Yum!

How yummy do these look?  Trust me...they were GOOD.  Just a little Nutella spread inside pic crust with cinnamon and sugar on top.  Easy peasy fun for preschoolers!

Roll it and pat it...

At the last minute, we decided to let the girls have fun with the leftover scraps while the hearts were baking.   This usually only holds Abigail's interest for a minute...UNTIL we gave her the rolling pin.  Then, it was a whole different story.  So serious about her rolling!  I'm excited because I just found child sized rolling pins with ball bearings on Amazon.  So, next time we do this, both girls can work at the same time.  Yay!

Before and after...

 Before baking...

and after...

Cookie cutter fun...

Ready, set, bake...

Then, we decided to work on some heart shaped Nutella "pies"...but first, a pic of our bakers. 

Love bugs...

We started off our Valentines Grammy Day by making love bugs...Those dot markers are sure cool. 

It only takes a moment, Pt 2....

Yep...she is a lot like her sister.  Serious one minute and ...

a total goof ball the next! 

If you look closely at the top shot with it enlarged on your screen, you can see a very clear reflection of me in her eyes.  Actually, the reflection is clear in both pics, but the above shot shows that I was wearing a red or pink shirt...and I'm actually not loving that.  At first glance, it looks a little like red eye from a flash.  Eek.  I need to remember when I'm doing sessions for others to wear a white top, so I get a nice white catchlight instead of a color cast or goofy reflection from whatever color I'm wearing.  Geesh.  BTW....I find it really interesting that I only get these kinds of "selfie" reflections in Abigail's hazel eyes.  Hannah's eyes are such a clear, light blue that I can only see a small reflection in her pupil.  The iris doesn't show anything distinguishable.  I'm guessing that brown eyes show even more detailed reflections.

It only takes a moment...

It only takes a moment for their expressions to change.  I often say that I'm not a sports or action photographer.  I'm just too slow for that.  But I read once that if you photograph children you ARE an action photographer.  There's a certain amount of truth in that!!!  The above was shot when Jenny was doing silly antics behind me.  And just a few seconds later, I took the second shot.

She looks sad...maybe even a little mad, but honestly...I think I just told her she didn't have to smile.  I still love it, because it's classic Hannah.  And those baby blues look even more soulful when she's not laughing. 

Geometry preschool style...

I loved this sweet moment where she was watching Hannah and thinking.  

We love these wooden shape puzzles.  I'm surprised Abigail can do them, but Nathan insists that she has a more engineering type mind than Hannah.  We'll see.  She does seem especially good at spacial relationships and her persistent personality doesn't give up as easily as Hannah would have at this age.  And that's what makes the world an interesting place...We each have our own gifts and abilities. 

Sweetness...

There are many Grammy Days when I don't take my camera out of its bag at all, especially during the winter with low light.  But on sunny days, I try to capture some lifestyle pictures...candids that I hope will help the girls remember some of the things they did together.  I try to catch them when they're engaged in something else and not paying attention to me, so there is no posing...no cheesy smiles.  However, I DO try to position them for their activities where there is halfway decent light indoors.  Ha ha!  This is really my favorite kind of photography....except for the challenges of indoor low light.  I guess you can't have it all, eh?

At any rate, I loved this sweet moment.  It's so great that Hannah can read to Abigail.  Now, if I'd been trying to capture a shot that would stand the test of time and become one of those classic family favorites, I would have done two things differently.  I would have dressed Abigail in a shirt with no writing on it, and I especially would have given them a more classic book to read (and one that doesn't have a price sticker on the front).  Ha ha!  But I reckon the girls will still appreciate a memory of their "Frozen mania".

Channeling Maxine...

Love that her gray hair looks blue like so many little old ladies.  That was pure luck.  And I love how she reminds me of the cartoon character Maxine.  Ha ha! This was by FAR my favorite pic of the day.   Look at the amazing texture of the coat.  I think the black is lamb's wool and the trim is mink. 

I may love the landscape crop even more.  Do you have a favorite?

100 days and 100 years...

Kara's school is trying to boost teacher morale by having them do some fun things.  This week, the faculty was asked to dress as 100 year old men and women for the 100th day of school.  We were able to borrow the walker, which is awesome. The mink coat is actually mine...inherited from my mom a couple of years ago.  The glasses are from Party City and we sprayed her hair white.  Or rather, we TRIED to spray it white.  She has a LOT of dark hair and the most we could accomplish was gray.  I'm happy to say that the color all washed out of her hair easily this morning.  Ha ha!  Wish I could have seen all the teachers.  I heard there were some hilarious costumes. 

Finished products...

I usually try to shoot these by window light only, but we turned the overhead light on for the above photo.  Ugh.  I've tried every which way to remove the color cast and it just isn't happening.  Sometimes, you just have to give it up and declare it good enough.

Hard at work...

Thoughtful concentration...

 Clearly having a good time...

All the angles...

When I have time, I try to shoot from different angles.  Things look so different when the perspective changes.

Crafty girls...

We bought the girls a wooden bead set for Christmas and finally brought it out to play with.  I wasn't sure if Abigail could do it, but she had no problems.  So much concentration!