Testing, 1..2..3...

This was really just a test shot for the previous series, but I thought it was really sweet.  I can't believe how much Abigail has changed since a similar shot I took last year.  Check it out:

http://split-focus.blogspot.com/2012/12/first-christmas.html

Making spirits bright, Pt. 2...

The photo I posted previously was my clear favorite, but I also loved these. Showing their Minnie love!

Showing Minnie to the tree...  lol

This was a fun shoot, because I was mostly able to stand back and just watch.  I've honestly never seen them interact too much.  When they come to our house, they're more focused on us than on each other.  But not on this night....Hannah was busy showing Abigail various ornaments and they were playing off of each other's silliness.  So fun to watch!

And they had fun too!  Jenny has taught them to look at the tree without touching, so this was extra special for them to have permission.  I hope we can reenact this scene in future years.  In fact, I already bought their Christmas jammies for next year.  lol. 

Making spirits bright...

Shot for week 52 of the 52 week project.  I cannot believe I made it to the END!  I have almost given up several times.  At any rate, the theme was sweet.  Is there anything sweeter than the wonder of children at Christmas?  I just love how this turned out and hope to make it a tradition in the future.  But next time, I think we'll aim for shooting it before Christmas instead of after.  You guessed it...those are empty bags and boxes under the tree.  Ha ha!

And the outtakes...

Abigail was really hamming it up in response to Kara's antics.  Lol. 

Prim and proper...

You know...you can't plan this stuff.  Both of them putting their hands in their laps at the same time...almost unheard of...and how precious.  I love Abigail's little mischievous smile in the bottom frame and Hannah's impish one in the top frame. 

Sisterly love...

And finally, on to some of my favorite shots of the day.  As I said before, I was dreading this session because we didn't think Abigail would cooperate.  I had a brainstorm just before to bring my antique suitcase.  I remembered that Hannah sat on this suitcase for her Christmas pic when she was Abigail's age.  And ta da....Abigail who usually only wants to WALK, was very happy to sit on this prop.  Hallelujah!  She even allowed some affection.  Trust me, that is hit or miss too.  Case in point...the girls called me to sing Happy Birthday earlier this week.  They were both singing happily with Jenny, but in the middle Abigail screamed "NO!"...then continued singing.  I asked Jenny later what she was screaming about.  Apparently, Hannah tried to hold her hand and...you got it...Abigail did. not. want. to.  She actually is very affectionate, but only on her terms...and sometimes she makes you work for it.  lol. 

More shots of the little comin' up tomorrow!  I try hard to edit and discard since I take SO many photos...but I had a hard time letting go of some of these from this day.  Too much personality. 

Going green...

Next we moved on to smaller groups.  Loved this one...and I love that wooded background too....especially all that green.  It was a really overcast day tho'... if we'd had sun, that background would be alive with bokeh.  Definitely going back and hopefully on a day with better light.

One is all you need...

We headed out to the park at the end of October, hoping to capture a few shots for Jenny's Christmas cards.  Honestly, Kara and I went with fear and trepidation, because the day before Abigail had pitched a holy fit about not wanting to have her picture taken in her Halloween costume.  But we were pleasantly surprised.  Kara was doing all kinds of shenanigans behind me to capture the littles' attention....and she got it...along with quite a few smiles. I don't know how many shots I took.... a LOT...and this was the only one that was good of all of them.  Ha ha.  Of course, this is always what I tell myself.  All you need is ONE.  And check!  It's a wrap. 

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

I'm still very behind on processing photos...have just been so busy that by evening I'm too tired to sit at the computer.  At any rate...just wanted to share a couple of our shots taken for our Christmas cards.  Thanks to Kara for pushing the shutter for me.  I feel like I should caption these with the new nicknames my friend Sue came up with for her husband and herself...Geezer and Geezerette.  Ha ha!!!!  In case you're wondering, we did not even attempt a full family photo this year.  Abigail is too unpredictable, so we decided to save ourselves (and her) a lot of frustration and just went with small groupings instead. 

