Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Happy 20th Birthday Emma!


sipattrevi

Make a Wish!



omahafoot

A birthday gift for you: Your favorite family picture!

I can see why it is your favorite :o)

We love you very much, Em!


*****

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I made a really delicious sandwich yesterday.

Whole wheat bread.
Toasted.
A little whipped cream cheese with green onions in it.
Tomato with salt and pepper on it.
Avocado.
Broccoli.
Alfalfa Sprouts.


Sprouts.


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I had forgotten how wonderful alfalfa sprouts are on sandwiches.

This is a wonderful, healthy sandwich.

I love it!



****


I never heard my mother say a negative, rude word about a friend or neighbor or brother or sister.

She lived by the old wise saying, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

I do not live this as well as she did. But, staying kind and positive on the blog, at a message board, or in real life has earned it's reward.

In five plus years, I can count the number of unkind comments on one hand.

I think I have deleted only four comments in all those years.

That is pretty amazing.

I am thankful for those of you who take the time to share a wise word, a funny story, a commonality, or a kind note.

Because of all of you, I exist in a sweet little bubble of love here at the blog.

And that's just the way I like it :o)






Thank you!









Oops....almost forgot....



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Encourage one another,
Donna

Monday, March 30, 2009

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Dear Anonymous Commenter,

I have deleted your comment because it's my blog and I can do whatever I want to do.

I advise you to avoid my blog due to the fact that I will continue to post pictures of my children.

Lots of them.

Katie is my muse.

She does not think she is special. She is wonderfully photogenic. She poses for me so I can learn new things.
Her little heart is more beautiful than her face.

She does not think she is royalty.


If anyone is royalty around here....

it's me!

Signed,

Donna Boucher aka The Queen



"What did he do with Eve?
"He made her a housewife."

Oh my. So funny.



Quiet Life Edition of Kids say the Darnest Things.

Do you keep a little list of the funny things your children say?

My sister Cindy was always telling me I should keep track over the years.

I remember better the things that popped out of my mouth when I was a little girl better than the things my children have said.

I was without filters, I'm afraid.


Years ago all of the little Glyman children were at the dentist.
This was an hours long ordeal. My mom would try to squeeze four/five appointments together.

So we were stuck in the waiting room for a long time.

As we waited, a very heavy man entered the room.

I walked right up to the man and said, "Boy are you fat!"

My mother said she wanted to die and wished she could escape the waiting room.
But she was stuck.

More evidence of the fall, I suppose ;o)


Why don't you share in the comments one of the darndest things you or your children have said.

We could all use a little chuckle on a Monday!


****

The Quiet Life gathering at Panera in Madison was off to a slow start...

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Without a cell phone I was in the dark as to why no one showed up.

But then Lynn came. My constant. I knew she would come.

Where was Steph?

Sweating it out at a different Panera, void of any welcoming, adoring faces.
Steph, fortunately had her laptop and was able to recheck the plans on the blog and realize her boo-boo.

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Lynn and I were super happy that she found her way!

What lovely, smart, creative, faithful, beautiful women they are!

Such a blessing to me in so many ways!

Do not underestimate the importance of prayer.

I prayed for friends.

They have come along.

And I am so blessed.


***

Now. Share your darndest thing!

Thanks :o)




Encourage one another,
Donna

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Happy Friday!


We were both happy to see the sun shine yesterday!

And today, I see the sun hitting the house next door.

The weather man says we will have snow.

Perhaps he will be wrong. That would be nice.


Back to my D80

It's a perfect day for a visit with some friends.

You are welcome to join us!

Don't forget!



Katie and I will tackle her bedroom.

I have had a hard time giving her clothes away. I just love her little clothes.
But we have run out of room.

Perhaps I should keep one box full of special clothes. Just one.
Or two if absolutely necessary.


So upstairs we will go with a big black garbage bag and by the time Katie goes to bed tonight I think she will have a brand new bedroom.

There is nothing like a decluttered space to make you feel all happy and free!!!

At least that's the way I feel about it.


Hello Freckles.

Katie's freckles have come out of hibernation.


Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill and a time to heal ...
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.







Encourage one another,
Donna

Friday, March 27, 2009

***


After much hemming and hawing, and wringing of hands and a phone call to Courtney and a pep talk from my husband....

