Lollipop Kids

Preparing for the big candy day...

The Big Pool

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa we have a jacuzzi on loan for the winter. The kids call it the big pool (as opposed to their little blue plastic one from Walmart). Mom and Dad like swimming in this one much better than the little pool although Haylie and James would swim in it every night if they could...

Pumpkin Patch #3

Pumpkin Patch #3 was the annual required trip to Apple Hill. We were so busy in October that we barely made it there. We planned for the Tuesday before Halloween to take a little trip up in the morning. Unfortunately - it wasn't nearly as fun as we had hoped. It was FREEZING and windy and pretty much everywhere was closed. Guess we never tried to go up on a Tuesday morning before. We made the best of it and had fun but the trip was very short lived!

Started off with hot chocolate and apple donuts - YUMMY!!:

The kids ran around for a little while by the pond while we tried to stay warm. I was also experimenting with my new 85 mm lens:

James was working on this apple all day:
On the train ride:


This was spontaneous and uncoached. They were so cute walking back to the car together:
I really wanted to take some pictures of Haylie in the apple orchards with my new lens but there was no way - it was so windy and cold we jumped out of the car for a couple minutes and that was it:

I think she's done:

Crazy Hair

Forgot to comb it down after taking a bath one day...

Baby Boy James

I remember when my sister started reading one day and I couldn't figure out when she learned how to read. I always thought of her as my baby sister and I am still am not quite sure how she grew up and now has 3 kids of her own! Well - I think Haylie is going to have the same problem with James. She loves to baby him and take care of him. She especially loves to hold him like he is a baby. And I will say, most of the time, James doesn't mind it either.

Look how big he is:

Scooter Girl

As a follow up to the video, here are some pictures of "Scooter Girl". Haylie got a scooter for her birthday and wants to ride it everywhere. About a week ago we all went to the downtown area in our neighborhood one evening, to take a stroll and have dinner out on the terrace of a great restaurant. Haylie rode her scooter around time the whole time and she loved it.

So much to blog, so little time

OK so I have gone from once a day, to once a week, to once a month posts. I have folders full of pictures and a mind full of funny stories to blog but just never the time to sit down. Photography has been consuming me and I have made a vow to slow down next year and cut my # of sessions in half. Until then - things are just crazy!!!! I have to figure out how to divide my time between my family, my bank job, my photography job, my friends, my walk with God, and several volunteer projects Micah and I are working on and very excited about. All that leaves no time for blogging but I do want to get better so my remaining 5 readers can keep up to date with us! :)

For now, here is a video from a walk the other day with the kids. We go on a walk almost every day lately. They really love being outside and riding their bikes around the block. They mostly love riding or running down the steep driveways in our neighborhood. Here is Haylie challenging James to a race. He didn't quite get the concept. Ready, Set...