Ivan is ONE today! We just returned from his birthday party in Columbus. He’s such a cutie (not that I’m biased or anything). We tried to fit in a little photo shoot despite the cold weather and dark dreary day. Ivan’s sweet little smile definitely brightened things up. I’m loving the first photo of Ivan watching Grandma come up the steps to his party. I think he had a lot of fun. He did, however, get a little tired of opening those pesky presents. Luckily Owen was happy to help his cousin out.
Josh Ferris (Kim and Dale’s son) arrived home from Iraq last week- safe and sound! You may remember the well wishes we sent to him (click here) last October. Today Josh visited the Junior High to talk with the students in Dana’s class (Grant, Bryce and Lola’s mom). Last year they “adopted” him and sent letters, care packages as well as lots of prayers and support. Take a look at the video above that is posted on Cincinnati.com. I think I speak for everyone when I say we are SO excited that your are home JOSH!!!! Thank you for EVERYTHING you do to serve our country!!!
Last weekend I had the pleasure of photographing Cate and Alex again. It’s been over a year since I’ve seen them (pics here). Alex has gotten SO big, but he still has those gorgeous blue eyes. Cate is as sweet as she was as our last session- what a cutie! We’ve had this session on the calendar since last winter- I’m so glad everything worked out. We had such a beautiful Fall weekend for our session!
Truitt had a soccer tournament today. He was so excited that he still had a couple games left after their official season was over. St. Vincent lost their first game 0-1 and and tied the second 0-0. As it so happened the second team we played also lost their first game 0-1. Since one team had to advance to the finals and both records were exactly the same they held a “shoot out”. Each team chose 5 people to attempt goal kicks and one goalie to defend against the other team. Truitt was one of the goal kickers. Unfortuanately his kick was blocked by the other teams goalie. One St. Vincent player managed to score a goal, but the other team was able to put two balls past our goalie. So, Truitt’s team did not advance to the finals. Truitt was *so* upset. He just kept saying over and over, “I want to play a game on Sunday.” My heart broke for him, but Joe and I both had to admit that it was really nice to see him so passionate about his soccer team. I think Truitt may have found his niche.
Tonight was trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. I always have such a tough time getting decent pictures of the boys on Halloween because they are so eager to hit the pavement and start filling those plastic pumpkins. So tonight I decided to get an early start and it paid off. Isaac and Owen both decided that they wanted to be Rock stars. Truitt had his heart set on being a Clone Trooper. All three boys looked pretty darn good. They are downstairs right now sorting and trading candy- which was always one of my favorite parts of Halloween. I snuck away from the neighborhood fie pit to get some photos posted tonight. That is my treat 
.
I absolutely *love* Fall and all the fun family traditions that go along with it. This past Saturday we carved our pumpkins. We all love to carve pumpkins except for Truitt. His gag reflex starts up the minute he sees or smells pumpkin guts. So, Truitt drew his face on his pumpkin and we carved it for him. Isaac and Owen, on the other hand love scooping out the guts and carving their own pumpkin. We altered Owen’s design just a bit since his eyes, nose and mouth were scrunched together- but he did most of the work and was very proud of his creation. Isaac took on a mammoth pumpkin and did a great job! The best part is waiting for the sky to get dark and “putting fire in them” (as Owen would say).
Today we met up with my good friend and fellow photographer Julie Ranee for a family photo swap. I have been looking forward to this for WEEKS and I must say it was all I imagined it to be. We loaded up our two families (we each have three kids) and walked the back alleys of London, Ohio. It was a blast! Our kids all get along so well. We traded memory cards so that we could edit the pics ourselves when we returned home. I had to get something up on my blog the minute I walked in the door. I just *love* this photo! I can’t wait to dig into the rest. You will be seeing more of my family as well as Julie’s- stay tuned!
As most of you know, my 3-year-old is utterly obsessed with flags. Not only does he look for them everywhere, play with them, insist on wearing clothing with flags on it- he also draws them. Here are a few things his flags must have: a rope- always blowing in the wind, yet tied neatly at the bottom of the pole. Flags must also be secured to the rope- even if that means drawing more ropes from the flag to the main rope. There also must be a ball at the top of the flag. Here are a few of his most recent flag creations. Enjoy !
I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Kim’s parents last Friday. Kim said it’s probably been 30 years since her parents have had a proper photo taken. They are the sweetest couple. You can just feel the love between them. Kim’s sister and her husband joined us too. There was a lot of laughter during our time together. I love hanging out with families that truly enjoy each other- Kim’s family definitely fits that description.
I thought I would post some more shots from my p+s of my weekend in Columbus. We met up with my mom, brother, his wife- Lori, and cute little Ivan for lunch on Saturday. It was so great to see them all. We had so much fun at lunch. Mom stayed a little longer and went shopping with B and I. It’s not often we get to just hang out together. As you can tell, eating was a big part of our weekend . We also went to a matinee (something else I never get to do). Both nights we were in by about 9pm (we are such party animals). As kids we always used to do facial masks together, so we stopped at Target and picked one up. I have a feeling the last time I did a mud mask I was probably in college! Sunday morning we ate at the yummiest brunch place in Short North. It’s called Northstar and it’s right on High St. I highly recommend checking it out. Such fun!
