The End of Summer

Danielle:  Hi, Heather and Louisa!  Haven't seen you in a while.  How was your summer?



Louisa:  It's been okay.  I'm kinda bored.  School will start soon, but I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not.



Danielle:  I'm looking forward to it!  I love the projects we get to work on.



Heather:  I love art.



Louisa:  But recess is the best!

The Search for Sulley

Boo heard something!

Was it coming from the closet?

"Kitty?"

"Kitty?"

"Kitty?"

"Kitty?"

"Boo!"

"Kitty!"

"Mike Wazowki!"

"La la la la la la!"

"Boo!"

This story is actually my homework for my Intermediate/Advanced Photography class.  We had to take 12 photos using low light spot metering without using a flash (all manual mode).  Boo followed me home from the Disney store a couple months ago and has been waiting for a chance to have her picture taken.  She has a limited vocabulary, but is naive, curious and loves looking for Sulley (Kitty).  

Hearts 4 Hearts Mosi

I have been waiting for this doll for more than a year.  Hearts4Hearts Girls fans were hoping she would be released during the Summer 2012 release (when Lauryce - now known as Lisa - came here).  There were some delays, and  finally the company announced to their fans that she was on her way to stores a week or two ago.  I've been regularly checking Amazon (since the Target site always says they have H4H dolls, but the selection is never what the web says).  I finally spotted her this week on Amazon, and ordered her right away.  I was lucky, because she was sold out by the evening.  I feel really lucky to see her when I did and was able to decide quickly - there are a lot of fans who will have to wait longer.

I am excited to have another Native American doll in my collection.  My husband's grandmother (mom's mom) was part Indian (Cherokee?), and his father told him there was Indian on his side of the family as well.

She is a really cute doll - even more adorable than in photos. 

I took this photo using something I learned this week in my Intermediate/Advanced Digital Photography class -  how to meter and adjust the flash strength when in a backlit situation.  I'm really glad I know how to deal with that now - will make winter/indoor photography so much easier!  

New Summer Play Clothes

Greta and Melissa got some new summer play clothes earlier in June.  It took a while to find the time to take a photo of them in their new clothes.  This was a "free" project - the fabric came out of the fabric collection, and the pattern was graciously shared by weemedesigns (Barb W.) with those of us who are members of the Heartstringdolls Yahoo! group.

Friday Night's Preakness Celebration

On Friday evening, after work, we met a friend at Chik-Fil-A and then rode to Howard County Fairgrounds, where we caught a shuttle (school) bus to Turf Valley for a Preakness Celebration.
Can you tell what kind of celebration it was?

Here's a bigger hint:

We saw a lot of hot air balloons, but the highlight of the evening is the "Balloon Glow."  It was really cool!

The MC would count "One-Two-Three" and then everyone there would shout "Glow Please!"  And the balloon operators would try to make their balloons glow all at the same time!

We were really glad we got to see it!  If you want to see more balloon photos, they are posted here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlp2000/sets/72157633522224371/with/8755872522/