BOO PLAYING BY A TREE

I came across these tonight - they were taken in September... seems so long ago that we could play outside and not wear coats....

MY FUNNY FOR THE DAY!

A friend of mine came over for a few minutes, and as we were chatting, she happened to look down and realized that she had on TWO DIFFERENT SHOES! We had a good laugh. She made me feel so much better that I wasn't the only person who did stuff like this. Can you guess who it is? Leave a comment below and see if you can figure it out! No cheating - (you know who you are).... Oh, and here's a hint, it's someone you least likely would suspect....... hmmm.....

GUESS WHO GOT A PUPPY??

No, it ABSOLUTELY was not us!! Avery got a new puppy!! She just got her last night. She brought her to small group tonight to meet everyone. Her name is Jasmine, they call her "Jazz". Is she the cutest thing you ever did see? Doesn't Avery look like the happiest girl in the world??? Love ya Aves...

URGENT!! PICTURES NEEDED

I got a call first thing this morning, it was a "we need pictures NOW" kind of call. Our school is in it's first year of having two campuses, an upper school and a grammar school, which is the way classical schools are usually run. We have an open house for the upper school next week and are in the process of putting together brochures, etc. to be printed for it. It was discovered that since this is the first year for our upper school, we had very few pictures to be put into publication. (Which needed to go to press today). So, Emily and I ran up to the school (she had fun hanging out in the office), and I had so much fun snapping away. Here are a few of my favorites that I took during chapel. ALL RESPONSIBILITY goes to Pam for inspiring the idea for this first picture. It's one of Kirsten's friends playing the piano for chapel today, he is incredibly talented. Check out Pam's piano picture on her blog http://www.hekeepsmesinging.blogspot.com/ It's way better than mine!

MISSING JAMAICA WHILE SHIVERING IN THE SNOW

I just ran across a blog of a photographer I know (okay, actually I stalk her blog), and she is in Jamaica right now. It made me long for those long warm Jamaican days, lounging on the beach, hearing the steel drum bands, horseback riding in the ocean, smelling jerk chicken 24-7 and NOT BEING COLD. Back to reality, its winter, in Maryland, and VERY COLD...... sigh....

PAPA LOVE

I came across this picture yesterday when I was looking for something else. I just love the expression on Emily's face as her Papa gave her so much love! We only get to see Papa a few times a year, so this was a special moment!

BLACK AND WHITE CONVERSIONS

So, the lesson I gave myself tonight was to convert a color image to a black and white image the "proper" way. No more doing it with the click of a button. My goal was to get true blacks and true whites, and not just muddy shades of gray, so its a much crisper look. It's a learning process.....

MY 365 PROJECT

As a New Years resolution, I have decided to do the good 'ol 365 project. I'm going to try to take at least one picture every day for the next year. My goal is to really, really improve my photography skills, as well as my post-editing techniques. I also have discovered how much fun it is to blog, it's so much better than scrapbooking (can you say UGH?). So, after a year I can just print this all out and put it in an album! It will be a great memory of the year for our family, and hopefully, I can look back at January and think, geez, those pictures were really crummy compared to how great they look now! This is a picture I took when the kids were out sledding in our neighbors yard.

SNOWY TREES

THE HAIR CUT BUG

Okay, so apparently the "haircut bug" has hit our house. Honestly, I have been debating about getting Emily's hair cut for months now, but just didn't have the courage to say goodbye to those sweet little baby curls. Well, after falling in love with Hannah's new do, I finally mustered up the courage (or was it Richard saying "just DO IT and quit thinking about it!"). I got myself all in a tizzy and decided to just do it (thanks Karen). I was so flustered that I FORGOT TO BRING MY CAMERA! Can you believe it? A photographer, first haircut, NO CAMERA. Great. I did manage to get a few images with my camera phone, but..... you know. She did such a great job getting her hair washed "just like Hannah", she was so excited. I think she went through about six lollipops before the haircut was over, but hey, they worked. So here is her after nap modeling session. Maybe catching her when she is sleepy is the trick.......

HER FIRST HEELS

Yep, it's official. Our little baby girl has her first pair of heels. She is going to the Winter Formal at school. We had so much fun shopping with her friends and their moms for their dresses. Kirsten found the deal of the day, and her dress cost a whopping $4.80 - thats right!! FOUR BUCKS!!! Gotta love the clearance rack. It's as cute as can be (probably not the word she would choose)- this is the dress in the background, bright red with black trim. You'll have to wait to see a picture of the dress when she has it on next Friday! I have been asked to be the official photographer for the Formal!! YEAH!!

THE BFF HAIRCUT!

Hannah and her best friend Madison with their matching haircuts!! Thanks Maddie for inspiring Hannah and making our mornings so much easier! Love you Maddie (my fourth daughter!).

NOW THATS A MOUTH!

