Happy Thanksgiving!!

I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
I am thankful for my friends and family. It has been a rough year with learning who I thought were friends really aren't and family...well...enough said. My friends and family has been very supportive of me and my ideas, thoughts and projects. Thank you all!!
I am also thankful for my blog readers and followers! Thank you for standing by me and helping me on my journey to becoming a better photographer and putting up with my bad spelling and proper grammer.

Here are some of the things I am thankful for in pictures.
Have a wonderful, safe and very Happy Thanksgiving!

My youngest son for doing so well in kindergarten, getting his first trophy in karate, loosing his first 2 teeth and for just being him! He is such a love and a joy :)

For my favorite place in the whole world! The Farm

My oldest son for doing very good in school, for being a good kid (except for the mood swings of a 15 yr old) and growing into a very fine young man

My husband. My friend, my biggest supporter, my love. Thank you for all you do for us, for me, and being so understanding and supportive of me and my "projects"

For Sasha. Sasha went to be an angel this past August. We had the pleasure of having her in our lives for 10 yrs and our family is not the same without her. She was 14 and we saved her from being put down for no good reason. She is missed and will always be in our hearts

For my grandmother. We just celebrated her 90th birthday last month! I am thankful that she is still here with us and has gotten to see her 6 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren grow up, well not all the great grandchildren since 2 are 5 and 1 was just born a month ago ;)

and for my mom and dad. I dont have a really good pic of my mom so my dad will have to do. I am thankful that both of them are here for our children and they are always here when we need them. They are the best and when they move to North Carolina in 2 yrs I don't know what I am going to do with out them being 15 mins away. They will be 10-12 hrs away :(

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

My 1st Family Photo Shoot

As most of you know, I am not really a portrait photographer. At least the "sit down, stand here, do this, do that, smile now" type of photographer. I used to love when all the kids from preschool would get together so I could just chase them and get them in their natural setting. I love nature and natural. So this leads me to Alicia and her family.\
Alicia and I went to high school together and reconnected on Facebook. It has been 16 yrs since I had seen her! I just gave away how old I am huh?! LOL! She has been following me grow into my photography since I post almost every picture I take! She emailed me one day and asked if I would take some pictures of her and her family and of coarse I said yes but I had to explain that I was not a portrait photographer and she had said that was perfect for her! She was is a natural type person and would love for me to just get some shots of the kids running around and her family just being together. Now, for me, I was doing the happy dance and was just honored that she believed in me enough to give me a shot but to be honest I was scared to death!! What if I failed? What if I didn't get any good shots? What if she was really upset with the way my pictures came out? As I am not into photoshop either. I love the natural photos...a little tweak here, a little tweak there...but that is it!
So the day came and I was so nervous!! Not only to shoot her and her family but to see her after all these years. Well....I had nothing to be nervous about! Her family was absolutely wonderful!!! Her family was so much fun to be around and to take pictures of. Her husband..such a nice man, fun, patient and pretty handsome I do have to say ;) her oldest son...what a wonderful young man! and a good sport with the little guy and having his picture taken.. and her youngest....talk about adorable!!! He was all over the place!! running here and there but he was also a great sport with the photos. Such handsome boys she has! Alicia must be very tired at the end of the day keeping up with that little man!
Anyways...enough jibber jabber.....here are a few of the photos that I took that day in Meridan at Hubbard Park of Alicia and her family:)

This is the photo that Alicia is going to use on her website Naturawl Being. Isn't she beautiful!! Please be sure to stop by and check it out. Alicia and her friend Kelly are starting a business that is all about Raw, Organic and Vegan foods! They are in the Beta stages right now but be sure to check out the website and follow them on Facebook. They have some wonderful recipes and information they are always posting on Facebook!



This was such a blast to do!!!! It also helps when you have a great family to do it with! Thank you Alicia for giving me the opportunity to meet, hang with and photograph your wonderful, adorable, fun and beautiful family!!! It was also so wonderful to see you after all these years and hopefully it won't be another 16 years until we see each other again!!!!!

A Big Thank You to All of You!

