Some pics of the kids

Today you get to see the odds and ends pics taken over the course of the week.

Jared. He is such a good sport about modeling for me. I need lots of practice, and he helps me alot. (Thanks Jare. :)



This pic has the wrong lighting, the composition isn't great... but isn't he cute? Every once in a while a real smile creeps out. So nice. :)



And of course I have to throw in a pic of the baby goat. She is so cute!



Today is park day. I have about 45 minutes to get all these kids ready to go, so I'll say "adios" for today and see you again on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Engagement Pic Photo Shoot

Yesterday, Amber, Tino, & I went to their favorite walking park and took some pics. (I'm sorry that the quality of the photos are so bad. I don't know why they look so blurry here.... )

















And it made me realize that perhaps the mom should *not* be taking the engagement pics. They were kissing and I'd hurry and snap off shots and tell them, "Ok, we're done".

I think I'm beginning to understand my kids' shouts of "OOOOH YUCK!" when they run into Steve & me kissing. (Which makes me always think of "Cheaper by the Dozen" - the new one - when Hillary Duff's character came into her parent's bedroom only to find them kissing & tells them to "get a room" "we've already got one" "well at least wait until I leave" "can you hurry, then?")

I'm still uncomfortable with remembering that my children are people. Perhaps they have the same problem with Steve & me.

Anyhow, their pics turned out way cute (I'm still working on photoshopping out Amber's tag on that second to last one.... )

They are having another photoshoot today with Amber's bff's mom, Barb. Can't wait to see those pics too!

Have a great day today!

More Aperture Shots

Today I went back out to the garden...



And the SAGE is blooming (I told you the other day it was lavender. oops. It was really the sage.)



And the peach irises are still beautiful as ever :)



Out of all of the pics from today, this is my favorite:



Aperture is getting a little easier for me, I think.

Today is pay day and bill day. Money in and right back out. I'm sooo thankful for the "money in" part. :)

See ya tomorrow!

More Action Shots

Better late than never, huh?

Sorry I'm so late today! Jared forgot a meeting he had this morning, so I had to drive him... and then stick around to bring him back home. Which wasn't so bad, except that I am so late blogging today.

Remember when I wrote this yesterday? "One of these days I need to stay home and get some projects done. (sigh) At least it is warm & sunny outside & I have great excuses to get me out in it! :)"

So I got out in it... and got stung. And I'm allergic to bee stings. So really, I spent yesterday in the ER. Bah.

But today, I'm fine. And the day was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! and I was out in it... running errands, but that counts, right?

Last night was my first photography class. I really was so sleepy and out of it (because of the antihistamine from the ER), but I took lots of good notes and went back over them today and made sense of them.


The assignment for this week was to take pics that:
1 - freeze motion
2 - show motion
3 - panning

So, for freeze motion I had Jared jump:


Showing motion (do you see the blur in the middle of the photo? It was a little girl & Matt swinging):


I don't like that one very well; the exposure isn't just right, so I'll be trying that one again.

Then, for panning, I had the kids swing:




I'll be playing some more in the next few days and then I email the best ones to my instructor.

So how are you all? I didn't get to go visit blogs today, but I'm going to try to stop by a little bit tonight. I might have to catch up with them on Saturday though. :/

Have a great rest of your day!!

P-A-R-K day

On Sunday, we packed up the whole family and took them to the P-A-R-K.

Aiden was so interested in everything there.

The birds in the trees



The cedar chips down below



Everything.



Michael amazes me. He has an arm that doesn't always do what it is told and a leg that just had surgery, but does he let that stop him? Never!



And I think that he is on to me when I say to the family, "Do you want to go to the P-A-R-K?" because last time he said, "Let's go to the park!"



While Aiden and Michael were swingin', Jared and Matt were practicing their tennis skills.



I asked Steve to watch Aiden while I took some pics. When I came back, I found him holding Aiden in the swing. I asked him why he didn't just leave Aiden in the baby swing (much easier, I think!) and he said that "He looked sad" so he took him out. Such a good daddy and grandpa, he is. :)



This shot came from out of the blue. I had just been composing the pics I took of the family on the swings, not really paying too much attention to what was behind them. When I was editing, I noticed this gorgeous fairyland behind them. Look at the way the sunlight is playing back there! I wish I would have paid more attention and took some purposeful shots!



Emily was with us too. See the lime green shirt hiding behind the slide way up there on top? Yep, that's Emily. She didn't want her picture taken because she has been sick and didn't want everyone to see her that way.



I have such a great family. Could I be blessed any more than I already am?!

Have a wonderful, sunshiny day! :)

In Pictures - June 1

Yesterday I spent lots of time outside.... so of course I took some pics. :)

These pretty flowers are growing in the grass ... I guess they must be weeds?? (any idea what they are?)



Honeybees were all over the dandelions.



These sweeties were the reason I was spending so much time outside:



They turned 6 weeks old today, old enough to wean, so I am letting them spend some time without their mama.



This little guy's name is Ferdinand, because while his sister likes run and jump and butt her head, Ferdinand just likes to sit quietly and smell the flowers. (Have you ever read the story of Ferdinand? If not, please do. I hope that you like it. :)



This little girl is Star. Or Daisy. Her name isn't so set in stone.



Still smelling.



I'll try milking the mama goat again tomorrow. I hope it goes better than today. She doesn't like it so well. One of these days I hope to get to drink the milk instead of wear it spilled all over my clothes.

Have a great day!! :)

THE Memorial Day Flower

My mom used to always put Irises on the graves that we decorated every Memorial Day. She called them "Flags". I just call them my favorite. :)



It never ceases to amaze me that no matter how cold, wet, warm, or dry the weather is, these flowers always blossom for Memorial Day. Always.



Every time I see a flower in "real life", I have to smell it. Every time I see a flower in a picture, I want to see it up close, close enough to see the pollen.







Do you have special Memorial Day memories or traditions?