Archive for the “Holidays” Category
Miranda’s First Halloween!
For Miranda’s first Halloween, she is dressing up as a dragonfly. Pop Pop made the wings from wire coat hangers—it was the fourth prototype, which required soldering, that was successful. And wrapping fabric around a pair of wire wings was a lot harder than I expected it to be, so luckily I had Meema to help. I was determined to make at least her first Halloween costume, since I made Natalie’s first one, also a winged creature. In the end, I think Miranda’s costume came out pretty well.
As luck would have it, our good buddy Jenn of Shutterstarr Photography was offering Halloween mini-sessions to take photos of kids in their Halloween costumes. I was excited to take advantage, because the past couple of years we’ve waited until it’s too dark out on Halloween to get any really good shots. Natalie, of course, was thrilled to have her picture taken in her fairy costume. We had a great time and all the photos came out beautifully. Can’t wait to order prints and hang them on the wall!
Although it was hard to choose, here are a few that we liked best:
Dragonfly Miranda I
Dragonfly Miranda II
Fairy Natalie I
Fairy Natalie II
Autumn Sisters
I heard a rumor that Jenn is going to be offering holiday mini-sessions. If you are interested in taking advantage or booking a full session photo shoot, you should contact her…you won’t be disappointed!
Father’s Day 2010
As I’ve mentioned before, Chris is the best dad ever! For Father’s Day breakfast this year I made the traditional Father’s Day dutch baby. Then we spend most of the day at Howell Living History Farm, per Chris’ wishes. We pretty much had the place to ourselves! Apparently not a lot of dads want to spend Father’s Day with their kids at the farm.
We joined a volunteer-led tour of the farm with one other family and literally we were the only ones there. Felicia, the volunteer farmer, told us that Mother’s Day is always packed and Father’s Day is always deserted at Howell. Weird. Although we are regulars at the farm, we’ve never actually gone on a tour before. The tour was amazing! I think the volunteer was happy to have some company and took Natalie around to do all sorts of cool farm chores that we don’t normally have access to. The girls were troopers at the farm, despite the 90 degree heat and being hungry. Unfortunately, when we got home they were both pretty worn out and cranky. I wonder how old they will be when they are able to accomplish not giving Chris any grief on Father’s Day?
Natalie and Daddy model their crowns Natalie decorated a crown for Chris for Father’s Day. Off course then she wanted one, too!
Natalie with her crown
Miranda jumping Our friend Joanne was kind enough to hand down this jumper to Miranda!
Visiting the horses
Pigs in mud
Natalie with Felicia the farmer
Collecting farm fresh eggs
Volunteer farmer shows Natalie how it’s done
Natalie and Daddy scrape feed corn off the cob
Natalie helps grind corn
Natalie turns the crank
Natalie looks at the ground corn
Natalie feeds her corn to the chicks
Pumping water
Natalie gives water to Blaze the 30 year old horse And he spits it right back at her!
Funny faces Most times this is the only way that Natalie will "pose" for pictures these days.
Miranda’s First Father’s Day III
Family Portrait Kids not smiling, of course!
Smily baby Miranda getting her diaper AND outfit changed outside yet again.
Lamb Grazing
Miranda’s First Father’s Day II
Miranda’s First Father’s Day I
Mother’s Day 2010
Mother of Two
Happy Mother’s Day! Today was Miranda’s first Mother’s Day and my first as a mother of two. We learned our lesson from the last three years and went to Sayen Gardens for our annual photo shoot on Saturday. The azalea festival on Mother’s Day is nice, but it was wonderful to have the gardens to ourselves this year! Sadly, with all the wacky hot weather this spring, the azaleas had already bloomed and gone by by the time we got there. Nonetheless, we had a good time exploring and spending quality time as a family.
On Sunday, Chris made delicious waffles and Natalie was excited to give me her “project” that she made at Melissa’s: a glittery gold handprint and homemade card. We had a relaxing day, half lounging around and half working in the garden. It was brisk at 55 degrees and windy—Natalie was a little scared of the wind, even asking if our house would blow down. We assured her it wouldn’t!
That’s not a dandelion, silly!
Miranda’s First Mother’s Day