Video of life in the moment

Canon has released the PowerShot SX210 IS, which combines the ability to take great photos & also shoot high definition video. Canon and JuiceBoxJungle sponsored me to write this post, and talk about what shooting video means to my family.If you sign up for JuiceboxJungle, tell 'em Kittencaboodle sent ya! 

I'm a camera junkie.  When we bought our digital camera five years ago, I was seriously pregnant with Little Guy and we had decided it was a better idea to buy a digital camera considering how expensive film processing was and how many pictures we were likely to take with a new baby.  And we were right.  I have tons and tons of pictures, including the very first pictures of the newborn baby Little Guy. 

 

I have shot some really cute videos that were important to my family.  I also try to catch little things, funny situations that really epitomize what our family was like at that moment.  It's been a tumultuous year, and I would be lying if I didn't say that looking at old videos and photos didn't produce a bittersweet feeling, but I have come to accept what has gone on in my life and embrace the positive things that the change has wrought. 

My life with my husband and son has always been semi-crazy and the videos and pictures don't do it nearly enough justice. Our life now is no less crazy than it was before, it's just a whole new form of crazy.  I am content with the direction in which our life is moving.  Life is what it is, and we'll see where it takes us.  I'll try to catch video of it on the way. 

Update to yesterday's list and flowers

Yesterday, Big Guy came home with flowers. Not just any flowers but 12 long stemmed roses for me. Why? What was the special occasion? There wasn't one. He brought them home because he felt I deserved roses and he knew when February 14th arrived, their price would sky rocket. But he wanted to make sure I got roses, "just because".

I was...semi-successful with my list yesterday. I finished 4.5 out of the 7 items on my list, including the getting up and making coffee. Well, 4.5 is better than 0, so it sort of worked. Little Guy got clean and I managed to get some of the family room picked up, but not vacuumed.

Big Guy's Valentine's Day Gift. Dragon Age: Origins, arrived and I decided, since my birthday gift was also a game and I was going to guard the PS3 after its arrival like a dog with one pup, that I would give him gift early. It seems to have been as successful as the series of books I bought him for Christmas. I am going to breathe deeply and thank the powers that be. I'm doing good on gift giving.

End of Class Obama Love

Today is the last day of this month's class.  I'm always ambivalent about the end of class, always second guessing myself.  Did I get through to them?  What did I do well? What could I improve?  What worked?  What needs to be adjusted?  Generally, I'm pretty happy with what I've decided to do. 

Some months I feel really on top of the ball, like I've not only conquered the world but tied it all up with a neat, little bow.  Other months, I'm glad to see the end of it and if I never have a month like it again, it will be too soon.  Then, there are the months that are just blah.  They aren't spectacular, but they aren't horrible either.  They drag on and close with both myself and the students wiping their brows and sighing in relief. I think this month was close to the last category, not spectacular, not horrible and done. 

We watched the State of the Union last night, and, as befits an Obama Fangirl like myself, the man made me give happy, girly sighs when he smilingly threatened the Repubs and promised to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  Big Guy grumped through it because he hates politics.  What else can I expect from a British national though; it's inherent in his blood to hate American politics since we ruined perfectly good tea.  In all seriousness, the man said thought he was done with politics once the election was over. There's a part of me that looks at him and says: "Really?  And you've been married to me for six years?  REALLY?"  Little Guy saw Obama, said his name, and then went and played with his cars.  Apparently just seeing the President was enough politics for his night. 

However, my ADD kicked into gear once the speech started and I got my grading done but completely spaced on the laundry that I needed to get done.  Big Guy's job gave him some money to supplement his wardrobe with nicer clothes.  As irritated as I am with the way they have treated my husband, at least they gave him money to get some better clothes.  I threw the new clothes in the washing machine after the speech and tossed them in the dryer before bed in the hopes that they would smell home-like and be soft and comfortable for Big Guy's day at work.  I am not sure the man realizes how much I love him. 

 Speaking of love, I also got his gifts for Valentine's Day and his birthday next month, though I recognize and accept that they won't hold a candle to my birthday gift from him, The Bioshock 2 Special Edition set.  Even typing those words makes me woozy with anticipation.  I suspect we'll be going to get it as soon as possible (I'm pulling for waiting in line at Midnight to get m copy).  It almost makes turning 31 worth it. 

Seriously, if you don't own Bioshock, GET IT.  I cannot recommend this video game highly enough, particularly for people who enjoy books like: 1984 or Brave New World.  Go, buy it, and know the love that is Rapture. 

Weekend Gamers

Right now I'm sitting on the sofa with Big Guy watching him play Civilization Revolution while I put together my blog entry for today.  Because trailers are not so good at maintaining heat, I am curled up under one of my two Snuggie gifts for Christmas. We're also watching my niece, G, for my sister-in-law. She's adorable, if a semi-picky and extremely slow eater. She and Little Guy are currently ensconced in the front room playing Lego Star Wars 2. Currently, they are on a roll destroying R2-D2 so they can hear him yell.

We're a pretty tech-happy family. We love our PS2 and PS3 and, when console debates begin, of course support our brand of choice. It's really not that difficult, though I do wish Sony had not eliminated backwards compatibility from the PS3. The Playstation series has a lot of great things going for it, not the least of which is the Blu-Ray player that comes with the Playstation 3. And, Big Guy and I are pretty dedicated gamers. The irony is, when I met him, Big Guy hadn't had much experience with video games. I introduced him to my Playstation 2, and the rest is history. He became a video game addict like me.

Little Guy is proving to be a video game nerd like mommy and daddy. Of course, the poor child was doomed to nerd-hood anyhow. He runs through the house singing the Imperial Death March and, for a long time, recognized dinosaurs as "dragons". His preferred weapons are the laser guns, lightsabers, or a sword and shield. He also would prefer to be a Sith lord rather than a Jedi. He can speak some small words in Mandarin and can count to 100 and does so on a regular basis. Not too shabby for a 4 year old. I've been trying to get him to read because he LOVES books, but he's been giving me difficulties recently.

We went to the bargain book store the other day and he wanted a particular Pooh book, a level 2 book which contains higher level words and concepts. I told him that he could have it IF he showed me that he could read it. We went through the first couple pages and except for a difficulty with the word "heart" he read every word on those pages. The booger has been giving me difficulties, not because he's having trouble, but because he doesn't want us to know that he can do it. This ranks right up there with our issues with potty training.

Little Guy just turned 4 and is still in diapers. Everyone is full of advice and ideas, some of which we're going to have to implement in warmer weather. I think, though, that the biggest stumbling block to potty usage, is Little Guy's own determination. He adamantly refuses to use the potty, doesn't want to have anything to do with it, and will tolerate no discussion of using it. If he chooses to, he could probably get this potty training thing down with very little effort.

Instead, he's putting all his effort into avoiding it. When it gets to be spring and summer, I'm unleashing the child on the outdoors in a pair of underpants to try and learn potty time. I think it's going to be a battle of wills. Luckily, I'm bigger, older and have a better concept of patience and time.