Snow Shots

Snow pictures are so fun to take,it's just hard to expose it correctly and get something original..seems like yr to yr the snow pictures all look the same.LOL

Anyway here a few I took,I ran out this morning for like 10mins to take a few..I had to come in though,my fingers stopped working! LOL








This is an old cultivator that is sitting out in our field,I thought the color would be cool against the white snow..it's different,I like it! :D


It wasn't making very good snowballs yet,too cold! lol

We may get ice tomorrow..YUCK,I'd much rather have snow!

Snowcream

We got our first measurable snow yesterday,only a few inches but the kids still enjoyed it! Well Tanner did.He's been sledding after school the past two days and of course they had to have some "snowcream" ,you know snow but eat it like ice cream! LOL That was the best part of winter for us as kids,we would BEG to put snow in a bowl with sugar and any other toppings we could think of,we thought that was the best! lol So of course I told Tanner that little tidbit a few years back and what do you think he begs to do each time it snows? you guessed it..so of course Emma got to share in that little tradition this yr too. She wouldn't eat it until he put chocolate syrup on it..smart girl ;)
Here are a few snaps of them enjoying their first "snowcream" of the winter!

December fun!

Well it's hard to believe that Christmas will be arriving in about a week! Where did this month go?! It's been a fun month so far though and the best is yet to come!

I'm trying to get everything done,didn't get as much decorated as I would have liked and I didn't get as many cookies made but hey what can you do.lol We did get to see Santa though and Emma did GREAT! I was surprised! She didn't cry and sit there so big so I was actually able to snap a decent shot. Afterwards he gave the kids a bag of 'goodies' and they got cookies and punch,she loved that part.lol

I tried to get tree decorating pictures but they didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. My 9yr old didn't want to cooperate and we didn't have enough lights on the tree I realized,just wasn't putting off enough light to get good pics without the flash,but I tried. Anyway here are the decorating shots,Santa picture and a few other random ones! Merry Christmas everyone!!








see? He just can't take a good picture anymore,it's pure dorkiness all the time.lol


awwwwww :)


So onry!!

Busy Busy!

This time of year is obviously very busy (for everyone I'm sure!) ,just seems I have a million things on my plate (and mind) right now and I hate to feel so pressured. This week me and another girl are planning the Once a month cooking group for this coming Saturday. The 'main' girl has finals for college and is swamped so she was unable to do most of the planning. So we have to find time to figure up the cost (like by tomorrow) and go shopping for 10+ people by Thursday and cook meat for about 7 meals before making the meals on Saturday. On top of that I need to finish Christmas shopping and find time to decorate the tree and the house for Christmas. I have a ton of other small things throughout the week to do too but I have a feeling I'll be rushing here and there with the cooking group! THEN This weekend Tanner is staying overnight with his cousin on Friday for his birthday,I have the cooking group saturday morning but Tanner has to picked up by 11 or so (it will be dads duty that morning!) than we are going swimming with the boy scouts at 3. Thankfully I think Sunday is pretty clear,not sure yet. Next week I have to try to plan and shop and cook for a Christmas party WE are hosting at our house for my husbands coworkers,argh! WHY do I agree to this stuff? That same weekend we have a christmas get together with my MIL and SIL for a gift exchange and I need to bring food to it too. :::whew::::: I know it doesn't seem like TON but it's things that take so much planning and thats the worst part! Then of course we have two family get togethers we are going too on Christmas eve,one on Christmas day and another Christmas party on the 27th..it's going to have drinks though and at that point I'm going to NEED a drink! LOL I really do like the holidays but it can be a tad overwhelming...oh and I have to try and get some sugar cookies baked at some point because I'm taking Emma over to a friends where a few of us are going to decorate cookies with the kids. I'd feel better if I had all my shopping done ,heck nothing is even wrapped! That takes long enough in itself esp. while I have a destructive 16mo old on my hands.LOL

Somehow it will all work out though..January should be a bit slower but already things are starting to fill in on the calender. Well two things should be fun. A couples passion party on the 17th and a scrapbooking weekend...yeah!

One good thing I'm looking forward to this week is MOPS..ahhhhhhhh. I love MOPS! Two hours of mom talk UNITERRUPTED! woohoo! Thank goodness for small things :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday planned..I can't wait to see the kids faces when they see all their presents,thats the best part. I'm sure Emma will love tearing into hers!

More onry by the day!

