catching fireflies & picking berries

Two of my favorite things to do.

When we first moved to Maryland I was amazed by the fireflies. It was like watching a little faeries light up the forests on the sides of the highway as we drove to our first home here....(the hotel). I loved those little glowing bugs. They are so magical.

One evening I let the kids come out and catch them in their pajamas. I've never photographed them before...and I need to try again. It was so fun. I told the kids to hold as still as a statue.... as soon as you hear the shutter you can move again. It was a really LONG time to hold still...for me and them. They did a pretty good job! I want to go out and try for more photos, and I know my kids won't argue with me! They love to spot them. (I hope we can still find some this late in the season.)





We took our neighbors to the u pick farm. We picked raspberries and blueberries. Oh what a lovely day. Simone thought it was fantastic.





All these pictures were on the card that was in the fire mess. I downloaded them last night, and I was happy to see them again!

5d is back!

I had to test out my 5d. I took Simone up into the attic and tried it out.

I am shocked at the amount of parts and things they had to replace in the camera and in lenses. I have a list for each item, but it is all french to me! Too many abbreviations! I am just glad to have it all back. I want to go play with my macro, and photograph my kids like crazy.

I love this picture. I really can't decide if I like the color or the black and white better. I always love b&w more, but the peaches and pinks look so good! (oh,...I photoshopped out her scar...and a couple bruises. poor girl. =(

(Grandpa, that is the doll you picked out for her.)

iphone photo palooza

I love looking at the these pictures. Sometimes I flip through them at night when I crawl in to bed. I take pictures when I am so happy I could burst. My sheer bliss moments. Okay, some of them are just random shots. I must really love to be with my kids at the lake.....because there are a lot of pictures of them there.

Starting in February going to now.............................................



The first photo I took with my new phone.

Birthday loot!

crawling to me.

a bit of gaming.

My favorite iphone pic. Wyatt coming home from school on a February day!

Hello house.

Simone left a eyelash shadow on my cheek.

Lincoln on his way to powerwash Christie's house.

Wacky day at school.

Purple tiny love.

swollen lymph node...measuring with my hand.

Darling girl!

Out to dinner with friends. I noticed this handsome man and had to sneak a picture.

Picking up the girls from preschool.

I'll just have baby food.

At cheeburger cheeburger.

reading in the library.

I want to smooch your face off Simone!

Ready for church.

I love you.

Watching a show while Talia is in Ballet class.

Shopping with Simone.

Checking email.

get you.

Love your skinny jeans Talia.

Playing a chickfila.

self portrait.

On the metro with our best friends.

Wyatt at the national zoo.

With his head in a t-rex skull.

The park where I took my 2.5 year old Wyatt to dig in the dirt...while I was pregnant with Natalia.

Swing.

shadows.

i love you, and a blue gum ball.

Lincoln got me twilight sweethearts. =)

Babies and even more beautiful when they are asleep.

smile.

hello cy.

my two handsome guys.

kiss

eating at qudoba

bribed her for this.

Simone and the grape hyacinths

Our home...and the cherry blossoms.

Just out of the bath.

"hey"

Talia in the backseat with my phone. (We just bought Wyatt's b-day cake. See the white box.)

Princess falls asleep in car.

Wyatt at the lake.

peek.

Looking at the mud-swallows in their nests.

The Blake tree. (We always look at this tree on our walks around the lake. Blake is our nephew/cousin.)

I love to see what Talia captures with my phone. I love this one. (I have a serious love for his forearms. weird I know. )

A happy sky. Waiting at a red light.

I was waiting at a different stop light on a different day and saw this lovely picture waiting to be taken.

Talia took this of sleeping Lincoln. (along with six others.) BUT I really like this picture!

A drink.

Wyatt took a picture of my Mother's day gift. It says "BEST MOM" on it. =)

Talia photographing Simone. (there are several of these!)

A really big flake in his cereal.

Talia and Tori at jumpzone.

I found them in my bed like this when I came up to go to sleep! Where are you pj's Wyatt?

In her best spot. I love those little shoes.

Always has a stick.

Looking in.

Run. Throw.

I love her curls.

Flying to my Arizona photo shoot.

Flying home from my Arizona photo shoot.

The storm when I thought I lost my ring.

Chalk love.

Sweet pineapple shoes. Her shirt says "No Pictures Please" with little beads sewn on it.

Simone was going nuts over these hamburgers! I had to take a picture!
handsome husband!

