My daughter preparing Valentines for her class. I missed those days of exchanging Valentines in school. So much fun. I can’t wait to hear how the day went as she was hoping to get a Valentines from somebody – anybody. I’m sure she will come back with a backpack full and be thrilled about it.

This weekend I installed the software that came with my Canon Rebel XSI. It allows for editing of RAW photos. I have been playing with various settings on my camera for a few months but haven’t been able to edit the photos since we got a new computer. So I took the time this weekend to set up the software needed to view those photos.

This picture I took at the pumpkin patch during the school field trip. I thought it was so cute that the farm dog was taking a nap in the sun and one of my daughter’s classmates decided to join him. I did a little bit of editing – mainly with one setting to make the picture look older. I will try this setting again – and actually write down what it is next time because I plan to use it for a few other farm pictures.

Our daughter’s school pictures came in yesterday. I always hated picture day and never liked any of my school pictures. Our daughter’s turned out well. She has this faked, force smile on her face – or maybe she is saying ‘cheese’ – either way it is very unnatural. But she is still adorable – fake smile and all. When I showed the pictures to my husband, he replied that it reminded him of himself at that age (shocker since everything our child does reminds him of himself). Now here is the funny part. He said that he would have to teach her how to smile for pictures. Now from the day she was born, she has been the star of 99% of every photo I have snapped. The other 1% – as you can tell from the archives – is of cats and nature. So the girl knows how to smile for a picture. Of course I will have to say that a lot of photos I have of her she isn’t smiling. But she can certainly smile on demand.

It just struck me as hilarious that he was going to teach her how to smile for pictures. She can smile for pictures. Sometimes she does give her goofy smile and then I persuade her to smile more naturally. This I feel is the photographer’s job to get the best smile from their subject. However, I know that school pictures they run the kids through like cattle – so a bad picture is usually the result. Also in my daughter’s defense, I have never taken her to get her photo professionally done. Between the pictures I take and my talented sister-in-law, I have enough professional quality-looking photos of her.

Here is the picture in question. It’s not bad. She still is quite adorable.

Well we have finished the first week of school. Here is our first first day of school photo.

We went outside and took a few photos. It was hot and humid – so my lens kept fogging up. I was really beginning to think it was a bad idea to take photos outside. But a few turned out really cute. This one is my favorite. She’s a natural in front of the camera.

Monday my daughter starts school. She will be in kindergarten and is very excited. I’m very excited, too. I want her day to go very well. On my Facebook page, the wall is full of people taking first day of school photos of their kids. Monday we will take our first first day of school photo.

We will have to take it at home since we aren’t allowed to get out of our vehicle when we drop her off. This will really stall the carpool line if everyone was allowed to get out. Some pictures have kids with their backpacks standing beside the car of waiting for the school bus. We dropped off her backpack with her school supplies already, so she won’t have that school accessory. We may have to improvise. She will have her lunch box, so at least you will be able to tell she is going to school.

We still have a few days to plan out some photos.

My kid loves to take photos. I recently let her us my good camera to snap a few shots. She’s very cautious with it – if she wasn’t then I wouldn’t let take photos. She does seem interested in framing up shots, zooming in, and such. She loves to review the photos, too. I thought about finding a cheap digital camera on eBay for her. She uses my old one but she really needs one with bigger buttons and a rechargeable battery.

When the weather is nice, we may have to take some trips just for photo taking. The zoo is always a good destination as well as local parks. We like to encourage her interests and especially if it is one of ours.

This picture definitely belongs in the ‘kids’ category because it not only has my kid in it but she is holding a baby goat – called a kid. Yeah, Yeah, I know it’s corny. But I love that type of humor.

This is Rae at what we call the goat farm. The farm belongs to family and they have at least 15 goats. One just had this one a week before this picture was taken. Rae’s cousin is helping to hold the goat while I snapped as many photos as possible. This was my favorite as she is almost looking at me.

I thought this was so cute this morning. The little girl sleeping next to her Valentine puppy – both wearing hearts. Yesterday we went shopping for my birthday. One item on my list was a new flash for my camera. But since I wanted something with immediate satisfaction, I decided to go with a PSP. Usually I need a stronger flash every once in a while. I could have used one for this picture. Oh well. Now I do see that even though I don’t need a stronger flash all of time, but I do need one more often than I realize.

I just couldn’t resist snapping a few photos of this. I tried to frame it up so I wouldnt have to do any cropping. I also took the camera off auto since I didn’t want to use the flash and wake either of them.

My daughter got a Strawberry Shortcake berry cafe and roadster for Christmas. It came with Plum Pudding. I don’t know why her playing with the car on the bed reminded me of “Thelma and Louise” but it did. If only they had driven off the edge of the bed then it really would have been just like the movie. LOL

I’m so glad she likes Strawberry Shortcake. I loved playing with SS when I was a kid.