We found Nemo

My Aunt (in-law) is in town with her grandson who is just six months older than our second son. They are staying with my Mother in law who takes great joy in entertaining. They called yesterday to ask if we would like to go to the Museum. I was too busy so she offered to take my children. I was happy to send them along. So, they enjoyed MOSI yesterday with my Mother in-law, Auntie and "R." Auntie has pictures from MOSI. I'll have to see if I can get some of those from her.

I met up with everyone this morning and we headed to the Florida Aquarium. That is where we found Nemo and his family members!

This is the biggest puffer fish that I have ever seen. He doesn't look big here but he was as big as my head, maybe bigger!


And, this eel swam laps around the tank (huge tank) all day. The kids were amazed!

Apparently, pictures are better from the other side of the glass.

These two divers seemed to look terrified to me. They actually paid to swim with the fish. I'm not sure that I would pay to swim with a shark that big.

I stumbled upon these two goofballs along the way. You obviously recognize "A". The boy is "R." He's here visiting his grandparents. He came all the way from Jamaica where his parents are missionaries. We had a great time with "R" today.

Here is my little risk taker. I know that this picture is a bit heart stopping. I assure you that I would never allow my child to get that close to a gator! There is glass between them. Note that I did NOT say that my child would NOT get that close. This one probably would!

This pretty duck had to make the blog. It is so pretty!
I took this picture specifically with "R's" Dad, Travis in mind. He's now a Jamerican. I saw this on my way home and had to snap this photo.

Random Stuff

My husband and I are here alone without children. He's outside working and I'm playing with words. I found http://www.wordle.net/ and I am amazed. I am a word person. This is what I came up with when I put my blog url in:



You must have to click on it to see the larger version. I'm off to get ready for dinner!

Today is Not Me Monday. Head on over to http://http//www.mycharmingkids.net/ to see what the fuss is all about. It is truly a cleansing experience!

I did NOT finally figure out how to get this together so that I could post it on Monday only to find that Mckmama is taking a Not Me Monday break. I would never ever get my stuff together at the wrong time. Not me!


I would never start a Not Me Monday post on Saturday because I am never too busy to participate in Not Me Monday. I never want to be totally honest and get everything off of my chest.



I did not send my hubby and oldest son out fishing today with the intention of relaxing at home with the younger three. As soon as they didn't walk out the door, I did not start cleaning out my closet. My closet was not at all embarrassingly messy. I did not take the contents of said closet and dispurse them amoung my three children that were here with me. I also did not feel great about having not cleaned out the closet. It was not refreshing ar all.



I did not wait until the very last minute to finish my Christmas shopping. I would never do that. I was not out shopping on the day after Christmas because we were to meet with my inlaws to exchange gifts. I am always prepared and therefore I would never wait until the day after Christmas to buy gifts for anyone! Not me, never!



I did not get annoyed with the smoke alarm earlier today. It did not go off twice while my oldest son was cooking; getting on my very last nerve. I did not get up from this very desk to rip it off the wall and remove the batteries. I have more patience than that so I would never behave that way.. never!



I did not invite my dear friend and her family to our church for Christmas Eve. And if I had, she would never drag her family including an almost three month old and her disabled Mother to come along. She did not show up at the very same time that we did and carry the baby while her husband pushed her Mom through the congested crowd of people to the row that my hubby had not reserved for us. I was not at all trying to lure my friend and her family into attending church with us on a regular basis because I love their company and I most certainly was not praying that they would be touched by the service. God most definitely did NOT use her disabled Mother to touch me in a way that I never would have imagined. Never!



I don't think that I have learned my lesson by starting this on Saturday. That just seems to simple.

He's part Monkey

"B" is the baby of the family on my side. My sister has two boys that are 16 and 12 and I have four children that are 14, 12, 11 and "B" is almost 7. So, to say that he is slightly spoiled is an understatement.

He received this trampoline for Christmas. We knew that it would be the best gift for him because he is so physical. Here he is talking to his Dad as he was jumping.

And, these are his Superman moves. He's nutty!


This is my brother's only child. Her name is Hershey and she is about 9 years old. My sister now takes very good care of her. She attends all family functions because you would know that she thinks that she is human. In our eyes, she is part of the family and deserves to be included in everything. I do love my Hershey girl.

Sweet Sunday

As I was standing in church this morning, worshiping Jesus and praying for my family and friends I realized something. It used to bother me when people would suggest that we should be in church. It would make me think that they were judging and/or looking down on me because we weren't in church on a regular basis. I had every single excuse that you could ever imagine not to be there. I told myself that I didn't need to be in church because the relationship that I have with Jesus is personal and that I didn't need to be there to make it valid. Then something happened!

I lost my brother.... three years, 2 weeks and 6 days ago (it's been so difficult that I could break it down to minutes and hours if I thought that it wouldn't bore you). Prior to that time, I attended church when I felt like it and that was very seldom. I didn't immediately start attending church when he passed but I knew that the Faith that I have in God is the only thing that got me through the days, weeks and months following his death. I had the relationship with God but I NEEDED to be close to Him.. to FEEL Him. When I say that I had never felt closer to God than I did during those dark days, I mean it. I literally felt Him carry me. I knew that I had to go to church. I had to be there for Jesus.. not for what He was going to give to me but so that I could praise Him. I didn't want to slip into the back of the church and hide as I had done previously, I went straight to the front. That is where we have been for the past two plus years.

Now I find myself almost begging my friends to go to church with me. It dawned on me this morning that I am doing to my friends exactly what others did to me when I wasn't in church. And, I want you all to know that I don't ask you to go to church because I am condemning you or because I have higher expectations. There is no judgement. I want you there because being there in the presence of Jesus is where I feel whole. It has been what has changed my life for the better. I have a relationship with Jesus no matter where I am and no one can take that away from me but being in church every week feeds my soul. It heals the hurts and makes me feel so loved. When I ask you to go to church, it's because I love you so much that I want you to have the same. It will change your life, I promise!

