THE CONTEST!

Here we go!!!

Good Luck!

~kel~

A heavy heart this morning.

My dear friend lost his mother to a terrible illness yesterday. It was a hard thing to witness as they waited several days for her to take her last breath. My heart aches for the loss this family is feeling today. Jean and I will be there to support them through this.

Last night their teenage son came to spend the night with us - my kids can be a good distraction and they have certainly lived up to that expectation. The girls were up at 6:00 AM and we kept them in our bed until 7 to allow him just a little longer to sleep. When they did get up, the didn't know he was here with us so they were shocked to find him sleeping on the couch. The girls giggled and acted like we brought home the BEST gift ever! It was cute....Marleigh does not have the ability to whisper or be quiet whatsoever and her voice is often piercing first thing in the morning....a definite distraction from your thoughts! I have to close the door when I'm blogging or she distracts me from the next room.

This weekend Marleigh discovered the fun of swimming in the big pool without being clung to Jean or me! She was playing in the shallow end of Tracy's pool when she lost her balance (with water wings/swimmies on her arms) and discovered she would stay afloat and could swim on her own. I heard her yelling to me "Mumma, look I swimmin myself!" We took her into the pool at camp and I kept telling Jean to just let her go - he worries way more than I do - so I crawled into the pool, took her from him, plopped her into the water and said "swim to daddy" and that was it. She totally loved being on her own from that point on. Until this weekend, she was always content playing with her bucket of toys on the side of the pool! Yesterday I put her in our little pool in the yard (she can barely touch the bottom) and I struggled to get her out of it! She felt like a big girl and didn't want it to end. I'm so proud of her accomplishments.

She wants to do all the water stuff now too.....

I decided that the photo of my four children walking down a pathway was going to be my "yearly" updated photo of them. Its hard to get them all looking and smiling (Marleigh is a bugger right now) so walking away is perfect for a series. I saw this dirt road and the time of day was perfect....Jean was so great and stopped so I could click a few. The kids were awesome, jumped out and walked up and back for me :) I can't decide if I like the color version or the chocolate for this one better.

I'm still gathering the photos for the contest and plan to get it started tomorrow!

Have a great day!
~kel~

Casual Elegance.....

The wedding was great!! Bob and Sandy are so much fun.....I wasn't a bit nervous going into this wedding!! The groomsmen wore Red Sox ballcaps for the ceremony and the girls looked beautiful in red dresses. The favors were can coozies and mints and the kids were delighted to be there! Sandy's mom was her maid of honor and the wedding took place at the best man's home. It was a comfortable, cozy, intimate wedding and I'm honored to have been the one to capture the day for them!

These two are definately in love and anyone there yesterday was witness to that!

As the sun was setting over the trees, I thought it would be appropriate to capture them with a sun flare....in a position we saw them in most of the day...kissing :) Congratulations Sandy & Bob....thanks for choosing me!!!!!

I'm listening to the girls give Jean a concert in the living room. Its so funny...he keeps saying "good job" and the girls just keep singing without missing a beat!! They are made up songs so they can just go on....and on....and on....they have him cornered in there...maybe I should happen along to save him? Nah....I get to listen every morning and find it totally hysterical (especially when the boys are pleading with them to stop)....its his turn!!

Happy Monday!

~kel~

My girl day and some photos to share!

I'm sure its the photos that are missed here. I have a few of my girl day turned Di's Birthday event!! Quick entry today as I'm leaving for the wedding in a few minutes but I wanted to update with a few photos!!! Hopefully nobody will hate me for putting them on the blog!

My day started really early making these balloons to cover the yard for Di's day. It takes 7 balloons to make one flower so they are sorta time consuming - but fun when you get a yard full of them just dancing around. This one was on the ground but just because the wind blew it down. They are filled with helium and are darling when you have several together.

Diane showed up and then a short bit after that, her husband arranged to have 40 long-stemmed red roses delivered to her at the party! It was so cool - she was totally showered. Tracy gave her a crown, I gave her a bracelet and all the gals that came in each gave her a piece of jewelry to wear....so fun to watch her open them!

We toasted her as often as one of us would remember!!! Was going to be at the top of the hour but....we don't have watches on girl days so we had to wing it and just remember!

Melissa and Tracy sum up how the day went.....it was a relaxing, fun girl day and we have others scheduled!!! At 5:00 family and friends joined us for an extended birthday celebration and Tracy had a local DJ come over to really pump things up. It was a great time and I think most of all that Diane had a great 40th birthday!!! She's been my friend since we were 5 years old - we've been through some really great times and some really hard times too. Its a blessing to have friends like this - you can call one in an emergency and the chain of calls begin and we all come together to support and love each other unconditionally....its been this way for years between ALL of us!!! I hope every woman has at least one friend like that!!

Until tomorrow............

~kel~

Happy 4th of July!

Did you miss me? I had my girl day and because Jean was home, I slept later and ran later getting out of the house...no blog......you see, my girl day was converted into a 40th birthday party for my best friend, Diane! We have been planning this change in plans for weeks and we were able to surprise her with balloons, gifts and good times. She seemed surprised and really seemed to like what we had done. It was a beautiful sunny day and we got to sit pool-side sipping fun drinks and chatting about life!

