Pictures

I took the kids to the photo studio on Monday to get some professional shots done. It went similar to the experience we had back in December, which means not so well. I took L & S every single month to do professional photos and haven't kept this up with J. It is soooo much more work taking 3, we don't have the disposable income we had 2 1/2 years ago and I was hoping not taking him would force me to do them myself, giving myself the needed practice with my awesome camera. OK well I haven't been so great about taking them. We went to the studio on Monday and as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. I wanted one horizontal of all 3 and 1 vertical of L by herself and 1 vertical of the boys. What did I get - none of those!!!! I tried today to get some good ones at home and out of 203, I was able to capture the following photos. Please note I did not get one good one with all 3 looking - AGH!!!!

Looking at the helicopters going over our house. Nothing excites my kids more than the flying objects over our home. Fortunately for them this happens very, very often!

Lying in the hammock Daddy hung last week.

My gorgeous thoughtful little girl, who isn't looking so little these days : -(

She was pondering the meaning of life... or maybe just watching her baby brother crawl away during picture time!

The above mentioned baby brother crawling away during designated photo time - little stinker!And this truly summed up our hour of picture time!

Daddy Piper has worked for 10 days in a row now - WOOHOO!!! Yesterday and today have been so long for him though (which in turns means MY days are extra long too!). He has left the house by 3:00 or 3:30 each morning and last night it was 7 PM before he got home and it's 9:15 right now and he's still not home. I feel horrible when he works long days like this. I know he is super tired. Today after a fun magic show, we went shoe shopping. Both kids needed new sneakers and L needed some sporty summer sandals. $100 later, everyone has the necessary footwear for summer. When talking with Daddy tonight, he voiced my exact thoughts by saying "Just because I am working these long hours, don't think you can go on a shopping spree". And I almost cried since that is how I felt shopping while he was working so hard. He laughed when I told him that and said he was totally kidding. The kids have been needing new shoes so it was hardly a shopping spree but it was eerie how he said exactly what I had been feeling earlier today. I feel guilty sometimes when we are off doing that kind of stuff (whether taking the kids to a magic show or shoe shopping) while he's working. I know I work hard too taking care of the kids and our home but I still feel guilty at times.

So all in all things are on the upswing around here. I could hope and wish for more, like more money, fuel prices to go down, rates to go back up and an extra 5 hours everyday but overall, I am content with life and it's been awhile since I have felt that way on a regular basis!

My New Camera

My new camera arrived today!!! I was so excited to get this new camera. It is a Canon Digital Rebel Xti. The coolest thing is we can use the lens I bought Daddy Piper for Christmas about 10 years ago with this camera. So far so good. I was able to take a few pictures of the kids playing indoors but no outdoor shots because it was too rainy to be out playing today. Look for some new pics soon!!