RoyalMom

I just pulled the nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED lens out of the box and immediately slapped this bad boy on my camera. OH.MY.GOD!!! The speed, the sharpness. I put it to auto at 2.8, just to test it out and wow. The 200mm is going to be so nice for being able to get some distance with the subject.

200mm, from across the livingroom (this is how they sit on the sofa together).

On these three, I was sure the lens was shaking badly from my hand-held position, but the VR (vibration reduction) worked beautifully!

AHHHHHHhhhhhh! The clarity and bokah from such a distance. Can I be in love with a lens? I think I might be.

Its difficult to use such a big lens inside. A little simon at play.

We had our first predator attack today and our favored red chicken was found dead behind the coop. Everything was fine just a short while earlier when I was out taking pics. She, of course, was at my ankles the whole time so I didn't get any pics of her.

Something was amiss when I opened the door to give them some food scraps. no chickens came to my call, and I could see two hiding under a tree. Another was in the coop and two were missing. The red was lying dead behind the coop in a shroud of pulled feathers. I could tell from the peck damage around the neck it was a hawk. When jason came out to find out why I was blubbering at his office window, we both saw the hawk flying off with a trail of wild birds chasing it out of the area.

Thankfully, I did find the 2nd missing chicken hiding behind another tree. And they are all in the coop now.

This red was a feisty one, I had to show some alpha toughness a few times. She pecked me on the foot a few times and I held her to the ground by the neck to show her that was not acceptable. Nevertheless, she was ALWAYS the one to run to me and stay by my side. She took it for the team and I'm sad.

Since I shared pics of the chickens and the cat, I thought I'd better include the dog. I was testing the new lens on the D70. aperture priority chose a shutter speed of 1/13sec! I was hand holding the 3 pound lens for this shot and got sharp focus...granted there were about three others out of focus. haha!

Our dog Luke.

This was our first time doing a gingerbread house, and I must say the ready-to-assemble kit is right up our alley. It was a gentle introduction into the tradition and the kids repeated many times how much fun it was! We'll have to do this again for sure! Maybe we'll even bake our own gingerbread one of these years.

Remember our gingerbread man travels to Germany and back? Well we got to all meet in person today! It was just like we've known each other forever. The kids had a blast running around together and the restaurant was very accommodating to our wild brood. As you can see by the pics, we weren't shy about checking out the river view from the window. Fortunately the lunch crowd was dwindling down and the back wing was just us.

Sweet Caleb.

The big kids.

Xander and Emily, our "spirited" angels:)

Simon and Hannah must be the most relaxed, type B babies ever.

The gingerbread man makes a final appearance! Meghan does an amazing job of balancing the falling baby without compromising the integrity of the takeout box. She will make a good mom some day, for sure. haha!

Sean and Hannah

Kelly and me pretending we don't have a flurry of wild children running around us. Thanks for the great pic Sean:)

A little iSight photo of me and my littles. Hi!

Buried alive in clutter.

I've been feeling VERY tired and not so healthy these days with restless baby nights. But we finally dragged ourselves out to pick up a Christmas tree. We've debated the real versus fake for the last few years and last year finally tried out our first fake tree, obtained free from someone else. It was huge and cumbersome and tedious to assemble. We dropped it off at Goodwill the day after Christmas.

This year again with the debate, we almost bought a real one until we found the cutest little fake one at Target. Its placed in the back, behind all the pricier ones. Narrow and a cinch to fold out. It packs into a tiny box, yet stands 6 feet. The best part...$13.99! The frugal girl that I am is absolutely giddy!

We had it up in about 30 seconds and decorated in 10 minutes. Its not something out of Martha Stewart Living but it good enough for our low standards. hahaha! So far it seems Simon isn't too interested in yanking it apart.

Luke decided to sit nicely in the tree shot.

had to add a close up of the freaky, retro doll angel on top. its a tradition for us:)

Monday...vegetable lasagna
Tuesday...Turkey, veggies
Wednesday...leftover turkey sandwiches
Thursday...enchiladas (with more leftover turkey maybe?)
Friday...homemade pizza
Saturday...grilled cheese and tomato soup.

I have to work on Christmas, so Santa was kind enough to come a day early. It looks like a retro little people explosion! We've got the garage, village, house, castle, airport and playground. a gazzillion people and cars and accessories. and the wrapped gifts include Go-bots, Transformer, games, guitar and Batman car:) Simon got one gift from his brothers. We figure he doesn't care yet and he can go crazy on all the little people stuff. Woohoo! I hope the kids have fun in the morning.

Its a week for soups. Three nights this week!

Monday...Texas chili we got for Christmas, ready to cook, in a jar
Tuesday...Chickpea burgers, sweet potatoes
Wednesday...lentil stew
Thursday...crock pot split pea soup
Friday...oatmeal pancakes, applesauce
Saturday...whole wheat spaghetti and tomato sauce, veg

Plus a little extra homemade goodness: zucchini bread, banana bread, guacamole