Remember the old-time photos … the chemically-processed, take-forever prints that we all grew up with … well, it takes some work to make new technology look old. This print makes me think of those photo booths where you can get your photo taken with vintage clothes and a ‘Wanted’ poster background. They have them at Disney World and I always want to do it … but I can’t ever convince anyone with me to do it!

Sydney was given an assignment to study an influential American in history. She chose to learn about Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She was a woman who fought for women’s rights and was influential in helping women gain the right to vote with the Nineteeth Amendment, though she died in 1902. Sydney enjoyed learning about her and wrote a speech that she performed at the Living History Museum Day at school. She did a FANTASTIC job and the compliments were many and glowing. I was unbelievably proud of her for learning the speech and not stumbling when there were students and adults standing in front of her for her presentation. She was qued by a docent and performed her speech about 20 times over the course of an hour.

She got many compliments on her dress as well. The children had to dress the part for the presentation. We found a dress on ebay that worked well. It had been made to be a civil war reenactment dress and everyone LOVED it! They said it was beautiful and perfect for the presentation. I think that makes Sydney smile as she didn’t love it when it first came to the house. I think it was perfect and looked wonderful for the event. She is excited to have the dress in her dress-up closet for when friends come over … and to think … she didn’t even like it originally!

Working on blog posts … trying not to keep you waiting so long between them …

Until next time,

Stacy

Not that this picture needs THAT much explaining, but there is a back-story as to why this is the blog post for the day. 

I have a friend who was in Florida for the month of January and she told a friend and me to come visit. I wanted to, but the busy here in Indiana was just too much. I talked to my friend in Florida and told her I was freezing my butt off … so she relayed this info via Facebook to our mutual friend … ‘stacey is still taking literally the notion that you can freeze your butt off. look out for her naked self standing in her back yard’… AND this was my response … ‘THIS IS TRUE! Though I’m not sure I should tell people … remember there is always a Facebook photo opp…and besides…if people did see me naked out in the yard, they’d be blinded by the pasty pale winter skin and fatness’ …Soooo, when this cartoon arrived in my inbox from a good friend I laughed so hysterically that I nearly fell out of my chair. Nearly.literally.fell.out.of.my.chair. I only wish that this cartoon could be made into real life. I am allergic to working out. It comes from way too much organized sports related exercise and working out in high school and in college! I am so over the gym. I play tennis only because it involves chatting with friends!

 We took a ‘Family and Friends’ trip to Michigan to ski this President’s Weekend and had such a great time! Our friends each had a child around the same age as Sydney and they had such fun together. Since Sydney is an only child, she generally has to make new friends on her own each vacation, so this time was a bonus for her with two ‘old’ friends to hang out with for the weekend! 

  She enjoys skiing so much! She was a bit out of her element this trip because she is used to a bit different snow, but she did fine. The snow was wet and slippery, but otherwise fine. There was a coating of powdery snow on top, but by late afternoon the groom was gone and the crusty midwestern skiing was back. I skied only one day and then took photographs the rest of the time. It was fun to be able to do that! 

Rob and I surprised Sydney with a dog sledding trip. She LOVED it!! We teased her and gave her hints for two days and she never guessed it, but she was so excited when we pulled up to the location and she saw the dogs. She got to choose who rode the sled with her … who do you think she chose … her Daddy … at least I could take photos. 

The people did a nice job with the ride and were pleasant and friendly. They would love to have more business … check them out if you are in Northwestern Michigan … Wiggi’s Mountain-Side Huskies (1.800.556.3597 ext. 67). You’ll have to call them because they don’t have a website.  There were puppies, too. She had to pet them, of course … and if she would have asked her Daddy, he would have bought one for her. He is a sucker like that! But, she didn’t ask … so we don’t have a puppy. She is holding out for her German Shepherd, I think! That is what she REALLY wants after our beloved yellow Labrador, Jack, dies.  