Talia taking a picture. I heard the shutter while I was trying to sleep next to this early riser!

Making a "gross sandwich" on the way to Utah.

Wyatt laughing with his cousins, instead of eating pizza.

A nice view of the desert. Coming back from the dunes.
Lincoln holding sick Simone.


Sick boy Wyatt.

Simone in the secret garden.

Talia in the secret garden.

Simone on the plane...on our way home.

Talia earned a little money by watering our neighbors lawn. I took this from my kitchen window.

Sweet as can be!

My kids live in this tree.

Wyatt helping me look for a four leaf clover.

My baby and her bandage. She had to wear one for quite a while.

I told her to point her toes. GOOD girl! =)


On a walk with the kids (plus some extras) at the lake.

Talia and her friend Amanda.

I LOVE THESE KIDS! Do you just love Talia's apron? I have a matching one! I love that she wore it to the lake.

Lincoln's truck ran out of gas. =)

My newmoon. The one that was supposed to bring me luck...I think it worked.

Talia's picture of me at the computer.

MY LIFE RIGHT NOW. Three plates. Three servings of scrambled eggs. Three halves of toast. Lincoln asked where the other half of toast was. Wyatt ate it later on. =)

The bumpy boats at the fair.

Carousel at dusk.

The light up in the "loft" is good!

Peas go to sleep.
Wyatt collecting Simone for me.

Talia's new backpack. My friend Felicity found this in Utah, and grabbed it up for me. It says "Natalia" on it!!! She wears it all the time.

Polaroid camera in the bottom of the stroller. Happy Simone, eating licorice on our "picnic" that Talia packed in her backpack.

Quarters.

Natalia earned a few quarters. She immediately invited me to the mall with her. How sweet. Finally after about three days, and a 150 mentions on the mall -we went there.

This girl is bubble gum crazy.

Before we left the house she asked Lincoln and Wyatt what color they wanted. I thought that was so sweet of her. "Green and Watermelon," she said as she buckled her seat belt. She brought along her purse, a ziplock bag to put the gum in, and her cat "Natalia". =)

Here she is at the bubble gum heaven!

So- since this post is about my beloved blue-eyed child, I will add to it. Natalia asked if she could bring her little green eyelet purse to church. I said that would be fine. I didn't not say it would be fine for her to bring a PAIR OF SCISSORS in it!

She cut her hair during primary class!

Are you kidding me? Help me. Seriously....what is a Mom to do? Her teacher found her hair on the floor, and then asked her about it. She didn't cut a lot of hair...it was long, but not a huge amount.

Is it so bad that I am laughing right now? I adore this naughty little thing.

Talented....

I am in love with dance photography!

I am so ready for this to be a major part of my business. I got to do a session with this talented young dancer. She is amazing! Look at these images!!! Could you just die? I am really pleased with the majority of images from this session, and I had to share some of the images here.

I'd love to know your favorite. =)

Fixed for you sweetie. How about a picture of a chair? Wow I'm great.


-Lincoln

I can't post pictures.

Oh the agony!


So- we have been busy and happy.

I went on an online shopping spree!

One dress---(a gift from my husband for collecting kid poop!)
One slip from vintage hem
One orange tailored jacket
One blue jacket
One green and white jacket
One light grey cargo skirt
One light great pencil skirt with a skinny white belt
One grey and yellow floral maxi dress
One navy cropped jacket with grey piping
One red shirt with "poet" sleeves
One red jacket with short sleeves
One

I don't really care about making that list anymore. I got a ton of stuff...most of it was under $8, and regular prices were around $65. LOVE all of it!

Here is a list I said I would write.

July GOOD things.

*I got to have my family pictures taken TWICE!
*I got to hug my family!
*I got to pick raspberries TWICE! Once in Maryland and several times in Utah.
*Lincoln's cousin Rileigh and her darling family moved to COLUMBIA. They are in our ward, AND I LOVE HER! We have so so so much in common. We both went to Catalina island on our honeymoons....wait...it gets better.....and WE BOTH RODE BICYCLES BUILT FOR TWO with our new husbands on that super steep island. We both love SYTYCD! See what I mean...so much in common. =)
*Simone said Mommy and Daddy in July for the first time.
*We got to go camping at the dunes.
*My kids got to see their cousins!
*I never threw up.
*I got to watch fireworks while Simone climbed on me and treated me like playground equipment.
*I ate at JCW's
*My kids were so good on the airplane. (Well sort of...it has been so long, that I don't remember all the bad stuff. Like Simone screaming because her ears hurt...OR Talia holding a sour cream tub the WHOLE flight "just in case".)
*Totally- mango ice cream with my sister-in-laws...and seeing The Proposal too. =)
*Getting my hair done by Adrie! She is amazing, and seeing her always makes me happy!
*My brother-in-law and sister-in-law letting us borrow their car and truck so we didn't have to rent one. SWEET!
*Having an adventure with people I adore.

