Tulip Overload

Today I shot a few hundred photos of my tulips.  I first went outside and wasn't happy with anything I got.  First of all I was freezing, second - nothing else is pretty right now, third - my tulips are really not good this year, pretty scattered and not able to capture any in the background.  So I brought some inside and had an hour or so of fun.  

I might have gotten carried away but I don't think you'll mind.

You can see how the tulips opened up as I shot them.  If you look at all my images you will see them open.  So cool!!  John and I covered my patio chairs today but before I could do that I had to use the fabric.  2 chairs are striped....

and 4 chairs are flowered.  We did get the chairs done and for half the summer I will keep it painted white and the second half of the summer I'm going to pick a color and paint it.  I love my spray paint :)

Here is a bit of a painterly look.  

Miss and Little Miss Sneak Peeks

Miss and Little Miss were struck with the flu which caused a bit of a delay in these photos but they made up for lost time.  I'm sure glad I'm not their mother and having to pick from the photos that we took.  Not only are they beautiful little girls they are so sweet and polite.  Little Miss came over sleeping and this is what we got about 4 photos into it.  She loved the camera.  

Here they are in their Easter dresses, they love their fufu, pink and frills like little girls should.

My favorite

Loving the vintage look with the girls so I may have went overboard..... oh well

I had a dresser drawer painted up for our Jazzed Up Junk Sale so why wouldn't I use it for my Pink Girls.  It also kept Little Miss in one spot.  She won't be a year until June but she's already walking and there is no stopping her.

I had some Vintage fun with Miss while Little Miss changed into her Baptismal Gown.  She thought it was extra special to have one on one attention.

Here is Little Miss in her Baptism Gown made by her Grandma from Mom's wedding dress shawl.  She looks like a little doll in it.  I was so afraid of her trying to walk with the gown so long but she managed just like a pro.

A little vintage for her too.

Thank you Shannon, it was fun getting to visit with you again too.  Your girls are so cute and those eyes on Little Miss have been pulling me in all night long.

3 Month Baby Girl Sneak Peek

One of the best things about taking photos for others is that I get to share in their special milestones.  I took this couples wedding photos and now they have a beautiful little girl.  She turned 3 months already so they came over for a few photos to freeze this moment.   She is growing up very quickly and wanting to slow her down isn't going to happen.  She has the biggest blue eyes ever and the snuggle time with her was great.  

Her toenails were even painted for the special occasion.  :)

She's already a Brewer fan

We had to work really hard for any smiles but she loved to gaze at her momma with lots of love in her eyes.  

Thank you Rachel and Eric, you have a beautiful little girl and you are already the perfect parents.

He's Good

Thank you all for the calls, text and e-mails asking about Garrett.  Shannon sent me a picture on my phone of the big boy that he was before going in.... G-ma had tears.... but he is doing well, those little ones bounce back so quickly.  When Shannon put him down for a nap she texted me and said he was crying because he wanted to see his Grandma....... ahhhhhhh he's such a sweet boy.  I went to see him after work  and got the biggest welcome ever.  Did I ever say I love being a Grandma?  

When I had to leave he cried and then realized that hurt him very much and I made my exit quick.   Here is a quick photo to welcome the tulip season.  I love my tulips.

Sneak Peek and G-Man

This sneak peek is so late but I've haven't even had a spare minute (hour) to upload them.  Thank you Shannon and Tommy for being so patient waiting for them.  Your little girl is such a cutie-pie and I've enjoyed watching her grow through your visits for photos.  It's hard to believe she is already 18 months.  

Her Grandpa was a fireman and so we incorporated his vintage items into the shoot.

Madelyn loved to sing songs and here she is singing "If you're happy and you know it".  She pushed her little fingers into her cheeks with a big grin.

We tried a little vintage as she hung out in the suitcase.  

A cute little storyboard of Madelyn, she has many faces and lots of actions to share.

Our little Garrett is having surgery tomorrow, he will be fine but my mind has been with him and his mommy a lot lately.  Tomorrow will be a long day until I get my text message to say he is in recovery.  

Spring Starbrust

My daffodils are deliciously wonderful this spring.  Their yellow color is so inviting to everyone who comes here.  I've had people come right out and ask if they can take some home, steal the new vase on my dining room table, drop hints about sharing, and some just go pick their own.  The white ones I must have thrown in the ditch a few years back, but when they bloom I make sure I go pick them.  Saturday Elly, Mallory, Garrett and I went to cut flowers for their mommies and they ran along side me and insisted they could hold them.  We got back to the house and all I could do was laugh at all the bent stems we had from their little fists hanging on so tight.  When they went home they all wanted to hold their flowers..... I'm not sure how they looked when they got them to their house but they know Grandma will always go pick flowers with them.  Such a beautiful memory for them to have.  

