Fishing and Random pics

WARNING...this post has a lot of family pictures.  If you are easily bored by my family and my pictures please avert your eyes because you are going to be bored out of your mind.

Last night was my first photography class.  It was very interesting and LONG.  It's been a long time since I've had to stay awake in a 3.5 hour class.  I found candy & pop helps!


Here are some pictures that I took when we were in Coleman last weekend.  These are the fishing pictures and randomness that happened throughout the weekend.


Josh, Eugene, Marshall, and I visited the "cabin" in Gladwin.  This cabin Josh and his Dad built for our family when we visit up there.  If you are looking for a bathroom...there isn't one, unless you count the outhouse in the middle of the field.


Hudson made this sign last year..."welcome to our cabin".


This was Marshalls first visit.  He really wanted to check out the loft area.




There are three cabins on the property in Gladwin.  The guys love to go dirt biking together so this place is great for them to get together and ride.


We went fishing in Grandma Jean & Grandpa Ted's pond.  It was catch & release without any barbs on the hooks.


I tried to get a picture of all of the kids together while looking at the camera...a challenge to say the least. The last picture they were all looking at me with their eyes closed!  What?!?  I can get them all with their eyes closed, but not open?


When the sun was setting I had some great light and Marshall was the only person cooperating with me. Well, Busha (Josh's Grandmother) always cooperates and she takes great pictures with my kids so I'm going to put her on here too!  Doesn't she look fantastic?




We are headed for an adventure this weekend so I'll have more pictures next week.

Contain your excitement for my future post and have a great weekend!

Family Motorcycle Time

Here are some pictures of the kids and Josh riding the 50cc around the Grandparent's house.

Look at Audrey's concentration and Hudson standing up to go over a bump!  They are getting good.



Josh had to make sure that the bike went as slow as possible for Audrey.  She liked her Dad to run beside her.  Hudson can kick start his own bike.  Marshall had his first dirt bike ride...he had a great time.



The kids ran after Josh when he was riding with Marshall.  Everyone had a great time.

Wedding Shower

We had a very fun weekend.  We went up to Coleman for Josh's cousin's wedding shower.  It was Audrey's first wedding shower.  She ended up winning the game and took home a lovely pot of flowers.  I'm sure she thinks she will win at every shower she goes to.  I didn't take a lot of pictures in fear of looking like paparazzi.


Shannon is getting married on her Grandparent's land...what the Hallers call "The Flats".  It will make a beautiful wedding & reception location.  I can't wait.  I love weddings and all the prettiness that goes along with them.  I'm going to try to be low key in my shutter obsession and try not to stalk everyone while getting their picture.    




The above is a quilt that Aunt Rhonda made for Shannon (her daughter).  Isn't it beautiful?  


Shannon also got a Kitchen Aid mixer.  I'm not sure if it came with all of the attachments, but look at the color.  It was delicious.  I wanted to stick it in my purse and run away.  A huge mixer is hard to fit in a handbag.  If I show up with a large tote at the next shower...that bride better keep their eye on their Kitchen Aide.  I'll be better prepared to run away with their lovely appliances.  

More pictures to come from the weekend.  We went fishing, motorcycling, cabin viewing, and new home tours.

Busy Day!!

Audrey's pre-school had a picnic at a local park.  It was hot and fun.  Marshall conked out and just woke up in time for lunch.  





Since it was so nice out the kids talked me into getting the sprinkler out.  I thought Marshall would take one step into the sprinkler & run away (as the other kids did at his age).  I was wrong.  He wouldn't get out of the water.  He won't be wearing those shoes for a few days because they were drowned by the sprinkler.  It was like I vacuum sealed them on his feet.  When I pulled them off his feet they made a tremendous sucking sound.  The kids had fun and I got some funny pics.






Hudson's school held a book fair with an ice cream social.  Free ice cream?  You can't keep the Hallers away.  Hudson's class sang a few patriot songs.  They busted out the kazoos and it was hysterical.  I didn't take any movies, but here are a few pictures of Hudson having a great time. 

Friends

I have some good friends, which I'm very thankful for.  One of those good friends is Joni.  She grew up just a few small towns away from Coldwater!  We met in the city when she started dating one of Josh's law school friends.  We've had a great time ever since.

Here are some pictures I recently took of Joni and her kids at the park.  We always have a great time when we get together!!





BTW...if you are on Facebook make sure you check your privacy settings.  FB is now farming out personal information if you don't mark everything to private.

Audrey's Dance Recital

Audrey's dance recital was so cute and fun.  Here are some photos Josh and I took.


This was the night of her dress rehearsal.  She was really nervous.  You can tell in these first three pictures.  She just wasn't that thrilled.


After rehearsal she felt a lot more at ease.  She had a good time getting ready (make-up) and was excited about going out to eat after the show. We had a photo shoot in the backyard.


I asked Josh to take pictures of me with the kids as I'm always behind the camera.  


