Long Time, No Post...but the New Camera is Finally Here!

It's been almost a full two weeks since my old camera got sent out for repairs. I felt strange not having it around for those impromptu shots throughout the day. And I just about panicked not having it for all the great activities we've been doing. It's been quite a pendulum swing I guess- there are hardly any photos from the early years of our marriage- it was such a bother to pick up film, get it printed, and then deal with all the prints afterwards. I remember being apprehensive about the cost of a digital camera when they started becoming more common- would it be worth the cost, especially if we weren't "picture-taking people"? We finally got a digital camera shortly before Munch was born, and of course I feel in love with it- the whole instant gratification of being able to see your photos right away just reeled me in! But as I started keeping my camera on hand more frequently (ok, ALWAYS), then came another concern: was I missing out, not being fully present, because I was busy taking pictures? But that concern was resolved during these last couple of weeks. I'm finding that there isn't a big difference to me "in the moment"- and if anything, I'm MORE aware and involved (me and my short attention span...) when I'm keeping an eye out for those "Kodak moments". And without pics, I was SO uninspired to blog (hence, the long span without a new post). So I was thrilled to get my adorable little replacement camera-it's significantly smaller than my old camera, it's waterproof, and come on, the green is fabulous!
So, what have we been up to?
-Last week, I stumbled across some beautiful zucchini blossoms at the farmer's market. I've always wanted to try stuffed zucchini blossoms, so I grabbed a bunch to try. They were incredibly delicious and so much easier to make than I was expecting. I served them for dinner with some bruschetta (those cherry tomatoes out of my garden) and chunks of watermelon:
The recipe I used came from Taste Buddies and it includes a great step-by-step photo tutorial.
-I finally got myself a proper popover (say that three times!) pan after enjoying them so much lately, but not getting nearly the rise when I baked them in a muffin tin. I was thrilled to see the huge puffy domes coming out of my oven!
We've been making popovers quite frequently ever since!
-Munch and I are continuing our letter of the day activities, but I've also been busy making some other fun things:
I printed out wallet-sized photos of some of our family and friends and hung them in a small pocket chart with name cards so that Munch would start to recognize people's names. I've been so happy to find her comparing beginning sounds, mixing cards up, re-matching them, and even trying to sound them out.
Since she's really been curious about letter sounds, I also ordered her this mini pocket chart from Oriental Trading Company. It was a great deal at $7.99 and Munch can work on it fairly independently, which has given me time to tackle all the cupboards and closets that need cleaning!

Today being T day, I busied myself making some apple counting trees out of felt glued onto poster board.
But my favorite project so far is our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom inspired t-shirt. I painted a tree-trunk onto a shirt and used Munch's handprints for the leaves.
After letting the tree dry overnight, we used alphabet sponges to stamp Munch's name down the tree trunk-
and the finished shirt is just adorable! I'm glad I used a brightly colored shirt- it's much cuter than if I'd used a plain white shirt-

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Say Cheese!

Munch loves her Auntie Gina- she ALWAYS sends the best gifts. I thought the bike that Santa brought would be the gift of the day, but once she opened up her VTech Kidizoom camera, nothing else existed. Munch has been carrying this with her everywhere she goes. Actually, it was really cute- she hopped on her bike for a first ride around the waterfront and would stop every so often to take a picture- like a little tourist! She filled up the memory by Christmas evening- more than 400 pictures! It's a terrific camera for kids- A cute, but tough exterior with rubbery "handles" that take drops and bumps well. Easy for little hands to hold. And easy to operate! There are cute frames that you can select, and the picture quality is not bad for a kids' camera. Cousin A. wanted to get his hands on this the moment he saw it- guess what he's getting for his birthday? Here's a little sampling of the pictures Munch took on Christmas Day-



we still need to work on aiming! But she's got an interesting perspective...

Here are a few that I'm guessing were taken by her cousin or other people trying the camera out-