Piano Recital!!

I can't believe I am going to my kids piano recitals. Really. I remember MINE! This is their first one ever,and they did a dang good job! And of course, on par for us getting out the door in one piece, we forgot their music. And although they've had it memorized for weeks, Nutmeg was really upset, saying she had to have it. The show did go on, she was second and Bug was third on the program. And yes, they rocked, WITHOUT their music! I'm a proud mama. :) And, oh... due to technical difficulties with the camera... this is all we have. A friend took some more, so when we get those, I'll add them to these two lonely pictures. *sigh*

hEr cHrISTMaS pROgrAm

Loved how she was too shy to even get on the stage for weeks as they practiced. We had to bribe her with a reward chart just for getting up there. But once she did, she had no problems when it can to performace day. She didn't just go up there, she sang every song and waved a ba-jillion (as the kids how much that is.. I'm not sure yet) times, with a big smile! So stinkin cute! Don't worry though, my camera was acting up again, and we had no flash. So here is the super power of my ISO. Not great, but got the job done. And then a few after the program. She is such a ham. :)

kids photos- check

I don't know what to say other than, I love my kids. Really really love my kids. They bring me so much joy and happiness (along with many other things!). *sigh* Some of my favorite people in the world.

family photos -check

I am very proud of my husband. I hadn't bothered to get our family photos yet. Didn't know what I wanted, where I wanted, clothes or anything. And to be honest... I didn't want to know. I had vicariously taken our family photos through all the other family photos I took this year. I was done. But no, HE actually made it happen. Wow. Sunday before church, we ran out and grabbed some. Well, ran and grabbed would be all to quick for what happened. But I will say, we made very good time! And I'm glad he made it happen, because I would have regretted it had we not. Thanks babe!

It's her birthday

And she could not have been happier. Well okay, she could have. We could have let her not go to school and just open presents and play all day. THEN she would have been happier! But really, she had a blast, and LOVED every single thing she got. I think she was just happy to get, period! It seems so strange that she is already 7. It's almost sad she is so close in age to Dylan, because I almost feel she is too much in his shadow. Just always right behind him. He just turned 8, we are waiting until she turns 8. I think it makes it a little harder for her to make her mark. But trust me, she's working at that part! Haha. So here is a little about her at 7.

Oh, and did I mention she lost a tooth on her birthday too? She left that tooth barely hanging in there for over a week... hoping she could hold off until her day. She did, and it paid off with the tooth fairy. Good idea to loose your tooth on your birthday! She is hoping to time it right and loose the second on Christmas. Just what the tooth fairy wants to figure out. Something on Christmas Eve! lol

When she is happy, she really is happy. Elated and on top of the world.
She is an amazing reader. She always has her nose in a book!
She is one of the most determined kids I've ever seen. If she wants to, she'll do it!
She craves attention more than the other kids.
Loves, no LOVES to have her back scratched. She won't even cuddle unless you scratch.
Can manipulate any conversation in the direction she wants.
This will come in handy as she gets older!
Still does not like the color pink.
When she grows up she wants to be a cowgirl.
Never forgets her faith. Even when the rest of us might have.
Is a germ-a-phobe. I'm wondering if it's just a good excuse to not share!
Started taking piano.
Favorite food is still Steak and Artichokes.


Happy Birthday to my girl!









can I say that I love this photo. She has such special relationship with her dad, and this is it. That guy means more to her than anything else. I don't know who needs him more in their life. Me or her. :)

Not what I should be doing....

but I couldn't help it. I just really wanted to throw some new pictures up here and say hello to all my friends who have now abandoned me with my lack of caring for the blog world lately. :( Way back when, before this freezing cold spell we're in (and yes, it is cold even by non-Georgia standards!)... I grabbed a couple photos of the kiddos to update the yearly portrait on the wall. Funny how as the photographer I want to get all creative, but at the same time I also want the traditional portrait to hang on the wall! So here they are, all growing up and breaking my heart! Not want they wanted to do AT ALL (in fact, Makenna was in the middle of a play date) but I got some. Yay!

thought ahead this year!

i always think i will grab a pictures of the kids in their costumes, before they head out trick-or-treating. nope. never happens. so then we are left trying to get pictures in the dark, after they are exhausted. not this year! thanks to my good friend shooting her kids, i grabbed some of mine too. i actually took these the night of the trunk-or-treat, but hey, it works. they looked just like this, i swear! and this year the costumes were perfect. some year the kids just settle because they can't figure out just what they want to be. but this year was SO them.

star wars

a cowgirl

mini mouse

exactly what they would all love to be when they grow up. if only they really could.

Apples

One Saturday morning while I was out taking pictures, Matt took the kids to an apple orchards. And they picked apples. We had SO MANY apples! They were the yummiest apples we've had in a LONG time, and they lasted quite a while. When we were about to loose the last of them, we peeled them up and made an apple pie from scratch. Best apple pie too. Mmmm. Wish there was more time in the season to go back up and get some more. I would love one of those pies for the Holidays!

It's kind of PG-13 rated

don't you think? I mean, here we are. Stabbing, cutting open and gutting out these poor little pumpkins... and then lighting a candle inside their hollowed out shells. And I will tell you, it took me 10 years, but I finally figured it out. I am always the one to carve the pumpkins with the kids. It's such a fight to get Matt to help. He want's to, which is the funny thing. But then he doesn't at the same time. You'd think we were taking family pictures... which reminds me. We are still needing to take ours. (Ugh!) Turns out, he really finds the insides disgusting. He can't stand cleaning them out. I mean, he really can't. I could never figure it out, until this year. When he actually admitted to this problem of his. So now I will do it for him, as usual, with much less frustration, and just a little (okay, really a lot) more teasing. :)

Love this time of year

For so many reasons. It's fall, and that is enough right there. But I love the holidays that are right around the corner. By this time, I also feel like we've started to get our grove in school and all the accompanying activities. We've got our flow. But I also love the fact that one of my best friends ever gets to come and stay at our house for a week. She bring her brood of 4 kids with her, and we just do nothing but hang out. Love it! And of course we go to Burts pumpkin patch with her. I do think it's a little unfair that her kids get an entire week off of school for fall harvest. Really? It's fall here too. Right?

Well, I actually didn't take many pictures of anything important while she was here. I had just gotten a new lens however, so I just shot tons of... whatever was around. So here are a few of my kids. I will say, not much turned out since I was just goofing around and trying out what the lens could do, but I got a few worth keeping in the files anyhow. And don't mind that they are mostly of Nutmeg. She is never cooperative with the camera, and she was hogging it the entire day. So what can you do, but just go with it!

We've got 3 One year olds

running around. Or should I say, swimming around. See last year at our church's trunk or treat party, one of the game prizes was goldfish. Hehmmm. Not funny! So when this year rolled around, do you think my kids forgot this? NO WAY! So we had to have a birthday party for the fish. It was a mighty lame one, as parties go, I will say. But the kids, and most importantly.. the fish... were happy. The kids made cards, we had a complete tank make-over, with new decor (Ase picked it all out), sang to them of course, and had desert. All in all, it was pretty dang cute how excited the kids got. Even if it was just for the fish. Lucky fish. :)