November

So this month was exciting. It was the month we bought our very first house!!!! The yard is dead and the inside could use some updating and a lot of paint...a lot of paint. The walls are a tad bit gross. So we're excited to work on it a little at a time. Over the summer we plan to scrape the popcorn ceiling and re texture, then paint, paint, paint.
So I am just no good when I'm pregnant and that made moving a challenge. But my wonderful mother in law SAVED THE DAY and came out to help us pack. I packed a lot ahead of time, but I think she still packed half our house the few days before we moved. Thanks Susie!!!

We took these pictures after signing papers for the new house.

That's the ghostly face of Madie.

The boys playing.


Madie feeling the excitement.




And Nathan reading over our paperwork for the new house.


Then my sister Sarah had a birthday! She was tired.


Me six months prego.


Sarah's new shoes.


Madie intrigued by them.


Thomas provided the music.


Mom documented the momentous day.


So then later that month we moved into our new house, and boy was it dirty. We spent the entire first day scrubbing it down. It's been 3 months and we still have garbage in the back yard to clean out. Madie had no problem moving, but Jared took it a little hard. He misses our old house, but this one is growing on him. Like I said, I was no good during the move and unpacking was kinda hard because I couldn't move heavy boxes around myself. Nathan, being a man, decided instead of unpacking and settling in, would begin his "weekend" project of wiring the living room for 7.1 surround sound and a tv above the fireplace. Turns out that was a crazy, ridiculous project and I don't know what the heck he was thinking!!! (love you nathan :D) It took a month and drove me nuts!

I didn't take many pics, but the house basically looked like this for a month. Ick.

Here is our cutie-pie playing in our very own (if very dead) front yard.


And yep, that's her playing in our very own garage!


Somewhere in there was my mom's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I guess I didn't get any pics there. And Thanksgiving. Did I really not take any pics of Thanksgiving??? Then the day after we got our Christmas tree. We picked one out that according to the tree lot people was just the right height to fit in front of our front window. I guess it grew on the ride home because we had to put it under the highest point of our slightly vaulted ceiling to make it fit. I got it all decorated, then it fell over. Suck. So I fixed it back up and a few days later...it fell again. Super suck. Fixed it up one more time and...you guessed it. It fell over again. So we propped it back up and left all the lights and ribbon sagging and looking pathetic. I hated that tree. Poor innocent tree.

That's the poor thing, surrounded by our still-moving-in and Nathan-still-has-our-house-under-surround-sound-construction mess.

So that sums up November. Busy, crazy, tiring, exciting and great!

Halloween

So there was Halloween. My kids love Halloween so much. M still talks about it five months later. We visited our friends and got some pics with their adorable granddaughter.




Then we headed over to my parents and trick-or-treated their neighborhood. I did the most horribe thing in the whole computer/picture world and did not back up my pictures this month, so of course my computer crashed and I lost all my pictures from that part of Halloween. We had taken a bunch of cute pics with the kids in front of the house all excited to go out that are gone forever (sniff, sniff) So lesson learned...BACK UP those pics!!!!

Oops!

I am the most terrible blogger ever! My excuse is I was pregnent and felt horrible and tired and sore and could barley manage the basics of life...ok, I'll admit, I didn't even do the basics well...but I am back on the horse and ready to blog again.

My brother Peter called last night and told me he hasn't seen pictures of our new baby yet! So a big OOPS and sorry and here I go...

Downtown with a new lens!!!

I was very, very, very bad and bought myself a new lens when I really should have been saving my money, but temptation got the better of me. The day after I ordered it I convinced myself I could send it right back as soon as it came in the mail, but when it actually came I couldn't help but open it and give it a try. Then the next day I had plans to take the kids downtown with some friends and take some pics, so I had to try it there, and by then I was in love and we all know after we are in love there is no going back. So the new lens is an 85mm 1.8 (would love the 1.2 but saved myself $1500 buying the cheaper one) and here is why I love it...

I was trying some new processing here...to blue???


T was such a trooper and jumped right up to be the first photographed.

This is practically straight out of camera, just sharpened and and little vignette. Love the 85!

When I was first learning photography and Photoshop I'd always try the "eye pop" thing with my dark brown eyed children and they just turned into red-eyed zombies. I finally learned you just need to have good light in the eyes and then keep your hands off, and I found some awesome light today. They're like mirrored glass. I don't know if it was the location or the lens or a little of both, but I love it.






I do need to get use to how zoomed in I am with the 85. I keep chopping my poor kids limbs off.







Do you see the creaminess here? I love it! If not, look here...

...

Terrible picture of M, but do you see how it not only blurs around her but swirls and creams and softens? Beautiful!

Limb chop.


The pic Kim is taking here turned out so cute!


My kids had a hard time behaving today and didn't pose much, but I think they're still cute just messing around.


I told J if he took off those shoes and put on flip flops I'd take him out to ice cream. He turned me down.


Trying to climb like her brother.


Darn pants!


Toe chop.






M thought she was being cool. Silly.






Stupid ugly shoe is in focus here and a toe chop, but is so my little man.


She's almost looking at the camera.


Kim is so fun to go out with. (don't kill me Kim)




This is me right after being boogered.


Kim took these for me. I'm trying to get more pics of me and the kids. J is checking out whatever he found in his nose. Ick.




Kooky. Anyone watch Wubzy?


He finally put on the flip flops, but too late for ice cream.


And if you made it to the end, here's the last one.


So I am completely in love with the 85. It takes awesome full body shots! I can't wait to go out again! Thanks for going out with me Kim and Jen. Now we need to go find some fall leaves.

I'm it.

I've been tagged by my cousin Kim. I'm suppose to go the the 4th picture in my 4th folder and post the pic. The question in my head is... my 4th folder of what? I have so many folders broken down into so many categories I'm not sure which one to call the 1st folder.

Contemplating...

Thinking...

Considering...

Ok. Conclusion. I'm off to check the 4th picture in my 4th folder for this month (I've got 5 already). And the winner is...


My little man from a little group photo shoot we did downtown last Friday. This is his, "your crazy" look. I love it!

I tag my brother Peter...he needs a new post on his blog.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch today for J's fieldtrip. I love taking the kids there. It's always fun! Pics of the kids to come when I'm not so darn tired.

My new discovery!

Holy stinkin' cow! Look what I just found, thanks to my mother in law who sent me awesome pics of Kayla's wedding via the handy-dandy Smilebox website. I love things that look creative that I don't have to have the creativity or technical knowlage for. And it's so stinkin' easy and fun. I want to make more! I just picked a design, dropped in some photos, and emailed it to the grandparents. Coolness!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook