holiday photos

this year i learned one thing... that before the holidays next year, i'm going to work a bit more on my technique with the christmas photos.

but for now, i thought i'd post a few of my favorites this year....

i like this star...


and this silly kid....


yep...it's a klingon ship...☺


the bigger silly kid....

it's glowy under the tree....


ahhh.... the bokeh.....

and a new christmas ornament this year....


all in all, we had a wonderful christmas & i'm happy to say i'm looking forward to a great new year!

christmas baking...down to the wire

this year we took a break from school this week to get ready for christmas.

we did all of our baking this week. i try to focus on favorites because there are just too many out there, and let's face it: i'm not as ambitious as i used to be☺


so we started out with the christmas canes....here's my very eager helper workin ever so hard ...



i love how they look all laid out here...i think they're pretty, just like this....


but then we have to bake them & they turn out like this... very "christmassy". yep, it's a word☺


then on to the mexican wedding cakes....i'm sure there are other people making these with another name for them, but that's what the recipe we had growing up calls them. i think there's a story behind it, but presently, i don't remember... (presently, i am lucky i remember tomorrow is christmas)



and then my other, not-so-eager, you're-gonna-help-because-i-said-so helper whips up the homemade oreo batter. i can actually walk away & let him do it himself... hey, that's kind of nice...☺ (see the chex in the background, there's party mix ...yummmmmy!)

aahhhh, there they are, all nice & finished. you haven't lived till you taste these guys. they'll make you forget about those store bought cookies. and no, they're not woopie pies....woopie pies got nothin on these little suckers. they are D-lectible!


and then there's the fudge. my love hate relationship with fudge. sometimes i can make it, sometimes i can't. i prefer to believe it's the fudge's fault, not mine☺ but this time it turned out. i'm not sure, but i believe fudge deserves it's own close-up, don't you think? this is my mom's recipe called "fantasy fudge" - it's the best!

and last but not least my babies.
my sugar cookies.

some years, these cookies are all the christmas baking i do....


because these babies can stand alone. they are extraordinary. my aunt gave me the recipe when i was a teenager and they have been a family favorite ever since.



whew...i'm ready for a vacation now!

along with the sweets, i've made a big yummy cheeseball & a big batch of party mix. we should be all settled in for the nasty weather of the next few days.

and if all goes well, i'll get a little more last minute christmas knitting done☺

merry christmas!

i ♥ faces week 48 "sweet dreams" | nappanee children's photographer

this week's photo challenge at i heart faces is sweet dreams.

and who doesn't love a photo of a sweetly sleeping babe?

you might remember, almost a year ago i took photos of my freshest niece & this is one of my favorites. and since today is this little one's first birthday i thought it was perfect for this post!

so happy birthday baby & sweet dreams!

xoxo

-aunt apryl

fingerless glove love...

he's all smiles -
somebody loves his birthday mitts....


another thing i love about knitting.... i can get an idea in my head at the last minute & whip something up that's going to be cherished by the recipient.

score one for mom☺

double digit birthday | nappanee children's photographer

as of today, both of my boys are in the double digits.
man, i'm not as young as i used to be☺

he's 10 today and doesn't he look awfully grown up & serious? and he's looking so much like his dad... i'm betting that chin's going to be killer when he's all grown up.☺

and this boy loves the birthday. like, reeeeally loves it. talks about it ALL year long! so we're kind of bummed because he's under the weather today & not feeling his best, but we're making the most of it.

so happy birthday my little boy!
promise me you'll slow down just a little for your mama, won't cha?

xoxo
mama

i am thankful

in all of my inability to deal with the holidays closing in on me, it has occurred to me that i need to focus on what the holidays are about, whether i'm really ready or not.

i've always got a lot to be thankful for. i could make a big long list of all the "things" i'm thankful for, but i'm going to focus on what's dearest to me.

this man & our marriage. he's the center of my world & i'm blessed by how much he loves me. we've been married 17 years & this spring will mark 20 years together. yee-OWza...☺

this boy...the firstborn...the apple of my eye. we have entered a new dimension with a teenager in our home & lucky for both of us, i'm liking it☺

and last but not least, this one...the baby...the spice in our lives. he keeps it lively around here and we love that about him.

right here are the greatest blessings in my life. i'm so thankful for them. god granted my heart's desire with these 3 and somehow, i could not ask for more☺

are you ready?

are you gearing up?
this week is thanksgiving week & i still cannot believe it.
i am not ready for it.

this year has been a strange one, all the way through.
nothing has gone the way i'd like to have planned it.

