Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts

~ A tree that tells a story ~


I remember my very first Christmas as a "real adult" - meaning out of my parents home, as a wife and newlywed. Christmas rolled around and I knew a house was not a home for the Holidays without a tree.

It was like a good luck fairy sprinkled dust on us when we found a beautiful artificial Christmas tree at a garage sale for $1.00, we went and picked out the most beautiful ornaments with intricate designs. They were maroon and gold. We spent a small fortune on them since we got such a deal on the tree. We picked out the most fancy matching gold garland and gorgeous ruffled tree skirt. I could see it all in my head just how spectacular it would be.

We got home, set it up, and it was perfect. Every fake branch was spread and fluffed. The ornaments were symmetrically hung on each side and the garland was strung in the most perfect zig zag fashion that I was about to pat myself of the back on a job well done when I stepped back to look at our perfect tree and realized...I hated it.

It didn't look like the trees I grew up with. It looked like something that Martha Stewart would do...and I am no Martha Stewart and my home is not a Macy's window. This tree didn't feel like home.

I remember at that moment longing for the years ahead of me when my tree would tell a story of the years gone by, with popsicle stick ornaments smashed together with Elmers glue, and now, this year, as I look at my tree only 10 feet away as I type, it is perfect.

First of all it's a real tree, and it has been since that first year, and will be from now on.

The bottom 1/3 of the tree is completely bare to keep toddler fingers from snatching and hoarding ornaments.

The garland is half shredded and barely hanging on by a thread and the dog has tore the hell out of the tree skirt. And best of all? We have ornaments that tell stories.

Like a pair of figure skates that hang for Mommy for a sport she loved and was devoted to for years.
A guitar for Daddy who has been strumming one since he was 9.A wedding cake inscribed with the year "2003" to mark our first anniversary as husband and wife.3 little Reindeer to remind us of a time when there were only 3 in this house.And a handmade Reindeer from the hands of that baby Reindeer above.A time we celebrated the arrival of our first pink one...and one this year to celebrate the blue eyed baby who surprised us all. Ornaments that pay tribute to people we miss very, very much. A handmade angel for the one who loved Christmas to her core. Who set the bar so high I will spend eternity trying to give my kids the reaction to their Christmas morning that she gave to us.
Tucked way in the back up high is the most precious to me of all. Look very closely, it says "Baby's First Christmas 1978" and it is my baby ornament. Passed down from my mom. I was a Christmas baby and my Mom and Dad brought me home in a stocking.

If you look closely at our tree you will still find some of those fancy Maroon and Gold ornaments from our first year. After all, they are now part of our story, where we were, where we are, and where we are going, we hang them proudly with our felt hand prints and clay Reindeer.

I hope all of my blog readers have a Merry and Blessed Christmas with their families.


December 22, 2010 10:18 PM
3 comments

~ Hustle and Bustle ~


This morning, my 3 year old Luci, couldn't get her sparkly tights off in time to make it on the pot. She had an accident on the bathroom floor. I have never, ever been more excited to clean up pee...it made my day.


Let me back up a bit...

I have authority issues, I think rules don't apply to me, I know this and I'm working on it.

Perfect example was in October, I received a letter being summoned to Jury Duty. I didn't go. Just that simple, didn't want to go, so I didn't go. This didn't surprise my mother at all, she is used to it. We had a conversation that went like this:

Mom: Kelly, you know you HAVE to go, right?
Me: No I don't, they have like 300 people a day, they won't even know I'm not there.

It reminded me of the conversation she had with me when I was 15 and flying to California all by myself. She said ;

Mom: Kelly, you are only allowed to check 2 suitcases, you have 3 they will not let you on the plane.
Me: Yes they will Mom, they won't notice.

Well..they noticed, I sat on the floor in Lambert airport scrambling to shove my 3 bags into 2. Some old airline guy was helping me, some of my girlfriends got me a thing of "Vagisil" feminine powder as a joke and it had spilled all over in my bags. I almost missed my flight and me and the poor guy helping me were covered in Vagisil by the time we were done.

Turns out..you can't just "skip" jury duty either...

I got a strongly worded letter, something about a $500 fine and jail time. So I was rescheduled for December.

So the date rolls around. Hello, Ice and Snow storm, on the WARMEST morning of my jury duty is was 7 degrees. I had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn and carry 2 sleeping, jammied, warm babies into a cold car and haul them over to my moms house in Illinois. Then turn around and drive right back through the same rush hour traffic back by my house to the courthouse.

