Senior Pictures

One of the things I was nervous about this year was senior pictures.  Photography is one of my hobbies, and I thought it would be nice if I could take them myself.  I also have been wanting to rent an expensive camera to see if it might be worth purchasing one down the road.  My aunt, who is a professional photographer, recommended Lensrentals.  They were great!  We ordered the Canon 5D Mark III and - for the lens - the Canon 24-70 mm f/2.8L II.  It came with a strap, hood, filter, charger, laminated cheat sheet, and battery.  We used everything except the filter.  We kept the hood on continuously, as that was the advice I read online.  We had to supply our own memory card, which we didn't know when ordering.  Good thing we had one from our own camera!  We also used our own tripod.

I'm a perfectionist, and pictures are something I really, really care about.  To me, there are two times in your life when you should have professional photos done: your senior year and your wedding day.  (OK, and maybe a few family photos and baby pictures too.)  The problem is that I'm a total amateur who does not enjoy learning my way around a camera.  All the technical jargon in the manual quickly loses me.  I prefer a good auto mode where I like to stay most of the time.

So I was putting a lot of pressure on myself.  We were aiming for late summer/early fall, and just as I was going to order the camera, we got fires that filled the sky with smoke.  I waited for the air to clear.  Then, the weather was hit and miss with rain and cold.  I started to wonder if we'd be able to take them before winter!  I am very sensitive to cold, and my top location of choice was Mt. Spokane.  I knew I'd be shooting a couple hours without gloves, and my hands are particularly sensitive.  Plus, it can easily be 10 degrees cooler up there.  While waiting, I busied myself with researching tips and ideas for poses.

Relying on the 10 day forecast, which I knew wasn't reliable, I finally got the order in.  The camera arrived a day early (no extra charge).  I had counted on having a few days to practice, but we moved up our first session to match the weather.  We scrambled to get ready, and in our rush out the door, small details were overlooked.  Like not realizing how badly Kylen needed a trim . . . and forgetting to remind him to use lotion.  Neither bode well for closeups.

I discovered how difficult it is for me to handle a camera that size, something I'd been concerned about.  I gained a whole new level of respect for professionals who lug those monsters around.  It was tricky to figure out how to hold the camera with my deformed hands (arthritis), and I had to rest frequently.  In fact, Greg took a large portion of the outdoor shots.  I would tell him what I wanted or frame the shot, and then he would take the actual pictures.  When the tripod was used, he attached and removed the camera for me.

Then there was the wind.  It was blowing his hair all over the place, and because he needed a trim, the impact was pretty significant.

We came home, downloaded pictures, and I got a shock.  They were terrible.  Truly terrible.  Mt. Spokane - where I have been dreaming of taking his senior portraits for years, where we have so many family memories, where I have gotten fantastic shots in the past - completely let us down.  There was something wrong with the lighting.  It was a clear sky, but there was a haze over everything.  The color was washed out, and there was shadow.  Even the shots with our own camera turned out bad, so I know it wasn't from using a different camera.  So disappointing!

Riverfront Park was another location I was considering, so we did a session there on a different day.  I had time to give Kylen a trim, and he remembered to use lotion.  Thankfully, some of those turned out well.  In another session, Greg took the camera to get pictures of him playing basketball.  Unfortunately, we didn't remember to find the action mode.  Most of them ended up blurry.  I did a couple sessions at home with him playing piano and video games, wearing one of his production costumes, and holding a basketball.  We probably took around 1,000 shots and got a handful we were pleased with.  Through it all, I was trying to maintain a positive attitude so that Kylen would have good memories associated with his senior pictures.  I didn't always succeed!

I guess I'm glad we did it, but there is a part of me that regrets not having them professionally done.  I will probably always wonder if we would have been better off that route.  It certainly would have saved me a lot of stress, and I would have been just as happy so long as they turned out well.  A professional would have known how to cope with the strange haze on Mt. Spokane.  In fact, he probably would have figured out how to use it to his advantage.

I've been slowly editing, and here are some of our favorites.

September 2017

September had some fun highlights, a lot of school, and a whole lotta Willy Wonka rehearsals!

We were invited to an elaborate Old West mystery party.  Kylen was the sheriff, and Greg was a stagecoach driver!

Kylen came up with this idea, took a pic after mowing, and added a caption.

We attended a high school graduation for an awesome dude.

We were planning to skip Silverwood this year, but a very nice gal blessed us with free tickets on the last day.  And it just so happened to be a beautiful day.

The soup was AMAZING.  Some of the tastiest soup I've had.

Kylen talking to my brother.  We were able to get an extra ticket for him to join us!

We got in an old time photo shoot.

I'm in red, my brother's on one side, and Kylen's on the other.  :)

June 2017

June was busy for a summer month, but it seems that as Kylen has gotten older, our summers have gotten busier.  He finished some subjects in late May but needed to continue others into June and opted to do math throughout the summer rather than buckling down and finishing.  Even though we are fairly strict about staying on track, it has always been a challenge to complete all subjects by summer when we often have only four school days/week instead of the traditional five.  The fifth day has been used for co-op attendance and other activities.  It's been worth it, but it's resulted in doing some schooling through the summer.