BTW...this is not really related, but welcome to my mind as Queen of the non seguitur.  Jenny texted me yesterday that Abigail was using her little toy camera to take pictures of the Baby Jesus from her Little People nativity.  She was telling him to look for the fairies in the lens (just like Grammy tells her to).  Seriously cute.  Wonder if Abigail is like me...a whole lot more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it.  Time will tell. 

At any rate, shots of the kiddos comin' up over the next few days, I hope...if I can finish processing.

Frosty...

Shot for week 51 of the 52 week project...that's right...only ONE theme to go!  Woo hoo!  The theme was "Colorful".   I'm usually a white light girl, but had to throw a colored strand on the tree for this theme and must admit I liked it.  And a little snow texture, just for fun. 

It's a wrap...

The Christmas baking is finally done and boxed, ready to be delivered tomorrow.  Just had to take a picture first.  lol.  Can't believe this is my first Christmas bokeh shot this year.  Where did the month go?

Snug...

I'll bet you didn't know that the iPad is a pretty good light source (like a computer screen or cell phone).  This was a particularly cold, gray day.  Jenny and Hannah snuggled up in the recliner under a blanket to look at my Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar app.  She's had a great time checking the calendar every day to see what new animation or interactive set is ready.  Love that monkey is there in the midst of the snuggle and Hannah's little hand on Jenny's.  And that soft light on her face can't be beat.

Making a wish...

I loved it that Hannah sang Happy Birthday right along with everyone else.   "Happy Birthday to Hannah, Happy Birthday to me!"  lol

We got to light the candles 3 times, because the first time I tried the camera's scene setting for candlelight, which I did not care for.  So we did a retake with my manual settings.  By that time, Hannah was so good at blowing them out, everything went dark before I was able to focus.  Ha ha.
 

Third time was the charm.  I don't think Hannah minded blowing them out more than once.  :)

Minnie

Remember how exciting it was to get a big ole cake for your very own? We hired Kara's friend to make a Minnie Mouse cake this year, since both Hannah and Abigail are crazy about Minnie.  It was a very pink birthday!  lol

Future engineer?

Nathan commented recently that Hannah seems more creative and Abigail more engineering minded.  Time will tell.  Again, she surprises me with her independence and concentration.  On this day, she played by herself with this little puzzle for a long time.  Half the time we weren't even in the same room.  This kind of thing really frustrated Hannah at this age.  So...is that a personality difference, a different skill set, or the fact that Aibgail has grown up with an older sibling?  Who knows?  Maybe a combination of all three.  All I know is that we all got very tired of hearing the Old McDonald music from this little puzzle that day.  Ha ha. 

Celebrating Hannah!!!!

Happy birthday to the sweetest four year old I know!  Look how tall she's getting!  And so grown up!  She tried really hard to help me get her pics this day.  We put a little piece of masking tape down on the floor and she was very into standing on that tape.  lol.  We got tons of cheesy smiles...but with a little persistence (and about 150 shots) we got some natural smiles too.  As much as she tries to cooperate, it cracks me up that she still doesn't quite understand what it means to look at the camera.  She turns her head toward the camera, but her eyes will be looking up or off to the side.  I really believe she THINKS she is looking....but not so much! Ha ha!  Oh...and you should have seen my living room!  Hannah is standing where our Christmas tree is.  Yep...Jenny and I scooted that thing (fully decorated) across the room so Hannah could stand in the spot with the best light.  It's called ghetto studio.  Ha ha! 

But all that aside...I would be truly negligent if I didn't write about how special this little peanut is!  She has her moments, like any 4 year old, but she is so sensitive and kind.  Abigail does not always want to give hugs and kisses, so if Hannah senses that someone is disappointed about that, she pipes up with "I'll give you a kiss, Grammy!"  When she learned that our birthdays are just 4 days apart she asked her mom if I would have a cake too.  When Jenny said no, Hannah offered to share her cake with me.  I often catch her doing little thoughtful things like laying out Abigail's diaper changing things before we get her from her nap.  She gives the sweetest hugs and kisses, makes up the most adorable stories, and notices EVERY little detail around her.  She has been a joy from the moment we first learned she was expected and I love watching her grow and become this wonderful person.  Thank you God for Hannah Grace!

