Four boys - two big ones and two little ones.

Two brothers, all cousins. This is a photo for the grandparents. I look forward to getting the entire family together for photos, they seem like such fun!! I hope I did them justice with the photos I got - they paid me wonderful compliments about the photos on my website so I hope I can please them with treasures of their own.

The babies were 3 months and 6 months and ya know I LOVE the babies!

The three month old looked most comfortable cuddled into his brother's arms. I don't think brother minded either. This is what babies do at the six month milestone so that's why I prefer to photograph them with their hands and feet in their mouths. Its the only time you get such innocent pics of them like this. You spend the rest of their lives telling them to get things out of their mouths that dont belong there! :) This guy surprised me! He was so patient and waited until the very end of the session for his photos alone. He is the cousin, dragged along for the photo op. He was so cute!! I got great smiles from him and he was a natural poser. I thank them all for choosing me!

On to a story in my personal life. I went to bed with a heavy heart last night and I know this will sound trivial to most but to me it was something I will never forget. Cameron has been growing his hair long. He asked me last fall if he could grow it through hockey season and I figured, what's the harm so I let it go. Our agreement was that when it started looking messy, it would have to come off. Well, in two weeks he's in a wedding (sorry if I am repeating myself) and I couldnt let him go with the long hair. Plus, baseball season and warmer weather coming, it was time to cut it. As I was cutting it, he was crying. I felt so bad. I tried to leave it a bit longer but it just wasnt right so I cut it short. He went to bed crying that the kids at school would pick on him now and he looked goofy. I didnt sleep well thinking how unfair I was not considering his feelings. I seriously think he hid behind his hair - his shyness seemed to disappear as the hair got longer. He was more self confident and it was a great thing to see! Maybe the confidence comes at this age and he was just changing and the hair really had nothing to do with it? I still didnt sleep much last night thinking of how far he had come and how I hoped he wouldn't regress at the hands of other thoughtless children. I tried to tell him that the kids like him because he's a nice kid and not because he has long hair. I guess hair was the subject of many conversations with his pals. So....I did what any mother would do in this situation...I offered him $5 for each of his three best pals who cut their hair in the coming weeks because they wanted to follow Cam's trend ;-) In my mom brain I could rationalize this: I know the weather is warming up and other moms will want the shorter haircuts for baseball and swimming season....I didnt tell him that though. Hey, if it makes my kid feel better....I needed to place the bet.

Im gonna have to take a nap to make up for all the sleep I lost last night. He was fine with the cut today - and as he put his basecall cap on as he was headed out the door, he said he looks like a real ball player with it short :) My sweet, sensitive Cam.

Have a great day!!

~Kel~

Two days is not enough.

Who decided that two days was long enough to enjoy time off with family? I think we really need longer weekends! Its flying by! I have a few sessions today and I promise, with their permission, I will share with you over the next few days!

Yesterday we ended the day with dinner at my moms. I had to get to my grandmother's house to do her hair so we timed it more towards mid day so we could visit with my mom too. My brother, Cody, is just finishing up his spring break from college so the kids wanted to see him before he went back. On the way home we saw so many deer standing in a field so without hesitation, Jean turned the car around while I dug the camera out of my bag. I took these to share on the blog today. Such beautiful animals!! This second pic of just the two deer is my favorite! The blurred edges are the branches that are close to me because I had to struggle with my zoom lens to focus only on the deer and even then, they were still a bit too far away to get a really great close-up. I really like how the branches frame the photos. Shot these right from the window of my minivan!

Im feeling the love today. Last week I struggled with getting through the days and feeling out of sorts. Maybe the weather, maybe the change in careers, maybe a little bit of cabin fever all mixed in. Today I feel sentimental and I want to be surrounded by my kids and my hubby but we are all scheduled with other stuff so my time with them will be off and on. Its okay though because I love what I'll be doing and I know they are doing what they love too. I guess that's why I dont think weekends are long enough.

Im really looking forward to some time off to work on projects that are long overdue. I bought paint for the girls room and Makenna bugs me about it every day - gosh no Im not letting her help - that's just a disasterous thought. I actually dont know how I'll pull off half of my projects with them here - when I am available to the girls, they are stuck to me like glue. I love it because I know its not forever that they will want to be with me.