The play Kylen and Greg were cast in kept them busy multiple evenings each week, plus basketball one evening when possible.  Kylen also started voice lessons, which I am very happy about!  I've been encouraging him to take voice for several years, because I figured it would come in handy with his interest in music and ministry.  After a year of theater, he realized the value of it!  His instructor is an incredible teacher, and Kylen has noticed great improvement in a short time.

On June 2nd, we got a new niece!  She had a rough start, but when my brother and his wife finally took her home, they also took an incredible testimony.  This picture shows one of the many ways God showed His Hand at work.  The picture on the wall in her room?  Her name is Daisy!

Another graduation!

We attended our co-op's year end party.  Since we haven't been sure whether we'll return in the fall, they honored me with a certificate and gift for my service.  This is where I've put most of my volunteer time the past 10 years, between teaching, serving on the board, and leading in various capacities.  At times it felt like a full time job, because I poured everything I had into it.  This is where we met some of our closest friends, and this is the group of people who have impacted our homeschool journey the most.  The last few years, I've slowly moved toward "retirement" - handing off extra jobs and not taking on new ones.  In a lot of ways, my experience here was similar to being plugged into a church.  I got to know people, learned from them, worked through conflicts, and tried to make it the best place possible for our kids.

We enjoyed a dessert outing with friends.  :)

Here is company trying our Chewbacca mask! (And he wore it quite well, I might add!)

Something shocking and sad happened.  A relative who had just graduated from college, healthy and in the prime of life, was killed with her fiance in a car accident.  They lost control during adverse weather conditions, skidded across the highway, and hit a semi head on.  Both were killed instantly.  I never got to meet her fiance, but she was one of the happiest people I have ever known.  I had just seen her a few weeks prior at her sister's wedding reception, which made it all the more shocking.

You will be missed, sweet Debbie!

I posted about Father's Day here.

Kylen and I had another mother/son lunch outing.  This is a place called The Well Coffeehouse.  It's a cute place, and they specialize in healthy food, which I appreciate.  The problem is that they chop their veggies so large, Kylen and I didn't enjoy the sandwiches we tried nearly as much as we could have.  The ingredients are fresh, but it would be nice to get a bite of veggie, meat, and sauce together instead of just cucumber or tomato or sprouts.  We also did not care for the healthy drinks we tried.  I have a few healthy drink recipes that we love, so I know it's possible to make them taste good!

Kylen waiting for me to get back to the table.

I had a fantastic lunch with a friend at Beverly's in CDA.  When Greg and I ate dinner there 10 years ago, we didn't think the food was worth the price.  But my friend had been there for lunch and liked it.  In fact, it was one of the best healthy lunches I've had at a restaurant.  This was the "British Columbia Salmon Skewers" with jasmine rice, soy glazed broccolini, and hoisin-ginger vinaigrette.  They came by with a selection of warm bread/rolls to choose from, and we also shared a cute pot of coffee with all the fixin's.  Oh!  And their Caesar salad was excellent!!!

I will be doing a separate post about Greg and Kylen's awesome experience with Liberty Lake Theater.  It was a big part of June, but it didn't end until mid-July.  :)

May 2017

May was a full month with many events.  The CYT production of Snow White and the Prince went into full swing.  That took up a lot of Kylen's weekends and caused him to miss numerous events he normally would have attended, including three graduations, a birthday party, wedding reception, writer's conference, and I don't know what all.  Apparently, this is only an issue in the spring since I don't remember it being a problem the last two productions.  So I decided not to allow him to participate in the CYT spring show next year.  Otherwise, he'd probably miss his own graduation!

Co-op ended, bringing my art appreciation class to a close and freeing some of my time.  Greg and Kylen auditioned at our little local theater, and both got parts!  It is very exciting, as Greg hasn't been in a play since first grade, and Kylen ended up with lead role!  Performances begin early July.

We started the month with attending my niece's birthday party.  :)  I posted about it here.  She's at that age when she's rapidly turning into a young lady.  Before we know it, she'll be grown!

While eating at Red Robin, we were blessed unexpectedly by strangers.  A waitress came over and handed us this gift card, saying someone requested she give it to us after they left.  It was generous, enough to almost cover our meal.  It warmed my heart and reminded me of all the kind people out there.  :)

I posted about Mother's Day here.

A good friend tried a new tea house with me!  We had a wonderful afternoon, and I'll definitely be going back!  More pics here.

I posted about an awesome annual fundraiser for a crisis pregnancy center here.

We went to a graduation (without Kylen, of course).  Twas that time!

Pay attention to this guy's name.  He'll probably be famous someday.  Super bright, talented, ambitious, and about to publish his first novel.  Kylen met him through a Christian teen writer's group.

Funny.  No, really, it's not haunted!

Had a sweet late night ice cream date with friends to get an early start on Greg's birthday.  :)

For the actual day, we made a trip to Missoula for a wedding reception.  I posted all about it here. There's probably too many food pics, but I couldn't help myself.  Food is a serious passion!

We're always happy to see these lovely people.  :)

Kylen's CYT class had its final showcase.

He was one of many to be honored for completing all the core classes.  Kylen was the oldest, but that's because he didn't start until this year.  I'm super proud of him for trying something that many students begin at age 8.  Next year, there will be more choices open since he'll have the core classes out of the way.

That's it for May!!  June should be more calm.