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

Can you believe it? Kirsten actually willingly let me do a little photo session yesterday. So many beautiful girls around here, so few willing subjects..... sigh.....

FReAKS

The FReAKS are a group of middle schoolers who love GOD and lead worship for Children's Ministry.
FReAKS stands for "Friends Reaching All Kids for the Saviour". Friday night was our school's Talent/Variety Show and they decided to have some fun and worship together! Everyone had a great time. We discovered some unknown and very unusual talent as well!

HANNAH'S NEW DO

Isn't she precious?? Mommy finally caved in to Hannah's request to cut her hair. I have to admit, I do like it better. There will be much fewer tears in the mornings when it's time to brush! After her BFF got hers cut - Hannah was completely convinced that it was the way to go! I think she was right....

SNOW DAY!!

Well, we finally had some significant snowfall here in Maryland. We did have one other snow in early December, but I was out of town and missed it! The girls had so much fun today getting out of school early and playing in the snow. Emily was able to experience the thrill of sledding down a hill for the first time. We sent her down all by herself, and half way down I started to second guess myself. Then she started shrieking with laughter - she loved it so much!! She kept saying "Again, again, again!". Emily discovered that it didn't hurt when she fell, so she started falling face first, as straight as a board, into the snow and laughing her head off. Poor little Spencer, the dog, with his pretty white fur, looks so very NOT white next to the snow. Now, off to clean up all that melting snow all over the floors...

MY OTHER DAUGHTERS

Here are some pictures of my 7th grade girls small group bible study. Every Wednesday night, our home becomes a haven for giggly, goofy, fun, LOUD, crazy-about-life, crazy-about Jesus precious little women of God. It's been so fun to watch them become amazing followers of Christ over the past two years. Sometimes I have to wonder if we ever get much accomplished, they definitely have the "fellowship" part down. It's an honor to be able to shepherd these girls and see where God is leading them.

FINDING THE COLOR ON A WINTER DAY

Spotting a red cardinal out the kitchen window is always one of my favorite things about the winters here in Maryland. It can be so gray and dull outside and then suddenly there is a streak of red and there he sits in all his red glory. Isn't God's color amazing? This is the same picture, just zoomed in and cropped.

KIRSTEN, THE HORSE WHISPERER

A GREAT DAY TO RIDE

It was a beautiful day on Saturday, and the girls really enjoyed riding. Kirsten and Hannah both had quite the challenge with some stubborn ponies. It was certainly a learning experience for them. Here is a shot of Hannah's "This is so frustrating" face. But she did a great job!

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!

Tonight Hannah looked at me and said "Mom, lets do something, because you know, Girls Just Want to Have Fun"! So, my idea of fun would be to do a little photo session. She seemed on board with the idea, since she couldn't come up with anything better at the moment. As usual, this is what Emily thought about the whole idea.

I'M GOING TO SCHOOL!!

Emily thinks it most unfair that the big girls get to go off to school everyday without her. I think she has figured out a way to get there - Mom will never know I'm gone. :)

OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY!!!

My birthday present finally arrived!! (Thank you hubby!) I got a new speedlite 430EX for my camera. It's still a learning curve for sure, but here are some pictures from today that I got with the new flash. It's amazing to me how they don't look "flashy". I'm lovin this new little guy!! These probably aren't the best examples of this incredible speedlite, but they are fun. Of course, I have an extremely unwilling subject, so I just had to chase her around the house to practice. This is the usual pose that I am allowed to capture. Not so very attractive. She thinks its all one big game when I pull out the camera. She actually calls it "hide me seek". Here's how it works "When Mommy pulls out her camera, I throw myself on the floor and or I run away. Eventually Mommy finds me and tries to persuade me into sitting still, or to at least looking in her direction. I take off running again and see if I can find another hiding place. This little flashy thing is helping Mommy catch pictures of me, making this game a little shorter than it used to be. This wasn't the best hiding place, she still got a decent picture. Eventually, the promise of a lollipop will usually do the trick and I'll give in and give her a two-second smile. She actually caught it this time. Let's do this again sometime Mom!" Funny, huh!? Poor Mom is sweating at this point, and wandering why I torture myself this way. One day I will look back on all these crazy photos and be so incredibly grateful that I play this game of cat and mouse.

A BIG DAY FOR EMILY!!

Monday was a big day for Miss Emily!! For the very last time, we took the crib rails off the crib and put up the little toddler rails. It was a little bit sad, but mostly exciting. She was so excited, she kept climbing on while I was still trying to get everything screwed together!! The first nap was a little rough, she fell out before she even fell asleep and we had tears. I think we have threatened her with an inch of her life to NOT GET OUT OF BED. We have had three naps, and three night-nights, and so far so good - she has stayed IN BED!! It's so strange to think that we will have no more cribs in this house, 13 years of putting up and taking down cribs, its hard to imagine. My little baby girl is starting to officially be a big girl!! Now, on to the potty training for the very LAST time!