Jason's Second Marathon

{iPhone: L to R} 1) Jason's pre-race preparation {giggles}; 2) Lucas and Jackson at Circle Centre Mall waiting while Daddy finishes his race; 3) Jack just ridin' and chillin'

Lucas turns 4!

Where has the time gone? Jason and I found our camcorder recently... wow!  Are we bad at moving files to our computer, or what?!  We found so many videos of Lucas at 1 and 2 years old... such a baby!  He is growing up way too fast!

Jack, of course, thought he was the one that was supposed to be unwrapping, so we had to pin him down and tickle him :)

An extremely silly Sully mask... the mouth and eye brows move when Lucas talks.  We were all belly laughing at how funny it looked :)

Apple Picking Fun

We are part of a local MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers) group, and occasionally we do play dates.  We were praying and hoping that it didn't rain when we were supposed to tour a nearby farm... the rain held off until right when we were planning on leaving anyway!

The boys had a blast taste-testing different varieties of apples, sipping on apple cider, learning about bee hives, wagon-riding, and apple picking.  We went home and made homemade applesauce.  It was amazing!!!

"Flying" Uncle No-No's Plane

Jason's maternal grandpa "Papa Miller" has been staying with J's parents for the past few weeks while Nana traveled overseas.  J's brother Nolan wanted to show him the plane he owns/flies, and since the boys haven't seen it in about a year, we took them out to see it, too.

Papa M's Fur Baby came with him.  Talk about a dog that is dedicated to her master!

The boys sat in the plane and "flew" with Uncle Nolan.

I had to get photos of Nolan and his baby...

Jack cuddling with Papa M, and G'ama and her Fur Sister...

And a random old car out in the parking lot... :)

Tea Time!

Lucas went to the gas station with Aunt Lauren yesterday.  As they walked through the convenience store, Lucas stops her and says, "Aunt Lauren!  My daddy loves this tea!  It's his favorite!  We have to get it for him!"  Well, of course Lauren bought it :)

The funny part... Jason has maybe had it once in his entire life :)

Lucas gave it to Jason this morning and asked if we could have a tea party... so we did.

 (Lucas took the pictures of me)

 

Of course, you must hold your pinky up when you drink tea!

Cheers!

Yabba Dabba Doo!

...Yes, you did just see the Flinstones rolling through my kitchen...

Two Little Monkeys

Two little monkeys jumpin' on the bed.  One fell off and bumped his head.  The Momma called the doctor, and the doctor said, "No more monkeys jumpin' on the bed!"

One little monkey jumpin' on the bed.  He fell off and bumped his head.  The Momma called the doctor, and the doctor said, "Put those monkeys back in bed!"

Note: No monkeys were harmed during the above rumpus :)

The Boys' First Baseball Game

We took the boys to their first baseball game last Friday.  Our minor league team here has a picnic area beyond the outfield which ended up being perfect for little children.  We brought small gloves and baseballs for them to play with, and at one point, one of the photographers for the team sat down in the grass nearby and just kept shooting photos of Jack playing with his ball and glove.  Yes, my children are adorable, and I will be looking forward to seeing him on your advertising materials :) (Jason checked.  Apparently buying a ticket gives our consent).

Jack's baseball was plush... and it fits perfectly between the links in a fence... (whoopsie daisy!)

Needless to say, Lucas was not happy about donating a baseball...

Oh well... it was Star Wars night at Victory Field, and for some reason that called for fireworks after the game.  Nope, no pictures.  I've decided that fireworks are fireworks, and I'd rather cuddle with the boys on a large horse blanket and hear them whisper, "Oh! Peety!"

I Heart Faces July Photo Challenge: Summer Fun

This photo was submitted to I Heart Faces July Photo Challenge: "Summer Fun"

Rock the Shot June Photo Challenge: Summer Fun

I'm learning how to alter the lighting I have available to me in various situations.  I have spent the past year varying how I shoot indoors to get the best light, when it suddenly dawned on me that my bright sunny day photos just aren't the greatest.  I know midday sun is not like the "golden hours," but little boys do not adhere to these lighting rules.  Hence, my experimenting.  With the sun behind and to the side of him, I laid a large sheet of white foam board on the ground between us to use as a reflector.  It brightened his face up tremendously!  However, I have also recently discovered color casts (ugh!  they're everywhere!). He had so many green shadows under his arms and neck from the trees and grass.  They had to go! I used this tutorial I found on the MCP Actions blog.  The result? Normal flesh tones!

This photo is being submitted to the Rock the Shot "Summer Fun" Photo Challenge

www.rocktheshotforum.com

Zoo!

Last Tuesday, Jason's parents took the boys and me to the Indianapolis Zoo (Jason had to work... boo).  Jack was old enough to enjoy seeing God's crazy critters and to test out all of the animal sounds he's been learning.

Rraaaawrr!

I would much rather capture my kids' faces when they see the animals at the zoo, but since I can only lean so far forward over the railing to see them before becoming a part of the exhibit myself, it didn't work out so well.  Sooo.... animal photos.  I decided to try focusing on patterns and textures instead of whole animals.  I only had a minute to grab pictures before the boys started running off.

Top to Bottom, Left to Right:
The boys watching a walrus; a penguin getting high on bubbles; Fruit Bat; Fruit Bat
Bald Eagle; Polar Bear; Meerkat; Some sort of monkey sucking his thumb
Lioness; Warthog tusks; Rhinoceros; Rhinoceros
Elephant; Elephant; Giraffe; Bear

Of course, we just had to check out the Splash Pad before we left... (and once again, yes... Lucas' eyes really do glow like that)

 

Signing "no" when G'ama tried to put him under a sprinkler