Oh summer..... (Sunday Snapshot)

....how I am going to miss you.

    Your gorgeous blooms.

Your impromptu sleepovers.

Your poolside fun.

Your frolicking freedom.

It's been fun.

But other things await us.

Like cooler weather.

And sweatshirts.

And leaves.

And fire pits.

And did someone say football???

Oh yes. 

Summer, it's been nice. 

You can hang around for one more week.

But after that, I think it's time for you to mosey on along. 

See ya next year.

Fountains (Sunday Snapshot)

While Jonah was in a day camp this week, I took the other 3 kiddos to some pop-jet fountains for a little water play. It's been a while since we've been....in fact, I'm not sure we've ever even taken Rylie!

They had a great time!

I was curious to see if Jude would want to play or if the water would scare him off. He loved it!

The girls ended with a little water dump-off. Oh, these girls crack me up!

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Summer is winding down....guess we better get as much of this stuff in as possible in the next 2 weeks or so before school starts.

Sunday Snapshot info: These were taken with my Canon T3 and 55-250mm lens. SOOC, the first picture was horribly underexposed (I wasn't paying very close attention), but I tweaked it some and converted it to B&W, and considering what how poor the original looked, I kinda like it!

Sleepy Camper (Sunday Snapshot)

We went camping this weekend...all 6 of us....in a tent. A very large tent. We had a great time and all went well.

Well...all of us thought so, except maybe Jude.

He wasn't the biggest fan.

But he sure did look sweet sleeping in the tent. And as the sun rose that first morning, I couldn't resist taking a picture of him in that moment.

If were up to him, that's probably where he would have liked to stay all day. No such luck for him, though!

Who knows? We might just make a camper out of him yet.

Glasses (Sunday Snapshot)

It's amazing how little it takes (sometimes) to entertain my kiddos.

I love my little goofballs.

Sleeping Like a Baby (Sunday Snapshot)

If you know Rylie, then you know she's our wild woman. She doesn't tow the line. She doesn't follow the rules. She's one of a kind, for sure.

The other night, I put the kids to bed and about an hour later, I went up to peek in on them.

I found this. 

Books in her bed. A "display" set up on her bedside table. Pillows in a basket behind her. Perched on her box of bows. And she completed her look with mismatched pj's, sunglasses (oh yes, they're under there) and a hat.

Girlfriend is straight up nuts. Love her creative little mind!




This pic was taken with my 18-55mm lens. It was dark in their room aside from the little light on the table. My settings were ISO 6400, f 4.5, shutter 1/8.

A Girl and Her (Brother's) Hat-(Sunday Snapshot)

Reagan seems to be my favorite subject recently.

She's cooperative (mostly). At least when you bribe her with candy....

She's at an adorable age.....she can follow directions yet still have some off moments and try new things, without being too self-conscious.

It makes taking pictures of her pretty easy.

These might just be my favorite pictures I have ever taken.

Not bad for a spur of the moment thing in our weedy overgrown backyard.

But it does make me wonder....how on earth did I have anything at all to do making this?

Miracles do exist. ;)

These were all taken with my Canon Rebel T3 and 50mm lens. The top photo settings were ISO 100, f 1.8 and shutter 1/320. I edited first with Florabella Clean Color, retouched a bit and then finished with CoffeeShop's Buttercream Black and White.

My Little Graduate (Sunday Snapshot)

Miss Reagan finished preschool this week....which is crazy, because I swear she just started.

It's amazing how quickly this year has gone by. And it's even more amazing to think that her first day of preschool last year, was the day before we left to go get Rylie from China. It just reminds me that really, Rylie hasn't been home all that long.

But I digress....

Here's Reagan on her first day, back in September......

....and her last day, earlier this week.

And then ready for her graduation ceremony.....

She had a great time, a great class, and a great teacher (who also taught Jonah).

She and her 3 BFF's have been together for the past 2 years. One of them she's known since infancy. Unfortunately, only one of them will join her at the same school next year. I know she will miss them so much. In fact, when they played a little video of the year's events at their graduation ceremony, she cried. I did too, thanks to Taylor Swift's song that accompanied the video. Ugh...it should be illegal to play those types of songs at sentimental events with moms present.

Anyway, Kindergarten is right around the corner for my girl. It looks like, despite my best efforts and earnest pleas, she's just continuing to grow up. And I don't like it one bit.

These pics were taken with a mix of settings...and different lenses. The first ones were with my 50mm, ISO 100, and a mix of shutter/aperture settings. The last 3 were just with my 18-55mm....admittedly on auto just out of ease due to the craziness of the graduation.

Sink Bath (Sunday Snapshot)

Jude has recently discovered our sand table on the deck....which he loves. And bonus....it entertains him for a long time.

But every time he gets near it, the sand. Gets. Everywhere.

Even if he just plays for a minute, the first move is generally a big dump. Right on his head.

So, he's also been visiting the bathtub.

A lot.

Fortunately, he loves that too.

The other day, we were in a rush, so, being that he is still quite small, it was into the kitchen sink he went.

I don't yet have any pics of him at the sand table....but I did get a few of him getting cleaned up.

He's pretty much the cutest thing that's been near my sink in a while, if I do say so myself.

The afternoon sun in my kitchen is blinding by the sink, so given you pretty much need sunglasses, I think these turned out ok.


These were taken with my Canon Rebel T3 and my plain ol' 18-55mm kit lens. My settings were ISO 100, f 5.0, and shutter speed of 1/60. (Unfortunately, I was in a bit of a rush and would probably have changed these had I been thinking a little more clearly. Oh well....live and learn. My picture-taking has so far to go.) I edited with a combination of Florabella's Clean Color and CoffeeShop's Velvet Peach.