Guess who I"m talking about? That girl keeps me on my toes and I barely have a chance to relax anymore until she's napping or down for the night. Talk about ONRY! My oh my! lol

Here a few quick snapshots of her..you decide for yourself on the first couple ;)






The last two are ones I took one day in Tanners room. He had some nice light coming in his window and I wanted to try to get a few of her without flash. Well.....it didn't work out so great. Every 2 seconds after I set her down she'd be sliding off the bed to go run. I captured ONE (yes one) decent shot and the other I captured as she was escaping! lol

Thankful for so much

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! Visited a lot of family and ate some great food!

I have to say looking at these pictures I have so much to be thankful for. Not for just my little family (which is my world!) but for all the extended family that has become so dear to me. Often I think of how lucky I am to have so much family around me,and for them all to live so close.

As most know I was widowed when I was 24 (Tanner was 2). It was a horrible loss and will always be a part of who I am. It's been 7 1/2 yrs now,which is so incredibly hard to believe. What I'm thankful for the most is that I'm still so close to my late husbands family. They treat as me as one of their own,they never even blinked an eye about not including me even though their "link" to me was gone. I know it's how it's "suppose" to be but so often thats not the case. Many times the widow is somewhat "tossed to the side" by the inlaws and the only time they visit is when they want to see their grandchild or whatever relation your child may be to them. Whats even more incredible is how welcoming they were when I met Paul. They opened their hears and their doors and were more than happy to let him become a part of the family. My heart smiles when I think about it. I'm so incredibly blessed,so blessed I can't even describe in words how it makes me feel. Maybe it's because I'm not close with my mother,that both my fathers are gone and that my family really isn't all that big,I don't know. Truly they ARE my family.

It was funny today in face. One of my late husbands cousin (maybe it's a second cousin,I don't know,I can't remember.lol) was talking about how we knew someone in common and I explained to him who I thought it was and that when I told her I knew him she said "so then we're related?" and I said "well no because it was my husbands family". When I said that he said "Well we've always thought you were(related)" . That made me smile :) They don't see me any differently than any of the rest of the family. I'm treated no different. I'm invited to all the weddings,graduations,baby showers,etc etc. My mother in law considers Emma one of her grandkids. She looks at Emma no differently than she does Tanner and that makes me swell up with happiness. I really and truly don't know what I'd do without his family around me,making me "whole" and having a mother in law who feels like my own "surrogate" mother and thankfully a wonderful grandmother to both Tanner and Emma.

So today we took family pictures. Thanksgiving was held at Todds cousins house (brand new and HUGE..wowsers,what a pretty house!!) anyway they had TONS of windows and I'm still green with envy! LOL I want that many windows..taking pictures in a house like that would be a dream come true!! Anyway I found a decent area with decent light and thought it would make a great place to take some quick family snapshots. They all turned out pretty nice. Course after a few people realized we were taking pictures it became more 'hurried' and I wasn't as happy with them because I was rushing somewhat and people were going here and there and well his family is HUGE and there were a ton of people there (easily 50 people) so it got a little nuts but I tried my best. They weren't always posed correctly so there are some people shadowing others but they were still ok and definitely better than nothing!! I will share some of my favorites :)


Todds Aunt with her three daughters (has a son too but this was an "all girls" picture :)


These are the "older boy" cousins. Not the greatest picture but other people were taking pictures too so the boys were looking this way and that and being goofy on top of it so I got the best I could.lol


This is Todds aunts,his mom and his grandmother
left to right is Becky,Sallie,Nancy (my MIL) and Charlene


got a candid one I thought was so sweet :)


Todds cousin and his wife. They actually live right around the corner from us! They are such wonderful people and their son is such a cutie pie,look at those eyes!


Was was completely pooped out at come about 3pm. So she laid down with Todds uncle (Nancys brother) and took a nap. I swear every single child is so drawn to him,he's just got the "touch" I guess! LOL They took at least an hour nap!


and us..not the best picture.Tanner with his super goofy grin and my husband looking half drunk..but well better than nothing! LOL

It was SO hard getting these pictures. I couldn't put them too far from the window because of the limited light and my 50mm almost didn't have enough room to get some of the people in the pictures. Maybe if I'd set it up differently it would have worked better but oh well! It wasn't a super great set up anyway with the clock and door in the background but oh well,gotta make do with what you have! lol

Ok I'm off to bed,it's been a long day!!

Little missy

wow,haven't posted in awhile! I kept meaning too. I've been obsessed with reading as much as I can about taking pictures,lurking on ILP a LOT and of course getting ready for the holidays,stressing about money and chasing a 15mo old who causes destruction wherever she can! Oh and I've been playing Pogo games too (blushing) ,those games can be so addictive and I haven't played in so long!

