The Year 2012....in review.

Click on the link for the Year in Review.
http://animoto.com/play/td1pVlXKF5IxuJJSrMrdLg

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!

Favorite Photo Friday

Her Majesty and her little Royal Highness.......

...are looking a tad bored.

Could it be that dressing up, pretending and preparing to collect wicked amounts of candy and treats for Halloween is getting......

...oh....I hardly say it (insert top of hand to forehead with eyes drawn upward)

old, tired, passe.

No, it couldn't be, could it?

Or maybe it's one too many "ok...hold it, just one more......click".

Do you suppose? 

Well.....I'm happy to announce that once the sugar high kicked in.....

......all was well with the world again!

Whew, good thing. Otherwise I'd be left to play all by myself.

(smile)

xoxo

(Be back in a few days for more dress-up.)

 

Sunday Snapshot "A visit to the Pumpkin Patch"

Once again, the time arrived for our annual Pumpkin Patch visit. We were later than usual this year so there were not many left on the ground but it was still fun to watch the girls running through the field in search of the perfect pumpkin.

Each year when I look back, I'm a bit blown away by just how much the girls grow and change. This was last year's visit to the same spot.
 http://atlastmilanascominhome.blogspot.ca/2011/10/tuesdayaround-world.html

I visited my friend Helen's flower shop this week where she had some beautiful and unusual arrangements made. This was one of my favorites. I'm not an "orange" lover but this flower is so amazing to me.

(As is this one!)

Nikon D300, Lens 50mm 1.4, f/3.5, 1/125 shutter speed,iso 200 (very late aftenoon, cloudy day.)

Hope everyone found their perfect pumpkins this year.
xoxo

Sunday Snapshot

Hi! It's me......I'm back.....from the land of "too much to do, think I'm on over-load, need some time-out and where did I go?" (Ever been there? Yeah...I thought so....it felt kind crowded there....) 

'K....nough said.

So.....I thought I'd post some recent pictures. We were driving home from school and grocery shopping and passed the park where I spotted a sun flare. (And just happened to have my equipment with me as I'd had a shoot on location that day.)

And it didn't take long before my two nut-balls were hamming it up.

I mentioned the last time I blogged that I'd post some pictures of the kids fooling around on same stage where Steven Tyler had performed this summer. I didn't get back here till today. And I hate strongly dislike saying I'll do something and not doing it (I said I dislike doing it....didn't say I didn't do......catch the difference?)

So...here are those pictures from August. Dahlia acting like Miss Diva and Milana (aka Miss Wild Thang) doing an amazing impression of Elaine 

(circa: Seinfeld).

Nikon D300, Lens 50mm 1.4, F/stop - 1.8, Shutter 1/200,ISO 200

It's definitely fall around here and I feel like I'm finally coming up for air. I've spent way too much time with my nose in this screen (building my website: www.wandamalfara.com and trying to finish my photo blog attached to that site as well as tweaking my branding and marketing.....puff,puff. Almost done and beginning to feel human again). (How's that for a run-on sentence?)

Have a wonderful week!

xoxo 

Sunday Snapshot - "My girls"

Nikon D300

lens 50mm 1:4

F/2,ISO 200, Exp. 1/250

After a week where I felt like I was chasing my tail and getting nowhere fast, by Friday evening, I really needed a change of pace and scenery.

So.....I dropped everything, put a note on my computer saying 

"I'm outta here baby", grabbed my camera and the family and headed to the park. It was about 6:00 pm and we had the place to ourselves again. (We're late eaters....it's just the way we roll.)

So....in between jumping and swinging and running....I was able to grab a picture or two.

OK....so, I admit.....this one scares me a bit. We were just wandering near the water below, down this little path and I said - "turn around babe" and this is the look I got.

And then this one.

And to restore my vision of my little monkey baby girl - she just as quickly jumped into this tree and I was thankfully brought back to the present reality.

And not to be outdone.....my second monkey had to have her turn.

( I have some really fun shots from our little outing that I'll post on Tuesday. The girls pretending to be performing on the very stage where Steven Tyler and Aerosmith had their outdoor concert a few weeks ago......just a mile from our house.......yes....that's what I said.)

I posted this (below) on Facebook this week. Thought I'd share it here too.

Something special happened tonight. After a week of (mama pulling her hair out) the girls fighting more than loving - this mama was getting a tad discouraged with the whole scene. After dinner tonight the girls were both enjoying a Toblerone

chocolate bar each and as Dahlia was about to pop the last triangle into her mouth....she dropped it!....On the floor!!! (Oh horrors.......had Daddy not been around we may have enlisted the 5 second rule but alas....that did not happen.) Wailing pursued as I rolled my eyes and wondered how to fix....yet another earth-shattering trauma. Then.......a little hand reached out and offered Dahlia her very last piece of chocolate. Dahlia gleefully grabbed it, took a tiny bite and handed back half of the last piece that Milana had offered her.

Peace is now restored and I have suddenly forgotten all the drama/trauma of the week. It's all good!

This was Dahlia's face the very moment I mentioned "hey.....let's go get some chocolate".

Happy much?

Joining Stef and the other photogs. Check 'em out!

Have a fabulous week!

That's my plan.

Sunday Snapsho t- "Birds and the.......flowers!"

Besides kids and art, music and flowers, food and eating(....wait...I'm thinking) decorating, sunshine and photography and lot of other stuff.........

......I also love.....birds. I just find them fascinating. 

I mean, have you ever wondered just how many feathers cover their bodies? And....what the heck are they thinking about when they cock their head and stare you right in the eye?

There were dozens of these birds all over the floor when we visited our little nature park greenhouse.....almost stepped on a few.

And for awhile...the place was quiet with almost no one else around. I almost felt like I was trespassing on their turf.....so I was happy they let me stay awhile and cooo to them as I clicked away.

Ok....so maybe this one was starting to tire of the visitor with that big black thing beeping and clicking away.

So...I gave my feathered friends a break to capture some of the fauna and flora......which was equally fascinating.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 28-75 mm f-2.8 macro
75mm
f 2.8
1/125
Metering center weighted
 

Hoping everyone has a wonderful start to the new week.

Stop and smell the flowers this week....and look up....you might just see a little bird flying by.

Don't miss it!
xoxo