Micah and I

Just a picture today - I just love this kid :D

Out-Takes, Part 1

Is it Outtakes....OutTakes....Out-Takes....Out Takes....Take Outs??? Oh well. Here they are. And because she's the one that suggested it, Veronica's little one is the first "take out"! :)





Here are two of the happiest babies - at one of their lowest moments. No, this is not the reaction I NORMALLY get from my babies - but it IS the reaction of two babies who don't know each other REAL well . . . and you know how it goes. When one cries, the rest will follow! :) (Baby E started it!!) :D Both pictures are from the same day - but about 30 minutes apart - I did NOT make them do things they didn't like, I promise!! :)

Here are two of my favorite little people. Sweet Mere is the focus and apparently little Anna thought nobody could see her. Hee hee! D - don't you just LOVE this?? hahaha!!! :D

And THIS is the result of a mother/daughter picture - nobody got wet - although THAT would have made for a FANTASTIC "take out" :)

Ok so I have some more "take outs" but I figure I won't overload them all on one day - i'll save the rest for tomorrow! :)

Last night we went to Sea World with some friends - Did you know that Sea World is even BETTER at night? We go a lot during the day and it is SO hot and the kids get tired, hungry & whiny really fast - not at night. :) It's cooled down a LOT (at about 75-80 degrees), the sun goes down, lights come on - and the music starts. LOUDLY. Micah and Ella weren't sure exactly what to think of the noise - but BOY did their mama enjoy it! :) Fortunately, they're not old enough to be embarassed by my lame attempts at dancing. (UNfortunately, my friends ARE!)

ANYways - here's some pics of the kids enjoying the evening - I might have some more in the next few days . . .

Memorial Day

We've had a busy week - Matthew has been out of town for a week and it's so nice to have him home! Memorial Day weekend is always quiet for us and he got back just in time to relax with the familiy. He spent most of the weekend working around the house (lucky Matthew, huh?) but then Monday we had a little gathering . . . we enjoyed watching the kids slip & slide and then we all piled into the pool for some more fun . . . Ella asked for ice cream every, oh, 3 minutes or so. (Even when she said, "Pleeeeeeeze Granma Peggy??" - she STILL had to wait until after supper!) :)

Chris cooked a MOST DELICIOUS shrimp boil for all of us - he maintains that it was SUPER easy - but it doesn't matter - the shrimp was SOO good and the veggies were great . . . and of course Granny made her famous baked beans. (Sure, they aren't WORLD famous but they sure should be!) The kids drove the little car in the street, Ella wandered around getting into stuff . . . the boys played the Wii . . . all in all, a very relaxing BEAUTIFUL day and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Anyways, here are some pictures from the day, nothing fancy or special, just moments for me to remember. :)

Alex in her new sunglasses ("They're HANNAH MONTANA ones!")

Ella-bella, on a mission (see the determined scowl on her face?? the jaw clamped tight??) Oh and then her sweet little 2 year old back . . . can you see the fuzz? OH so sweet....

The two slip-n-sliders - Alex wasn't interested in trying it out. She was patiently waiting for them to get into the pool instead. :)

Alex's pretty smile ("only ONE and then no more pictures," she informed me)

The kids and the neighbor's dog . . . poor thing was so happy to go and "do her business" when the kids FINALLY backed of! :)

Alex and Micah driving the car - check out their skills! :D

Weddings - To shoot or not to shoot?

That is the question. :) Ok seriously, anyone who's talked to me in the last year KNOWS that I really REALLY want to do weddings. I'm a rediculous romantic at heart and I have YET to attend a wedding (even of those I didn't know!) where I didn't ball my eyes out!

When I was a little girl ALL I WANTED was to get married. No, not to have a husband, not to do "it" . . . I wanted to put on that big poofy white dress, walk down the aisle, say some romantic ho-hum yada yada, KISS a seriously hot guy, eat cake (yum!), maybe dance in my dress, and then ride off into the night. Still in my dress.

Later on in life, I changed my priorities from getting married to having kids. At that point, all I wanted was a pile of kids . . . and I was only 15. :) Fortunately for my husband, my horrifying confession that I wanted PILES of kids has all but faded into memory - two is enough for the moment!! He's also lucky because we decided on a last minute wedding (2 weeks!!) and I was forced to make split second decisions and dump a lot of my big hoop-lah ideas. (Turns out I had a BEAUTIFUL wedding, the perfect one for us - but it wasn't the one I'd fantasized about as a child.)

Fast forward to today - There is nothing more EXCITING than being allowed to be a part of a bride and groom's AMAZING day. I love to see the bride all dolled up, the groom clumsily trying to tie his tie and then turning to his best man (who in turn, hands him over to the father of the groom . . .) - The bride is asking questions like, "Is he here? Is everything beautiful? Does this dress make me look fat?" OK that last one was a joke - EVERYBODY knows that NO bride EVER looks anything but drop dead gorgeous in that white gown. That's the miracle and magic of a wedding dress - it makes you the star of the show, belle of the ball - and it transforms you into a beautiful creature that has the power to make grown men and women cry at the sight of you entering a room!

OK enough romantic mush - did you get it yet? I love weddings. I've wrestled with the thought of photographing them - they are a HUGE responsibility, it's a LOT (a LOT LOT LOT) of work, they're exhausting, I miss an entire day with my family . . . but MAN - they are F-U-N!!!

Since it's a wedding post today I'll add some photos from Lindsay & Cory's day-after session. (Heather - http://www.lucidphotoimaging.com/ - and I shot this wedding.) They opted to get all dressed up a couple days AFTER the wedding and have this session rather than see each other before the ceremony. Any way you do it is fine - but these, hands down, are my favorite types of sessions to shoot. Nobody staring at you from the wedding party or the guests . . . in fact, we're pretty much alone . . . which leaves a LOT of room for the romantic nonsense that the brides LOVE and the grooms dread. ;)