Random Funnies

I forgot about these pictures until last night when I was going through the newest shots.

I took these few pictures at home one night after the girls' baths. They get a burst of energy right after bath time!

They were climbing all over our bed and having a good time.

Beautiful Bethany

I left Jim to hang out with Jared, Sydy and Soybean so that I could take some photos of Bethany around camp. We had so much fun and she loves the camera. I got so many favorites shots and the only edits I made to them were converting some of them to black and white.
This is my absolute favorite!! I am going to get a huge enlargement of it and hang it at camp. I love her expression and I love how I had her look away from the camera. The catch lights in her eyes are so natural and the light was perfect.

My original idea was to photograph her in this bed of ferns. Turns out that these were much harder to get. The bugs were really bad and the lighting was really weird. Anytime I take a picture of the babies on our lane, the color is really off. This happened with the pictures of Bethany too. Oh well, I got so many more from other areas of camp, that the ferns turned out to be no big deal.

This last image is one of Bethany's favorites. It is close second for me too. I shot this as a black and white in the camera. I love how black and white look right out of the camera. The only limitation of doing it this way is that I don't always take one of the same image in color. No problem, this image just begs to be in black and white.

Pictures from Camp

Bethany and Jared are here visiting and we are having a great time. It has been a little crazy going back and forth between camp and home, but we are making the best of it. Nana had a great visit with us. The girls loved hanging out with her. We spent the days hanging with all the kids, boating, playing on the beach or playing in the yard. Nana kept commenting that camp is so much fun. I always say that you can't help but relax and live in the moment (no cell coverage, no TV and no internet...just playing and having fun). We missed Nana right away after she left...Jimmy and I are running around like crazy people after 4 kids! So much fun!

Sydney found some more creatures at camp. She calls them "lizards." Close enough. I don't correct her. Jared and I finally convinced her to send them back outside. We saved their lives, those poor little creatures. She loves them so much, but doesn't understand that she has to let them go. We finally found the trick for getting them back home to the great outdoors. Good job Jared!!!
Bethany was a little freaked out that I let Sydy hold the critters.

Sydney loves Bethany and Jared. She especially loves the attention they give her. Bethany fixed her hair for our boat ride.

Somebody loves the the water...and the sand. We have had so much fun playing at the lake. The particular bay that we visit right near our bay, has a great sandy beach area.

Crazy kids! The kids have been having a lot of fun at camp. They love the boat rides and Bethany is an major fan of tube rides. Uncle Jimmy sent her flying off of the tube a few times. Most of the time she hung on...even when he tried to dump her in the water!

I love her expression in this photo. She was watching one of her friends.

This is what camp does to our kids...see the exhaustion on their faces? Tired babies.

My little Soybean loves the water and sand so much. She was having a good time on this particular night. No, we did not get a black lab (in the background). That is our neighbor's dog, Parker. The girls love him. He often comes to our house for a visit and Sydney follows him everywhere. She gets sad when we send him home.

Jumping fool! She climbs on the chair all by herself. I yap at her to sit down and she does so and then laughs!

Many more photos and stories to come....stayed tuned for the story of Jared driving the golf cart into the porch beam!

Where to begin??

Well we are still in kitchen remodel misery....the tile is done and the kitchen guy and electrician made some (not so obvious to the eye) progress. Cupboards are going in this week!!! Can't wait to see how they look against the floor. We love the tile that we chose. It is scary taking one 13x13 tile and hoping that it looks good when 575 square feet are laid down! Yes, you read that right, 575 square feet. Mudroom, half bath, kitchen, hallway and entry way. Thank goodness we love it!

The girls and I have been spending most of our time at camp. Jim will come on the weekends and I have to come home on occasion for work. Every time I walk into the house, I hope that the condition of the mess has improved. Not so much. We have our work cut out for us when we are done with this project.

The girls are having such a blast at "George." They are water crazy ladies! Both of them. Sydy is having so much fun "swimming." I am starting to work with her on putting her head underwater. She comes up sputtering and with eyes wide with fear, but she keeps letting me do it! I am so proud of her. She is going to be a fish. I am having memories of being a swim instructor in college and seeing those little kiddos popping their heads out of the water.

Sawyer Molly is also loving the water. She isn't ready to go under yet, but she will happily walk in the water and splash around. We spent a little time on the water with camp neighbors today and they have a 4 year old daughter. All three girls were splashing around like little fish. We played ring around the rosie and I spun them all in the water. What fun.

