Happy, happy baby!

I wanted to quickly go through the images from this afternoon's session --- now here it is almost midnight and I can't stop! This little guy is almost 5 months old and I just loved him. Look at those dimples and his beautiful eyes. What a happy boy, too... I think he fussed once for just a few seconds (and that was only after little bit of a face plant when he toppled over!) - very calm and pleasant.Mom and Dad are totally smitten with their little guy.

What do you do with a little guy who can't quite sit up yet?? Prop him up with a plump pumpkin!
Thank you guys for having me over this afternoon. I can't wait to show you the rest of the images! Cheers!

a few more

of the kids...
this is a typical Jack look.

leaves are falling

I thought this was a cute series of pictures - even if the first one is terribly out of focus (trust me, it is). There is a great spot a few houses down that has tons and tons of leaves on the ground. I think I can cajole the kids into "playing in the leaves" and sneak some cute fall shots in. I keep trying to get Addie to dress in a really cute fall outfit, but you see... she chooses her own outfits... oh well.. that is part of who she is!!

On a very sad note, my grandfather passed away today. I am sad, but I am happy that he is not suffering anymore. It is hard to believe that he is gone - he has been a fixture in my life - all my life and now there is an empty spot. I will always remember the sleep overs my brother and I used to have at my grandparents house ---- so many memories... we used to fight over the top bunk of the bunk beds and there was a chart on the door for MANY years which kept track of who got the top bunk. I remember the pancakes in the morning. I remember Christmas at their house --- seriously... the presents literally engulfed the room (I'm sure it was my little mind at the time that didn't have good spacial perception, but there WERE a ton of presents!). What I remember most and appreciate most and will miss the most is the unconditional love that Pop had for me and for all of his grandchildren. Very sad.

5 Friends

I saw this video on a couple of websites and thought it was cute...
Remember my "apathy" I mentioned earlier... this is similar to my thought process...
enjoy. I particularly enjoyed the Ellen commentary! Funny. I also am diggin the new Eva Longoria look. Love the short hair. Ashton Kutcher -- not too bad on the eye, either... pretty darn cute!

I'm finished celebrating!

Ok... so it's been a week since my birthday... time to get over it, huh!

I had a very nice birthday. Thoughtful cards and gifts and yummy pizza for birthday dinner (yea, no dishes to clean!). My celebrating stretched all the way to this Tuesday night when my good friend and I went to dinner - just the two of us - no kids, no husbands. It was nice to talk without being interrupted (by kids). So... now, on with the new birthday year.

Lots has been going on. Do you want the good or bad news first?
How about the bad news...

My grandfather, Poppy Fred, is not doing so well in his battle against cancer. He is in hospice and is having to take a lot of medication to endure the pain. Please keep my grandfather in your prayers. I had a great heart-to-heart with God the other day in cycling class... (talking to God is a great way to keep your mind off the exhaustion in a tough spinning class!!!). My prayer is that Pop will be comfortable and know he is loved by many. My prayer is that he will know when God is calling his name and he will accept his call to heaven. My prayer is that he leaves this world knowing what a great father, grandfather and great grandfather he was... and that he is at peace.

On a less bad news scale... my allergies are horrid. I haven't really been bothered by allergies in the past few years, but man... these are bad. I typically don't complain about illness/aches, etc. I am tough and I tend to tough it out. Hello... I am a woman who birthed two children without any medication whatsoever (something I am very proud of, by the way!!!)... I can take some sneezing and sniffling, right??? NOOOO... enough already. This is horrible! Make it go away!

The final bad news is the rain and gloominess. It has returned. Summer is over. We love CNY summers... we don't love CNY winters. I don't want to start complaining because it just makes it all the more gloomy... BUT... it started raining on my birthday last Friday and hasnt' really been nice since... almost a week. The sun did shine for awhile this afternoon and the kids and I quickly headed out for a walk and ended up playing at the park for awhile. Good, clean (??), fresh air. Felt good and the kids had a ball.

Now... for some better news.

Uhmmm...

Let's see...

Oh... Jack did a GREAT job cleaning up his toys today. They both love school and are having so much fun. Jack proclaimed that he "wuvs" all of his teachers at school. And, for you Nene... Jack said, "there was ANOTHER Nene at school today. She was wearing a red shirt." Come to find out the music teacher's name was Mimi (according to Addie)... and they did a song about what color shirt everyone was wearing. Nene, Mimi... sounds the same to me!