I was an entire hour late, still in my pajamas and didn't even take the time to put on a bra or brush my teeth. (For the record I did do the "rub your teeth on the inside of your t-shirt trick"...don't look at me like that, you know you've done it.) but this was all fine by me, it played into my "Slacker" persona. I thought if I show up an hour late looking like this, no lawyer in their right mind is going to be pick me for a jury.

I had to park 3 blocks away in the parking garage and battle the ice snow and wind to find the right building, the wind was so cold it felt like needles in my face. I arrive, check into the "cattle call" room. People had talked to me about the cattle call room. You hang out there with about 300-400 people, most people are in there all day, never get called and get to go home....sweet, this should be easy.

I settled in a chair in the back and got 2 minutes into an intense game of Mario Kart on my 6 year olds "Nintendo DS" and a Baliff walks in on a microphone and announces they have selected 30 people as potential jurors on a case...

Name # 1 - John Smith
Name # 2 - Kelly Manno

Wha...What?!?!

From there we were taken straight down to a real courtroom, with a plantiff a defendant, their lawyers, a judge, the works! I couldn't help but think "Dude this is just like Judge Judy" from the 30 of us, the lawyers would select 12 for the trail. I knew this was my time to shine and say something totally off the wall to get sent home, but we learned this was a trail between an oil company and an investment property firm. So the only questions they were asking us were things like "Have you ever worked in the oil business?" "Have you worked in property management", "Have you ever sued anyone?" I didn't have a chance to say squat!

Once all the questions were done the prosecuting attorney said "If there are any other reasons not mentioned that you think would make you not fit for this trail please state so now." and in a last ditch effort I stood up in front of 30 people and said...

Me: I can't hold my pee longer than an hour
Courtrooom : "Crickets..."
Attorney: Is that a medical condition, or do you have a Doctors note?
Me: No I just had 3 babies really fast and my bladder is shot.
Courtroom: "Giggles..."

For the record that is basically true, I have a bladder the size of a grape.

But I'm going to make a long story short. I was picked, I was Juror number 5 and had to spend a couple days listening to testimony, examinations, cross examinations, objections, the works. And you know what? It was kind of cool. Yes I hated and loathed the hustle and bustle of downtown working life. But once I was there, it was an honor to see our justice system in action and I am really glad they picked me. Some people will go their whole life and only see it on TV, it was fascinating in person.

I shouldn't have been such a brat and I should have just gone the first time.

When I got home and saw my kids and the end of those days it was like I hadn't seen them in years, I had to check them and make sure they didn't grow while I was gone :) I could not imagine being gone from my children from 7am-6pm every day, I could never be a working mother, I. would. die.

And then I realized....millions of parents, moms in particular, do this every day. Some do it because they have to, some do it because they want to. For those of you who have to, I am so, so sorry. To those of you who "want" to - THANK YOU! Women need a voice in the workplace and whimps like me would never survive.

The trail is now over. When I woke up my first morning home to a toddler and a puddle of pee I thought "Bring It" - THIS is the kind of crisis mama can handle....

So life is back to normal, I wake up and stumble around the kitchen with bed head hair and one eye open like a pirate, pack back-packs and lunches, send Rocky off to school. Then the girls roll out of bed and onto the couch where we watch Sesame Street and yawn and stretch out way through the morning, then we peel ourselves off the couch and head to the tub...
Then it's time for breakfast, I think this is the part where I am suppose to pretend I feed them whole wheat organic oatmeal and fiber, micro-something or other juice. But these are fruity cheerios...and they are delicious.
Libby Lu has a new trick, she can stand if she balances against the wall. She is very proud.
The rest of my day consists of the most simple and happy things. Snack time, craft time, reading time, movie time and
very little communication with any other adults.
Far, far away from the hustle and bustle of working city life.

But let's be real, I don't ride Unicorns all day. Between the good stuff there are also melt-downs because a Barbie shoe won't fit, puddles of pee to clean, crabby teething babies, smelly diapers and whole lot of other stuff that someone else may consider "Hustle and Bustle" but it's my hustle and bustle, and it's awesome.

