I had my birthday party on June 20th. The theme was unicorns. It was very fun. We played “pin the horn on the unicorn” and had a unicorn quiz. We also had a spectacular cake. I said it was the best yet, but Mom said that I say that every year. Here are some pictures:
I had a very fun Christmas. I got a new sled, a “Rainbow in my Room”(it makes rainbows), and some other cool things. But my favorite present was my very own digital camera. It has 8.0 mega pixels and 7x optical zoom! Here are some pictures I took with it:
I love horses. They are my favorite animals. I like everything about them-the way they move, look, feel, sound- everything. I especially love wild horses. Though I have never seen a real one in the wild, I have seen them in pictures. In the pictures, it looks like they are flying. It seems like they can do anything.
If more people knew the truth about bats, maybe they would try to save bats instead of harming them. Maybe they would try to save bats’ homes, too, like bat caves. And perhaps they will even build bat houses, to invite bats to live near them. If people can learn the real truth about bats, they will love them to the very end.
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite This summer, I went to Boston, MA for my Aunt Dawn’s wedding. She married Frank Kumiega. Megan and I were flower girls. Meg had fun. I worried. Here are some pictures.
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite
The following is homework for school: I have a catalpa tree in my backyard. The tree has long, bean-like seed pods on it and lots and lots and LOTS of big leaves. Under all these leaves are branches. Big, small, thick, thin, these branches are everywhere. At the base of the tree, the ground is covered with a pile of mulch. And in late spring, the tree is covered with beautiful white flowers. I think our tree is wonderful.
It’s birthday time again at the Schinker household! Details on how this cake came to be are here.
Posted in Cakes 
I’m back! This poor photo blog has languished for a few months, but today’s Shutter Sisters challenge inspired me to post again.
The assignment today was to explore photographing hands. My mind immediately flew to my favorite hand picture, which I was sure was already posted here. But no! It wasn’t!
When Megan was in pre-school at age 4, I chaperoned a field trip to Carriage Trade farm. On the hay ride, she slipped her hand into mine and I caught my breath when I looked down. This picture reminds me of the simple joys of motherhood.
Posted in People Tagged: Hands, Kids, Photography, Photos 
Yesterday, Kate at Shutter Sisters said, “So tell me, fellow shut-ins and winter-bounds: how do you keep your shutter spirit intact from now through May? What do you see through your lens that redeems this season of exhaust-spattered slushpiles and day after day of stay-puft marshmallow boys?”
Oh, how I longed for a gorgeous winter picture to share. Winter is one of my favorite picture-taking seasons because it’s so MAGICAL! but it was a busy day and I never got around to posting. Then, speaking of magic, we woke up to this!
It was like Christmas morning, literally and figuratively! The first kid up was trying to be quiet, and in that loud whisper the whole house could hear proclaimed, “It snowed! Wow! Look outside! There’s enough to build a snowman now! It SNOWED!” Then they were both were excitedly running from window to window to take in the views. (See what they saw here in my Flickr stream).
So, yes. Fall and winter have their dreary days. And usually this waiting time between pretty fall leaves and pretty crystals is my LEAST favorite time of year. But a gorgeous early snowfall has changed everything. I love living in Ohio!
Posted in Landscape Tagged: Nature, Photography, Photos, Snow, Winter 
It seems appropriate to be talking about change today, a day after the most historic national election in my lifetime thus far. Today’s Shutter Sisters post asks, “What has affected or changed your photography? Is there an image that speaks of the transformation?” Tracey speaks about how Motherhood changed her photography. And yes, motherhood changed my photography as it changed everything in my life. But motherhood also made me even more acutely aware of my desire to document life’s little details.
Photographically speaking, I’d have to say that the 0 distance super macro feature on my beloved Pentax Optio MX changed everything. I am definitely drawn to the little details, and have been for decades. I remember using bus rides to school to look at and really SEE the day-to-day and season-to-season changes around me when I was a youth. But a super macro view of the world really allows all the exquisite details of nature to pop.
Many of my favorite macro shots like the ones here and here and here can be found in the archive of this blog. Today’s shot is yet another example of what my super macro mode can do, taken back in May in my father-in-law’s garden.
Posted in Flowers Tagged: Flowers, Photography, Photos, Super Macro 
