Friday, July 31, 2009

Horseback riding season!

Our little Caroline started horseback riding a few weeks ago. This is her 3rd year! We are lucky enough to be able to take her to a local facility that specializes in therapeutic horseback riding for the handicapped.

The first year we took her - she was 4. And she hated every second. And she cried like crazy.

Luckily, only a few sessions later and she started to calm down. She did well her first year, and even had quite a few moments where she actually seems to enjoy herself (along with quite a few where she obviously didn't).

This year she is 6 and she LOVES it. She acts likes she knows exactly what is going on. She smiles. She laughs. She giggles. And she tries to steal the helper's hats right off their heads. She is quite the character!

This week I finally came along with my camera and got a few shots!

Caroline - leading the pack for a walk through the glorious countryside!

CAROLINE1

Little Kallie Wallie's hand feeding the miniature horses a snack (far left bottom corner).

DSC_5221

This facility even has a cart for people who can't or don't want to actually ride a horse! Doesn't that look like fun???

DSC_5224

Finally, Caroline making her way back into the barn. She looks like she knows exactly what she is doing. Giddy-up!

DSC_5230

We just love this facility and are so happy that Caroline is able to participate every year.

Have a good one!



Read more...

Monday, July 27, 2009

This, that and tomatoes

Phew - I'm back!

It has been a bit busy around here. I really admire bloggers who are able to blog daily while still having a job and still being a mom. I just can't do it! And I really don't have a job - just a very part time one with my budding photography business. (Which is still amazingly fun!!! I can't believe how lucky I have been!)

Last week was a great week, photography-wise. I had two amazing shoots - one senior and my first newborn!

The senior was very nice, very photogenic and had a great location picked out. I am working my way through his photos and hope to finish in the next couple days. I have a sneak peak of his session HERE.

The newborn, was, shall we say.....AMAZING! (I use that word a lot, don't I?) I was SO incredibly nervous and incredibly excited for my first newborn shoot. I have heard so many photographer's stories about how hard newborns are. I have heard them cry that they spent 4 hours and got 4 pictures! And, needless to say, pessimist that I am, I expected the worst.

But it was honestly the BEST. I felt like I could photograph this little 10 day old munchkin for hours and hours. I got a few more than 4 pictures....I got somewhere like 800! Of course, many of the photos were almost complete duplicates, and I will give the mom about 50 or so images.

It was so much fun and I just absolutely LOVE photographing newborns. And I almost felt like newborn photography is really my calling. But who knows....my next newborn shoot could be a disaster and I will end up in tears swearing I will never try that again. We'll see...... I haven't really gotten a lot of the newborn shots edited yet, but I posted one HERE.

Oh - the other reason for my busy-ness this week is that my husband and I actually went away, alone, overnight, for the first time since we had kids. So, that was about 8 years ago.

It was quite a scheduling act, getting help with Caroline and my other 2 kids, but we finally did it and we were off. We just went away to a little town about 2 hrs away. Nothing too exciting, but absolutely perfect.

We took walks around town. We shopped. We stopped for afternoon drinks and appetizers. We went out for a nice dinner. We played pool. We held hands. We talked and laughed. I almost felt like we were newlyweds, not 40-somethings celebrating 10 years. It was the best.

So now we move on to the second half of our cold, wet summer. And we hope that we can get a few more than THREE days in our pool. Of course, I am thinking the wet weather may have had something to do with this monstrosity....

tomatoes

That would be my tomato plants. I planted 5 plants, and spaced them 2 feet apart. And they are absolutely mammoth. I don't really know if it due to what I put in the soil - soil, peat moss, manure and a bit of Miracle Grow garden soil - or if it due to the wet weather. But I have more tomatoes that I think I will be able to handle.

And some of these tomatoes are MONSTERS!!!! Like this big boy -

tomatoes2

It is hard to really tell how big this guy is, but my husband laughed and said it is as big as a softball. And he is right!

Oh - and my cherry tomatoes? I will probably be able to feed a small country with the amount of tomatoes on that one plant. CRAZY!!!!

Well, this is long enough, so I better wrap it up! Tomorrow is supposed to be HOT and in the upper 80's!! Can you believe that this is maybe our second hot day this entire summer????? Let's hope we can end this summer with a bit more summer-like weather!

Later!

Read more...

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I ♥ Faces - Week 28 photo challenge - Feet Week!

Phew - last minute entry, but this has been a crazy busy week!!!

When I saw this category on I Heart Faces, I immediately thought of this little munchkin. And I knew I had to enter this photo!!!

feet

These adorable little piggies are my friend's nephew's. We did a little beach photo session a few months ago. He wasn't the happiest little kid on the block, but he was still absolutely adorable.



Have a good one!!!!

Read more...

Saturday, July 18, 2009

TEN YEARS!!!!!

