A Boy And His Car

Will really loves cars...anything with wheels actually. He is constantly noticing wheels and trying to figure them out. A friend of mine told me months ago that one time when he was over at her house he was trying to move a car of theirs on the carpet. When that didn't work so well, he crawled over to the hardwood and moved the car back and forth a few times.... and then looked up and flashed her a proud smile!

Shhh..baby's sleeping...

Nope, I didn't take this picture. It is my friend Jenn's entry in a photography contest with a cute clothing company in Fort Wayne.

If you have a minute, please visit http://www.matildajaneclothing.com/vote_viewproducts.php to vote for this picture. If she is lucky enough to win, she and her husband may be able to visit Fort Fun and have some Casa's salad. :)

Remember These Cuties?

As the girls were decorating the playroom Christmas tree this evening, we came across this ornament...only 4 short years ago!

The Stockings Were Hung...

In Manual & Bouncin' Around

We're back from our trip to St. Louis for Thanksgiving and it was very nice. Here are some pics. As you will see, I have a lot to learn and a lot of practicing to do. I left the comfortable world of automatic this weekend and ventured over to the manual side of my dial. I also incorporated my new 430EXII Speedlite and bouncing flash features. So much for an amateur to digest!! Here is the line up of pictures ranging from underexposed to white balance issues to out of focus to lots of noise to pretty OK to good in my opinion to overexposed and back, ha! I'm still not editing pics from my new camera...I want to spend my time learning the technical stuff right now....so as my niece Nicole would say 'you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!' :)

The girls reading their new book from Grandma and Grandpa with 'The Night Before Christmas' recorded by them.

Allie being silly...too bad I read about how to correct white balance issues on the way BACK from St. Louis.

Playing 'Apples to Apples'...

Will's new backpack from Grandma and Grandpa...so cute!

Katie at Aunt Brenda's for Thanksgiving...

Allie at Aunt Brenda's...

Two grandsons....in a house that has been ruled by granddaughters for the past 8 years, ha!

Cousin Jack playing with Uncle Jay...Will is entertained in the background. I read about a feature on my camera to help with fluorescent lighting on the way home today.

Will partied until he fell asleep in his chair...

The Sprite/Dominos party...

Cousin Jack...

Katie with Jack...

Katie LOVES to flash her smiles for the camera...natural light, bounce flash and direct flash.

Emmie politely puts up with me...

Allie LOVES to make faces for the camera...

In St. Louis there is a park that they completely light up and decorate for the holidays. Cars can drive through, tune their radio to a specific radio station and enjoy the scenery. Here are some pics from the car.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

Katie's Thanksgiving Program

Katie had her Kindergarten Thanksgiving performance at school today. It was very sweet. After the performance, we were invited back to the classroom to make Turkey cookies together. Daddy was able to come and I think that was the best part of it all for Katie. Here are some pics.

In the gym....camera zoomed way in...

Back in the classroom...

Making cookies with Daddy...

Yum!

Will made himself at home in Katie's classroom...

Photo Fun

My new camera is so much fun. Here are some pics from today. It was a cloudy but bright enough day. I caught the girls and neighbor boys outside playing basketball. So far all I've posted is unedited pics. It's funny...sometimes I'm not sure what makes a photograph 'good' technically speaking. Look at these 3 pics...which is the best lighting wise? Is it Allie's pic? Katie's looks a bit bright and Emmie's a bit dark...am I correct? If you've never left me a comment...now is the time...I need some critiquing. Thanks!

Does anyone know why this picture looks a bit 'fake'....like I photoshopped him on the background?

This is what I get when I get too excited and forget to focus...but I love the picture anyway.

Lastly...Allie being Allie...