little spohia

Ive posted only a few of the TONS of photos i took at Sophia's 2nd birthday party. Check them out of flickr!

the beckoning of lovely

family of 15.

I think I set a record for myself - photographing so many people in such a short amount of time! I had the privilege of photographing this beautiful family over the weekend. This picture was so silly. I wanted to get one of them all jumping up at the same time but with so many of them they all wound up hopping about at different times and wound up laughing harder than they jumped!

I also photographed the sweetest little girls 2ND birthday this weekend. It will be a week or two before I get some of those photos up. I maxed out my computer with photos so I'm having to do some cleaning up.

We've been pretty busy over here getting used to the new school schedule and working full time at the preschool. I'll have some new pics up soon! - PROMISE!

Kaiden's FIRST day of school!

Kaiden was pretty nervous once the first day of school finally rolled around. He was so nervous he was having chest pains! We went out for "first day of school breakfast" and that seemed to calm his nerves just a little. We all chatted and joked and tried explaining to Kaiden that it was EVERYONES first day of kindergarten today. No one knows each other and everyone will be making friends - its a new and exciting time!

He was a trooper and sucked it up. He looked so adorable with his over sized backpack but it turns out they don't use backpacks at his school - bummer. Good thing he has a cool matching lunchbox to use!

Here's a picture of Kaiden trying to look excited about being left here with all these teachers and kids he doesn't know. He's not good with change and this was a BIG one. He wandered around a little as we watched him go, coming back to us a couple times for some quick hugs, and almost getting cold feet once. I think it was harder for me to leave him!
A tear or two started falling from my eye when we were getting out of the car to drop him off. I looked at Kaiden and said "Why do you have to grow up? You're in kindergarten for goodness sake!!!". He held my cheeks and wiped my tear and said "I have to grow up mom. But I'll always be your baby." Yes, yes you will little man. The tears fell hard as I turned my back and walked away from him nervously checking out the other kids on the playground. Why cant there be a magic pause button? I know I've said that before but SERIOUSLY. Just for a little while? Its going way too fast.

:: spontaneous ::

Late this afternoon, with thunder clouds looming in the distance, Kaiden had the grand idea to go to the YMCA water park. We've been wanting to go all summer but never seemed to have gotten there. When I heard him ask to go all I could think about was all the planning it would take - it's going to rain soon, I need to pack a bag, get snacks ready, sunscreen on, we don't even know if they are open, I don't know where my membership cards are...... and the list kept going in my head.

But Kaiden was so excited to go that I had to go with it! I threw on my suit, forgot about the sunscreen, grabbed a towel and ran out the door. I was a little concerned about the rain but thought hey, even if we only get 30 minutes to play it will be worth it right?

It turns out we spent 3 hours there! The weather was beautiful, the rain stayed away, and we didn't even need sunscreen because it was overcast.

We had a blast running around playing tag, hide and seek, splashing in the fountains, and swimming like fish.

The big event of the afternoon was the water slide! This is the first time Kaiden has gone down a water slide on his own! He's such a good swimmer now that he's confident in himself to swim to the edge of the pool after he gets off the slide. He was so proud of himself he was almost glowing!

I'm so glad I didn't listen to all the reasons I was trying to make to not go today. Just letting things go, not worrying, and making things simpler is much more enjoyable. Kids don't have that problem. They live in every moment and it's a beautiful thing!

chicken update

I went to check on the chickens over the weekend and boy have they grown! As soon as I walked up to the coop Mr. Bird started getting real feisty. When I stepped in he attacked me, pecking at my hands and feet! OUCH. What happened to my sweet little chickens??? I know he's only trying to protect his lady but I remember when he would willingly hop into my lap for attention. Now just like all boys who grow up, he's more interested in the ladies.

It took a good five minutes of swatting him with my shoe to get him to back off from me so I could see the other two. He kept doing this great show of flapping his wings(I guess this was supposed to scare me off?). He does look pretty bad ass though!

Look how tall Winston is! He probably comes up to my hip when he's standing tall like this. He wasn't mean at all and let me hold him as he was talking away. He even showed off his cock-a-doodle-do call!

Miss Gretchen was just the same and seemed so tiny compared to her boyfriends. She's a pretty little thing and seems to enjoy all the fighting and attention over her.

I miss those birds! But I'm thankful still that I get to go back and visit them to see how much they've grown. I can't wait till Gretchen starts laying eggs!

blustery day

Our time at the beach was cut a little short with the afternoon showers looming in the distance. The water was choppy which made for great wave riding and jumping but not so good for relaxing in the water. Every time we turned around another wave was knocking us over! The current was really strong so Kaiden got a good lesson in rip current safety. If I let go of his wave board he was taken 20ft away from me within seconds. He thought it was really fun to be going so fast but it made my stomach turn in knots.

When I asked Kaiden what his favorite part of his trip to the beach was he replied....

"Farting in the deep end!!!"

Oh dear.

its raining. its pouring.

A storm blew in this evening. Before it got nasty we went out to play in the sprinkles and wind. Kaiden kept laughing and crying out, "This is SOOOOO MUUUUUUCH FUUUUUN!!!!! Yippee! Yippee!", as the wind would carry him and his umbrella away.
When the storm was in full force we sat on the porch to eat our supper. Listening to the thunder and rain, it was a perfectly lovely evening.

June 29

The little man and I took another road trip this weekend. This time we traveled over to Arcadia to visit our old friends the McManus'. It's such a lovely drive to the town in the middle of nowhere. Relaxing. Peaceful. Beautiful.

