wrapping up the summer!

check out this gorgeous crew i met at the duck pond! little sis was on the go and kept us all hopping around! big sis doted on little sis, the love was so apparent! warmed the heart to see. little sis was in charge and said everything she saw, "bunny!" "fish!", such a contrast from my little guy the same age, whose word repertoire is "uh-oh", it blew me away to watch her take it all in.

you were a joy to work with!

stellar children!

met a new family at spring creek park yesterday! it's one thing meeting a family you've shot before. you know what you're getting into. you know personalities. you know tricks to get them to smile. you know likes and interests. but then there's that exciting world of the unknown awaiting a completely new family. are the kids going to be shy? are they going to be out of control? i make mental notes of things to try and routes around the photo site. and you just don't know until they get out of the car and you see them searching for someone, as i am searching for them. sometimes there's a warm up period. try to figure things out. these kids? they were a go right from the start! friendly, polite, fun, and eager to participate! let the fun begin. we darted here and we darted there and shot a huge variety of shots it was hard to pick a few favorites for the sneak peek.
here are some of my favs:

all the kiddos:



doesn't joy just exude from her beautiful eyes!:



this was my shy guy, but i think he proved he can pull out a sweet, kind smile when he wants:



this guy? he was FUN! a mile a minute and definitely keeps this family on their toes!:

getting some sillies out:

i *heart* this:

extended family . . .

i love when you include the grandparents! they're not always local, they're not always willing ;-)! but when you do it's amazing! i love to see the generations. i love to see the family dynamic. i love to capture them at this point in time so they can remember it forever!

the whole clan:



nana and poppa with the kiddos:



relaxing and getting our sillies on:



little miss pretty pants:



big cool guy:

capturing the siblings:

one good looking bunch!:

beautiful day to play with ducks!

what a day to be outside playing with these two cuties! glorious day, and great kiddos who put up with me chasing them! big sis started out on fire and then was ready to play and little brother who needed some warm up time. sweet kiddos, check em out:


big sis has an ornery grin eh?:



snuck a little grin out of this shy guy. check out his right eye! that's a big sister for you! now it will be documented forever. you can get her back when your older ;-):



what a sweetie:



my favorite pose for a girl on the move and who has no need to conform to society's need for a family portrait ;-). i think it captures her personality and her phase at the moment!:

sweet moment:

daddy can get the grins out of this guy!:

summer fun

break out the kiddie pools
apply the sun block
we're ready for summer fun around here

gracie's grin when she gets caught doing something she's not supposed to be doing:


which was this, but at her brother. she was more then pleased to demonstrate for the camera:



snackin' in the pool:



jackson taking a turn getting her for a change:

backyard peonies. how uplifting:

one of our new favorite activities. going out for a nature walk after bath time in our jammies. we bring colored pencils and journals and sketch and talk about what we see. this is a neighbor with very elaborate plantings that is a favorite stop:

the neighbors garden's close up:

jackson hard at work sketching an iris:

gracie's chose a beautiful single rose for her first sketch:

tyler chose to drink a bottle instead ;-):

we even saw a hot air balloon! that was a fun addition to our journals (mom drew the balloon, j wrote the sentences):

another mom and j collaboration:

tyler getting a little antsy with all this stopping on a walk!:

nothing pretties up a pair of pjs than fancy sandals!:

grace trying her hand at pushing tyler. think that will remain a mommy job!:

one of jackson's favorite spots, the tree tunnel!:

j hard at work again. he really took to this task:

brotherly love! t adores his brother and j is never short on games to play with him, 'eat your feet', 'tickle my belly', 'where's tyler?' and all result in big grins!:

monkey boy on our dogwood in our front yard:

tonight maybe we'll draw the trees . . .

campus tour

met this sweet little girl on campus friday morning. so much fun seeing how much she has grown. i met her at a Fall photo party when she was 12 months. such changes 12 to 19 months! no long a baby, very much a big girl. a full head of beautiful hair, cute little pigtails, and full mobility. 19 months also brings with it stranger-danger, so we had a good bit of warm up time and she was still watching me carefully but with such a beauty every shot is a keeper.


hello eyelashes!:



daddy time:



just love this look of, 'why is the strange lady following us!':



miss independent:

a big smile snuck out!:

a toss in the air can always bring out a giggle:

bye bye chelsea . . .

sad is the day that i will no longer watch Chelsea Lately. funny, clever woman that i thought she was, she choose a lazy, ill suited stab at innocent, hard working people with intellectual challenges. completely unnecessary, completely disappointing . . . i thought she was better. i hoped she was better. when will comedians understand - there's nothing funny about the "R" word. there's nothing funny about making light of their life struggles. if someone who stands in front of thousands, setting a standard for what's funny, tells tasteless jokes, how are the people who laugh along with her expected to understand it's not alright?

