Since I know everyone has been on the edge of their seat just *WAITING* for me to post pictures of my kids… thought I’d make good on my promise. Here’s a few snapshots of the kiddos enjoying the beach!

Just in case any of you are looking for a super cool condo in Orange Beach, I highly recommend Phoenix West! It’s right on the beach… PLUS has a super cool water slide, lazy river & zero entry pool! The units are UBER nice too…. around 2000SF so everyone isn’t right on top of each other. We’ll definitely be going back!

Is this thing on???  Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3…..

I’m so giddy about having a new blog…. YAYYYYYYY!!!!  I know it looks all blank & stuff right now, but  I’m going to transfer over all my stuff from the old blog as soon as I figure out how! =)

But for the meantime… look at how BIG my pics are =)  Nice, huh?

Hubby had to work today but I got to spend all day with the kiddos (happy, happy, joy, joy). Here was the order of the day: mess up the house, clean up the house, mess up the house, rinse & repeat. Fun stuff, man.

We did get to have fun yesterday, though… hubby put up the water slide for the first time this year. We bought the water slide about 3 or 4 years ago for around $300- at the time I thought we were crazy for spending that on an inflatable water slide! But the kids love it, and it has held up well!! (Even despite lots of birthday parties, family gatherings, and countless destructive children!) Highly recommended…. similar to this one without the watergun (if you happen to be in the market for a waterslide, haha!)

Anyhoo…. I was trying to get a few quick snaps but couldn’t find anyone to cooperate… I put on the ole trusty 70-200 f2.8L & stepped back a bit Jackson was smack dab in the middle of telling me “haha you can’t get me” when I snapped this one!! =) I double dog dare you to click on it to see it bigger =)

P.S. - In case you were wondering, comments are not illegal. They’re appreciated even! PLEASE leave me a quick note & let me know you stopped by!! I’ll love you forever for it =)

I have been DYING to post this picture! I planned this for mother’s day, and while it didn’t turn out exactly like I planned (*sigh*) I still LOVE it! I got a huge 40×60 2 1/2inch gallery wrap & an 18×27 1 1/2inch gallery wrap for my mom & mother-in-law. They were delivered a bit early just so I could share my excitement! So without further adieu, adoo, a-do (WHATEVER!) here you go… brace yourself….

*I KNOWWWWW!* All together now…. “awwwww”. ♥ Gee thanks. Makes a mama proud. Especially since this mama has been trying for a quarter of a century to get a picture of her kids together! =)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACKSON!!!!

Awww, I can’t believe my baby boy turned 5 today. FIVE!!! It just doesn’t seem like he should be starting school this year! *pout*

We had, dare I say, one of the BEST parties ever on Sunday at Red Barn Stables in Jacksonville. I’ve been to 1 other birthday party there & I was definitely sold. I’ve posted some of the snapshots on facebook/myspace & have gotten a few inquiries, so I thought I’d go ahead & answer a few questions here in case anyone is interested!

1) Are you related to or friends with the people that own Red Barn Stables?
Absolutely not. Met them yesterday. They’re VERY nice!

2) Is this a public place?
Well, depends on how you look at it. It’s their private property, I’m assuming, and you can pay to have a birthday party there.

3) Where exactly is it?
Jacksonville/White Plains - off White’s Gap Rd. Out in the boonies, where farms usually are.

4) How much did it cost?
$175 for 2 hours, $275 for 3 hours

5) What’s included?
Well, we got the 2 hour party (it was cut short by bad weather, bummer!) - the 1st 30 mins you do horseback riding, the 2nd 30 mins, you do a hayride (we made a pitstop to feed the catfish), the 3rd 30 mins you have your refreshments, & the last 30 mins you get to go fishing in a little pond. FUN TIMES!

6) How many kids can you invite?
up to 20. If you have more than 20, you have to do the 3hr party.

7) What do they provide?
Well, they provide the horses. And the fish. And a barn. Oh yeah! And there was 4 very large tables & lot of chairs inside the barn. I just brought along 2 coolers full of drinks for everyone, ice cream & cupcakes. And of course I didn’t forget the goody bags!

I must say that all the kids had such a good time!!! We usually have a hard time finding that “middle ground” … you know what I mean… if the older kids like it, then the younger kids don’t… or if the younger kids like it the older ones don’t! Everyone enjoyed this - even, dare I say, the adults HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. We will be going back for SURE.

P.S. - I got all the party stuff at Hobby Lobby - they had the cutest cowboy themed party stuff/invitations with bandana print & cowboy boots! Too cute! And cheap!!

Here’s Jackson making out with lots o’ birthday loot!

Once upon a time there was an evil nanny who was always harassing her beautiful, talented, kind photographer daughter to get pictures of her even MORE beautiful, talented and ki… well - let’s just go with beautiful & talented - grandchildren.

Where was I? Oh yeah.

*So*. The beautiful talented daughter decided one day that she would surprise the evil nanny with a lovely picture of her grandchildren. (Although I’m not really sure why the daughter would offer up such a nice gesture since the evil nanny abandoned the daughter with SIX CHILDREN and went to Target.) However, she didn’t let this abandonment damper her kind heart. No, no… the daughter was determined to capture the perfect picture of all six grandchildren.

