Passport photos

I've gotten a special pass from my wonderful husband to tell this story.  Gosh, if I didn't know him as well as I do, I'd think he was doing these kind of things on purpose to get to me.

There has been much talk lately about international travel.  Jeff and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage in September and I am hoping we can take some kind of trip over the summer.  Jeff is less hopeful that our budget will allow a trip, but I want to be ready to go at a moment's notice should a good deal and the ideal timing present itself. 

I recently checked both our passports.  Mine doesn't expire until 2019. I am good to go!  Jeff's expired this past November.  I told him to please get it renewed now while we have time on our side and not have to pay expedited fees if we need it later on.  I pretty much did all the work for Jeff.  I went online and filled out the application to renew.  I printed it out.  I gathered his old passport and got it all ready to mail.  All Jeff needed to do was get new passport photos.  I even googled a place nearby his office in Arlington that could take the photos.  The CVS right across the street from his office offers this service.  And the best part, I found a $2.00 off coupon for getting these photos taken at CVS!!  Does it get any better?!?!  Just wait....

Jeff got the photos taken.  We are eating dinner later that day and I casually ask Jeff, did you use the coupon for the passport photos?  I always expect the answer to be, "No, darn, I forgot about the coupon."   Jeff has had this happen many times before.  I find a fantastic coupon and he completely forgets he even has it.  Surprisingly I've gotten ok with that.  It's a small price to pay to have Jeff do the shopping.  However, what happens next is a new one I have never encountered before.

Jeff:  No, the coupon was expired.

Me:  No, it wasn't!!  It expired on 12/31/14.  I checked before giving it to you.

Jeff (Now going to his coat pocket to take a look):  Oh yeah, your right.  I thought it said 1/31/14.

Me:  HUH? 

Jeff:  I asked them if they would take an expired coupon and they said no.

Me:  OMG!!  You are kidding me, right!?!?!  Let's just say that the coupon was expired (WHICH IT WASN'T!!!), why in the world would you point out to them that it was expired?  Why wouldn't you just give it to them and hope they didn't notice?

Jeff had no answer.  At this point we all couldn't stop laughing. 

I am so ridiculously in love with this guy that all I can do is laugh.  It's a good thing too.  Book smart?  Yes, brilliant!  The absolute smartest guy I know.  Street smart?  Not so much.  :)

 

On his terms

Not quite yet old enough to grow facial hair,
but he's getting there. 

My 7 1/2 year old son is growing up.  He is finding his voice and letting me know how its going to go down.  I am still getting used to this "new" Ian. 

I love to take pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures.  I always have a camera available and I am not afraid to use it.  I thought the kids had gotten used to this by now, but I guess not.  When we were walking in to Cox Farms on Saturday, I 'warned' Ian I'd be taking pictures and he better cooperate.  He instantly came back with, "You can take 10."  I loved that!  He told me the limit he'd be comfortable with and I knew I'd get 10 chances to take a picture with him smiling and being happy I had my camera out.  It was a win-win for both of us.  What a smart cookie he was to come up with this idea and compromise.  And we had fun keeping count of the pictures I had taken and how many I had left to go.

At the beginning of the school year, I put a note in Ian's lunchbox.  It was the kind of note that had a tiny little envelope to go with it.   When Ian came back home at the end of day, I cleared out his lunchbox and found the note, still in the envelope, completely in tact.   I said, "Ian, How come you didn't open the note I left you?"  Ian, replied back with an exasperated voice telling me he didn't want the note and to not do this kind of thing any more. 

I think I made it a whole two months before I attempted something similar again.  On whim, as I was packing his lunch, I took a post-it note and wrote something quick like, "I hope your having a great day.  I love you." and put it in his lunch.  Ian got in the car at the end of day and quickly said with excitement, "I got your note at lunch.  You can do that again.  Not like all the time, but every now and then a note would be nice."

Also at the beginning of this school year, I made the off-handed comment that I couldn't wait to surprise Ian at school for lunch.  Last year, when he was in first grade, I showed up, on average, about once a month and ate lunch with him and his friends.  I loved it and so did he!  It was always a surprise, more because I never knew if my schedule was going to be free during his lunch time and I didn't want to disappoint Ian if at the last minute, I couldn't make it.

Very quickly Ian made it a point to tell me, that in no uncertain terms was I to come to his school for lunch this year.  He didn't want surprises and he didn't want me around during lunch time. I was only 'allowed' to come and eat with him and his friends, on his birthday (not until the end of May!!!!!!!!!!) and when he is made Star of the Week, because Thursdays are designated to eat lunch with your child when they are made Star of the Week.

