Posts filed under 'Photography'
This year we tried a combined birthday party for Colby and Kennedy. Since their birthdays are only a month apart on the calendar, we figured it would be easier (and less traveling for those involved) to just have the parties at the same time. Kevin put these pictures up a little while ago, but I have been trying in vain to add captions. So, use your imagination to see what kind of party we had and if the kids had fun or not. And be sure to add the comments.
May 7th, 2008
We went to Old Baylor this year to take the annual pictures in the bluebonnets. (very close to the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, TX) I highly recommend this spot; it was wonderfully colorful!
I wish I knew how to make this easier… Pictures are in our gallery - click on Photos at the top OR Our Photo Gallery at the right, then click Combined Pictures of Our Kids, then 2008, then March. Enjoy!
April 7th, 2008
Check the gallery. Enough said.
P.S. I will finish it tomorrow, but theres a good 150 new pictures there.
February 17th, 2008
I always knew there was a difference between boys and girls, despite the obvious. But, now that we have a son and a daughter, it has proven to be fact. About four years ago, I read the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. He speaks of the innate differences between boys and girls and how our culture has taken to emasculating males, in so many areas. (I highly recommend it, whether you have a son or not; it is very appropriate in dating/marriage as well.) So many early childhood experts want for boys to play with dolls or have exposure to the same toys girls have. And, they want girls to play with cars and balls and swords too.
Colby is a wonderfully compassionate and caring child. He is incredibly empathetic to his baby sister and to his friends when they cry. BUT - he is ALL BOY.
We have a bubble sword. Colby wants to chop down our trees with it. Colby has a play kitchen outside. He cooks acorns, makes sure they’re “not too hot”, and then throws them in the air. Kennedy has baby dolls. Colby kisses them, then throws them in the air. (After all, they are toys.)
When we bought our house, it came with a makeshift wooden playground in the backyard. It’s actually not so much of a playground as an A-frame with a few steps and a plastic slide. We move the slide often because it collects water when it rains. Colby likes to move the slide himself, to dump out the water and to play on it. One day I noticed he had moved it to the fence. Here is one of the sweetest and most boyish moments I have captured with the camera - Colby, as King of His Castle.
(He is throwing acorns down the slide.)
Then, he runs down the slide to collect more acorns.
Sometimes he falls off the slide, but he just looks for more acorns!
I told Colby to stand on top of his slide and say, “I! AM! COLBY!” He said, “I, COLBY!”
Oh, how we have been praying that Colby would be like Joshua, a brave and courageous man. And, as part of my CBS lesson last week, that Colby would be like Gideon, a mighty warrior!
November 12th, 2007
Whenever I hear these words from Colby, it’s usually one of three things:
1. He has strewn his toys around his room.
2. He has been eating and has smeared food all over his face and clothes.
3. He has been outside recently and has gotten muddy.
Of course, all of these are a direct result of his being 2 1/2 AND his being a boy, but #3 is the one he especially enjoys. Take a look for yourself. Oh and yes, I do own my fair share of Spray N Wash.
Mud in full view
Me: “Colby, let me take your picture!”
Colby: “Cheese!”
Up next - Colby: The King of His Castle.
November 7th, 2007
On Tuesday (the 30th) my MOPS group planned out a Pumpkin Patch Playdate at one of the churches in town. They set up storytime, games, and pumpkin painting. I wanted to go and take pictures with the kids and the pumpkins. But, the night before, Kennedy slept terribly and I was incredibly tired, so I asked Kevin to come home from work and help me get the kids ready for our 10:30 am outing. He agreed and we were able to make it.
We drove up to the church, and there were NO big pumpkins there. NONE. (When we got home later, I had gotten an email which explained that the church had an unusually large run on pumpkins the Saturday before, so the nice ladies in charge went and bought some small pumpkins for our kids to paint. At least we had that. And, what was I thinking, going the day before Halloween?) Kevin’s picture-taking opportunities were incredibly limited, but he found a way around that. (Read on.)
So, we get out, walk up to our group, and Colby decides to run all around the large grassy area. This is pretty normal for Colby, except that this particular field of this particular church bordered a very busy street. So, off Kevin went to chase Colby around, while I talked with the other Moms and carried Kennedy in the mei tai. Kevin ended up taking some really good pictures of Colby, all the while making sure Colby didn’t dart out into oncoming traffic. Oh, and Kevin was completely dressed up for work that day, too, slacks and a long-sleeved dress shirt with dress shoes.. he might have even been wearing a tie? But he definitely wasn’t wearing his running shoes.
At some point in time, Kevin switches kids with me - I play chase while Kevin takes pictures of Kennedy. But as soon as it’s my turn with the boy, he runs over to the little pumpkins and throws them on the ground. He thinks they are balls. In his mind, they’re round, they’re orange, they must be basketballs! After a little while, he starts crying and screaming like he’s in pain. “What’s happening?” I ask him. “BAAAAAA,” Colby says. Lots of tears, lots of sadness. I ask if he wants to paint a pumpkin or put stickers on it. “NO, HURT!” he tells me. I ask if he wants to listen to the story or play games? “MAMA, BOOTY HURT!” ohhhh, no.
