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Jessica Acs. Crazy Happy Chaos

Jessica Acs. Crazy Happy Chaos

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Photography

Easter Outtakes

April 12, 2014 by Jess Leave a Comment

Well, all my latest attempts at trying to get Ava’s Easter photos taken this year keep getting squashed. The weather has just been awful and I really wanted to take the photos outside. It inevitably gets put off and put off, as I keep hoping for better weather each day. One day was beautiful and sunny but sooooo sooooo windy.

Today was the day, I decided that first thing this morning. It was our warmest day of the year so far, so it would be perfect to take the photos outside right? Well….I’ll tell you how the events of today panned out….

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Ava and I left the house by 9:45am this morning to make it down to our local Easter Egg hunt. I was SO excited about this – her first egg hunt! We lined up with all the other parents and toddlers for the “toddler egg hunt” which was essentially just a mound of straw with a ton of plastic easter eggs thrown all over them. Not such a hunt, but good for the tiny kids I guess. As we were waiting for it to start the sky became very dark and thunder started rolling in, then lightning, then rain. Oh JOY. They let us start the egg hunt early so we all rushed in and I showed Ava how to throw the eggs in her basket – she caught on really quick and we only stayed maybe 3 minutes, tops. Then I grabbed her and we ran to the car. As we were driving home, the rain basically stopped, so we made a quick stop at the dollar store. Right as we are going through the check out, I look over at the window and there is hail coming down – HUGE hail, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so big before. Yeah we were not going out in that, no way. Neither of us had coats since it was so warm out, plus I had parked across the parking lot cause it was so busy when we drove in. So we waited for it to die down, but then I suddenly remembered that Norman was out in the backyard when we left. Steve had already left for shows so no one was home. NORMAN!!! I grab Ava & our bags and I sprint out to the car. We were just down the street from our house so we made it home quick and by the time we did, it was barely raining again. What is up with this weather??

Poor Norman was so dazed when I finally found him in the backyard. I couldn’t find him at first and he wasn’t coming when I called. I got this horrible feeling that he was so scared he broke through the fence and was running amuck in the neighborhood! But thankfully he was just hiding somewhere. I brought him inside, dried him off and gave him a bunch of freshly washed fleece blankets to lie on. He spent the next 4 hours laying in his bed not making a peep. Poor traumatized piggy!

Soon after that our babysitter arrived and I had to load animals in the vehicle and rush out to a show. I got back late in the afternoon and Ava was napping so I took our Patagonian Cavy for a walk in the backyard. I got this great idea to hook him onto one of those dog tie out cables that we had out there from before we got our fence built a couple years ago. Bad idea, very bad idea. I had just walked away from him to get a shovel and I turn around and see him trying to back out of his harness. I drop the shovel, bolt over to him but I was too late – just as I got to him, he slipped right out and BAM – away he ran! If you have ever seen a Patagonian cavy – you will know they have very long spindly legs – great for running and jumping. They are capable of jumping 6 feet in the air from a standstill and our fence is about 6 feet tall. I had visions of him jumping over the fence and then me trying to find him out in the neighborhood somewhere. Steve would so not be pleased at all right now.

So there I was following him all over the yard trying to catch the slippery large rodent. The worst thing to do is chase him, so I had to be very calm, even though inside I was everything BUT calm. After 15 minutes of this, I went in the house to get a blanket to try to throw over him to try to catch him that way. When I got to the backdoor, I turned around to check his location and he was right behind me. He had followed me all the way back to the house. I tried to get him to come inside but he just sat at the back door. I grabbed a beach towel that was in the kitchen then I went and got his big travel crate. I took that outside (he was still sitting near the back door) and I placed it beside him and opened the door. I then had to use the towel like a matador to try to usher him into the crate. It worked! But now I had the cavy in the crate but no harness on him. That was my next task. I took him back to his enclosure and then I had to go into it with him, closing myself right into it. The next 20 minutes (and they were very long minutes) I spent trying to get the damn harness back on him. He is an extremely skittish animal with powerful legs. He kept burying his face into the far corner and then when I tried to slip the harness over his head, he’d bolt past me to the other side. It was quite the struggle but I finally got the harness back onto him. I practically fell out of his enclosure, I was so exhausted, not to mention covered in wood shavings from head to toe.

Meanwhile Ava was still napping and I was waiting for her to wake up so we could do the Easter pictures. It was now a bit sunny, a bit overcast but not raining at all, and still warm. Since the rest of the week is supposed to be crappy weather, today is my only chance. I got everything ready ahead of time – the camera was outside in the spot where I planned to have her sit, her outfits were waiting (yes outfits, I had 2 dresses and a pants outfit I wanted to change her into). Oh and the animals. We just got 2 new baby chickens a few days ago – they are about a week old and I thought it would be so cute to have them in the photo with her. I also thought it would be cute to have 2 Flemish giant rabbits – one on either side of her, and then I also wanted one of her with our mini rex bunny. I went and rounded up all the bunnies, put them in their travel carriers and brought them over to the photo spot in the wagon. Everything was ready! Ava woke up just minutes after -great timing! I changed her into the first dress and carried her outside. We took the chicks out first. She was not overly excited to see them since they reside in our living room right now so she sees them and plays with them all the time. *sigh* Then of course guess who comes on over to get in the way? Yep Norman. Then the dogs run by in the background. Then Ava finds it fun to pull all the green shredded paper stuff out of the basket. Then the chicks jump out of the basket. Then Norman comes over again and starts eating the green shredded paper. Not what I envisioned, that’s for sure! Here are the photos:

 

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And here’s Norman… and Angus is also in the background

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The chickens are out of the basket, all the green shredded paper has been thrown from the basket and both Norman and Moose and in the photo too.