Really?  Really?  Ian is only in 2nd grade and I am already embarrassing him?  I knew this was going to come at some point, I just didn't think it would start this early. 

The other day Ian gets in the car and says, completely out of the blue, "You can come to my school and have lunch with me sometimes.  Just not all the time."  Ian then sets the ground rules and says I can come once every other week.  Wow!  I feel like I've just been given keys to the city.  I'm not going to come nearly as much as Ian says its okay to come, but once a month would be nice (and ok by Ian's rules).  Woo-hoo!!

So, to whatever mother out there that has been sending notes in their kids' lunch box and showing up to eat with their child, THANK YOU!  Your making it cool for me to do this too, at least for this year. 

Ian is growing up.  I need to grow up too and let him. 

Being Silly.

My Toppall team and I got silly trying out the new camera. I wanted to make sure I liked it and was happy with how the pictures were turning out. I was very ready to take it back if necessary. After spending this much money on a camera, it had to be a keeper in every situation I'd be using it.

The morning after it's big arrival, I was shooting various pictures to see how it performed indoors. Sam and Ian both said take a picture of us on top of daddy. So I took a bunch of the following picture.

Then, someone said to me, "You should get in the picture." Since the self-timer is something I would use from time to time, I needed to make sure I knew where the buttons were and how it works. So, we tried the photo with the four of us stacked on top of each other.

Only in our first try, Sam didn't even get close to making it on top of us. Those 10 seconds went by very quickly. You can see her in the left bottom corner.

Here Sam has done a bit better, but still she hasn't managed to get on top of us. We had no idea how close Sam came until we looked at the picture afterwards.

At last, we got Sam in the photo. We are giggling very hard, and managed to compose ourselves for when the red light flashed quickly to let us know the picture was about to be taken.

I think we spent about 30 minutes trying to get the picture to take with all of us in it. Turns out is impossible for Sam to have enough time to not only get in the picture, but also try to lay flat on top of Ian. She gets about 4 seconds to complete her part of the picture and its simply not enough time.

Pushing the button for the timer and then running into formation was hilarious. Poor Sam had the toughest job needing to climb up all of us.

It was a very fun morning. And I am very happy with how the camera did. And I now know that if we ever had to get moving in a hurry (you know, like a fire or something), we can do it in under 10 seconds. I just have to click the button on the camera to see everyone move into action, very fast.

Camera Fun!

I got a new camera.  I was tired of how washed-out looking the pictures were with my old camera.  And it was time to see how technology has improved over the years.  I think I am going on 4 years with my old camera.    As much as I love the idea of a DSLR, I really wanted one that I could keep in my purse and take out on a whim.  I am pretty sure I take more pictures than anyone else I know, and always like to have a camera ready to go.  I wanted a point and shoot type camera, but it had to take amazing photos, indoors and out. I researched a bunch of cameras and settled on one that CNET gave an "Excellent" rating to. 

This is it!

Sony Cybershot DSC-HX30V


Check out the size of lens!!

So the camera has a wireless component that will send photos to my computer without any cables.  This only took a 59 minute call with Sony's customer service to figure out why I couldn't do it with mine.  And, no, it had nothing to do with our computer's firewall.  But once I got it working, it has been a breeze to do ever since and is a really cool feature.  The other thing it can do is send photos to my iPhone.  This way, you can post to FB, email, etc.   This only took a 25 minute call to Sony's customer service to figure out.  But again, now that I can do it, I can keep doing it easily.   All the other settings/features, I've been pretty good about figuring out. 

I haven't mentioned Heather in a while...here's a picture with her and her
two youngest.  This is a great example of an indoor picture, with normal lighting.
Love it!

An action shot.

Self-timer.  What a beautiful picture! 

The camera takes amazing pictures.  It works well in any kind of situation.  I love it!  We have a beach trip coming up and I can't wait to see how the pictures turn out. I am very happy I took the plunge and got it.

:(

It's a sad day.  I've been in a bit of a funk since the email arrived in my inbox.  Kodak Gallery has officially been bought out by Shutterfly.  Wow.  I know their camera business wasn't doing well, but I really thought that kodakgallery.com was extremely profitable and able to sustain life beyond the main business unit.  Wasn't I single-handedly keeping them in business each year? 

Since Ian was born, I've sent out online pictures to a group of people each and every month.  This has been going on for 7 years!  Those emails with the photos posted, trigger at least four people I know who buy prints from them.  Not to mention, at the end of every May, I spend quite a bit of money on photo books for each of the kids that chronicles their year from birthday to birthday.  We're talking like 80 page photo books for each of them.  And, let's not forget the small mini photo books I do for each of them that is just their birthday parties.

