Fall Fun

I took my kids and some friends to the park to day to take some photos. I love fall photos! It was chilly, but we still had fun.

Turkey Day 5K

Last month, Jeff and I decided it would be fun to run in the local Turkey Day 5K. We woke up to 16 degree temperatures this morning and it was cold! We got up, prepped our turkey put it in the oven and off to race we went. We made it home with just minutes to spare to take our turkey out of the oven.

Jeff was kind enough to stay with me and run at my pace. We finished in 35 minutes. I was just happy to finish. :)

Our friend, Dave joined us

Whew!!! Now, we can eat!

Another fun photo shoot

I had another photo shoot last night with these two cuties. Just look at the blue eyes on this boy. These two are adorable and funny. They have such great smiles.

Obviously, I'm just an amateur who enjoys playing with my camera. It's been nice to have some new subjects, my kids run now when I get my camera out. HA!

I"m taking a photography course after the new year and I can't wait!

Why???

When we adopted Lucy in 2004, I knew one day I would have to share with her "her story" I knew one day she would ask "why???"

Lucy has known from day one that she was born in China and we became a family through adoption, all these things.....just not ALL the details.

I have always wanted her to feel loved and wanted, to find comfort in Gods plan. We have had many sweet discussions over the past 6 years together and she is proud to have been born in China and often talks about being adopted.

Last week, she was helping make tacos for dinner and she said, "mama, can I ask you a question?" I reply "yes" thinking to myself, she's about to ask me if we can go to get ice cream after dinner. I had no idea she was about to ask me "why" I had tried to prepare myself for this question for the past 6 years and here is was......

Lucy, (in 7 year old speak) "if my birth mother carried me in her tummy and borned me, why didn't she keep me?" I stopped what I was doing and lifted her up onto the counter, looked into those sweet brown eyes and (while holding back the tears) told her everything I know. I told her about China and the great famine in the 60's which led to Chairman Mao's one child policy and China's need/want for boys. I also, shared with her everything I knew about her particular circumstances in China and showed her some photos. I'm not going to go in detail here on the blog about the information I have. I told Lucy, it's HER story and if she wants to share it she can or she can keep it to herself.

After, I was done I asked her how she felt about "her story." She said, "mama, promise me you will take me back to China one day." "I'm afraid I will forget about China and my birthmom." I gave her a big hug and a promise...."yes, baby I will take you back to visit China and I will help you to remember."

Photo shoot for a friend

My good friend, Kim asked if I could take some photos of her kids for their family Christmas cards, of course I said, "yes." I love to play with my camera and who wouldn't want to spend a morning taking photos of these three cuties!

Overexposed

I have photoshop elements (gift from hubby last Christmas) and I have sat down, many times to try and figure it out, but I have decided I'm going to have to take a class. It's on my list of "to-do's" for 2011.

In the meantime, I will just keep playing with the options I have in I-Photo.

Here is a photo of Lucy that I think looks great overexposed in color and black and white.

I love this expression on her face and her sweet eyes looking up.

Wordless Wednesday

An A+ in Chinese

Olivia had to do a family project for her Mandarin class. Last year, our local school made the decision to drop French and add Mandarin. Olivia was excited because she has had two years of Chinese at our local Chinese Cultural Center. Here is her family project she worked on last night and turned in today.

She loves her Chinese class and has received A's on all of her assignments.

You may have to click on the photo to enlarge it to see all the Chinese symbols. I'm blown away that my 12 year can do this. Maybe, she will be our international business woman. :)

We've gone wild!

Lucy (my fashionista) and I have gone wild over this seasons animal prints.

Lucy's shoes (Target)

My new bag! Everything is more fun with a little cheetah!

Halloween Fun

Captain Rex and Mulan

Just over 9lbs of candy!

I don't have any photos of Olivia the ladybug. She was out trick or treating at a friends house. I'm hoping the mom will email me some photos.