Bragging Rights

I have to say that I had the best Mother's Day ever!!  AND, that's not even the end of my bragging.  I have the best kids ever too!  Their gift to me, other than the priceless handmade or the things wrapped from their bedroom, was to not fight all day, and they did it!  It was great!!

Now, just because I like to write this blog for my own future self, I also like to hear about other people's Mother's Day too, so don't be shy!  It's your turn to brag too!  :)

Here's a rundown of my perfect day:

7:30am...First off, did you note the time?!  I got to sleep in!!!  After I woke up ON MY OWN, I went into the kitchen only to be told by Treyton to go back and "try to sleep a little bit longer."  He then came in with toast and butter, piled high with sugar.  I choked it down, with a smile on my face and a very high blood sugar level.  When I came out afterwards, I realized how much work he put into it.  I make homemade bread at our house, so he actually had to cut the slices too!  After about 1/2 loaf, Tim came in to give him a hand.  The pile of "sliced" bread was big, but so was his heart.  <3

About 9am we left to go hiking at Quarry Hill Nature Center in Rochester.  I was all excited to snap pictures of the family enjoying our day with no cell phones, computers, iPads/Pods.  It was just going to be us and nature.  BUT, after getting snacks ready, water bottles, strollers, blankies, diapers, and car seats, I forgot the camera.  Crazy I know, but it was forgotten.  Darn it.  Well, lucky for me I did bring my cell phone still, so the pictures at the end are all thanks to Apple.  Thanks for sucking me into your electronics so much that I couldn't live without you for one day.  Because of your great marketing skills, I was able to have my "camera" with me the whole time.  :)

After our 2 hour hike, we worked up an appetite, so we relied on good ole' Culvers for lunch.  The only thing this mom was cleaning up was the dish of custard that I hid from the kids.  Hehe!

We got home and I finally got to plant the rest of my perennials that have been begging for dirt for about a week now.  I was still all hyped up on the sugar with toast (yes, in that order) from the morning that after playing in the dirt, we went for a family bike ride!  One skinned knee and an hour later, we were back to enjoy the rest of the day.  Did I mention that there still hadn't been any fighting yet?!?!

Leftovers for supper, early bedtime for the kids and a nice 5 mile run by their Mama.  Life is good.  Nope, on this Mother's Day, life was great.

My boys allowing a nice picture for me.  Huh?  Believe me, they never do this.

After climbing a bunch of rocks to see where it goes, it's a dead end.

And the other two have to follow as well, "just in case it won't be a dead end for them."

We found some baby ducks!

And some "teen" ducks too!  They have to be followed by Mom AND Dad because teenagers tend to act up.  :)

And our bike ride!

They were looking for bears at Quarry Hill. Such innocent imaginations.  (and yes, Hadlee is in a "princess dress" for the hike.  Surprise surprise!  

He Has Risen!...(way too early!)

Notice the title?  Make it more like "1:30AM TOO EARLY!!"  Yes, you read that right.  Treyton was up at 1:30 in the morning, ready to hunt those eggs.  The bunny had gone to bed only an hour before that, so I completely lucked out!  This year was a little bigger than most, because Hadlee got a bike.  Normally, we just do the whole junk toys and candy, but since her birthday is in November, it makes it a little tough to give her a bike for no reason.  I had to make up for her big present (to make it fair) by giving Treyton a flag football set and Reeyin a bubble machine for the bathtub.  That leaves poor Maddex.  I had no idea what he "needed" that would still be somewhat cheap, so he got a pair of handcuffs and a watch.  He's wanted a watch for awhile, and the funny thing is, he doesn't even know all of his numbers yet!!

They had a blast all day, because after our hunt, we headed to my mom's for another hunt and dinner.  It was so fun watching all 13 cousins running like crazy to find their eggs!  Dumb me forgot my camera though!  I grabbed a few on my cell phone, but you can only zoom in so far with those.

