Steps for Students

As I pulled up to the school to pick up the kiddos today, I realized that today was "Steps for Students" which is a fundraiser for the school in which families had been collecting money ending in today's walk. It was a fun event for the students, faculty, and families. There is a small track on the schools campus and everyone walked around it in special t-shirts. They had mascots from Chick Fila and the local fire department and there was music and Popsicles for all the kids. My boys teacher invited us to come back at the 1:30 walk since I had forgotten about the one in the AM. We ended up having a great time and I had the chance to get to know his teacher and her assistant much better. They are both great and I'm so glad to have him in their class!!

During warm ups

She's so silly.....my little dork.

The mascots coming out. The kids went NUTS and the noise was deafening.

As we began the walk I looked down and this is what I saw. They were holding hands!! Without being told! They love each other no matter what they might try to tell you otherwise.

Giving "Sparky" a high 5 while my boy kept a safe distance.

He was still thinking about it and ended up giving Sparky an air high 5 from the other side of the sidewalk.

That's my boy's teacher on the right and her assistant on the left along with their PM class and my 2 hooligans.

This little guy from her PM class is so cute and sweet. He took a liking to my baby and had the baby giggling.

My girl with one of her kindergarten classmates. Don't ask me what they were looking for!

This is a group of boys, I believe from the 4th grade. They were busting out some moves to the music that was playing. It was hilarious! They were completely oblivious to the weird mom down the way with her camera!

Aaaand it seems that my child has a few admirers. There were 2 boys who were chasing her all over the place for a good long while. I forgot that boys start flirting that young!

The Bus

Kindergarten at my kids school begins at 835am. My boys preschool starts at 805am. This posed a bit of a challenge when it comes to convenience in our morning routine. I was talked into letting my dude ride the bus as he would be the last one picked up and we only live about a mile from the school. I was assured that it is a small bus equipped with car seats for the little ones and the only students riding would be his classmates, and there is always another adult on the bus with the driver whom is a nurse. My dude got to start riding this Monday and it has already made a huge difference in reducing my stress level in the morning.

There he goes! By buddy!!

So once he got to ride the bus, my daughter started pestering me that she wanted to ride too. I enjoy taking her to school and the idea of my little girl riding on that huge bus kinda makes me nervous. But this child does NOT let anything go once she makes her mind up. So I went ahead and made the call yesterday and they told me she could start riding today. So, this morning I walked her out to the corner for her pick up.

I had to get a shot of this stunning scene while we were waiting.

She was jealous that I was distracted by the sky and snapping pictures of it instead of her. She likes to be the center of attention.

That's better.

And she's off!!!

Now my mornings will be MUCH more relaxing so I guess we all win!

Mona Lisa Smile

The weekly challenge for this week is "Smirk" and again, I knew I had just the photo to enter. This is my now four year old son at a party at my brothers house. My boy was 9 months old at the time. Not a "pro" photo by any means but cute? Definitely. My sister in law had a box full of sunglasses including child sizes so my mom and I decided to have some fun with it. He thought he was too cool for school and I love the expression on his face. This has always been one of my favorite photos of my guy. Go on over to www.iheartfaces.com to check out the other great entries!

My Baby is 4 Today

Happy 4th Birthday to my sweet, sweet boy. We could not have ever asked for a more loving, affectionate, beautiful son. I don't know what I would ever do without you in my life and I'm so proud to be your mommy! I love you buddy!!

Vroom Vroom!

So, the weekly challenge on iheartfaces.com is "Vroom Vroom." Since I just began using a professional grade camera about a month ago, I initially did not think I would have anything to enter for this theme. Then I remembered a photo I took in July at my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary party. The photo was taken with my Blackberry, which has been known to take some pretty good pictures considering the source. They tend to come out really clear (it has 3.2 MP) and an auto focus. Anyway, just as dusk was setting in, my uncle got on his tractor. My older son was the first on the scene. The kid loves anything and everything with a motor and wheels. I don't know if that is just a boy thing, if it was inherited, if it is due to the autism (autistic kids tend to fixate on certain things), or a combination of the 3. My uncle let him "steer" and I ran over to the sidelines to wait for them to pass. My boy was so focused on the very important task of steering this tractor. I love this photo, it captures the fun we had that day.

