{Personal Life: First Day of School}

Today was my sweet baby girl's first day of school - kindergarten.  It was bittersweet for me.  She was so excited to go, and I was fine dropping her off and saying goodbye, until I got back to my car and read a poem handout that the teacher gave the parents.  I started to cry.  It reads as follows:

The First Day

I gave you a little wink and smile
As you entered my room today.
For I know how hard it is to leave
And know your child must stay.
You've been with her for five years now
And have been a loving guide,
But now, alas, the time has come
To leave her at my side.
Just know that as you drive away [I'm crying as I type this, haha]
And tears down your cheeks may flow
I'll love her as I would my own
And help her learn and grow.
For as a teacher, I too know
How quickly the years do pass
Just know that I will protect her
While she's in my class.
So please put your mind at ease
And cry those tears no more
For I will love her and take her in
When you leave her at my door.

*sniff*

[My Birthday Boy]

Happy 2nd Birthday, Brenham boy.  You've been a surprise from the very beginning, my sweet, gorgeous little son.  I can't count the ways in which you've enriched my life.  Momma, Daddy and Nat-Nat love you to the moon and back and forever. 

XOXOXOXO.

[caaaaannnnnnddddyyyy]

Hi, my name is Leah, and I'm a candyholic.  Yes, that's right.  But not just any kind of candy will do.  It must be tangy, sour, bursting with flavor :)  Think Nerds, Jolly Ranchers (especially sour ones, MMMM!), Starburts, Sweettarts (FYI...Smarties are NOT the same), Laffy Taffy, Warheads, Shock Tarts...you get the idea, right? 

So, thanks to my bestie, I now have an adorable candy jar, designed by my friend herself.  She's very talented and makes all sorts of awesome things (including cakes for any occasion), and she was so thoughtful as to give me the lovely jar pictured below for my birthday.  It now has a spot on my office desk, and is filled with *some* of my favorite candies.  Now I can eat candy while I edit you all's sessions :)

(and yes, those are indeed smudges all over my glass table; hi, I have 2 children)

(also...please don't ask me what happened to my picture sizing because my answer is "I don't know and I don't feel like figuring it out")

{Me}

You should know by now that I don't like being on the other side of the camera. That being said, it's always good for photographers to step out from behind the camera some. So, that's exactly what I did. I "did" myself up, set up my camera on my tripod and chose the old fireplace in my living-room as my "posing" (eeek!) spot. Now...please do not expect me to look like this at your session! I've had a couple people tell me before when they see me personally, "You look different than your pictures online". Um yes, I do, because in those pictures I'm "done up" aaannnnddd more than likely when you see me for your session, I've either come from another session and am dripping sweat (ew) or I've rushed out of my house after taking care of 2 children, and that gives me NO time to get ready sometimes. Anyway, you get the point ;) Here's to a happy Sunday; have a great one!

{Personal Life} Daughter Going Retro

Just a little bit of retro for your Tuesday :)  Have a good one!

{Personal Life}: Weird & Random Monday Post

Hi, everyone!  Did you all have a good weekend?  Anything fun going on with all this great outdoor weather - at least in this part of NC?

Yesterday afternoon my husband, kids and I went to Stone Mountain State Park.  It's just over an hour's drive from us, but we wanted to do something different.  We certainly don't usually (ever) go hiking.  I debated taking my camera with me on the hike and finally decided to not take it, and I'm glad I didn't.  I mean, I saw lots of things along the way (especially the waterfall at the end of the hike) that I would think, "I wish I'd brought my camera", but at the end of the trek, I was happy I had been able to just enjoy the nature hike with my little family.  Also, my husband and I had to carry the kids, piggy-back style, for most of the hike.  I mean, you know, 5 year old and not ever 2 year old.  They got tired.  Quickly. :)  So, carrying a camera, even strapped around my neck (I forgot to take my strap), would've been a little difficult.  The total hike was just over 2 miles long, but with 2 kids on our backs, it felt like 10 miles :)  Still...all worth it!

I did get these pictures when we got back to the car.  Didn't take the kids long at all to look like this...

(she'll hurt me someday for this picture)

Couldn't even see my son's face from where I was sitting, all covered with his pillow pet.  That may or may not be smushed banana on the corner of his corner seat.  *shudder* do.not.like.bananas.

And now, something that does NOT pertain to the hiking trip, but was staring me in the face this morning when I went into the kids' bathroom.  All I gots ta say  is...these kind of doll heads, where you brush their hair and puts hairbows on them or whatever...weird.me.out.  The End.



Personal Life | Home Sweet Home

Happy Friday!  So today I thought I'd share a different sort of post with you all. 

My husband, 2 children and I moved into a new (to us) home about 6 weeks ago.  It's an older home - 1948, to be exact.  It's quirky, has "different" things about it, the hardwoods are a little scratched up and the linoleum flooring is stained in some areas, things that used to be white back in the day are not so white anymore.  There are lots of imperfections.  And...we love it.  I mean, REALLY love it.  It suits us WAY better than our last home - that we lived in for over 8 years.  We were needing and ready for a change, and we happened upon this house one day and immediately wanted it. 

