Madison's Camera

Madison had some fun with old paper dolls this afternoon - so much so that she brought out her camera and started snapping pictures of her creations.  These were Mommy's paper dolls, and Madison was so proud of these creations that we now have a photo gallery of all the dolls in their appropriate clothing, thanks to our fashion photographer, Madison.

Daddy downloaded a lot of the photographs from this camera, not having done this in a long time.  This was that old camera that she's had for a few years now - quite a durable little thing.  It doesn't take the best pictures, but perhaps that's the charm of it.  This camera had well over a hundred photos on it, some going back over a year ago.  Daddy will collect them all on one disc so that Madison can review her photography.  But at the same time, I picked out a few that were on this camera that you can look at as well:

I have no idea why I like this picture so much.  The emotion of it, the one pony looking up, searching for hope, while the other remains downcast or even resigned to whatever fate lies before them.  Or, it could be something more optimistic, a candid moment of the ponies caught just before going out for a huge performance.  Either way, the swirl of colors suggests some impressionistic painting, a mood captured at the right moment.

Madison captured Daddy, El Gaucho, in an unusual portrait here.  He's in a sombrero, holding a stuffed animal in a sombrero.  We're not entirely sure what this means, but Madison did a good job holding the camera still!

Ah, yes.  This is photojournalism at its finest!  In a moment of whimsy, Madison has captured Mommy's lighter side.  The blur and the angle suggest a fun night with family and friends, Mommy's expression - and the humorous prop - bringing a happy energy to this photograph.

In case you're wondering, Ned's yo-yo is still around.  Madison can do some tricks with it now, actually.  Which means that she's technically better than me with a yo-yo.  Looking at the picture above, you can see that this isn't much.

I'm not sure when this was taken.  There are two grandmothers in this picture.  Again, the blur helps create a mood, and in this case it is a pleasant one, as Nana has stopped for a moment to look into the camera.  Just that one eye sort of stares back at you, saying more with one photo than several paragraphs could ever.  Good job, Madison!

And as you can see here, the camera was turned on Madison a few times.  In this case, she wanted to dress up in a few costumes to pose for pictures.  Daddy snapped this one here - and the one below, where she's showing off her new unicorn bicycle helmet.

I wasn't making up the bit about the bicycle helmet.  We found this at Goodwill while we were shopping for other things for the Summer Xtreme vidoes.  This helmet was too good to pass up.  Madison took to it right away, randomly wearing a bicycle helmet around the house, simply because it made her feel that much more like a unicorn.

We're not sure about this photo.  Clearly, Mommy or Daddy took it.  But why?  These are the sorts of questions that Madison's photography calls to mind!  Seriously, we're not quite sure what this is about.  Maybe she thinks she has a beard like Santa?  Or perhaps she's injured her mouth somehow?  We don't think it is a serious thing, as she seems to have a squint in her eye that suggests there's something comical going on.  Ah, the questions this photograph creates - it's almost as intriguing as the Mona Lisa!

Anyway, today was a day for church of course.  That was in the morning, when we finally wrapped up our Tribes series.  Everyone's ready to say goodbye to that one - although we're still not quite ready for the next series, "Get Wild."  It involves animals, and Daddy's still trying to wrangle them up.  And make a booklet.

Each night this week, we've been doing something neat:  we've been reading from the adoption journal that Daddy wrote in as we were making our way through China in 2008.  Today was June 29th, so that was the day before Gotcha Day.  It's been a slow build, and Madison has been hooked on our reading it to her each night before bed.  We've been remembering together, and reliving the past - sweet memories flooding back into our minds about tiny details long forgotten.  Or... at least forgotten since the last time we opened this book.  There's such a value in journaling things, as so many pleasant memories are triggered by mere words that you yourself wrote down.

One more day until Gotcha Day.  That was six years ago now.  We tucked Madison in, and found ourselves following suit - we've all been a bit tired lately.  Full weeks with adventure and activity, all leading to a smile on our faces as we climb underneath the covers.