I am working from the laptop and don't have any way to upload my photos today so I'm keeping it short and sweet.

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It has come to my attention that other local photographers are having a look at my blog!!! I'd like to welcome you to post a comment and say hello or send me an email introducing yourselves!! Wouldn't a meet-up be fun? Don't be shy.......I love to talk shop :)
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Happy Birthday America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~kel~

Let the festivities begin....

As of 5:00 today, Jean will be on vacation for over a week........

I'm a very scheduled person...okay, not so scheduled with all the kids home...but keeping my man entertained for over a week is not an easy feat. The first day of his vacation is for me....I have a girl day scheduled and he is taking the day off work so that I can hang with my peeps and he can get some time with the kids :)) I think he may go right up to camp and hang there. I know he has a few projects that he'd like to do but he's one who doesn't really like to work on his vacation. I have a few projects I'd love for him to work on so I'll do my best to see what I can get out of the week off!

Look at this bunch. Had my nephew stay with us for the weekend and they had fun in and out of the pool Friday. I looked out to see what they were doing and found this sight....reminds me so much of when I was a kid - those long summer days!!

I dug up some other photos from this weekend at camp. I really wanted today's post to look summery! We won't bother seeking out fireworks because we just saw them at the festival last week...which is fine with me because those late nights are harder on Jean and me than the kids....they are so grouchy when overtired. Here are Branden and Cameron showing of their moves at the pool......

Marleigh comes to hang with us at the pool she doesn't care to go into the water but we put the water wings on her because she retrieves water from the edge of the pool. She did fall in a week or so ago - but I want that to happen when we are around so she knows its serious stuff at the pool...that's why we tell her to always wear wings around it. She is happy as a clam playing with her bucket of water with toys and a measuring cup.

Bob and Sandy are getting married this weekend and guess who they hired as their photographer!!!!!! I was so flattered when they asked me if I'd do it for them! I'm still proofing Heather and Jason's wedding but I'm pleased with how they came out and can't wait to show them a slide show! I have a weakness....I take LOTS of photos at my sessions and then I have a hard time with which ones to show my client so I end up showing more than I should and then its almost overwhelming....this fall I'm going to work on narrowing them down more to only the best shots! If you'd like to see a slide show of Heather & Jason's wedding, please shoot me an email and I'll direct you to a link when it's done.

Well, much to do on my last day before vacation....laundry, work, and wedding photos to proof! I hope you have a great day!!

Still have room for contest entrants!!

~kel~

"I've have had enough"

Mommy Admissions:

Gosh, I can't believe those weren't Marleighs first words! I say that to my kids so much I wonder when I really will reach my limit with enough! Sometimes I think I need to video myself so I can see how foolish I sound and hopefully my subconscious guilt will help me to stop saying these things. I'd like to say its my mothers fault and that I sound just like her but I really don't remember if she did say that stuff.....I'm sure she did because she tells me she did and she's delighted I have no recollection of the specifics (a good thing for me to remember as I type this today).

Sometimes I get so crazy - usually around cleaning projects and I know its those four little people living in my house who make the messes! I have to yell sometimes...just to get my frustrations out but once focused, I think I actually enjoy a good cleaning project.

Yesterday the boys were just hanging around and looking like they needed a project. I really wanted to tackle cleaning their room, sorting their clothes and just giving it a good go-over. My idea of a good cleaning really means removing most everything from the room and then putting back only what we truly need. I LOVE to change the furniture around because it makes it more enjoyable to look at things from a different perspective. I was always changing the things in my room around when I was a teen and then the first years in my home, I did it a lot too! Since kids though....not so much. I thought if I mentioned changing the boy's room around to them, I might motivate them into cleaning with me......it worked!!!!!! We spent several hours yesterday rearranging, purging and laughing like crazy! It was memorable for sure! We separated their bunk beds and gave them separate beds for the first time ever. Their room looks more mature now and they love it so much that Cam went back to lay in his bed after his Toaster Strudel this morning. His bed was placed near the window and he was laying there looking out the bit of open space under his shade....telling me he loved that he could look out at the trees now....Do you remember that kind of feeling? He was so cute when we got the beds all moved and made yesterday, he crawled into his to "see what it feels like" sleeping in a diferent place in the room.....I sooo remember that!!!! Makenna has asked me to change hers around today too....UGH!! We aren't done decorating it yet - just moved their photos on the walls and that one in the center is so special to me - it is a photo of the Twin Towers that Branden made in Kindergarten! It was a project the teacher had them do in an effort to help them cope with what had happened. I had it framed thinking one day he might hang it in his office.

Here's a close-up. I think its pretty fantastic for a kindergartener!!!

I took a few photos of Bran and Kenna yesterday that I had to post here. More close-ups...I know a few who like this cropped look :) Bran is fresh from the pool with wet hair.

Well, the concert in the next room is such a distraction I have to close out now. The boys are playing their electric guitars and Makenna is blasting into a recorder she found while the boys were cleaning.....and when she doesn't have her lips wrapped around that thing, she's the lead singer...(something I don't believe she will ever be able to make a career out of ;-p KWIM).

Oh, one last thing - I only have four entrants for the contest - I hope people aren't being shy....this is open to all, even previous winners!

Enjoy your day!!!

~kel~