While driving yesterday, the words in a country song on the radio got me thinking about the day my boys bring home their first girlfriends....and then when they get married....I just wonder what it will be like. I get emotional thinking about it. I dont want them to leave me. I know that the teen years were created to help mothers with this process of separation but my boys are MY boys and if they are anything like their dad, I will struggle to let them go. Sweet young men they are! Just the other day I was having a craving for some cuddle time and I asked Branden (my "cool" preteen) if he would cuddle with me because Marleigh wasn't in the mood - he didnt hesitate a second!! He grabbed his book and snuggled into me - it felt so good to know I was still that source of comfort for him and he wasnt the least bit uncomfortable with it. We had our parent teacher conference with his teacher a few weeks ago. She told us that Branden tells his friends how awesome his dad is with math. I felt emotional watching Jean when she was saying that. He beamed with pride because sometimes he feels he's really hard on him about it (he even confessed this to the teacher). She said Branden so proud of us and it really shows. Im glad to know my family is still connected, even when they are away from us. I dread the teen years because Im afraid of how much they will change. The selfish side of me wants them to stay little forever....but my logical side cannot WAIT to see who they become. I know they will be good people no matter what they choose.

I know its a mom thing to think like this and I am not alone. I just want life to go on like this forever....and as much as I know that change is good....Im going to continue to dread it when it comes to my children growing up.

If you've read this far, thanks so much for listening/reading. I blog as a sort of therapy because once I get it out of my head, I can move on and enjoy. If anyone else blogs, I'd love to have your link - I love to read them and its a great way to keep up!

Enjoy the day!

:) ~kel~

Computer Problems!

My pc has been down - that's why no blog updates this morning! Plus, the boys are in a hockey tournament this weekend and Im trying to get to every game if possible! I was looking through some pics and had to post these here for a good giggle. I love them - they were taken nearly a year ago and then they weren't as special to me as they are now as I go back and look at them again. Maybe I have my mommy goggles on....but, I love them.....Im so glad I allowed her to make silly faces and Im so glad I snapped my camera for each one!

If I would allow it, she would take pics like this all day long! Just total silliness that makes me smile. Maybe I should offer silly sessions for Mother's Day.....hhmmm.

Here's the wink!

And a true treasure for her teenage years..... :) I remember telling her I was taking a pic of her picking her nose and she said "I dont care, I have to get this out"! Well, its proof for someday when the subject comes up.

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reads my blog daily!!!!!! It means a lot to me when you take the time to tell me you're a reader...it inspires me to continue to do it and I think of you when I write. I hope to continue to write interesting enough to keep you reading!! Thanks again!!!!!

Have a great weekend!!!!

:) Kel

HERE'S A FREEBIE!! I HAVE WINNERS! Thank you :)

One 8x10 print ($25 value) to the first TWO who email me!! (standard 30 day wait for recent winners applies). You can use this towards a future sitting with me or one I've done for you! You could even use it on one of my landscape/floral prints that you might have seen on my blog. My big hair photo is definately out of this freebie giveaway....I know you all want a copy for your book of big laughs but I must retain some pride......after all, my child steals snacks from the poor and Im afraid that's what the caption under my photo in the book would read. :(

Good luck!!!!!! (I'll announce that I have winners here as soon as I get them)

:) did you notice i didnt mention that white junk falling from the sky today..its freebie friday and Im trying to look at the positive side.....so I just pull the shades for today.

~Kel

Oldies but goodies.....

I dont have any new pics to share today but thought I'd go back to the archives to pull these up. If you've been to my studio, you've seen the canvas I have of Marleigh. Its one of my favorites. If you commented on it, Im sure I probably told you the story of how I got it. It was just a quick decision to take a photo of her bare bottom during a diaper change. So glad I did. There were a few more that I took that day and I'll show those off too!

