three kids

There is a lot of energy in this busy household!

Big brother:

Twin love. Don't you just love her missing teeth! I hope the toothfairy was very generous with her! And, kiddos... here's your Webkins shot - enjoy it!
Thanks for having me over!

the beach

it is late and i really should be in bed after a fun, fun weekend and a LONG LONG car ride. So, good night and I'll fill you in on the trip tomorrow.

Look who has shown her pretty face!

yes, my tree peony. love this plant and this year the blooms are prolific and lovely. When we first moved to this garden, there were three plants in the same area. We lost one the first year and over the past couple of years the middle one has suffered a bit. The deer nibble on them a bit, perhaps that has affected it. The third one continues to do really well... just love them! I have tree peonies in a couple of different areas of the yard, but over time those spots have become more shady (shadier?) so they are not blooming. they green, but they don't produce any buds. I *may* get brave this year and move them to sunnier spots.

We've had a cool spell, which has been yucky to get through. I have had to reschedule a session two times now... just not fun picture weather! We're hoping for next week, so stay tuned. However, the good thing about the cool spell is that I think it's keeping most of my peony (oh, do I have peonies - not just the tree peony variety) buds from flowering. We are getting ready to head out of town, as we have traditionally done every Memorial Day weekend. The peonies always seem to hit their peak this coming weekend.... and I miss a bit of their glory. I'm wondering if they will wait just a couple of days to hit their peak, since we've been chilly.

Next time you read this, I will be posting vacation pictures. Looking forward to some fun times in NC.

Cheers!

Too smart

Today I had the privilege of visiting Miss T once again. She is now 2 (and a half) - full of energy and smart as a whip. I can't believe how much and how well she talks. Thank goodness we bumped the session up from this weekend - it was a perfect evening for photos, and I just heard the weatherman say something about hail on Saturday. I wrote down my first impression favorites as I was quickly going through the photos, and there were, oh, 24 or so of them! Here are a couple with some funky post-processing.

funny stuff

A couple of funny things the kids have said recently:

Today was swim lesson day for Addie. She has never been a bikini girl - she has one, but never wears it. She used to always pull the top down to try to cover her belly. For some reason she decided to wear her bikini today. While I was packing up the swim bag with her regular one piece suit, Addie exclaimed, "no, mom, I don't need my bathing suit packed because I'm wearing my zucchini today" and she lifted up her shirt to show me her pink polka dotted "zucchini!!!!!"

Jack's latest thing has to do with animals. If we're talking about an animal he wants to know if the particular animal "bites or wicks!" (licks). I think that is so funny!

Addie's school year is winding down and last week the kids brought home an "all about me" book. Really cute! Here are some pictures of Addie showing Dada her book.

Belated Mother's Day

Belated... seems an appropriate word for me lately! I can't seem to stay on top of things!
Dada snapped this cute picture of me and the kiddos on Mother's Day yesterday. It was a nice day and I am so lucky to be a mom.
Back to work now...!

Irish Eyes...

Where do I begin with this lovely family???? Mom and I are friends from church and I was asked to take some pictures of Holy Communion weekend while family was in town. They are getting ready to make a huge move - to IRELAND, where Dad is from. Sad news for our church group - Mom is such a leader, inspiration and good friend to many. I was so pleased to be invited to take pictures today. The love this family has for one another is so beautiful. I'm saving some really cute pics of Mom and Dad for the gallery, but here are a few faves:

LOVE this one of the honoree --- love how she is the only one looking at me while everyone else primps!!!
The weather kept us on our toes - but luckily we had dry skies (just a little gray). The kids didn't seem to mind and when they changed from their dress clothes they really had fun! Pure childhood!!! We were trying to build a pyramid... this is what happened! Love it!
Is she cute or what?
Thanks for a fun day!

