six~

Bennett turned six back at the end of October! I am finally documenting his birthday. It was such a fun day. He was very excited, to put it mildly. He is loving being six and is a great kid. We love having him in our family. He's such a great big brother and is so good to his siblings. He is loving school (especially recess and the bus ride) and is just growing up way to fast for my liking!



Here he is opening his presents that morning! He was excited to get a real bat and baseball mitt.



He also got some new snow boots, as you can see below!











He spent much of his day engrossed in his new books.




Love the crossed feet and the concentrated looks.







Later on, we also went to Fat Cats to get pizza and go bowling. But I didn't take a camera with us. The kids had a great time doing that.





On to the Rainbow Cake! As mentioned before, Bennett has wanted a rainbow cake for his birthday for a long time. So instead of just decorating it with a rainbow on the outside, I found a great way to created a rainbow on the inside! And it was fairly easy! What ever did we do before the internet and google? Here's the Link.












The pictures of the cake after it was cut don't do it justice. It was dark then, so I couldn't get a great picture.


In addition to the "rainbowy" part, we had some halloween munchies as well. Kind of like two parties in one.





We made these toilet paper jack-o-lanterns (left below) earlier that week in Bennett's class for the room mother party. It was easy and fun. Here is the link.




The party and the guests!









Bennett and his buddy-cousins looked like they all dressed to match on purpose! These boys are such cuties and I'm glad they are all such good friends.


We had to do some with Uncle Kristofor, too, since he matched, too :)


Me and my six-year old!




HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BENNETT!!!!

picking pumpkins~

One of our favorite things each October is to go to a local farm stand and pick out our pumpkins. I love taking pictures of the kids there each year to see how they have grown. In fact I never did blog last years pictures, though I always meant to, so I decided hey, why not? I'll put on both years!

Here was yesterday:




I love how there personalities show through in the pumpkins they choose. Bennett always tries to pick the biggest, roundest pumpkin he can find. He looks for perfection!




Mylie usually picks hers within the first 30 seconds. She just wants a small one that she can pick up by herself.

This year, Coy just kept pointing at them and saying "ba" meaning "ball" and would throw them as soon as we'd hand one to him.




And every year the stand owner always comes around with a big pumpkin on his head, and dear ol' Russ always reluctantly lets him put the stinky old thing on his head. (Luckily this one was a fresher one this time). This is what Coy thought.


First picture getting a good look. Second picture the reaction. I hope he isn't forever afraid of jack-o-lanterns!





And just before we could get out of there, a big down pour! (Same thing happened to me Monday night when I was out on a shoot!)

But, we were rewarded with this wonderful treat on the way home! I think I've seen more rainbows this year than my whole life put together. And this was a FABULOUS one!


If you know at all where I live by looking at the last picture of the rainbow, it seriously looked like it ended right at our house and that we would find the pot of gold there when we got home. The kids truly thought it would be at our house when we got there!



And FYI, Bennett has a HUGE fascination with rainbows and loved that this one actually showed all seven colors very clearly. He wants a rainbow birthday cake. Still haven't changed his mind on that one. So soon I will be making a rainbow birthday cake for my 6-year old boy.




So on to last year. Look how my kiddos have changed! We just put those pants of Mylie's on the shelf because when she tried them on they were up to her shins! And she actually wore that same dress today as a much shorter shirt.






Last year after we got home, we decided to paint and color the pumkins. Look at Coy! He just napped in his bouncy seat. Crazy how he's changed!

I know I've said it before, but I LOVE TRADITIONS!!!

A little one~

See more of this sweet baby boy HERE.

We got'em done...

But there are so many to go through! I think I am more picky about my own family pictures. Doing them makes me so much more empathetic for others!! I am happy with how it all came together (i.e. outfits). I think we at least got a few keepers! Hopefully some day soon I can share them all with you, but until then, here are two of my cuties. (I didn't get any individuals of Coy that night...he was so done by the time it was over.)

A new post...

Busy season is here...hopefully I stay sane!

I love fall, but it is definitely a balancing act trying to get all of our activities and responsiblities taken care of. I hope I can just keep it all together and not feel like I am always trying to catch up with life. And are you kidding me with all of the Kindergarten homework?! I feel like it is my homework, too, and I only have ONE kid in school that goes only half a day! I can't imagine what it's like for people who have more...such as this cute family I just photographed.

It's my turn for family photos tomorrow. WISH ME LUCK!! It never turns out the way I want, and I always mess something up. Hopefully I get at least one! That's what everyone always says, right? Well I'm crossing my fingers. I was awake most the night last night stressing over what we will wear...I've been laying out outifts upon outfits all over to get a look I like. I don't think it will ever get to where I really like it...unless someone has $$$$ they want to give me, like right now, so I can go shopping. In fact, I think I need to go, right now, so I can go stress some more over everything.

Meanwhile, see more of this family's photos HERE. Lucky for them, they are done with theirs. I am envious.

Yea!!! Finally!!!

I finally did it. I saved and bought an L-series Canon Lens!

And it came today!

Oh my, what a difference! Even after trying it out for just 20 minutes or so today, I am wondering how I ever lived without it...although it is very heavy! So after "years" of getting by on a third-party zoom lens, I made the (big) step up. I'm a bit excited after looking through the pictures I took today, so I thought I'd share a couple.

I love the bokeh.
I love how "life-like" the images feel.
I love how fast the lens focuses (and it was so quiet)! Now maybe I'll catch those wiggly little ones a bit better!

But even more than all of that, I love the little girl that let me take some pictures of her while she danced around outside and played with her brother's Batman ball.

{little red wagon and my little cutie}

I never did post Coy's one year old pics! Well here they are! I can't believe he is already past 13 months. I hope some day I'll catch up with my life. I just wish these kids would stop growing up so fast!




























This crying picture might almost be my favorite of the group :)

{first day}

It's official. I have now begun the life of a mom with a child in school! I'm glad it is just kindergarten though, and that he isn't gone all day! Bennett loved the first day of school, and has loved going every day since. His favorite part? The bus ride, of course! As usual, I will tell the story in pictures:


He got up and got ready so fast! (Which I have actually been enjoying!) I didn't want morning kindergarten, but now I wouldn't trade it! We get our day going so fast, rather than him dragging out doing all of his "jobs" until lunchtime.


He insisted on signing up to be the "Star Student" the first day of school. He didn't want to have to wait like he did in preschool.


This kid was so excited to go. Can you tell?





Hardest part? (Well one of them, at least for me.) Watching him say goodbye to sis. These two are the best buddies. Mylie will say "I miss Bennett" here and there. Once again, I'm glad it's only half a day!


Excited for the bus! This is the first time the kid has ever set foot on a bus. No carseats? No boosters? No seatbelts? What? No wonder it is so fun! He did ask me why the bus driver has a seatbelt and the kids don't. Good question!


Arriving at the school. (Of course I followed him there!)

He gets to sit by his cousin Franklin on the bus! And he's super excited to have one of his buddies, Cade, in his class.


Finding his desk.
I thought it was great that they let the parents come in and help them get situated.

Overall, a very exciting day! It was so fun to wait for him after school to get off the bus. His huge smiles were priceless. Mylie and I had some freshly baked cookies waiting for him. He thought it was great that I let him eat one before his lunch. It was his special day, after all!

Have you seen?

Have you seen these cuties yet? CLICK HERE!!!