Thursday, June 18, 2009

FLASHBACK FRIDAY (posting a few hours early)

Since Cari recently returned from cheer camp (aka bootcamp), I thought this image from three years ago would be perfect for FLASHBACK FRIDAY (which begins in less than fours hours from the time I am posting this). Cari and Katie will soon begin their junior year of high school at VHS. Katie is on the drill team and Cari a cheerleader for the Vikings. Three years make a huge difference. These girls have grown and changed so much!

~~ja~~

Check it out...



Coming Soon: BACKTRACKING #6


Check out all the new posts on NATALIE'S WORLD. I just posted Backtracking #4 and #5 (only about 12 more to go). I really wished I could get this caught up before the end of this week along with all my other work because Natalie will be here next two weeks for dance camp. I am sure I will more images and posts. She will be doing a first next week. So I will definitley need lots of images and documentation for that.

~~ja~~

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

WORDY WEDNESDAY

As you might have heard me complain, it is quite difficult to maintain three different blogs. I am not a great blog writer like some that I have ran across, saved and read lately, but I enjoy blogging. I enjoy looking back at my family's memories and I enjoy knowing that I have this to save our memories. I even enjoy keeping up my portrait blog. In fact, sometimes I wished that I could quit working as a professional and just keep up with my little sweethearts life and the rest of my family through blogging. I guess I could, but then I wouldn't have nearly as much to blog about because I couldn't afford some of the adventures that we blog about, if I didn't have least at source of income/cash flow from time to time.

I just wanted to make a quick post to say that I am trying to update Natalie's World with the events of the last two months or so. I have photographed the images, even gotten some of them ready to blog. I realized last night that I was 17 posts behind. I had even gotten to the point of not photographing insignificant moments since I knew I was already behind. I have a few posts that were not included in those 17 that need to be posted here. I plan to get Natalie's Images posted first and then I plan to catch up here as well.

It's hard to believe it is summer, that Cameron and Brittany have been married a year, that Natalie will soon be four years old, and that when summer is over my daughter starts school as a junior. WOW! I also can't believe my partial sabbatical (photographing babies, repeat clients, special promo and certain events) has come to a full circle. I still haven't done nearly as much as I wanted to do thus I will go into another year of the same thing this upcoming school year. Who knows I may continue it until Cari graduates. After that, who knows!

I don't think as a family we'll be taking a nice vacation...maybe some special outings to the waterpark, lake, and/or the beach. Hurricane Gustav effected many things like that for us this year, but no matter what we do, we'll make some special time for each other. Of course, I will be there to document and then BLOG IT! Check out NATALIE'S WORLD to see what we've been up to the last few months. I have posted a few of the BACKTRACKING today and last night..I have many more to post. So stay tuned to see what we've been up to with Natalie!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Flashback Friday...

SUMMER
2004
This is Cameron from the Summer of 2004. This was his last season to play "regular" summer ball. He played tournament ball later.
The photo is a little dark as it was getting dark. I have acquired better equipment since then, but dark is dark and you can only get so much light on an image when it is.
This is definitely a flashback image. This was pre-Natalie. It is so hard to remember our lives without her. It seems she has always been a part of our family, but it definitely seems like summer ball has always been a part of our lives. Randy helped coach a league when Cameron was just an infant. He skipped a few years until Cameron was old enough to play. He was just away from us so much. It is very time consuming.
Cameron was just over 4 years old when he started playing. Cari could not remember a summer that she wasn't hanging out at the ball park while her brother played ball. It was often so tiring. We spent too much money at the concession stand. Gained weight too much weight eating nachos and anything fast food after the games to avoid cooking. Sometimes it all seemed never ending, but it ended and it was soooo sad to see a chapter in our lives close. So as much as we got tired of it all, we miss it just as much these days! Funny, isn't that the way life is.
~~ja~~

Friday, June 5, 2009

WHAT A WEEK!

Summer's have always been busy since our children have been old enough for ball, lessons and camps, etc. But wow WHAT A WEEK this has been and it only the first week of June! I think I have had only had one day of work. Hopefully next week will be much better. It is always so bittersweet...I enjoy my little sweetheart and all our special time together. But I also enjoy time to work and catch up on so many things that I struggle keeping together (my business/home work).

It is Friday and it already feels like Sunday afternoon by exhuastion level. My house upside down from coming and going and spending time with Natalie. I guess it can wait until Sunday afternoon because babies (little sweethearts) don't keep. They grow up so fast.

