my boys

 Just some snaps of my boys.  I think Mr. Z had just crashed into something and hurt himself, thus the ice pack and his lovey.

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Are you on Thanksgiving break this week?

We are in the midst of Nutcracker rehearsals all week (except Thursday) and weekend full of performances!

I received a 24-page document from our ballet studio on how to do stage make-up.  No joke!  This studio's Nutcracker performance is a little bit of a bigger deal than the last studio we were a part of (gross understatement.)

Luckily for me, I sort of enjoy the art of make-up, though I am just a little overwhelmed at the detail going into it.  I have never in my life applied shadow or highlight to one's face, but I am now armed with the supplies to do so.  Wish me luck!  Maybe I'll post some photos next week :)

the many faces of Mr. Z

He really is quite charming.  I'm sure every mother says that about their son, but he truly is such a sweet kid.  Here's a quick series from our hike.  We turned a corner and all of a sudden the light was beautiful.  I asked to take his picture, and this is what I got.  

The second photo is his impression of a begging dog.  I think he picked that up from his sisters???  

When I know there is going to be a good photo opp, I usually take both my huge SLR and my iPhone these days.  Sometimes I use them equally, other times not.  I think I like to use them both for different things.  These below were taken with my SLR.  It definitely beats out the iPhone for portraits!

Mr. Z & A.

Mr. Z. and A have a great friendship.  It's fun to watch them interact.  

Mr. Z is full of personality.  He's quite the goofball and usually has us all laughing at something.  Miss A. is very patient and really loves playing with her little brother.  

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I still don't have a lot of words for this blog.  Mostly just snapshots & glimpses into our new lives!

I am really in need of a new title for this blog, though.  If you have an idea, please share!  

bath time

 Sometimes the most inspiring things around me are the little people in my life.  Of course I think they are beautiful--what mother does not think her children are beautiful!?  

The biggest challenges for bathtime photos are lighting and modesty.  I'm lucky that I have big window just above this bathtub, so my lighting issues are solved.  As for modesty?  Mostly I try to creatively frame the photo just right, but sometimes I have to crop.  I cropped the third one down pretty closely.  I just loved Z's expression in that one.  It's his "cheesey" smile. 

last Christmas randomness

I found some random and favorite photos from last Christmas today.  I can't believe how little Z was!  A little baldy.  And, look at all those school projects my girls did that are pasted to the back of our front door.  Classy, I know.

I can barely remember last Christmas.  It's a big blur.  It might have something to do with the fact that I hadn't gotten a full night's sleep in 7 months at that point.  

David and I took a stay-cation while my parents kept the girls.  We took Z and just slept and ate and watched Harry Potter and slept some more.  It was fabulous.

This one was taken on Christmas morning.  I think Z has a crazy gleam in his eye because he wants to grab my camera lens.  I love this photo and his pajamas (both are keepers!)

How different our lives would be without little Z.  I just can not imagine it!  

On a more serious and deeper note, this is the week that little baby O. would have been due, had he been carried to full term.  It would be so bizarre to have another little baby at this point in my life--so bizarre I can not imagine it!  But, there is still sadness at not having met him and not having him here with us.  The sadness does not come very often anymore, though there are still occasional tears, but not as many.  I do look forward to meeting him one day.  I wonder what he looks like?!  It's incomprehensible to think of already having a little person waiting for us in heaven.  Sigh!

I'll leave you with this one of Z and his drooley face.

gingerbread house.

Hello, December!  

It's a good month.  It's the month of festive decorating, fa-la-la-ing, listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas album, sugar cookie baking, Christmas parties, trying to remember the real meaning of Christmas, purchasing gifts, sending out Christmas cards, my birthday...  Whew.  I feel tired just writing all of that down!

I've decided that Christmas in Florida can be just as festive as Christmas in other places, you just have to know where to go and not expect it to feel cold and snowy.  Once you're used to wearing shorts and tank tops all year round, you're much better off.  In fact after 5 years, I just may have acclimatized.  I no longer find myself cursing under my breath at the lack of seasons.  And, I secretly wonder if I'd ever be able to do "cold" again. I'm not saying I wouldn't like a little change of season, but I think I can deal with the weather here now.

So, feeling festive, I let the kiddos decorate a gingerbread house.  Little Z is really getting to be a "poser" for the camera.  Check out his head-tilt!

Miss A is horrified by Z snatching of a piece of candy off the roof.  It was quickly fixed by Miss M.

I can't quite manage to get all 4 of us in the shot anymore.  Almost.

Miss A gets her own photo.

three amigos

It has been an insanely long time since I've posted, and if anyone is still out there reading or checking this blog, I will be highly impressed.  The blog has been put on a back burner for now along with my digital photos which are waiting to be edited and screaming at me to download them from my memory cards.

