Just For Fun!

Since its was such a beautiful Memorial Day morning, we decided to take a walk down the creek trail and snap a few pictures.  It's been a long time since I purposely took the time to dress Brenna in something nice, fix her hair, and just take some pictures.  I know that sounds ridiculous since 98% of the pictures on this blog are of Brenna, but they're usually what I call "life" shots that just happen; things I want to remember like playing in the playhouse and playdates with friends.  Just life as we know it now.  This time I set out on mission to get some pretty shots of Brenna, just for fun!  At first, I wasn't sure I got exactly what I wanted, since posing a 3-year old is impossible, her pretty linen dress was dirty almost immediately, and wind was blowing so hard I couldn't keep her bow in the hair.  But, Daddy came along so Brenna was all smiles and giggles.  Now looking back on the pictures all I see is her personality, or life as we know it now!  So that made me happy!

Brenna's 1st Dance Recital

Just Because....

Just because I think this may be one of my all time favorite photos that I've taken so far.

Soon I will be adding a watermark.  After a case of photo theft (it was some art photos, nothing of Brenna) I took the advice of some photog friends and created my own watermark.  I have submitted pics to several photo contests along the way and plan to send in some pics to a few local magazines, so it was about time I started marking them.  I designed several adaptions of my initials, and I still haven't committed to just one yet.

Trying Something New

I was inspired by some beautiful pictures that Jamie took of her little boy last week.  So, I decided to stretch the boundaries of my comfort zone and try something new.  Some very close-up, indoor, black and white photos.  Here's my first attempt!  Brenna thought it was a game.  She makes a face, I take a picture, then she laughs at herself while I take more pictures of the smiles.  

Houston Children's Museum

The Houston Children's Museum is a fantastic place for kids!  They have such interesting exhibits that span everything from math, science, engineering, nature, creativity, and invention.  Of course our kids are really still too young to "get it", but they had fun none the less.  To them, the Children's Museum is a big colorful playground made of magic!

The Pioneer Woman

Some of you may know her, most probably don't.  You may have noticed that I have a link on my blog to the Pioneer Woman.  Her name is Ree Drummond and she's an Oklahoma housewife who started a blog about cooking, her self-taught photography, homeschooling her 4 children, and her general life living on a working cattle ranch.  She started out publishing cooking books, then a biography, and recently a children's book.  She's a frequent step-in for the Today Show, she's done a Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and it was recently announced that she's getting her own TV show on Food Network.  As if that wasn't enough, Columbia pictures is currently developing "The Pioneer Woman" movie that's going to be a romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon.

Anyway, a friend turned me onto Pioneer Woman because of her photography, but I quickly gained an appreciation for the woman.  She's obviously a very enterprising lady that's managed to make a career out of just living her life, and to think it all started with a blog.  So, when I found out that The Pioneer Woman was coming to Houston for a book signing of her new children's book, a friend and I decided to drop in.

The book signing was at a very, very small local book store called the Blue Willow that was no more than 20 miles from our house.  I wouldn't say there was a massive crowd, but I would estimate there were a couple hundred people who showed up to have books signed, maybe 300.  We called in early and got line tickets, so we showed up, grabbed our line tickets, and then leisurely browsed through some of the neighboring shops while we waited for our group to be called.  The store was so small, that they could only allow about 20 people in at a time.  The actually signing started at 5 pm.  We showed up around 6:15 pm, shopped awhile, chatted awhile, and were in the store by 7:15 pm.  So it was really enjoyable and not the miserable waiting in line that I was expecting.  Several moms were there with their children.  Shellie and I opted to leave the kids behind and make it a girls outing.  This was one reason it was enjoyable, because I'm certain the moms that were there with children weren't as relaxed as we were!

We had seven books to sign, so we had a few minutes to chat.  She's seemed very personable and we chatted about her photography and cooking.  She asked about where in Houston we were from.  It was what I expected of 3 minutes conversation with a total celebrity stranger.  But, I'm glad we went.  This is my only celebrity encounter, except for meeting Mike Tyson while waiting for my vallet at the Four Season in Downtown Houston.

You Can Never have Too Many Playdates!

At least that's Brenna motto!  With Brenna being an only child and not in school yet, we very seldom turn down a playdate unless there's a major conflict.  I've even been know to rearrange the schedule to fit one in. I think they help her learn.  It helps her learn social and sharing skills in a way that Jacob and I can't necessarily teach.

Since we got back from vacation, Brenna has been busy with friends and enjoying our beautiful Texas Spring weather.  Here's a few shots from last week.

Peckham Park with John

Dance Recital Preview

Brenna's Dance Recital is May 21st.  We've been working on the dance routines since January and the costumes came in last week.  So, this past Saturday we had our professional recital pictures taken.  We only have 4 girls in our class (down from 6 at the start of the term).  Brenna is the only one with short hair.  Needless to say it took alot of hair gel, bobby pins, and a hair net to pull off her ballet bun.  Here's a preview of the costumes for her recital.