These are great one year milemarker photos because after that first year/18 months, its really too late for the completely naked photos. My dad would have liked these just for the fact she's wearing a cowboy hat. He always wanted to be a cowboy. Growing up we were subjected to any and all cowboy programming on the TV (we had three channels) Roy Rogers, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, etc.. When I was going into high school, he talked about moving away to Wyoming. They took a trip, that seemed like it was forever, to see what it was like. I remember my friend Diane getting so upset at the thought I'd move away. I was lucky to have a friend like that....and even luckier that we are still so close today!

I have to tell you that I posted that collage of the crying babies on a forum of photographers and it got lots of feedback...all positive but it started a chat about how there was a photographer who purposely would make the children cry for portraits. I found the link to it!!: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/pictures/0,,1830504,00.html Her comments for taking these photos says they were to depict "helplessness and anger I feel about our current political and social situation." Her photos are so upsetting to see. Im so bugged about that - crying because the photographer is a scary woman to look at (me) is one thing - but to MAKE them cry so that you can get a photo of them sobbing is a horrible thing in my opinion. I just had to tell the story here because my collage was posted a few days ago and I wanted it known to those that do not know me personally that I did not purposely upset those children for the photos. Even the children I am very comfortable with, I try not to touch during the sessions because I dont want to make them upset. I love babies and would scoop them up in an instant, just to hold them if I knew they wouldn't cry but I try to keep my distance at the studio to avoid being the reason for the tearful photos. I still take the crying photos because, to me, they are a part of life and not something commonly photographed.

Have a great Friday! FYI: I'm going to have a giveaway later this morning so stay tuned!!

:)

~Kel

Justifying my complaints.

I know I complain about the snow a lot but my trip to Portland Monday confirmed I have every right to! There is barely any snow even 15 minutes north of me and from what I hear its kind of the same just south of me too. I guess we got dumped on and I didn't really notice it until now. Im sure we aren't alone and I do sympathize with everyone in this state because I know we are all ready for the green grass now! I really wanna be outside shooting and the dirty snow is not appealing - and the temps are just too cold to hold the camera for very long.

I took these photos yesterday morning (from the comfort of my living room) to justify my frustrations. I love the sun flare peaking through the trees.....but that's the only thing I like about this pic! Yesterday was truly a gift, those 50 degree temps felt awesome!

Look, here's Makenna on last years bike (she's got a bigger one but this one the boys use to do tricks on before school ;-) and then they ask her to ride it back in to the yard when the bus comes. Look at that mountain next to her! Errrrrrr! Its gonna be a soupy mess when it actually does melt. We have a sump hole in our basement and every spring we get water but Jean has a system to deal with it so the basement never gets wet (unless the power goes out, then we're up a creek -ha!).

Potty training update: Marleigh has had two completely dry days and her first dry night - BYE BYE diapers for the Roy house. Seems so strange to not have to put them on my shopping list! Im so proud of her and she's so proud of herself! Yesterday we were in the bathroom, washing hands, I turned to get something from the closet, heard a loud crash and bang and looked over at her, she was gone! dissappeared completely from my sight - she had fallen between the sink and the potty and it was just like a sitcom. I waited for her cries (I had my hands full - cant remember what I was doing) so I couldn't just grab for her. She popped straight up and said "Whew, that was a close one Mom!" I started laughing - it was so funny and she just continued to dry her hands.

Well, its Meemie day today! I still have work to do so Im going to work part of it and visit with her the other part of it.

Have a great day - can you believe tomorrow is Friday, already! :)

~Kel

It worked.....I feel better!

The retail therapy worked and I feel better today. Nothing like drowning your sorrows in a new gadget or pretty dresses for the girls. I LOVE the Christmas Tree Shops - whoever came up with that franchise is a God!! I can take my girls there and we all find something fun that we just have to have. Makenna likes to buy the junky jewelry at the checkout, Marleigh always wants a new book and I could look at everything. Its so funny because even though the stuff is really inexpensive - when something is $20 I still debate spending "that much" for something at that store. Its really fun to look for treasures.

This is Ace, my friend Lisa's new puppy! Cuteness! I had a hard time deciding which pics to show here. I asked Branden for help and his reply was "that one" to each pic I showed him....NO HELP! So here are a few I liked.