December 17, 2010 2:20 PM
2 comments

~ Overwhelming Response ~

I wanted to thank everyone for their overwhelming response to the post about Libby Lu and her flu shot (click here to refresh your memory) I must have struck a nerve because I received so many passionate letters, mostly from mothers who have had similar situations. We had the girls check ups a while back and I did get a chance to talk to the Doctor about Delayed Vaccinations.
First of all, I love my pediatricians office for many reasons. For one, they let me make my girls appointments together, which saves me an extra trip, they love my kids and don't even blink anymore when Luci comes in dressed in whatever ridiculous outfit she chose for the day, but I braced myself for the response I might get when I brought up the dreaded taboo word "delayed vaccinations"
Reason number 3 I love them : When I said I wanted to switch Libby Lu to a delayed schedule my Doctor listened to my concerns, didn't roll his eyes or try and talk me out of it. He said he was very familiar with the Dr. Sears schedule and has no problem using it. I wanted to jump for joy, I went in expecting a battle and I got nothing but support.
For the record this was Luci's 3 year check up and Libby Lu's 9 month. Luci is a bit shrimpy and scrawny, but we already knew that, Libby Lu is in the 70th percentile for height and weight, and my Doctor congratulated me for one of my kids finally being on the chart for head size. Yes, that means my children and their gigantic heads usually don't even make it into the percentile. Libby Lu was in the 93% for head size!

I was always interested in delayed vaccinations, but every time I looked into it, it was just too overwhelming. I didn't know what any of that crap meant, Dtap, HipB, it was like a foreign language. I still don't know what most of those mean. But here is what I do know.... I had my Dr. print out every vaccine Libby Lu needs between now and Kindergarten, then he printed a list of everything she has had. I compared the list and crossed out what she's had.

The new plan is simple. She never gets more than 2 vaccines at a time, NO "combo shots" - many times you will go in for an appt. and your child will receive 3 injections but some of those syringes have 2 or 3 different vaccines dumped into them so your child is really getting 5 or 6 vaccines in one day. Most pediatricians cram all the shots they need into the first 18 months of life, and then they go about 3 years without any injections until Kindergarten. The new plan simply spreads those out.
"No combo shots" means your Doctor may have to order single vaccines, when I asked mine he says he has plenty of them on hand and it's never a problem. The only shot that cannot be broken up is the MMR shot (a.k.a. The Autism Shot) so for that one instead of getting it at 12 or 18 months she will get it when she is 3 or 4 years old.
The only downside I have found to this plan is your child will get poked alot more (going without the combos) but it will be spread out over time, and for me the benefit out weighs the extra poke. But that's nothing that a sticker and cookies can't fix.
Obviously I want to state that this plan isn't for everyone. I know there is alot of debate over this topic. It is simply what we've chosen for our family. When it comes to your family, do a little research and make the decision that is best for you. We're all mommies in this together, faced with information overload everyday and trying to make the best decisions we can for out little babies and for that reason alone, we are all on the same team.

December 1, 2010 9:53 PM
5 comments

~ Happy Halloween - Love, The Manno Kids ~





October 28, 2010 9:27 PM
4 comments

~ ASK KELLY ANYTHING ~



Hey Kelly...what is your favorite lens to shoot with and what is the most practical lens to shoot with? Hands Down the 50mm 1.2 it never leaves my camera body. For weddings, families, babies, you name it that lens is on my camera. If you can’t swing the $$ for the 1.2 check out the 1.4 ALOT of people swear by the 70-200 2.8 IS and it is a beauty too.


Hello,

I'm interested in photography and self-taught. Mostly, I take pictures of my kiddos! My question is about back-lit photos, they are my arch nemesis! Any tips? Sure! Backlit photos are a little hard to explain. But follow me here. If you want a beautiful “Back lit” photo first of all the light has to actually look like that. You can’t create it. Your lightsource (aka the sun) needs to be aimed at their backs or at a back/side angle. BUT you also need to have light bouncing off something to illuminate their face. Otherwise you will just get a big dark shadow person with the sun behind them. The light can reflect off anything, a brick wall, the concrete in front of them. It’s just a matter of trail and error. Once you figure out how to spot backlit situations it’s like riding a bike. It will all “click” and it will be a piece of cake.


In this photo below the sun is obviously behind Donna, but it's also bouncing off the wheat in front of her and reflecting onto her face.

In this photo the sun is behind Heather and Tim as well, (behind the gray wall look at all that direct sun on the trees) but it's ALSO reflecting off a brick building right behind me and reflecting back onto their faces.

I know this is not photography related - but I love Libby Lu's name and I am just curious if you considered any other names for her? She was always “Libby Lu” I did like the name Vivianna early in my pregnancy. We would have called her her “Vivi” - and towards the end of my pregnancy I fell in love with the name “Lula Mae” but couldn’t talk my husband into it. I will keep working on it if we get pregnant again. I would love to have a Luci, Libby Lu, and Lula :)

Photo by the fabulous Tonya Nickel with Simple Expressions Photography


I have a question for you. I am getting ready to shoot my first wedding and am a little nervous. My question is, during the ceremony, do you use your flash? The only time I use my flash during the ceremony is when they are coming down the aisle (the processional) the rest of the ceremony is shot with natural light. You will find your photos look MUCH better if you crank up your ISO and/or use a low aperture rather than blasting them with the flash. But I also have 2 side pieces of advice for your first wedding.