Well, today my hubby and are celebrating our ten year wedding anniversary!! And, for your viewing pleasure, here is our wedding picture. Yes, my hair is short and Eric's is long (relatively speaking) and I am slightly embarrassed to even post this picture...but here it goes......

our wedding

In our ten years, we built a house and filled it with three little girls. Things are a bit crazy, but [usually] it is crazy in a very good way.

Before I met Eric I had no idea what people meant when they said "when it is the right guy, you just KNOW". Well, that was absolutely true. I just KNEW. He was cute, funny, smart, witty and I never EVER got tired of spending time with him. He was my absolute best friend. The one person with whom I could be 100% myself. We never fought, I never worried that he wasn't as into me as I was into him. As I said...I just knew.

I got married when I was 32 which is a bit old, and I really honestly didn't think I would ever find anyone. But I did and, ten years later, we are still best buds! I couldn't imagine myself with anyone else. I guess it was definitely worth the wait!

I will end this with an appropriate song from one of my new favorite singers - Jason Mraz.

"Lucky" Official Video With Colbie Caillat


And we will celebrate our tenth year with an at home "date night". The kids are going to eat pizza and watch a movie (big treat!) and we are going to have dinner alone. On the menu is homemade french onion soup (first time ever making it!), twice baked potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, grilled steaks and a glass [or two] of vino.

I better get busy!

Happy Anniversary Dear!!!!!

Read more...

Friday, July 17, 2009

Kids are awesome,,,

It started off as great day, but unexpected harsh words suddenly turned my mood upside down in 1.2 second flat. And I was quite sad for the rest of the day...

Christina and I played a game of hangman before she went to bed. I told her "one more game and then bed!". So she thought a second and drew the spaces for the letters. It took about one try to guess her words. And with those words, my sad day suddenly was infinitely happier....

"I love Mom"

Aren't kids just the best?!!!!

Good night!

Read more...

Monday, July 13, 2009

Summer? Anyone??

I am seriously getting BUMMED. This summer has been cold and so rainy. It is July 13th and I am sitting here at night with all the doors and windows closed, dressed in my winter pjs.

Something is NOT right.

I don't know about this global warming thing....with temps possibly to hit the FORTIES this week...I am thinking "Ice Age" is more like it!

Anyway, I am bummed. I need some hot days and warm summer nights! I need to be uncomfortably hot so when our 9 months of winter weather starts back up, at least I can, at first, appreciate the cooler weather.

Oh, and our pool that we just got last year? Well, let's just say it has been used FOUR times this summer so far. And not because we weren't home or didn't have time. No. It was because the water temp was a balmy 60 degrees. ugh.

Well, enough whining. I actually was thinking the other day that the reason I am so bummed about the weather is that everything else is actually going fairly well. We are all happy and healthy. And, we all know, it only takes one scare or horrible unexpected phone call, to make us realize that cool temperatures should be the absolutely LEAST of our worries. Life is good. Time to stop complaining about things I have absolutely no control over.

And time to appreciate all the wonderful things I do have.

in grass2

Have a great one!!!

Read more...

Monday, July 6, 2009

One little thing I didn't mention...

about our trip to the falls was what happened at the end of our perfect hike in the woods.

Do you see it??

DSC_3116

Maybe this is better?

DSC_3123

How about here?

DSC_3141

Well, I didn't do a good job capturing this beaut, but my Christina got pummeled in the EYE by a good sized rock while we playing by the falls. You know, kids like to throw rocks in the water. But some kids don't listen when they are told NOT to throw rocks. And this is what happens.

The rock hit the bridge of her nose and above her eye. There was blood everywhere. Her eyelid was swollen. I was so scared there was more serious damage. Luckily, she just got a nice little shiner out of the incident. But it could have been much worse.

And this is the second time in 3 weeks she has been hit in the head by a rock....by the same person. The first time she had a good sized goose egg for a few days and I was scared that it was some much more serious.

I don't know...Kallie's broken arm, Christina's head and eye injuries....what's next???

Read more...

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Just photos!

It is a busy 4th of July weekend. And I know few people read blogs on holiday weekends - so I thought I would just share some recent photos.

For a change - I actually have been doing some landscape photography. It is a nice change of pace. Something I used to do all the time, but something that has taken a backseat to my budding portrait photography pursuits.

I stopped out at our local lake for some photos between rainstorms. It was cold and cloudy, but the water looked so perfect and peaceful.

Lake after the rain

This week was the WORST for weather! Cold and constant rain. Yuck. But the upcoming week looks pretty good! I am definitely in need of some hot sun.

I also finally got out to a local waterfall!!!!

falls2

I was there only once before.....and that was before I was married (10 years ago!). It is a little bit of a hike down a fairly steep hill, and my Kallie was a bit nervous, but we were all happy once we got there. It is SO beautiful!!!

falls1

And, the cold cloudy day was actually pretty nice because it allowed me to slow the shutter quite a bit and get a nice smooth flow in the water. If I had a neutral density filter - it would have been absolutely perfect scenario. Maybe someday...

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!!!!

Read more...

About This Blog

  © Blogger template Ramadhan Al-Mubarak by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP