insomnia and long exposures

Kiddo had a bad bought of insomnia last night - he went to bed at 8:00 but didn't fall asleep until after 11:00 (we had a snow day this morning.  You'd think he would have slept in, right?  Wrong).  While I waited for him to drift off, I blogged, watched the snow fall out the window, listened to the snowplows hard at work, and had fun playing with the camera.  I've never tried long exposures, so last night I rested the camera on the window sill, turned up the ISO and slowed the shutter speed waaaaay down.  The results were a little surprising.

This was taken at 11:00, or thereabouts.  The picture is nothing special - just the view out our front window - but can you believe how much light the camera found???  5 second exposure.  No headlights, no streetlights.  No full moon.  And what is surprising to me is that it picked up color - the blue shutters, red bricks on the porch, brown leaves clinging to the trees. Isn't that cool?!?!?!

Here's what it looked like this morning (blurry, because I switched to manual focus last night and forgot to switch back to auto - the auto wouldn't work in the dark.  Go figure).

Now I'm ready to try again - this is going to be fun!  I really need to get outside and shoot in the air instead of through dirty windows.  If only it were warmer out there...

civilization

Hubby and I were sitting out here in the living room earlier tonight, listening to Kiddo read Mr. Putter and Tabby books - and giggle over them.  One of the best sounds in the whole world.

My watch battery died over the weekend.  I am finding it very hard to function without it.  I feel naked and lost (I just realized that was a TOTALLY random side note).

Anyway...

Last week, my husband and I introduced Kiddo to a computer game - Civilization III.  This may or may not have been a mistake.  He.  Is.  Hooked.  When he wakes up, he talks about Civ.  When he climbs in the car after school, he talks about Civ.  A few minutes ago we were snuggling together, battling his insomnia, and he talked about Civ.

For those unfamiliar with the game, you start as a pioneer in an uncharted land with the goal of creating - and sustaining - an empire.  You build cities, learn technologies, explore the world and discover other civilizations, and compete with them for various resources.  Kiddo rarely plays a game through - given his love of geography, he is far more interested in obtaining maps from the other civilizations and discovering new islands or continents than he is in developing a productive empire.  He could play for hours if we let him.

But we don't let him.  So the other day we played Civ. with his blocks (and ducks) instead.

He quickly began building his empire.

(major bed-head that day)

This is my neighboring civilization under attack.

Apparently I didn't fortify my cities very well, because it wasn't long before I was completely wiped out.

After I had been annihilated, Kiddo got Daddy into the game.

Daddy was smart enough to form an alliance with Kiddo, and then they went on the offensive against an overly aggressive group of ducks.  There were catapults involved in the attack.

The ducks rebuilt out of the rubble, but were much more pacifistic afterward. 

I think that's when Hubby introduced the Vikings so that they would have someone else to battle...

I was in the kitchen fixing dinner while they played.  I loved listening to them laugh and squeal and enjoy each other.  And as I listened, I realized how far Kiddo has come.  Two years ago, he would rarely let us be involved in his play without needing to dictate everything - we were only allowed to play with certain things in a certain way, at a certain time.  We weren't allowed to make any decisions in the play scenario, because he would then loose control.  As I listened to them launch bean bags at block towers and negotiate trade agreements together, I heard Kiddo allowing Hubby to be spontaneous and involved in the game.  He let Hubby participate and make unpredictable decisions.  Kiddo was more able to roll with whatever unfolded as the story progressed, and have fun doing it. 

It was so fun to hear him giggle and squeal and laugh.  To see him let go of his need for control and enjoy playing together with someone and appreciate their ideas and suggestions.  Awesome.  God is good.

bits and pieces {ice, fetch, and geography lessons}

Randomness #1:  I decided to try my first Project 365 this year.

I lasted all of 8 days.  Oops.  Maybe a Project 52 instead?

Randomness #2:  I also decided to start Ashley's perpetual calendar.  So far so good with that one.

Randomness #3:  And yes, we are chopping holes in the ice on the pond so that the fish can breathe.  Four inches of ice.