Bubbles and such

I get the Good Mom Award tonight. We MADE homemade bubbles. I feel really stupid, though... I had no idea how easy it was! The kids were so thrilled and they enjoyed the gorgeous wands I brought home from my session this afternoon. The wands were favors from a very fun and beautiful First Communion party honoring two of my farm client friends. More on that later.

Seed update:
squash is growing, growing, growing --- and cucumbers are doing well, too. A few tomato seeds have sprouted and I see a little bit of green on the carrots. Getting excited!

I feel the same way, Buddy.

Aside from the last two *chilly* days, we have enjoyed two weeks of pure bliss... endless sunshine, warm temps and lots of playtime outside. These pics were taken over the weekend, before our cold front moved through and brought some cooler weather.
Love this expression from Jack. It is a face I have seen more of as he approaches three... he was a pretty easy "terrible two" year old... isn't there a saying for three year olds, too?

Swim lessons started again today and Addie is becoming such a great little swimmer. I think it will be a fun, fun summer in the pool! After the lessons, we headed out to the mall. We picked out a new big boy quilt for Jack... a big boy bed will be purchased, soon. Think FIRETRUCKS! His room will be so cute!

Have a great night!

my pink dogwood

love this tree! So beautiful this year with vibrant pink blossoms and the green of the surrounding scenery.

Funny Jack story -
we were reading a book that featured some cows on a farm...
Jack: "Do thems have a mouth?"
Me: "yes, right here" (pointing to the picture)
Jack: "what do thems breath 'mell wike?"
Me: laugh!!!!

Funny kid!

Whew! Fun, fun kiddos!

Ok! These kiddos were FUN! Full of energy! Tadpoles, trucks, model looks, non-ballet moves (hee, hee), upside down tricks on the swing set, jumps.... you name it, we did it! I will have a hard time narrowing down the gallery to show mom and dad - I really like so many of them as I went through the images the first time around.
ANOTHER sunny, sunny day! Lovin it!

not sure

i'm going to post a few more garden shots later - but i can't decide if i like this. it may be a bit too busy... but i love the fuzz on the opened bud.

where was the photographer when I needed one?

FUNNY moment tonight. The type of moment that I DREAM about capturing on film... and it happened to Addie and me and no one was there to snap the picture.
I was tucking her into bed. She told me she needed to go pee-pee...
I said, "lets go to the potty."
She wanted to take the lazy way out and go in her diaper.
I said, "oh. we need to brush your teeth anyway..."
Ok... so she went potty.
I got her toothbrush ready.
She finished the potty, we washed her hands.
She sometimes likes it when I brush her teeth for her... so I started to do so.
All of the sudden, while chatting to her I accidentally moved my hand and the toothpaste got all over her nose.

LAUGHTER ENSUED!
It was the funniest thing to that little 4-year-old...
It was pretty darn funny to me, too...

And immediately my thought was, WHERE IS THE CAMERA?? This was a portfolio building moment... a timeless memory that every mother wants to have... a purely perfect childhood memory... a beautiful bonding moment.

So, here it is in words... and it is etched in my mind, how silly Addie thought it was that toothpaste was on her nose!!!!

No pics of the kids today, but I may come back with a couple from the garden. Another absolutely gorgeous day today. A blessing, indeed, on this Earth Day.

do you see what I see?

Yep. Baby plants.

WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!
WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!

Can you tell I'm excited? As Kevin said, "science is cool!" ---really, really cool!

I guess it has helped that the sun has been shining non-stop since we planted the seeds and the temperatures have been so warm. Now, if we can just keep these little guys growing! By the way... we have cucumber and squash emerging. Come on carrots, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes!!!

A record

We broke a weather record today. We hit 87, yes, eighty seven, degrees today. It was hot and the sun was shining. Wasn't it just yesterday that it was gray and snowy and then rainy and then still gray? Yep... this was a tad bit of a teaser - we're cooling down, but I think for the next few days we'll be staying about 60, which is still nice.