Here are some random photos from the past few weekends at camp. The first weekends were cold! This weekend rocked. 80's and sunny.

Little Soybean helping mommy clean the dog hair and sand off of the floors!
Not sure what they were doing at this moment. Soybean's expression just cracked me up.

The girls love their bubbles. I mean LOVE bubbles. They make me "catch them" on the bubble wand for them all the time. Finally I say to them, no more, just blow bubbles!!!!

Sydy was so happy when she was able to catch them in her hand. She is so funny! The littlest things please her so much.

Watching the world go by from the dining window.

Nothing says summer like tanned lined little feet on worn boat docks. We spent a beautiful evening on the boat on this particular night. The little ladies had such a wonderful time. They love the boat so much and can't get enough of the wind and bumps.

Heading back to the shore after our evening boat ride.

The evening light coming off of the water is like butter. I love the soft glow it casts on the girls skin. I couldn't put the camera down!

Watching Daddy cover the boat from the dock.

Soybean was not too happy about having to get off of the boat.

Loving the boat ride and the wind in her hair! Notice Sydy's closed fist. As usual, she found a bug friend and made sure the buggy stayed safely in her hand for the entire boat ride. She loves her bugs and critters.

Soybean is such a huge fan of the boat. She immediately stands on the back seat and waits for daddy to turn the engine on. She giggles when he takes off!!! Seriously, she is fearless. Look at this expression. Pure joy. Maybe I should dig out the sunglasses for she and Sydy.

Waiting for daddy to cover the boat...

Our time at camp has been pure joy for us. The little ladies make our life so easy. Their love of the boat and water makes me so happy. I can't wait to spend all summer here with them.

10 Years Today

Jim and I have been married for 10 years! We were joking that we are so pathetic that we didn't celebrate...but how can we celebrate when our house is destroyed with the kitchen project??? I wouldn't even think to have a babysitter here.

We will celebrate with a dinner to our favorite Italian restaurant when life slows down.

In the meantime, I am grateful for all of our years, all of our ups and downs and the wonderful life and family that we have created in these years.

A line from one of my favorite tunes "I'm lucky to be in love with my best friend, I'm lucky to have been where I have been....

Happy anniversary, Jimmy. Wishing us many more years of marital bliss : )

Time Out

I need to take a small time out from blogging. The kitchen project started and the house is a wreck. I can't even express my distress over the disaster that has become my home. The girls and I have already spent several days at Lake George in order to get out of the way of the workers and to keep the kids safe and entertained.

I have a few photo sessions this week and next weekend, a wedding to edit and process, a few orders to complete....I can't even keep track.

Needless to say, the personal blog will have to be the last on my list. Just for a few weeks.

I will have lots of pictures to share since the girls and I will be at camp and enjoying the great outdoors. Jim will come up as much as he can in between work.

We had so much fun the last few days we were there. I thought I would be freaked out staying in the woods all by myself, but I did really well. I am used to being alone when Jim has to travel, but I thought it would be different, but it was just such a relief to get out of the chaos that has become my home. The girls were fantastic and had such a fun time playing in the lake water.

Just a few more weeks of chaos and then we will be all set. I think it will be worth it. I can't wait to see what my new kitchen will finally look like!!!!

Back in a few short weeks with lots of pictures! Then Bethany and Jared and Nana will be here for a visit, so I will have even more pictures. I am going to see if Bethany wants to "guest blog" all of the fun things they are going to be doing in NY. The "Sully" kids are so excite to see Bethany and Jared too. Then Teddy will be coming into town and I will have another whole set of pictures to share.

Off to sleep and to try to forget the messy house.

Lashes and Baths

My little ladies have the best and longest eyelashes! I am very jealous. This afternoon I was admiring their adorableness while I was bathing them. The late afternoon sun just casts the most vibrant light in their bathroom. I had to grad a few shots before the sun went down.

Too sweet for words.

Sydney's lashes are long and straight.
(note: my little brown baby)

Soybean's are long and super curly. Funny how the lashes curl like her hair!
(note: my little white baby)
I have no idea what she was making a face at. This little girl doesn't like to look at the camera much.

This little one always smiles for the camera!

