5+1 on the way = 6 kids

This wonderful family will soon welcome a new baby! I visited them last year at their beautiful cottage up north. I was invited back this year!
Big brother has taken up fishing! He is quite good at it.
I love this picture of the four girls looking into my lens for "things" such as "money, sandwiches, my car, fish, etc..." Very cute.

Wish I had time to post a few more, but
a.) way too many favorite and
b.) running out the door for the labor day weekend. I will have LOTS to post when we get home, including two sessions down south!

Adorable

This is my friend's daughter. I think she is so darn cute!

Cuteness!!!

Can you even believe how cute this little one is??? I just want to squeeze her!!!

Aspirations

Settle in...

This may be a lengthy entry. I have a lot on my mind and feel like sharing.

First, a funny aspiration story.

Addie was pretending to be a doctor today.
She was supposed to be tending to Jack's sick stuffed frog when all of the sudden she said, "Oh, I was a doctor but I'm not anymore. I am now a Hess Mart worker!!"
I am certainly not demeaning the job of being a Hess (gas station/convenient store worker), but it was rather funny the way she prefaced it.
The kids have gotten into a routine of going to Hess Mart with their babysitter to choose a "treat" during the day if they are well behaved. I guess they are getting to be regulars and the workers are very happy to see them!

I am so proud of Jack. He has been wearing his big boy underpants for about a week with NO accidents! YEA for JAcK!!!

Dada had a birthday this weekend! The kids were so excited to make cards, shop for presents and make the cake. Which do you think was the most creative?? The cards were lovely. The cake was scary looking!!! Guess what Dada got as a present???????????????

????????


Give up??

Highlighters!!!!

While Dada is preparing for his class he teaches he likes to highlight information in the textbook. Addie has watched him do this and she thought it would be a good idea to get him a pack of multi-colored highlighters!! I think it was a very appropriate and thoughtful gift. Dada loved it.
He did get a few other things, too.

Ok... now to me... YEA for me!!! Yea for me!!! YEA, YEA for me!!! My friend Anne invited me to join her at her running group today.
This is the only web thing I could find for the group:
http://blog.syracuse.com/healthfitness/2008/05/whole_running_training.html
Very motivational, very inspiring, very "I am woman, hear me roar" mentality. Running training with yoga at the end. Nice. AND... the Yea for Me part is that I ran about 4.5 miles today (and I actually wasn't dying), first time in the group! Yea for me, did I say that already?? Not sure what my goals are for the group, or if I will officially commit to it (they train 2xweek), but many women are training/have done half-marathons, marathons, triathlons, etc... we'll see!

In other news this week, my late mother-in-law's legacy lives on with the awarding of the first annual scholarship in her name. My father-in-law was very proud, but very sad at the same time as you can imagine. Not only did the event get press at CMS (Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools -where she once worked and who controls the funds for the scholarship), CPCC (Central Peidmont Community College, where she also once worked and where the recipient of the scholarship is going to college) but also with the newspaper, the Charlotte Observer...
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/277/story/130331.html
We miss Nanie very much.

Time to get to work on a few things before heading to bed. Jack is getting his new big boy bed this week, so that will be very exciting. Time to clean out his room and tidy it up. I am sure I will take a picture or two of the new bed with his firetruck quilt! I am sure it will be very cute! stay tuned.

I am a Firemom

I was informed by Jack that I am a FireMom. He is a fireman, so I guess it makes sense.

Another WOW couple

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Tiffany and AJ in GORGEOUS Skaneateles tonight. I crossed my fingers all day for the weather to cooperate. We have been having the funniest weather: rain, sun, rain, sun, rain, sun - very fickle. Well, not only did the weather cooperate, it was the perfect night for pictures.

Beautiful couple both inside and out. I enjoyed hearing stories of their meeting, engagement and details of the wedding. Can't wait to meet the bald-headed friends at the wedding in October.
Here are just a few of my favorite images from our session. Way too many favorites!!


And, perhaps my all-time favorite of the night...

1.2.3.4.5.

A family of five. A family full of life and love!

busy, busy, busy!

Whew! Busy!
Between meeting new clients, working at the flower shop, tending to the garden (which has been exploding due to all of the rain we've been getting), and taking care of the kids and the house... I've been busy!

Took a few minutes to snap some shops of cute little Addie last night. She was wearing one of my favorite dresses and her hair was in pigtail braids (at her request). She looked so darn cute. Here is one, but I'm putting together a little storyboard of more of my favorites from our "mini session."

Here is one of Jack, too. We toured a local fire department yesterday and he was in his glory "driving" the truck.

Long blonde hair

My latest client is a gorgeous woman with long blonde flowing hair. Isn't she just so pretty!
Everybody needs a lovey, a blankie, a comfort item. For Tanner it is her moose. Love it!

The Wheels on the Bus

Before I fall asleep at the computer tonight (too tired!), I thought I would post just one picture of 4 adorable sisters singing The Wheels on the Bus at our session yesterday. Too cute.

Family Love

What do you get when you take two loving siblings (can't you see the love in the picture?),
and two loving parents who are still in love after all those years???

A LOVELY family full of love!!!!

Thanks guys for having me over on such a lovely afternoon!

zinnia

My mom is growing beautiful zinnias in Ohio and I came home from our trip to be rewarded with my own large, healthy plants full of buds. Yea! I think next year I will take more time with them and have them all over the yard. I just love them.

Life of a Three Year Old

Poor Jack. Last week he received his first bee sting. Right between the eyes on his forehead. I'm sure it hurt. He took it like a champ, cried and then forgot about it. He called it his "bee bite."

Forward to today while we were at the park... playing, running, banging on the metal tubes that kids crawl through and... GOT STUNG AGAIN. This time, on his right pointer finger. I think it was a wasp, actually. Poor Jack. He took it like a champ, cried and now has forgotten about it!

Funny story about him, too. Last night we were eating our dinner which was pork, couscous, corn and grilled zucchini (for mom and dad). Jack ate the pork and about two bites of couscous and said he was full. Dada told him he needed to eat all of his couscous or no dessert. So, he started eating it again. He finished and proudly exclaimed, "I ate all my beefbeef!!!!!"

We died laughing!!! So funny!!!!

Working on some pictures from a family of four -- stay tuned for pictures.