You can only imagine my house (Cam and Makenna) with these puppy photos around. Every time Im working on them, I hear the plead for a puppy again! I get this from the boy whose teacher sent me an email yesterday asking me if she could help us out by making Cameron a sign to remember to pack his snack for school because he's asking for one every day and the snacks are donated to the school for the children who cannot otherwise afford them. Yep, I wanted to crawl right back under the rock! So Cam gets home from school and I say "Cam, your teacher contacted me, is there something you'd like to tell me." (I recommend this to ALL parents, whether you got the call or not - they come clean with so much STUFF its amazing!!) He looks at me in his innocent half smile and raised eyebrows and says "Snacks?" Later I hear Jean asking him why he's bugging her for snacks - didnt he have the breakfast at school? Cam says "Yeah, the breakfast was good" (and listed all he had eaten) and then tells Jean he was still hungry at snack time.

I added a snack box for him to check off on the responsibilities chart he fills out every morning (this is how they get their allowance - they have to initial the chores as they are completed).

Next week we get to meet with the teacher for conference and Cam comes with us for this one. I guess he gets to direct the meeting so it should be interesting. I just told him to get into the shower - his response "No fair!" Im getting really tired of that comment - even Marleigh says it to me now.

Happy Hump Day!!!

~Kel

Charity.

This is Charity. She was my Easter bunny below. Such a great dog, I can see why her owner wanted photos of her. She has cancer and isnt feeling so well, but she was so good for us just sitting there while we dressed her up in the hats and scarves she borrowed from her friend, a poodle. Her owner kept bringing out all sorts of accessories and I was hysterical at how funny she was just sitting there taking it all like a supermodel. Her personality is lovely!
This one with the houndstooth hat on I call "waiting for the bus". Ms. Charity might have to hang in my studio because this one just grabs me.

This is her biker chick look. :)

And I did take some actual portraits of her without the accessories. She's a serious gal.

Today my mind is in a million different places. Im going to take time away with my girls this morning to get my thoughts in order. I need to recharge......the only way I know how.....retail therapy!!

I hope you have a great Tuesday!!

~Kel~

Its just not fair......

The kids had to hunt for Easter eggs in so much snow!! I dont want to make anyone mad at me but Im seriously going to do my rain dance this week so that it will take away some of the piles of snow in my yard. I apologize in advance for the gray yuck headed our way but I know there are beautiful flowers underneath this white junk and Im ready to get to those flowers whatever way necessary! Okay, I hate to start the week complaining so Im going to move on.

I had another good-looking family in my studio Saturday and I worked on getting their proofs ready for them to see today! The youngest girl was was saving her smiles for someone else. I LOVE serious faces and prefer them so I went with her mood and got this sweet photo.

I converted most of their session to black and whites or chocolate. I couldn't stop myself. Im really drawn to the b/w lately and with almost every photo I worked on in this batch, I thought wow, I bet that would look awesome in b/w. Told ya....cuties huh?

I am working on some ideas for a Mother's Day special promotion so stay tuned for the details of that. I really like the closeups (like this little one above) so that may be the direction I go. Still tossing around a few ideas.

If you have a hubby that needs some help with gift ideas - send him my way - I'll fix him up! I have beautiful, quality purses that we can put a photo of your child/children on and Im looking into photo jewelry too!

Have a great Monday!
~Kel~

Happy Easter!!!

Isn't this the cutest bunny ever!!

My kids started today before the crack of dawn. On Easter and Christmas, my boys come and crawl into our bed. Usually the girls are there before them but this morning, the boys were first - it was 5:30! Its amazing to me that even though Branden knows the adult story of these types of holidays, he still gets excited and plays right along with Cameron and the girls. Today I really noticed how big they have gotten. They are half sized men now and we struggle to all fit in the bed - we always try to see if we all still fit. Jean took a home video of all their faces in a row using the special light on the recorder for the dark and its definately something I will treasure.

Marleigh was still asleep when Jean told the kids they could go downstairs and poke through their goodies. I didnt think it was fair to leave sleeping Marleigh to be the last one so I went in to wake her - she would have been up within minutes anyway. I rubbed her back and said "Do you want to go see if the Easter Bunny came?" She sat right up and said YEAH! Then galloped to the stairway! She had so much energy it was adorable.