I haven't been doing anything of real significance. Just staying with busy the kiddos and Paul,baby showers,birthdays,getting ready for christmas,etc. I feel like I have so much to do in such a short amount of time! I bought 5 frames to hang above my couch as a collage and I even bought a rustic star to add to it. My husband is *suppose* to put wires on the back so I can hang them more easily. Do you think thats done? NO! I want to get them hung up!! grrrr,I may have to resort to figuring it out myself. you know between chasing Emma and picking up messes (eyeroll). Why is it OUR stuff always comes last??

Oh I have been busy cooking! I'm so proud of myself ::::beaming:::::: I'm in a "Once a month" cooking group and we need some new recipes and we have to 'test' them out first so I froze like 8 meals to try,now I need to remember to thaw them out so we know if they will work or not! Hopefully they will and we can add them to our menu! Ugh have so much to do this week! I need to print some pictures off that I took at a friends baby shower,get a recipe figured out to take to Bunco tuesday,clean house for a playgroup HERE Tuesday along with what I will feed them while they are here,thursday is Emmas dr. appt (shots...yeah),I have to figure out a gift for the MOPS Christmas party which is also thursday evening,get the gift around for another momsclub xmas party that is on Saturday along with trying to get a tree up HOPEFULLY next weekend,oh and take the kids to visit Santa next Saturday! Whew! Ok after typing that all out I'm a little bit freaking out thinking I won't get it all done. I just know this week is going to be hectic and stressful :::Sigh:::: oh well,it's what the holidays are all about,right! HA HA

onto little Miss who is a handful and a half lately! Gosh that girl wears me out! She has resorted to trying to bite things when she's mad (yeah,not a good sign huh?) but thankfully she rarely tries to bite us. Well except for Tanner but sometimes I don't blame her to be honest.lol She recently tried to bite a well..didn't work out so well! LOL It's quite funny actually. Her little will come out of nowhere,she spins in a circle,lets out a screech and then proceeds to bite something. Usually it's the carpet,a book,her chair..lol We keep trying to get her to say words but she just won't! Honestly I'm starting to worry a little,not a lot,but a little. She understands 90% of what we say to her and I keep reading thats the most important so I won't worry too much for now. Anyway it's a frustarting stage where she can't talk but yet she knows what she wants. Doesn't always make for an easy day! Plus she gets into EVERYTHING. Every single time I turn around it's something else. Our desk drawer (pens and scotch tape getting flung everywhere),goes into our computer room and tears into papers,messing with the mouse on the computer,etc,grabbing anything she can off the counters ,throwing something she shouldn't be,getting into cabinets she shouldn't be,etc etc the list is endless.lol She put a cup into the toilet earlier today,thankfully we caught her before she flushed it!

Anyway a couple recent snaps of her... I'm worn out typing all that.lol


I had been putting groceries away and she proceeded to get the strawberries out of the fridge I'd just put in there,sit down ,opened them and started munching away! lol


Her "hairdo" from today..lovely isn't it? She just HAD to have all these clips in her hair..let me tell you,it was quite a site. Thankfully she let me take them all out before heading out for Thanksgiving Dinner with the family! LOL

Our night out

Paul and I got a night out this past weekend,that is a rarity anymore! We went to see Mark Chesnutt who was playing at a casino north of us. We went with some good friends of ours and had a GREAT time! Man it's been too long since I've been out and it's been even longer that I'd been to a concert! lol Paul and I are both HUGE Mark Chesnutt fans..he's one of the 'old style' country artists..you know the ones who still use a steel guitar ;) Oh and we were front row,even better!!

We gambled a little before the show..won nothing. We ate after the show,buffett style and got STUFFED! Anyway we had good food,good entertainment and good conversation with some wonderful friends..so glad we went! Oh and my husband made the plans all by HIMSELF! Shocker huh? LOL

Anyway I took only about 3 pictures..not like he danced around the stage,pretty much stood there but I did get this one. No flash but man I had that ISO cranked and my SS down as low as I could go without getting major camera shake LOL Turned out good I thought!



Oh and so funny when we got back to grandmas to pick up the kiddos (10:30) Emma was still wound tight! She gets so silly around bedtime,just trying to keep herself awake..sooo she didn't get to bed until 11..oh well!

