Ainsley's trip to the Pumpkin Patch

This is the best time to go to the pumpkin patch for pictures. There are still a lot of pumpkins left. :-)


Photo opp. :-)


I found this shirt in a tub of Katelyn's old clothes this morning right before we left. Nothing like perfect timing!


Waiting her turn for the monkey bars. She's quite good at monkey bars actually!


Not my favorite picture of myself, but it's proof that I was really there, right? :-)

To Infinity and Beyond!

Hayden is Buzz Lightyear this year for Halloween. :-)

Katelyn's Costume

Katelyn is a Punk Pirate this year for Halloween. She is really excited about it. We had a little fun with a quick photo session the other day. :-)

Kylee's Flowergirl

Waiting to practice dancing with Mr. Chris.


The cheesey side of Ainsey that we don't get to see too often. :-)


Going to practice with Mr. Chris.


Practicing for the big day.


I painted her nails like the big girls! She said her nails looked like Nana's and Mema's. :-)


Getting her hair done took awhile...


But it was worth it because it was beautiful.


Dressed and ready.


Playing with the white fuzzy caterpillars was a lot of fun. :-)


Waiting her turn for pictures.


Don't they look stunning?! :-)


Waiting in the bridal tent to walk down the aisle.


Nervous but excited.


Only a photographer's kid would make eye contact with the camera even when she's nervous and knows she has such a big job to do. :-) Such a pro!


There she goes! Note Mr. Mel in the background grinning. She loves him and he looks so proud of her. :-)


Almost there.


Waiting to dance with Mr. Chris for real this time. :-)


"She spins and she sways to whatever song plays without a care in the world...."


"So I dance with Cinderella...."


"....while she is here in my arms...."


"....cause one day the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone."

Hayden vs. the Guinea Pig Cage

The other day Lisa, Mike, Joe and I were all hanging out in the kitchen talking when Ainsley came running in saying, "Hayden's in the guinea pig cage!" We ignored her at first. When you have 8 kids running around one house you just tend to wait for the sight of blood before you take any comment too seriously. She repeated the statement, and we all just paused, looked at each other and said in unison, "Did she just say that Hayden is in the guinea pig cage?" She did! Oh no! Joe runs down the hall and I hear him yelling get the camera! Of course I'm not going to miss out this opportunity, so while I'm frantically looking for my camera and a clean card, Joe is pretending to help Hayden get out of the cage. Hayden's crying, "Daddy, get me out!" Joe, holding back laughter is saying, "I'm trying, son. Mommy, hurry with the camera!" He's also concerned that the guinea pig is squished between the cage and Hayden. Oh no! How are we going to console Ainsley when we have to explain to her that her guinea pig has been squished by her brother! Thank goodness the guinea pig was fine. She was pretty nervous around all of us for a few days, but overall she's fine.

How did this happen, you ask? Well, all I have to say is Hayden.... those of you who know him know if anyone can get themselves indside a guinea pig cage, it's Hayden. We were installing flooring in the girl's room earlier that day and their furniture and extra toys were all pushed into the closet. Hayden found their trash can and pushed it over to the dresser that the cage sits on. He opened the door (which is even hard for me to do) and put his entire upper body through the opening. From there all I can imagine is that he tried to pull himself, with the guinea pig in hand, through the door. He didn't fit as easily that way, so the entire cage came with him, collapsing down on him, shavings going everywhere. The pictures explain it better than I can.

So, in the battle of Hayden vs. the guinea pig cage.... I guess you can tell the cage wins! I'm hoping he's learned his lesson here.

Time for a Change

I felt like my blog needed a new look, so purchased a blogger kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs (my favorite digital scrapbook store). This kit is called Blog in a Box: Bloom and Grow by Zoe Pearn. Isn't it fun?! With this new look, my layout is different, so I am having to go through and resize my pictures so that they won't be cut off. This takes time, so they aren't all done, but I'll work on a few every now and then.

Katelyn's Team Pictures

We went to the mansion last night to take pictures of Stage Art's Xtreme Praise Team members last night. Katelyn is on the Teen Team this year (that name alone about kills me - TEEN? wow!). She wanted to pick out her own outfit for this and it had to involve jeans. :-) She did a good job all the way from the headband to the shoes. She looked so grown up and trendy. All that training about what matches and what doesn't is finally paying off. :-) I absolutely love these pictures of her. She is beautiful. I don't take the time often enough to just sit back and just look at her. She is changing so fast. 4th grader! I can't believe it! Anyway... before I tear up I'll just post these. Katelyn, I love you. :-)










Such a photographer's kid, isn't she?


Stage Art Productions Xtreme Praise Teen Team 2008/2009