I am sending the D300 back to B & H.

The camera did not do what I had thought it would.

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SOOC
(If you look at this blown up you can see the hair is a mass of noise. I don't mind bokeh, but I do mind grain.)

Other than try another D300 I will take the plunge and buy the D700.

This is the best decision I can make with the information I have.

It's tough.

But B & H has kindly sent me all the information for the refund without any hassle at all.

So I am relieved.

Now I just need to get a happy phone call from Miss IRS and I will be able to sleep again!



****

In Katie's classroom the children gather on a carpet a few times during the day.
Around the carpet sit four chairs. I have noticed that those four chairs fill up first and are the special place to sit.

Knowing children nature I was surprised that these special chairs hadn't become a problem.

This morning as Katie and I headed out to the car she said she wished I was coming 'in' today.

I said, "Oh, I know. You like to get to the classroom first so you can get one of those special chairs."

She told me, "We are not allowed to sit in those chairs anymore."

Ah ha! When did that happen, I wondered.

Katie said that yesterday afternoon the teacher made the rule.

No surprise.

I told Katie that when we were children we always wanted to get the end of the banana in our cereal.

"But Why?" she wondered.

"Because it was special."

"It's not good." she said.

"I know, but there are only two."

(I should have gone into a lecture on supply and demand at this point but I was on to the next food we coveted.)

There was a very special roll in the bag of brown and serve rolls we would fight over.

It was a little crescent shaped roll that had kosher salt on it.

It was the best little roll.

There was one of them in the bag containing thirteen rolls.

We had seven children in our family. It was highly prized.

"Why did you want that one?"

"Because it was soooo good. It tasted like a salt bagel."



Friday Five

Did you fight over a special food when you were children?
Do your children fight over something now?
Did you get to sit in the front seat of the car with your parents?
Did your parents drive a Chevy or a Ford?
What age can children sit in the front seat now? Katie is dying to sit up front.








***

Gathering at Panera (Grand Canyon and Mineral Point Rd.)
Saturday 10:30-12:00 (tomorrow)

Stephanie is coming to Madison.

Lynn(I think) and I will be meeting her there!

You are invited.

I will wear my glasses so you can recognize me :o)

Hope to see many of you there!


Encourage one another,
Donna


Happy Birthday Janice and Janet. They are partying over at Facebook.

Thursday, March 26, 2009





*****



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More practice shots. Yesterday after school.

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On the way home from school.
Some grain.
Nice and sharp.
Better white balance.



*****

This morning....


Eureka!!!
I think I have solved the noise/grain problem.

Nikon sends the camera to you with default settings.

They had the in-camera sharpening set to '5'.

I noticed some over sharpening right out of camera and wondered if this could be causing the noise.

I snapped one shot of Katie at 800 ISO last night before she went to bed.




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SOOC.

Much improved.

Now that's a much nicer way to start the day!



*****

How about the ending to LOST???

Shocking!


****

I haven't watched all of American Idol yet.

What did you think?


***


Today's my day to help in class.

Ski ya later!

Encourage one another,
Donna

Wednesday, March 25, 2009







April Showers

I love stopping by April's blog because she makes me laugh.

She and her husband have loads of fun together with their children while tending to their school work and farm.

And you know I have a thing for people dancing....








***


My new camera came in the mail yesterday!

My D80 is seriously wearing out!

The new camera is a Nikon D300. I was about to jump up to the D700 but my big, wide angle lens will not work on the D700.
So I stuck with a camera that can handle my lenses. (All two of them :o)

The camera shoots LIGHT, which is opposite of my D80! Go figure.

I've got some practicing to do :o)

Trying out new camera

Katie was not home yet. This avocado was the most colorful thing in the house.


testing

a little too light


learning

a little dim


Nope. I don't have a just right yet.


But I do think the focus is better so that's good.

I have 100 more shutter releases before I need to decide if I am keeping it.

That is just not enough in my opinion, but dems the rules. ;o)

Anybody have a child I can photograph during the day today? My model is at school.


***

Dancing with the stars.

Oh brother. Mr. Apple gets to stay! Ugh.

What did his partner do to her hair???
Oh my goodness.
Either she is on the edge of fashion or she just fell off the edge.


