The Gang's all Here!

January 16th is my son Hayden's birthday.
He turned 16 this year,
the intent was to have a small family gathering.
I realize today that my family is very different than a year or two ago!!
Here I have my 3 boys & their current girl friends...
In front is the birthday princess himself Hayden, with Ashley,
Wes & Vanessa,
and finally Preston WAYYY down at the end with his girlfriend Emilie...
Very different boys,
VERY different girls!!
We had a great evening,
and I didn't smack any of the girls...
I think Ashley wants to be the first one I do though!!
LOL

Baby Sat again!

Double Trouble!
My sister & her hubby needed a sitter for the last two nights,
Aunt Tee Tee to the rescue!
They are so much fun to watch!
Logan had a melt down when they left...
nothing a cup of pop & peanut butter cup wouldn't fix!!
I didn't make him wait til he finished his dinner!
They LOVE posing for me & my camera!
I have lots more to post, but for now...
My favorite of my two favorite!

Princess Keira

So this little sweetheart is my niece,
she's not my only niece, not even my oldest niece!
She is however, my favorite niece!
I sure hope my brother doesn't check my blog...
But there is a bond that sisters share that a brother & sister doesn't,
She is my princess!
As a mom to 3 boys she is my reason to play with dolls & shop in the pink isle at Wal Mart!
I LOVE when my sister asks me to watch her & her brother
(who incidentally is my favorite nephew!).
They are my two favorite people outside of my kids of course!
I love that her kids are little when mine are so much older,
makes me feel more like a grandparent than an aunt!

I promise there will be TONS of pictures of my princess niece & wonderful nephew in here,
just as there will be LOTS of pictures of my kids & dog!
Family is always an exceptional subject to photograph!

No Complacancy Here!!

Ok, so here's how my conversation with myself went tonight...

You haven't posted on your blog for the past 2 nights, if you don't keep at it you're going to become complacent & not posting will become easier the more you don't post....

But I've been busy, job searching
(for those who know my past 2 years allow the celebrating to begin!)

Not to mention I've got some rather large intrusive ganglion cysts in my right wrist which have been causing me a SIGNIFICANT amount of pain the past few days,
which of course affect my ability to hold my camera,
who in my opinion is near perfect,
she takes beautiful pictures,
she looks pretty,
but much like her owner,
she's heavy!!
I'll admit I've not taken many pictures the past couple days, and I KNOW those days will happen....
So like I said, I'm not promising a post a day...
You get them when I'm so inspired...

So, I apparently won the argument with myself,
I put on my shoes & coat,
went outside on my front porch & snapped a picture of the snow...
only lightly falling at this point...
If I wasn't exhausted & too old, I'd contemplate staying up all night & taking a picture an hour to see the progress of the snowfall...
SIGH...
I'm too old for that crap!!
I much prefer my sleep!
I will however take my girl out with me tomorrow when I walk Belle in all that wonderful fresh snow!!

Playing with Aperture

I use my dog walking time as prime photo taking time!
Ideal really, let Belle off her leash, let her run, & I take pictures,
I'm sure someone thinks I'm cruel for ignoring her.
I assure you I don't, or she'd be long gone by now!
Today I did take some exceptional pictures!
Humble, I know!
I've started playing with the aperture,
what's the point in having a dslr if I don't see what it's capable of really doing?
Not sure which one I like better of these two pictures,
yes, its the same scene, but two different settings for aperture!
Gives the picture a different feel,
I think I like the top pic,
colder looking,
appropriate, seeing how it is winter!

Busy Day

Today was a crazy busy day for me,
carried my camera with me but no picture was taken!
So a picture I took New Year's Eve,
my Belle!
She's not loving the picture taking!
LOL

Night Sky

So it snowed this evening... YAY!!
I love snow,
I love winter!
I wanted to take a picture of the snow as it was falling,
something I need to play with the settings on my camera to be able to do...

But what I did manage to do was take this picture...
I picked it because I love the colours!
Blue & Purple evening sky!
You can see some of the flurries,
they look more like lights...
See, beauty to be found everywhere!