 There are so few photos like this that this was a special one! We rarely get the opportunity to have a photograph taken of the two of us since I’m generally behind the camera. Our friend, Amy, got to handle the big camera … on Auto, of course … and she did a great job! We actually look like we might be having fun here, too. Our whole group went on a Surrey ride … think sleigh with wheels … and had a great time. They had already cancelled the ride because no one was scheduled, but since we had a bigger group they ran one just for us. There were no strangers on the trip, just our little group. It was awesome!  Sydney enjoyed the big Belgians pulling the surrey, for sure!     

If you want to check out more photographs from our trip you can click here for the album. We are already thinking about a trip out West for Spring Break … cravin’ us some Western snow! 

Until next time,

Stacy

This particular print is on canvas and hangs in my basement flanked by a couple of other really cool Sydney photos. Love that girlie … and the camera sure does love her, too! I may use it to display in the Barnes and Noble Gallery showing I have scheduled for April as well.

When the photograph appears and is ready for public vote … be prepared … I’m gonna call on all my ‘peeps’ to vote!  I’ll remind you … don’t you worry!   Just as a note … I’m not terribly invested in this. I don’t need to win to gain validation … I don’t need this contest to tell me that I should be doing this. I have LOTS of people around me who keep telling me I should keep doing this … but it certainly will help me expand my reach beyond Carmel, Indiana!

I’m glad I have you all to share this exciting news with today. I HAD to tell someone!  Wish me luck … pray for me if that is what ya do … and SHARE the blog … SHARE the business cards … SHARE my name with your friends!  Check the website … add me as a friend on Facebook … follow me on Twitter @stacygreenphoto …

Until next time,

Stacy

I was able to take photographs of the Colts at a recent game … and wanted to share a few with you on this Superbowl Media Day!

Pat McAfee is fantastically important to our team but gets very little media … here is a cool action shot of him for you. When you see this it’s easy to see why you can’t hit the kicker!

Dallas is my favorite guy. He is an amazing man … our friends kids made the NFL network because Dallas is such an awesome guy! I wear his jersey on game days not because I am obsessed with him, but because he is a man that I’d like to see kids admire.

Superbowl XLIV … Sunday … 8pm … be there …

From behind my lens,

Stacy

Time to go the other way down the court … Sydney on offense! She is practicing her shot here … not such good form, but when you are pretty little how ever you can get the ball up there works!

The goal has been lowered to nine feet for this league of third and fourth graders … and if it wasn’t … it wouldn’t go in very often. All of the girlies can get it up there and make a basket. They are learning to use that crazy thing behind the rim … you know … the backboard … it seems so obvious, but they see the basket and try to put it right in without the free help from that glass. They will get it! There is one girl who definitely has the backboard idea down and looks like a big kid shooting her layups … but she is the exception. I’m certainly glad she is on our team! The score for the game we played on Saturday was 34 to 17 … We WON!

Here are a few more photos from the game …

Okay … I know you are completely bored with the basketball photos. I’ll be done … for now! I will post any fun ones we get next week … though I’m hoping to video! Rob might be in charge of that … hmmmm …

Superbowl this week … GO COLTS!

Until next time …

Stacy

I always said that Sydney was allergic to sports. She has not historically been excited … make that not been interested in playing sports. I don’t know how that girly is even related to me some days. I think maybe they switched her at birth … she is way cuter than we are … she has blonde hair and blue eyes … she is little … allergic to sweating and sports … see the signs?!?!

In an attempt to get her interested in at least one sport, we talked her into trying Volleyball a year ago and she really enjoyed it … so she played Volleyball last Spring and this past Fall. She really gets into practicing and learning about the sports when she is playing. I think a student of the game is an excellent thing to be! So … wanting to keep the ball rolling so to speak … I talked to her about playing basketball this winter and she was keen to try it … well … guess what? She LOVES it! She is pretty good, too!  She is no center and I’m not sure she would even work as a forward … so it’s the little guard that she is gonna have to get comfy with playing. She is working on dribbling … and is already REALLY good at defense! It’s a process and let me tell ya … she is workin’ the process.

