Time with Grandma and Grandpa Koomans

Jaelyn and Ava have always talked about wanting to bake with Grandma.  Grandma is known for her baking.  One day this summer we found a Baking with Grandma Brownie mix package at our local Winners.  The girls begged and begged to buy it.  

Mid-September, Grandma picked the girls up from gynmastics and they had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house. That Saturday morning they finally got to

bake with Grandma.  A big thanks to Grandpa for taking the pictures.  

That evening, we invited Grandma and Grandpa over for dinner. Once done eating, the girls and Grandpa went outside and collected ladybugs.

Enjoy the pictures of a great weekend of memories!

Eager to get started

Cracking the eggs

Stir

Adding the margarine

Stir some more

Adding the brownie mix

Mix 

Mix, mix, mix

Adding to the pan

Love this picture!
Grandpa and girls licking the leftovers

Yummy

Ava's loving it

Jaelyn enjoying every bit of it

Not so clean faces

Packaging and wooden spoons

Out of the oven

Waiting for brownies to cool

Jaelyn and Ava with their ladybug ecosystem 

One of the many ladybugs they caught

One got away so they re-captured it

Ava doing a handstand 

Jaelyn doing a handstand

Until next time...

Photography Class

So way back last year there was a Groupon offer for Flying Photo School.  I purchased 1 Groupon to take an online class (classes are $97 but with Groupon it was only $29).  I remembered in mid August that I had to use it soon.  When logging onto our Groupon account I discovered that it had expired 5 days before.  Just Grrrreat!  However I remembered that even if the Groupon has expired you can still use the value of what you paid towards a purchase.
So being the Dutch person that I am I decide to purchase the intro to photo editing class in September.  When entering the Groupon code it said I owed nothing.  Woo Hoo!
So the course was 4 weeks long.  The course was done with videos and then an assignment was assigned each week.   I am proud to say that I have a little bit of understanding how to use the full version of Photoshop!  I  am also comfortable using Bridges.  
So here are my edits:
Week 2 - Basic Editing in Bridge (white balance, temperature, tint, exposure, recovery, blacks, brightness, contrast, clarity, vibrance, and saturation)  followed up with adding text to pictures in Photoshop

Before

After

Week 3 - Using the clone tool to remove blemishes

Before

After

Week 4 - Adding textures to pictures

Before

After

I learned a lot from this course.  However, it makes me now realize that all the pictures I have taken over the years can be improved with minor edits.  However, this all takes time.  Not really sure I am ready to take on that project.  So maybe I will start by editing future photos.
Until next time :)