A reason to celebrate!

I'm getting slightly lazy in my old age...since their birthdays are a month apart, this year we had a joint birthday party for Evie and Graham. They picked out a cake in a book, and let me tell you this will be the last picture of a cake you will see from me. I'm throwing in the towel and buying them from now on! Just way too much time and trouble. I could've been spending that time with my kiddos. Instead I was listening to them fight over who was going to lick the bowl. :)



Evie turned 5 this year, and she said multiple times on her special day, "This is the best day of my life." Too funny; I love this kid.



Graham will be 3, and he made me teary when we were singing to him. He was just so genuinely happy and loving all of the attention. Soo cute. We are so thankful for him!



My nephew Bailey was out skateboarding last week, and I had just come from a session, so I took a few of his mad skills! Don't you love the duct taped shoes?

Back from vacation

We had a great time last week in St. George Island, FL last week! I'm almost hesitant to say where it is that we went, because I want it to remain the little piece of paradise that nobody really knows about. But it seems that the oil slick is going to ruin that for all of us. I'm glad we got to enjoy it more than once. I put a little slideshow together if you have about 3 minutes to watch it :) In the slideshow you'll see not just my kids, but my parents, both of my brothers and their families. It was a very exciting vacation--Evie is finally swimming without the assistance of a floataion device or my shoulder, and Graham is too! Actually Graham sinks more than he swims, but he's brave and loves to go under. Enjoy!

St. George Island from Sara Willhelm on Vimeo.

We never have any fun around here....

except sometimes :)















It's a shame she has no personality...







I think I see a smile!!



Those goggles aren't doing any good!

One Lucky Mother!

Thanks to one great husband and two sweet kids, I have had the best Mom's Day yet. I'll be sad tomorrow when Evie's not hugging all over me for long periods of time, "just because it's Mother's Day" and wishing me a happy Mother's Day every time I turn around. What a great day!

some days are just this good

I got done working a little early today, so I called Greg to see if he and the kids wanted to meet me at the IMA. Most people around here know that the IMA (Indianapolis Museum of Art) is a giant playground for photographers. Tonight they were unusually not as busy, and we basically had the place to ourselves. They really do an awesome job keeping the many acres of this place beautiful. As is usually the case, I get way more pictures of other people's kids than I do my own. But we had a ton of fun, and it always feels good to be in the sun!

Each night and at each nap (she refers to them as "light nap" and "dark nap"), Evie wants a "talk story" which is just a story that I make up. She gets two at each nap. They don't have to be real creative, but she hangs on every word. I'm telling her one here. She had to pee too, which kind of made a cute pose!



I can't remember why he's laughing...doesn't take a whole lot :)



She is crazy. That's all there is to say about this one.



Notice her hand messing with his ear. She does this everytime they get together for a picture! It drives him nuts.



My sweet boy...



While I was doing some variation of This Little Light of Mine, complete with a "big ol' booty shake", Greg was also trying to get their attention. So although I wish they were making eye contact with the camera, it still made a pretty cute shot I thought.




White girls can't jump!

it's about time

We had THE LONGEST WINTER! We are so glad spring is here and have been soaking up the sunshine. I know things still look pretty dead, and shooting in full sun is a big no-no, but I was desperate! It's been way too long, and we are thrilled to be outside again.



Graham is practicing to be a daddy someday. He loves his weed-eater and his lawn mower.







Evie still enjoys riding her bike. Today we went for a couple of walks (Evie rides), and each person we pass, she says, "wanna see a cool trick?" And who doesn't want to see a cool trick? They always say yes, and she then shows them how she rides her bike and sticks one leg up in the air (similar to a dog taking a pee). It is hilarious. Then they pretend to be impressed.



Naptime! I can't help it--this is so funny. Terrible lighting and even a little out of focus, but how can I not post this?



Then I took these this evening. We love that it is still light when Greg gets home, so we can take walks and play.

Look at Graham's bike...no training wheels! Oh wait, it doesn't have pedals either.



Naps always do Evie some good. She's much happier here :)



She thought it would be fun to wear my sweatshirt. I think she looks like she has no parents. Poor kid.

goofballs

We took a girls' trip to Chicago a few months ago. I regret not taking more pictures, but when you are shivering and your hands are numb, it's very difficult to take them. The purpose of the trip was to let Evie and Jordan see the American Girl store. It was extremely crowded (too close to Christmas), but Evie and Jordan did pretty well. They had their grandma there to spoil them, and she did just that. They also got a taste of city transportation. My brother and sister-in-law live downtown, so we took the bus and train everywhere. We caused more than one holdup going through those turn-styles to get to the train! Anyway, here are the two goofballs.







Evie throwing more gang signs.