Yesterday I had some great sessions. I met a sweet family and had a few pup portraits too! I am going to go enjoy this day with my family and will update with more photos tomorrow. I just wanted to wish you a Happy Easter! Get out your camera and stop time today! Remember when shooting kids, get on their level, but not too low, we dont wanna see the crusties in their nose. The best photos are the ones where they aren't looking and are doing what kids do - looking through their baskets, hunting eggs and fighting over them with their siblings!

Enjoy your blessings!

~Kel~

A collection of cries.....

Im dedicating this collage to Lynda who loves the photos of the crying kiddos :) I do too, that's why I continue snapping photos even when they are crying. I love the expression in the faces. The crying photos are not big sellers to the parents but all together, they are quite a cute bunch. I had to search portfolios to gather these photos of all the different faces but when I opened Marleighs portfolio of pics, I could have filled this collage in no time with pics of her crying! She has only recently started sitting for photos without getting upset with me. It could be because I've kind of backed off her because I have other willing participants.

I have a few sessions today so hopefully I can bring you some new faces in the next few days!

Im off to start the day!

Have a great weekend!!!!!!!!!!
~Kel~

FREE: Pantry Candle! I HAVE WINNERS!!!! Thank you!

Here is today's giveaway. My friend Denise Lessard owns Pantry Candles www.pantrycandles.com and has donated today's giveaway! Thanks Denise for your generous gift! I am giving away two candles to the first two emailers that email me with which scent you would prefer in the subject line. I have the following scents: Lilac Bouquet, Country Clothesline and Winter's Over! jkroyATroadrunner.com (remember to replace the AT with the @ sign). The winners will have to arrange to pick the candles up from me at the studio. If you have won from me in the last thirty days, please allow someone else the opportunity this time around.

Pantry Candles are hand poured, highly scented, beautifully colored gel candles. They are made in 8 oz. Mason Jars with lead free wicks. They use high quality penreco gel, which pools as it burns creating a nice, even candle that will burn over 50 hours. They are also very clean, emitting no carbon or smoke. Remember to follow burning instruction on the bottom of the candles and keep gel candles upright at all times.

I love, love, love these candles and I'm so excited to share them with you!

Good luck!!

~Kel~

Happy Friday!!

Its giveaway day!!!!! (stay tuned) I'll do it later for the working crowd.

So big changes happening over here. Im going to get done with my transcription job to focus more on my family and my photography. I want to enjoy my children while they are still small. I was working way to much and I think I have blogging to thank for heping me come to this decision. At the end of every month, I print the blog for that month so that I can use it as a timeline/diary of sorts. I love reading back over what happened - amazing what you can forget in just 30 days. A few years ago, I started a photo album that's all about me! Maybe that's sounds funny but I wanted to document in my own words who I am. My favorite songs, my favorite things, my style of dress, and what my friendships and other relationships are like. It all came from losing my dad so young - now as I approach his age, I wonder what he would have been like. My kids wont have to wonder - they will have my own words and thoughts to read and see. So Im going to focus on that album for a while and at the same time, I will alternate with one of the kids albums and hopefully get them up to date. This idea of a book about me is not my idea - I like to give credit where credit is due - my good friend Jill did this and I thought it was a great idea. She's so funny, she throws her own birthday parties and she really does it up with a band and a huge guest list. One year I helped her with an album cover for a CD of her favorite songs to hand out to her party guests. On the inside cover of the CD, she listed each song and wrote why it was important to her! Good for her - nobody is ever gonna try to guess what kind of person she is - she's fun and laughs A LOT! Im gonna go find a pic of her to put up here! One spring she decided she wanted to learn how to surf - asked me to come document it for her - It was so cool to watch her out there chasin' a dream!

Neat isn't she!!! Sometimes I sit at the pc in the morning knowing exactly what Im going to write about and today I didn't - just told myself I'd let it come to me. Look at what I came up with! An inspiration to all my gal pals to get out there and do what makes you happy!

