Happy Easter!!

We hope you all had a great Easter weekend! We had a wonderful time! We spent Saturday night coloring eggs, which is always so fun with the little ones, and this Brian wanted us to wait and do it some evening that he was able to do it with us, and he was just as into it as the kids!

This next picture cracks me up because, Kelli always sticks her tongue out when she is working hard or concentrating...My Grandpa Vati always does this!

Emily looks on from the "padded room"Andrew was in a goofy mood and I just had to include this series of pictures

The final results...

Sunday morning the kids woke up eager to look for their Easter baskets! After taking a moment to make sure they understood the real reason we celebrate Easter we let them loose...

Emily watched with such intensity, it was funny!

Emily finally gets a chance to get down and play!
After church we went over to Brian's parents for a wonderful afternoon. Emily had a taste of cucumber from Aunt Dana and some lovin from Grandma!

Spring Is Here!?

The 20th was the first day of spring and it actually felt like it! Andrew had the day off of school because of a Teachers Institute day and we actually were able to go outside and play for a bit, even without coats! So here are a few pictures from the first day of spring...

And here is what we had for our 2nd day of spring....Gotta love the midwest!!

Look what I can do mom!

The craziness continues! Emily is proving to be an overachiever! She is crawling at record breaking speeds and pulls herself up on everything! She also has figures out how to get herself to a sitting position, it just looks so funny because she is still so tiny! She also has figured out how to maneuver herself down the step into the kitchen without doing a face plant first. She did it face plant first a few times and so I showed her how to get on her belly and put her arms down and she has done it that way ever since! Here are a few pictures of her in her crib. She really is a girl...nothing like gender neutral clothing! And the blue crib sheet is one that we got when Andrew was born! I also get lots of "Oh he is so cute" when we are out and about because I have Andrew's old carseat cover that is blue on one side and tan on the other. It makes Kelli SO upset when people say Emily is a boy...she really lets them have it! "That is not a boy it is my sister!!" she protests! She gets lots of apologies!! Anyway, back to standing in the crib...the funniest part of this is that she gets herself up like this and then she freaks out because she cant get back down. So she lets out this panicked cry until someone comes to get her! I will post some pictures soon of the padded room we have created for her to play in so she cannot hurt herself! It was the creative genious of Brian one day while I was gone! It is quite a sight, but it sure is effective!

A Few More of Baby Mason

This little guy is so stinkin cute, I think it would be impossible to mess up photographing him! Thought I would share a few more with you!

Little Missy

Kelli isn't always real excited when I pull out the camera and she really protests when I want to do her hair! You will notice in most pictures of her it is just down and tucked behind her ears, because "that's the way she likes it!" Well I convinced her to let me put french braids in her hair the other day, and the only reason she let me was because I told her that I used to do the same kind of braids in my sisters hair when we were growing up. We even called Aunt Danielle and Aunt Lauren after they were done to let them know all about it! Aunt Danielle made us promise to take a few pictures, so I took the opportunity to get as many as I could! Here are a few that I liked...

Photography

It has been a while since I have posted! I actually have been busy working on some avenues to help me do more with my love of photography and hope to share more with you all very soon! Here is a picture that I took of Kelli last week. She is getting so big! And Emily is keeping us on our toes! You saw the previous video clip of her scooting. Well now she is crawiling and tonight she pulled her self up to standing!! It's ridiculous really, she isn't even 7 months old!! I think we are in trouble! =) I took a video of her standing herself up and as soon as I recharge my batteries in the camera, I will get it on here!

On The Move

Watch Out World! Here comes Emily!!

I found a feature on the program I use to make these movies, that allows you to play it double speed...I applied it to this video just to see how it works, and it make me laugh, hope it does the same for you!

Anna's Aztec Salsa

We had an amazing homemade salsa at our Women's Retreat last weekend and I thought I would share the recipe with you. Now keep in mind, I am not a vegetable person...you should know that from previous posts, and this salsa is loaded with veggies and I ate it by the bowlful! I think I have proved the theory that you can develop a taste for something! A few months ago, I think the sight of this salsa would have been displeasing, much less the taste, but at the retreat, I saw it and couldn't wait to try it! They served it with Frito Scoops and I had it today with Tostida Multi grains, both were great! Anna is the sweet mama in the previous post!

Anna's Aztec Salsa

2 cans corn, drained
2 cans black beans, drained
8-12 Roma tomatoes chopped
Large red onion chopped
2 packets of Italian dressing mix (powdered)
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
4 avocados chopped
hot sauce to taste
red wine vinegar to taste

Sweet, Sweet Baby

I was priviledged to take sweet Mason's pictures last week! This is my first shoot with a young baby and it went really well! I am pleased with the first pics I have had a chance to work on and I will share more as I have them ready! Thanks Anna for letting me photograph your sweet boy! And big sister Lily too!