Happy Birthday!

This guy turns 43 today! Hope you have a happy day! Love - your wife

The Big 4-0!

Happy Birthday to my brother Rob! Have a great day!

Another New Experience

The school had a cross country ski invitational this afternoon...so I thought I'd try shooting that sport today. I had quite a few focused tight ski shots! Not bad for my first time out!

On the Ice

I'm working on my first "real" news article for the parent blog at Calvin's school. It will contain several interviews along with my photos. Up until now, I've only done short little paragraphs with photos.

Cal's school joined up with two other schools in the area so they would have enough girls to make up a hockey team. I'm profiling the three girls from our school who play on that team. Tonight I went to a practice and shot nearly 300 photos in one hour! Shooting hockey was a real learning experience for me. Of the 300, about 20 shots were worth putting aside for possible use in the article. The rest have been deleted, or set aside because they're good, but they don't have "our girls" in the photos. I'll look them over later to see what I might learn from them.

Another Project

Never to be without a construction project, the Kosmatka family moves on to removing the basement floor with a jackhammer, then pouring a new, and more importantly, level, floor.

Bring on the Extra-Strength Tylenol!

A Change in Focus

Which of these two photos do you prefer?

To me, I think it depends on the story you want to tell...

I was back taking photos today after taking a full week off. It felt pretty good!

I was at Calvin's school, where grades 5-8 have two days of interim classes (translation: fun classes of the students' choice) while grades 9-12 have exams. Cal made & ate potstickers in his potsticker class, he played Guitar Hero (yes, there was a Guitar Hero class), and he had Intro to CPR (not his choice, but it's what was partnered with guitar hero).

I Haven't Posted!

Does it drive you nuts?

It's kind of driving me nuts.

But I like knowing it's OK to skip a day or two (or three...)

My back has almost fully recovered. I was down and out 'til

Thursday afternoon.

Paul is in NYC for a meeting. He left yesterday morning and returns late tonight.

Calvin is excited about the new "Vinyl Cave" record store

that just opened in Superior. A weekend visit is planned.

Mason has had "playdates" (do you still call them playdates

at age 9?) three days in a row. Tonight, it includes skiing

and a sleepover!

What's news in your neck of the woods?

Calvin Takes Second Place!

Calvin's math league team took second place in the district this afternoon. AND...he placed second in the district as an individual. Not bad!

They Didn't Wear Purple

*blog photo taken by Paul with his iphone

Paul & the boys headed to the Dome today for the Vikings game. As Packer fans, they really couldn't put on any purple, but they say they did cheer for the Vikings a little bit (once it was clear that they were going to win the game). Don't the boys look happy to be there? (OK - maybe not so much.) Really, they had a good time.

Scenes from the Lake

I was determined to get outside today. It was cold, but gorgeous, and I needed to take pictures! Paul helped me get down the stairs (I'm not sure what I did to my back, but it is improving) and once near the lake, the gloves were off and I was taking photos. This was one of the rare times during our stay where it stopped snowing. I think we had about 8 fresh inches over the course of our 3 day visit.

Day One

All three of these photos were taken from inside the cabin. I spent the day taking naps, doing sudoku puzzles and nursing a bad back. Not good. I really wanted to get outside, but was afraid I might slip on the ice and not get back up again!

Anyway, the third photo of this bunch would have been passed by, but when I enlarged it on the computer I noticed the splash of color on the center tree. I like that when everything seems so white and gray. Enjoy!