Revamping...

A quick snapshot of their St. Patty's Day outfits yesterday...

Just stopping in for the briefest of moments this morning to wish you a belated Happy St. Patrick's Day and just to say 'hi'! :) I realized again this morning that another 10 days has passed since I blogged last. Good grief! Will I ever stay on top of it all? Nope. :) I doubt it! The lack of blogging is only indicative of the fact that we are keeping ourselves quite busy! :) I have been working many long hours lately revamping my photography website (creating an entirely NEW one, actually, which I will share with you all in a few weeks...I'm SO excited about it!) which means my computer time is spent almost entirely on that! Ty thinks my eyes might fall out of my head soon...I've been spending THAT much time working on it all on the computer! LOL! But its WONDERFUL and I feel a surge of growth and progression in my photography on the horizon. Lets just say I'm being 'stretched'. :) It's a good thing!


Luke and Ellie are doing great, despite a teeny cold these past few days! We had Luke's parent-teacher conference at school last week and were DELIGHTED to hear how well he is doing in school! According to his teacher, (whom we LOVE by the way) he is achieving at or above his age level! This is what they gave to us as we spoke...

We were pleased! He just LOVES school! He is excited to be able to do an 'extra' month during summer school this year (that extra time will be mostly just for FUN and not so much about the academic side of things! Mostly we are having him do the summer program just to have some social interaction for him and fun activities to break up the long summer months!) and then will continue him on in the pre-K class next fall for **hopefully** the same two mornings a week that we do now. We are on spring break with him currently and have plans for the next two weeks to enjoy the JumpZone with friends, visit with Meemaw (who is also on break from school) and have play dates that we can't normally have during a regular school week! The weather is phenomenal lately, and we are VERY much enjoying spring! :) Yay!

In addition to the revamping I am doing with my little photography business, Ty and I have been spending a hefty amount of time working on reorganizing and restructuring his business. Most of you know that Ty is an independent contractor and although he works for Action Onsite, he is technically self-employed. So, together with our CPA we have been working towards becoming incorporated. Its a big deal for us and a BIG job too! Time consuming to say the least, but its something that will certainly be worth it in the end! With a deadline of April 1st to get it all completed, we are kinda feeling the time crunch! I'm sure we will both be burning the midnight oil in the few weeks to come!

So...that is 'us' in a nutshell right now. Busy with lots of new adventures on the horizon and filled with HOPE and graced with PEACE because of it all! Spring seems to be the time for change and growth and it certainly feels like God is moving on many fronts in our lives! We are excited to see what the year brings our way! :)

Superhero

As most four-year-olds are, my little man is currently obsessed with superheros! Every chance he gets, he is either dressed up in a Buzz Lightyear costume (thanks Sarah!), fighting against a make-believe foe with anything he can pretend is a sword, OR...

Dressing up in this.....

....the only mask we own and the only thing suitable to pretend as a cape. (By the way Mom...someday, I do still intend to put that awesome sewing machine you gave me to good use and sew him that cape I've been talking about for so long! Someday....)

It was about a week ago as I was getting my shoes laced up for a run in the late afternoon, that Luke walked up to me dressed in this very 'cape' and mask and asked if he could come along with me.
"You want to come with me? On my run?" I questioned.

"Yeah. Pleeease?!"

"Why? Are you sure? You'll have to ride in the stroller." I asked as I secretly hoped he would retire the thought so I could enjoy a little exercise-induced solitude.

"That's okay! Can I go? Please, please?! I want you to run fast so it feels like I am flying."

(By the way, I DON'T run fast! But I guess to a 4 year old, anything faster than his two little feet can carry him is considered fast!)

Seeing the sweet, excited anticipation on his face (at-least what I could see of it behind that elusive mask, mind you!) I acquiesced.

As I chugged along my route, I occasionally looked down to see the cutest look of sheer delight on his face! At one point, his arms were outstretched and he seemed to be pretending to fly!! It wasn't until about 5 minutes later that he turned around and pleaded with me to let him get out and run alongside me. Knowing that he is actually pretty quick, I unbuckled his straps and let him trot beside me for a spell. And I have to tell you that I will NEVER, NEVER forget those few moments there on that sidewalk as I ran alongside my four-year-old son! The image is burned in my mind even now....the late afternoon sun streaming through his bright pink cape...the black antenna of his mask flopping wildly with every tromping step...the sound of his little vans paddling the concrete and his infectious giggle resonating all around us! A car or two passed us by in those moments and I laughed wildly as I imagined them catching a glimpse of that bright pink cape flapping in the wind and the two of us running there together...empty stroller and all! We were certainly a sight to behold!! A glorious, silly, unabashed few fun moments with my son!!! What a gift! I hope someday, he'll tell me he remembers it too!