I may watch the debate tonight. I am a little tired of my apathetic attitude that I sometime (all the time) have which is, "I don't care about politics - they are all liars and what can they really do for me." It is not a good attitude to have and I really must be more educated on politics, I think. I have recently heard/seen some news clips that Palin doesn't really know what she's talking about so I want to hear her debate first hand and in real context.

Here is some good news... I love this new pic of Addie's shoes. I would call this "Ruby Red, Worn Out"
what do you think??

happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Stephanie.... Happy birthday to me!!!!
Yea!

your science lesson for the week

This is what I LOVE about this season:
The kids and I took a walk around the block collecting leaves and acorns. We hit the jackpot with acorns. It was really neat to see Addie's interest in our outing. She was fascinated by how many acorns we found and she picked out some beautiful leaves. I have some cute snaps of her that I will post later. We got home and ironed our leaves and put our acorns in vases and now we need to work on some projects.

We also have busy, busy bees in our garden. This guy was huge and I love how nicely these two are sharing the space of the zinnia!!!!

they drive me crazy...

but boy, do I love them!

our anniversary!

Seven years! Whew!

We were married in Columbus Ohio at St Joseph's Cathedral and our reception was at the Columbus Athenaeum. We had such a great day - it was everything we had imagined. We had the best photographer, Simon Yao. I still remember the details of the day as if they happened yesterday! After a great wedding weekend, we honeymooned in Aruba for 10 days... that was bliss!!!

I looked up the anniversary present for 7 years and it is wool or copper... hummmmm... wonder what I should get Kevin.

addie at the festival

duck decorating, face (and arm) painting, bouncy house, ice cream truck, whew! What more could you ask for??!

another inspirational post!

I'm sure my last post of "hang on" was so moving for you, so here is another one!!

exciting day today -- our little village had it's annual festival with lots of fun activities for the kids. Jack was in heaven because the firetrucks and ambulances were there. More pictures to come... there are some cute ones.

hang on

here is your inspiration for the day...
the road may be long and hard, but hang on!!!!!

no rain today!

The mom of these three really nice kids and I were worried that we'd be rained out today. The weatherman was certainly off the mark -- we tied a high record (88 degrees) and the sun was shining most of the day!

It was a real pleasure meeting these guys. The sisters are so sweet, kind and smiley -- the types of girls that you want your kids to be friends with.

Younger brother -- just want to pinch his cheeks he's so darn cute!


Here's a silly "kid sandwich" shot. Love the laughs!
Thank you, thank you for a great session!

a boys room

here are some pics of jack's new big boy room! It's almost finished and he loves it!

Avery is One!

We had so much fun visiting with our cousin Avery while we were in Beaufort. She just had a birthday yesterday -- the big 1. Here they are on the dock.

red high heeled shoes

It takes a special bride to wear high heeled red shoes, but boy did Kristie pull it off! Stunning bride, wouldn't you say? Beautiful plump bouquet of red roses with rhinestones throughout.
Love the way these two looked at each other ...

and with a little texture added to the photo...

for Nene

found this cute little boy as I was working on pic. Saw it and thought, "Nene will go nuts over this one!"
More from Beaufort to come later... have a TON of work to do, though!

Watch Out!

Wow! Talk about cute. Cute times three... actually, gorgeous! Mom and Dad are going to have a hard time keeping the boys away as they get older!
These three gals and I got together today for a session in Charlotte. Once again I have list a page long of my initial favorites as I browsed the images. Here are just a few of them:

The oldest and very wise sister (favorite subject: math)


The middle (gotta love her because I'm a middle child, too!) - silly, carefree, fun.

The babe - getting ready to have the big "4" birthday in a week or so. Didn't love to share the smiles, but look at her when she did... wow, absolutely lovely!!!!


I asked them to give me their best fake laugh, and this is what I got... Personally, I love it!

Ok guys... shhhhhhh... don't forget these pictures are a secret for Dad... no spilling the beans!!!

9 months old in Charlotte, NC

... and full of joy! I had a lot of fun visiting a new little guy in Charlotte. I've only had a chance to look at half of the images (we're actually still on vacation, but Poppy has photoshop!), but I like what I see so far!! I can't wait to get home and finish working on the rest. One more Charlotte session tomorrow, then we head to airport to fly back home. I am thinking of making another Charlotte trip this fall, so if you are interested in a session please feel free to contact me.

We have been having a great time. We spent a relaxing, sunny and hot weekend in Beaufort. Tons of cute pictures of the kids fishing, crabbing, kayaking and swimming - can't wait to look through those and post a few, too... be on the lookout later this week.

Now it is time for bed! Cheers!

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!