Updated

I spent some time this afternoon updating my photography website. It's been awhile since I added photos and moved things around. Check it out if you have a chance. Thanks!

Ahhhh.... so cute!

I went into to tuck J.T. in tonight and this is what I found.... isn't he cute?

By the way, this was taken with my trusty point and shoot...

A first!

A few minutes ago, J.T. and Abigail were fighting over something. He had it in his hands and she was trying to take it from him. I got after her a little and tried to tell her that you can't just take things from people. You need to ask first... and ask nicely! And if they won't give it to you, then you have to accept that.

In true Abigail-fashion, she started with the "yeah-buts" and I just put my hand up and said, I won't argue with you. And she said,"Yeah, but..." My hand went up again. She ran into her room crying... (she's been really emotional lately, for some reason.)

As soon as this happened J.T. said, "Why are you being mean to my sister?" He has never once defended her....

Adorable

On Saturday morning I had the pleasure of taking some photographs for this family. The main purpose was to get some of this adorable 2 year old, Miss Layla... I love that she has curly blonde hair and blue eyes. It is so much different than doing photos with my two brown-eyed, brunettes. Isn't she gorgeous???

Her mom got a little frustrated because she didn't want to cooperate too much. It didn't bother me though... I am much more patient with other people's kids...

Here's a little storyboard I put together of my three favorites of her... (I think you can click on it to make it bigger... if not, the three photos I used are below).




Here's another one of my favorites...

We took a few of Layla and her brother Asa...

And we did manage to sneak in one family one...

I really enjoyed doing this. It doesn't hurt when you such an adorable family to shoot either....

Report from the fair

After I took some photos for a family friend this morning (more about that later), we went to the fair to check out our entries. The kids were pretty excited to see how they did. I will admit that I was too.

I was totally surprised to see that I had gotten a First Place with this photo in the category of "color: children/babies"...

And a Third Place in the category of "black/white: other." I was pretty excited!

And the kids did well too, especially J.T. For this watercolor painting of a (what else is there?) John Deere tractor he received a First Place ribbon and a Special Award. This award was donated by the local Farm Bureau chapter in the amount of $50! It will be a great addition to his college fund!

Abigail got a First Place on this watercolor...

After checking out our entries we let the kids go on a couple of the rides. I can't believe how expensive it's gotten. The kids each picked three rides and it was $20! The "pay one price" wristbands that used to be $6 or $8 when I was a kid, are now $25!

I probably won't make it back to the fair, but at least we can say we made it for one afternoon....

Reflecting

I have been in a off, somewhat-down mood this week. I have spent quite a bit of time reflecting about lots of different things in my life. This will probably seem a bit random because it's hard to get my thoughts out...

It seems like a lot of people we know have passed away in the last 12 months. Does that just happen as you get older? Earlier this week my dad lost one of his close friends. It just brings back so many memories and the pain from losing our friend and partner, Matt Galt, almost a year ago. I know losing people is a part of life, but I am so afraid of it happening. I know I need to prepare myself for grief many more times in my life, but I just dread it.

Why do we care what other people think of us? We all try to say we don't care, but can honestly tell you that I do care what people think of me. Does that make me crazy?

When I think about the different friends I have, sometimes I have these weird thoughts like, do my friends really, truly know me? Do they even like me? Can I really be honest with any of them? How much do we really have in common? Strange questions, I know, but I think about them.

Okay enough random thoughts for now....

Humboldt County Fair pictures

Awhile back I posted that I was trying to decide which pictures, if any, to enter in our county fair. I was leaning towards not entering any, but Andy really thought that I should. I got a few votes on which ones to enter and I took that into account when I picked them.

Here are the six that I chose:

The fair started today but I haven't been there yet. I actually don't know when or if I will get there. I have no idea how my pictures did. I guess I will find out when I pick them up...

FYI

For those of you that have kids and let them brush their own teeth.... DON'T! I will admit I have been pretty lazy lately helping the kids brush their teeth and now we have a problem. Abigail went to the dentist yesterday and has five cavities. One of them is infected so she has to take 10 days of antibiotics and have the tooth pulled in a couple weeks. The other cavities will be filled within the next couple months. How bad of a mother do you think I feel like?

I am done!

I can't believe it.... I thought this day would never come! I finally paid off my school loan. I had about $14,000 in loans when I graduated from Cal Poly in 1997 and the balance is finally at zero!

I think it is so important for kids to make some contribution to their college education, either through jobs, scholarships, or loans. I just think you appreciate it more when you have to help pay for it. I knew plenty of kids in college that had every dime covered by their parents. Of course when I was in college, I wish I had it that easy. I guess what I am trying to say is that I appreciate that my parents "insisted" that I contribute to the cost of my education. I think it made me a better person. And that's how it will be for our kids....

Family trip

Yesterday we got back from our annual family trip, including all but one of the grandparents (my Dad is in Alaska on a fishing trip). We went to Redding Wednesday through Friday of this week. (Just a warning... there's a lot of pictures in this post!!)

We got a little swimming time in before dinner on Wednesday.


Then we went to Chevy's for dinner. There was a girl going to the tables and making balloon animals or hats. J.T. asked for a cowboy hat. See any resemblance? He didn't think it looked anything like a cowboy hat!

Abigail asked for a butterfly....

Our waitress thought the kids would get a kick out of pretending it was their birthdays so they could get the birthday song, sombrero and dessert. Abigail said she was "embarrassed."

J.T. was not too thrilled!

We all took turns trying on the sombreros... yes, I am aware we look tipsy in this picture! Too bad we weren't! ;)

On Thursday morning we headed to Waterworks Park for the day. We had such a good time. Everyone got in the spirit and rode on the water rides. The pictures aren't the best because I just took my little point and shoot. I wanted to enjoy the day, not be worried about my big camera getting wet or stolen.

J.T. took a little while to warm up to things so he played in the kiddie area for awhile. This is the "mole hole" slide.

Andy, Abigail and I rode on the Raging River right away....

Abigail had a great time running under the water mushroom in the kiddie area...


It took awhile to talk J.T. into riding on the big water rides, but once we did.... he was into it!! He even rode on a single tube down the Raging River... Even though the picture isn't that great, you can still see the big ol' smile on his face!

Abigail did also ... and backwards into the pool too!

We finally got the kids talked into riding on the Cyclone (a.k.a. the toilet bowl), which was my favorite ride. I went up to the top and took a couple pictures. Here's one of J.T. and Charlie... The kids (and adults) loved it!

Here's the bottom of that ride where you come out... If you can't tell, that is Pam and Charlie.

That night we went to Cattlemens for dinner. We were surprised, but thrilled, to find out that they only serve Harris Ranch beef. For those of you that don't know, Harris Ranch Beef Company is where we sell our cattle. And the steaks were fantastic! J.T. even ate his entire 5 oz steak!


Our last activity before leaving Redding was lunch at Chuck E. Cheese.




We had a great time. We're talking about adding an extra day to the trip next year so we can enjoy some of the other fun things that Redding has to offer....