Oh, Makenna came across this pic the other day and I got it scanned to show here. Promise me you wont laugh! I had to put Do Not Copy across it because I didnt want a stranger to stumble on to my blog, take this pic and put me in one of those nasty Olan Mills emails where all the people look like hillbillies with really bad hairdo's. Its so big!!!!! LOL This was my engagement photo. Its so funny how young Jean looks. I actually had dimples in this pic. Im also sporting clear braces that I had to wear for four years! Ahhh, the good old days :) Just thought you'd like a little chuckle - but no hard core laughing allowed!!

Thanks for reading and good luck with the giveaway later!

~Kel~

My laughing, loving, beautiful mom!

Its Thursday, so its Meemie day!! My mom was kind enough to sit for me as I tested my lights before a session. I didnt intend to keep these pics so I didnt ask her to smile or pose. We were just talking (and laughing) while I snapped the camera for testing. I got this one, I know her eyes are squinted but she's laughing naturally and I think its an awesome photo of her. She looks like her and I love it. Anyone who knows her thinks she's pretty awesome and those who dont think she's awesome, dont really know her at all. She's been through so much and still remains positive and supportive to her family and friends. She'll do anything for anyone if they ask and lots of times even if they dont ask. People know they can count on her and she never acts like she's put out by a task, even if its something she'd prefer not to do. Humble.....that's a word I'd use to describe my mom. You never feel insecure or uncomfortable in her presence. Yep, Im very lucky to have her as a mom. All of my brothers and my sister have friends who have adopted her as their mom too! Drive by her house on a weekend and if one of us is there, lots of times the rest of us migrate there and if friends see our cars in the yard, they stop in too! Its a place of comfort!

My kids are excited and delighted to have her come along on our Disney trip! Im so glad she agreed to go too! She's a huge help with the kids and we have a great time together.

I took a photo of what's going on at our house with all the Disney buzz here. Makenna put together a little box of trinkets (her favorite little goodies) and she had some cash in there. I asked her what she had in the envelope....that's my Mickey money she said. I told her to save it up and we could trade it for special money to use at Disney and she could do her own shopping. She's sure she'll have some big money by then. Branden saw the envelope last night and came to me in a curious way.."mom, what exactly is Mickey money?" He and Cam are going to save their allowance for the trip - and he reminded me I owe him a good sized wad of cash from the past few weeks.

Have a great Thursday! I have a giveaway for tomorrow...its a donation from a local businesswoman and Im excited to have something fun to share with you!

:)

~Kel~

Sending out Happy Birthday Wishes.....

Im a day late with this post but I did talk to Lisa yesterday to wish her a Happy Birthday! I hope she had a great day! She has a brand new beautiful home and Im so happy for her! They got a new puppy, a black lab named Ace and she shared her potty training stories with me. Im so glad my puppy can tell me when she needs to pee :) Marleigh is doing awesome with it - I hope to be completely diaper free soon (only use them at sleep times right now). I shared Lisa's "puppy covered in poop in the middle of the night" story with Cameron just trying to explain how much work puppies are (he and Makenna are relentless with their pleads for a dog) and his response was "yeah, that's gross but they are so cute and I'd clean the puppy poop". It takes everything in me not to drive right over to the Humane Society and see what they have for a gentle older dog for them. Makes me wonder how my friend Kendra is doing with her two pups and six kids at home. She's brave!! Jean told me he'd move out if I came home with a dog so unless its his idea, we wont have one anytime soon.

I know you've seen this portrait before but I just ordered it in 16x20 for my studio and its amazing!!! Come see it! I have to promote the bigger prints more - going large really brings the photos to life and you can appreciate the subjects that much more. Im anxious for her to see it and have already invited her to bring the baby back for updated photos :) (i love the babies).

My friend Tami used to work with this amazing woman: http://www.freewebs.com/jenniferwilley/signmyguestbook.htm Her name is Jennifer Willey, she lives in Kennebunkport and she's fighting Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She journals her life and her story is touching. If you get a second to read her blog, I recommend it highly. I offered her a photo shoot because I hate to think of her struggles with cancer and want to help as much as I can. She told me the prednisone she is on has given her a moon face and she doesnt like it. I hope she gives me a chance because moon face and all, her loved ones love her. She's lovely! Tami, thank you for sharing her story with me and Jen, thanks for permission to put your story out to my readers too! Im praying for you!

Happy hump day!

