Say Cheese!

I haven't been great about posting lately, but we have been pretty busy, so I'll try to catch you up on the high points...  (Otherwise known as what I can remember.  Which will probably only cover the last week or so.)

Starting with my exciting new purchase!  I have been lusting after a new lens for my camera since, well, since I bought it.  Because, let's be real, the kit lens sucks.  And in my house?  It sucks even more.  Because we live in a black hole that never sees the natural light of day.  And now that I'm working, and I don't get home until it's practically dark, I'm pretty much screwed if I want to take a photo after 6 o'clock. 

Enter the 50mm f/1.8 lens... It's not a top-of-the-line piece of glass, but it's definitely an upgrade.  And with my budget, it will suffice.  Check out that depth of field.  It makes my heart go pitter-patter.  I've been having a lot of fun taking photos the last week.  And while it's still tough to shoot upstairs at night, it's an improvement. 

Allison is getting smarter every day.  Today I asked her to get me a soda out of the mini fridge and after some detailed instructions (specifically, "open the fridge like I tell you not to do."), she got me not only me one, but Matt, too.  She didn't want Daddy left out...  She's also started saying, "CHEESE!" instead of running away (or towards) me when I'm holding the camera.

This?  Yeah, there was an old-fashioned bird brawl in our back yard.  And there are feathers all over.  We thought it was weird, so I took a picture.

Playing video games with Daddy.  I attempted to take some other cool shots, but most of them were just off a little.  But that's what happens when you are shooting a moving target with a fixed focal length lens.

This is an ugly fruit.  If you can find one, buy it.  I'm working on my food photography for my other blog, but I still have a ways to go.  Perhaps more lighting would help? 

We bought a Gymboree Groupon awhile back and finally made it to our first class last Sunday.  She was very apprehensive at first, but towards the end of the class was having a blast.  I have to admit that the place is great.  I'm just not sure if it's $70/month great.

We've been lucky enough to have some nice weather in February, too.  We had a breakfast picnic at Carondelet Park one such Sunday morning.

And of course, there were birthdays!  We only made it to Claire's party since we were all hit with a cold in the middle of February (and incidentally are now sick again) and had to miss Shelby's party.  This isn't a great picture, but I wanted to share this idea.  My cousin had rented a room to throw the party and without any toys to entertain the kids, she decided to provide this cheap and easy entertainment for them.  It was a HUGE hit!

And that's where my memory ends.  So, hopefully I will have lots more pics to post from now on!