During the final week of 2009 I went through and proofread and color-corrected (long story) the first 52 weeks worth of layouts. I also uploaded them to a photo site that makes photo books and expected that all I had left to do was add the last two pages for week 53 and I'd be done. I started assembling my book, at which point I discovered that "100 pages" means "50 pages front and back" not "100 pages front and back." My book is 106 pages long. ACK! Okay I knew this was a possibility, but really hoped my version of 100 pages and the site's version of 100 pages were the same. Needless to say I was a little bummed about all the wasted effort.
But do not fear... I found another, more expensive site which will create my longer than 100 pages book. I spent a good portion of the day on New Year's Eve uploading and assembling my book on this new site. Only to run into another road sblock... some of my pages had text and pictures too close to the edges... close enough that they could be cut off in the printing. So once again I went through my layouts one by one working to ensure that my text was far enough away from the edges that it would not be cut out during production. Check.
So I'm done! NO! There's more! Now I need to design a COVER! A cover???? Okay I probably should have planned for this as well. But after the New Year's Eve resizing fiasco, I was BURNED OUT. I took a week off. :) After my brief P365 vacation, I went through all 365 photos a couple of days ago, and chose a few (24 to be exact) for my cover design. And I opened up that week 53 layout and started putting the finishing touches on it. And I figured... I better blog that last week before I bury this project forever! Very likely to happen as soon as I order the book!
So without further ado (or long-winded story telling).... WEEK 53 in pictures!
While cleaning the boys' bathroom last week, I was nearly knocked over by the smell of the boys' bath toys. I knew our water and years of baths had done a number on them, but I didn't realize just how bad they were. Sooo... we decided to use some of the boys' Christmas money to buy new bath toys. I threw away a ton of the old, stinky toys, and replaced them with some new ones. There was a bit of a fuss about the toys that were tossed, but overall, I think the boys are enjoying the new lineup!
For Christmas, Jack and Brayden got sleeping bags from the Easter's. With all the craziness of the new toys the received, they kind of forgot about their sleeping bags until tonight. I unrolled their bags for them and kind of showed them how sleeping bags work. Immediately, they decided they wanted to change into their pajamas, turn off all the lights (except the Christmas tree), and have a pajama party! We set their bags up by the tree and they had their little party. It didn't last long, but it sure was adorable!
The past few days... maybe because of some of their craft-related Christmas presents, the boys - especially Brayden - have been very into "coloring." Something that has never held their interest for very long. Still, they sat and colored in their old Tonka coloring books for at least an hour tonight. Brayden chose to use markers in his book, and Jack opted for crayons. They were both very serious about the task at hand, and did not want to put their coloring stuff away when it was time to eat dinner!
New Year's Eve! It's hard to believe the year is already coming to a close... the time goes by so fast! We spent our morning at Monkey Bizness with our neighbors so they kids could all play! Then the Johnson's had us over for dinner and games, and this was the sight outside our front door as we left to walk over to their house. A full moon, the last full, "Blue" moon of 2009. It took me a few tries to get my settings right, but I love the outcome of the photo. We had a great New Year's Eve, and a fantastic 2009!Coming soon... the week 53 layout... and then I'm going to need to figure out something new to blog about! :)
At long last, we've worked brushing teeth in the morning into our "get ready for school" routine. Jack has gotten very good at brushing his own teeth, but Brayden still usually needs some clean-up work. This morning though, he was trying to shard to do a good job and get all his teeth clean! And the bed head is tremendous!
Tonight the boys (finally, a little late!) made their construction paper ring countdowns to Christmas. Brayden had fun making the first couple of rings, then he was ready to move on to other things (like playing cars). Jack, however, was very dedicated to the project, and wrote numbers and drew little festive pictures on every ring! I love his little Santa!
I bought this big piece of brown fabric awhile back to make myself a big "blankie." I've used it as a photo prop a few times, but finally decided to sew it up into my blanket. All was going well till I attached the satin border... which didn't really match and was super difficult to put on straight. So now I have a big ugly (warm) blanket, and need a new photo prop!
Brayden has become quite the whiner and pouter in recent days. I can't remember exactly what he was whining to me about, but my camera was right there so I snapped a picture of his pathetic whiney face. Which, for whatever reason, caused him to crack up. So I got a picture of that too! I like the happy face better than the whiney one! 
