You Capture - Fall

This week's You Capture over at I Should Be Folding Laundry is fall. Fall is my absolutely favorite time of the year. Fall to me means the smell of wood burning, beautiful fall foliage, hot cocoa and warm snuggles. I love fall. Here's some of my favorite fall shots from this past week. The fall here in Germany was absolutely stunning and it was such a joy capturing it. Hope you enjoy it too!

Digital Silhouettes

Recently, okay maybe not recently, a dear friend of mine sent me a care package in the mail. It was absolutely wonderful and thoughtful and amazing. It absolutely made my day week. I wanted to reciprocate the favor, but while I'm crafty at times, I know she has me beat in that department. I wanted to do something I knew she didn't already have or didn't have the time for. So I created some silhouettes of her children for her. These make lovely gifts. Here's how I did it.

Step 1: Find a photo of each subject, preferable a side view or profile view of that person. Enlarge that photo file to fit the size of your template (I'm going to frame mine in 5x7 frames so I wanted to make sure they fit and filled the 5x7 frame). You can size them in anything from photoshop (expensive program) to free programs like picasa, picnik, or GIMP.

Step 2: Once you have each subject scaled to the size you need it, you can go ahead and either remove the background to make it easier on your printer ink or leave it as-is (definitely the easier option). Print each photo on regular printer paper (you want it to be thin and easy to cut through).

Step 3: Find a bit of black poster paper or cardstock and place it underneath your photograph(s). Using a sharp knife, like an exacto blade, slowly and carefully cut through both your photo and the black paper beneath it. Voila!

Step 4: For an added personalized touch, create a 5x7 print with the child's or person's name in a fancy script along the bottom of the print. Adhere the silhouette to the 5x7 print. I used scrapbook squares to attach mine and they worked really well, plus they're acid free. Frame and you have a great and personal gift that any mother would love.

You Capture - Halloween

This week's You Capture challenge is Halloween. I only took about two hundred photos on the day we went trick or treating so this was an easy challenge for me. Here are a few of my favorites:

Linking up to You Capture at I Should be Folding Laundry

Easy Crockpot Chicken Recipe

With my new job which keeps me away from home until well past 6pm, I'm thankful for my new crockpot. It means I can have dinner on the table as soon as I hit the door, and that's a good thing with two toddlers who are often starving and impatient. Here's my latest foray into my crockpottery:

Easy Crockpot Chicken:

What You'll Need:

1 to 2 lbs. chicken breast or tenderloins (I used frozen)

1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings (basil, oregano and garlic powder)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
4 medium potatoes, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

What You'll Do:
Mix salad dressing, seasonings, and cheese together in measuring cup or bowl. Pour half of the mixture into the bottom of your crockpot. Then add your chicken into the bottom, and top with the remaining half of the mixture. Throw in the assorted vegetables around the chicken. Set the crockpot on low setting, and let cook for 6-8 hours, until chicken is cooked and potatoes are tender.

This serves well on a bed of rice or with rice as a side dish. Enjoy!

Halloween 2011

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. It's so much fun to dress up and in this case, watch my children enjoy the season. This year is probably the last where we can tell Drake how to dress. He's definitely got his own opinions about what he likes and dislikes, but we did manage to convince him to go as Luigi from the Mario brothers this time. Link went as Mario and together they were too cute! They had a blast trunk or treating.

Hope your Halloween was just as enjoyable!

20 Week Photography Challenge Week 14

This week's challenge hosted by A Step in the Journey is sunsets. Unfortunately, sunsets around here are often lackluster. I didn't manage to snap the one decent sunset this week due to the fact that my camera wasn't in the car with me, so I'm re-using an old one that I snapped a couple of months back. It really was stunning, so posting it twice is hopefully okay. Enjoy!

Soccer, toddler style

We enrolled Drake into a pre-soccer training camp thing on base. It lasted for eight weeks and they were learning the basics of soccer. They had their last practice this past Monday. I honestly couldn't tell you any single thing specifically about soccer other than you're supposed to use your feet and not your hands. But I'm proud to say that my boy thoroughly enjoyed it and that makes it so worthwhile to me. He wasn't just learning the basics of soccer. He was learning how to listen to other adults, how to make friends, how to be patient, and how to be a good sport. These are lessons that I cherish.

At the end of their last practice they had a fun ceremony where the kids all received a participation trophy (usually I'm against these as it teaches kids that it's okay to be mediocre or that you get rewards in life just for participating, but they're three so I think it's fine for this age) and a certificate. All the kids got different "awards" like bravest defender, best listener, etc. Drake got the Hustle Award for always being first in line and the first to volunteer. I definitely think it fits him.

Besides, I have video of him playing goalie and randomly running off from his goalpost whenever the opposite team came at him so best defender or even adequate goalie were out for him.