I have decided to take a leap and put some of my most popular photos up for sale in my Artfire store!! I am very excited about this and if it wasn't for all you wonderful readers/friends, my wonderful friends on Facebook and my wonderful family, I wouldn't have made this leap. I really enjoy taking photos but never really thought about putting them up for sale but with all the encouragement of friends like you and family I am going for it. I also have some other projects I am currently working on and should be putting them up to show off in the next few days.

These are just a few of the pictures I have had made up and are currently in my store. The river one is a metallic print and let me tell you this picture does not do the actual picture any justice!! The rest of the photos are all matte prints and all the pictures are 5x7 prints. If you have any questions please feel free to email me here or on Artfire.

Click HERE to view my store

Thank you to each and everyone of you for the wonderful encouragement you have given me with my photos and for making and teaching me to be a better photographer. I learn every week with the photo challenges I am involved in and gain encouragement from all the wonderful comments everyone takes the time to leave me. I thank you all very much!!!!

A wee bit of me Wednesday

I have been watching this for a while now and thought that maybe I would give it a shot. I think it is a great way to learn more about all of you and you can learn more about me. I think this will be fun. Go ahead and give it a try with me :)

{one} what time do you normally wake up?

Usually between 6 & 7 so I can have some quiet time before my son wakes up.

{two} do you have a go-to song for karaoke?
ummm no! I cant sing and don't think I should put people through the horror of trying to listen to me...lol!

{three} if you could only see black and white except for one color, what color would you choose to see?

Blue! It is such a wonderful, vibrant color and so I can see my sons beautiful blue eyes

{four} what color best matches your personality?
hmmm..probably red...why? I'm not to sure but I do love it :)


{five} if you could choose one meal to cook better than anyone else, what would it be?
Anything! I am not much of a cook but I love to bake and I think I am not to shabby at it either

{six} how many keys do you have on your key ring?
4. house, car, parents house and hubbys spare car key


{seven} do you give your pets birthday/christmas gifts?
Not really. They get spoiled all year but sometimes I will pick up special treats just for Christmas.


{eight} when your plate has different foods on it, do you mix or not?
NOT! I can't stand mixing! My husband always says "it all goes to the same place" I can't mix or eat a sandwich or burger upside down and I have to have my meat, veggies, and whatever else on the same place on the plate all the time...yep..totally crazy!!


{nine} if you could hire someone to do one thing for you all the time, what would it be?
Has to be a house cleaner. I am ok with cooking even tho I am not good at it but housecleaning...HATE it!!

{ten} when flying, do you prefer the window or aisle seat?
Doesn't really matter to me. I like to look out the window but with no having kids...they get it :( LOL!

"DayDream"

Day Dreaming of the place I love the most. The place that I can wonder with no worries, where my boys can play and learn like they can't do in the city, the place that I have been going to since I was little, the place that when I get out of the car after a 4 hr ride I take a deep breath of the clean farm/mountain air and love every second of it, the place I call my second home. This place is my uncles dairy farm in upstate NY.

This picture is taken from the barnyard looking out at the Green Mountains

Head on over to Simplicity and enjoy all the other wonderful pictures! Have a wonderful day everyone :)

Veteran's Day

This is a picture of my dad and my son standing next to a replica of the jeep that my dad drove in, lost his hearing to, slept under to stay dry and kept him safe in Vietnam for over a yr. He was very excited to find "his" jeep at a local air show we went to. The stories that followed were the best part of it. Thank you for your service Dad!! Love you!!!!

I would like to send out a sincere and big thank you to all of our Vets past and present. I would also like to say a personal thank you to both of my Grandfathers who fought in WWII, my father who fought in Vietnam, my cousins who 1 just retired from the Army, 1 who is in Top Gun Training the the last cousin who just graduated from Annapolis this past May. I would also like to thank my adopted soldier and all the soldiers who we are sending care packages and letters to who are currently serving overseas. We Thank you all for your service and are happy you are home and wish everyone overseas a safe return home. Thank you for protecting us and defending our freedom.





Here is a little poem that I found that I really enjoyed reading and I hope you will too.

