The Sweetest Thing

Yesterday I went to check on Sassy Pants and Joker. They were in her room, being very quiet. When I opened the door, this is what I saw:
After an audible "awwwww", I quickly grabbed my camera and switched on my 50mm lens and made some setting adjustments.
No bribes were executed, no deals were made, he just did it because he's such a sweet boy.
He's so careful and has such a steady hand.
I have visions of him later in life doing this for his wife. It just melted my heart seeing him do this for his sister. He can be such a gentle boy sometimes. He's going to make an excellent husband some day, Lord willing. It encourages me greatly when I see Godly Character developing in my children. It's proof that stuff does actually stick :-)

I hope these bring a smile to your face. My boys are so adorably cute!! :-)

Brothers- A Moment Captured

I hope they are always this close, and hope they always have this much fun together. I pray they do! I love being a mom to these boys!

*WHO* Doesn't Love A Baby??

At least this baby anyway. Isn't she adorable?

So Serious!
A little spit bubble.......
If you haven't guessed by now, photographing babies is one of my absolute favorite things to do! Lucky for me, 2 of my best friends are pregnant so I will have lots of opportunity to get my "baby photography fix" from them!

Sneak Preview!

Guess what I did today? I got to take some pictures of this cute little baby. I have much more to come, just wanted to give a little preview!

M & N: thanks for coming over for a visit. We had a blast and you have beautiful ( well- behaved!) children!! We really hope to see you again soon!

Amy's Baby Shower Part 1

Amy opening a prize from one of the games.
Bethany giving instructions.

Isn't that so cute? Bethany is the best party-giver: right down to the last detail!
The ladies trying to guess how well they know Amy. I didn't do so great :-(
The girls playing along too.

One of my best friends. Isn't she beautiful? I love her smile here. Makes me smile just looking at this picture. :-)




More to come later........

Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies

I thought I'd share this very yummy recipe with you from the latest "Seasons Best" from Pampered Chef. Here's what you'll need:
1 pkg (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
1 pkg (18-21 oz) brownie mix ( plus ingredients to make brownies)
3/4 C packed brown sugar, divided
1 C salted mixed nuts, divided
5 rolls (1.7 oz each) milky chocolate-covered chewy caramels, unwrapped, divided (aka ROLLOS)
vanilla ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray bar pan or large brownie pan with non-stick spray. Chop 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. In another bowl combine brownie mix, water, oil, eggs, and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Mix well. Fold in chopped chocolate. pour batter into bar pan ( or brownie pan)

Chop nuts and combine half with the remaining 1/2 c brown sugar; sprinkle evenly over over brownie batter. Bake 20-22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cut 16 caramels into quarters. Place remaining 1/2 c chocolate chips into small bowl. microwave on high 1 minute or until melted, stirring after each 20 second interval. Spoon melted chocolate into melted chocolate into resealable plastic bag, set aside.

Remove pan from oven onto cooling rack. Immediately press remaining 24 caramels evenly into brownie in 4 rows of 6 caramels each. Sprinkle quartered caramels and remaining nuts over brownies. trim corner of chocolate-filled bag and drizzle chocolate evenly over brownies. Cut into squares, serve warm with ice cream if desired. Yield: 24 servings

Enjoy!!

Powder On Your Lips

The yummy kind.

An Unexpected Gift at An Unexpected Time

A line from one of my favorite movies "Finding Forrester". And applicable to me as my husband brought me home flowers for *no reason* the other night.
I couldn't help taking these photos. I have been craving COLOR lately and these were wonderfully fun to shoot.
They don't move give you attitude and hold real still for you!
I love the stems and leaves in this one.
A birds eye view of the whole bunch in a vase. These were such a nice treat from my husband. :-)

The Princessess Go To The Ball

And *who* took them? Well Prince Einstein of course! The local school system has a Father/Daughter Dance every year around Valentines Day. This is the first year the girls have gone and boy did they get all dolled up! Monkey ended up wearing her Snow White Princess shoes and a Tiarra and Sassy Pants wore long white satin gloves and had me curl her hair. It was very cute! And how sweet is it that "Daddy" took them? He HATES to dance. He's an introvert. But love makes you do things you never thought you'd do! And after fixing my washing machine, bringing me home flowers, taking me out to eat and now bringing our girls to a dance all within 5 days, PROVES that I married the BEST guy on earth!
This is for you Mom.

Einstein VS. Calculus

He decided to take a Calculus class through the University this semester for "fun". You know, since Calculus would be top pick of things that I would label as "fun". Ah, nope, it wouldn't. But he enjoys it and his employer will pay for most of this course if he gets a good grade. So the battle is on, and Einstein is doing very well. Here he is doing his homework and so far has received 100% on *ALL* of them. Gross, I know. I barely passed pre-cal in high school.
I know these are not "grade-A" photos but they are of my life and I wanted to share them with you. I am very proud of the man I married, especially when he wears his "Fargo" hat while doing his homework! :-)

Baby Blue

I found this treasure in a picture folder from April. (Another big THANKS to blogger/photographer MckMama for showing me the hue/saturation technique in my editing program). I'm having LOTS of fun boosting the color in my photos- a perfect cure for my "winter blues"! I am longing for Spring. It's right around the corner. This picture was taken at the local playground. With pea gravel as it's base, it's a perfect place to play while the yard is still a mud puddle!
And how about this beautiful little babe? I just LOVE her hat in this picture. She is bigger now, but still just as cute! Leave a comment for her Mommy to read, I'm sure she'd love it!

Sledding With Daddy!

Einstein took Tinyman outside to slide. He loves being outside, especially on a sled! He would get to the top of the hill and say "One more time".

Waving at me :-)
Waving at a bird in the tree. :-) Isn't he cute?

Mr Maine Blue Jay

This Blue Jay let me get about 8 feet away from him. He was so beautiful. I loved his down feathers on his chest that he has grown for the winter. He was very happy to eat his bird seed and have me take his picture. He also had a fantastic tail of feathers. I never realized how pretty ( and how big!) they really are. My only regret is I didn't have my other zoom lens, that would have let me get really close to him!
You can see the bird seed inside his beak on this one if you look closely!

The Cold Bug!

This is my kid. This is my kid on "cold bugs". Any questions? (ugh... it's a doozy this one!)
And of course Sheepie is there for him, giving him comfort and companionship.
And his new friend Lamby too. He has good friends, don't you think?

Don't worry Tinyman, Mommy has a plenty of Tylenol and decongestant and soon all will be well. ( He looks so pathetic, doesn't he? It brakes this Mama's heart.)