Well, long story short, Colby had diaper rash. So I took him to the car to change his diaper and make sure he was okay. All the while, Kevin is taking care of Kennedy and talking with the other Moms in my MOPS group! What a trooper.
I am so grateful that Kevin came with me because I could not have handled all that drama by myself with 2 kids! With all that he does, working 3 jobs - at Capsher, at home, and at church (but not in any particular order), it never ceases to amaze me that he puts his family first. He really didn’t have time to take off and go with us to this function, but he knew it was important to me to try and be there. I could have never gotten there without him! In something that seems so simple, he really does care about the details of my day and I am truly thankful for him. Kevin is such a great Daddy to his kids, but he’s an even better husband to me.
Here’s the pictures he got to take that day.
Check out these dimples!
Check out this hat!
Yummy hay.
Colby as The Thinker
Our Two Beautiful Children
November 2nd, 2007
Kennedy will be 6 weeks old on Wednesday, and she is opening her eyes more and more. She’s also smiling! I love to see her little mouth make a big toothless grin. At 3 weeks old, she weighed 9 lbs., 4 oz., and was 22.5″ long. She is growing and eating well… and spitting. 
The doctor says she doesn’t have reflux or any sort of medical problem, she just spits. I’m hoping she outgrows it soon. My mom said I spit up a lot when I was a baby. And, I’m not spitting up now, so she will be okay. It does give me a very good reason to use all the cute clothes we got! We don’t go anywhere without multiple outfits (and burp rags!) in her diaper bag. Colby never spit up, he just peed all over creation, so we had to do the same thing, minus the burp rags.
When Kennedy cries, Colby says, “Kendy cwying!”, like, ‘Do something about it! Fix it!’ He is a very good big brother to his little sister.
Speaking of, we have a 2 year-old in the house! AAAAAAHHHHH!! Life is definitely an adventure. We had a fun birthday party last weekend with mostly family and a few of Colby’s friends from church. It was a challenge to try and fit all our family and friends inside our house, but we managed quite well!
The weather was beautiful; the forecast was 90 degrees but it ended up only being in the low 80s, and there was a lovely breeze while we ate in the backyard. Kevin grilled burgers and they were wonderfully tasty.
Colby’s latest thing is the Disney/Pixar movie “Cars” . He LOVES it and watches a few minutes before naptime and bedtime. He tells me, “Lightning 5 minutes!” (The main character’s name - the little red car - is Lightning McQueen.) Sometimes, if we’re in the car going home for naptime, I’ll think, “He’ll fall asleep in the car and I’ll just put him in bed.” But, his little voice will pop up as soon as we get into the garage, and he says, “Lightning 5 minutes!” Funny kid.
Almost blew out the candle!
We got Colby a Lightning birthday cake. It was very cute, but because there was lots and lots of blue, black, and green icing, there was lots of icing all over the kids’ clothes at the party.
Gabriella
The Birthday Boy
Yesterday (on Mother’s Day!) as I looked at my two gorgeous children, I realized how very blessed I am. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count all my blessings. But, I am out of time now! Goodbye for now!
May 14th, 2007
Well, I tried to get the old gallery fired back up again but the “little computer that could” just wouldn’t. So, I’ve setup a new installation of the latest and greatest installation of Gallery and uploaded some pics of Kennedy. As soon as I get the chance I will start moving all the other pictures over so that I can post some new ones of Colby as well. Enjoy!
April 12th, 2007
Ok so after numerous glances and not so subtle hints, I have finally updated Colby’s gallery with new pictures. For those of you that can’t seem to find the link, it is on the right hand column, just below the archives there. (Edit: I moved it to the top). I did a little reorganization of the gallery, moving all the pictures from the first year into a single album (they are still broken up by month though), and creating a new album for his second year. So, you can stop sending the hate mail and threatening phone calls now….
Oh and just a reminder to all who care to read this… Jenna’s birthday is Sunday. So, don’t forget to call and wish happy birthday. Come by even, bring presents, and cake. We’ll have a party if you come.
And I was just kidding about the hate mail and phone calls. I just throw it away. And I’ll hang up on you if you call anymore. 
August 15th, 2006
Happy July 4th everyone! It was almost a rain-out here, but it managed to stop and we were able to go see the fireworks! Our music minister at church put together a choir comprised of 8 church choirs from the area to sing some patriotic songs accompanied by the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. Colby was in awe of the fireworks, even though it was an hour past his bedtime! He would point to them and have a big smile on his face.
I snapped some pictures and I will try to upload the rest of them tomorrow, but you can see one of my favorites below. Click on the picture to make it bigger.
July 4th, 2006
Wow, this is pretty awesome. This guy uses a tilt-frame lens to create some interesting effects in his photographs. In Olivo Barbieri’s photographs, the six-acre Roman Colosseum resembles an upside-down soda cap, Las Vegas and Rome look like model-train landscapes, and an 80,000-ton boat seems as if a child could pluck it from the water.
read more | digg story
July 4th, 2006