Grandma's flowers with a little starburst and watercolor background....... sigh

Sunday Beauty

Since we had our Easter on Saturday John and I had Sunday to ourselves.  Of course I wanted to clean, organize, change seasons in my closet, laundry, gardening, painting, sanding, distressing..... this list goes on and on.  But I knew that wouldn't be much of a distraction for John to pass the holiday with a quiet house so I suggested we go for a Jeep ride.  What I thought would be a ride for an hour or so turned into 6 hours, we put on lots of miles but we had a wonderful day with just the two of us.

One of our stops included a new rivers edge that was fun to explore.  I had along my camera (of course) and I found my way down to the side of the river, John stumbles down the steep incline wondering how I got down there.  I'm taking picture and he says.... is there something down there?  I ignore him and keep shooting..... Connie is there something down there?  I answer I don't know how about I use my big ole' zoom lens and check it out.  So this is the photo I took which is zoomed quite a bit farther than where we were standing.  Can you see what he seen?  Yeah me neither until I zoomed up with the camera.  Keep looking

So we climb our way back up the riverbank to chase down what we're seeing.  There is a path that winds along the river on the top so that is where we are heading.  Here is the start of the path.

After along ways we finally get close enough for me to use the zoom lens and get a photo where you can actually see what he seen.  We now have to be more quiet and sneak between trees trying not to crunch the pine needles to loud.  As we snuck up on him the branches that hung between us prevented me from getting a good shot but we watched him take a big ole dump in the water {it splashed big time} and then he flew down the river just inches from the water.  So cool to watch, if only there wouldn't have been so many trees and a huge drop off preventing me from getting a good shot of him.  Here is the one view that I did get.

Here is another look at the path we were walking on.... and by the way we walked a long ways down without realizing it.  On the way out I found some moss that I love to put in my flower pots so I loaded up my arms with dirty bug infested moss.  You don't even want to know what all went down my shirt on the walk out, let's just say I was a bit jumpy and squealy.  Finding that moss was the highlight of my day.

The highlight of John's day.... finding $1.25 on the ground when I was picking up the moss.

After we finally got back to the Jeep we drove down this one path road which I'm not sure we were suppose to be on but it took us down the steep incline right down to the river.  

Now if we can figure out how to get back to this place we found by total accident.  I might need more moss :)

Easter Egg Hunt

This Saturday we took the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt at Country Corners, they had over 600 eggs hidden for all age groups.  The parents got refreshments for the long hunt, the rules were read, age groups were given their color and quantity and the hunt started.  Elly was gone in a flash, she had never been here before nor do I think she knew any of the kids but that didn't matter to her.  The rest of us gathered outside to find yellow eggs for Garrett and pink for Max and Mally.  Garrett was done in a matter of minutes, he knew his color as "momma's favorite" and he picked them all up for her.  In this photo I think he's telling on someone for finding too many eggs.

Maxwell started out great, finding 2 pink eggs but that was it for him, he was done.

I told Mallory the Easter Bunny was behind her and Lynn said that was the problem, she was frozen in her tracks.  That bunny was getting too close to her and she didn't like it.  I'm not sure but I think Lynn was afraid of the Easter bunny too and from the looks of this photo she still might be.

To accent a subject in your photo it's a good idea to frame them with a natural frame..... This is a perfect example done totally by accident.  I just wish I would have gotten Lynn's full hand because I'm sure she is pointing out an egg for Mally.

Here are the stragglers keeping their eyes open for BIG Easter Eggs, they have beer coupons in them.

I did see Elly for a split second as she was running to find out what was happening by the Easter Bunny.

If you know what Jesse does for a living you understand why he is questioning the Easter bunny.... he can't ever leave his job at work.  LOL

It was so cool to see the colored eggs all hidden around the yards, all the kids that were there from the oldest to the youngest had smiles on their faces as they ran up to grab the eggs.

I did get Elly to take the others out for a hunt, she really hates to hang out with the "little kids" when there are big kids around.  We lost Mallory for bit.... she was with us and all of a sudden she was gone.  We panicked slightly until Lynn found her on the heels of Elly and her new friends, poor Mallory cried lots when Elly ignored her.  Mallory is Elly's shadow and doesn't understand why she can't hang with her all the time. 

This was really fun.  Tammee and Opie...... we'll be back next year.