Life

...please pray!

Things continue to be crazy in our lives. Please pray. My dad is not well!

... busy life

So no new posts for a few days means that I'm busy out there living life, as opposed to sitting at home blogging about it! Sorry that I haven't posted in a couple of days, but I will post some pics soon. We've been busy... what else would you expect from a 3 ring circus like ours! I have hundreds of pictures to weed through, archive and edit... and I'm sure a few of them will make the cut... and end up here. Tune in tomorrow or the next day to see my bathing baby beauty- in her sassy summer suit! Oh... and I updated my portfolio on my flickr account. You can click the badge in the left hand column and then play it as a slide show. Have fun! Blessings, K

Team V this week...

Well, over half of the summer has flown by... and what do we have to show for it?  Not much!  Rylie is crawling or rather "scooting" (which is her own version of crawling... where she sorta drags one leg under her while she moves).  She is also pulling up and beginning to "coast", which is when they pull along something and walk it's length.  She is standing for brief seconds without holding on to things... but doesn't have the balance yet to stand freely.

We went to the doctor at the end of last week, for a check up with the cardiologist.  Everything is going well with Rylie.  Her shunt is still open, which seemed to surprise the doctor, because apparently those usually close up on their own by now.  The doctor said something about Rylie's lungs still being a little bit wet, so she has kept her on the lasix ;o( I guess the lungs being "wet" has something to do with her still having the shunt?? I don't know myself.  I would think that we could be off the meds by now... but who am I, what do I know?? She is saturating in the high 80's which the doctor was pleased with.  Overall... "A" for Rylie.  She is doing so well, and I am so proud of her.

 

Campbelle is starting to talk about school... and getting ready for school.  I'm getting nervous about all the changes that are on the horizon in just about a month's time!  I'm sure it will be WAY harder for me... than it will be for the girls!  Let's just hope that I'm right! This shot of her amazing blue eyes... I just love! She is still giving me attitude about having her picture taken.  But as soon as I turned the camera to Rylie or Wesley... she just had to jump into the frame!  Competition? I asked her to lay down and look at me.. which of course she simply laid down... then we heard an airplane out the window... and I asked her to look out the window and see if she could see the plane.  Well, she looked, and that's how I got this great picture of her eyes... all lit up like this!  When I zoomed in just on her eyes... I could see the refection of the window and me... in her eyes... Love it!

 

Wesley has been busy hanging out!  Summer is for cruzin', playing with friends, oh.. and of course reading chapter books and reviewing a bit of math (when your mom is a credentialed teacher ;o)  We were hoping to send him to at least one week of camp this summer, but we'll see.  He had been growing his hair out, but we took him to the barber this week.... and gone are the long golden locks!  He really didn't fight it.  He looks so different, and so handsome now that we can see all of his face again. This is a picture of Wesley doing what Wesley would do all day... every day... if I'd let him!

Oh... and Mike and I... well, same ol' same ol' with us! I did manage to turn the camera on Mike for a brief moment.  He is always complaining that you can't see his eyes in pictures... that they are "squinty"... that no-one even knows that he has these great green eyes... well here's a couple pictures to prove that they are, in fact, green!

 

Oh... and here's me... a funky self-portrait with a posterizing filter... taken in my bathroom mirror.  Funny thing about being a photographer... you don't end up in very many pictures yourself... because you're always taking the pictures!!  Well, in this case, I took the picture & I am in the picture!  Yeah- me!

... hello Kai ...

He was born on the 4th of July.  What kid wouldn't want to have fireworks on their birthday??  I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with Kai's mommy and big sister just about a week before he made his dramatic entrance... thank goodness we got the pics of prego Natalie and her princess, Cora.  

 

I showed up to visit the Finns and just had to get my newborn fix.  My little one, Rylie, is almost a year old, and I don't realize how big she is until I hold a real newbie.  The lanky proportions, flaky skin and floppy head that can't help but snuggle into the crook of your neck!! I held Kai, and his mommy explained the story of his arrival.  Then we got out the camera and a few simple props and snapped a few fun pics.  I even managed to get Kai's daddy to cooperate with a couple of pics. Kai was in a good mood, and WIDE awake through most of my visit, so we didn't try for the typical newborn pics of the floppy sound asleep newbie. Sooo stinkin cute!  He is going to change so much... and has already! Check out his killer mohawk... this kid is destined for greatness!