Tan Lines

We all know what crazy dark skin Sydney has, but take a look at these feet. Those funny marks are the tan lines from her shoes!!!! Crazy. The first time I noticed them, I thought she got dirt on her feet. Nope, just the tan lines from all of the holes in her sandals! So funny. The kid is already so tan and I have been slopping on the sunscreen. Love it!

Hairy Dog

I guess Sydney thought Izzy needed to be dust busted or should I say hair busted. The dogs may be a pain in my butt, but they are so wonderful to the kids. As you can see, Izzy didn't move an inch as she was being vacuumed up!

Weekend at Camp

We spent a great holiday weekend at camp! The girls had such an amazing time. They adjust so wonderfully to any situation. This was the first weekend we stayed overnight since last summer...so sad, I know. But life has slowed down somewhat, so we will be spending a ton of time there this summer.

Sawyer loved finding things to get into...she is the sweetest thing. She is now running like a crazy child. Not sure if you can really call it running yet, but it is so funny to watch she and Sydney chase each other around. She also runs away from us when we try to take something away from her...case in point below...the markers...she found them. Trouble.
Sydney loves camp so much. She will talk about going to the lake all of the time. Now that she has been on the boat this season, we hear about it even more!

Jim had to be up at camp early on Saturday morning because of the annual clean-up day. I had to shoot a wedding so I was running around the house getting ready, getting stuff ready for the babysitter, making them food for the day...crazy morning. Not 5 minutes after he left, the phone rings. He told me about a huge garage sale right down the road. He said there were a ton of toys and large Little Tykes, Step 2, etc stuff for sale. One item in particular that caught his eye was a Cozy Coupe car. The girls tend to argue over the one that we have, so he thought I should get another. The girls and I literally hopped in the car right away (7 am...really) and went to look. We bought a car, a doll bassinet, a slide and another kitchen set. I immediately spotted the kitchen set and thought how they would love to have one at camp also. They play with the one that Nana and Pap Pap bought them all of the time. Needless to say, they were so excited when I brought the "new to us" kitchen set to camp.

Whether it is at home or at camp, I always find the girls watching daddy from the dining room window. Here they are watching daddy doing yard work from the dining area. So cute. These pictures will probably always be my favorites because they are just sweet moments.

Soybean is super tall (96th percentile tall) and she can now climb on the trike all by herself. She can even touch both petals. Barely, but she can get herself to move backwards slightly. Getting so big.

We took the boat out yesterday for a few hours. The girls had so much fun.

No matter where we are, this little lady finds buttons to push. She didn't want to sit still while the boat was moving. The only place she was happy to sit was on Daddy's lap. It was really cute. She even fell asleep in his arms. Any time that I tried to take her to let her nap in my arms, she would fuss and walk back to daddy!

Anyone who knows Sydney knows that the littlest things make her happy. Buses, trucks, bugs, animals, etc. Seeing boats on the lake makes her so happy. She will point to a boat and scream with excitement, "Boat, see it, see another one." I love to watch her admire her surroundings.

Jim had to secure the boat to the dock for the season so the girls and I sat in the boat and waited for him. They loved watching him get in the water to secure the chains and lines. Sydney kept asking if Daddy was ok. I told her that he was fine. It was warm sitting in the boat so I started to hang the girls over the edge of the boat to put their feet in. I got yapped at the first time or two but after that, they yapped at me when I didn't dip their feet in fast enough! My upper back was sore enough from shooting a wedding on Saturday so it is even more tired today!

We stopped at one our camp friends' house on our way up the hill. The family has a four year old girl and Sydney and Sawyer had so much fun playing with her. I will post a picture of this little beauty as soon as I get permission from her parents. Here is Sawyer playing with bubbles and rocks on their patio.

What a great weekend. I love how much these little ladies adjust to changes. We made another big change this weekend. We put the girls in the same room together at camp. they did wonderfully. Last season Sawyer was so little that we kept the pack n play right outside our bedroom on the first floor. Now that she is older, we thought putting them together upstairs in their room would be the smart thing to do. We were so pleased with how much they adjusted. The first couple of minutes were upsetting to Sawyer. I sat right outside of their bedroom door to make sure she would settle. My heart swelled when I heard Sydney telling her "Shhh, no scared. Mommy gots you, Daddy gots you." Aw, she was trying to soothe her little sister! Love these girls.