A few of my favorite things....

I spent the vast majority of my day on Thursday (Ty's birthday) enjoying a few of my most favorite things! As I was walking out the door to take Luke to preschool, I suddenly remembered that I had promised him that we would stop to visit the horses in the canyon on the way home, so I quickly grabbed my camera and a half-empty bag of baby carrots as I hurried out the door. I surely did not have grand plans for the morning...just a few errands to grab some last minute things for Ty's birthday dinner. And quite honestly, I was hurried and a bit haggard this particular morning.

But as I began the drive through the canyon, I couldn't help but be awestruck by the beauty all around as spring is beginning to unfold ever so gingerly on the hills! Everything...and I do mean EVERYTHING...is green and vibrant! (Feel free to burst into your own rendition of "The Hills are Alive" from the Sound of Music!) It was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l!!! My heart swelled and the kids must've been feeling it too, because every little nuance....the ripening oranges on the trees, the horses grazing in the fields, the flowers that are beginning to burst forth from the grasses....ALL of it caught Luke's attention on the ride to school! We marveled in it together as we drove!

After seeing Luke off at school, and with my camera unexpectedly by my side, Ellie and I set out to find a little more beauty to fill our morning. Here is my first image of one of my most favorite springtime treats...home grown, juicy, sweet oranges! Mmmmm! Nothing quite compares to these local babies!

After I successfully dodged some crazy looks from passersby as I traipsed through the outskirts of an orange grove to get this shot, Ellie and I followed a photographer-friend's lead to an amazing little park tucked away in the hills. A photographers dream! On this particular morning, this place was magical! The weather was cool and crisp and the sun danced elusively in and out behind puffy white clouds. The landscape was covered in a blanket of tall grass...waist high on Ellie...and huge oak trees towered over head! The stillness was so profound...so inviting...and I imagined that Ellie and I were walking right into The Secret Garden! A favorite moment that I will not soon forget with my sweet little girl...walking hand in hand down the sandy path in this most beautiful of places!

Having dressed Ellie in Ty's favorite outfit of hers as a little birthday treat for him, it was the perfect opportunity to take some photographs for him as a keepsake. After all, this day was his birthday and my day's goal was to celebrate how special he is to us! Ellie was pleased to oblige and I found myself on several occasions breathless from the simple beauty of what I was seeing through my camera lens as I watched her play. She delighted me!

It was about this time, when we walked over to this humongous oak tree that Ellie tugged off her hat and gave me the biggest laugh of the day! We had been eating a few carrots in the car on the way and somehow ( I have no idea how!) one of them must've fallen into her hat because no sooner did I look down at my camera and back up again only to find her hat in one hand and that sneaky little carrot gracing her lips! It had apparently hitchhiked its way into the park with us via her hat! :) I cracked up laughing...my roars of laughter echoing on the hills and this is the image I caught of her just then...

It wasn't soon after that we mosied out of the park and left our little magical outing behind. We instead wrapped up the grocery shopping for that night's special dinner and dessert, and headed over to get Luke from school. On the way home, I fulfilled my promise to Luke and we stopped to feed the horses! Ellie took a little catnap in the car while we did so! We've stopped at this spot before to pet the horses, but this was the first time Luke ever fed them! He was thrilled! And I was again delighted by the beauty that resided in that place! The canyon brimming with greenery...the sleek, dark horses trotting toward us through the green pasture, surrounded by a white fence and big, weeping pepper trees! It was awesome!

I gave Luke a quick lesson on how to properly feed a horse and he quickly made friends with one very hungry guy! Luke ADORED him!

Having run out of carrots, the horse searched a little more intensely for a snack.... :)

And then it was time to go. Luke bid the stunning creatures farewell....

The rest of our day was equally as wonderful..filled with some of my most favorite things...sweet moments with the ones I love the most! Ty came home to his favorite meal of homemade enchiladas and all the fixings, and we spent the evening celebrating his special day! Luke even serendaded him that morning with a guitar-solo rendition of "Happy Birthday"! Too cute! Wish I could have caught that one on video!

Happy Birthday, sweetheart!

I wish I had time to blog this morning, but unfortunately I don't...been busy with a couple of photo shoots, preparing taxes and the like lately, leaving no time left to blog! BUT...I wanted to be sure to pop in to wish Ty a VERY, VERY Happy Birthday today! You are an amazing father, husband, confidant and best friend! We love you dearly! Happy Birthday, Love!

(Ps..I'm hoping to be back soon with some oh-so-cute pics of the kids from our outing last week! So...if anyone is still out there reading...stay tuned!) ;)