Once again, we were on the road to my in-laws for one last hunt.  By the time we got home, my kids were sugared out, with probably $1000 in future dental bills.  Oh well.  Like a friend told me, that's a problem for "future Laura" to deal with.

Take care and I hope you have all enjoyed your long holiday weekend!!

                                                   Hadlee holding all of the eggs she found!

Reeyin is thinking it's waaaay to early.  I'm with ya kiddo!

Maddex slept on the couch, so the bunny drew on his face!

Finally!  His own pack of gum!

And she found the bike!

I love Stab in the background of this one!  

Reeyin is being her typical sweet self, by politely asking me to open her crackers.  :)

On my way!!

I am so excited!!  Right now, as I type this, I'm listening to online marketing tips from the best photographers in the nation!  They get me so pumped up about my business!  I am also signed up for an all day seminar in Minneapolis this coming Sunday.  If you're interested in coming with me, I can still sign up one person for only $29!!  Let me know asap, and I'll get you signed up!  We can carpool and talk pictures the whole entire way. Sounds fun I know!  :)  If you would like more info on this without the commitment, you can check out the topics at this link:  www.salleeschool.com  

Now, onto another note...kind of.

I took a few pictures of Maddex and Hadlee the other day.  Consider this my "brag book" and just pretend that you're stuck with me, while I flip through pictures of my adorable kids.  We've all been there right?  Only this time, you just have to "X" me out and I'll never even know.  :P

One more thing...

I forgot to show off my new logo!  It's official as of today, and I wanted you all to be the first to see it!  I'm in love.  <3

Just about today...nothing else. :)

Well, as you can probably tell, this post is going to be about nothing special.  Actually, I take that back.  I need to re-word that.  It's about everything special.  It's going to be just about today.  I had such a great day today, and I feel so blessed that I thought I'd bore you all with it's details.  I played.  Yep, that's it!  I did what I wanted, when I wanted to do it.  It felt great!  Me and the kids went on two walks, and I even jumped on the trampoline!!  We went on a walnut hunt (yes, we have the misfortune of living next to about 10 giant walnut trees), looked for purple blades of grass (don't ask) hung the laundry on the line for the first time this year, and then sat on the steps eating cheese and crackers.  I felt like a kid again!  I didn't take the camera with me at all today, and as much as I would have liked to capture those simple fun times, I had to do them without trying to chase the kids and lose the moments.  I have the pictures right where I need them, and won't have to file them away or burn them to a cd.  I have the memory of just playing.  My agenda for tomorrow?  The park and library.  If anyone wants to join me, feel free!  Just be sure to leave your maturity at home.  :)

A very sweet shoot!

Normally I don't share my client photo shoots on my blog, but this one I can't help.  It is a very sweet, very big boy named Jordan.  He was born at a whopping 10lbs 3oz, and I can only have pity for his young mother.  I mean, OUCH!!

This baby was one of the best, most cooperative little guys that I've had yet.  He slept through the entire shoot, and even though he was already almost 3 weeks old, he let me pose to my hearts content.  It was so fun "playing!"  I'm going to be honest with you.  Normally, I don't get excited about newborn shoots because I'm nervous the entire time!  The whole feel for the time slot is based solely on the baby's attitude, and if they aren't happy, no one is.  Little Jordan however, stole the show, and the hearts of all who were present.  He made me so antsy to get the next newborn appointment call!  Heck, I might just have to talk the hubby into one more.  Just one.  ;)

Something Green

With all the confusion of keeping track of the days for the Photo Challenge, I somehow missed the day that says, "something green."  I thought and thought of something creative, but all I came up with was my house plant.  Pretty boring, I know, but I'm hoping to really use my creative side with the next few challenge pictures.  (Hoping to, was the key words!)  I know that I'm struggling with my "bad habit" as well as my childhood memory.  The latter seems easy enough, but times have changed, and I no longer live out in the country where I built forts, or chased down the barn cats to be my "baby".  We have no forts, and (thank goodness) no cats.  We don't have a tire swing like I used almost daily, and the toys are no where near as boring as they were about 20 years ago.  I'll have to get back to you on that one, but in the meantime, here's a picture of my house plant.  Try not to fall asleep.

