How I see you....

Hey sweet Natalia! You are five now. Even though you've been saying "I'm FIVE", for about eleven months because your friend was five. We took these pictures in the middle of a fairy ring the day before your birthday. You were being silly and I loved being with you. I asked you to make a birthday wish, and you closed your eyes and with a deep breath you said, "I wish for the Jasmine costume without the empty belly."

We walked home holding hands.

You are courageous. You are sweet. You are beautiful.

You are kind. You are extremely thoughtful. You are sunshine.

You are the silliest girl I know.

You are always observant. You have an amazing memory.

You bring so much joy to our home. You bring so much noise to our home.

I feel so blessed to have you as a part of my life. I hope you had a happy birthday baby.

Things I keep around my desk....

photographs.

I love photographs...even technically bad photographs.

Especially when they are taken by a four year (Yes, she is five now...I need to blog about that.) old on one of the sweetest of summer days.

lovely.

(Busy day.
Fun session with some repeat clients-
HUGE rain storm-
Halloween carnival-
proofing until the wee hours of the morning.

I thought I would share this lovely picture of Talia.
Summer, I miss you...
Fall, you are okay.

Back to work.)

amazing.

Ballet class was amazing.

I was not amazing, but I loved it just the same.

I am sore today, but not as bad as I thought I would be! =)

I am going shopping today on discount dance supply.com for leotards, tights, and new ballet shoes.

Happy day.

Oh, the funniest thing happened. On the way to class I was listening to the radio and the theme song from Flashdance came on. I am NOT KIDDING! I had to call Lincoln and laugh about it with him. I turned it up loud.

Here are the lyrics...they are so perfect. (Yes, I cried a little too.)


First, when there's nothing but a slow glowing dream
That your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind
All alone I have cried silent tears full of pride
In a world made of steel, made of stone

Well I hear the music, close my eyes, feel the rhythm
Wrap around, take a hold of my heart

[Chorus:]
What a feeling, bein's believin'
I can't have it all, now I'm dancin' for my life
Take your passion, and make it happen
Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life


Now I hear the music, close my eyes, I am rhythm
In a flash it takes hold of my heart

What a feeling

dancing around

I am so excited!

In less than 30 minutes I get to go to a ballet class.

I cried in the van when I found out that I would be able to go today.

I haven't been to class (for me) since Wyatt was about 6 months old. Now he is 7.

I can't find any leotards. They must be in a box buried deep under the stairs.

I found a cute black ballet skirt though....so I'll wear leggings with that.

I am so excited!

The clock is going much too slow!

Where are my ballet shoes?

Someday I'll blog again.....

I had a wonderful week. My parents came to visit, and I just loved having them here. We had to endure a little rain the first few days, and then my Father and Simone both got sick. We accomplished a lot around here though. It was so good to see them. My kids love spending time with them, so I am glad they found a few days to come see us.

I am really really behind on blogging. I have tons of wonderful pictures from the summer, so I am going to catch up eventually. Be prepared for random posts! I hope I can do it soon, because I am getting ready for the busy season. I am booked solid for photo sessions for the rest of 2009, but somehow keep squeezing in clients! =) I love my photography job, and I wish I had more time in the day. I keep telling myself that this isn't my number one job. I am a mother and wife first. It is hard to balance all that is on my plate right now.

(A few bloggy notes for me.)
Simone is talking a lot lately. Not really. She says about six words. She said "ice" and "grandpa" yesterday though. She weighs a whopping 19 pounds 14 ounces. She sleeps better now, and will take one super short nap during the day. That short nap drives me nuts, I can't get anything done. Wyatt used to take a 3 hour nap at this age.

Natalia is still silly. Wyatt asked her why she liked gum so much. "Because Jesus made me that way," was her reply.

Wyatt is working hard at school. Handwriting is his biggest struggle. We are trying to practice at home, but how many hours should this boy have a pencil in his hand in one day? I love having him around and he is the best big brother to Simone. Yep, just Simone. =) Talia and Wyatt absolutely love to be around each other. We picked up Wyatt early from school today, and they saw each other down the hall, and RAN and hugged! It was cute. If my sister was there she would have said "Kodak moment!" Anyway...they love to fight. Wrestle. Swords. Whatever. They get along as much as they fight, but it is a regular smack down at my house sometimes. I hate it. I need to buy more paint. They are always willing to paint, and it is a nice distraction from the rough stuff.

Dewey!

My brother Steve illustrated a children's book called Dewey (There's a Cat in the Library!). It is number FOUR on the New York Times Best Sellers list today!

The best part, for me anyway, is that my children (and some of our friends) were used a models for some of the characters.

I found this little clip on you tube....take a look, you'll see some of the illustrations and Talia at the end!

Congrats Steve! I think it turned out wonderfully!

Last day and a half of Myrtle beach....

Here are just a few ;) pictures of our time at Myrtle beach. We loved it, and we can't wait to go back!

Baby toes in the water.

(I put my goggles on ALL by myself!!!)

Wyatt found a few little crabs.

Sweet conversation in the waves. I think they are saying, "We should live here!"

All of us took an afternoon nap!

This kids were having too much fun in the pool. I desperatly wanted to go get some pictures of the beach at sunset. I went with Simone. We spent a few lovely minutes together on the sand.