~Kel~

More from my model.

My model was having fun..she was dancing all over the studio so I grabbed a few photos. I thought a collage would be a good way to show them off.

I have to talk about how proud I am of Marleigh! Sunday out of the blue she asked to pee on the potty! I have tried potty training but gave it up because it was so frustrating - she just wasn't ready. Since Sunday, she's been doing so well! I'll be so happy to be done with diapers! It will the first time I have not had diapers on my house in almost 12 years!! You know how I feel about that kind of stuff..its sentimental in its own way. I already miss the baby stages....but not having to clean a diaper will be a nice change.

Do you ever hang up the phone with your significant other and think "man, Im so lucky". I was running an errand to town last night and had to leave as soon as Jean got home. I got in the car and called him about what might be good for dinner. When I hung up the phone with him I had to say it out loud "I love him so much". He's such a big help with everything. I was trying to meet a deadline for work so I never got dinner started when he came in and then I ran out so quickly. He just picks up where I leave off without missing a beat and he never makes me feel bad about it. When we go out on a date night we talk about everything: past, present and future. He's great at conversation and talks right from the heart. I love to talk about our first few years together and he doesnt mind going there at all. The other day we were talking about our first date (it came up on that program Amnesia). He remembered where we went, where we sat and how much I talked that night! LOL (he got a good dose of my ability to keep the conversation moving). I remember actually being a little nervous and excited because it was an official date. We had been best friends for three years before that so even though we had spent many moments alone together like that, the feeling that night was different. We don't fight - we have had disagreements and we might raise our voices but we've never had a fight. We've never called names or said anything we might regret. Just hope our kids are watching our relationship.

Man, Im so lucky.....he'll tell you he is too :)



Im off to get the kids ready for school. Have a great day!



~Kel

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

Wishing you luck and good cheer today!!!

More First Communion photos from the weekend.

This little girl answered my model call so I tried a few different things for the First Communion photos. I am definately going to offer the white background for my special. It will be a bit different from what you see here because it will be on a white backdrop making it much brighter. Im happy to have a set ready to go.

I've been anxious to use the pink paper and thought this would be a good opportunity. Thanks to her mom for answering my call!!!

Makenna is so anxious for Easter to come that yesterday she came home from spending the night at my moms and sat right down to work on a project. The boys were gone to a hockey game, Marleigh was napping and I was working at my desk. I could hear her furiously working with pencils and crayons and the scissors. She was on a mission. I left her alone and waited for her to come to me with her project. I've learned my lesson to steer clear when there's a project going on because its disasterous to spoil the surprise. Well, I noticed she finished but never brought the project to share with me. I asked what she had done and she told me she made Easter eggs for the boys to find when they came home. She made paper eggs and stuck them throughout the house like the Easter Bunny does! It was so cute! That's the kind of stuff that makes me anxious for the holidays! Today I am off to buy the goods to assist the Easter Bunny!

Happy Monday!

~Kel~

The dampse!

As I got ready for the dance last night, Marleigh was asking me where I was going. I told her that Daddy and I were going dancing. Her reply "Oh, my go dampsing too?" I told her no, she was too little. That's pretty much how we have to answer her about most things these days. She's trying so hard to keep up with the other kids. Sometimes she will even reply after we tell her no to something by saying "My too little?" Im telling you - she's funny!!! So she practiced her dance moves and continued to question me about who was going with us...."Peep and Robyn going dampsing too?" That's what she calls our friend Pete, Peep. When we dropped her off at my moms before going, she clung to my leg telling me she wanted to go too!

The dance was really fun....the before party was awesome - thank you Denise for your great eats and Marc for your rockin' drinks!! (I used Jean's point and shoot camera for these and the battery died before I got their photo). Jean's brother and his wife were there! I always look for them at these types of events because they love to dance. Sure enough, they didn't let me down - Im so lucky to have such a great family of in-laws!

Here's Peep again!!! So fun!!!

As you can see, the dance was excellent and we had a great time. Marleigh spent her first full night away from home and Im just getting ready to pick up the phone and see how she made out.

Im off for a morning photo shoot! I'll post the pics here tomorrow! Have a great Sunday!!!!

~Kel~