The daughter failed miserably. THE END. Hey, all stories don’t have a happy ending =)

After that tragic story I can’t leave you without something to make you smile…. my super cute niece & nephew, Trinity & Haden. ♥ them!

And this is not the result of me lying on a muddy ground to please my niece. Promise. She really CAN fly.

The kids have been driving me crazy asking me when their elves were gonna come back. Generally, Santa doesn’t let the elves come stay with children until after Thanksgiving, but he must have heard my kids begging! They arrived in the mailbox today, equipped with magic pencils (they were HUGE!) and a book for Cassidy.


Ignore the nasty faces, we had just finished eating ribs


It seems attitudes immediately get better around here when the elves arrive - here’s Jackson sharing PS3 time with Wyndham. <3

A bit of elf history - blog posts from last year

Adventures of Wyndham & Axel
Elf-scapade

…is impossible when you have 4 kids. *sigh*

In EVERY.SINGLE.PICTURE. one of the kids (usually Jackson) is running away, blinking, swinging to hit someone, picking his nose, or something of that nature. I did get a pretty funny one after one of the boys ummmm (can I say this on here?) passed gas - Cassidy was holding her nose. I won’t mention which one did it for fear of causing him to hate me for the rest of my life.

You know that perfect picture you have in your mind, the one where everyone is just sitting there with beautiful, oh-so-natural smiles on their pretty, clean little faces? Yeah, me too. We didn’t get that. Oh well, it’s not perfect. Which is *totally* us. =)

So. My husband gets the bright idea to head to Six Flags even though we already had SOOOO much fun (note my sarcasm) at the zoo on Thursday. “They’re only open all day on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday” I remember him saying. Since I’m booked with shoots, & he was working Saturday, Friday was pretty much the only option. We couldn’t pass it up, really - we were getting free admission, free parking, and free meal tickets… almost too good to be true.

It was.

So we invite Tucker’s best friend Joshua & his dad (Greg). Forecast calls for rain, but we’re optimistic people, so we headed toward Atlanta, even though it was drizzling a bit…

and it kept raining.

and raining.

and… you guessed it…. raining.

About 30 minutes into the trip, I *mentioned* something along the lines of “Hey, it’s still raining - pretty hard…” Hubby & Greg are laughing away, talking politics, football, random stuff. Just not the weather.

So. We arrive at Six Flags. And it’s STILL raining…. and they… well, they look closed? (weird, huh? Seeing as they are OPEN ALL DAY on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, right?) So we decide we’ll just take a trip to the Georgia Aquarium (which, by the way, is the largest aquarium in the WORLD). We hop back on the interstate, and I look back at the Six Flags sign that says, in bright, flashing lights “OPEN TODAY 6-11″…

Boy, was hubby glad it was raining. I heard Greg mention something about the Griswald’s….

Anyhoo, we made the best of it - it was a really beautiful aquarium. It was SO incredibly packed (guess everyone else had the same idea on a rainy day!) that it was hard to take pics, but here’s a few…

I P.R.O.M.I.S.E. that I try to get this kid NOT to point with his bird finger. I’ve gotta break this habit before he starts kindergarten & gets expelled… *sigh*

HAPPY FALL Y’ALL! =) Back to work for me tomorrow. BOOOOOO!

Ahhh, fall break. Nate’s spending the week with his Mawmaw & cousins, the boys are going camping with Dad… so I took the entire week off with the intention of relaxing, getting some of my photog “stuff” done - and absolutely NOTHING else - no cleaning (okay I can never escape this…), no cooking (I got bored & whipped up a feast fit for Thanksgiving by Tuesday), and definitely NO public outings with the kids. Camping lasted all of one day, because Eric simply couldn’t take it any more. We actually got date night on Wednesday - dinner & a movie! By Thursday, we decided to go to the zoo. Naturally. Because boredom makes the brain mushy.

BUUUUUUT, I’m thinking - perfect photo opp, right? Wrong. I didn’t charge my battery & my camera died about 30 minutes into our little trip. My husband thought it was quite funny. (I did not. Hmph.)

I decided to snap some shots of Cassidy on the way there while I had her all strapped down…
this is what you call a severe case of P.C.S. (Photographer’s Child Syndrome)

Heh. Revenge is sweet….

Ohhhh, I’m kidding, totally kidding. I don’t torture my kids with 20 foot snakes. Pinky swear. I did giggle. Quietly, though. PROMISE!

I thought these stinkers would quit fighting long enough for me to get a PERFECT PARROT shot, but noone really felt like cooperating. *sigh* Nice bokeh, though. =)

This little guy was cute (and STILL)… hey, it’s not easy being green. (snicker)

The Lorakeet exhibit - the kids LOOOOOVED this!


Tucker was really mad because this one little guy just stayed with him even when his nectar cup was empty. Then - Jackson to the rescue - he yelled & ran him off. Tucker kept insisting that it was his new “pet bird” and he would have stayed with him forever if Jackson wouldn’t have run him off. What are little brothers for?

Just showing you that I actually *do* attempt to photograph my children. They just don’t cooperate. Grrrrrrr.

And the last shot of my 3 rugrats before the camera battery died (boo!):

By the time we got home, I was so exhausted that I fell into my bed & straight into a coma…. *sigh*

So we planned a 6Flags trip for the next day…. ugh. We never learn.