A) If you don’t have good gear or a lens that can shoot in low light rent one. You can do this and it’s very affordable. Check out www.lensprotogo.com or www.schillerscamera.com

B) If you are nervous about the lighting go to the rehearsal dinner, for free. The bride will be thrilled with the extra photos and you get to do a test run... Wah-la I am a genius :)


When doing a slideshow- what kind of music do you use and where do you get it from- legally! - Check out www.redbeardmusic.com


Can you show us some before and after photos? I am really interested to see what your photos look like SOOC (Straight out of the camera) and then what they look like when you are done with them. Sure. Here ya go! If I am in control of my lighting (time of day, location, etc...) then I can get it right in camera the first time and there isn’t much editing to do other than some minor tweaking or giving it a little “kick”. But other images need major surgery due to unflattering or flat light. I tried to give you a variety below.


Before
After
Before

After

Before
After
Before/After
Before/After


When doing a slideshow- what kind of music do you use and where do you get it from- legally! - Check out www.redbeardmusic.com



Do you let your clients choose locations for shoots, or do you? I am way too busy to let all of my clients pick their own location. I would spend my whole life in my car driving all over Gods Creation. I open up portrait dates every year at a variety of locations and they can pick from the variety of times and locations I have set up. I try to make it a variety of country and park areas to downtown city looks. There is usually something there for everyone.



How about oufit questions- I always get 'what should we wear' questions. any ideas? Most of my clients can tell from my website that I like bold colors, lots of color, lots of accessories. All of the old rules like “Don’t wear patterns” and crap like that I threw out the window a long time ago.


That's all for now! I will try and get part 2 up soon!

September 9, 2010 1:35 PM
1 comment

~ This is a house where life happens ~

It’s just been one of those weeks. Libby Lu did something us moms call “crap up the back” so badly I had to cut her clothes off her with scissors, I found a pretty awesome “booger farm” on the wall next to Lucis bed. Oh and I broke Rocky’s face.



I’m officially out of the race for mother of year.


Sunday afternoon the weather was gorgeous. Libby Lu was taking a nap, Daddy was mowing the yard, Luci was hanging out with Maw Maw and me and Rocky were bumming around the house with an hour before dinner and nothing to do, I said “Let’s go for bike ride Rocky, a BIG one, just me an you”


We were having so much fun, we rode all over, we found this big field with a paved path going around it with some small hills and we hit jackpot! Up and down the hills we went, I could hear him behind me hooting “whooo hooo” and “Yeah baby” when we were taking a rest he told me he was going as fast as “Lightning McQueen”

But it was time to go home and there was one hill left to conquer. It wasn’t that big, or that steep, and didn’t seem much bigger than the other ones we’d rode. But when I got about halfway down it I thought “Holy Sh*t this is fast” I put on my brakes to turn around and see if he’d started down yet, because if not I was going to stop him. At that exact moment I heard tires squealing and metal bouncing on pavement and my heart sank.


My the time I turned around he was already sprinting towards me so I knew nothing was broken but he was bleeding everywhere. Both arms, hands and face. We left our bikes there and walked home.


Paw Paw went back to retrieve our bikes and found his in a mangled mess of metal with the fender about 5 feet from his bike.


I get so pissed when I hurt one of our kids. I should have went down the hill first. Bad Mom. Bad Mom.

But I guess it could have been worse... I could have buried myself in work on that beautiful Sunday afternoon, Lord knows I had plenty of editing to do. I could have sent him into the basement to play video games, or plopped him on the couch to watch TV. At least I take my kids on bike rides and that should give me some sort of bonus points right?


After beating myself up a bit I decided that this is a house where life happens. It just IS. Something is always going on. Someone is crashing a bike, or busting their lip, decorating the sidewalk with chalk, or building a fort in the living room with blankets. This house is busy, phones are ringing, kids are fighting, dogs are barking, dinner is burning. I know some of my single friends leave my house and think “Dear Lord I am so glad our life is not like that” - but I am so glad mine is because I wouldn’t know what to do with myself in the silence.

Life ain’t always peaches honey get used to it. But I make no apologies for

loving life, even on the bad days. I want to squeeze the BeJesus out of this life and these kids and everything I have. So even if I lost my mother of the year trophy and broke my kids face. At least it was one heck of a ride on the way down the hill.



September 7, 2010 6:19 PM
5 comments

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