Challenge Day 5: Low Angle

I am in a few photography courses right now, and they all mention how if you edit pictures, you should look at them in a different light (if you edited at night, look at them during the day) as well as on a different day.  You'll see things that you didn't notice the first time around, and your taste can change that quickly as well.  I have really started noticing that with the pictures that I've been editing!  Although this is not a favorite of mine, it is meaningful.  I love that Maddex is always on the floor playing "Uncle Luke and his demo", and I'm glad that I had an excuse to be able to capture it.

Challenge Day 4: High Angle

This is my beautiful baby, Hadlee.  She tells me that she'll be my baby even when she's 8.  How sweet is that?!  Unfortunately I'll have to break the bad news to her, that even is she's 100, she's still going to be my baby...thumb, Me Me (blankie) and all.

Day 3: Clouds

Earlier in the day, I peeked out my window to see if I could capture anything.  Nope!  The sky was a solid beautiful blue.  About an hour later, still nothing.  I kept looking, and looking, trying to start creatively in order to capture day 3's challenge.  Finally I saw something, out my daughter's window.  I'm PRETTY sure it's more than just a stream from a jet, but either way, I used it for my photo challenge.  And if you look closely, you might be able to see the screen from my daughter's bedroom window.  It was FREEZING outside, and I am the biggest of all sissy's when it comes to the cold!  So, regardless of the fact that I wanted a beautiful, flawless picture, my natural instinct of being warm won again, and left me with this.  Enjoy!  =)

Day #2: What you wore today!

My beautiful baby girl, wearing the hat and coat that I wore today.  I couldn't have asked for a better model!

Photo Challenge Day 1-Self Portrait

The first day of the photo challenge was a self portrait.  Yuk!  I HATE self portraits!  I tried a few different ones, but really wasn't happy with any of them.  I feel like I look so old!  My eyes are all squinty, and I never know if I should smile or not.  We are our worst critics I know, but I didn't want a gross picture of me floating around the internet, so I decided to cover up my worst features with a beautiful scarf that my sister-in-law knitted for me last year.  Nothing can look ugly with a soft fabric, and a beautiful color, right?!  If you're able, I'd love to see you attach a photo of your self portrait (cell phone pics welcomed too!) to this blog, otherwise, find me on Facebook (PepperJack Pics) and upload them there.  Each time you enter, be sure to add your name and the day # that the photo is for.  You will be entered into a drawing for a free sitting for every photo that you enter.  Good luck, and have fun!!

Up to the challenge?!

Okay, I have been addicted to Pinterest!  Anyone else out there that has lost hours of searching through, only to end up with a bigger "to do" list?  BUT, I did find something kind of fun on there yesterday, and although it's a challenge, I'm hoping I won't be the only one to take it on.  Before I go on about how I want to do this, here's the challenge:

So, I was thinking that every time I post a picture of my challenge (it will be posted here as well as on my Facebook page), you could all post a picture of the same subject.  Example:  I post a picture of flowers, so you do the same!  Every time you post a picture, (Facebook or as a comment on this blog) you will be entered into a drawing for a FREE photo session, as well as an 8x10 of the image of your choice!  The drawing will take place after the challenge is done, and no, I don't plan on doing it every day like it says, but I will aim for every few days.  Fun!!  I'm super excited, but with time never on my side, I see why it's called a "challenge".  Let's all cross our fingers and make this happen!  

Out of the norm

This time, instead of posting about my usual life, I want to share a link that I found through a fellow photographer's Facebook posting.  As the link reads, I won't be posting any photos with this blog entry, but after you read it, you'll see that it doesn't really need any photos added.  It speaks for itself, but I'm warning you, have a box of Kleenex nearby!

Letter On My Doorstep

Thanks for reading this, and putting value in all the pictures that you take, whether they are taken by a professional photographer or a cell phone.