My photo life is in such a pathetic state, in fact, that the photos you see below may just have to suffice for my kids' portraits this year.  Seven, 18 months and nine, in no particular order.  That would be quite sad, actually. I will have to get on those annual photos--quickly!  

What's on the front burner?  Schooling at home.  We are back to home school this year.  It has taken up most of my mental energy.  What else?  Chasing my toddler.  He's a good boy and at such a fun stage.  He's got his "cheesey" smile on for the camera now-a-days.  And, Jazzercise--it keeps me sane and keeps those good endorphins flowing.  I didn't mention cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping.  Oh, my, it's quite exciting around here.

Thanks for stopping by, whoever is still out there :)

Oh, the title of my post--that's my favorite part of school at home--that I get to see them all enjoy each other, and that they get to be around each other all day.  I guess that can be the worst part too, but most often it's the best part.  Until next time! :) K

mr. personality

Hello, friends!  It has been a long, long time since I've sat down to do anything photo or blog related.  And, it has felt oh-so-good!  Sometimes, it's just nice to unplug from cyber-world.  And, that's just what I've been doing this entire summer.  But, there is a time for everything, and maybe now it's time to begin blogging again, and processing my photos.  That can be therapeutic as well.  Here's little Z at the beach.  I believe he was enthralled by a dog.  Let's just call him Mr. Personality.  He's a charmer for sure!  Don't you agree?

all I wanted for mother's day...

...was a nice photo of the kids and I.  So, I innocently handed the camera to David and asked him to snap away.  I guess I should have hired a professional.  We laughed and laughed as we looked through these.  To his credit, David did get me a beautiful necklace and earrings to match.  I love them!

Hope these give you a good laugh too.

 What is little Z looking at??

 Now, we've got Z, but where did Miss M go?!

 Miss M is officially hiding. Niiiice.

 This is the best one of the lot, and the kids' expressions are anything but natural and happy.  Forced smiles, shall we say?  And utter dilusionment from Z.

 Umm, I think we're done here.

The girls stomped off in disguest, "Daddy, why are you taking so LONG?!"  So, it was just Z and I.  This one's a keeper.  Maybe that should have been my strategy.  One photo with each kid.  Oh well, there's always next year.

Z's one year portraits

I finally took Little Z's one year photos.  

There are so many things that I love about my little guy, but one of my favorites is his crazy hair.  It's always sticking straight up, and even though I tried to tame it a bit for these photos with some hair product, it still stuck straight up.  

I love that about him!

So grateful for my little man.  

Here's my favorites.

beach day

Little Z had his first trip to the beach a few weeks ago and loved it. It was Spring Break week at our house, and since it had rained ALL week, we decided to make a Saturday trip, along with everyone else who lives in central FL! Z did great--he didn't mind the sand at all, was ready to dive into the ocean, and just generally loved being there. He fits in so perfectly with our family!

I'm always little shy to take my nicest camera to the beach, so I took my Rebel XT and one of my cheapest lenses. But, can you believe after two years of not using that camera much, I could barely remember how to focus the thing!? (I have my settings customized to my liking, so it requires fast fingers to get the shot.) Wow, it's crazy how quickly we forget things that we once second nature to us...

Anyway, we made our second trip in 8 days this past Saturday, and I'm just now recovering from the trip. I successfully put sunscreen on everyone but myself and got the WORST burn on my back. I haven't every really gotten a bad burn, so I can now empathize with those who do. I didn't know it would make me feel so yucky for so many days! I'm sure I will get a nice tan out of the deal, but that was not ever my intention, and was totally not worth it to me.

I'm feeling a little beach-shy now. It may take me some time before I'm ready to go back!

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Here's a few of my in-focus snaps.

Oh, and thank you for all of your nice comments--I'm really not used to so much blog-attention, so I'm also feeling a little blog-shy these days....somehow I feel more comfortable with fewer readers.  I guess I'm an introvert in the real world and an introvert in the blog world as well!

hangin' out on Friday night

I love the light in Florida, especially the deliciously beautiful evening light.  Here's our little family just hanging out on a random Friday night.  It's sort of typical.  You see David?  He's on his phone.  Mr. Z is pushing his walker looking rather spacey.  I wonder where he gets that from?  It's certainly not me.

Let's zoom in a bit. What a serious face. He must be tired.

There he goes!

And, here comes Miss A zooming by on her scooter. Typical.

There's Miss M. She's playing Angry Birds on my phone. My girls love Angry Birds! I might too, but maybe I don't want to admit it.

She's doing good!

And, now, everyone has gotten tired of being outside except for Miss A and I.

She's been into drawing money on our sidewalk lately.  I guess this one has a heart on it.  Cute.

Fun times.  I like my little family!