Monday, March 31, 2008

Just another normal day around here.

You know, laundry, picking up clutter, keeping the kids from inflicting too much bodily harm upon one another, taking cover while a tornado tries really hard to form practically above your house.

Yep, it's spring in Texas. Sometimes it can be a wild ride.

This afternoon, suddenly it started raining really hard, then I heard loud pings. Quarter-sized hail was falling. The largest I've seen here! The one downside to DirecTV is the disappearing signal in this kind of weather. Also, I had the laptop all tied up burning backup DVD's (I haven't backed up since Christmas!!) Fortunately, my next-door neighbor, Kelli, called to tell me the tornado sirens were on and the news stations were reporting rotation nearby. The kids and I hung out in the under-stairs closet for a bit. I think this is the first time we've officially taken cover since we moved into this house!

It was a fast-moving storm, so it was over quickly. Then the sun came back out and you'd have never known the weather had been that nasty only a few minutes before! No tornado actually formed, thank goodness!!

Friday, March 21, 2008

New Toys!!

Mommy's new toys, that is! :D

I ordered my first external flash and some accessories, and they arrived this week. I've been having fun playing around - having absolutely no idea what I'm doing, haha! I can't wait to learn how to use this stuff properly, but until then, I'll just fly by the seat of my pants and experiment!

Keeley creating a masterpiece, no doubt!


Our friend Liv came to play the other day. She and Luken played on www.starfall.com for a bit! :)


Ms. Keeley going up the stairs with her Belle doll.


I enlisted the help of all 3 kids to smush up some graham crackers so I could make Magic Bars. They thought it was great fun!


Sometimes it takes a little bit of elbow grease! ;)








Keeley, peering over Liv's shoulder...


Showing off her work!


Uh-oh! Somehow it turned into a game of chase! :D


Later that night at bathtime! Keeley was upset at first, because Luken was still playing.


Then she discovered the faucet! :)


Well, hello there, beautiful girl!!! :D


Soon, Luken decided to join in on the fun. This picture cracks me up because Keeley was noticing his "boy parts" and this was the face she made! :P


Playing in the spray.





Yum!


Later in the week I got my lightstands, so I was able to put up my whole flash/softbox/stand combo - woohoo!! A couple of shots of the kids while they were sitting very still watching The Backyardigans.
Keeley and her best pal, Elmo!

Luken and his 3 favorite items: Lovey and his 2 octopuses! (Don't you love that eyes-glazed-over, mouth-hanging-open face??!!)


That's it! A fairly random bunch of photos. I am just so excited to have a little extra light with which to work! :) I know I'm a geek.... it's OK! ;)

Sunday, March 9, 2008

This will bowl you over!!

Turn up your speakers! :D



Thursday, March 6, 2008

It's March...

And, in March, in Texas, the first thing that comes to mind is snow, right? :D

How about a snow day, followed by a 70º day, followed by a blizzard day?! Sure, that's just how we roll here, haha!

Luken went to his MDO in the morning, and Keeley and I went to the mall with some friends. On our way home, naturally, my gas tank was on E, so I HAD to get gas in this lovely weather. :(
Once we arrived home, the blizzard of '08 was in full force. Here are the kiddos gazing out at the backyard.





This is a house across the street, as seen from our front porch. Can you tell how amazingly LARGE the snowflakes are? I swear, some of them were as big as my hand. I've never seen such enormous snowflakes before!!! :D


Luken's artistic interpretation of the snow storm. I think it's pretty cool!


Daddy called to check in, and told us he'd be leaving work early - hooray!


An hour and 40 minutes later, Todd was home! (It's usually a 45 minute drive.)
He was ready to go outside with the kids and have some fun, so 20 minutes of major bundling-up later, we were having a blast! Well, Keeley took a few minutes to warm up to the concept, but she got there! :P


Looking up our street...

Daddy building a snowman!


Our house!


This plant is in our next-door neighbor's yard. I loved the way it looked covered in the snow!


You've seen Jacob appear in past blogs. He lives next door (in the house with the plant in the previous picture!) His mom, Kelli, LOVES snow! I'm not sure who I was more excited for - the kids or HER! :D


Daddy throwing a snowball at Luken.


Luken, preparing for the retaliation!


Gotcha!


Hey, that's not fair! I'm putting Keeley's mitten back on - for the 12-millionth time! :D


Getting lost in a multitude of hats!


Beady-eyed snowman. (I think Todd made his eyes with juice from some berries growing in our front yard! :D)


Here's Ethan! He's Jacob's little brother. Ethan has been a little under the weather, so he only got to peek out at the snow for a couple of minutes. Isn't he adorable?


Such a little sweetie!


Luken and Jacob. (And an obscured Keeley!)


Checking something out with his beautiful blues...





Brother and sister.... awwwwww!


Luken demolished the snowman for some strange reason!


Daddy, practicing his snowball-throwing technique!


Oh, how quickly things go from this....


... to this...


... to total meltdown!
Apparently Jacob was standing in the way of Luken's view of Daddy throwing snowballs. Or something like that! :P


Sharing snowballs with Keeley.





Isn't she beautiful???!!!


Brrrr! It's very cold out here. How 'bout we head in for some hot chocolate?


Lots of whipped cream for Luken!


And a straw?


Jacob is quite a ham!



But he so graciously gave me one genuine smile - what a handsome kid he is!


The little sibs wanted in on the fun, but I didn't think they'd do so well with mugs of hot chocolate, so I filled some little Dixie cups up with whipped cream.
At first it looked yummy...





But I don't think Ethan really liked it all that much! :D


Keeley liked hers long enough to give me the photo opportunity! What a good girl. ;)




.
It was fun, but I'm so glad it's supposed to be 70º again later in the week! :P