Blue skies and blue eyes

The ONLY time I can get a picture of Emma sitting still is when she's eating (and sometimes not even then!). At lunchtime the other day I pulled her highchair over by the window for some natural light to try and get some pictures. This one was my favorite!




Later that day I snapped this one of the sky..I did NOTHING to this picture. I only resized it,promise! Isn't it crazy how blue those clouds are? Funny the things you notice when you get serious about taking pictures..everyday things catch your eye :)

Catching up

Haven't written in several days. Emma has kept us (me!) busy. The girl is nonstop,wish I had even half of her energy! She cracks us up and does something new everyday,usually it's her trying to be goofy or onry.lol

She now LOVES the spraybottle. We were being silly one evening and misting her hair with water,she was loving it..giggling and running around. So I gave her a hairdo after we got her hair wet..what a nut!



Thankfully she still likes her naps! One day she'd been whiny earlier than normal. I was bad mom (slap my wrist now!) and sit her down in the chair with binky and blankie and played doodlebops. Within minutes I'd realized it had gotten awfully quiet......




We had a couple nice days of weather last week so we joined some friends at the park and took advantage. Man was it sunny,took a little effort on my part to get these pictures exposed so they aren't OVERexposed..man bright sun is no fun to try to take pictures in! She had a great time though..as you can tell!




We celebrated my grandmothers 87th birthday with a dinner at her house this past Sunday. My grandpa was 93 this past summer (and yes still lives at home and is of sound mind..please let me have inherited those genes!!) and I get a picture of he and Emma any chance I can. So sweet and I know these pictures will be cherished in the years to come :)

On a Mission

Since our weather has been gorgeous lately I thought I'd take advantage. I took the kids to the lake by Topeka yesterday evening to try and get a christmas card photo. I think I know which one I'm going to pick,it turned out so well! (all except the overexposed lake in the background) lol oh well..maybe once I can get a speedlight that will change,that is a ways off yet..

I took over 300,deleted about half of those and out of those I will share my favorite 24,so bear with me! LOL I think the exposure and lighting is finally starting to "click" with me,plus it helps I stopped using my zoom. It just isn't the quality lens that my 50mm is. I captured some wonderful moments between Tanner and Emma. Ones that totally define their relationship,I'm so happy I got those. I got some GREAT photos of Tanner..the exposure and lighting is spot on,first time I can actually say I'm 100% happy with a picture! LOL I was in such a rut there for awhile. Feeling like the pictures just weren't turning out how I wanted them too and I was getting frustrated and stopped taking very many for awhile..now I feel like I'm slowly getting out of that rut and feeling better about my improvements. Now if I could just get a REALLY nice zoom (like the 18-200) I'd be happy but I can't spend that kind of money right now,wahhhh. Oh well!

Of course there were quite a few people at the lake. This part of the lake has TONS of flowers and bushes and littl creeks. It's beautiful so wedding partys,seniors,families,etc are all there getting their pictures taken. It's sometimes hard to find a good spot that someone isn't already using.

I will stop rambling..here they are!!


thats Tanner down on that bench. I don't care that I can see cars and people on the other side of the lake there but I like the whole scene with the bench,shrub and huge old tree overhanging it all..it could be a gorgeous photo with the right background! LOL






This is one of my favorite pictures. There is just something so innocent and childlike in it,plus it just totally captures how Emma is with her Tanner. Wherever he goes,she wants to go and she's always trailing behind him. I love it :)




Bokeh!!

loooove this one. Totally captures how much he loves her and how much she trusts him :)


Not the best comp but I liked all the green grass :)


this is one of my favorites of Tanner last night..see ,I'm finally getting exposure! lol I think before I was too afraid of making my pictures too 'light' so I walked on the safe side..now I've realized I can make them light without overexposing them..it's like a lightbulb went off!






This was one of the pics I thought about using but I don't like how Tanner is sitting and looks crooked so it throws the whole photo off..otherwise I like it! lol









My favorite picture of him by far!! He's two big teeth are showing a little otherwise I'm in love with this one :)




other than the crooked ground (gosh I'm finding somethign wrong them all huh? LOL) I like this one a lot..it just captures something so fun and the lighting on the other side of him is so pretty!



This was Tanners idea for a picture lol


I snapped this one as we were headed to our vehicle. Isn't this area so pretty??



Now for the one I will use for our christmas cards!


Is it not perfect??? LOVE this one! I won't say anything negative about it even if I'm thinking it ;) LOL

Today is suppose to be another gorgeous day but with more wind so I'm glad I went last night!