She had a moment … or six … in Saturday’s game where the was utterly confused. I … and frankly the entire bleacher section and the coach … had no idea why she kept going to the referee when it was the other teams ball and the coach was thinking she didn’t know what team she was on. THEN … in swoops Daddy to save the day … the team we were playing was green. Ummm … what does that have to do with the price of eggs in China you ask … why is she confused? Well … Daddy quickly points out that the referee keeps yelling ‘Green Ball’ and Sydney runs over … hmmm … still confused right?!? Well, when your name has been Green forever you realize that when someone yells ‘Green’ on the field or court that they might NOT be talking to you! We had to tell her when she came to the bench that the referee was NOT talking to her when he said ‘green’. She understood right away … but she had absolutely no idea of that fact before we told her!

She is ROCKIN’ the defense! She had three … count ‘em THREE … steals on Saturday. It.was.her.first.game … EVER. She did a fantastic job. She was even workin’ the full-court-press. She didn’t know it of course .. but her girl had the ball and she was coming down the floor so Sydney picked her up right at the ten-second line. It was funny to see it happen. The coach kept saying ‘we haven’t talked about that’ … so I’m guessing they won’t be pressing next week. She has got the ‘hands up’ plan down and is learning to stay between the girl she is guarding and the ball – so she is well on her way! One little misstep by Sydney with the steal at the defensive end of the court … she got the ball away from the player she was guarding and then turned … dribbled … and shot it — right in the basket that was.not.hers. They didn’t count the points for the other team, thank goodness! She did it so fast that we couldn’t even tell her quickly enough to stop!

One of Sydney’s steals … a swipe … a turn up the court … and a smile … (sorry about the blurry – I wish she would tell me when she is gonna do this cool stuff!) …

I’ll do a quick post with offensive photos tomorrow …

Until next time …

Stacy

Sydney modelling the Indianapolis Colts 2007 Superbowl ring – made into a pendant! Some of the women associated with the franchise got pendants made from the top of the Superbowl Ring. It was identical to the ring … only on a necklace. Both presentations are BEE-U-T-FUL!

The ring was presented in a really cool personalized box … the name of the person receiving it is engraved on a plate inside the box along with ’Indianapolis Colts’ and ‘World Champions’. Sorry I can’t show you the name … privacy and safety of our friends is of utmost importance and we LOVE our friends!

The Indianapolis Colts returning to the Superbowl for the second time in three years is SOooo exciting! We are lucky enough to have a friend who is connected with the Colts franchise and were afforded the opportunity to touch-and-feel and try-on-and-model the 2007 Superbowl Ring and Pendant.  The rings were distributed shortly before Sydney’s birthday and so there were lots of people who got to get up close and personal with such a cool item!

Look how ENORMOUS the ring is on his finger … and whole hand really! He was one of the MOST psyched about trying it on … we have several photos of him with it … I think he must have been a 5th grader at the time … big-time-cool for him to show his friends!

I wonder what this year’s will look like … I certainly hope it celebrates the blue and white … and not the black and gold!  Speaking of THAT … I was disheartened yesterday while watching the Ellen show (LOVE HER!) …  Harry Connick, Jr. (one of my favorite men of ALL time) was wearing a New Orleans Saints jersey! Hey … don’t razz me .. I get it. He.is.from.New.Orleans. I know … I.understand. BUT … I can still think he is the perfect man until something like that happens – and if you saw him throw a ball you’d know how disappointing that was as well. As a former high-school and college softball player it pains me to see a man throw a ball like a GIRL …  I don’t even throw like a girl … and I’m a GIRL! I suppose what he lacks in sports skills he more than makes up for with those wonderful piano hands … *sigh*. Hoping to be at his concert here in Indy at the Murat at the end of February … though I won’t mention to him that I dislike his team choice and think he throws like a girl. I think that might ruin my opportunity to be a HCJ Groupie … and I’m certainly hoping for that as well!

Until next time … GO COLTS!!

