Lollipop, lollipop...

Oh, lolli-lolli-lolli... Sorry, couldn't resist. Now you are going to have that song stuck in your head all day, huh! Well, I have been a major slacker on the family blog- things have been pretty busy and crazy around here. Not that that is much of an excuse- seems like things are always crazy and busy around here!

My good friend Ashley brought me this incredible lollipop last week after I watched her little girl. Well, she is also a photographer so she knows very well that this 'treat' is not really for Jace at all- It is for Jace's mom to use a photo op! Ashley uses these lollipops quite often with her kids and clients and does some amazing work with them in pictures so I was super excited to use this prop! And, of course, so was Jace! So before I put Jace down for his nap, we put on his dark Tshirt (I knew this would be messy!) and headed to one of our three patches of lovely crabgrass in our back yard to take some shots.

The lighting was a little harsh, so I made Jace lie down in the grass to get some good light in his eyes. He didn't like it too much, so I had to say something drastic to get his attention and keep him lying down. So to my own horor, I said "Jace, mommy has a monster booger on her camera!" Oh, boy, he thought that was HILARIOUS! So I said it again, and again, and again... What a bad mommy- trying to teach Jace not to say potty words, and yet here is his own mother saying 'bad' words just to get a good picture. So I felt a little guilty after this , and hoped Jace wouldn't remember mommy's foul language (not that I think booger is really a bad word, just by using it in this situation I was totally encouraging Jace to use it too). But no, no, no- As soon as Tim walked in the door that night Jace laughingly says "There's a booger monster on mommy's camera, Daddy!" Oh boy. Even today, after seeing these pictures he still remembers the "booger monster". But I don't care- Just look at that smile! Totally worth the foul language to me!

Hope you enjoy these- I have lots of updates, stories and pictures to post so I PROMISE I will post again tomorrow! Taker care!

~Mandy

Mr. Turtle

We were out doing yard work Saturday and found a little friend- Mr. Turtle! This is the third or fourth turtle we have found in our yard, but still everytime we find one I get excited! Jace was facinated by it and actually dared to hold it this time (last time we caught one, he was afraid of it). So of course I had to take some wicked cool pictures of it! Erica thought it was cool too, since she has only seen one other turtle out here and it wasn't nearly as 'cute' and little as this one. And she got some pretty sweet shots of the turtle, too with her point and shoot. It has a macro mode, and I only had my 35mm lens on (no zoom!) so I couldn't get any really close shots. Makes me want a Macro lens (add that to the end of my very long photography equipment wish list). But did she get this beautiful bokeh? Nope, so there Erica! My camera is better than yours! Just kidding... But really it is... it better be!

Well, hope you enjoy seeing our new little friend. We did let him go, by the way. I really wanted to keep him, but seeing as I can't keep a plant alive for more than a week in my house, I probably better steer clear of having pet turtles.