We had a playdate at the Gumm's house today. Alyssa and I went down to the basement to check on the playing boys, and were surprised to find that, of all the things they could be doing, they were all playing together in the play kitchen area! They were cracking themselves up making "water soup." Who said that playing kitchen is just for girls!?
Basketball continues to be a lot of fun! Today was the second to last practice. Rob has been working with Jack before the formal practice begins on shooting from his chest. His technique really is improving... we really can see changes from one week to the next!
One of the games the boys like to play together is "hospital." One of them ends up sick in bed at the hospital, and the other is the caretaker. Or sometimes it's the stuffed dogs that are sick. They get out the play doctor kit and take care of each other and their dogs. Lunch was ready today when I found them upstairs playing hospital on their beds. Brayden is looking after Jack's dog, Numbutts. :)
It's Thanksgiving week, and I've decided to undertake some baking projects. Last week Sarah made us pumpkin rolls and they were delicious, so I decided to attempt to make them myself. It was one of the messiest, most illogical recipes I've ever made! They aren't nearly as pretty as Sarah's were, but they are still delicious! It's like cheesecake and pumpkin bread all wrapped together!
Because the pumpkin bread wasn't enough, I decided to attempt my first cheesecake - a pumpkin cheesecake - for dessert for Thanksgiving dinner with the family. It was much easier to make than I expected (although I did need to buy a special pan for it!). It smells good and it looks good... I sure hope it tastes good too!
We spent Thanskgiving this year with the Martin side of the family, at my mom's house. We had a nice laid back afternoon together, and dinner (well, a late lunch) was wonderful as always. And the cheesecake... success!!! After lunch and everything, I took Noah's 3 month photos. He's so handsome! This is my favorite shot of him from the session, but really, it's hard to take a bad picture of my gorgeous nephew!
Is that a naked child under the Christmas tree? Why yes, yes it is. I don't know exactly what Brayden was pitching a fit about, but it was probably something about getting dressed... something he doesn't do agreeably right now. So today, he took off MOST of his clothes, and crawled under the tree to hide and avoid putting on his clothes. SUCH A MONKEY!
During this long weekend, Rob took the boys to the park three mornings to play soccer and football. It was great that they had a chance to get out and run off some energy, and do what they LOVE to do the most right now - sports! Then this afternoon, even though it was freezing out, Jack went out in our front yard to play football with some of the bigger kids in the neighborhood. He had a great time, and really held his own with the big boys!
Jack's class is learning about turkeys and all things "Thanksgiving" right now. One of his homework assignments was to "disguise" a turkey. He decided to disguise his turkey with fruit loops! Brayden made one too, disguised in regular cheerios. I think their favorite part of the whole crafty activity was GLUE... they certainly used more than a generous amount!
It was a busy, photography filled weekend for me. I did the Dickinson's family pictures Saturday morning, which was fun since I hadn't seen them in about 6 years (and 5 kids between us!). Then the Swietek's Saturday afternoon, including 3 month old Oliver. Oliver is getting so big and adorable! (Not that he wasn't adorable before!). Look at those blue eyes! After pictures we had a girl's night at Stephanie's with some other friends, decorating Christmas cookies.
I took the Easter's family pictures today... an exciting and defintiely adventurous task! The boys were just not that into it... like pretty much all kids ages 1 and 3! I did my best to get some great pictures of them anyway! When we tried to get the big group picture with uncles and grandparents, Ashton was DONE, and threw a huge tantrum. So everyone else threw a tantrum along with him, and it made for a hilarious group shot!
My very good, old friend, Mike, was in Denver today (literally for one day) for work. He came over to our house for dinner and to meet Rob and the boys, who he'd seen in pictures but never met. We literally have not seen each other for 10 years. It was so good tos ee him, and the boys all loved him too. Didn't hurt that he works for the boys' favorite radio station, K-Love, and brought them goodie bags!
I didn't take today's picture, Farrah did! Our families got together today for another picture exchange, hoping for some variety to add to the shots from two weekends ago. I think we were able to get some great shots fore ach other, and this one may very well end up being our Christmas card photo this year! Too bad the boys made super goofy faces in almost all of the other pictures!
One of the 2peas photographers I met over the summer, Amy, was in town for the weekend. So a group of the local photographers got together for lunch while she was here. We met at the Olive Garden in Westminster: Becky, Janett, Amy, Farrah and myself, as well as a few of the kids. We're getting together again tomorrow night (minus Amy) because another Pea, Jami, is going to be here!
