Three Hundred and Three...

Plane tickets to Hawaii for family of 5....a lot of $
Car rental for a week with carseat rental....a lot of $

Rowdy getting an Ukelele lesson from Grandpa in Hawaii...Priceless!



Plane tickets to Hawaii for family of 5....a lot of $
Car rental for a week with carseat rental....a lot of $

Rowdy getting an Ukelele lesson from Grandpa in Hawaii...Priceless!

Three Hundred and Two...

Playing in Brother's room while he is at school.

Three Hundred and One...

Christmas would not be complete without sitting on Santa's lap and telling him if you have been a good boy or girl. We have had many discussions around our house this year about if Santa is really real. I am doing my best to make it last as long as possible with the kids. Rowdy is doubtful but I think we kept the magic alive for one more year. He is just to literal to believe it all and smart. He caught me off guard when he told me that the paper I was using to wrap some presents was the paper that Santa used last year...he was right. I had used it for the Santa presents last year and thought no one would remember so I used it for the presents from Mom and Dad to the kids this year...oops! I just told him that Santa and Mama have good taste in wrapping paper and I just bought the same kind from the store.

Bodie was really cute he just sat on Santa's lap and had a little conversation with him about what he wanted. Santa would say something and Bodie would say "yes" or "no". Darling!

Rowdy putting in his order for a stream train that he wanted.

Hello Kitty please and lots of it!

Three Hundred...

Christmas Eve Night right before we sent them upstairs to get tucked in. I remember laying in bed on Christmas Eve so full of anticipation and excitement! We had a great Christmas and the kids really enjoyed all their presents.

Two Hundred and NInety Nine...

It's funny to do this when you are feeding the cows bread...

Two Hundred and Ninety Eight...

Just a little peek into our Thanksgiving! We went to my mom's house...it was nice to see my brother and his wife and son.

Two Hundred and Ninety Seven...

This is Smokey. I know I have introduced him before. But he is quickly becoming one of my favorite little friends. Our cats are outside cats but a couple times a day we bring this little one inside and say hi! I have had cats on and off all my life and I have never seen or felt a softer kitty. When I pick him up and snuggle with him, he just snuggles right in and likes to watch the kids from that point of view. We love him to peices. His name, like the other pets around here, has evolved and we mostly call him Moke for short...or Floke, Mokerton, Mokie or any variation of these! I'm sure we will think of more as he grows up.

Two Hundred and Ninety-Six...

Avery has been preparing for her Holiday dance performance. She has been a little bit different this year about her enthusiasm for dance. She will tell me once in awhile she doesn't want to do it. She even got a little snippy with her dance instructor when she was told that she would need to sit down if she wasn't going to participate properly.

She is a different person when the older dancers are around. As the performance gets closer she gets to share her practice time with the older girls. She just soaks it all in. After she gets to practice with them she is doing her best to copy some of the moves they do around the house.

She performed three dances on the night of the performance. County Cuties, Kool Kitty Kat, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She did great and I personally think that the Kool Kitty Kat one was my favorite.

Two Hundred and Ninety Five...

Bodie likes to take rides on the hand cart that we use to take hay out to the cows.

Two Hundred and Ninety Four...

In preparation for Christmas morning I was making an Almond Pastry that my Mom usually makes on Christmas morning. He has probably been in my Mom's house only a few times when she is actually making this pastry. The day I was making it he says to me, "Mom, it smells like something Grandma Mickie would make in here." It made me happy for a few reasons. Mainly, that my cooking was smelling as good as my Mom's and also that he was able to tell me about it and articulate it. It just made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Two Hundred and Ninety Three...

We decorate them every year!

Two Hundred and Ninety Two...

Rowdy and Avery had the opportunity to be in the Nativity at church and it was so sweet! Avery was an angel and Rowdy was a wise man. Our ward Christmas Party this year was a pajama party and breakfast. It was really relaxed and casual and fun for the kids.

Two Hundred and Ninety One...

Rowdy is really good on his bike and is daily thinking of new stunts and tricks to do. The wheelie is one of his best tricks and he always wants me to try to capture him mid-wheelie. The top photo is a good example of his skill...but when I actually layed down in the driveway he really showed off and he thought it was pretty cool that I was going to such lenghths to get the action shot.

These photos also highlight our brand new paved driveway...it is heaven! The kids love it and Avery is riding without her training wheels now because of the new smooth blacktop! I need to get some rollerblades.

Two Hundred and Ninety...

Rowdy James bringing home the hardware at the end of his season in football. He had his last game on at the end of October and he had fun but he says he wants to try soccer next year.

Two Hundred and Eighty Nine...

