Hangin' in the hammock

It is amazing how much a hammock can entertain children. Well it does. They played in it for over an hour and came up with crazy games to go along with it. As long as they are happy......

face shots

Here are a few of the face shot from their 4 year photos. I permanently borrowed this chair from Corys grandma. It was hers from many years back and I thought it would be perfect for my photo room as a prop for children. So I thought I would try it with the girls, it turned out cute. I think she will like the photos when she sees the chair in them.

Snap photos.....

These are what I call "snap photos!" What you see is what you snap.

These photos were from the girls 4 year picture shoot last Thursday. My first shoot I have taken of them on location. I have taken alot of photos here, but none with my own family, so it was time. I usually take them to McConomy in Hudsonville, but I thought... why not try myself this year! My favorite is the crossed leg photo. They were sitting on a ledge and were sitting the exact same way at the same time, it must be a twin thing. This is what I love about photography these days. Photo journalistic approach is priceless. They grow up so fast and these are the little things that you tend to forget and loved so much at this stage of life. Yes.... I will also post a few face shots in the next BLOG posting. Enjoy the snaps!

Bird watching

We love our birds this time of year. Corys Grandma L. is a "HUGE" bird lover who has an abundance of birds books and knowledge. At the condo they can't have a lot of feeders due to the mess they cause, so we inherited a few bird feeders the last year. We have 4 of them filled with thistle, cracked corn, and black sunflower seeds. They have to all be refilled e/o day. We put them to the east of our house in the woods, so we don't have to worry about the mess and we can see them from our kitchen table. One day last week Emma got ahold of the binoculars and we look outside and said, "Emma what are you doing?" "I am bird seeing mommy!" Grandma L. would be so proud.

must have been sleepy...

Spring has arrived (and we hope it stays). This is the time of the year where the girls love to wake up in the morning and play "picnic" on the deck and have there breakfast. Last week was so nice, we did it for the first time. Well this was also the week Cory and I were sick with upper respiratory for 5 days. So we sent the girls on the deck.....Grace came back in and Emma didn't. After a few minutes I thought I better check it out. This is what I found. A tired little girl that woke up to early, so she decided to take a nap in the sun with her AFLAC blanket.... OOHH to be young again.

for the kidz.... was a sucess

The girls had there first official "kids" party this past weekend for their birthday and it was a success. They invited 15 friends and everybody had a great time, even the adults. We had it at a gymnastics center which was private for 2 hours, so the kids got to have the whole place to themselves. There was a trampoline, a foam pit, bounce party playland, tumble trek and balance beams. All the kids left with rosey cheeks and tired looks on there face, can you say NAP TIME? Not my girls, we went home played outside and enjoyed the sunshine. They were pooped not to long after that, and it was early to bed for these little 4 year olds. Thank you to everybody who took the time to come and play and spend the afternoon with the girls, they enjoyed their time with each and everyone of you.

Its that time again...

I love spring for many reasons, but one reason is..... it is time for me to use my camera outside again.

Yesterday, 66 and sunny, why not?

My friend Jen (our new neighbor down the road) has a little 3 year old boy, Travis. Well.. what should I say... he loves me. He use to hate getting his haircut and now he loves it....he doesn't smile for pictures.... and he did for me, HAHA! So I took him yesterday to shoot his 3 year pics which took all of about 25 minutes. He did great and every shoot I get a little more creative. You can only sing, dance and pinch cheeks so many times until they say "all done." Well he did great, and his reward was to play with Emma and Grace outside after we were done.

So spring time has arrived and now it is time for all my outdoor shoots!

The new challenge for me is my studio lighting. We are going to attempt that this weekend with the girls, so I can shoot there 4 year pics and dance pictures. I will keep you posted on how that went for me.

What about us?

What about us, says the boyz!

So we were opening birthday gifts with the girls tonight, and the Boyz were all wound up. See....usually at Christmas when we open our gifts so do the boyz. So we put the girls gifts on the floor tonight and the boyz went after them like they were there gifts to open. Hold on boyz, it is not your birthday. So I went downstairs (like a good dog mommy would) got a bone, wrapped it up, brought it back up stairs so they would have a gift to open as well. Wow, what we do for our boyz!

the power of affection...

It might be a kiss, it might be a hug or it might just be hand holding. Not everybody does this, but the power of it around Children is amazing. Why do I say this? because my kids notice and have been commenting on it lately.