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And Norman is back…again (also Angus is way in the back again too)

20140412-IMG_1273With Hank, our Mini Rex. He kept trying to jump out and she would not look at me. Not once.

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The first Flemish Giant Rabbit

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the second Flemish Giant – getting them both in the photo – yeah right! The gray one had already taken off and was way across the yard!

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ok, I give up

What I learned from this wonderful experience…

1. Make sure the dogs and pig are in the house while trying to take outdoor photos that do not involve them.

2. Don’t bring a white blanket outside for the photos (see photo above)

3. Don’t try to attempt to use 2 rabbits at the same time unless there is another person (and not Ava) there to help

4. Forget the outfit changes – not going to happen!

5. Have bribery treats on hand for Ava. It was so hard to get her to smile for the photos!

The great ending to this fantastic day: I put the chickens back in their travel cage, the mini bunny in his and I put everything into the wagon. I hauled them over to the rabbit enclosure then I had to chase the other 2 rabbits around trying to catch them. I finally got all the rabbits back in their home and I turn around and Norman had pulled the extra outfits out of the wagon and was nosing them around – getting mud all over the back of the white dress! UGH

And I am officially finished with taking Easter photos and with this day.

Good night!

siggy

Filed Under: Animal/ Zoo stuff, Daily Life, Kids/ Babies, Photography

Right Now

March 31, 2014 by Jess Leave a Comment

It is the last day of March today and our first “nice” day of the year so far here in Chicago. Today is the warmest day of the year at nearly 60 degrees Fahrenheit. 60 degrees??? Heatwave for us! It’s a little windy outside but I am so tempted to pull out all my summer clothes so I can wear shorts and a t shirt outside right now. Enough of being cooped up indoors, this has been the longest winter ever.

But since the snow all finally melted just last week (and there are still some piles of it around), our backyard is a glorious big mud pit. (well some of it is anyway). Which makes it oh so fun to clean off 16 little feet when they continuously come in from outside all day long (3 dogs and a pig).

We did get outside for a bit yesterday which was really really nice! I took Ava, Angus and Zoey for a long walk to a nearby Forest Preserve and we had a little picnic there. (Moose and Steve were doing shows for most of the day). Poor Angus is getting older now so he was pretty worn out on our way back to the car. I plopped him into the stroller with Ava for the last bit and both of them were quite content! Ava was actually really excited to have her buddy sit with her.

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Speaking of Ava, she is 20 months old now and talking up a storm! She knows all the dogs by name now and can say their names perfectly. She also says “norman” now and not “Normo” or “NumNum” anymore which I kind of miss cause it was so darn cute. She also knows our cavy “Waldo”. Yesterday when Steve got back, we were all playing in the backyard together (yes Waldo and Norman too!) and Ava learned how to climb up and go down her little slide all by herself. It seems like such a small thing, but it is so big. Our baby is not such a baby anymore and we are sure realizing that everyday! Just like when Norman was trying to play with her and knocked her down accidentally. Ava sat there stunned for a second then looked up at us and said “what happened?” as clear as day. Wow.

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Norman was trying to play with the chickens at one point. I promise that no chickens were harmed! πŸ™‚ Great action shot of our chicken Nuna though!

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What Happened?

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Watching these two together makes my heart want to burst with love πŸ™‚

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Such a Daddy’s girl πŸ™‚

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Other things that are going on:

There is a fun article about me over on the Little Lake County Blog that I write for.

I recently got to review Yummi Pouches and did a review for them here

I also created 3 new yummy recipes – primarily so I can use them in pouches for Ava and they are all hidden veggies recipes!

And later today I am going to attempt to take some Easter pictures of Ava in the backyard. We’ll see how that goes!

Happy Monday everyone!

siggy

Filed Under: Daily Life, Kids/ Babies, Photography, Recipes

Holiday Printable Round Up {Free Printables}

December 11, 2013 by Jess Leave a Comment

Everyone loves free printables so here are a bunch of fun Holiday ones for you to download and print out. Enjoy!

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Holiday Photo Checklist

Dear Santa Letter PrintablesΒ for Preschoolers

Dear Santa Letters for Older Kids

Cookie Exchange Printables

Organizing Your Christmas Printables

Filed Under: Freebies & Printables, Photography

Snapshot 30 : Free Class

October 15, 2013 by Jess 3 Comments

Starting October 30 is a brand new {free} class! Snapshot 30: Learn how to take better photos with your smartphone.

  • Fun daily photo challenges for 30 days.
  • Tons of app reviews so you know what is worth your time and what isn’t
  • Tips and tricks for how to take sensational photos with your smartphone

*If you don’t have a smartphone you can still participate in the challenges with a regular camera. The tips and tricks should be useful to you as well. πŸ™‚

Sign up for this class here

Each day for 30 days you will receive an email with that day’s challenge, tips & tricks and app reviews.

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Filed Under: Classes, Photography

Free Photoshop Techniques Classes

September 26, 2013 by Jess 1 Comment

I’m super excited about this so I had to share it: FREE Photoshop Techniques Classes!!

Starting October 6, is a 14 day series of Photoshop Technique Classes, 2 new techniques each day. A good friend of mine, Aunesty Janssen is teaching it and she is an absolute genius with Photoshop! I use it everyday but I still have so much to learn so I will be taking these classes too. The classes are completely free too – how awesome is that? If you’re interested, you can sign upΒ here

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Filed Under: Classes, Freebies & Printables, Photography

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