***


Thanks for stopping by and visiting!


Encourage one another,
Donna

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Happiness


laughter



Is there anything in the world more fun than a friend who can make you laugh?
Who you can make laugh?



It's right up there on the top of my favorite things list...


***


Taxes. Now that, on the other hand, is not funny at all.

And that's what I need to do right now because I have an appointment in one hour...

So, all I can do for you today is show you some funny pictures and perhaps a quote....



Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. ~Victor Hugo



What tops your favorite things list?


Encourage one another.
Donna

Monday, March 23, 2009

I drove Emma to Harvard Illinois so she could catch the train back to Chicago.
Six more weeks of hard work and she will come home for summer break where she will work hard to earn money to go back to college next year. It is a thrilling yet difficult time of life.

She is not a worrier like her mom. Thank God.

In our family, we take turns freaking out and I can't tell you how well this works for us.

Saturday night was the Blessed Sacrament Auction. As you might remember, I was offering a photo shoot and a canvas/standout.

I was worried that no one would bid on my item.

Patrick, was worried that I would be hurt.

We were both calm until we got there and saw that all of the other photographers had samples of their work on display.

I was told clearly that there wasn't going to be room for samples.

Being the rule follower, I did not push it.

BUT once I saw all of the other samples, I sort of freaked out.

Patrick was perfectly calm.

There was only one thing to do.

We drove home and got two samples. Big ones.

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We brought them back and squeezed them in and spiffed up our little display.

Now I could at least rest a bit. My session had a fightin' chance to be seen at least.

(Although, when we returned from our trip to get the samples, there was already a bid on the session which was wonderful to see.)


I tried to busy myself looking at all of the other silent auction items. There were just TONS!

I visited with the other parents and drank my Diet Dr. Pepper (which I brought from home :o)

Patrick wandered back and forth between the silent auction sheet and me.

"There are four bids now."
"It's up to $190."
"I'm hearing great things!"
"It sold for $201."

I was so relieved.

I just wanted it to sell.

The positive feedback was tremendous.

I am so glad Patrick and I raced home to get the samples.
I'm so thankful that he is my better half :o)

(I don't want to slam the organizers of the silent auction AT ALL. They did a fantastic job of organizing over 500 items. I do not think they knew what their space was going to hold when I initially spoke with them about the samples. They really had their hands full and did a great job.)


Just before the auction, Emma and her bff wanted to have a photoshoot!
It's always nice to get some new pictures for your facebook.
So we ran out to the barn for a 30 minute session.

I am still looking thru these and having fun editing them.

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The girls.

Emma is not allowed to wear those pants at Moody.


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Here is Candace! She and Emma are always laughing.


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Emma has always wanted to be taller.


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This turned out cute!


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A little Patrick Demarchelier action here :o)

(He is the photographer who took many of the jumping pictures in Vogue this month.)





Demarchelier also took this utterly gorgeous picture of Diana.

I think he is my hero for taking that picture.



***

So that's what's up in my little town.

A little beauty, a little fun, a little drama.


Can you describe your weekend in three words/phrases?


Encourage one another,
Donna

Saturday, March 21, 2009

I feel bad about my eyes.




I have gotten numerous comments about the sunglasses in the talkie blog.

And honestly, I can not do it without them.

I really, really can't.

So either I don't do them at all or I do them with sunglasses. I feel like I am practicing and just learning how to do them in the first place. Could you just think of them as my form of crawling before I can walk?
Holding on before letting go?



In my minds eye, I am still a fresh faced, slim, kind of pretty, 25 year old.

But when I look at myself in a talkie blog I see this.










But, for those of you who are dying to see me without my glasses.



Here is a little peek.




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I am a gifted eye-crosser.

Thank goodness the wind did not change while I was taking this picture.

phew!









So for now,
in the talkie blog,
I will be donning my sunglasses.

Until I feel better about my eyes.

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Deal?



Encourage one another,
Donna

Friday, March 20, 2009

Five for Friday


1. What types of blogs do you usually read?
2. What kinds of products do you usually buy when you shop online?
3. What kinds of online videos do you usually spend time watching?
4. Besides Friday 5, what weekly memes do you particularly enjoy?
5. Where do you like to go for streaming online music?



