A closer look...

Here is a closer look at a few of the flowers in my yard. My sweet hubby spends hours out there weeding, planting, watering, mowing...the least I can do is photograph them so they last forever, right? Yeah, I don't do the whole dirty hands thing.

My Gracie is turning 7!

I can't believe it. My baby is turning SEVEN. She's so big and smart and thoughtful...I am so proud of her. She takes an art class on Wednesdays, which she loves, and last night her teacher was especially complimentary. She was discussing with me how Grace thinks like an artist...and called her "brilliant". Of course, I couldn't agree more, but I'm her mama. To have someone who has known her for such short time say that to me, made me, well, beam to say the least. We're going to carry her love for art into her birthday party. We're going to paint ceramics. It should be a grand ol' time!

We took these photos last weekend to put on her birthday card. She was cracking me up insisting on choosing her own poses. I have learned, though, to go with it. The photos are ALWAYS better when she's in charge. Here are just a few.

Grace's Buddy, Evan

This is Grace's buddy, Evan. Evan's mama, Becky, and I have been friends for a very long time. We teach together, coached cheer and dance together, and were pregnant at the same time. Grace and Evan are just two months apart and have been best buddies since birth. I love when they get together because they "get" each other and always have. Even if they go several months without seeing each other, they don't skip a beat the next time they get to play. They are funny little people, for sure.

Anyway, is this the cutest little boy or what?

Merry Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is here! It has been a wonderful, blessed holiday.

Self-portrait. Hehe!

Molly's first time on Santa's lap...well, her first time to go willingly, anyway. She talked his ear off and cracked me up.

Santa was good to my girls and got them the Lalaloopsy dolls they asked for. Good thing Santa got an early start on them considering they are sold out EVERYWHERE. Whew! :)

Ahhhh, Fall!

It was FINALLY cool enough to pull out some fall clothes for church today. When we got home we popped over to the neighbor's fence for our first official fall photos. She was fabulous!

Beavers, Davis, and Lee, Oh My!

A few weeks ago we got to have a party for my cousin Julie's 40th birthday. Okay, Jules, I contemplated not saying WHICH birthday it was, but I couldn't help myself. You're fabulous, so I went with it. Anyway, Aunt Kathy's whole clan was in town so we decided to try to squeeze in some pics before the party. It was about 104 degrees....HOT! Good thing they are such good looking people...the heat didn't wilt their grins.

A new favorite...

I decided to look back at our the family portraits that I took of us about a month ago to see if there was anything that I missed that I could love. If you recall from my July 28 post, the photo shoot was , a-hem, frustrating at times. :) Well, I found this one and it's my new favorite. I sure do love these little peanuts!

20 Days of Photos--Day 19

Remember how I described my debacle of a family photo in "Day 17"? And how much of that debacle had to do with a two-year-old named Molly Claire? Well, here is what Miss Molly Claire did every time I got up to reset the timer on my camera to TRY AGAIN for a decent family photo...because she tried to buck out of my lap on other every attempt.

As I would be resetting the timer she would scoot over on the steps by herself, smile really big and say "Pictoo (picture)! Cheese!". I guess she's decided that she prefers to be a one man show.

Playing Peek-a-boo:

20 Days of Photos--Day 18

I just recently started a photography class and our first homework assignment was to demonstrate different shutter speeds. Here is one slow (the blurred image) and a faster one (more clear). Can I just say that I absolutely love this stuff? Love it!

20 Days of Photos--Day 17

About a month ago I decided that taking our family photos wouldn't be that big of a deal and that it was something that I could totally do myself. Afterall, all I needed was a tripod right? Wrong. As we loaded up the car to head to "the spot" I began to get nervous about how exactly I was going to pull this off. I had visions of fun, loving, moving family photos and, at the last moment, thinking about the heat of the day and the mechanics of the process, had me second guessing my plan. Brandon just laughed at me.

Well, my fears for the photos were realized. Running back and forth to the camera turned me into a sweaty mess and a timed photo with a 2-year-old...well, let's just say that I do not recommend that.

Sooo, here is what I have to show for it. One lonely photo of the four of us all looking at the camera at the same time and Molly actually in the shot. It's not HORRIBLE and it will do for now, but it is lacking the "fun, loving, moving family" that I had envisioned. Lesson learned. Next time we will hire someone...maybe Aunt Staci. :)

20 Days of Photos--Day 16

I decided that it was time for us take some fun, casual photos at home. No fancy clothes, no hair bows or uncomfortable shoes...just tank tops, shorts, and sisters who love each other very much. I love my little girls.

20 Days of Photos--Days 10-13

Okay, I have been slacking this week on my "30 Days of Photos". Well, actually, not slacking--I've been super busy. This week was VBS for Grace and I got to photograph the kids as they enjoyed the various activities thoughout the week. It was a blast! While I would love to share some of those photos, I don't have parent permission to do so, so I better skip them for now...as cute as they are. Instead I'm going to share a few more of my favorite pics of Grace from last fall. I love this sassy peanut!

20 Days of Photos--Day 9

This is one of my very favorite photos ever. Her white dress, ruffly socks, sweet little self, and Pastor David's hands--my Gracie being baptized. Really, do moments get much sweeter?

20 Days of Photos--Day 7

My sweet girl playing inside on a rainy day.

20 Days of Photos--Day 6

Summertime and drive-ins...good stuff!

20 Day of Photos--Day 5

Gracie's first lost tooth...my little toothless fairy.