Stacy

 We just finished watching yet another stress-inducing, nail-biting, TV yelling game here at our house. It was not looking so hot in the first quarter of the game … that’s.for.certain. BUT, our Colts have pulled out yet another one. We are SO excited that our team is headed to Miami. Ahhh … just the thought of South Florida in the winter makes me smile.

South Florida and Miami in particular is a memory holder for my husband and I … and his family really. His mom is from St. Petersburg Beach and went to “THE U” along with her twin sister … and his dad and uncle went there and played basketball … ‘back in the day’. Rob went to Miami as well … though his lack of direction when it came to finding the classroom made him realign the home address on his GPS to Indiana State to finish his degree. The allure of the fraternity house and it’s sand volleyball court .. pool .. sauna .. keg room … and .. ‘ahem’ … girls just made it too hard to find that classroom.

He still loves it there … and so do I. When we were dating we visited the condo his parents kept in Miami, close to campus, quite frequently. We visit less often now with the craziness of life and schedule that would exhaust anyone. We are hoping to be there in two weeks … with millions of other football fans cheering on our hometown team … the Indianapolis Colts! We will have some family and friends to visit for sure and will enjoy every moment of South Florida in the winter.

Looking forward to the Miami sun … until next time,

Stacy

Yesterday when I was mentioning that I would rather have snow than rain or freezing drizzle … well … I also meant I didn’t want freezing rain either. This is what we woke up to this morning. It is not a lot of ice … not enough to snap trees and bring down power lines like in Iowa, but enough to make the drive to school a little nuts.

The garage exit was a little crazy. I am an idle-out-into-the-driveway kind of girl. I have a really big SUV and a not-so-big garage … so it really is a function of trying not to take the mirror off the truck (like my husband has done twice-and I have done NEVER) rather than an excercise in care. Anyway, the point here is that I was backing out s-l-o-w-l-y and then once I got into the driveway I hit my brakes to check for traffic and what do you think happened? Well, I didn’t hit anything, but it is only by sheer luck … because from the moment I hit my brakes I didn’t stop until I was in the middle of the street. I missed the mailbox and there happened to be no cars coming, thank God!  Our adventure in the neighborhood on the way to school was somewhat of an ice dance … we were only missing the tutu and sparkles.

Once we hit the main roads … in our case Springmill Road … they were pretty decent. They had treated them for sure, though there were still some pretty slick spots. Hamilton County was much worse than Marion, for sure. They did choose to close the local school which is always quite helpful for us since it takes a good deal of people off the road for our commute … and there are no buses to contend with either.

School was salted and sanded and treated as always. It is imperative that they make that safe because the kids have to walk all across campus to attend various classes. They do a great job with it! I suspect that the children don’t like the open campus plan much in the winter, but definitely enjoy it in the warmer months! As a lower school student they have their homeroom and main classes in the main building, as well as Spanish … but all other times – lunch and specials … and especially for P.E. which all the way across campus … they have to bundle up and go outside. I think it is wonderful. It allows the kiddos to enjoy some sunshine at other times than recess … not so sure they are too happy about it at this point, though.

My trip home was much more eventful … the drive from school to home was boring as usual … but it was when I arrived again in the neighborhood that it got snarly. I was, again, idling the ENTIRE way down my street … but I was still fish-tailing. Now, after a quick call to my dad, I know to have the truck in 4-wheel-drive because then the front wheels pull slightly faster than the back wheels thus eliminating the fish-tail. BUT, I did not know this beforehand. I slid, sideways into the driveway … with no gas pedal! … and then stopped abruptly when I hit the grass to the side of the driveway. Well guess what happened then???!?!? I.was.stuck.on.ice. Going.nowhere.

Enter 4-wheel-drive LOW … that.was.a.lifesaver. It got me from the end of the driveway, halfway in the grass into my garage with no slip-sliding … no mirror-removing … and no house-crunching … AWESOME. My morning was successful. I have delivered my child to school and re-parked in the garage with no issues on a slip-sliding day! Ahhh…the smell of success!

Now, I just hope they have this situation GONE by the time I have to go to do my slave duty in the locker shop at school today. Help me wish … cross your fingers.

Until next time,

Stacy