impending doom

I do love fall. I love the smell; it always seems to smell like camp fire in October. I love the colors of course. But there's one thing I don't like--the impending doom of winter. I am trying to take advantage of getting the kids outside as much as possible before it gets really stupid cold. Here are a few from today.

fresh air

I had a much needed weekend off from shooting this weekend. I only say much needed because I am too busy to take pictures of my own kids anymore, well..not too busy to take them but too busy to edit them which prevents me from taking them. I know it's silly. But anyway I forced myself to wear my camera around my neck and capture my kids having a good time. Greg was away for the weekend taking a class in Chicago, so we headed down to my parents' country home for a few extra hands to help with the kids. I can only take so much of being a single parent before I want a little company :) We had amazing weather; I love October skies!





He looks like he might actually be swinging here but I can assure you he was not going very high at all, and even then he almost fell out! His sister was hogging the baby swing :)



See?











Have I mentioned I love October skies?!



I also love my brown-eyed babies!

another kid with candle disabilities

Tomorrow is Graham's big 2nd birthday. We had his party on Labor Day since it was convenient. I'm not sure if our kids are candle challenged or what, but Graham just wanted to sit there and look at them. We practiced the day before, and he did great in practice, but he's such a shy fry that when everyone was looking at him he just wanted to be bashful. I finally did it for him when I became afraid we'd all be eating wax if I didn't.

Here's the cake. You will never convince me that a bought cake or icing tastes as good as a homemade cake with homemade icing. I know it's not any cheaper and takes a whole lot more time, work, and cleanup, but I really love the taste! This one did turn out a little better than Evie's did, despite my freehand puppy and paw. I normally can't draw at all, and when I was practicing Evie kept saying, "it looks like a frog!" but she did approve of the end product. :)



So we lit the candles and sang to him, and then we just waited.



And waited...



And waited...



And waited...



And waited...



And finally we dug in! I thought it was really cute that they sat in the same chair, but really she probably just sat there b/c it was closest to the cake.



Notice the baby curls are all chopped off of Graham :) I think I'm going to let them grown out again (sorry Greg).

blowing out candles...or trying to

Yesterday Evie turned 4, and today we had her party. Don't be offended if you are a friend and weren't invited; we just can't fit anyone but family into our house. Evie made us all laugh with her inability to blow out her candles. She was so funny in her several attempts, but finally she got the job done. We were so proud of her. Here are some party pics.

Finally! Oh wait, still one left!



A few of my favorite kiddos...



Have to document this thing although I'm not proud of it! It's good that I can laugh about it though. Is this cake crooked or what?!



Attempt #25:



Graham being caught opening presents that weren't his:



Evie and her best friend, Barbie.



Not only was it Evie's birthday yesterday, but it's also the day she learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She is better with the bike than she was with the candles. She's pretty stoked about this. Mommy and daddy were proud of her too. It's more fun to see it in action, so you can see how fast her little legs have to pedal to get the bike to go very far since the wheels are so small, but second best is a picture or 5. Here is the helmeted rider!











After many near death experiences with Evie's bike, Graham decided to get out of the cul-de-sac and pick little apple thingies off our neighbor's tree. I love these kids. They may wear on my patience sometimes, but they sure are cute.

my brown-eyed boy

I've had a lot of remorse lately for not taking enough pictures of Graham. I have very few of him that really capture his personality. He's actually not as serious as he looks on here, usually (unless he's in the presence of a stranger). He's so easy to entertain and giggles a lot. But he's onto me and knows all my tricks, so taking his picture is a little difficult sometimes. Here's my shy guy...

What a relief...

...that I'll never have to do this again! :) I was flattered that Jon and Jess wanted me to do their wedding, but I think I'll stick to kiddos from now on. My brother Jon was married to Jess on Friday June 12th in Michigan City, IN. It was absolutely gorgeous. I have way too many pictures to show them, but I've tried to give them a good edited selection here. Here's a play-by-play!

First the preparation:









Jess' dress had amazing details.













And then...they meet!



And exchange gifts...

















Warning: the remaining pictures may be a little heavy on the mini-Willhelms!





Jess' beautiful niece Lily:




Jess' cutie pie nephew Sam


I think we all wanted to do this!


My kids haven't learned proper dress up etiquette! As a sidenote, Evie wouldn't wear the cute shoes I bought for her. She insisted on wearing her cupcake sandals! :)


Evie's face is cracking me up. I don't know why she looks so sad!


From one extreme to the other!




The Ceremony! There really were guests there. They just sat in the front ;)







Graham wouldn't walk up the aisle unless Greg gave him our hotel room key. I'm still laughing at this. You can see it in his left hand.






Such an emotional ceremony! Even the photographer was crying.














Jess' Aunt Jean, Aunt Susan, and cousin Cristen arranged all of the flowers and did a great job!






My parents look very excited to get their "specs on the beach" cocktails! (Jon and Jess are both optometrists, so they had specs on the beach and eyeball highballs to drink)










Ring bearing is hard work!


The next morning at the crack of dawn!


Get a room!