Dirty, Dirty Boy

When I got home yesterday Brody and Adam were outside. Adam has Wednesdays off and it is so good that they get that time together each week. They are really Tight. Anyway, when I pulled up in the driveway I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. First of all Adam loves to dress Brody. He does a pretty good job most of the time and yesterday he had pulled out a new pair of overalls and some work boots with a grey t-shirt. He looked absolutely adorable and he had the biggest smile on his face when I got home. It was like he wanted me to tell him how good he looked and of course I did. We played outside for a while after we ate some supper and by the end of the evening Brody was soaking wet and covered with sawdust. He just loves to get dirty, thus the title of this post.

I do have a favor to ask of you. As I stated earlier I started back to work about 3 weeks ago. This has been the hardest start to a school year that I have ever experienced. I have been placed on so many committees and somehow found myself as the chairperson for many of these (not by choice, believe me). I would really like for you all to say a little prayer for me. I have found myself really out of sorts. I feel like I don't get to actually do my job (teaching children) for all the paperwork, committees, and other "jobs" that I have been given. God doesn't give us any more than we can handle and I just need to look to Him more! -- Thanks

Brody and Daisy's "new" swingset

Adam and I have been wanting to get Brody a swing set for quite a while now. As most kids do, he absolutely loves being outside playing with Daisy, any kind of ball or anything with wheels. We wanted to get him a really nice wooden swing set, one of those buy the kit kinds at Lowe's but when we started looking at the prices we decided to either wait a while longer or try something else. One of our neighbors had a tower with a slide that was falling apart and they didn't want it anymore. Adam gladly offered to take it and he re-vamped it. It looks great and Brody loves it!!
We were outside Saturday afternoon playing with Daisy and Brody started sliding, which he calls sween... , and I looked down for a minute and when I looked back up, Daisy had climbed up the ladder and slid down right after Brody. I couldn't believe it and I started cracking up. I didn't even catch it on film but I did get some pretty good shots of them playing on it later. You never know what your kids or dogs are going to do!

Never say never

Well ever since I can remember I have proudly proclaimed that I would NEVER drive a mini-van. I have had an Explorer now for about 3 years and I loved it until Brody was born. Then I had to ride in the back more and realized that it rode like a logging truck. I had my heart set on a new Tahoe but as you know with the gas prices being the way they are, that was out of the question. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would just drive the car I had until gas prices went down or I found something I liked better. There were many cars that I loved but I just couldn't see myself trading for a smaller car when I wanted more room. So we bit the bullet and have done the unthinkable. We got a van! ( go ahead, you can laugh) I love it though. It rides like a car and has so much room. It is a 2008 Nissan Quest. I guess the old saying is true, never say never.

I will be posting again sometime this weekend and include pictures of Brody. I know that I have been a slacker lately, but let me explain myself. We have grown a garden for the first time this year. I put up 49 quarts of green beans, 4 qts. of pickles,& 12 quarts of tomato juice. School has also started back this week so I have been so busy with that and when I do have a little time at night to post, I find myself glued to the tv to watch the Olympics, they are awesome. So I will try to do better now once I get back in some sort of routine!

A brand new blog

Well as many of you know I have recently started taking pictures for other people. I absolutely love doing it and I wish that I could do it full time. But for the time being, I take any chance that I have been given to practice. I have been thinking about doing this for a while now and finally have taken the time to do it. I have created a blog just for my photography "business". I hope that you will take the time to visit! www.marandasummersphotography.blogspot.com

A Model Search?

Well, I know that every mom thinks their child is the cutest kid in the world but I guess I went a little far with the idea. Just outside of Sears at West Town there is a table set up that said, "So you think your child is cute?", it really grabbed my attention. Of course I think my child is cute. Everyone tells me all the time that he is cute and I know I am not at all partial (just kidding) Anyway, I thought I would fill out the little entry form and just see how it went. They called me Monday to set up a full model shoot with our little man. The photographer's name was Victoria and she told me to bring 3 outfits. A casual, a dressy and an outfit that really showed off his personality. I had just taken his pictures in his overalls the night before I got the call but I couldn't resist I had to do it again. She also said to bring some props so we brought lots of farm animals and a couple of tractors and his cowboy hat. Brody did pretty good for an 18 month old. He didn't really want to sit where and when we wanted but she got some really good shots anyway. Who knows if the judges will think he is a "winner" but it was a fun experience anyway. Now I don't want you all to think I am conceited or anything, I just thought I would try something a little different. And yes I do think my child is pretty darn cute!!!

Picture, Picture

I have been taking so many pictures lately. I really love it so much that I don't even realize how many I have taken until it is time to load them to my computer. I would post more often but it takes my computer so long to upload them that I really get discouraged. Anyway, I started last week with pictures of Avary. On Monday I took the ones outside that I posted earlier. On Thursday, Brody and I went to Amanda's parents house on the lake to take some more of Avary. I really wanted to get some outside by the lake but Avary had other plans. We did get one that turned out really good though. Then we moved inside and Amanda changed Avary's clothes and got her calmed down. Then I took pictures with her first birthday cake. They turned out so good.I had to get mom to meet us there to watch Brody while I was "working" - Thank you mom you are the best! Amanda posted a few of her favorites on her blog so check it out.

I have been wanting Adam to weed-eat around one of the buildings on our farm for a couple of days. He mowed today so after he cleaned up around the building and even made me a little bench for kids to sit on to get some good pictures. I was very inspired and ran inside and grabbed a pair of overalls for Brody. I wanted a pair that was a little too big. I put them on him without a shirt , grabbed my camera and off we went. We had a little photo shoot and some of them turned out really cute. Brody will ignore me a lot and not look at me when I am taking pictures. Then sometimes he will do just perfect. Tonight he didn't really want to look at me but that was okay. I think these pictures turned out just fine without him looking right at the camera.

We had a great 4th of July! We went to my aunt Evelyn's for a cookout at noon and I got to see everyone on mom's side. It was so much fun. Then that evening Harold and Sandy cooked out at their house. It started raining while we were there so we ended up spending most of our time inside but it worked out fine. The kids were able to go outside and play with a new water toy that Paul and Bobbie Lyn brought. They had a blast and anytime Brody has fun I definitely do too! I hope you all had a great 4th too and I hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as I am!!! It is definitely one of the best summers of my life!

A visit with Avary and a Photo Shoot

Amanda and Avary came to visit us for a little while yesterday. Amanda wanted Avary to see the cows and I thought I would take some pictures for her. They turned out pretty good if I say so myself and I think Amanda was pleased too. I really enjoy taking pictures and I wish I could do it more often. Avary is so cute and such a pleasant young lady.Brody, on the other hand was a little wild. He isn't around kids that are smaller than him often so he really had a hard time being easy with her. I was so afraid that he was going to hit her or something but we ended the visit with no injuries thank goodness!! Well here are a few of my favorites. Please let me know what you think!