A Rainy Day

Even though it was pouring rain today, the Sprouts went outside to play.  Each have their own umbrella, though JK put his aside quickly in order to play with buckets and the like.  FK took the scientific route, making observations and checking out various wet weather treasures like worms.

Before & After

Here's a before and after photo of our oldest Sprout.  I liked the capture and wanted to "rescue" it if possible (I readjusted the camera's exposure at the time but the moment was lost).  I used Lightroom 3 to edit the photo (cropping, camera calibration: portrait, lens correction enabled and preset: Black & White Look 4).  Not sure if I'm happy with the outcome, but the great thing with shooting RAW is that you have more options with post-processing than with JPG.  I'll let the edits sit for awhile and come back to the photo later to see if I'm still happy with the second version.  What do you think?

Musical Interlude: Umbrella/Singin' in the Rain

Ugh. It's raining today and will probably do so tomorrow as well. We had a wonderfully warm week (a high of 20C yesterday!) and the Sprouts spent lots of time outside. Time to pull out the LEGO, games and craft supplies, and maybe have an afternoon viewing of Megamind.

Here's a mash-up to kick off the weekend:

I Wonder What Would Have Happened If...

...Kindles had been around five or six years ago. Would our oldest Sprout and I have visited the library as often as we did back then? Would the same love of books have been instilled in our daughter at that early age if all I ever carried around was a Kindle? Would we have visited the market in the square for our ritual "coffee" after visiting the library? Would I have the same amazing memories that I do today of that time being a stay-at-home parent if I had had a Kindle in my hand?

Just wondering...

When Life Gives You a Lemon...

Sometimes parenting is just plain hard. I'm not talking about getting the Sprouts dressed, fed and out the door on time everyday for school, or helping them come to a solution to which TV show to watch without verbal (or physical) fighting. That's day to day stuff which is most manageable.

Today one of the Sprouts experienced disappointment. It's hard not to bend over backwards to prevent my kids from ever experiencing disappointment. I really, really want to protect them. But they won't learn from it if I do. Instead, I need to teach them that disappointment is a part of life. Accept the disappointment, learn from it and move on to an acceptable outcome.

The scary part is that now I need to be more aware of how I handle disappointment in front of the Sprouts. I'm their role model and have to show them how to find unexpected yet positive outcomes, even when things don't go my way.

The great thing is, a listening ear and a hug goes a long way to helping deal with disappointment, as it did today.

Musical Interlude: Come, People of the Risen King

Rubber Boots + Puddles = ...

...one gleeful little boy.