They Did Their Share
On Veteran’s Day we honor
Soldiers who protect our nation.
For their service as our warriors,
They deserve our admiration.


Some of them were drafted;
Some were volunteers;
For some it was just yesterday;
For some it’s been many years;


In the jungle or the desert,
On land or on the sea,
They did whatever was assigned
To produce a victory.


Some came back; some didn’t.
They defended us everywhere.
Some saw combat; some rode a desk;
All of them did their share.


No matter what the duty,
For low pay and little glory,
These soldiers gave up normal lives,
For duties mundane and gory.


Let every veteran be honored;
Don’t let politics get in the way.
Without them, freedom would have died;
What they did, we can’t repay.


We owe so much to them,
Who kept us safe from terror,
So when we see a uniform,
Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.


By Joanna Fuchs


If you see someone in uniform, not just on Veteran's Day, make sure you say thank you! Most of our Vets from Vietnam did not get a nice welcome home, not like our soldiers today. My Dad told me a story of when he landed in CA and when he got off the plane was spit on. Ever since I heard this, I try to say Thank you to those Vietnam Vets. I simply say "Thank you for your service. I know it is a little late but I would like to Thank you" Most of them just look at me funny, but others welcome it.
A little thank you goes a long way....lets get out there and thank everyone we can!

If you would like more information on adopting a soldier.....click here or please click the button on the top right hand side of my blog. Every little bit helps :)

Eyes

The theme over at Simplicity this week is "eyes"
I know most people are going to show off their little ones and loved ones beautiful eyes but I am taking a bit of a different approach ;)
This is a picture of Billy. She is a 13 yr old Jersey cow who somehow is still milking! She is such a sweet soul and you can see it in her eyes. She is very thin and her poor teats are about a half an inch from the ground but when you look into her eyes you can see she knows she is old and not at pretty as the other cows but you can also see her inner beauty and kindness. She always seemed to be off by herself and the first time we met her she just looked at us with such wonder and gentleness. She and the other cows are not used to seeing little kids so when we are out in the pasture and my son wants to hug all of them I am very cautious and I am only a step away to get him out of harms way with them. With Billy it was different. She seemed to welcome my son up to her, almost like she was so much smaller then the herd, so she welcomed a small human. Billy will always be a favorite of ours and she represents how sweet and gentle cows can be and why I love the Jersey breed so much.
Also if you look closely you can see a reflection of me in her eye. Not sure if you can see it in this picture but in a bigger picture I am there :)




Please stop by one of the cutest blogs, Simplicity, and check out the other wonderful entries.

Finally!! Sentenced to Death!!

I know this case has been all over the news and not just here at home in CT. We have been waiting on a verdict from the jury who met all weekend to figure out whether Steven Hayes should be sentenced to death in the Cheshire Home Invasion Trial. I understand that there are many people out there that do not believe in the death penalty but if you read about what happened to this family...death is not enough for these 2 monsters. Click here to read.
Only one man has been tried so far. The other monster is going to start his trial sometime next yr. It has been 3 yrs since the invasion took place and how Dr. Petit keeps himself going is beyond me. He has been to the court house everyday of the trial and for the sentencing. I, Personally, am happy about this verdict but CT will probably never get around to actually doing it. This monster will probably live on death row until he dies on his own!
Who knows what will happen but I and the majority of people here in my home state believe this is the outcome that should have happened. As someone had stated from I believe the Petit family "If this crime doesn't deserve the death penalty, then what does"

May God bless the Hawke and Petit families and hopefully the girls, Jennifer (mother) and sisters Hayley (17) and Michaela (11) souls can rest a little more peacefully.

I Heart Faces Week 43 "Orange"

This was taken when our preschool class went to the apple orchard for a field trip. Most of the kids were running in and out of the hay maze but when I looked into the pumpkin patch, this little cutie was just sitting on the pumpkins watching everyone. Talk about the right place at the right time :)



Be sure to stop by I Heart Faces this week and see all the other wonderful entries! Just click on the button below

Tell a Stranger Tuesday

Today is Tell a Stranger Tuesday at Soldiers Angels. We as angels are asked to tell at least one person about Soldiers Angels. So what a better way to do it then to blog about it.

