apple picking

i'm pretty happy with my little family...

tonight, when daddy got home, we headed out for some apple picking

he was all about picking apples.

she was all about filling that basket...bet happy to let dad do the picking.

sneaking an apple...look at that guilty face!

could she be more beautiful?

they ate about this many apples on the drive home

a momma's delight!

Then it was off to carl's jr...because the one in sandy has a playland

our dinner conversation went like this...

Morgan: "i want to keep my dad, but i want a different mom."

mom: "oh yeah? what kind of mom do you want?"

Morgan: "i want a mom with short hair."

mom: "i have short hair."

Morgan: "no, short hair like grandma becky's."

mom: "what else do you want in a new mom?"

Morgan: "she needs to have one brother and 2 sisters."

hmmm....which brother could I get rid of? anyone want to be my sister?

halloween photo booth...a little business

A few people have asked if I will be doing halloween mini-sessions to get pictures of kids in costume.
The answer is no - I do not have any more mini-sessions scheduled until 2011,
however, I am in the process of planning a date for a

Halloween Photo Booth!

I am still working out the details, but they will be

about 15 minutes,

costumes (or halloween outfits required),

and around $30.

Before I set all the details in stone, though, I wanted to feel out the interest in a session like this to determine how many days to schedule. So, let me know if you are interested.

If you have any questions or want to send me a message privately, contact me here.

P.S. On the subject of mini-sessions - there are a couple of people who couldn't make the dates work, but would still like to do a mini-session. I am willing to add another day of Fall mini-sessions in October if there are at least 3 people who want to book so let me know if you are interested in that as well.

(and I will make sure it is a dog friendly place as I know that has been of interest)

Why are you posting this here, Jen?

A lot of friends don't check the smileabunch photography blog and are bummed when they

miss out, so I post specials here so nobody has to be sad! :)

If you want to be the first to know about deals and specials, though,

I usually post them on the facebook fan page first!

lollipops

today we got the kids lolipops

(and I didn't take any pictures...crazy I know)

chloe: "what are lolipops made of, mom?"

me: "sugar mostly"

chloe: "SUGAR??!! I knew it!"

morgan: "Yep, lolipops are made of sugar and hard gravel"

there you have it folks...lolipops are made of sugar and hard gravel

my kids have it all figured out!

picking tomatoes

we have a lot of tomato plants (24 to be exact)

on them are many green tomatoes...and if we happen to be faster than the kids - who eat tomatoes like candy - we pick lots of red ones too

today, I noticed that a lot of them had turned red, so as Morgan was carrying around a bucket for me to put them in as we picked them I said, "Wow - we have a LOT of red tomatoes and a lot more that will be ready tomorrow!"

"Well, my prayer worked."

"huh?"

"My prayer worked...when I prayed that our tomatoes would grow...it worked.

It is a good thing I prayed for our tomatoes to grow...now you can make salsa!"

Yes my sweet little boy so full of faith, it worked!
(And thank you for not cutting your own hair until after last night's pictures)
xoxo
- Mom

today was high tea...

I guess I'm not technically sure what high tea is, but working under the assumption that it is

tea at high noon a.k.a. "tea party lunch"

the combination of

pj's

tea sets

tuna and cucumber "tea sandwiches"

pink lemonade

carrots with ranch dip

mini marshamallows on toothpicks



And yes..I think this is some kind of record:
2 posts in the same day and same day pictures!

overheard...

yesterday while eating breakfast...

"Morgan do you want to be Raja and I will be Jasmine?"

"I have to go to school, but I will when I get home."

today while choosing a movie...

"Chloe, do you want to watch 101 Dalmations?

...there's a princess in it...do you know who it is?"

Just the simplest little exchanges between Morgan and Chloe make me so happy!

I love that they love to play with each other.

I love that they know each other so well that they know how to "sell" anything to the other.

I love that they know how to talk through things to find something that makes both of them happy.

I love the sibling relationship.

First day(s) of school

Chloe has been anxiously awaiting the beginning of preschool. After watcher her big brother do the preschool thing for 2 years, she has had her backpack ready and her outfit picked out for weeks!

Since we went back to school shopping she has been asking every day

"Do I get to wear the dress that looks like pants?"

It took us a while to figure out that she was talking about her new denim dress for back to school!

So, the day finally came for the preschool open house.

Backpack on, dress that looks like pants on, and a few quick pictures

and we were off to school!

When you make faces like this...
you need to know they will end up on the blog!

Princess backpack, of course!

She made her placemat...

Played pretend...and took ownership of a baby doll...

She didn't want to leave and was so excited to go back the next day for her official first day,
I told her that mommy would not be staying with her but that I would be back to get her...
"Ok, bye mom!"

Little sister missed her...

And big brother wished her luck...
"You don't need to be nervous Chloe, school is fun!"

Not sure that I am ready for all of this growing up,
but so happy that she loves school so much!

homework

I think I am going to like Morgan's teacher.

She sent home a homework folder this week with all of the homework assignments for the whole month on a calendar so we know what to plan for and what to work on.

Hello - planning mommy's dream!

Today's assignment was to draw a picture of your teacher and write her name.

This is what Morgan did...

He was dead set thinking that he was supposed to describe his teacher.

You win some, you lose some!

(and you make them write the real answer below the answer that you know will crack the teacher up)

Oh, and did I mention that he uses crazy synonymously with silly...

yeah, I should probably share that tidbit with his teacher...

Also - he is a little obsessed with fingers!