A Few More Brother & Sister Pics

Had to share a few more...

See those smiles?  No, it wasn't me.  They knew they were almost done. 

 

Very rare moment captured here.  Brother wasn't moving!  How do boys have so much energy??

Love the emotion in this picture.  It isn't technically perfect but can't you see that these two have fun together?

Thanks guys!  I had a great time taking your pictures!

Check Out These Cuties!

I got to practice my photography again!  This time I borrowed some kids that we met through football.  Check out these two cuties!

This is big sister.  I told her she looks just like a model.  Don't you agree??

I don't like the light in this picture at all.  The sun was just in the wrong place to make the shot work but we had to try to get a "by the water picture."  ( And thank you to the big guy in the picture.  I know he was dying to get wet!)

Ahhhh!  How cute are this brother and sister??  He's a football player and she is a cheerleader for his team.  Doesn't get any sweeter than that (except this picture!)

Not the greatest picture but I love the lines in this one.  Can you tell we were chasing brother for part of the shoot?

Here's the big guy himself.  Benjamin really wanted to go with me to take the pictures but there is no way I would have gotten this shot.  The two boys would have been running wild!

A Few Firsts

This has been an unusual week.  It started off with snow flurries.  Yes, we saw our first snow since moving back to NC over two years ago.  Ben was so excited he decided to hop out of the car as soon as he got home from school so that he could catch the snowflakes on his tongue.  The poor child has been wanting some snow.  Turns out Ed and I aren't so great at picking out places to live that meet the kids' desires to see some real snow.  Atlanta and now here- just not snowy places...

Another first- Liza picked out her first "big girl" hat.   Those of you who know Liza know that the girl has a big head.  (Ed calls it her secret weapon. And he does mean weapon.  You don't want to get head butted by Liza, or Harrison for that matter!)  Since it was cold we made a trip to Target where Liza got to shop where the big girls shop.  Seems her head has beat the rest of her to the big girl section of the store!  I think she did a nice job of picking out a hat, don't you?

Last, but not least, I actually captured Louisa's smile in a picture.  I have been telling people that she is learning to smile.  At this age though it seems that it is gone before I can tell anyone to come and see.  While it isn't technically her first smile, it is her first captured smile.  Isn't she cute??

Check This Out

I was reading a photographer's blog and she mentioned that she used animoto to create these really neat slideshows for her clients.  So, me being the curious person that I am, hopped right over to the site that she mentioned.  It is very cool!  30 second videos are free so I decided to try it out. Talk about easy!  I uploaded my pictures, told them which ones I wanted to emphasize, picked out some music and wa-la, I got this cool slideshow.  Any of you that are geeky like me, and like new computer, techy, photography stuff, go check it out at www.animoto.com !

The Old Baby In a Basket Picture

(click to enlarge)

OK, so it may sound crazy, but I have always wanted to put a baby in this basket that we have.  Sound weird?  Yes!  But here is the deal.  When my Dad and my Aunt were clearing out my grandparents house we came across this old basket.  It is a really neat basket with wide strips of some kind of wood.  It is a nice, deep rounded rectangle shape with two sturdy handles.  My aunt says that my Grandmother used to put my Dad in it as a baby although it was really her laundry basket.  I must say her laundry basket was a lot nicer than the flimsy plastic one that I have!  Anyway,  I just love the basket.  Up until this picture we had used the basket to keep our toys in our family room half way contained.  The other afternoon I finally decided that if I didn't get my "baby in the basket" picture then I never would as little Miss Louisa seems to be growing like a weed on Miracle Grow.  So, Liza, my little helper, helped me to take all the toys out so that we could line the basket with a soft pillow and a pretty baby blanket.  Then, because it was such a nice day ( 70 some degrees in November??!!), we took the basket outside under the trees.  I must say Louisa wasn't a huge fan of the basket.  I got more pictures of her screaming then I did of her smiling.  Not quite what I had envisioned in my head, but hey I got my pictures!  Just had to post this one- the best of the bunch- so that everyone could see how my newborn has transformed into an infant.  Where did my new little baby go????  