she was an honest, laugh out loud, funny girl. i always enjoyed her. no subject was off limits. until now. she went there. first off mistakenly saying that people with down syndrome are not intellectually challenged. she tried to divide the population of people with ID, as if would someway make the joke alright. it's not alright. it's so unimaginative i think. really? a comedian with a big name? using the "R" word? really? you can't think of anything better? something actually funny? i thought you were paid to be more creative than a 7th grade boy. (no offense to 7th grade boys, i actually think, please i hope, that children are being raised differently then even the short while i ago when i was raised)

i no longer need to waste my time. waste my energy. i had her books on my list to get and indulge in, now it looks like my reading list has a little more space on it. perhaps for something a little deeper. definitely for something a lot less offensive.

since she wasn't big enough to stand up against it. i ask you to. change the channel. toss the book. silently make the stand if you cannot stand on a soapbox and say it outloud.

all this an hour after watching "what would you do?" where actors staged an angry supermarket customer berating a hardworking young man with down syndrome who was bagging their groceries. it was emotional night for me. the show was interesting. by far the hardest thing to watch is the actor saying such awful things. having such horrific things pass their lips. as my adrenaline was rising i had to keep reminding myself that these were lines. these were actors. they were trying to get a rise out of surrounding customers. most were disappointing. few were inspiring. i have to think that in the heat of the moment some might just be scared to get confrontational. in my little world there would never be someone who would speak so ignorantly. but i know that's not true. i also have to think that those whose lives have not been touched by intellectual disability just might not fully understand. and that's ok. i didn't fully understand once too. but once you know better you do better right? so spread the word. spread the education. and if you're ever faced with setting someone on the right path i hope you do. i hope you step up and fight for my son. fight for everyone whose living a life, not that they choose, that they have been given, and live with with all their heart.

gardening

i love gardening.

or i shall admit i used to love gardening.

eric would laugh at this whole prospect of "gardening" and correct me in saying that i love to plant. the follow through always trips me up. watering, feeding. he usually steps in and takes over after i've done the initial planting because he has this funny objection to dead plants. it used to be a treat to get flats of flowers in the spring time and arrange them and plant them. then when i started having children it became a great mother's day treat to buy the flowers and get indulged with peace and quiet and time to plant the flowers. then i had another child and suddenly there was less and less time to plant and it was getting more rushed and more like a chore. phooey. i took a little break from planting. of course we did the usual every year. spruce everything up. lend eric a hand spreading some mulch. letting the kids run around with the watering cans watering the plants, i.e. the sidewalks.
i didn't think having yet another child would spark the interest in the hobby that i got too busy to pursue. it took a little twist. this year on mother's day we took a family trip to lowe's and picked out vegetable plants and seeds and some flower seeds and a few annuals. the initial idea was for eric to take the kids to plan the garden while i was blessed with some peace and quiet, but as anyone in the northeast knows it was downright frigid on mother's day this year. the kids lasted about 15 minutes and eric rushed to finish the rest of the veggies but left the flowers and seed for warmer weather. i sighed and figured we'll find the time somewhere. well just the other day after i picked grace up from school the time presented itself. for awhile now grace has been bored with her time after being picked up from preschool til the time her older brother gets off the bus. i'm such a mean mommy, i never let her dig holes in our yard and i don't allow her to cut and glue and paint unsupervised, but this day i allowed her to dig in the dirt, pull out the plants and place them in the pots and pat them down. tyler supervised through his eyelids which made the time extra special. just mommy and daughter. doing an activity with one of her favorite things, flowers. i think we both enjoyed it! and my hobby was rejuvenated. maybe just briefly but i had visions of being able to resume gardening on a grander scheme as the kiddos get a little bit bigger, but for now a few pots outside the back door will do.






poor child struggled so to lift the watering can! mommy made her use THIS one because it would look nicer in the pictures ;-)

proud of her finished product:

then we had some fun with our new bubble rocket:

even mommy had a go:

which apparently allowing her to use the camera to shoot mommy launching the rocket sparked an interest in photography! here's her study of mommy:

and i'll spare you from her study of the grass, her brother's snacks, tyler crying, and anything else that came across her path. not sure how many other 4 years olds get to experiment with a canon 30d, but she was enjoying herself so i just couldn't say no as i was composing what i was going to tell my photo clients the following week why i was going to have to cancel if she dropped it!

happy gardening!