days & months have flown by.
there's nothing i can do about it, but i'd like to.

here thanksgiving is upon us, the temps are going to drop to the 30's and the snow will likely fly.
where was fall? seems like we had no transition from summer and now winter is upon us.

and christmas....don't even get me started. i am not ready for christmas.
my youngest child's birthday is coming up next week & as usual, i am not ready for that either.

but i'm working on it.
i will be ready for thanksgiving dinner on thursday.
i am looking forward to shopping on friday.
i anticipate good times with friends in the coming weeks.
i feel lots of finished projects coming off my needles every day now.

i am going to fake it, till i make it ☺

---------------

but seriously, all griping & grumbling aside, i'll leave you with this little gem..........

this morning my boys came downstairs for breakfast & santa was on the early show, talking to children out on the plaza, and very matter-of-factly, the little boy says:

"i can't believe santa's been twisting the minds of little children for all these years!"

seriously, i couldn't make up material that good if i tried. where he comes up with it, i haven't got a clue.

--------------------

so if i don't talk to you soon, go forward & enjoy this holiday season!

knitting socks

i am so excited -they're finished!

like my abused uggs? those babies keep my feet warm from september thru may. *note they're not pretty ones...they're functional ones ☺

i have a real affection for great striped socks. my best friend & i get each other socks for gifts pretty much every christmas. my boys usually get me socks for my stocking too.

so far i've been really leery about paying the price for wool socks, even though i could really use them. but now that i'm knitting, the opportunity is so sweet!

they say once you've worn handmade socks, you won't want to wear anything else. i'll let you know how that turns out ☺

so stay tuned... there are sure to be more socks in the very near future.

but for now, i'm heading onward to more power knitting for christmas! did you know there are only 30ish days till christmas? ee-gads!

this dreary week...

life is feeling dreary around here. i'm finding myself yawning at every turn.

nothing spectactular going on here, but i'll tell ya what IS happening....

this past weekend we celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. we lived it up with some mighty good seafood at red lobster & started watching season 3 of dexter. man, i love that show☺

i baked a cheesecake for us. it was yum-may! my poor boys are so sheltered that neither of them knew what a real baked cheesecake was. i think i should have kept them in the dark even longer, seeing as they both reeeally liked it. it's one of those things i'll have to hide if i want my share.

we've had 2 trips to the dentist & one to the orthodontist this week. isn't that exciting?

and last night i got to spend 2 hours watching my youngest painfully do his best to stay upright on rollerskates. when i say "painfully" i really do mean painfully.

otherwise, i'm spending every spare minute sock knitting, which i absolutely l o v e! and since i already have a thing for socks, this is the perfect addiciton. i'm almost finished with a new pair & i'll be posting pictures as soon as i'm done. they're scrump-dilly-icious☺

and because no post is a good post without photos, here are the people who keep me going whether i like it or not, 24/7/365...



so thanks for reading the blog & be sure to check back soon for more titillating details of my life & those around me ☺

friday favorite | nappanee children's photographer

i like this one today because:

• i love the look on his face - he's totally more drama than i can take, pretty much every day of the week
• this boy sat right next to me on the sofa pretty much the whole time i had the flu because he wanted to be with me
• his new saying from the princess bride is "hello, my name is pico de gallo, you killed my father, prepare to die..." that completely cracks me up☺
• he's a writer. he started another book yesterday & as always, it ought to be good
• right now he likes to say "your stash is trash, your beard is weird". he's 9, go figure...
• he's really into the old star trek reruns playing after supper. last night he was in the basement watching & pretty soon we hear "space..... the final frontier..." in this loud little voice. it was killin us, we were trying so hard not to crack up...☺

*this image was shot @f2.8, 1/160, iso 500 with a 50mm 1.4 lens

sisters : etna green children's photographer

i have 13 nieces & nephews from my own siblings. with my 2 boys, there are 15 grandchildren (plus 1 on the way) from the 5 of us kids. out of the 15, there are 6 girls.

these are the big girls. or maybe i should say the older girls... that's how i catagorize the kids in my head. we have the big kids & the little kids... the teens & the munchkins. something like that☺

this is what happens when your aunt stops by unexpectedly & says "hey girls, let's take some pictures!" mom's in a panic because they're not exactly in perfect picture mode, but i just wanted to capture them right then - no big deal.

these are their "we can be beautiful without smiling" faces...

but then we're back to laughing because it's hard to be so serious when you're trying not to smile☺

don't they look as if they like each other?

this one below i look at and i think... LOVE....

