Monday, November 25, 2013

Park City Nursery Pumpkin Maze

One evening just before Halloween, I took my little family to the Park City Nursery for their cute little hay-bale maze.  It's nothing to write home about, unless you're around three feet tall.  Aiden LOVED running in and out of the hay tunnels!  And Liam's favorite part was getting chased by his Dada, who pretended to be a monster. 



You must ask Aiden to say "pumpkin" sometime.  "Kungkins!"  SO cute.  









It was a short but sweet visit.  We came a week earlier only to find out the guy was closing up shop half an hour early…They tried to do it again, but we begged and bartered.  "Think of the children!"




Fly, Aiden, fly! 






Obviously, Aiden is obsessed with doggies.  What toddler isn't?  Whenever he sees a picture of one, he leans his head down onto the page to snuggle it.  Well, he got a real-life opportunity at the nursery.  (Definitely need to get these boys a dog one day…)



Friends for life! 


Friday, November 22, 2013

Fire Station Field Trip

Liam's Shining Stars class visited the fire station in mid-October.  He learned all about Stop-Drop-and-Roll, 9-1-1, how to tell if there'a fire outside of your bedroom door, etc. 


I totally remember doing this as a four year old at Los Penasquitos Preschool in San Diego.  We got to hold the fire hose!  Liam's class was so darling and inquisitive with the firemen.  



Liam was eager to volunteer to do a demonstration of Stop-Drop-and-Roll.  The "stop" part was my favorite; he freezes with his hands up in the air, fingers spread, mouth open and eyes wide in typical Rawson dramatic fashion.  



They got a tour of the fire station, equipped with bedrooms, a kitchen, living room and gym.  We are so grateful for what these guys do…it takes guts.  



Our cute friends Miss Lindsey and little Olivia.  


Toward the end of the tour, the kiddos got to go inside the fire truck and were lifted out the opposite side.  Most kids walked right through without stopping, but not Liam.  He stopped inside the truck and asked a billion questions; "What does this do?  What's this for? Oh, how interesting!"  The other kids followed his lead and began to take their time.  That's my inquisitive little leader.  




And of course, he wanted NO help getting down from the truck, which made Mr. Fireman chuckle.  Again, one of these things is not like the others…He's so independent!  






Look how amazing I look.  Can you even handle the hotness?  I always thought I would have more time to do things like shower when Liam started preschool, but low and behold, it has become almost a bi-weekly event.  I feel like all I do is drive to and from kid activities, and the boys aren't even in grade school yet!



I love thinking about the fact that Liam will probably remember this day when he is thirty, and may even remember that his Mamma came to every single preschool field trip!  






And here is the whole group!  Fun day, followed up by a short stint at Creekside Park.  We are loving Shining Stars!  





First Paid Gig- The LaBore Family

Some of the Shining Stars moms were not taking the bait of the professional school photographer who offered to shoot family pictures for $175.  Neither did I (I did, however get sucked into doing a shoot of just the boys, which turned out to be moderately disappointing and equally overpriced.)  If I ever become a professional photographer, I hereby promise to release the entire photo shoot to my client and not charge $20 per photo after the first 10!  I am ethically opposed to any photographer who does this because I feel like I'm paying them for the use of their equipment and talent, NOT their printing services.  And it kind of feels like they're holding my family moments hostage, which kind of makes my blood boil.  You should see some of the pictures of Aiden and Liam that I did not purchase…it's a travesty of justice.  



Enough of my pro-photographer angst… One of my friends asked me to take their family pictures and she insisted on paying me.    




When she took the images to Walmart to get printed, they gave her some trouble because they couldn't tell whether or not her photographer had given her the rights to the images because "they look professional."   I wouldn't go that far, but I have to admit it felt good to get good feedback; I was SO nervous to do it! 






Hey, if I get enough of these gigs, maybe I can pay for my dream camera!  At this shoot, I was limited by the less-than-ideal evening light, my lenses, and the fact that I still need some more instruction on auto-focus modes to get super sharp shots.  It's really frustrating to get adorable shots in the field and get home and they're blurry!  That happened too many times.  








One thing is for sure, this is a beautiful family who made my "job" fun!  Know anyone who might be interested in a $50 amateur family photo shoot?  I clearly need more practice before I can justify upgrading my equipment!