...welcome Kai Perry Finn

 

a bit of emphasis on the special day he was born! ;o)

 

... new website design...

I have made some design changes to my website.  I've spent a few late nights... when the kiddletts are fast asleep... working on making what tools I currently have- work better!  In an ideal world, I would have time and energy to learn more about coding websites, and how to work on the templates, so that I could integrate flash media!  Or... maybe just have enough money to pay someone to do a redesign for me?

I'm working on my branding... trying to come up with a fun and consistent logo and color schemes to use!!! 

Let me know what you think!!  and if you check out the new site and experience any problems navigating through the pages please email me.

Here's the link:

Katrinaelizabethphoto.com

Check back soon for some fun pics of Kai Perry Finn!

This weekend...

Weekends in our house are typically spent rushing around, trying to get the house-hold in order.  Some part of Saturday almost always involves chores!  Mowing the lawns, washing cars, cleaning bathrooms, laundry and floors!  Then Sunday is supposed to be a fun family/relax day!  Now these tend to be ideals more these days... because my husband tends to work quite a few Saturdays... but this weekend was the way it should be!  

So after the household had been tended to on Saturday... we had Sunday to look forward to spending some time together as a family.  I had the brilliant idea that we should find a carousel. I know that there is one just across town at the Carlsbad mall... but I thought that we could make an adventure of it!  Of course Campbelle was WAY into it... so after church on Sunday, we headed down to Belmont Park, in San Diego.  I remember going there one time... many years ago, when Mike and I were just dating!  I don't think I could find the place again if my life depended on it... but apparently a LOT of people do find it... because it is WAY crazy down there in the summer.  Not what you would call a typical "family" crowd... but the carousel was there... so we charged it!

You get the motion effect blur that you see in the carousel, by using a slower shutter speed.  Campbelle wasn't moving, but the carousel was... fun hun?

She was too excited to look at me!

After our expedition, we returned home, had dinner, bathed the girls, and settled in on the couches to watch some tv!  It was then that I noticed a funny buzzing sound coming from the kitchen.  As I got closer, I discovered that it was coming from the refrigerator.  I mentioned to my husband that I wondered what was up... and he went to investigate.  Neither of us knew what was causing the new sound, but the appliance appears to be working- so we just blew it off!  

Now Campbelle had of course overheard our conversation, so she took off into the kitchen to investigate!  She opened the freezer door, said something like... ohhhh, let me see what I can do to fix it! and then after her initial evaluation, came back into the family room and proclaimed that she knew what was wrong with the fridge!  So of course Mike and I asked her what needed to be done to fix it!  She replied... it just needs some more food!!  (ha, ha!)  Smarty pants!

Fun lens flare pic taken Saturday evening while the girls were playing in Campbelle's room! You get the flare effect by allowing the rays of sunlight to spread across the lens of your camera. Too much light and the picture would be totally white out. This is just enough for the effect I was looking for.

...the ring

Mike and I had our 5 Yr anniversary on Friday, the 18th!  We didn't do anything special!  Here's a pic of my husband... typical!

 

Funny story about that ring that you see... all shiny on his left hand holding the magazine...

Several weeks ago we took a family trip to the beach to play and surf.  Mike had forgotten to take off his wedding ring at home, so just before he launched into the water, he pulled off his ring, handed it to me, and asked me to hold it for him while he surfed.  Now, the reason you take rings off when you are going to go into the ocean... is because the water is cold, which promotes shrinkage... and the ring that fits snugly on your finger one moment, may fall off and be lost in the water, when your finger "shrinks".  So normally taking off a ring that you don't want to loose is a good idea before you jump in the water...  Well, I took the ring, held it for a couple of minutes, realized that I couldn't hold it, because it doesn't fit on any of my fingers... so I sipped it up in a pocket in one of our back-packs.  The day rolled on, Mike came out of the water... we packed up the fam and headed home.  Almost a week later, Mike went looking for his ring.  Every pocket was emptied... and no ring found. Sadly, we discovered that the ring that I had given him on our wedding day... the one that I picked out especially for him... and had engraved... was gone.  Ironically just weeks before our 5 year anniversary.  Easy for me... I knew exactly what I was going to get him for an anniversary gift.  