There are so many wonderful organizations out there that help the deployed, the wounded and/or our Vets. Soldiers Angels just wraps all of them up into one and you can pick or choose how you would like to help or you can help by adopting a soldier who is currently deployed. To adopt a soldier you just need to make a donation, which can be as little as a $1 or as big as you would like. There are currently over 1600 men and women who are waiting to be adopted! This is a wonderful organization to get your children involved with or if you know of a school that may be able to help out or maybe a Veteran who would like to help. It doesn't take much and I have to say that it is very rewarding! Click on the button above to read more about how you can help.

Oh! Speaking of schools helping, I have a meeting with my sons teacher tomorrow to talk about how we can get the kindergarten classes to make cards for Thanksgiving and for Christmas to send over. We are also thinking of doing a donation drive to ship out to the Soldiers Angels warehouse in Texas. She says this will be a great lesson for all of the children and she is going to incorporate it into the classes lessons. After my meeting with her I have the joy of talking to a class of about 20 5yr olds...that should be fun! My son is so excited about it!

Today I am going to finish up the blanket I am making to donate to Soldiers Angels "Blanket of Belief" project. I don't sew (yes I know, sad) but they have a no sew fleece blanket you can make. It seems fairly easy. I will post some pictures later.

Please, if you can't make a donation or you don't have the time to help out in a group, just take a few minutes and take a look at the Soldiers Angels website and help me spread the word about how anyone can help!

Fall in New England

I know I showed this one off a week or so ago but I have to admit it is my favorite fall photo so I have to use it one more time for the "Fall" challenge over at the Trendy Treehouse. Enjoy!

Living in New England is absolutely stunning in the Fall. The picking up of leaves, the crisper air, the one day of warmth then the next day dropping 20-25 degrees.....Ahh!! The joys of fall. Mark Twain put it best "If you don't like the weather in New England, Wait a minute." That statement is so true and if you live in New England you know it is!

To me Fall only means one thing....Winter is right around the corner. I do love watching the leaves change color and love driving by houses with all the mums lining the driveways, stairways and walkways but it all goes back to one thing....Winter IS coming!
We know when it is fall when... we have to get leave bags to bag all the leaves, get 2-3 cords of wood delivered and stacked so we can stay warm all winter, winterize the chicken coop so the girls are as comfortable as they can be, put away all the deck furniture (I cry when this happens), Get the gardens cleaned out ( and I cry again), clean up anything in and around the yard so no one gets hurt walking or sledding when it snows, fertilize the lawn, and if you are lucky enough to own a boat, get the boat out of the water and on dry dock. These are just a few things that tell us that Fall is here.
One of the other things about Fall is, you miss having your windows open and hearing all those familiar sounds. Whether it is the sound of dogs barking, certain birds chirping, the sound of the ocean or the crickets at night. One thing that is a normal sound for us, is the running of the trolley on the old trolley tracks. With its squeaks and screeching on the tracks, you ALWAYS know when they are giving rides. Living very close to the Farm River, the tracks used to run right along the river. Now there is only a small portion left where they continue to give rides during the spring and summer months. The trolley started running in 1900 and ran for almost 50 yrs. It connected New Haven to some of the shoreline towns so people could shop or go out on the town for the night. It was shut down due to the automobile coming into more and more households. It is now kept alive thanks to the Shore Line Trolley Museum. The tracks aren't long since most have been removed, but if you walk along the river, across the way, you will see the tracks with the old lines and poles to run the trolley. I happen to be driving by the area where the tracks end. It was a beautiful autumn day and I was lucky enough to have my camera on me. This picture was taken at the very end of the tracks. To the left is an old platform and from what I can see this is the only "bump" in the tracks probably to help the trolleys stop. This picture is one of the reasons why I love living in New England! With its wonderful, colorful trees and history.

Please be sure to take a look at all the wonderful Fall stories at I Heart Faces this week :)



and all the wonderful photos at Simplicity :)