The Artsy Ones- Old Fashion Fun

For some reason these pictures reminded me of the good ole days.  The time when kids would entertain themselves outside for hours with no need for electronic gadgets or games.  So, with that in mind, I took the bright colored version and processed it with a vintage feel.  Which do you like best??

A Few More

Have a few more to share.  For some reason I can't get them all on one post!

We found an old tree log that provided some entertainment as a balance beam

.

We hid behind trees.

More balancing on the tree log.

Tree logs aren't just good as balance beams.  They are also good benches!

Look!  I must have cracked them up!

New Guest Stars!

My friend, Cindy, let me practice my picture taking skills on her two cute boys.  We had a good time yesterday tromping through the neighborhood trying to find the perfect fall colors.  Luckily, the lots that haven't been built on yet were recently mowed so we didn't have any super huge, overgrown weeds to deal with.

I love this shot because it so captures how I see the two boys.  Older brother is a bit more serious while younger brother lets loose a bit more.  ( They are the perfect playmates for my two boys!)

Here is another cute picture.  I love this one but the next is my favorite of this little guy...

Look at those eyes... that smile....

Can you say heartbreaker???

Here is another nice shot of big brother but like with little brother, the next is my favorite of the big guy..

Look at those cute dimples!

Are these two cute boys or what???

Gotta Love Fall

So, I have been driving up and down the road ( I spend half my day shuttling kids to and fro) admiring all the beautiful fall foliage.  I have been thinking about how I need to try to snap some fall-ish pictures of the kids.  But, let's face it- I can't even manage to get two loads of laundry done lately.  How the heck can I manage to take fun pictures of the kiddos?  Well, as the Nike slogan says, "Just do it!" and that is exactly what I did.

I have to admit, I had to bribe the boys.  What was the price?  A can of Sierra Mist.  We don't drink too many soft drinks around here so to the boys, their own can of soda was too tempting.  Then, when I told them they could play football while I took pictures, it pushed them right over the edge.  

 

Halloween Fun

I took a gazillion pictures yesterday and had such a hard time picking out which ones to put in my blog  board.  The ones above were some of my favorites.  I love the one with Liza asleep on my floor.  The anticipation was simply too much for her.  She wore her Little Mermaid costume around all day and crashed on my bedroom floor mid afternoon.  Unfortunately, she woke up on the "wrong side of the floor" and was quite a crank pot for our picture taking once everyone was all costumed up.  I think I have one other decent picture of her in her costume.  

I absolutely love the pictures of the boys.  As you can see they cooperated nicely with their momma.  Someday they will appreciate how their momma preserved their moments as Robin ( as in Batman and Robin) and as a basketball player ( I can't tell you which one he was but he liked his uniform).  

The awesome pumpkin was a joint creation of Benjamin and myself.  Of course, before we could make the pumpkin face we had to deal with the pumpkin guts.  Benjamin and Liza were really excited to help out ( It was Harrison's turn at being a crank pot during the pumpkin carving.)  They had a good old time scooping out the innards of the pumpkin and fishing out the seeds.  By the time that we were ready to roast the pumpkin seeds Harrison had snapped out of his attitude and helped us salt the seeds.

As for the candy picture, I had to put that in there after the comment that Ed made upon his arrival home.  As he walked in the door and saw the candy bowls sitting on the dining room table just waiting for the trick or treaters, he complained that I got the cruddy candy.  He thought that my candy selection would make children not want to come back to our house.  I don't think the candy looks too bad.  Do you?

Of course, missing from the board is our little Louisa.  She didn't have a costume per se but she did have this cute little outfit courtesy of her mom mom.  For her Halloween was nothing but a quiet house hanging out with her daddy as mommy took the other wild ones trick or treating with the neighbors.  Hey, I think she likes Halloween already!