Getting back into the swing of things

It has been a while since I have posted on this blog, and I do apologize for my lack of response. We have been busy preparing to enroll and register Abigail for Pre-K at the Elementary School that the older kids already attend. She will be joining them this fall term alongside brother Ian, who will be in the 3rd grade, and older sister Autumn, who will be in the 5th grade. I can't believe that all 3 children will be in the same school for only one year. It's amazing how big Abigail has gotten within the past few months. She is growing like a weed and her hair is slowly becoming a darker shade of strawberry blonde, however, her eyes are still a nice dark blue. I am hoping that she keeps her eye color and her hair will hopefully be longer by the time school starts for her. By her 4th birthday in August, she will be ready for school, up to date on her vaccines, and ready to take on gaining friends in a social and educational atmosphere.

 For the passed few months, we have taken in a Toy Australian Shepherd we named Misty. She was born in late September, she is a rescue and special needs dog.  She has brought joy and laughter in our home as well. She has been a sweet addition to our other animals.

These pictures have been taken over the course of the past few days. It's been a rough couple of days, but we have been having fun testing the lighting in our home while shooting some fun moments as well. I started a project for my kids as well. I asked each child to pick a book, and with that book, I would record myself reading each one aloud for them. I will save them as MP3's and save them to both a CD, as well as onto my hard drive, on Itunes, or even on YouTube if I can, or put them on here for the future. So I will have a few books from Dr. Seuss, The Twilight Saga, and a few other Little Critter Stories. It's a project I am really looking forward to completing by the end of the year.

I also found a lot of help on Facebook with not only networking with other photographers, but receiving constructive criticism as well as developing my own editing style within a group called Photography Players. The group shares unedited shots to a thread and we can all put an "editing spin" on the photo, while sharing our "plays". It's always fun and exciting!

 This is Abigail when she and I were at home waiting for her brother and sister to return from school. She was singing I believe I can fly and said to me in a high pitched voice while giggling, "Look Mommy! I'm a airplane!!"

Sometimes it is so hard to catch the attention of any of my children when it comes to me taking their pictures. Luckily I have one child who is still not completely annoyed by my constant shutter button clicking. Abigail has been a great mode and I am so happy that I was able to capture a few precious moments with her. I cannot wait to upload these and get these printed as soon as possible. Just another benefit of being a photographer, is getting tons of prints.

Trevor's 3rd Birthday Party July 2014

Marc, Abby and I attended an old friend's son's 3rd birthday party in July. It was a very neat DIY Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle themed party. The parents made all the food and all the fun activities for the kids. I was able to take a few photos of the party and we all had a great time helping celebrate this adorable little boy's birthday.

Taking Chances...

I allowed my 9 year old daughter Autumn take photos of me today using my Nikon D5200 DSLR. I can't tell you how proud I am of her. She took the pictures while I edited them. She may be a future photographer. I have never let her use my camera before, and I am very cautious about ANYONE using my camera other than me. I guess I took a chance, and it paid off.

I also managed to take a few pictures of the kids earlier in the afternoon.