this one is a personal favorite... so sweet...

and last but not least, we got one with her dog. now, i'm not a dog photographer, but that's a pretty good tongue shot, right?!


thanks girls, let me know what you think!

xo
apryl

friday favorite | nappanee children's photographer

this is my pick today because:

• i love this guy...my own muse
• sometimes i like a black & white contrasty (really, that's a word)
• did i say i love this guy? ☺

*this image was shot @f4.0, 1/125, iso 200 with a 50mm 1.4 lens

i love wool & wool loves me

between christmas projects, i have been working on these. if you know me, you probably know i have really cold hands. i mean reeeeally cold. and when i started knitting last fall, fingerless gloves were at the top of my things-to-do list.

well, i finally made them & i'm in love!

they are warm & cozy.
they are useful.
they are versatile.
they are grey.☺

and they are somewhat addictive. i am envisioning a lot more pairs of these puppies in the near future!

these fingerless gloves were knit using a combination of ideas from the pattern toasty & the thumb gusset instructions from the pattern cabled fingerless gloves, both found on ravelry. the yarn used is shepherd's wool from stonehedge fibermill, which can be found locally at the shuttle shop in warsaw.

*photo courtesy of my beloved 13 yr old who was ever so willing to take time out from his schoolwork to photograph my gloves

beauty this fall... | nappanee photographer

for some burning reason, i needed a picture of these weeds. it has been on my mind for some time. at first i was wondering...where am i going to find some of those? maybe i'll look along the roadside....

then a brilliant idea struck - how about our 2 acres of weeds out back? yes, i am that slow sometimes....☺ and i didn't have far to look; they are not in short supply.

they have a winsome loveliness to them, don't they? a little bit of beauty in all that brown out there.

my funny little boy | nappanee children's photographer

just the other night i was making tuna salad & the little boy came up beside me as i was opening the cans of tuna. soon there ensued a conversation something like this:

little boy: "that smells bad"

me: "what does it smell like?"

little boy: "death...hate...pain!"

me: *laughing*

i couldn't help but grab him & give him a quick headlock/hug. i don't always understand how this kid's mind works, but i like it!

friday favorite | nappanee portrait photographer

this is my pick today because....

• hello handsome boy
• hello milk mustache
• this one strikes me right now, i like the composition... love me some north facing light
• it's my baby boy...☺

*this image was shot @f2.8, 1/125, iso 400 with a 50mm 1.4 lens

xmas knits update...

if you're keeping track (which i know you're not), i am still knitting for xmas & after a short break to make some footies, fingerless gloves & still working on a pair of socks, i'm back on track & finishing more xmas projects...

this pattern is turn a square found on ravelry for free. it's easy & cute...you should try it...☺

....sshhhh..... don't tell anyone i tried this one on the little boy just to get a good photo...

14 gifts down, 10 more (at least) to go.
i am loving every minute of it!

birthday girl | etna green children's photographer

can hardly believe it... but it's official, today she's 6...

happy birthday little firecracker!
love you,

xo
aunt apryl

farmboy | etna green children's photographer

nothing like a little brown-eyed farmboy on a monday morning...

friday favorite | nappanee portrait photographer

this is my pick today because...

• these pretty little roses...they are like happiness wrapped up in a very small package
• i think i could grow to love macro
• i love to play with textures, i'm always looking for something new. this one was a freebie from kaleidoscope through mcp actions. you may still be able to download this if you follow the mcp link

*this image was shot at f2.8, 1/500, iso 200 with a 50mm 1.4 lens.

frogs photo shoot : nappanee custom portrait photographer

my boys love the wildlife. this is something that i really enjoy. frogs, toads, snakes, bugs...whatever they can find.

inspired by my friend cathy, when the boys found these guys, i thought we should document the experience.

these guys were found in one of our window wells & my youngest thought he'd rescue them. i'm sure they didn't see it that way, but he thought he was doing them a favor.

look at their "toes", aren't they amazing? they are really something when they stretch them all the way out there...which they mostly do when they jump....which i didn't get a picture of...☺

and these little dudes completely live up to their name. "leopard" frogs are fast little suckers. they were not at all up for a photo shoot & they were slicker than snot (so to speak). there was a lot of chasing and giggling going on while we tried to take their pictures!

look at this guy...he's trying to climb out with those incredible "fingers"...

as the temperature dropped, crickets were becoming scarce & they were let go to fend for themselves. hooray for my little guy - he is so into finding a pet, but i'm glad he made the choice on his own to do what was best for them.

come on now, you'll have to admit ...aren't they cute?