Monday, November 22, 2010

Fall Colors

Have I mentioned that I used to hate fall.  But that was when I lived in Canada and fall meant harsh winter was on its way and soon...

Now that I have been living out here in North Carolina and Maryland and back in North Carolina I have become a lover of fall.  The beauty of it is breath taking...



I had to stop trying to take pictures while driving.  Kinda dangerous... so I would have to find place to stop











I had him sitting up on a branch and he really did not want to be up there!!






Saturday, November 20, 2010

Sam turns 5

Can you believe that Sam is 5 already!  For his birthday adventure we invited some friends and went to an indoor bounce house.  It was a total hit with the kids, and even the big kid (aka my hubby/my fourth child) had a blast!  Sam chose McDonalds for lunch (big surprise) and after some more bouncing we came home for presents and cake.  Fun Fun day!







He is still our sweet boy - always ready to give loves and say thank-you for his gifts.


Can you guess what he wants to be when he grows up?

Fall family photo shoot

Every fall I want a family photo.  This has two purposes, first it become the Christmas card that we send to our family and friends and secondly it will go into our family photo album along with the photos of the kids we have done every year around their birthdays.  This year was no different than last year - it is impossible to get a good photo of all of us together...

This one is my favorite - only one small problem...I am not in it (probably why it is my favorite)

So this is an example, of the typical family photo.  Not too bad of me and Carlee (and it certainly has to be a good one of me to make the final cut), but Sam's eyes are closed, Ben is looking away, and hubby was pointing and saying something so he has a goofy look.

Here is a more typical shot of me trying to get them smiling.  I am probably saying something like "Everyone say YAY for candy!!!"

Here we have completely lost control and that was the end of the family photo shoot.  Once I saw the photos I knew we didn't have "the shot" and I really hated the red.  By then it was too late in the day and we would have to try another day.



One day while we were waiting for Daddy to be home at the right time of day - daylight would be helpful - I took the kids to a park and with the beautiful fall colors I had  my camera along.  First thought I had was - if I could get a good group shot of the kids we could use that for the Christmas cards...

Yeah right! What was I thinking!!!
Apparently when you tell my kids to say cheese it also means they are also supposed to look away from the camera and make goofy faces.

But then I managed to get these three photos and Costco had the perfect card for three photos! Problem solved - Christmas cards done.  People just want to see the kids anyways haha!!!





Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Trees and falling leaves

When you have an acre yard with huge trees like this...


it is in your best interest to train the children to rake as early as possible