preparation and decoration.

emily is enjoying her mermaid painting.

i don't feel like it's completely done

and there are details i want to tackle.

however, i'm not feeling in the zone,

so it's just gonna hang on her wall a while.

we went to scope out the park today to prep for

an upcoming baby shoot.

of course they had to play, too.

new decor for their rooms.

we bought the header in st. joe, missouri, along with the 'no parking' sign, in march.

just painted it and justin hung it today(he was

actually off today!).

emily's door was painted the same red and will

be probably be ready to hang tomorrow.

justin had to add another coat of paint on it today.

i got those poms in march from orangekisses on etsy.com.

super cute.

just put them up tonight.

you have to be careful,

seeing as how they are made of tissue paper,

not to rip the petals.

so worth it, though.

oh, and i finally spray painted that frame by it

black and added the enlargement

of em and kait from our trip to texas in january.

it wasn't the best photo ever taken and

i did it with the old kodak,

but emily loves it.

that's all that matters.

another go 'round.

a little family session with the fisher's/

de la torre's.

view more here.

another wet one.

unfortunately, today was a day that justin had to work.

i hate spring neighborhood clean-up time.

he works next saturday, too.

thankfully after his nap,

he agreed to help me with some sanding projects.

the door will be emily's headboard soon.

he tackled the front of a large drawer and an old header, too.

while we were in the garage,

it started raining.

(our driveway is lined with helicopters. emily hates that they won't fly when they are wet!)

the kids wanted to play in the puddles,

but it had cooled down outside.

i talked them into chalk, instead.

and jumping off of things.

it was really a chance for me to practice with the

new lens.

i still have kinks to work out with it,

so i'm all for practice time.

with justin's car outside receiving a free car wash,

i opted to take a few shots of it, as well.

(sitting in the backseat, taking advantage of his cage, before he moved it back into the garage.)

rain session #2

my kids are starting a tradition of their own.

they know when it rains,

there are puddles.

it's rained here the last two days,

but there weren't any real puddles til last night.

torrential down pour last night.

so, we explored a new park area today.

my city girl exclaimed, "it smells like nature out here, daddy!!"

good grief.

i love the sunbeam shining through the trees.

seasoned veterans at this puddle jumping deal.

poor kids were so wet and we had quite a walk

to make from the truck to that big puddle.

a very long, wet walk.

good thing they can carry their own boots.

and....

we enjoyed dinner with our favorite st. louis friends

last night.

still amazed that they make time to see me,

since i know they always have so much to do

when they are in town.

thanks kids!

photos and supplies.

put in an order on moo.com for some mini moo cards.

mini moo cards are half sized business cards.

the guitar photo is cropped to best show

exactly how the photo will appear on the card.

here are some of the other images i used.

i took photos for emily's class today

for their mother's day projects.

they didn't come out as crisp as i'd hoped...

but they were cute.

here's my great niece, phoenix, in super sass mode.

her mom is a photographer, too.

i'm sure you can tell that phoenix does photos

a lot. :)

one of the little guys didn't want anything to do

with picture time,

so i did my best to hide and sneak a photo.

emily came up to me while i was hiding,

stepped in front of the camera and took my photo.

so cute.

aaron.

i had the best time shooting senior photos

for aaron today. 

check out the rest here.

blame it on the rain.

'rainy day' at the whyte house.

more photos here.