But maybe I was the only one.  Maybe the competition was too tough and there are too many other players in the photo sharing war. 

As with all technology, I will need to adapt and change to this different website.  I've been told all my photos and albums will seamlessly switch to Shutterfly.  But any photo books or projects I've created will not make the move.  The only saving grace is that the timing could not be more perfect for me.  I build the kids' photo books each month.  Then when their birthdays come in May, it's very easy to add one last picture of them on their actual birthday and order the book.  Fortunately, I am not going to have to recreate the my photo books on Shutterfly.  I have until July 2nd to put the order in for these books.  And I can start the new books for next year on Shutterfly without losing any work. 

It's almost like the powers that be saw my activity each year and made this buy-out just a little bit easier on me.  Hmmm, maybe I was the only one on their site.

Mission Accomplished!

As previously reported last year, Bring on the Latkes!, I was determined to get a good group shot of everyone at the Krantz/Toppall Family Hanukkah party this year.  I succeeded!  You can clearly see everyone, all faces are in view, everybody is front & center and other than Sam, we are all smiling.  Woo-hoo!!  I am very pleased with the results.  And believe it or not, this year's picture actually added 2 extra people in it.  Ami's fiance, Aviva and Hava's baby, Aliza.



December 2011



versus



December 2010

The bar has been set high.  I hope I can deliver picture perfect results like this every year.

Say cheese!

Last time we took a formal picture with Jeff's family was more than 5 years ago.  Ian was approx. 6 months old and Sam wasn't even close to being on the radar.  For the past 3 years, we've tried hard to update this picture and for one reason or another, it never happened.  Finally, we picked a date on the calendar, far enough in advance, that this picture was taking place no matter what. 

As I've previously reported, it is always tricky when involving my kids and what to expect.  You never know if they are going to smile on command, leave my side, sit still, or be in a good enough mood to cooperate.  After one or two minutes of warming up, we hit paydirt!  I couldn't have asked for a better photo taking session from my Toppall team.

Here are a few of my favorites:

From left to right:  Matthew, Elaine, Howard (nephew, Jeff's sister, brother-in-law)
Front row: Marcia, Harold (Jeff's parents)
Right-hand side:  Us

Now that we've managed the big family photo on both sides of our family (all within weeks of each other), you can stick a fork in us.  We are done.  At least until the holidays come.

Just a little past the point of done.

Taking a formal family picture with my Toppall team is always an experience that is best done with having gotten a good night of sleep, not being hungry, and hoping that the stars and moon are aligned.  My fingers are crossed and I hold my breath that all goes well until we are told by the photographer, she got at least one good photo taken.

During the weekend when the family came to surprise me, my sister Lori arranged for us all to have our picture taken on Sunday.  Again, another surprise! She had coordinated what we were going to wear. Lori shopped in advance and brought with her the clothes in the selected colors to make sure that we had the appropriate look.  Yes, that's the way sister rolls and one of the many reasons I love her.

You never know what you are going to get with my kids in front of the camera.  You only hope that there will be at least one good group shot.


Here it is:



Once we knew we got the great group shot, we tried different combinations.  Dad & Rita wanted a picture with just their family.    At this point, the kids were done, done, done.  How do I know?  Check out Ian and Samantha's expressions. 

This is one of my favorites.  My dad with his 3 daughters.

This is a pose that Ian always wants a picture taken.  He calls it his 3-legged dog and makes sure we get at least one photo like this.  This has been going on since Ian was 3.



This will be good practice for July 17th.  That is when we go back and do a picture with Jeff's parents and sister's family.  Wish us well.  At least we don't have a big German Shepherd to fit in the picture, right?

A walk down memory lane

In anticipation of Ian and Sam's visit for an extended amount of time, my mom cleaned out the 3rd bedroom in their house and made it more appropriate for Sam to sleep in.  They got rid of the big desk and bookshelves and bought a sofa sleeper.  The room is more like a den now, rather than an office. 

When cleaning out the room, my mom came across a lot of my stuff, boxed it up and brought it with them in their car.  On Monday evening when they arrived, out came this box and a flood of memories with it.  It was a crazy trip down memory lane.  In this box were 2 baby books my mom filled out from when I was born (neither of them more than 1/2 done), a ton of pictures growing up, mostly from high school, college and trips I had taken. I now have in my possession these huge (think 16x20) framed Olan Mills b/w school pictures.  What in the world am I going to do with that!?!?!  

