Good Light

We had a great late spring downpour Sunday evening. The kids were irresistably drawn to it. As soon as it stopped I rushed out with the camera. The light was incredible. The colors were intense. I usually spend way too much time editing my pictures, trying to get the colors to look like this.
Creamy, even skin tones...vibrant colors. This picture, though, is happily photoshop free. I love good light.

Who's afraid of the big bad...

...grasshopper?

Thomas is!
Nicholas is!

Estella is definitely not.

She's saying, "I don't know what those big brothers are making such a fuss about. Holding a grasshopper is no big deal. I could do this all day."

This was in Fillmore this past weekend. We went for my sister Jamie's high school graduation. It was so fun to be there. I have LOTS of pictures for you Jamie....they will be coming soon!

Monument Exploration

We went exploring on the Colorado National Monument about a week ago. I did more picture taking than exploring :)

"Jen, what is in that dark crack right behind you?"

"I think it's a..."

"...HUMONGOUS BLACK WIDOW!!!"

"Yikes!"

Essie had a blast playing in the bottom of a dried up creek bed. The sand was cool and soft.

"Look Daddy, I am filling my shoe with sand!"

"My shoe got full...the next best place was my mouth." YUCK!

Mother's Day

Jackson and the kids were so wonderful to me on Mother's day. They let me sleep in, made me breakfast, let me take a nap, made me dinner, changed all the diapers, and everything they could think of to let me relax. It was so sweet. That evening after dinner, we went on a little walk. It was so fun! We found so many great places for taking pictures. Essie was still in her dress from church, so I tried a few of the locations on her. I think this was my favorite.

Thank you Jackson for making me feel so loved and appreciated!

Joyful Noise

We have started practicing violin in the "studio"...which is an extra room in our house that was built onto the garage. You have to go through the garage to get into it from the house. It has it's own entrance from outside, though, so it makes a perfect place for Jackson to teach cello lessons and me to take portraits. Thomas has been practicing there for a few weeks, and it works out really well for a few reasons...1) there isn't the distraction of toys 2) it is a room we rarely go into otherwise 3) Estella and Nicholas are usually distracted by the new surroundings long enough for me to help Thomas with at least part of his practicing without interruption. When we went out a few days ago to practice, one of my backdrops was all set up from a photo shoot the day before. On a whim, I had Thomas do his practicing in front of the backdrop. It was so fun taking pictures of him playing the violin. I have LOTS to share...but here is one for now. I hope he retains his great attitude toward learning new things as he gets older.

Every morning...

...Estella begs for "paste." She LOVES toothpaste and also just chewing on a toothbrush. A few days ago, I was at a store and someone said, "Your toothbrush is about to fall out of your pocket." I had forgotten that I had picked up Estella's abandoned toothbrush off the floor and stashed it in my back pocket. Hopefully her teeth are staying nice and clean due to this little fetish.

Eye Candy Actions

For those of you who know what actions are, I just bought Sheye Rosemeyer's fairly new set of actions called, "Eye Candy." I have only had 10 minutes to play with them...but I am in LOVE!