Work, work, work - worked in the yard for several hours today. Things are looking fresh, but I'm still contemplating making a big change again this year. So much garden...so little time. I think it will be the pond area, which by the way... there were about 6 sets of mating toads in the pond today. It is a bit of a toad orgy back there. They have laid their eggs and Addie and Jack were fascinated - they watched the toads for quite some time while we worked in the yard.

So, here it is, almost 8pm and my babies have been tucked away for about half an hour. Peaceful, quite, blissful.... I can sit and play on the computer while listening to the toads (of course the windows are open, it was 87 degrees today!). That is another good thing about warm weather - tuckers out the kids. I actually don't think the TV was on at all today EXCEPT for the show that Addie watched tonight.

maybe i'll go to bed early tonight. OR... maybe i'll get a movie. Hummmm....
Hope you enjoyed your day today, whatever you did or wherever you are.

My favorite weather

Can't even begin to explain what the past few days have done to my spirit! WOW.... gorgeous blue skies and warm temps. The bulbs are popping open all over the place and the trees are starting to leaf out. The grass is turning green, tulip magnolia trees are full of color.... the list goes on. It has been wonderful. The kids have enjoyed playtime outside and we've even eaten al fresco the past couple of nights. Life is good!

the best $10 I've spent in a long time!

I had a couple hours of mommy time today while a fun babysitter came to play with the kids. I found myself at Marshalls perusing the children's sections (why I spend my mommy time shopping for the kids, I don't know). Ran across a rounder of dresses that were $10 AND they came with a matching dolly dress. Addie has been very particular about dresses lately. I bought an adorable dress at the Gap the other day and she was practically in tears over the fact that she didn't like it. Four years old and already we disagree about clothing... I"m in for it!
Anywhoooo... so, I thought I'd take my chances with the $10 dress and purchased it. WELL... WOW, did I score big time! Addie freaked out over it, immediately put it on and the dolly one on her baby and pranced around the rest of the afternoon. Guess where the dress is now??? Hanging up, ready to wear again tomorrow. Oh boy! I do recall there being other patterns, I may just have to go back and pick another one up!
Here is the dress in a couple of different post-processing techniques (more on that later):

Gorgeous day today! The temps are creeping up and the sunshine is unstoppable!!!! It is great. We took advantage and planted our seeds today. We are going to attempt a little garden this year. Crossing my fingers that we get ONE vegetable out of the lot of seeds we planted today!


Finally.... we spent about an hour at the park today. Cool Man Jack showing off his new Cars shades. What else... I guess that is it for tonight....
more later!

C.U.T.E.

and I mean CUTE.
This little gal is perhaps one of the cutest babies I have seen in a really long time. She rivals my Addie in her "girth" and boy can you tell she's well fed! More importantly, you can see how much she is loved by her adoring parents. Such a pleasant little baby girl. Here are a couple of images from our session - playing again with some new post-processing techniques, especially in the last image.

Awesome weather part 2

So, it's not as sunny today as it was yesterday, but the temperatures are still pretty nice. Truly, the plants are starting to double in size over night! I am hoping to see a daffodil bloom by the end of the week.
Enough babble... I'm in a little bit of a sour mood because a certain almost-3-year-old boy is NOT napping... again.
On to the pictures:
Jack has a new smile... charming, isn't it?!

Awesome weather

Today is the type of day that CNYers live for! FINALLY --- beautiful, undeniable sunshine all day long and 60 degree temps. Gorgeous! Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the kids to share today because we were just so busy in the yard. I know, I know... we could still get cold weather and even snow... BUT I am sick of the dead, gray canvas outside, so away with the leaves and away with the leftovers from last year's garden. This is a new season!
We grilled out tonight and when Kevin brought the steak inside to the kitchen my mouth watered... you know the smell... straight from the grill. So wonderful.
The kids have enjoyed a day of outside play - in our yard, a walk to the park, on the back deck... now they are in the tubby washing away the dirt and hopefully soon to sleep (no naps!).
We're in for a few more nice days, I think... I'm sure the camera will be out soon!