Merry Chrsitmas

If you know me very well at all, you know that Christmas is my very favorite holiday! I love what the day represents. I love reaching out to help others while teaching my children that this is what Christmas is all about. After all, Jesus was born to give to SAVE each of us. I wish that the spirit and love of Christmas could live all year long.

I know that the economy is terrible but this Christmas I saw something good come from the bad economy. I saw my neighbors and friends not focusing on material things but focusing on how they could help others. God blessed so many families this Christmas season and I was blessed to witness that first hand. I was touched by stories that I heard and tears that I saw. I pray that God has blessed you in some way this past year and that he continues to pour His blessings out to you in 2009!

Each year, our church has a HUGE Christmas Festival. This year was no exception. It was last Saturday, December 20 and was it ever a blast! I had both of my favorite families there with us. My little N and E as well as S, J and C. All of these children hold such a special place in my heart. It is a blessing to be a part of their lives.

We stood in line for quite awhile to wait for the bungee jump. All of the big kids loved that!

Here is B, getting all strapped in!




And yes, Ms. Photographer forgot to switch the shutter speed on the camera. My brain was on auto pilot. I should have put the camera there too! Forgive me for the blur!



C is not at all adventurous but he liked it too!




This is F. He is crazy and daring just like his late Uncle. I sometimes wish that I could hold him in this position and just shake him. Any other parents of teenagers out there??


This is my J-man. He was so happy to see this bungee jump!




And, my wild girl!


And, finally, sweet S. She has such a pretty smile.




rock climbing.

This is very appropriate for my monkey boy!



I hope that you all enjoy this one because I was almost run over by the Choo Choo train for this one! This is N with his favorite playmate. C loves him like a little brother and is such a good help with him.



C is such a great help with all of the little ones. He was invited to go to the zoo with N last night. He spent the night and when he came home this morning he brought N's baby sister with him. It was actually previously arranged for me to keep little E-ahh bird for a bit. Chase was so helpful with her while she was here. I had a few dishes to wash so he sat with her just like this in the rocking chair. I think that E-ahh might have a new favorite playmate too. Anyone need a baby sitter? Maybe I shouldn't advertise. I might lose one of my best friends (N and E's Mama).



Look closely at her hair and you'll quickly see why we call her E-ahh bird. Well, you'll get the bird part. The first part was thanks to her big brother. She may never be called by her given name. We love our E-ahh.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Stephanie

Are you ready for a mess?

First of all, thank you to all of those that prayed for Little Miss M's doggy. I am relieved to report that she seems to be doing much better. I know that everyone will be happy to see her completely recovered soon.

Now, for the mess! Do you all remember Mr. E? He's the cute little guy that won 2nd place in the Cute Baby Contest. Well, he's back! He was a wild man during our last session. His Mommy wanted calm last time. Well, he was calm but curious today. I think that he had fun checking out my new studio space. Here are a few from his session.

Check out that smile!

Yummy!

Look at the cake flying!

I don't have the opportunity to photograph very many little boys so I really enjoy the ones that I have. Mr. E and his Mommy come all the way from Seminole to have his pictures taken! Now, that is dedication! Thank you for allowing me to capture these precious memories. I look forward to watching E and his future siblings grow!

More of Miss M and her parents!

I'm sure that you remember Miss M from last week. We decided to retake their Christmas pictures with a lighter backdrop. The black just wasn't doing it for us! I like these much better. I added some texture to the first two.

If you are of the praying kind, please pray for their sweet doggie. She's not doing well at all. Pray specifically that her breathing improves and that her lungs clear. I know that they would appreciate the prayers. This poor puppy needs a Christmas Miracle.

Yay!! We're almost done!
We are done, right??

A special thanks to Donna for allowing me to borrow the backdrop. I owe you one (or two or three or ten!).

Stephanie

Pictures, snapshots, portraits.. galore!

I had another session yesterday. Yes, I know that I said that I don't work on Sunday and generally I don't. This session was for one of my very good friends. Her family was together for Christmas and they wanted some group shots. The lighting was horrible but aside from that, we had fun.

Meet Miss K. and her best friend Teddy. I've decided that I don't like photographing black animals. They just don't photograph well. Sorry Teddy! Maybe we'll try a white backdrop next time?

Now, here are the real animals. This is pretty Miss K with her cousins, C and K. They are very close. They are definitely partners in crime!

That group shot that they wanted. I hope that Santa brings me a wide angle lens for my next group shot. This was tricky!
What a cute family!
Miss K. with her parents.
What's with all of these Daddy's girls????

Stephanie

I do love my babies

CC's Mommy dropped her off to play with Aunt Stephanie this morning. As she was leaving, I told her that I wouldn't torture take pictures of her. I can't help myself though. She's so cute and I love her too much not to document her cuteness.

So, my friends, here is another dose of CC.


First, we played with FuFu. She loves CC too!
Oh no! There's that black thing that makes the bright light again. I think that it's attached to my Aunt Stephie's face. Someone help!

Where did that bunny go? Maybe she can help me?

I just can't bare to see her suffer any more.

Oh, but the binky and the blankie do help. Now, where's Mom?

If you noticed that her outfit changed, it wasn't because I was also playing dress up (we did that last week). It's because CC decided that she wanted to be more comfy. She ruined the shirt that she had on just so that we'd be clear!

Stay tuned for more pics soon! I have a big family session this weekend and some more of Miss M coming soon!

Stephanie