“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”

― Ansel Adams

weekly glimpse of our life via the cell phone

cut cut, after church paradise
manicure, itoddler
new dress, countertop coloring
sneaky, new bling

Juliette 27 months

 She is so full of expressions like these...she also loves to tackle the giant floor pumpkin cushion in the background.

 Juliette is a little pistol and loves to read, dance, color, write, eat snacks all day long and loves cereal, watches cartoons in the morning, sneaks candy and gum and can open them too, jump on the trampoline, play outside, makes play "food" out of mulch for you...namely "french fries", enjoys a good Target shopping experience...especially when she is out of the cart, likes to talk, and be a screamer and a shrieker, doesn't like to sit still at the dinner table, loves to be in her sister's business and pretend she is one of the big kids too.

 she enjoys going to school on Tuesday and Thursday and gets so excited when her sisters get home...

 she loves to be the center of attention...

 she loves to run and jump...

 she loves to have her nails painted...

and will tell me every morning how to do her hair.  :)

Pet in a Jar

 A class project for Isabelle sent us out on Sunday scoping for some unwilling participants to spend the night in her "bug jar".

Pretty aster

Izzy got her ears pierced!

Last picture without earrings!

She said that it "hurt way more then they said it would", but she held perfectly still and just winced a little bit.  She had the opportunity since her 7th birthday to get her ears pierced and "just wasn't ready yet".  She woke up last week and said, "I am ready to get my ears pierced".  I took her on Friday after school to Claire's with her 2 sisters in tow.  She picked out diamonds (which are her birth stone) because "they go with everything....even my pajamas!".  So cute!  She is very good about cleaning them and is just so excited to have them done.

A glimpse of the last 2 weeks via the cell phone.

Lions park
On the way to school, monkeys on the bed, tennis
Isabelle doing homework, life is a blur, loving the kitty
free Juliette, another jump

 They always say the best camera you have is the one you have with you!

Breakfast and birthday outfit, silly girls
sunset on the way to Iowa, playing school before school
self-sufficient, tennis practice
loving the racquet, gymnastics
Allie on the uneven bars, Juju and I

Isabelle

This picture speaks to me and I am not sure why.  Is it that her ever present smile isn't there?  Is it that she looks older then her 7 years?  Is it that I can't tell which emotion is behind those beautiful eyes of hers?  Boredom? Tired? Sadness? Content?  

Happy Sunday!

This beautiful little nature center is about a mile from our house and has a bridge over Eagle Creek, goldenrods blooming everywhere and a meandering pathway that forks and has huge Cottonwoods among so many other native species of trees with occasional thick poison ivy vines roping up.    

 Goldenrod 

 She kept calling my name and with shoes on the wrong feet walked to show me

 these beautiful flowers that she found.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

GO HAWKS!

 Our little Hoosiers...born in Indiana...brainwashed to be Hawkeyes!  :)

 We do love our alma mater.  The girls will one day be off to college and love theirs too!  :)

 Performing, "I jump".

Performing "the splits".

Allie is such a spirited soul and is always always always listening especially when you think she's not.  She can't wait to be a teacher when she grows up and plays school before and after school.  My table is always full of papers for her "students" and markers galore.

 Gorgeous eyes

 Tiny but mighty.

 She wanted to put lip gloss on before a few pictures...always my girlie girl!

Mrs Inspector Gadget Arms got ahold of the camera placed on the shelf...she came waltzing into the kitchen with the camera around her neck...and turned the camera on me!  :)  Take that mamarazzi!

Isabelle's new camera

Isabelle has been begging me for a very long time to get my first DSLR out of storage and into her little hands.  She absolutely loves to take pictures and is actually really good at focusing mine when I need her to.  So lo and behold...little sister decides to pose and pose and pose some more for Isabelle.  I also was cracking up at how Isabelle emulated me!  "oh Juliette...I need you to pose like this (hands under her chin)...and now look up...now, don't you smile at me, Juliette!  Juliette!  look at the camera, now go near the wall...Juliette!  Juliette!  I am trying to take your picture!...you're being such a good girl..."  :)   She is exactly where I was a year and a half ago...on automatic settings...seeing the beauty all around her...wanting to capture the moment.  Beyond just loving the thrill of photographing moments in time and my gorgeous girls, I feel alive behind the lens especially now that I have the beginning knowledge on lighting and depth of field.  I will be so happy to share this learning experience with her!

September 8th

Allie got to go to her first Iowa Hawkeye game!  She was excited to go at the beginning, but when we got to the farm and she saw her cousins, she really didn't want to leave.  I convinced her to go and we had a great time together.  She was ready to go by 3rd quarter and I was too!  The Hawks lost to their in-state rivals.  

 tailgating with the DeWilds

 Pom-poms on the seats!  Go Hawks!

 Taking it all in...

soooo excited to "high 5" Herky and get her picture taken too!