I thought today I'd share with you all what our kitchen looks like.  You might think it's totally ugly.  That's ok.  There's beauty in everything! ;)  As you'll see it's very...um...white.  I like it just like that!  It's not modern, is not updated.  And yes, I love it.  Not fancy, has things that need to be fixed.  And...I still love it.  And actually, I don't think I'd change a thing about it.  Ok, maybe a couple tiny things...like the floor that's a little uneven, so when we walk past the stove, the little things sitting on the stove, fall over.  *sigh*  I'm dealing with it though ;) 

So anyway, here ya go.  Just some photos of my kitchen.  Perhaps I'll share some photos of other parts of my house next week.  And ok, one last detail about my kitchen, my favorite thing - all the natural lighting.  It has 4 windows.  Tiny windows, yes.  But the lighting that comes in makes me sigh with happiness.  Oh, and being able to see from the windows over the sink, my lush, green back yard that's usually filled with little birdies hopping and flittering around?  Glorious.  All the shots below are SOOC (straight out of camera).  No light was turned on in the kitchen, so it's a little dim, but I love how the light from the widows just kinda fills up the room.  L O V E.

Oh, just some muffins my husband and daughter made from scratch.  Some have berries in them, hence the unique colors ;)

{Personal Life} My Lovies

Thought I'd share photos of my own kids on this lovely Tuesday.  Hope each of you are having a great day!

My little beauty Natalie is 5 years old and headed to kindergarten in the fall. 

And my handsome boy Brenham will be 2 years old next month.  Keeps me busy, this one!



{Personal Life: Snippets}

I am generally so busy taking pictures of you all :) that I forget, or neglect, to take pictures of my own life.  So, here's a small collection of random photos taken over the past few days, in and around my home.  I hope you enjoy - and happy Thursday!

A yummy afternoon snack...

And the little girl enjoying that yumminess:

That's my burger back there with the crumbled feta cheese on it.  MMMM :)

This is how I want to eat dinner every evening this summer:

These little warm, snuggly kittens are just 4 days old now:

And here's their momma taking a break.  This picture makes me laugh because it looks like she's blocking the sound of "meow"'s ;) but I just happened to catch her mid-cleaning.

Love the way the sky looked on my way home from Charlotte mini-sessions over the weekend...

Some prettiness in my back yard.  I don't know what these are called, but you flower people probably do.

And this?  I don't know what this is either, but I LOVE it.

Here's a close-up of the flower above.

I didn't know what these below were until my mother-in-law asked, "Are those bleeding hearts?"  Now I know what they are called :)

My not-yet two year old son being brave in our pool (just a big Intex pool, mind you).  He was getting a kick out of sticking his head in the water for a brief second. 

My little ones and me <3



{Happy Friday!}

For those of you that don't have a Facebook account or don't 'like' Boy & Girl Photography on Facebook and just look at my blog instead - here's what I shared with Facebook yesterday...

Went to the circus with my daughter and my sister and her family to celebrate my nieces' birthday.  It was the first time for both my daughter and me.  We LOVED it!  The elephants act was our favorite part!  They were amazing!

I plan on posting more circus pictures later.  I said *plan* :)

Happy Friday and weekend to you all!

{Natalie Turns 5}

My little girl turned 5 on Saturday!  It makes me smile, but it also makes me so sad.  You all with kids know what I mean!  Natalie is growing up...far too quickly.  We joke with her and ask if she can be a baby again.  She's always like, "No, sorry.  I've got to be bigger and older".  :( 

I generally don't like doing photo shoots of my own kids.  I just get annoyed with them, ha!  This time around, Natalie did a great job.  There were moments where I had to tell her, "Don't smile that way!" or "Stop moving!", but really, she did great.  There's a lot of images below, so beware ;)  I edited these in a warm "retro" sorta way.  I love them, and I hope you enjoy them, too.

The newest member of our family and Natalie's birthday gift:

Zauk (pronounced zok) is an almost 3 year old Great Dane.  He currently weighs around 140 lbs and is definitely a gentle giant.  He and Natalie are getting to know each other, but I see the love between the two of them already.  Morgan, thank you for giving us the pleasure of giving Zauk his new home.  We will be keeping his name.  We think it fits him perfectly, and we think HE fits us perfectly!  If you check back here occasionally, you'll probably see more pictures of him :)

Her Daddy was nearby, making her giggle:

That's the "Natalie, don't smile like that!" smile:

Natalie doing her flexible thing:

Sweet, sweet girl...

Doesn't matter how I'm feeling, if I see Natalie make the face below, I laugh and laugh.  And laugh some more!  Goofy girl!

Really, do you have to be so adorable? 

I have a feeling these two will be great buddies!  They're bonding quickly!

Happy 5th Birthday, my beautiful, silly, smart, sweet Natalie.  Mommy loves you forever and always.