We had some good old summer time fun with our friends. We filled up our bellies with some delicious soup, salad, and sandwiches. Hit up the local mini theater and saw the adorable movie Wall-E. And after all the running about "town" we relaxed by the pool. The kids energy and imaginations were in full throttle.

It's so wonderful to have good friends to visit and share these summer moments with. Sometimes we get wrapped up in our busy little lives and don't stop to notice how wonderful our friends are and how important they are to us. But I've been noticing things more and trying to be more aware of the simple gifts we have been given :)

Happy Summer!

little Ethan is 1 month old!

I can't even believe it! It's been one month since I last saw this cute little face. I think I'm one lucky gal to be the personal photographer for this happy boy. His one month pictures are up on flickr if you would like to check them out. Next up - 3 months!!!

Leu Gardens

While we were in Orlando this weekend visiting Jill and Ethan we took a trip to Leu Gardens. It was a beautiful place with tons of paths, bridges, hills, gigantic trees, and gorgeous plants. At this lookout over a massive lake Kaiden was in search of the resident American alligator. He was no where to be found but we did find a couple other friends that wanted to visit!



This big guy was in the middle of one of the paths(Jill almost stepped right on him!).
But luckily Kaiden was brave and rescued him from being smooshed by any others. Kaiden was fascinated by this HUGE seed pod. It came from a sausage tree. Tons of these were hanging like fruit from this massive tree. Kaiden insisted we take this big one home and plant it in our hard to have our own sausage tree. He carried it for quite a while until he became too hot, tire, hungry, and cranky to move it any further. Then I took over looking like a crazy person carrying a large sausage throughout the gardens.

Even though it was terribly hot we still had a fun little adventure. Exploring, finding treasures, and animal friends. What more could we ask for?

big kid class

Kaiden has been having such a good time at KDO this summer! He was moved up to the "big kids class" and has enjoyed all of its benefits. They play soccer, football, cook in the kitchen, build amazing creations out of K'Nex without the little ones demolishing them, and just do all the cool things big kids do!

Here is Kaiden and his buddy Lance. They are inseparable at KDO! They play together all day, sit next to each other, hold hands, and always stick up for one another. Lance is actually 4 years old and supposed to still be in the 3-4 year old class but they let him go up to the big kid class with Kaiden since they are such good pals.

When summer is over I think Kaiden is going to go into Lance withdrawal. The days that we aren't at KDO Kaiden asks all day long when we will be going to KDO next to see him!

ready for an adventure

Kaiden and I had a fantastic day over at Oscar Sherer State park last week. Our first order of business was to check out the hiking trails.

While at the information center (which was awesome! lots of bones, fossils, and exhibits) we found this neat local animal track guide. Kaiden couldn't wait to get out on a trail and find some tracks. He insists we found wood rat, panther, and red fox tracks. The guide also had a scat and splat (aka poo trail) section. I picked up some badger poo by accident ;)

We took the trail along the creek and stopped periodically to watch the large fish jumping out of the water. I tried convincing Kaiden to go canoeing with me. He says next time.

All along the way we were checking out holes, sticks, trees, small paths, and keeping our eyes out for Indian artifacts. Here is a picture of Kaiden exploring a hole with his "Indian knife" which he donated to the information center for other children to learn about ancient Indian tools.

After the trail we took a refreshing dip in the lake. We had the lake all to ourselves and it ws so peacful and relaxing.

We also took his bike and he rode on some of the more even trails. This place had everything an adventurous boy could ask for. I think he was ready to set up camp and stay for the summer!

cock-a-doodle-doo

Check out the chickens - They are all grown up! We were hoping we had all hens but it turns out we were blessed with two roosters. So now meet Gretchen, Mr. Bird, and Winston. I absolutely adore my chickens and was so sad when one morning I heard some slight cock-a-doodle-dooing. We are allowed to have chickens as long as there is no noise disturbance. I was in search of a new home for them the next day.

So now here they are in their new luxury coop - complete with their own tree for roosting and a special nest just for Gretchen.

I'm terribly sad to see them go to another home. I miss letting them out every morning and having them follow me around the backyard clucking with excitement while I water my garden. But they now have a wonderful place to live and good people to care for them. Plus, we can visit whenever we want!

ocean side

Family session!

Wow! 3 kids, 2 adults, and one well behaved dog. I have never worked with so many differents elements but I had so much fun with this family! We took a stroll downtown and then made our way over to Marina Jacks for sunset. Check out more of this family session on flickr!

lovely day at the park

We took advantage of the beautiful weather we've been having and made our way over to Marina Jacks with a few of our friends from KDO (the daycare I work at). We had 5 kids, Kaiden, Karlee, Kylee, Kendall, and Brandon. And 3 of us mammas.

The playground was loads of fun as always. Kaiden calls it the "blue park". All of my pictures had a blue cast to them due to the reflection so I had to edit them the best I could.

After the "blue park" we took a dip in the fountains.

And then a nice walk around the park lead us to a little beach where the kids we able to explore.

We've been going to this park a lot lately. It's so gorgeous out there I feel like I can truly appreciate Sarasota, its beautiful scenery, art, culture, and fun, all in one little spot. We're planning on having a picnic there soon. There's lots of rolling green grass where we can kick off our shoes and lay back under the shade of the banyan trees. Sounds like a perfect afternoon...perhaps tomorrow?