Today kind of marked the kick-off of what looks to be a busy few weeks for taking pictures for other people (by me!). It was supposed to start last weekend, but the weather did not cooperate! So first us was our wonderful neighbors, the Johnson's! We went to the University of Denver campus where there are so many fun spots for pictures, and the leaves right now are just gorgeous! And the best part, I think we got some great family pictures for them! I had so much fun with such a great family! Had to believe they are even nicer than they are cute, because they are a darn cute bunch!
On August 27, my photographer friend Farrah gave birth to a surprise baby girl, Claire Elisabeth. She invited myself and another photographer friend over on Monday to take newborn picture of baby Claire with some of her fun props. She has the best set-up and so many fantastic props and ideas! Claire didn’t want to sleep, but we still managed to get some super cute shots, including this one of baby Claire in an egg basket - isn’t she precious?
Friday we went to a birthday party for my youth minister from when I was in high school. David just celebrated his 40th birthday. Two others were celebrating their 30th birthdays. It was so great to see and catch up with many old friends! The boys had a great time too playing with the other kids, and jumping on the Tschumpers' trampoline. Two of David's kids, Leah and Rebekah, seemed to take a liking to Jack and Brayden. It was so fun to watch. :)
As I mentioned, I was lucky enough last weekend to participate in a gathering of photographers... a group of ladies from the 2peas photography message board got together in Denver, and I tagged along. :) Friday night we had a BBQ at the home of another local Pea... who happens to live just down the road from us. She was so sweet to host all of us... including my whole family! We hung out, chatted, and then had a spontaneous maternity photo shoot in Farrah's backyard (she's pregnant and having a scheduled c-section THIS WEEK!). Well little monkey that Brayden is, he wanted it to be all about HIM! So in order to get him OUT of all the photos of Farrah at the top of the hill... I brough him and Brayden down the hill a ways and took some pix of the two of them together. They are such goobers. Such a cool setting though!
Saturday was day two with the Peas... they did a "trash the dress" photo shoot at Chatfield State Park in the morning... which I (sadly!) skipped so I could go to Jack's first soccer practice (which, by the way, was good!). In the afternoon they had an "urban kids" photo shoot in downtown Denver. Being a local, I brought the boys to be "models" for the photo shoot. :) Our little family arrived downtown early, so we wandered around, and I got some pictures of the boys. Later I was able to shoot (photograph, that is) some of the other kids too... but sadly with the chaos of about 20 photographers meant I wasn't focusing, and thus, my photos are out of focus. However, I did get this gem of the boys together - probably the best picture we have ever gotten of the two of them together. Lots more cute pix of them from the trip downtown... some of which I posted on facebook... but most of which I've hardly had a chance to look at, due to the craziness of this past week!
The last official day of the Pea Denver get together we went to the Sante Fe arts district in Denver to do an engagement photo shoot. The couple is friends with one of the other local photographers. When they volunteered to model for us a month or so ago, they were just dating, but since then, he proposed, so this was an actual engagement shoot! They were both gorgeous and couldn't go wrong... we all had a lot of fun with them. Of course, again I wasn't focusing, so I didn't notice the ginormous smudge on my camera lens till halfway through the shoot. I really enjoyed the more creative shots I got, like this one of them holding hands, but from the waist(-ish) down!
Back to real life after the photographer's weekend... Monday we had Jack's kindergarten orientation, Brayden's preschool meet 'n greet, and we picked my mom up from the airport. She was "visiting friends" in California. ;-) I brought my camera with me... I don't know why, because I hadn't gotten a picture yet that day, I guess? Wasn't quite sure what I was going to take a picture of... but DIA is a very unique structure, so I thought I'd just try and shoot it off my shoulder while driving. Really safe, right? Well it became especially comical when we circled around the passenger pick-up lanes a full FOUR TIMES... because first my mom wasn't ready, then she was on the wrong level, then we didn't see her............. and finally we were able to connect. Yipes!
We spent most of the afternoon on Father's Day at the Gumm's house. First was Ashlee's 4th birthday party, then we had a low key post-party BBQ just for our two families. The afternoon together ended with a jeep ride. Jaxon and Ashlee have motorized jeeps and have been dying to take Jack and Brayden on a jeep ride for some time now. So the dad's chaperoned a jeep ride around the neighborhood while the mom's headed inside to do some clean up from the party and just chat. The boys of course LOVED the jeep ride.
