It took us 11 years to get back into our camping groove so it'll probably happen eventually for you and Michaela too!

It was here: http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/parks/parksarticle?contentId=c1128a77d9784010VgnVCMP230004adc4a92____ :) Donna

You say that my words during the experiment "nudged" the girls to wait but I disagree. My girls completely understood that they could stop the experiment at any time by choosing to eat one of their treats. They knew that there was no right or wrong choice as far as Mommy was concerned so their only incentive to wait was simply to get the 2nd treat. My "no touching" admonition wasn't meant to discourage them from eating the goodie and I don't think they perceived it that way. It was simply reinforcing one of the rules that we agreed upon at the start of the experiment. It's funny that you are sure Gwen would have failed because I know her much better than you do and I remain almost certain (even today) that she would wait all day if there was a guarantee that she'd get two candies instead of one. Thanks for commenting though! It was fun to go back and watch the video! :)

Thanks, Lisa. It's been a hard week. I was composing this post when I got the phone call about my Dad passing away. Everything's been a blur since then and getting this posted feels like a step back towards normalcy. I love that photo of Gwen with the umbrella and it would be such a shame if I never finished the post. It seems like I never have time for facebook and I really thought it would be easier to keep up there than on the blog but I kinda miss the blog. If I really do return to blogging, I'll have to figure out how to deal with the guilt of rarely visiting other blogs though. Weird how life just got busy in so many other ways and squeezed out the stuff I used to LOVE to do!

Yeah, the one on one time is pretty special. Michael was an only child until he was 16 and I guess I just took for granted how much easier it is to only have to focus on one child. There are real advantages to having a sibling but there's really no denying that our kids suffer a little bit when they constantly have to share the attention of their parents.

Sometimes, I'm shocked at how grown up my babies look! I think I can actually see what they'll look like as adults now. I tried to do that with my son and never really could imagine it but I sure can with the girls.

Not according to the little boy at the bus stop this morning. He insisted that I couldn't possibly be her mother. She told him I was her mom and when he didn't believe her, she looked at him like he was an idiot. ;)

Oh, she likes bread crumbs too. Especially when they're smeared with peanut butter! ;)

I used an inexpensive umbrella light. I also had some nice light from the window but it really wasn't enough so the umbrella light was a "must".

I used an inexpensive umbrella light. I really should have used two because that black background just sucked up all of the light in the room. I turned the light around backwards so the umbrella diffused it and I put it up as close to her face as possible.

I've tried that psychology too but it's not working for me anymore. When my son was little, instead of saying "cheese", I'd ask him to say something boyishly disgusting (like "poop" or something like that). It cracked him up every time! But this doesn't seem to work on my girls (thankfully!). If Andrew is taking the photos, I usually put on a clown act behind him and the girls respond well to that. But if I'm the one taking the photos, I don't know any new tricks for engaging them. For a while, I could ask them to laugh and they would and that was usually enough to get them really giggling but now they just go through the motions of fake-laughing and it looks pretty pathetic. Ugh. I need ideas!!

Thanks so much, Wanda, for letting me know! I thought I changed it but I guess I didn't. Darn it! I went back and added a new link. :)

I've used my ironing board for this purpose too! Photography moms have to be resourceful! Gotta laugh though because I don't ever use my ironing board for the intended purpose! :)

I get my best photos if I "anchor" my girls to one spot by having them sit or lean on something. They still move around but, at least, I don't have to chase them! :)

I used push pins to hold it on the wall. I actually ironed it while it was hanging there! :)

You just have to jump in and start playing around with it! I still have much to learn!

Must be the genes! ;)

It was really fun, Marilyn! Seems like these years are just flying by. Hopefully we'll make it down to So Calif soon and we'll see if we can get together before the 6th reunion. :)

I'm usually not creative enough to blend actions either. But with limited black and white actions to choose from, it occurred to me to blend a couple of them together! ;)

I don't think I've ever blended two actions together (at least not from different authors). In this case, I loved the PW action but it was too cold and the Luxe action was too warm. Blending them was a no-brainer. ;) I never use the actions "straight out of the package". I always tweak them to suit my photograph. They're one of the best Photoshop tricks though!

I love Autumn too!!

Those two actions are my current favorites. Pioneer Woman's free actions are probably best for you since you seem to like the cool tones of pure gray instead of the sepia tones. And did I mention that they're free? ;)

Thanks! She takes my breath away all the time!

I have a really awesome thing called Easy Batch Photo. I can't remember if it's free or if it's just really cheap but it's TOTALLY worth it! I can resize my photos and apply a watermark or frame to them with just one click! I think the frame I created had some problems around the border because you shouldn't be able to see that. I think I must have accidentally feathered the edge when I cropped it. I need to fix it but don't know when I'll have time. Ugh! :)

Hee hee.... It's my best circus trick. I could travel from city to city with it!