That felt good. I am sure there are more things I could add.

Wait until you see the pictures I have to show you. I have had a good week! August is a lovely month, by the way. Lots of good things have happened.


------------------------------------------------------------------
A letter for my awesome husband, WHO IS AMAZING and HOT!


Dear Lincoln,

Will you fix my blog? Please. I love you. I know you are busy, or I am hogging the computer all the time. I am DONE proofing for a little while. You can have it. Pretty please with a cherry on top.

Love,
Jeri

luck

July is over! Hooray.

Things that I didn't love about July.

1. Lincoln was gone all last week. It was a very hard week.
2. Simone had to get four stitches in her little forehead after falling on a sharp corner.


3. My kids got the stomach flu 3 times each! IN JULY!
4. Simone had Roseola in between battles with the stomach flu.
5. I passed two kidney stones.
6.I had to cancel two sessions. I got one session rescheduled. I borrowed a camera and lens from a great friend in Gaithersburg, had everything lined up by the front door ready to go, a sitter for the kids (Lincoln was gone.), AND Talia threw up while I was in the shower. I cried! I didn't want to call my client and cancel AGAIN. I was so embarrassed.
7. Sent most of my camera gear to Canon. Boo. I wrapped it all in bubble wrap. Four inches around each piece. Then I remembered I needed the serial numbers off each item!! I had to unwrap it all, and then I ran out of tape when I was almost finished putting it all back together. I came in the kitchen and Lincoln had tied them closed with a pink grosgrain ribbon! He was searching for more tape and found that. I loved it!
8.Fire and flood.
9. While Simone was getting her stitches out....my big kids had to use the bathroom three times EACH. Six bathroom visits while at the doctors office!
10. Talia got stung by a bee.
11. Wyatt needed a hair cut 4 weeks ago. =)
12. I was not able to get the smoke/burnt plastic smell out of some of my favorite clothes.
13. Didn't get to go on an anniversary date. (sick kids)
14. Left my van door open in a very hard rain storm.
15. Very poorly behaved children at a good friend's house.
16. One of my very best friends moved away.
17.I missed my family's 4th of July BBQ. I didn't get to see some of them while we were in Utah. A few of them I didn't see last December either. Bummer.




I was beginning to think I would never get rid of the black cloud over my head. The kids and I were outside. We were sitting in the grass, in a place where Wyatt has found two four leaf clovers. I SEARCHED for one. I needed one. A little good luck please, a sign that there would be good things to come. Yes, I know- There is no such thing as good luck or bad luck. I still wanted a four leaf clover. I didn't find one.

That night I took the kids to pei wei. We have a cute tradition. We break open a fortune cookie like you would a wishbone. In order to see who's fortune it is, two of us grab onto an end of the cookie and pull. The fortune will only stay in one half of the cookie. Then the next two people do it until everyone has a fortune. Then we all read them, and laugh. Lincoln wasn't there, but I saved him one. Mine read, "Luck will visit you on the next new moon."
Wyatt's is hilarious!!! He was mad and said, "THAT should have been Talia's!"

Lincoln came home on Sunday. The day before was his birthday. I decorated the house, and made dinner and a cake. His flight landed while we were at church, so I brought silly string, party hats, and noise makers in the car with us. Then when we got home we wore our hats to the door and sprayed him with silly string. It was so fun!

He brought us gifts. I got two silver necklaces. One was a silver pendant with an L on it. (So sweet!) The other was a silver four leaf clover with a tiny green bead next to it. He told me he thought I needed some good luck. I was so happy! I said, "Oh sweetie, I needed this. I was looking for a real one and I couldn't find one."

What is the moral of this story? Don't look for luck it is a waste of time.---- or perhaps,--- Sometimes you can find luck in a fortune cookie. ---- OR-- If you pray for something (even if it is silly), your prayer may be answered in a way you never expected.

(As I was writing the bad luck list I remembered A LOT of good luck things that happened this month. I will work on that list next.)