Another Praying Mantis..

So now there are 2 of them in the rosebush.. I like this one's eyes a little better than the other one.. They are so cute and fun to take pictures of.. This one did fly to my leg which was kind of neat, but I did tell Dan to quickly get it off of me.. I like taking pictures of it, but touching, NO..







Mis

The kids Aunt Linda...

Even though she lives nearly 700 miles from us, J still knows his Aunt Linda. They enjoyed playing together. Whether it was playing with legos, doll house people or even using coasters as pretend dishes, they enjoyed each others company.


This was right before we left. He kept trying to get Aunt Linda into our van to come home with us..
And yeah, Aunt Linda when you agreed to me putting a picture of you on my blog, I imagine you didn't think I'd put 4!!

Enjoy

Melissa

Last night's visitor lives on our rose bush...

So since he lives here, he must become my next subject for torture, right.. Of course his posing capability is phenomenal considering this was only our second session.. I'm so proud of our little praying mantis...





Enjoy..

Melissa

A nice visitor last evening..

Dan and B found this praying mantis last evening. When I came home from grocery shopping they both told me to go out and take pictures of him. Well, this was just as the sun had set behind the trees, so the lighting is poor, so my settings were ones which cause grain (high ISO), I had to shoot with a wide aperture too, so that means, that little of the Mr. Praying Mantis would be in focus..but hey, I did get quite a few good ones of the guy, so all was worth it..


He was adorable..

Have a great day..

More of Sweet Baby A...

Here are some more of Baby A, my dear friends Chris and Cathy had me to come and stay with them for a day while we were on vacation. The boys enjoyed time alone with Daddy and Aunt Linda. I enjoyed catching up with Cathy and holding Baby A as well as capturing quite a few pictures of this special baby girl. She truly is a miracle baby, meant to be. (I miss her family so)..






Have a great Labor Day weekend..

Melissa

More from vacation....

J absolutely loves Teddy Bears.. He wanted to take this huge teddy, but B convinced him to take this little teddy bear that he regularly sleeps with anyway. (Of course J is now napping with the Huge Teddy bear).. He carried this teddy bear around just like this..

And here are some of my guys, doing just what they do best..GOOFING around, and all led by the big guy...


Enjoy...

Some vacation photos..

Okay... so first we went to the cabin overlooking Carters Lake. Dan, B, Captain Larry and I went out fishing Sunday morning..

I have WAY too many pictures of my kids doing this very thing..NOW I know and have visible proof to show WHY they do it..


Toby Tyler was even fishing...


Dan was so excited to see this boat out on the water with the sun setting behind hit. They sky was this beautiful color. By the time I made it down to the water the sun was very low..but still made for a nice photograph..
I'll do my best to post more as I get them..

Enjoy..

Melissa

L's first day of school..

L had his first day of school yesterday. When he woke L wasn't very excited. Then he saw that he a cool SPIDERMAN lunch box and that made him happy. Here he is in front of the house yesterday before we left to take him to school. He did get to ride the school bus home yesterday. You should be able to make out his cute little head in one of the windows..

These 3 are from this morning. His first morning ride on the school bus. Aunt Linda should love that he chose an Atlanta Braves shirt for his second day of school..
And this was the look he gave me when he see the bus rolling down the road towards are stop.

He had a great first day of school. He said he enjoyed playing a game similar to bowling. L also enjoyed recess where he got to swing the entire time. He's going to do just fine I am sure. This morning he woke up and was ready to go quickly. J thinks we should go pick him up from school though, he misses him.

Have a great day... more vacation pictures soon, I promise..

Melissa

Back from Vacation..

We enjoyed a wonderful vacation to Georgia.. Visited with family and friends.. Stayed with Captain Larry (Uncle Larry) and Aunt Linda. Baby J enjoyed Aunt Linda's company so much he wanted her to come home with us and asked us several times during the trip home to turn around and pick up 'Aunt Inda'.. We always have so much fun when visiting them. This time was no exception. We went to northern Georgia and stayed in a cabin overlooking Carters Lake. Everyone enjoyed a boat ride with Captain Larry. Monday we attended an Atlanta Braves game. Tuesday we kind of had a lazy day.. Wednesday we traveled down to see Baby A and her parents. Thursday we stayed and visited with them some more. Then Friday we went down into Florida and viewed some of the winds from Hurricane Faye. Then back up to Uncle Larry and Aunt Linda's house. We left for home Saturday afternoon and enjoyed the Cumberland Falls area in Kentucky late Saturday and early Sunday. Whew, what a vacation.

So, while visiting Baby A I took some pictures (that's a given, right?)...she's darling and beautiful. Baby A is my dearest friends daughter. It's so sad to have her so far away from us...I am thankful we were able to take this time to go down and see her while she is still so tiny.

So I'll introduce you to Baby A..

Have a great day..it's so nice to be back home, though I'm yearning to be in Georgia around our family and friends there, too.. We miss you all already... Can't wait to visit again..

Will update the blog with more pictures of all our activities throughout the week. This is an exciting week.. Little L will be starting school this year. So, look forward to those first day of school pictures soon, too..

Melissa

One of D's pictures and a few others....

The top picture is D's..he had so much fun using my camera. It will be nice to go out and 'shoot' with him..The next are mine.. We had so much fun taking pictures of the dragon-flies, the butterflies and whatever the third picture is?? Anyone know?



Enjoy..

Melissa

Some photos from the last couple weeks..

Some of you know I'm having some major computer problems right now..I've backed up all of photographs (twice) so they should be fine.. I am unable to burn any images to disk and unable to load any from my card to the computer... So I don't have any 'new' photos to share..

So I'll share some from the last couple weeks....

Here J is on the carousel at the fair...


J up at the Cleveland Zoo.. He enjoyed this turtle..
And out at a Local park...
And what 2 year old doesn't love this???
Alright..enjoy your day..

Melissa

No pictures today..

I listen to Casting Crowns quite often. So, today I thought I'd share one of my favorites from them...

I couldn't find a video I really liked on GodTube, so I had to search YouTube...I did find one..



Enjoy....

Melissa

B fishing...

Good evening..

Today we went to a local State Park to hike.. We actually didn't hike much. The boys and I spent the day walking around the beautiful home that is there now and enjoying capturing the butterflies and bees. B used my old film camera and D used my backup digital SLR. They both did a great job. B's film will be processed tomorrow and hopefully I'll scan a couple of his images and I'll convert a couple of D's for web-viewing tomorrow. I was quite pleased though with how well they both did..

There was a small pond there as well and B found some abandoned fishing line and a hook and some bait. He tied the line on a stick, the hook to the line and then began fishing.. He nearly had one, but right before it got to the top of the water the fish got off the line. BUT we all saw it so we know it won't be his 'One that got away' story, that no one ever believes.. So to those fishermen we know, I'm sure you'll enjoy seeing these 2 photos of B fishing.. This isn't the first time he's made a 'pole'.. (I think we need to buy him a 'travel' pole that can fold up and fit in the stroller basket, don't you?)..


Enjoy..

Melissa

J's favorite spot right now in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard..

Today while J's big brothers were at VBS we played up at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He loves this plastic tire swing in their backyard and he spent a good hour or so swinging. I pushed him every couple of minutes and we chatted.



Literally right after the click of this next picture, Daddy came out. He said, "I should have known you'd have your camera out taking pictures." I then told him, "And if I didn't I would have missed this expression." Which TOTALLY shows how much he loves this tire swing.. Don't you think. He then agreed and was glad I captured him playing..




Enjoy..

Melissa