Also included was a lot of random stuff.  The funniest being a letter I wrote to my mom when my sister, Lori and I was staying with my grandparents (my dad's mom & dad) one summer in 1986.  I wasn't very nice and I am finding the letter hilarious now.  I could scan it and include it below, but I have a feeling that this would start a big fight between Lori and me.  So, I will restrain myself and tell Lori publicly in this blog how much I love her and am so happy we are sisters.  :)   The letter did mention that I just received my learner's permit and neither Papa or Nana was letting me drive.  Apparently my grandfather kept saying he would let me drive tomorrow and then kept moving it to the next day when tomorrow came.  Did he not think I would catch on to that?!?!   I go on to thank my mom for being the only one to let me drive before I was 15.  Huh?!?!  We both got a pretty good laugh out of that.  Because if anyone was letting me be behind the wheel before I was of legal age, it would be my dad, certainly not my mom.  But I guess somewhere along the way, my mom was cool like that.  :)

The coolest thing was the Orlando Sentinel newspaper from June 3, 1983.  It was when my sixth grade class made the font page of the newspaper, above the fold!  It was a small class of only 8 students at The Hebrew Day school and they gave us this test that was designed for public teachers to take in order to be certified to teach.  We all passed the test! 


That's me on the left-hand side, closest to the front.

 My mom and I looked through all the photos, letters, and articles for well over an hour.  It was crazy to see some of the stuff that was saved, not to mention that I found it important enough to even photograph in the first place.  My hair color ranged from every shade of blond, brunette and red. And there were even a few photos from when I changed the color of my eyes using blue contacts.  Photos of every dog we ever had from puppy hood all the way to old age were in this box. And way too many bad photos of me on picture day at school each year when my mom freshly cut my bangs that morning and did a very crooked job.

Some of these photos are probably best left at the bottom of the box allowing them to continue to gather dust.  However, the fun my mom and I had looking through them all was priceless. 

Here's my most favorite picture I found:

I love how happy and goofy my parents look and how shell shocked I look.  This picture was taken in one of those instant photo booths.  I was one month old. 

I am glad my mom brought this box of stuff to me.  I have absolutely no idea where I will be storing it. I'll probably sort through it one more time, scan a few old photos in to post on Facebook, tag everyone in the photos, and relive some of the good old times all over again.  Then I'll find a good sturdy box to store it in, stick it in our shed and find the box again in another 20 years.

Bring on the latkes!

We had two full days back in town before we hit the road again and left for a weekend trip to Pennsylvania.  Every alternating year my husband's family Hanukkah party is at my Mother-in-law's house in the Baltimore area, and every other year, it is held at her sister's house in PA.  We went up on Saturday, spent a nice evening with my in-laws, SIL and nephew, and then attended the Hanukkah party with the whole family on Sunday at Aunt Miriam's house. 

It was a great day and I love getting to spend time with Jeff's relatives.  One of Jeff's cousins is pregnant and by this time next year, the family picture will be including one more.  No longer will Samantha be the youngest in attendance.  I think it is really wonderful to have a long standing tradition like this one and see the big group picture taken every year get bigger and bigger.

Aunt Miriam was worried that her staircase is not going to be able to bear the weight of all of us on it for the picture.  So far, we did okay and made it another year. But it is a valid concern.  Somehow, I've become the official photographer of the group picture and set it up on a tripod, on self-timer.  I didn't realize this job title was going to be permanent until it occurred to me that I've taken the picture every year since Uncle Joe (Aunt Miriam's husband) passed away.

I wish there was a better way to organize the group and configure us in a way that you can clearly see all of our faces and no one gets lost in the shuffle.  This is a huge group to try to manage and at the end of the day, it is a small battle just getting everyone in front of the camera.

I think next year I am going to have a plan and map out places for us all to stand; possibly 5 rows of 6, in varying heights.  Put it down on paper and give everyone a copy. Then when it is time to take the picture, everyone can instantly go to their suggested spot and be ready to say cheese.  It will be a much tighter, neater configuration.

The big family picture taken each year at the Hanukkah party is about to get an overhaul.  I hope the family is ready for it.  And if not, then someone else can happily take over as the photographer.  I pride myself in the pictures I take.  I refuse to send out blurry ones and go crazy cropping and zooming all my photos before sending out my monthly batch. 

I look forward to this challenge and can't wait for next year's Hanukkah party to give it a little of Robyn's picture taking pizazz.

JRIBS minus 1

You know J-Lo (Jennifer Lopez), P-Diddy (Sean Combs), Jackie-O (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis)?   Well, my sister Lori came up with the nickname JRIBS (Jeff, Robyn, Ian, Bailey and Sam) for us.  This is how we sign cards, letters and emails when referring to my whole Toppall team. 