I'm trying!

Two weeks ago we took a weekend trip up to my parents house. I was very excited because they have property in the country and I figured that would provide me the opportunity to run amok and take photos without inhibitions. I've driven around in the country where I live but I'm a little paranoid that someone will get upset if I'm taking photos of their property. It's a little quirk of mine. Call it self-consciousness, I guess. When we got to my parents, I had the luxury of relaxing and taking my time, exploring the settings on my camera and experimenting. Here are a few photos from that day.

Sorry, I'm botanically challenged so I have no idea what this is. All I know is that I've seen these all my life around my dads garden. I think it's some sort of weed but I shot it because I like the deep, dark purple color of the berries and there was a lot of green behind it and the sun was making everything glitter. I like how this turned out and the bokeh in the background. Exactly what I was aiming for!

Again, not sure what this is but it's a bush close to the back door of the house with all of these blossoms. I think I did well with the aperture setting due to how just the flower is in focus. Yay me!

I just love photos of trees, especially in black and white. Something about them just speaks to me. This tree is really old and dying but I knew I had to get a good shot of it. Since the sun was directly overhead, I wanted to incorporate that into the shot. One thing I'm learning is that in order to get unique photos, you have to think outside the box which sometimes requires you getting into awkward positions that can make you feel silly. I was lying down shooting upward to get this. Luckily, I was in my parents backyard! Again, I am just starting out so I have no idea what I'm doing yet, but I think this is a special photo. The photo straight out of the camera was okay but after I added black and white and did a few other cool edits, it was transformed! To me, even if not to anyone else, this is a really cool perspective on this tree.

 Here are a few more from our trip to the park last weekend. I ended up with so many good shots. It was a perfect day and was really windy which made everything so much more interesting. The sky was bright blue and there were bright, fluffy clouds. Literally, a picture perfect day.

I almost got kicked taking this but it was well worth it. I love how this shot captures her innocence.

Another of my favorite subjects!

Last weekend we went to the Indianapolis Zoo. I was only able to get a few decent shots worth sharing. With the baby and all our gear, it was kind of difficult to take as many pictures as I would have liked.

The kids get a kick out of this exhibit every time we go. The seals (sea loins?) love showing off. Seeing my boy and husband standing next to each other like that makes me see how much they are built alike! And a disclaimer: I intensely dislike Derek Jeter and my husband insists on wearing his jersey in public, much to my dismay.

Oh my....that profile. I don't know what I would do without that in my life every day.

Or without those eyes of hers.....

My son is mildly autistic and can be leery of large animals. Once my girl started petting this horse, he reluctantly joined in. He ended up liking the sensation of petting the bristly mane.

My baby gets his picture taken a lot. Babies seem to have that affect on people. I'm really glad I took up this hobby during his infancy. We don't plan to have any more so it's really important to me to document as much as I can. I wasn't creative when the other two were infants so the pictures of him I'm sure will have a much different look to them as we go back and look at them down the road.

I just had to get a close up of his scrumptious feet. That's his other foot in the background.

Oh goodness, I have no words for how cute he is.

My boy started developmental preschool yesterday. He was very excited and ended up loving it. I'm so happy he's at the same school as my girl and in fact, their classrooms back up to each other. They are there during the same time and end up on the playground together. I dropped him off yesterday morning complete with a new Iron Man back pack. He loves Iron Man.

Oh, be still my heart. He is looking so grown up all of a sudden. My husband and I sure know how to make em!

You can see the excitement.

The end.

Summer in Review

My first www.iheartfaces.com entry!

My gramma and my baby.

My girl dancing in the wind. 

My big boy and middle child.

 

Opener

I took this of my oldest at the park the other day. It was gorgeous out and it was very windy so her beautiful hair was whipping around allowing for some unique shots. This is one of my favorites!