We have never had ice that thick.  And it's been there for weeks.  And our fish are dying, because we were negligent and didn't get the leaves out of the pond before it froze.  So they're down there decomposing and suffocating our poor fish.  Sniff.  Sniff.  Chopping the ice every day isn't good for them either - the shock waves do something funky to them - but we figured they were going to die anyway if we didn't, so we might as well try.  Pond care lesson learned.  No leaves next year.

Randomness #4:  Wanna see my poor photographer trick?  In the mornings we have harsh sunlight coming through our dining room windows.  This pic isn't too bad, but it can sometimes be blinding (I tried to find a "blinding" pic, but they are always so bad, I delete them right away). 

Enter my high-tech gadget...

Tape a plastic grocery bag in the window, and you get lots of nice, soft light.  Easy peasy!

Randomness #5:  My sister-in-law has a cat that plays fetch.

If you throw it, she'll run after a crumpled piece of paper, bat it around and chase it a few times, and then fetch it back so you can do it again!  And again.  And again.

Randomness #6:  Kiddo and I were busy last weekend working on a project.  I saw this post about making bathtub murals the other day.  Eventually, our mural morphed into a map.  Geography while you shower, anyone?

I copied an outline map and blew it up on a copier.  I cut out the states and traced them on the foam before cutting them out again.  Kiddo was in charge of labeling with the state name and capital.  And sometimes major cities.  Now he wants a world map...

Randomness #7:  Time to crawl in bed.  Hope you have a great week!

binge cleaning

I am a cleaning madwoman today.  Please tell me that I am not the only one who will let the house go until I can't stand it, and then cleancleancleancleanclean.  You'd think I would learn to tackle a few jobs each day, but no - I leave it for a week and then clean for hours.  I went through Kiddo's room today while he was at school.  We'll see if that was a mistake when he comes home. 

This was our drive to school on Friday...

Why there wasn't a delay is beyond me.  The drive was...exciting.  But we made it!  On time, even.

More snow coming tomorrow!

kiddo's new year resolution

Apparently Kiddo has resolved to grow a mustache.

The picture doesn't do it justice.  He will be sporting his new look at church tomorrow - he was using a Sharpie.

I am not ready to dive back into the real world yet.  We have been "cocooning" all week, and it has been so good.  Usually, when the three of us are cooped up in the house together without any definite plans, we drive each other crazy.  But this week has been different.  I have loved being at home with my man and my boy, wearing my new, incredibly-soft-and-static-free pajama pants all day, just hanging out together, eating quick-fix meals, crafting and playing and relaxing.  No whining, no stress, no frustration.  It has been WONDERFUL.  Can't I have just a couple more days??     

christmas craft #3 {salt dough ornaments}

Last Christmas post - I think!

We made some salt dough for a project in Kiddo's class at school, so we decided to make a second batch for ourselves!  I found a basic recipe here.  I combined it with the recipe we got from Kiddo's teacher (hers had spices and a lot more salt), and then quartered  it, so my recipe went something like this:

1 cup flour
1/2-ish cup salt (maybe closer to 1/3?)
3 tsp ground cloves
3 tsp ground allspice
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
enough water to make the dough workable (I'm guessing somewhere around 1/3 cup, but I just kept adding a little bit at a time until I liked how it felt).

Roll out, cut with cookie cutters.  We used a straw to cut out small holes so we could thread them with ribbon later (for hanging).

Bake until hard and dry.  The original recipe said to bake at 325, but several of the reviews said that was too high and resulting in puffy cookies/ornaments.  We tried 300, but our ornaments puffed, too.  I caught it soon enough that I just smooshed them back down again with a scraper and then sandwiched them between two baking stones before putting them back in the oven.  I lowered the temperature, and then pulled them out a little early and let them air dry the rest of the way.  It was not a scientific way to make ornaments, but it worked for us (this time - other experiments in my kitchen have not gone as well).

The next day, Kiddo painted and decorated.

I tied some ribbon on them, and they were ready to hang on the tree.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well they turned out - and Kiddo proudly shows them to anyone who comes to visit.

teamwork

Hubby and Kiddo unwrapping candy canes last week, getting ready for another batch of peppermint bark.

I love watching the two of them together.  :)