We Went Wii Wii Wii

Blake's parents got him a Wii for Christmas this year, and it's one of the funnest gifts ever. I got Karaoke Revolution to go along with it, and we sang and sang and sang. Not necessarily well, but we sang our hearts out. The alcohol really helped our ability to sing. I swear.

I also got Wii Fit Plus, and I'm working on my hula hooping and stepping skills. I am finding that my balance, coordination, and rhythm are not good. Pathetic really.

Cooper got a bike, a blue tractor with a loader and a wagon, and a crocodile pillow.

Evan got a kitchen, a kitty (fake, not real - Cooper's allergic), and cute clothes.

Blake got a Smith and Wesson 9 mm pistol (and I'm the greatest wife ever - and he can't hold the camera purchase over my head anymore).

Santa was good to us this year.

Funny Glasses

I loved this picture of Evan the minute I took it. Something about the joy you can see on her face, and her eyes can't even be seen.

But, before I could really share this pic, I had to clean it up a bit. That's where Elements comes in...

You see, Evan was just a tad bit dirty when this picture was taken. That just won't do. So, I used the spot healing brush and cleaned her up a bit. Then I added a vintage photo effect to the photo and feathered-in a black layer. Ta da!

I like this version much better.

Granny and the Candy

We were at Van and Cheryl's last night, and Emma decided she wanted to remove her red nail polish. She used a cotton ball and left it on the bathroom sink. If you've ever seen a cotton ball after you have used it to remove finger nail polish, you know it takes on the color of the polish. Cooper didn't know this.

Cheryl went in and used the bathroom. She saw the red cotton ball and threw it in the toilet. Before she could flush the toilet, Cooper walked in. He wandered over to the toilet and looked in (like all three year old boys do) and made an observation. "Granny," he said, "You pooped a candy!"

I thought Granny really would poop a candy as hard as she was laughing.

Layers

I bought Photoshop Elements 6 for Blake a couple of years ago as a father's day present. He was always messing with landscape and wildlife pictures he had taken in our Kodak software, and I wanted to upgrade for him. I don't think he's used Elements except maybe once.

I have been afraid of it. It's pretty complicated and I wasn't sure how to use it. I could do graphics on it (I made the header of the blog with it), but I was scared to use it when in it came to pictures.

Then I found The Pioneer Woman: http://thepioneerwoman.com/. She's a woman who was from the city, met a cowboy, got married and had lots of babies, and now they all live happily ever after on a ranch in Oklahoma. She cooks and homeschools and takes lots and lots of pictures. She has these contributors on her website, and they have all these tutorials about using Photoshop. I am learning to adapt some of their instructions for Elements since I don't have the full blown version of Photoshop. I am learning slowly but surely.

I made Cooper and Evan's birthday invites with Elements. This year's Christmas card was made in Elements after I figured out how to fade black around the photos.

And now, I am learning more about layers. Here's what I did to a pic of Cooper this morning. It started out as an average shot of Cooper with his face painted...

And then I added a layer, made it black and white, then used the eraser tool to erase the color in Cooper's eyes and on the snake...

Cool, right? I know, it's nothing you haven't seen before by someone else. But, I did it. After having the program for two years. It is an accomplishment, I promise.

Potty All The Time

You've heard the song that goes, "She likes to party all the time, party all the time, party all the time," right? I think Eddie Murphy sang it.

Well, that tune plays in my head each time Evan goes in to the bathroom and grabs her Sesame Street potty seat and says, "Eee". (She goes in to the bathroom and grabs her Sesame Street potty seat A LOT.) Except, the song goes, "She likes to potty all the time, potty all the time, potty all the time."

She seems so very happy on the potty.

Go figure.

Christmas Card 09

I have never ever never sent out Christmas cards. I never had the time. I never had the energy. I never really cared. Insert another excuse here.

But now I have two little darlings that I like to show off each and every time I have the opportunity, so for the first time ever, Boxley family Christmas cards were mailed.

Option 1 was good...

But Option 2 (I like to call it "Naughty and Nice") was the winning version...

I'm hoping next year they'll cooperate and I can get a picture of them together. But, I won't hold my breath.

I'll Just Say Coyote

Cooper can't say his f's. We're working on them, and starting tomorrow, the speech language pathologist at the school is going to officially start working on them. (And his k's, g's, l's, etc.)

His f's sound like t's. Frog is trog. Fire is tire. Fart is tart. You get the idea.

The other day, he swore he saw a fox. In his words, a tox. Blake and I were both telling him, "Bite your bottom lip and blow air out and you'll make the f sound".

He tried and he tried. He kept trying, but wasn't successful. Finally, he said, "I can't say tox. I'll just say 'coyote'."

Whatever.