And she is sure to follow...

She LOVES to do whatever big sister does, so it's not surprising that she loves to color too.  She does surprise me with her concentration though.  Quick story.  Last week, Jenny brought the girls over so we could take Hannah's birthday photos.  (Stay tuned...comin' up tomorrow).  We originally planned to do this on Grammy Day, when G-Pa would be here to help keep Abigail occupied.  But with all the predictions of the ice storm, we thought we better take advantage of a sunny day last Wednesday.  This meant, Jenny and I would be alone with the girls...but we decided to go for it anyway.  We moved ALL the furniture around in the living room to make room for Hannah's pics, and set Abigail up at her coloring table with some crayons and a coloring book.  Would you believe she colored happily by herself for at least 30 minutes?  She's not even two yet!  Her only time to ask for attention was to tell us there was no blue crayon in her box...and she was right.  One blue crayon comin' up....and she went right back to coloring! 

The creative process...

It was all about the red on that day!  Love her concentration...

Cinderella...

Looks like she found her prince.  So sweet... (and this is the FINAL pumpkin photo).  lol

P is for Personality (and pumpkin)...

Still way behind on processing, but had to post these funny pics (even tho' they are soft on the focus).  This girl seriously cracks me up!  She had a great time showing her daddy the pumpkin raspberry game.  lol

Autumn meets winter...

We had a big ice storm hit Dallas yesterday.  350,000 homes without power!  We were fortunate to have power, tho' we lost our internet, TV, and phone for several hours.  Thankful to stay warm.  I did venture out for a few minutes with my macro hoping to capture something special.  Must say I was not feeling very inspired...perhaps I was not in the right frame of mind.  However, when I saw this single leaf on my Japanese Maple, I knew I had found my "magic".  I just love this riotous color and the collision of seasons.  Shot for the very belated 52 project theme of "earthy".  Not normally what I would think of for earthy, but I did read that one definition is "uninhibited"...and the way this red stood out among all that white yesterday, I think this qualifies!

Who can resist?

Certainly not me...Repetition, color, water, Christmas bokeh?   Oh yeah...I had to get a shot of that when we walked through the prayer garden on our way to the car after Hannah's program.  And it was a bonus that the 52 week project theme was "water" that week.  This is the second time I have almost given up on the project, so this was serendipity.  Only 4 more themes to go.  We'll see if I can actually finish.   And, in case you're wondering, my ISO was sky high.  :/

You're never too young...

You're never too young for a hug from a man in a uniform!  This is Officer Adam.  He helps with security at the church.  Hannah loves him and was quick to give him a hug when we went to pick up Abigail from the nursery after the choir program.  Sweetness.

Yes, I was that grandmother...

 You know....the annoying one who slid off the pew into the aisle to grab a few shots at Hannah's very first choir program.  I love this picture...seriously love it.  The angle..the people in the background...Hannah's stance.  BTW...the goofy faces were intentional.  They were doing exactly what their teachers asked them to...holding their imaginary bubble in their mouth to walk quietly down the aisle. 

 And this one just makes me laugh.  I forgot how hard it is to get a bunch of 3 year olds to do the same thing at the same time. 

It's the little things...

For no special reason...I just liked the colors and textures I saw as I came in from getting the mail yesterday. 

Wild thing...

It's about time this cat lover wore a leopard print!

Thankful...

I'm so far behind on processing, it's not even funny.  I've been just accomplishing exactly what I need to for Christmas cards, calendars, etc. and generally not staying on top of things.  That means, I'll be posting a lot of things out of order.  lol.  On Thanksgiving day, we did some shooting for Christmas cards and this was one of my faves.  Love that girl with the sweet smile and the cool hazel eyes!