***

I have downloaded a few tunes from itunes in the last few days.
I am really having fun seeing what they have available.
It's really quite amazing.

Here are some of the songs I chose;


Follow You Follow Me by Genesis
I Melt with You by Modern English
Paradise By the Dashboard Lights by Meatloaf
Someone Like You by Van Morrison
To Kill a Mockingbird theme by Elmer Bernstein
and
Amateur by Aimee Mann


Do you know all of those songs?

I Melt with You is from the movie Valley Girl and I have always LOVED it.

Someone Like You and Amateur are both background songs from movies.

To Kill a Mockingbird is an option for my website (donnaboucher.com)


I will not put them on a ipod. I hate those things.

I will burn a cd like a normal 50 year old.

Should be fun.

Do you download music from iTunes?

What are you favorite finds?





*********



It's always on my mind. The photography.

Where to shoot. What to shoot with. The light, the crop, the edit.

Always on my mind.

Yesterday we stopped at the edge of town for a 5 minute photoshoot.

I needed to check out the light.



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She is a great poser. :o)



****

Happy Spring!!!

See you in the comments.

Encourage one another,
Donna

Thursday, March 19, 2009



World's longest talkie blog.
Well. Not really. On my imovie I was able to edit 2 minutes out of this video...but I see they have made it onto this youtube.


I guess it's time to get instructed on this app.

(Computer talk for application.)


1. Sorry for the length.
2. We are meeting Alan Waldecker, from Manchester, at 1:30 today for coffee!
3. Forgive me for my poor Spanish conjugation. It's been a few years since I took Spanish.

o,s,t,mus, tis,nt

Not Spanish, but Latin.


***


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Here is a little girl who walked by when I was doing the photo session on Tuesday.

She really wanted her picture taken.

I was delighted to oblige. Look at those brown eyes!

What a cutie!



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This is how we do it, do it.


Fun times around here :o)


Encourage one another,
Donna

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

What a great day!


My senior session went so well.

What a lovely girl! She was comfortable, serene, smart, smiled so easily and looked fantastic!

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Not only do I shoot with natural light.

I shoot with natural wind.




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The angels were there.


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I made her squat!
She's young. She's strong.

And it was worth it, don't you think?

Look at the light in her eyes!!





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What a doll!


****

We saw a little sign of spring, too.
That made both of us happy.

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****

And then, I read something really wonderful just before I closed my eyes.

(I have been reading The Shack and have found nothing of value to share from the book. It is not my cup of tea AT ALL.)

I grabbed Catholic Christianity by Peter Kreeft and there I read this wonderful truth;


"Our task is to preach the gospel. Use words if necessary."
St. Francis of Assisi




And with that I closed the book and said 'thank you, Lord, for a beautiful day....and thank you for the quote for the blog tomorrow.'



Encourage one another,
Donna

p.s. American Idol opinions requested.
p.p.s. Hi Kathee!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

****



Back in the Saddle Again!


I am so excited! After a long winter break, I have a photoshoot today...that is not of Katie. Yippee!

Being a all natural light photographer, without a studio, in Wisconsin, is challenging.

But the calls and emails are coming in and my schedule is taking shape!

Today is a senior session. You know, the graduating kind. Not the elderly kind.

My favorite part is watching sweet clients get comfortable with me and the camera and seeing their beauty and vitality emerge.
It's a real joy!

Beauty actually IS all around :o)


***

We are having a great warm up! Yesterday we stopped at Michael's for some custard after school.






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Today it is suppose to be 70 degrees!

I am going to relish every lovely degree!!!




*****



Hey! It's St. Patrick's Day!


Luck of the Irish to ya.


Are you Irish?
Do you like beer?
Are you wearing green today?


An Olde Irish Wish

May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow
May the soft winds freshen your spirit
May the sunshine brighten your heart
May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you
And may God enfold you in the mantle of His love.




An Irish Prayer

May those who love us, love us;
and those who don't love us,
may God turn their hearts;
and if He doesn't turn their hearts,
may he turn their ankles
so we'll know them by their limping.




Have a blessed day!


Encourage one another,
Donna

Monday, March 16, 2009





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I believe it is quite economical to leave your Christmas wreath up for Three Months.

Amen.



Encourage one another,
Donna