Monday I got up very early and took Cari to Baton Rouge for cheerleading camp. What an exhausting day that was. I got home around 10:00 pm ready to crash into my bed. Worked all day on laundry/photography work on Tuesday until bedtime. Wednesday I picked up Natalie and we went to the library and did some wal-mart shopping all before lunch. Then swimming with one very eager 3-year-old-almost 4-year old! I wanted take her swimming again that evening in the "big" pool (aka in-ground pool at the Tanner's) so I didn't even give her a bath or wash her hair like I normally do after swimming before naptime. We also normally read ALL the books from the library which was 12 this time. I knew I needed a nap as much as she did so I told her we would read half of them now and the other half at bedtime. She was sound asleep on my shoulder before I finished the 4th book. And I was so exhausted that while I was napping with her I didn't hear the phone ring when I received calls from Randy and Brittany. What can I say, swimming is very tiring for Mimi's too. As promised, we went swimming again that night. She did not want to put her face in the water at all. So....it has been decided she need lessons in a class with others so that she can see kids her age doing it. We took her to the other pool so that she could sit on the steps and begin teaching her some swimming skills. [goal not accomplished!] Needless to say Wednesday was fun, but also very tiring too.


Yesterday we went back to BR to pick up Cari leaving here very early, but late enough to see if one of Natalie's cheerleading sets had arrived. Fortunately, her gymboree cheerleader set did come in. I wanted her to have something "cheerleader" for the camp reveiw. We dressed her in the parking lot. And as she walked up to the collisium, I saw a cheerleader born right before my eyes. She walked, jumped, skipped and everyway that SHE thought a cheerleader would. And it got even better. She done it again with a dance to the music as we walked in. The seats were full of parents watching their child perform, but they couldn't resist laughing and smiling at Natalie as she walked in like she owned the place...like everyone was watching her...like they were all waiting for her to make her debut! It was a priceless moment. I wished I had a video of it though I don't think I will ever forget the image! Though this excitement soon faded because she wasn't allowed to get down on the floor with all the other cheerleaders to cheer. She had a meltdown or two and was chased by a parent/grandparent or two. We had plans to go to the zoo, but I knew she and we were way too tired for something as tiring as a walk through a zoo. So we opted for a movie instead. We saw another 3-D movie, UP. It was good-- though for a movie geared toward children, it was quite sad! And yes, I cried. [I forgot to add this part. As soon as the review and awards were over, as soon as Natalie got on the floor with the cheerleaders, Natalie asked Cari and then Alexa to teach her how to dance like that! LOVE IT, LOVE IT!]

Today as soon as i finish this post, Natalie and I will get ready to go to Natchez to go to the "big" Wal-mart to find birthday gifts for my nephew, and his step-sister, Chloe. And since on the way home last night, Natalie asked about the zoo, and since I feel guilty for not taking her after telling her we would, I will take her to Duncan Park for some kind of picnic lunch with takeout from McDonald's. It is so cool out this morning. So it looks like it will be a perfect day for a picnic!

Tomorrow we will head to Oak Grove to visit family and to take Natalie to Dalton's and Chloe shared birthday parties. This party will be at his daddy's (my brother) house; he has already had one with his mommy's family (I know this because of facebook...I love it!). Last year Dalton's "real" b'day was the day of the wedding rehearsal. So our dessert for the rehearsal dinner was a cake for him. To see some photos of Dalton's birthday from last year, click HERE.

Natalie woke up this morning asking if this was Dalton's birthday. I had to explain to her what we will do today and then tomorrow. So it's time to get off of this computer. I just felt the need to document this week's event even w/o photos...which I have...I have just been too tired to get them off the card. So stay tuned, I will post some soon....hopefully?

~~ja~~

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

FIRST DAY CHEERLEADING CAMP

BEAUTIFUL CHEERLEADING GIRLS: Cari and Alexa Viking VHS performed their "home dance" Monday evening (June 1, 2009) at LSU as part of their cheerleading camp.
It is very hard to get great images of events like this even with a nice camera and exensive lens, but I did get a few images that I am pleased to have and to share here.

These following images are my faves.







The finish pose!
Alexa, Brandon and Cari...


Cari and Alexa...

Yesterday was a very tiring day for me: up early, drive to Baton Rouge, get Cari settled in, shop for more things for Cari for camp in busy traffic in BR, then back to Cam and Britt's apartment. I freshed up a bit and changed clothes then Brittany and I went to see the Home Dance Evalution (dance). Each group had really fun upbeat dances! I could have watched these all night...much more fun that them doing the same cheers over and over. The other two years of Cari cheering we attended the final day and that's what you experience: each team competing again each other doing the same cheers over and over! This was much more fun!


And I am glad I had Brittany there with me to share this.

I did have a photo of me too. I may include it later. It wasnt' great, but at least I have it!

I should have more images to post soon. We go back Thursday!

~~ja~~