This year we were without a very important part of the nickname JRIBS, the "B" was no longer here.  It was our first annual family photo when Bailey did not join us.  As previously reported in the past, the morning of the photo appointment is one of stress and anxiety for me.  No one wants to do this picture but me.

We had a lot going against us.  I had thought our 9:00am appointment was the first one of the day, as this is the time Portrait Innovations states they open on their website.  However, when we walked in at 8:55am, the place was packed with kids and adults everywhere!!  Apparently, they started taking appointments as early as 8:00am and had no problems double and triple booking the two studio rooms.  It was a crazy, chaotic scene and I instantly thought about the disposition of my husband and two kids  waiting an hour until we got called for our photos to be taken and I shuddered in panic.  It was not going to be pretty.

For those that know Portrait Innovations, they encourage outfit changes, doing many different poses, and changing backdrops.  Ha!  It's nice to dream, isn't it?  All I ask is that we get one photo with all of us, wearing the clothes we walked through the door in, with one neutral backdrop.  IF (and this is a big IF) the kids (and of course, Jeff) haven't melted down by the time this one shot is taken, then please, by all means attempt a picture with the 2 kids together without me and Jeff in it.

It took 45 minutes for them call our name.  Melissa was our photographer and we explained our situation.  Work fast and don't worry about doing anything fancy.  We explained the kids are ticking time bombs and you never know how long you'll get.  She understood and was up to the challenge.  We were done within 15 minutes and then it was another 30 minutes to view the pictures.  Oy!  Fortunately at this point the kids are happy to be running around and playing with the lego table. 

I could not be more pleased with how the photos turned out.  And, as you can see, Melissa was able to change up the backdrop and our poses.  Goooo Melissa!!

I'd like to point out that no bribery was used in any way to get the above smiles.  :)

We can now cross this off the list and rest easy until November 2011.  More than likely by then, we will be back to a full JRIBS in the annual photo. I believe every time Sam looks at Jeff  and says, "New dog please, new dog" his tough exterior on not wanting another dog soon is breaking down little by little.

Say cheese

I question why I do this every year. It is a painstaking exercise and I put a lot of pressure on myself and the rest of the family to comply. I get very stressed-out as soon as I wake up in the morning. I pray that Ian and Sam got enough sleep the night before and will hopefully be in a good mood. My fingers are crossed that Jeff is in good spirits too and up for the challenge. I realize that when it is over and we are headed back home, I have not been breathing properly and let out a huge sigh of relief it is over and I have another year to go before attempting it again.

This is the annual family picture I am talking about. The one where we include the dog.

The big thing is figuring out what color we will wear. It is very important that we are color coordinated. I like to change the colors so the picture looks a little different from year to year. The bottoms are easy and will either be jeans, khakis or black pants. And, I try to assess what we already have in our closets so that I am not buying new outfits for everyone.

Once that is figured out, it is important to get on The Picture People's calendar for their first appointment of the day. This is the only time (other than at 8:00pm at night) that they will allow pets in their studio.

When we arrive, I calmly tell the photographer what she is up against. She probably has all of five minutes to get the best picture she can. After that, more than likely, someone in my Toppall team is done. And by that I mean, D O N E. There is no changing poses, no changing backgrounds, no adjusting anything.

If it isn't apparent by now, let me say that I am the only one who wants to be there. Last year was a real disaster when we sat perfectly posed for 15 minutes and everyone was on their best behavior. I got very excited at the thought of how great these pictures were going to turn out. After a mysterious disappearance by the photographer, we come to learn that his camera was malfunctioning and not one single picture turned out. I left there in tears and the manager followed me out offering everything under the sun to get me to come back and do a re-shoot. I guess she didn't get the memo on what a challenge it is for me to get us in there in the first place.

This year went a bit better. Ian is finally old enough to understand what I am trying to accomplish and didn't even give me one bit of trouble on wearing a turtleneck. Bailey was happy to get out of the house and take a trip to the mall. And in his own way, Jeff even has accepted my need to do this each year and does his best to go with the flow. My wild card was Sam. She wanted nothing of it. She saw the decorated plastic Christmas trees and longingly looked at the ornaments calling "ball...ball....ball...ball." She was not happy sitting in my lap or even staying within the perimeter of where the picture was being taken.

Each year it does get a little easier. Although I have a feeling that once Sam is old enough to want her picture taken, then she is going to want major say in what she is wearing too. How will I convince Jeff and Ian to wear pink?