

I'd really like to learn - I'm thinking about signing up for an adult beginner clinic in May.

I took racquetball in college. Barely managed a 'C'. That dang ball stings when it hits ya!

What a lovely Easter day you had! We usually turn our eggs in to Creamed Eggs on Toast for Monday morning. Mmmm...mmmm.!

Thank you, yes we did! Yeah, don't think I could do creamed eggs on toast. Actually, I don't eat eggs at all, unless they are heavily disguised.

Glad you were able to get down to the significance of the holiday, though. Eggs or no, without an empty tomb, there'd be no need to celebrate much else.

Exactly!

 

[cinderella crazy]

No, you don't want to know how much fat and how many calories are in the Paula Deen mac and cheese. I made it one time and it was delicious! Of course, if you put enough butter and fat in anything, it will taste good!

I'm with you on the whole Easter Bunny thing. We don't do the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. We wouldn't have done Santa either but DS one year started talking about Santa so we went with the flow (although we make sure both DS and DD know why we really celebrate Christmas).

I really like watching tennis and have always wanted to learn to play. Good for you for looking into taking tennis lessons!

I never got hit with a ball when I played racquetball, but I did get hit in the face with a racquet. Even though that was at least 20 years ago, I can tell you it HURT!

 

[eandesmom]

Jenna actually did ask me a couple days before, "Mom, is there really an Easter Bunny?" In a very skeptical voice. I was so taken aback that I didn't know what to say. I said, "If you don't believe, you don't recieve!" Not that I'd really stop doing Easter baskets, it just popped out. As much as I'm ready to be done with the Easter Bunny - I'm worried it might lead to nixing Santa as well - and that I'm NOT ready for! So I'm thinking that Jenna knows, but she's keeping it to herself.

exactly. When Eric said that (after I said "does that mean you don't want an easter basket?" I asked him right out about Santa and he assured me he still believed. And then had all his rationale why Santa was real but the rest weren't.

I didn't try to keep the EB "alive" since he stated is so factually..."I just want you to know that...." versus asking me.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

No, you don't want to know how much fat and how many calories are in the Paula Deen mac and cheese. I made it one time and it was delicious! Of course, if you put enough butter and fat in anything, it will taste good!

Okay, I had to look it up. I don't know if this is accurate, but from the website I found it lists the entire dish as having 4011 calories and 236 grams of fat. We'll assume my serving was about 1/20 of the dish (I have no idea!) so that would mean I ingested 200 calories and 12 grams of fat, just in Mac 'n Cheese!

I'm with you on the whole Easter Bunny thing. We don't do the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. We wouldn't have done Santa either but DS one year started talking about Santa so we went with the flow (although we make sure both DS and DD know why we really celebrate Christmas).

It's such a balancing act, isn't it?

I really like watching tennis and have always wanted to learn to play. Good for you for looking into taking tennis lessons!

I never got hit with a ball when I played racquetball, but I did get hit in the face with a racquet. Even though that was at least 20 years ago, I can tell you it HURT!

Not sure yet if I'm going to do it, but it's sounding fun!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

exactly. When Eric said that (after I said "does that mean you don't want an easter basket?" I asked him right out about Santa and he assured me he still believed. And then had all his rationale why Santa was real but the rest weren't.

I didn't try to keep the EB "alive" since he stated is so factually..."I just want you to know that...." versus asking me.

Kids have their own brand of logic, don't they?

Jenna is a good big sis, so she will pretend for Lucy's sake, but I really think she knows about the Bunny. She probably suspects Santa as well. I think its going to be one of those things, when it happens, where I know she knows, and she knows that I know she knows, but we don't talk about it for the sake of preserving the fun.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Chapter 21. A New Toy

For a very long time, I've been wanting to buy a digital SLR camera. Back in the pre-digital days, I loved the flexibility of my 35mm SLR. I was no expert, but I really enjoyed playing around with shutter speeds and f-stops to achieve different effects. In college, I took a black & white photography course. It was just one semester, but we learned the basics of composition and a few cool things like stop-action and short depth-of-field. I think I liked working in the darkroom even more than I liked taking pictures.

When I started teaching art, I was lucky enough to have my own darkroom in the classroom. The principal informed me that he expected me to use it - I guess the previous teacher never did. He assigned me two Photography I classes. Of course, I was freaking out! Taking one semester of photography in college really did not qualify me to teach it. But I muddled through. Basically, I taught them everything I knew, which was just enough to get us through the semester. I'm really glad they didn't assign me Photography II - I'd have had to go take another class myself!

Anyway, I loved teaching photography and playing around in the darkroom. However, about the time I stopped teaching (and lost my access to a darkroom), was about the time digital cameras were becoming popular. We got ourselves a cheap point and shoot, but I kept my trusty Canon AE1 for film.

Of course, like everyone else, as digital point and shoot cameras improved in quality, I became seduced by the ease of operation, the practically limitless storage, and all the other aspects we've come to rely on with digital. I found I was pulling out my 35mm less and less. Sure, I couldn't get quite the quality of photos, but I could always touch them up on the computer, right? Eventually, I sold my Canon on Ebay.

I've always wanted a digital SLR, but the price just made them out of reach. The past year, I've been drooling over the photos I've seen here on the Photography board, and the desire to buy a new camera was getting stronger and stronger. I finally decided to set aside the money and go ahead and buy a used or refurbished model.

I've been looking online for about a month - and I was really surprised to find that used models are not going for much less than new ones! It seemed I would need to spend about 400-450 for a good used model, whereas I could buy a brand new one for about $100 more. I decided I was still going to stick to my original budget (which had started at $300 and already been nudged up to $400) and go for the used. So I headed to a local camera shop.

Well, an hour and ummm, way more than my budget later, I came out with my new toy: a brand new Nikon d3000. Yeah, I know, I was supposed to buy used. What I found out after seriously considering a used D60 for $300, was that it wouldn't work with any of the used lenses. I'd have to spend another $200 on a lens for it. At the same time, they had the D3000 on sale for $500 - with the lens. No brainer, right? Of course, I hadn't factored in all the other things they managed to sell me on, like the 8gb memory card, extra battery, extended warranty, filters, etc. Yeah, I totally blew the budget.

Here she is:

She's a beauty, eh? I was really surprised at how intuitive the operations are. The menus are very easy to navigate - my Canon point and shoot is harder to operate than this is. So naturally I've been playing around with it all weekend. Here's a shot of Jenna practicing tennis:

And here's one of Lucy on the tree swing:

I'd really like to take another photography class to improve my technique. They offer some at the shop where I bought the camera, so I may sign up. They gave me a $25 off coupon for any class when I bought the camera. They offer camera-specific classes for several different models (they have one for the D3000), but they also have classes on different types of photography, so I'm not sure what I'll use the coupon on yet. Of course, I'm already drooling over other expensive equipment - I'd love to have a wide angle lens, but I don't think I'll be buying anything for a while! I told Scott this can be my birthday and Mother's Day gift - he said, "And Christmas, too?"

Click here for Chapter 22. Everyone in Your Seats, It's Time for Class