My New Big Girl Camera

Guess what?  I am really excited about this!  Due to a generous gift from my parents, and not a "gift" exactly, nor yet permission, but the "allowable-ness" from my hubby as well, I have invested in a camera.  Not the point and shoot camera that I upgraded to last year, though that was a serious upgrade from my previous one.  But a big girl, DSLR camera with changeable lenses and stuff...  To be honest, I don't know much about it yet.  Nor yet all the cool stuff it does.  And I can't promise that the pictures you see will be any different as both the photographer and the models will be mostly the same.  However, it makes me feel really cool to hold it and use it. And that is the whole point after all:  to make me feel cool.   And I do think that the pictures are more clear, with better coloring. This picture was obviously not taken by my camera, but by my awesome SIL's one.  There it is....  my new baby.

Here are just a few from my new camera.

And I think they are pretty dang awesome.

Even if my children's hair isn't brushed, or they aren't posing perfectly.

They are still pretty dang cute.

Don't you think?

Big Boy Presents

Again, I was pretty clueless...  He hadn't really asked for anything, and he really already has a ton.  That Friday, we went for his check up and then went to a local consignment sale to get some clothes for him and Kari.  Because it was his birthday, I let him pick out a present from the toy section.  He picked out a 2 foot tall dinosaur/Godzilla monster kinda thing.  I figured I was on the right track :)

As for the rest of them...  He got a movie (Oliver and Company), and a cool little batman action figure thing.

But I think the thing he was most excited for was the biggest box.

His arms almost look like they are bending backwards to be able to pick it up....

Kari made him a really cute card that I didn't find until last week because she gave it directly to him earlier in the day.  Kaitlyn made him a present also.  Don't let his face fool you.  He really loved it.

He was just upset one of them fell off.

That's a happy boy right there :)

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Dylan's 4th Cake

Dylan's birthday was fast approaching, and I was still pretty clueless.  He had cars (cars and more cars) and he wasn't really interested in dolls or things of that nature.  About a week before his birthday, he started playing with the 2 dinosaur toys that he has.  I seized the idea and ran with it.  After googling for a bit, I found a cake idea that I liked.  This was the best I could come up with, and, if I do say so myself, it isn't that bad :)

He appears to like it....

Happy Birthday to you....

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Dear Dylan....

Happy Birthday to you!

He chose milk chocolate, which was really quite yummy :)

The Wedding

A few weeks ago I alluded to a wedding.  Well, surprise!  My SIL K got married, and we were able to make a (somewhat last minute) trip up to VA to celebrate with her.  My other SIL S took most of the wedding pictures with her fabulous camera.  She also took a few fun ones while we were getting ready.  She was playing with the filters on her camera and took this one.  I think it is pretty neat.

Kelsey was happy to attend the joyous nuptials.

Well, maybe not joyous?  :)

The beautiful bride and her maid of honor.

The ceremony was nice, and thankfully short, as it was pretty dang cold outside.

Then we went inside for the reception.

The girl cousins had a pretty good time being all grown up and enjoying some of the finer foods of life.

Dylan however.  Dylan...  What can I say about Dylan?  The dude is a total pimp!  He got his plate of food, then went over, took a seat by his older cousin, and flirted his little, tiny bum off!!!  He had them giggling and laughing.  I am scared.  Very scared.

Kelly did well during the night too.

Kaitlyn.

My handsome nephew Taylor.

Kelsey and Aunt S.

Towards the end there was a little dancing.

And a little more dancing.

Then we took a few pictures.

And then went home for the night.

Before we left the next day, we got all the cousins together on the stairs and took an age appropriate picture.  (Sorry Taylor, the lighting wasn't great at the top of the stairs).

It was a quick weekend trip (well, as quick as any 12 hour one way trip can be) and a good time was had by all.

 

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Nickerson!

Almost, Not Quite

I know I keep saying that Kelsey is very close to walking.  As of now, she still isn't.  But she is so close.  About 2 weeks ago, we finally dusted off the little walking toy that Kari got for Christmas umpteen years ago.  The batteries are dead, the plastic is brittle and has broken in several places.  But, it still serves its function.  She started like this:

She progressed to this within about an hour.

And this was the next day.  She is so dang close!

I really shouldn't be pushing her forwards I suppose, but she already gets into everything, so it doesn't really matter all that much.  She can only be so much trouble :)

Oh my!  This picture just gave me chills.  Seeing my baby "drive" with my other baby as a chaperon!  What is this world coming to?!?!?

Poor children

Occasionally I feel bad for my kids.  Because of things that I do.  But do I correct that behavior?  Generally not.  I just take pictures :)

 

I keep Kelsey's pacifiers on her car seat (which is on the floor by the door).  That way I don't loose them.  I don't generally give her a pacifier during the day, so her bed time pacifier stays in her bed.  On this particular day, she had her own ideas, and rather than pulling the pacifier off the car seat, she just did her best to use it where it was.

This day poor Dylan was sick.  He had the stomach bug that his sisters had recently gotten over.  It caused him to be up early in the morning, and through out the night.  He was pretty tired and fell asleep on the couch.  It was such a rare sight, I took a picture before I carried him upstairs.

Poor children.

Sun Catcher

The girls got a collection of sun catchers for Christmas.  I put off doing them.  And I put off doing them.  And I put off doing them.  Having done them before, I knew how time consuming they can be, and how difficult they can be, I figured they would require a lot of my time, and I just wasn't willing.  3 months later, they finally cornered me into allowing them to work on one.  And, it turns out, it was a decent activity for them.  They both did most of the work, and concentrated pretty well. 

True, it did take them at least an hour, but they sat quietly, with a pair of tweezers, and put piece by little tiny piece into the lines.  Kaitlyn worked on the unicorn.

Kari worked on the rainbow.

They turned out very pretty, and I was actually quite pleased with how well they worked on them.

But I didn't take any finished pictures of them.  Oh no....  That would make too much sense :)

Numero Siete

Another one bites the dust!

Number 7, pulled out after she was already "in bed".  I guess it is a good thing she came down and told us she lost it, otherwise the toothfairy may have been a bit late....

Soccer

Kari decided she wanted to play soccer this spring instead of softball.  We found a place (many thanks to my little fishes) and started practice.  Unfortunately, between travelling for a wedding (more on that to come), rain, and a bit of the tummy bug, Kari hasn't had much of a chance to practice.  But she was totally ready for her first game :)

Having not observed soccer before, I kinda forgot how much (at this age) soccer tends to be everyone chasing after the ball.  There she is.  Number 20, in the middle of the ruckus!

After halftime, between her coach and her daddy, she learned basically what her position as defender is supposed to do.  She did still occasionally get all up in there, but spent a respectable amount of time at the back of the field like she was supposed to.

She was probably the only one there, but hey....  At least she can listen to direction!