I forgot all about this image. I took this a long time ago when the boys were playing in the kiddie pool. I was goofing off with my Canon XT and the 50mm lens at f/1.8.

The grass is so nice and blurry that combined with his expression and wind-blown hair, it looks a little dreamy, don't ya think?


Especially in this chocolate B&W version...


It's really all the ugly clover we had in our yard. But we have since (finally!) had our lawn treated and it seriously THRILLS me to look out to a sea of GREEN everywhere. It's so beautiful! I love my yard now! lol Yeah, I'm kinda easily thrilled sometimes. You would be too if you had as much clover as we did! It came with a ton of bees. Not fun on bare feet!

Introducing Mr. Harrison!

He arrived yesterday morning healthy and happy as can be. Isn't he adorable? I just want to squish those sweet chubby cheeks! I haven't actually met him in person but I love him so much already it hurts!



This is the pic my brother sent and I'm dying to see more. I hate that we live halfway across the country from family!

Love you, little H man! XOXOXO

Apparently, snack time is not very interesting around here...

Little Stinker Roo seems to think he's going on three years old. Often people will comment on how little he is but then when they find out how old he is, they are surprised he's doing all that he is. If he'd just start talking that would really throw them off, ya think?

Classic mischievious look of his...


"I'm big, Mommy... I will do it all by myself!"

"Hmmm... what can I do with this? Destroy it like everything else today?"

"I don't need help... just longer legs!"


He actually climbs this all by himself now and then slides down the big boy slide and around and around again and again. We even sometimes forget how little he's supposed to be! We probably let him do too much by himself. It's funny that we trust his abilities when he's climbing even though when we stop and think about it, we know we shouldn't trust him to do these things without us hovering over him! YIKES... we've come a long way since Jeremiah was this age!

... that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it!

Wow it was so pretty outside today!!! Just had to share the glorious blue sky!

Our view as we took our afternoon walk...

Sorry these Friday things were neglected!

There are pros and cons to just about everything, isn't there? Prime lenses get you a crisp sharp focus but you can't zoom (except with your feet!) and you may be in a situation where it's just not the right focal length for the space you have to shoot in.

Lenses that zoom are handy for everyday uses like capturing random moments of your kids playing at the park or times when you need a variety of focal lengths but are confined to a certain spot.

I'm actually going to talk about getting a nice blurry background. You can get a fancy lens with a wide aperture like f/2.8 or even f/1.2 and that will help but even better is a long focal length. Zooming all the way in (even if that means you step way back) will get you a much nicer bokeh in background. For example:

This is at about 70mm (note the distracting, unattractive background):


I didn't move me but I did zoom in to about 200mm and did not change any settings to shoot the exact same scene. Notice the background is much less distracting:


Just a quickie post today... have a great day & thanks for visiting!!

This was, what? Like a week and a half ago? At least! Whenever that full moon was. It was so big in the sky, I really wanted to shoot it but by the time I got home from church and to my camera it was already shrinking. But I tried anyway. :)


{Mommy Moment}

I thought I'd post something different than the last few posts so instead of people,
you get some random flower shots from late spring...



Close up...


I guess my theme today will be purple?


Thanks for visiting!

Mom and I went to college together and met up again when we worked together where she met her husband. Our kids are really close in age too. Funny how things turn out, isn't it?

Amy has always been so beautiful and it's just not fair that as I get older, she gets more beautiful! I was so blessed to capture these moments for this amazing family and I'm sure you'll agree that they are pretty darn adorable!

This little guy was a lot of fun and he's going to be one awesome baseball player one day.
He can hit the ball like nobody's business!


Isn't little miss the sweetest thing ever? Gorgeous like her momma...

Sweetness!


Daddy is pretty smitten on his little girl (she's pretty smitten on him too!)...


Probably my fave shot of the session! Love this kid!


Isn't he a handsome little guy? No fair again that her kids are so cute too!

Reminds me why I love to be a mommy...


A truly blessed little family!

Through the life of a toddler...


"Deck Chalk" as Amy calls it!

I know these are older images since he outgrew these shoes months ago!



Sweet innocence...

Typical... off he goes again!

The Culprit: Joshua M. Fowler

AKA: Roo. AKA: Stinker.
Male. Age: 1 year, two weeks (at time of breakout). Tall. Thin. Sandy blonde hair.
Probably needs a diaper change.

Upon first impression, he is sweet and unassuming...

But his cute antics are mere attempts to distract you from his devious behaviors...

He recently had a visitor who has since been referred to as his accomplice...

His accomplice pretended to love on the culprit but was actually the 'file in the cake', giving him instructions on how to escape...

He also demonstrated the technique while the cuplrit studied intently...

Testing the structure and toe grip-ability of the prison bars...

He also used a full foot grip on the bars...


When he reached full height from the foot/toe grip, he was able to then use his sturdy stature (AKA: Big Head) to throw himself over the side, collapsing to the ground with a crashing "THUD" in the wee hours of the morning...

He then ran for freedom only to be apprehended halfway across the room by Daddy before he reached the door.

Beware of his coy little grins and giggles... he's up to no good and knows it!


{These images were a reinactment of the actual crime, no one was harmed during this reinactment and, thankfully, during the actual breakout. The prisoner has since been under the highest security measures that even his mother once thought inhumane - a mesh crib tent}

This is probably one of those images he'll hate me for one day. But he's the one who dressed up with the pirate gear, posed like this and pulled his shorts up so high! lol
He's making his "ARGH!" face...



He though it would be funny to fill up the dump truck...


... then sit in it...


He had so much fun with his little friend just splashing each other...


She discovered a hole in his boot! lol


So he put them back on and kept filling it with water...


And that is how you have a pirate pool party!


{Mommy Moment}

Jeremiah tripped and fell on the concrete one day and instead of crying out and running to mommy, he went to stand against the wall in a corner and pretended to pull out a cell phone. He was overheard to say into the phone: "God, I fell. Did you see me fall down? Why didn't you help me? Will you make it all better? Ok. Thank You. Bye."
*sweetness*

... to get my editing done.



...to keep my desk neat and clean.


... to resist this little face.

I'm going back and looking through the THOUSANDS (if not more!) images I've taken but haven't blogged about and came across this one that makes me smile. We've had many stormy days this summer where we were cooped up in the house and keeping these two crazies busy has been interesting. One morning while washing hands we just added more soap to the mix and I let them play in it...





I think it's safe to say this was a hit...


Look at that face! lol

I'm glad these two enjoy each other's company so well!