Camera Phone Part 4 - In the Moment

One of my greatest wishes in life would be to have a camera behind my eyes so that when I did my special blink the image would be saved and I could download it to the computer later. (This and having little flashlights in my fingertips so that I could just 'snap on' a quick light whenever I need it but that's another story.) My camera phone was about the closest to this wish I'll get in this life and that was probably the thing about it I liked most because then those moments when the few seconds it would take to grab my camera would have been the difference between getting the shot and losing it.

 I've noticed that a lot of these shots involve Samuel...it's because babies move so much and don't really care whether or not you capture their antics on camera (slightly inconsiderate if you ask me ;)

 This also seems to be true for dogs too...The above shot is one of my favorites. I was making dinner and turned around to see both of them staring at me like this. Boys and dogs - they will be where ever the food is to be found.

 And then there was the time Samuel's little play mat went all Venus Fly Trap on him. I walked around the corner and there where his legs just hanging out there. I laughed, took a picture then peeled back the play thing to see his slightly bewildered expression. (Once again wish I had camera in the eyes so I could have showed you that picture. *sigh*)

Camera Phone Part 3 - Forgot My 'Real' Camera

The truth of the matter is this - I almost always pack my camera and take it into town with me whenever I go and I rarely have need of it. Of course there are those occasional days when we are rushing out of the house and I completely forget to grab it. I'm pretty certain every single time I've forgotten to take my big camera there has been something I want to take a picture of.

 Like this time the craft for the day was to frost sugar cones and decorate them with candies.

 Things like this just can't be forgotten so have to photographed somehow - especially since the end product won't be around for the budding artist to reflect back on. (I mean look at how proud Liberty is of her little sprinkle star - she put a lot of effort into figuring out which candy would stay there - it was totally the highlight of the tree for her.)

 And then comes time to eat the masterpiece. (Because for about ten seconds I was considering letting them take them to Mycal's office like we always do after craft time but then I thought about that much green frosting in the back of the car for the five minute drive and I decided that they must be eaten before we left.)

Amazingly enough they were much much messier than these pictures depict but at that point I had to make sure I got them cleaned up before irreversible amounts of green frosting made it into all manner of clothing.

 Then there was the time that Emmuska found her first ever caterpillar on the playground. She was so excited about it and it was the caterpillar that kicked of saving every single one we found for the rest of the summer in jars and other various containers.

 After 'rescuing' this caterpillar and helping him find a new home in the tree we went on to scour the playground for more caterpillars in need of similar aid. Considering that neither Mycal or I willing to touch bugs I don't know where she gets this ability to just go up and handle creepy crawlies but she rarely hesitates.

And then there was the day where the sun was just perfect to take these shadow pictures. I took my camera frequently before and after this day but obviously not on this day...which happened to be the only sunny Thursday for quite a stretch of time. I was intrigued by the shadow their hair cast. Liberty for it's adorable little girly-ness and Emmuska for it's absolute crazy and staticy-ness. I mean it's not everyday you see hair that long practically standing straight up.

Camera Phone Part 2 - Clever Product Use

One of the things I loved about having my camera phone was being able to take pictures of ideas, items or store displays that I thought were fun without looking like a complete dork. I mean I'm sure I looked like a dork standing there with my phone buy I could almost pull it off like I was reading a text right? Anyhow here were a few of the things my phone and came across that we thought were fun.

'Cause who can pass up a giant teacup with tulips? The moment I saw this I wanted to somehow use it in my craft room as an organizational tool...alas I couldn't think of how and at the time I saw it we were living in a tiny one bedroom apartment so I didn't really have a craft room. ('And I don't really need a duck...' yeah it was one of those moments...) Long story short I never got it and even if I had I'm still not sure what I would have done with it. But I still think it would have been fun.

This little idea was in a catalog that I was skimming while getting the tires changed (so funny that I remember exactly where I was reading it but forget things like taking dinner out of the oven or putting soap in the washing machine - my brain functions like no one else I've ever met...) and it looked like a fun festive thing to do with the girls. I still haven't but I've thought about it a lot.

The commissary always has these awesome soda box murals set up above where one would get a cart. They've done things for movie releases, local sports teams, major sporting events and of course holidays. I'm always impressed by the marketing people behind these things.

This also caught my attention. It's not that I'm really that into football but I thought the idea was clever.

Bonnie this is for you. Close to your 18th birthday I was looking around for a great present for you and I cam across this purse which I thought would be absolutely perfect...until I picked it up and looked at the price tag at which point I had to put it back. But then I thought if I took a picture I could send that to you instead and you know that at least I was thinking about you (only we both know how good I am on follow through when it comes to that...but that's a different story ;) Anyhow - Happy Birthday!

I have also taken pictures of many book or movie titles so I would be able to remember what I was looking for either online or at the library as well as taking pictures of crafty/marketing ideas I thought would be fun to try out.

Camera Phone

My deepest apologies for the long absence. It's not that I've forgotten how to long into blogger or decided that blogging just isn't for me it's just been insanely busy the last few months (year(s)...) Aside from trying to pull my life back in order from a very busy summer and having to deal with a few home malfunctions I suddenly found myself in the midst of a couple of large and unexpected projects. (I take full credit for one of them but the other I'm blaming Mycal for entirely...) We also enjoyed a family trip back to Utah but nothing make time disappear faster than a vacation so alas my poor blog has been neglected. However in a valiant effort to break that streak I thought I'd at the very least post one picture tonight.

Perhaps a little explanation is in order. My phone died. More accurately Sam-Attack got the better of it. In any case it's ability to make and receive calls is no more and almost as sadly as that is the fact that it is also no longer able to take pictures.

The camera on my phone was an invaluable resource always handy to take those pictures that would have been lost without it. At first I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get some of my pictures off of my phone but yesterday when I experimentally plugged it into my computer I was blessed with a file chock full of pictures that lit up my day with fond memories.

So in honor of my valiant phone that survived the drool of not one but two children, many drops, a few encounters with unknown elements and many other perilous hazards in order to always be at the ready when I needed to make an imperative call (some days just hearing an adult voice can be a true sanity saver) or take a random picture I wanted to post some of my favorite pictures taken on my phone over the next couple days.

Some of these pictures will need no explanations:

And some of them might:

Some where the only way I could capture milestones:

Or remember information I knew I would need later:

The thing about each image I will post is that each one makes me smile every time I see it and the only reason I have it is because of my camera phone.