Lookie what I can do!

Well, I was going to do a random friday and tell you all sorts of random tidbits. But I've run out of time. It is now 4:25 in the afternoon and I need to take a shower (finally), start dinner, and get everyone ready to go to Samuel's last soccer game tonight!

But just real quick: today I learned about some nifty new features on my camera! ("new" as in, I didn't know about them before)

First: The Super Macro
(which allows for super close-ups!)

And second: The Color Accent (pick a color to accent, and the rest is B&W).

Someday, I'm actually going to learn how to use my camera. That is my goal, you know.

And for those that may not know, but might be interested, my camera is a Canon Powershot S5 IS. It isn't an SLR - but I still think it's pretty cool. And it has some neat features. :)

So anyway - that's (some of) my news for the day. Have a Happy Friday

Pumpkins!!

A very generous family in our broadly termed "neighborhood" set up a free "choose and pick pumpkin patch" this year, so we went over to check it out! They ask only that those who pick a pumpkin make a contribution to the Perpetual Education Fund for our church. Easy enough! So each of the kids got to pick out their own pumpkin and they were very excited. Much more fun than digging through a bin at the grocery store. :)

I've been having a sort of stressful week this week, and my brain is muddled and befuddled, but hopefully I'll have more to say next week.

And a reminder to my bookclub friends - tomorrow, my house, 7:00! Hope to see you here.

Just taking a little Poll

Are you and your family going to get the swine flu vaccine, the seasonal flu vaccine, or both?

Why or Why Not?

animal safari

I spent a little time yesterday playing toy animals with Elisabeth. And taking these pictures made me smile.

I also discovered we had no less than 8 toy giraffes.

That's a lot of giraffes.

some matters of business

First, I hope I'm not throwing you all off too much by making this switch. And for some of you, you may question my reasoning, or think it is all in vain, or whatever else. That's ok. However effective or ineffective these small steps may be in protecting myself and my family, and deterring would-be plagiarists and stalkers, I still figure whatever I do with this blog and my efforts to protect some of our privacy is still better than what I was doing before. It just makes me feel a little better, so it's what I'm comfortable doing.

So, some quick reminders:

1. We will not be using the kids' real names or our last name anywhere on this blog.

2. We will also avoid making reference to the city we live in. Our state of residence is ok - just not specific city.

3. We will not name our childrens' schools or Zac's place of work.

4. And we will not mention birthdates or anniversary dates. The months of these occasions are ok, but not date.

5. If you have a link to our blog on your own blog or website, please update it with this blog address and WITHOUT our last name, if you would please. Thank you! Actually, if you leave the old one on, it won't matter because linkers won't be able to access it. But you might as well just change it to this one. :) Also keep this in mind should you ever reference our blog or link to it elsewhere. No last name, pretty please.

6. And please don't copy anything off our blog without permission. Linking to a post is great. And family members or neighbors and friends who might want to copy photos or whatever can do so with permission (especially if you or your child is in the picture!). But just ask. :)

7. By the same token, if you wish to remain anonymous on this blog and not have me refer to you by name (should I ever be so inclined) - then please let me know!! Also, in case I ever decide to make a blog roll, let me know if you would rather not be included in that as well. I will try my hardest to respect your wishes.

OK.

I really have had a hard time coming up with code names for the kids. I've brainstormed before but everything seemed so silly and/or confusing. It feels awkward and will take some getting used to for all of us, I'm sure. But here is what Zac and I finally came up with. If you happen to recognize our inspiration for these code names, please keep it to yourself. :) We don't want to spoil any secrets. But hopefully by using these simple recognizable names, it will help us all keep track of who is who.

So, here are their online alter-egos. INTRODUCING:

Abigail, age 10

Isaac, age 8

Samuel, age 5

Elisabeth, age 3

I hope that covers everything. I think we can get back to regular postings now. Phew!

Just a real quick explanation

I've gotten a few question on why I've decided to do this now. If there was any particular event or breaking news or something that convinced me that some more privacy would be wise.

The short answer is: no. Not really.

Just every time I know someone who doesn't use real names, or makes their blog private, I think, oh, should I? And I am a natural worrywart, and I don't like to have any extra things causing me any unnecessary stress or anxiety (ha!) - so I'm just trying to alleviate this potential real or imagined threat.

And then the other day, my dad did make a comment in an email to the effect of:
"well, it's not like someone could track you or the kids down from the information on your blog, could they?"

Huh. Well, actually. They could have. If they wanted to. If they pieced together information from different blog posts, etc., they could in fact track us down rather precisely and efficiently. Yikes.

And Zac told me the story of a family that was visiting on vacation in Prague and saw their family portrait on an advertisement in a store window. And they wondered how in the world had someone gotten this photo unbeknownst to them? And they realized it was stolen off their blog.

So. Making a copyright and not disclosing certain information, I am hoping, will merely be acting as a deterrent against any of these rare, strange, unusual, and sort of scary occurrences. Of course, this is not fool proof. And of course, it is highly unlikely that anything of the sort would ever happen.

But for the same reason I lock my doors at night. And give my children instructions not to go with a stranger anywhere EVER. And a myriad of other little things we do to protect ourselves, just in case. This is what I will do in blog-land.
These are just precautions.

But also, the reason I am not making it completely private is because personally, I find it much more difficult to sign in and check private blogs individually. So I wanted to avoid having to do that. And I am vain and lonely and I like to imagine that lots of people far and wide will someday read my blog and come clamoring to my door exclaiming, "Kristen, you're a genius! We love you!!" hahahahaha.
Ok, not really.

But that, in a nutshell, is my reasoning. :)
Any questions?

Welcome!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to welcome you over to the new blog. I put in last Weds picture just so I could experiment with some colors and things. It is still subject to change. And I am still seeking suggestions on especially AWESOME blog posts to drag on over from the old blog. hahaha. I know, there might not be any that were AWESOME enough to stick with you - but it's worth a try asking.

Other than that, I will probably go back through bit by bit and bring stuff over here and there (with original posting dates, so it doesn't get too confusing). There are some that have gotten a good response, and lots of interesting input, so I'll try to transfer some of those.

Soon to come . . . the kids' new code names! So exciting!!

So, just a reminder - Zac and I will retain our first names. No kids' names or last name, please. :)
Have a wonderful day!