Here are some pictures of the actual show.  These are some of my favorite shots of Audrey doing her dances.


As you can tell Audrey got her mojo back and really liked the recital.  Now, I asked her if she wanted to take another dance class.  She asked, "Do I get flowers?"  I said, "Maybe, but you shouldn't just go to dance class to get flowers."  Audrey decided a dance career wasn't really something she was looking into.  


In the end she made some new friends, got to wear make-up, and requested to wear her princess dress for Halloween next year!  It was a win win for everyone!

Audrey's Recital

Audrey had her dance class dress rehearsal tonight.  She said she was nervous because she had never been on stage before.  She did a GREAT job!  


A few things about the video below:
1.  It's long...like five minutes long...so if you are not into watching pre-schooler girls dancing just skip the video.
2.  The parents are not allowed to video tape the actual performance because the dance studio is selling DVDs.  At first I was aghast at the idea of not allowing parents to video tape their own children during the actual performance.  I mean...it is MY child...I'll video her if I want.  Then I went to rehearsal tonight.  There were parents big heads & cameras EVERYWHERE!  I couldn't get a good shot unless I stood up against the stage.  As I bellied up to the stage with my huge camera & video camera (complete with a tripod) it hit me.  I have a big head & I'm in other people's way.  It didn't bother me too much because all of the other Moms were beside me jostling for position.  My opinion has changed and I'm glad we aren't supposed to video the performance.  I want to enjoy Audrey's mad dancing skills without looking through a view finder.  Long story...not so short the below is the dress rehearsal.  If I buy the DVD I'll post parts of Audrey for you all to view.  
3.  I didn't position myself correctly for the first song.  At the beginning you'll see her, but I lose her when she goes into the second row.  (Another reason to buy the DVD so I can at least see her for the entire show)
4.  The teacher hides in the wings to do the dance so the girls can follow along.  Can you guess which side Audrey's teacher is on?  


I stayed up extra late to get this video out there to the family.  I know you are going to watch it right now.


Enjoy & remember I warned you about #1 above!!


You're Welcome!!

Movies of Marshall

Friends and Family here are a few videos of my "baby" boy.  Yesterday he learned a new trick to shake his head yes.  He has been just shaking his head no to everything...even if he actually meant yes.  


Me:  "Marshall do you want some milk?"
Marshall:  Shakes head no.
Me: "Are you sure?" Holding out the milk glass to him.
Marshall: Shakes head no while grabbing and guzzling milk.
   
  All of a sudden he started to shake his head yes along with the eyebrow raise.  It was as if his eyebrows lead the way for his head.  I thought I would share it with my friends and family.


You're welcome!







For those who haven't seen him walk here you go.  I call it the drunken sailor.  He always seems to be a little off kilter. 





  He does fall down at the end of the video, but you can hear him just sigh.  It's hard to learn balance and coordination while watching a video camera in your face.

Mother's Day

It's raining today.  A perfect day to try different layouts on this blog.


I wanted to make Audrey a dress for her Pre-School graduation.  We came up with a pattern and attempted a trial run on some of Josh's old t-shirts.  We tie dyed it pink.  I couldn't get the pink dye off of my hands for DAYS!!  She loved the dress even though her facial expression does not portray that fact.  I've modified the pattern so it will more of an A-line and I'll finish the collar a little better.




Hudson had a Mother's Day program at school last week.  He had a few speaking parts and wrote me a letter about why he loves me.  Hudson wanted me to read the letter out loud to him.  I started to choke up when I was reading it.  It was TWO pages and contained sentiments such as, "If I told you how much I loved you I would surely explode".  The teacher commented that most kids write a few sentences about how the Mom buys them toys.  She said that she teared up when she read Hudson's letter.  I think my oldest may have a writting career in front of him, although he really wants to be a doctor.    



On Mother's Day Josh and the kids made my breakfast.  Audrey picked out the most wonderful bird bath.  I've always wanted one, but for some reason never bought one.  She was so excited for me to see it.  She wanted Josh to actually wrap the bird bath.  He convinced her that a homemade bow would look wonderful on the patio to suprise me in the morning.  It was a wonderful suprise.  Hudson picked me out a beautiful necklace.  I've been wearing it everyday.  I hope everyone else had a great Mother's Day.



I changed the comments on here so anyone can comment.  You no longer need a Google ID.  

May

Hello Everyone!

We've been busy working outside and enjoying the sunshine.  Marshall got a new pair of sunglasses & hat from Target yesterday.  He seemed to really dig his new look.  Audrey picked out a visor which works really well with her hair.  We've had a hard time keeping hats on her head when her hair is up...the hat tends to pop off because of her hair!

While Marshall was napping today I started to weed the strawberry patch.  Something moved by my foot and I yelped (just a litte).  It was a toad.  I went inside, got my camera, changed the lens, and came back to find Mr. Toad in the same exact location.  He was such a great subject.  I'll try to find him again when the kids get back from school.  They love holding the toads.