Then about a week after we had written off the ring as lost, Wesley came into the house holding the very ring!  I asked him where he had found it... and he said that he had thrown his skateboard on the front lawn... and had noticed something shiny next to his board.  He found the lost ring.  Mike didn't know that the ring had been found... and I swore, rather bribed, Wesley to secrecy.  Now the amazing thing is that we had mowed the lawn at least once, if not twice... and the ring was still there!!  And not damaged beyond recognition!  Chalk one up for titanium!

So for our anniversary... I got a fun box... filled it with pebbles and sea shells... had his ring polished at the jewelers... put it back in the very ring box that I had received his original ring in... and presented him with his ring... 5 years later!  That very same shiny ring pictured above, has once again found it's rightful home.  Here's to 5 more... better, brighter, and happier years to come.

Engaged!

I joined Gabby, of Gabrielle Fox Photography, on a photo shoot with this adorable couple. We met at a cute coffee shop in La Jolla, and strolled to the place where they had met... Hagen Dazs!  In retrospect, it would have been so fun to have had them order ice cream... and taken a sequence of fun pics with them eating and feeding each other. Next time;o)  

Anyway, I can't remember the last time I was down there... so it was like exploring unknown territory.  Good thing Gabby had a plan!  There wedding will be in September, and they will make an adorable wedding couple.  Until then... they make a cute engaged couple!

  

Christmas jammies in July...

I got the girls all matching jammies for Christmas... with the idea that it would be so cute to take pictures of all 4 of them in their pj's.  That was in December and just last week, Maddy sent her 2 little ones over to my house (I was babysitting) in their polka dot pj's.  It just so happened that Rylie had been put to bed the night before in her polka dots!  So I set out to find Campbelle's jammies... but to no avail.  I'm sure we won't get another opportunity to get them together in their pjs before they out-grow them, soooooooo....I just took pics of the girls playing around.  

Maddy always gets on me for not posting more pics of her little ones... I try to explain that it is difficult to take pics of her little ones when I have my other 3 little ones hanging around too!!  But I did manage to snap off a few cute pics before anyone really lost it!

Princess or tough girl?

So my princess Campbelle... is so girl... and so not girl- all at the same time.  She absolutely LOVES to be in a dress... and "princess shoes", which may or may not be a pair of mommies going out shoes! 

One morning last week I was putting the baby down for her morning nap, and I noticed that Campbelle was being really... really quiet!  Which for her is really... really abnormal- sometimes I think she totally knows that she is supposed to be quiet, so she does the exact opposite!  Instead of quietly watching tv or playing so that mommy can get a little break and Ry will take a good nap... she decides to pitch an absolute FIT about something right at the bottom of the stairs, or outside of Rylie's room!!!  But on this particular morning, she was being soooo quiet and it was strange, so I proceeded to walk around the house to try to find her.  The first place I checked was in my bathroom... because she has often been known to help herself to "mommy's makeup" when she has a chance to be let loose without adult eyes for more than a couple of minutes... but not this time.  She was not in my room! 

Then I heard a faint little voice talking, and followed the sound to her bedroom door.  When I peeked inside I saw the most adorable sight... so I reached across the hall to my little cave/studio/laundry room and grabbed my camera... check out her cuteness!  Now mind you the moment after I snapped these few pics... she pulled the hat off... took off the skirt... and wanted to go outside and ride her bike... sooo adorable!  I love my little complicated princess.  I hope that she never has to choose... to be a princess... or a tough girl! 

 

Note the pile of CLEAN laundry in the background... I can manage to get it washed, but often can't find the time to get it put away!!

And then there's the little Rylie-Lou!  She is getting so big, and doing so good!  After that little nap, that I mentioned above, she woke up with the best bed-head... I just had to take a picture... note the sleepy eyes... and of course, the hair!! I am grateful everyday...

Oh and Bethy... if you're reading this... leave me a comment!! ;o)