Simone wasn't feeling too great. She threw up on me as we were walking on the beach the day before! I just walked into the waves to clean up. She was NOT happy about that. This happened when we had our suits on....my brand new suit I should mention. She didn't feel great the rest of the trip, so she wouldn't let me put her down. If I did she wouldn't let go of my hand. I didn't mind.

Possibly one of my favorite photos from the trip. I love those little smiling lips, and her chin on her sun-kissed shoulder. She was watching two little birds that were running from a wave.

We came back up to the big kids and Lincoln by the pool. Dinner was waiting and it was fabulous! Tasty spring rolls, and fantastic rockfish...Lincoln had something else, but my rockfish was so good so I don't remember what Lincoln had. The kids shared a big hamburger. Then a surprise was delivered! TWO huge banana splits. It was so fun to eat them with my most favorite people. Yum. I wish I had one right now.



That's it! Our Florida/Myrtle beach trip. I took so many pictures, and I am so glad I have a little point and shoot. I wore it almost the entire time (as you can tell)!

Drive to Myrtle beach...Vacation Day 5

We left Florida and started the drive to Myrtle beach. We didn't arrive until pretty late. I wanted to get down to the water for a few minutes, even though we were all hungry.







Suits on and down to the beach. (It wasn't that dark yet...the flash makes it look that way.)

The coastline.

Myrtle Beach was my favorite part of the trip. I wish I had a better picture to capture this, but the sound of Simone's feet on the wet sand is definitely on my list of bliss moments! She loved it...not at first- but after she got used to the idea she was so happy.


Then we went for a swim in the pool, and room service delivered our dinner to us there. The kids had a cheese pizza and fresh fruit. Lincoln and I had shrimp cocktail, and a yummy Thai salad. We were planning to stay only one night, but we were having so much fun Lincoln extended our stay one more day! I am so glad he did.....more beach pictures so come! (Yes, MORE!)

Villa day- Vacation Day 4

We just hung out at the resort. We had do go on our "tour", so we planned a down day.

We went on a walk.....

caught lizards.......

played in the sand, and looked for the alligators they told us to watch out for.....

and scared birds away.

Then for dinner we went to a Pirate dinner show. Talia is on the stage in this picture. It was a fun show, and Simone thought the food was fantastic! She ate more than I have EVER seen her eat.

Epcot -Vacation Day 3

Here is how our day started..........

Lovely ponchos for all!

Looks like they are having a blast doesn't it?

We went to Epcot for a special breakfast with the princesses. Five of the Disney princesses were there and came around to our table to talk with Natalia. She was in heaven! The boys were happy too, because the food was so GOOD! Blueberry muffins, croissants, berries, peaches, granola and yogurt, bacon, breakfast potatoes, sausage, juice, apple pastries, scrambled eggs, and some crazy breakfast herring. =) YUM!



Then we went out to face the rain again. I decided to make the most of it, and we did an impromptu photo session. I have quite a few inspirations for this shot, but the main one is......

Ya, I jumped like 10 times. Lincoln soon got the hang of it, so he actually caught me in the air instead of on the ground! Great fun. People thought I was a bit crazy as they walked by.






HP is a sponsor of one of the rides at Epcot. They have a special VIP lounge for HP employees and you can only get in with your work badge. We were excited to go hang out (out of the rain!) and eat some free food.....BUT this is only open during the week. We were there on a Saturday. boo.

My baby looks so small compared to a giant planet.

LOL!

Bumped her head on Jupiter!

We waited for the big kids and Daddy a long time while they rode Test Track! She and I watched the little birds hop around. She LOVED them. One hopped right up to us, and she squealed and scared him off. This was her favorite part of the day.
Lincoln didn't buy an umbrella. He bought a sombrero. Basically a no hands umbrella, right? He got a lot of smiles and compliments as we walked through the rain. I love him, he is crazy.

The kids in China.

Us in China.

Talia getting Snow White's autograph. Snow White is her favorite....obviously...the matching dress kind of gives that away.

Wyatt, I don't know where you are. Somewhere between countries waiting outside a restroom. The light was pretty, and you looked so handsome in restroom land.

Simone in Morocco.

-Me too

-and Wyatt there too.

The red phone booth in the United Kingdom.

I love this picture! I love them both so much.

I walked through this French bakery to see all the lovely things I was too full to eat. The bakery smelled heavenly. I sent Talia (aka "the super smeller") to go have a turn. See that look on her face? Yep, just smelled heaven look. She had to hold the door frame to keep from falling down it smelled so good.

On our way to the exit I saw these stars in the ground, and snapped a quick picture. Goodbye Epcot!

We had a great day at Epcot, even with the rain. We bought some crazy souvenirs, and lost quite a few things too! The food was so good. We had that amazing princess breakfast, then lunch in Japan, dessert crepes in France, and Mexican food for dinner.

One funny thing about Talia this trip. Every time we went to a restaurant she would ask us if they had salsa. We were at a sandwich place, an Irish restaurant, and our Japanese lunch, and she would BEG us to ask the server if they had salsa even though we had already told her they didn't! We had Mexican for dinner to appease her burning desire for salsa. (Where did this come from? She doesn't eat it very often at home.) The salsa ended up being REALLY spicy. Lincoln went and got her a side of chopped tomatoes and told her it was salsa and she was totally happy! I wish I knew she could be fooled so easily a bit sooner!