Thursday, November 17, 2011

Learning to Ride

I have been a little behind in getting blogs done lately. Here is the next installment. Hopefully more to come soon. These were taken in mid October.






Orion learned to ride his bike without training wheels this fall. He picked it up quickly and was thrilled to be able to ride.






I love that boy.  :)









I love this next shot of Maebelle. She is so precious.






I will treasure these two shots forever!









Goodbye for now. Next up is a walk through Baker Wetlands and Birthdays!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Renaissance Festival 2011


Look at those amazing eyes!






The sky has been doing a lot of this lately, maybe it's a fall thing. I like it.






We took the kids to the Renaissance Festival a few weeks ago. It was so much fun!






They each got to try the bow and arrows. Orion looks a little more comfortable with a bow in his hands than Maebelle does. :)






And Zac's turn.






And the kids tried the mega trampoline. He was a little nervous at first, but warmed up right away.









How much did you love that?






This much!

Next is the kids and Zac waiting in line for the elephant ride.









And the trampoline again. Look at that hair!






I think he was a little tired by the end of the day.






And Maebelle's second turn.






We had and amazing time again this year!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

An Evening in Downtown



One evening last week, we took the kids downtown for the evening.






They each got to chose something from The Toy Store. Then we ate dinner at La Parilla.






I am continually impressed with La Parilla. First of all, they make a great mojito! The ambiance is not your typical mexican themed restaurant and the service has always been polite and friendly. And Maebelle was able to start her velvet coloring while we waited for our dinner. :)












After dinner, we walked around a little more before heading back to our car.









Orion usually gets tired of walking. He loves it when he gets a ride.






Maebelle loves to admire the beautiful dresses in the window at Weaver's.









Maebelle started Kindergarten today. I can't believe how quickly they are growing up. I will now have Thursdays to stay caught up on housework, pictures, and whatever else I need to get done. But it feels a little lonely today, with the house all quiet. I am sure as time goes on, it won't be so lonely, rather peaceful. I know she'll do great in school and I'm excited to see her learn and grow even more. But today, I feel entitled to reminisce and ponder how quickly my time with them is going. And how much I love them and have learned from them already.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I recently took some maternity pictures for a long time friend. She had some great ideas and we got some amazing shots. Her daughter isn't due until August and I'm hoping (although it doesn't look good at this point) that the heat won't be too bad for her last couple of weeks.







The baby's name is Anistyn. I love it! They have it spelled out in the cutest little letters above the crib. And the colors and ladybugs around the nursery are so precious.





















I love the flowy, free feel of the next one.









So dreamy...












Good luck, Nichole and James! And blog followers - stay tuned, there will be newborn pictures to follow!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Sylvia and Olvier

I had the chance to take some photos of these little beauties a couple of months ago. They are beautiful, smart and as their mom put it - wiggly. :) We went to the Kansas Museum of History for this shoot and it was a great place to shoot! This first one is a collage I made for the family.















I love this next one.






I think there'll be some instrument pictures coming soon! Have a beautiful day!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Winter 2010-2011


I know it's been a long time since I posted a blog, so I'm going to do one update of the last couple of months. We started out our crazy winter out with Maebelle's 5th birthday party. She had cupcakes with tie-dye frosting and crowns. And she had a heart cake with pink and white frosting and sprinkles and princess decorations. We really went all out with this one. And it was fun!






Zac and I made a fire-breathing dragon pinata. It was so much fun to make, but it did take a lot of time. This fancy of a party is definitely only a once every 5 years ordeal! :)









We got her a fiddle for her birthday. She loves it. We are so happy that she still plays it and has a lot of fun with it. Any time we do music as a family, she gets it out. It's so much fun to watch her play and make music! Maybe someday she can take lessons. I think it might be something she actually continues with.






Over Thanksgiving weekend, we went to Colorado to see Nana. It was a great trip! The light coming in her living room was pretty amazing! And she had this hat that the kids loved to wear.






I love that Maebelle's picture and Orion's picture in the same hat in the same location are so different.






Nancy took this next one for us. She and Annie watched the kids and we got all dressed up for my birthday and went to Manitou Springs by ourselves. It was so much fun! There aren't many pictures of Zac and I together, but this one makes up for all the ones we don't have. :) I love it!






In mid December, we went to see Hannah, Kyle and Heidi. Zac was Santa for the bank Hannah works at. The kids had a blast! Heidi didn't like Santa so much. But Maebelle loved it. She knew who it was and I don't think Orion did. She thought she was special because she knew the secret! And she played along so well! I took these next few in Heidi's room. The lace curtains in her room were a perfect filter! And the 40's print quilt on her bed was a fun backdrop.












This next one was taken at the bank. I just love that hat!






My mom got Orion a dinosaur fossil and he loved it! He did it one day here, but it was so messy we put it up. We'll have to get it back out soon. As it warms up, he can do it outside. By the way, I am so excited for it to warm up! I know it's only February still, but the warm weather felt so nice these last couple of days! I love Orion's face in this one. He was so into it!






I took some pictures of the kids right before I started working. I made them sit down and smile at the camera - which I hardly ever do. They did a great job and I think they turned out really good! These are just a few.






Sweet, sweet Maebelle.






In mid December we went to the horse and carriage parade in downtown Lawrence with friends Beth and Ashlynn. Ashlynn is one of the sweetest kids I know. I love her like my own! :) It was pretty cold out, so we were all bundled up!












Orion's birthday party was a lot more low key than Maebelle's. He needed clothes, so that's what we requested family get for him, and thankfully, he received so many! And he did a great job with it. He did say at one point, "Clothes, again?" with a frustrated sigh. But that was after he'd opened about 6 boxes of clothes. :) He loved the frosting on his cupcakes!






He has really been into doing boy things with Zac. He's always been such a mama's boy that Zac has really appreciated this change! Zac got him a build your own birdhouse for his birthday that came with it's own screwdriver! He loved that he has a real screwdriver! And they had a lot of fun putting it together. I am thankful that he is enjoying hanging out with Zac now. They have Fridays together where they get to do cool boy stuff! I love it!









And Maebelle received Sand Art for Christmas. She had been wanting Sand Art for a very long time! She loved being creative with the colors and making "ice cycles" in it.






I know this next one isn't the most flattering picture, but her eyes remind me of Scot so much! The yellow of the shirt brought it out, I think, but they are stunning!






Working full time has really put a damper on my photography. Which is a real bummer, but as it warms up and I can get outside with the kids in the afternoons, maybe I can get back into it. I had my camera out the other day and was able to get these shots. It was still snowy outside and it provided great light coming in our front windows.









My mom gave me this African Violet in September. I can't believe it's still alive, not only alive, but blooming again! I love it!





This winter has been a good one for our family with the exception of a few hard days/weeks. But the sun is shining and spring is on it's way, even if it takes a few more weeks to get here. Hopefully life is as good for you and yours as it is for me and my family right now!