March 13th, 2009

This Spring these amazing young people asked me to shoot their Senior Portraits, and they all agreed to come  to me! They tromped through the mud leaned against rustic old barns, and brought their own wonderful ideas and creativity. Troopers all! I love how their pictures turned out, so even though they’re on my website already I wanted to highlight some of my favorites here.

Hannah:

Jeannette:

Brooklin:

Posted in General | No Comments »
March 12th, 2009

There are a few blogs that I watch regularly, some of the bloggers I even know :-), but whenever there is an absence of a new post I automatically assume they have a life. There are more important things to do than post on a blog. I find time here and there to keep this one up because it’s easier to post pictures for long distance family and friends with a blurb about our life than to write every one of them and print copies of photos (which I know would be even more appreciated but it would never happen). And I love to tell stories with pictures. Stories about my boys and life with them. Chronological stories. I post for myself as a mother…to remember.

My excuse for not blogging this week is because I’ve been sick. My three rambunctious boys have felt totally fine, praise be to God, but they’ve had a weary mother looking after them. They had a mild cold each two and three weeks ago, then Peter succumbed last week and had to take a day off work to sleep through the worst of it. It didn’t look so bad when the boys had it, but it’s hit us big people pretty hard. The worst day for me was Monday. I could hardly walk across the yard without feeling shaky and weak and kept falling onto the bed whenever I knew the boys were safely occupied. God sent me angels in our landlords! They were out for the day and took the boys for over an hour so I could rest, letting them follow around and play and eat with them, then when it was time for them to really get to work it was nap time for Ian. 🙂 We’re able to do our school work and we’ve been enjoying a new stack of library books!

Today was much better and I hope to catch up here a little. I have a Mommy & Me shoot and a Six Month shoot with my nieces to post as well as some Senior Portraits…so stay tuned!

Posted in General | No Comments »
March 1st, 2009

Peter had wanted to take another snowboarding trip with his buddies for his birthday but it wasn’t possible this year (besides, he got in a couple of days when he went to Utah earlier this  month 🙂 ).  So instead he took me and the boys to the gun show and then we met some of his buddies at the shooting range.  He had a great day and we’re so glad he took us with him!

My sisters and I grew up in a house with no guns.  Guns were scary to me and I didn’t understand them (or people who had them in their homes), but Peter grew up in an environment where guns were just a part of life on the mountain.  This is one of the many differences between the family I was raised in and the family I married into.  Before today I had only shot a gun once…when my brother-in-law married my twin, they lived in a tiny cabin on top of a mountain with bears prowling about.  So when I visited them, he put a gun in my hands, set up a target and showed me how to shoot it.  I shot it once and said that was good enough (thanks for trying, Vann!).

So when Peter took me out to the shooting range and loaded a pistol for me to shoot I was determined to do my best and have fun if I could.  The first few shots really shook me up.  The noise and power of it were unnerving.  But the target drew me in and it was increasingly easier to make a good shot.  I feel like shooting today has helped me get beyond some fears that I have had since I was a child, and I am understanding more Peter’s healthy view of “arms” and respect his taking responsibility as a citizen and leader of our home.

I hope you had a wonderful birthday Peter and I love you!

 Seth said he wanted to look mad. :-) They were waiting for the “line to get hot” before shooting with Daddy. Boy, were we glad for those hearing protectors! learning to load the stool worked great for Seth! Peter held the rifle for Seth while he just shot his rounds down range. Jerome tried to aim his shots more, and did pretty well! :-) Peter shooting pistols with Brian. aim recoil tiny targets reloading Isn’t this a beautiful place? Little Tejunga Canyon, I think.  I had brought my F4.5 50mm but the light was getting too low for it by the time we were leaving. Aaron had brought his 1.8 50mm and let me try it out! I took these with it and I love it! I’m so glad these didn’t have to be flash. I love you, Peter Thanks for the picture, Aaron! And thank you for taking me with you, Peter! Donna and Scott hosted a birthday dinner and Bible study that evening. Cake time! (and this morning Scott brought over homemade cinnamon rolls for Peter’s birthday, a perfect start to a special day!) Happy birthday Peter! Jane made Peter his favorite…carrot cake! A perfect ending to a great day.

Posted in General | 2 Comments »
February 24th, 2009

When Peter came back from Utah he brought home two beautiful tulip plants. He gave Seth the purple tulip plant and he gave me the red one. They’ve been such bright spots in our window all month! Seth was showing them to his little friend and he told her “Daddy gave me the purple lips and he gave Mommy the red lips!” 🙂

 Seth’s “purple lips” My “red lips”

At about two this morning Jerome came and got us up because he said Seth was crying from a bad dream and throwing up. When we ran in there it took us a minute to realize that Seth was neither crying normally or throwing up. He had an attack of croup and was terrified that he could not breath. (He did not seem to be sick yesterday and still only sounds a little hoarse this morning with no other symptoms.) He was better once he calmed down in the steamed bathroom. After a while he wasn’t scared anymore and was breathing easier so I read a book to him before trying to put him back to bed. He chose “The Littlest Angel” and at the end he said “Mommy, I want to be an angel some day.” When I asked him why he said “So I can save the day!” 🙂

This morning Peter was still here when I woke up (he’s so very quiet in the mornings I rarely see him) and Jerome was already awake. This is the sight that greeted me: (Mama, skip the first two!)

 He took his buddy’s advice and twisted it until it came out! Peter took these shots this morning before I got up. I had to convince Jerome to let me keep his tooth instead of him drilling a hole through it to make a necklace! On his way to get a “snaggle tooth” photo a quick swing is always fun! He’s still trying to figure out the posed smile :-) I cropped this one for him because when he saw the photo on my computer he decided he didn’t like his bandana sticking up! Our six year old! :-) Ian followed us up and decided to take his sandle off and he did it! And I decided to keep taking pictures! Ian is 20 months old today There’s Mama! airplanes fly over all the time He does have a handful of words. :-) Then I kept the camera out to snap shots of the boys playing in the afternoon before naps. He was asking me to help him put stuff in his bucket. The clouds were moving so quickly it was amazing! It felt like Spring so I threw open the windows and doors and let the house breathe. Ian discovered the open window with no screen and motioned for me to come see with him! I like how you can see Jerome’s expression here. looking out together Ian decided to look IN from outside! Where’s Jerome? There he is! Ian LOVES to throw things! He was trying to get it through the window. I love his little tongue in that shot! He’s done with the window game… he’s off to find something else to do! Ah! a truck is always fun! his tongue again :-) and big brother to play with! Later Seth found a dandylion growing in our yard and picked it for me. He cracks me up! He’s still making sure I see his flower But his smile was what I was waiting for :-) He made sure I put it in water to grow! :-) He was inspired to go pick some more flowers… and came back with these! I love you Seth!

Posted in General | No Comments »
February 23rd, 2009

My, but our newest niece, cousin and granddaughter is adorable! Her Aunt Veronique is a slow blogger so her four day pictures are being posted three days after she took them. Happy one week birthday Eden Rose!

 Already passing up her birth weight by two ounces by day four!

Posted in General | 1 Comment »