Bodie's favorite thing to do these days is "doh". He will sit there for close to an hour and cut, roll and cut out shapes. I don't think any of the other kids played "doh" at this age but he saw Avery doing it and joined right in.

Two Hundred and Eighty Eight...

He is getting so old. His hips are really bothering him. All that said he still follows us around when we are outside playing.

Two Hundred and Eighty Seven...

Going to get our tree. It was super cold but still very fun!

Bodie was so funny when he stumbled on these little trees that haven't quite grown up to be big tree yet. He just stood there saying "me", which of course means mine or his.

Two Hundred and Eighty Six...

Decorating cookies with cousins during Christmas break. I think it is funny how kids literally pour the sugar on...no concept of less is better. Also, after they decorated them they really didn't eat them...thank goodness or I would have had a bunch of sugar lumps bouncing off the walls. Correction, Rowdy (the garbage belly, as he is getting to be known) ate his so fast I didn't even take a picture of him...frost, eat and go ride bike was his approach!

See...

Two Hundred and Eighty Five...

Merry Christmas

Two Hundred and Eight-Four...

I wrote this post awhile ago and it is just really a rambling about my goals as a photographer and really the process that it is.

When I attended, Learnfest in Georgia in September I got the opportunity to meet and spend the morning with a photographer that I enjoy. Ok "enjoy" is not the best way to put into words how I feel about her work. The first time I stumbled on her website I thought to myself, "I am truly looking at something magical". This was all before I knew about aperture, focus points and that flash is the enemy (well, to a natural light photographer). The photographer is Audrey Woulard. She is really talented and her camera is like butter in her hands and she just knows how to work light and how to make the magic happen! I tried to take this image below and use some tricks she showed us in photoshop to make this image look like one of hers. Kind of fun to do...but it leads me to the question...what is my style????


One of the things I have learned on this journey I am taking with my photography is that it is important to develop my own style. Well to me, in order to do that I need try lots of styles and see what I like. There are styles of photography that I know are not me, so I don't need to go down that road.

After a little over a year of learning, practicing and trying different things I am slowly starting to develop my own style. I have this little short list that is running through my mind that helps me to stay true to it.

Photography is really two steps....1. take photo 2. make it shine in photoshop. Then each of those steps have sub-catagories with in them that go off into infinity!

Do I want to be just like Audrey...No, but I would like to borrow a few things from her. She keeps things simple and she knows what she does best! That is ultimately what I am in looking for. What do I do best? Where do I feel most comfortable and confident? When I took the image above I felt good about it and I am leaning towards doing just childrens portraiture...but who knows...like I said it is a journey!

Two Hundred and Eighty-Three...

My posts are going to be really random for awhile...in an effort to finish this 365 that I did for 2009. These were from our first day in Hawaii and oh how I wish we were on that beach right now!

Bodie walking out onto the beach for the first time. Look at his little fingers all spread out. It didn't take him long to start digging and playing in the sand. He was not interested in going near the water at all.

Rowdy didn't waste anytime getting in the water...as you can see he just got right in...who needs a swim suit?

I don't think I got too many shots of the kids playing in the sand with them looking at the me...too busy!!!

Two Hundred and Eighty-Two...

Kind of a weird photo. But when you understand what he was doing it makes it better. I was at the top of the slide and he was at the bottom with his arms stretced out to catch me...just like I do for him. What a sweet little boy!

Two Hundred and Eighty-One...

Avery has a little treasure box that was a gift from a friend of ours, it is in the top photo(Thanks Amber). Avery fills it with all sorts of trinkets. She calls it her special box. It is so fun to see her delighting in all things sparkley, pink and girly...and a secret little place to put them. The little bracelet she is putting on in the picture is from her cousin...she was sure to tell me that when she was putting it on. She so sweatly said, "Malea gave this to me, in preschool!"

Two Hundred and Eighty...

I was finally able to snap a few of Rowdy on Sunday and I am so thankful that he is so willing to flash that incredible dimple at me anytime I ask. He is totally in to Herbie the Love Bug lately. He does a pretty good sound that is pretty darn close to how Herbie sounds. He has watched all the little bonus features on the movie we have and his little photographic memory is able to spit out all Herbie the trivia he knows.

When I quickly glanced at this image on the back of my camera my heart sank because it was as if a teenager was staring back at me...honesty! He just looks so grown up to me.

Two Hundred and Seventy Nine...

This little boy sat still for me while I practiced doing some shots inside. The weather has been so yucky and I happen to have a friend coming over to have some pictures taken and I want to be prepared if it is nasty outside. I kind of like how a simple piece of foam core board and a window does such a nice job for an inside studio. Oh, and it helped to hand Bodie smarties after every fourth or fifth shot too!