In the car.... Emma says, "daddy hold mommys hand"...

In the restaurant...Grace says, "mommy, I love you, can I have a kiss?"

In church.... my little girl grabs my hand during the sermon.

I don't know what it is, or how it came about, but it has been important to them lately. So weither you want to or not, grab your hubby or little one and give them a hug or a kiss, and teach them young that affection is ok! Nothing warms my heart more than my little girl telling me 3 times a day how much she loves me!

Lets Go Blue birthday gift!!!!

With Corys family being STATE fans and my family being MICHIGAN fans, our neighbors had to let us know from day 1 that they were Go Blue fans, knowing this by the clothes they were wearing the day we met them. So it is quite appropriate that they have the right "gear" for football Saturdays next door. The best part of it all.... Grace opened the birthday gift, looked at Lynne and said "Lets Go Blue." Lynne was so excited she almost cried. She has been working on the lingo for about 16 months with them, and now she knows they have it down pat.

Birthday girls..

April Fools Day to many of you, but to me it is my girls birthday, #4 that is.

Wow...how time flies. They start school in the fall. They will go Mon, Wed & Fri mornings. They are getting so big, so smart, and it is so much to take in all at once. Cory is a little better at it than me. I am excited to see them grow, but it is sad at the same time. They are having a party this Sat. with some friends, which they are so excited about. They are getting big girl beds (bunk beds, they wanted a ladder) for there birthday from Cory and I, but they were special ordered so it will be a while yet until they arrive. Happy birthday girls, you are the light of my life.

Roller Skating.. time to reminisce!

Back in the day Tarry Hall roller rink was where I spent most of my time. Well at least once a week for speed skating practice and Fri. and Sat. night sessions. Randy managed that rink for many years, as well as being the head speed skating coach which led my sister to a bronze metal as #3 in the nation back in 1989-1990. I loved to skate, but I was not as competitive as my sister. I had just been moved up to the advance team and Randy decided to no longer coach, so I decided to no longer skate. Well last week, he asked if he could take the girls roller skating for the first time, well I wanted to go to. So we all went skating for the day. Emma loved it from the get go, and it took Gracie a little while to warm up, well they lasted 3 hours, not to bad for a 4 year old. It sure brought back a lot of memories for me. I met one of my dearest friends there (yes you ..Jenny) and to this day we still reminisce about that place, and we always end up laughing. Randy was in his glory and it probably brought back a lot of memories about Nikki and I as well. I was a little sore the next day, afterall I had to wear rentals. I have never worn rentals. I use to have the coolest skates, not so much now. Oohh well, we had a great time and so did the girls.

Easter Ears...

We thought Easter was over until our neighbors came over with Easter baskets for the girls, apparently the Easter bunny stopped there as well this year. They got the cutest set of Easter bunny ears, I even tried them on. They have now turned into part of there dress up wardrobe. They will probably get pulled out ever year around Easter for many years to come. They looked so cute in them I couldn't resist but to snap a photo. Thank-you Auntie Lynne (Steve & Libby too) for the Easter baskets!

My new do...

OK, so it has been 5 months since I left the salon. I am a person who has NEVER cut there own hair until about a week ago. I just can't make time or go somewhere and get my hair cut when I have my own salon and I am use to gettting it cut whenever I worked, so I thought I would try it myself. Honestly, not to bad... A little longer on one side, and I couldn't reach the back, so I had my friend Jess come over on her lunch the next day a fix me up. She was suprised at how well I did. I am not use to all my POOF (as many of you call it) being gone, but I am loving the ease of short hair. Now I really look like my mom. Cory loves it as well. It has never been this short on the top, and curling irons are a thing of the past to me these days. Not to bad for a 10 year rookie!

PS acknowledgements of the cute photo go to Grace, cute picture honey!

I want my own snowmobile...

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Well Emma seems to enjoy daddys new toy so much that all she talks about is wanting her own snowmobile. We told her she will have to wait a few years, until she is old enough to drive one. He . She wants an orange and brown one, not pink, orange, go figure. Well the sled already looks different. Cory took off the logos and is now customizing it with green/black Monster Energy drink decals. He loves Monster drinks, he doesn't go overboard though, and his favorite is the green ones, so it goes perfect with his new sled.