Old Hatten Property - Location Scouting

So I tried a new location today with the kids. This piece of property was in Martin's cousins family for a long time. They eventually sold it and the company who bought it has yet to put any housing on it. Neither Zach nor Addie was thrilled about taking pictures again but I got a few I could work with. I wasn't very happy with the pictures in their raw form so I used the new program to make some artistic touches on them. Here are a few that I was actually happy with once I doctored them up.

Will & Sophie

I told y'all I was obsessed!!! Okay, I just had to go back over some of the pictures I took recently of my niece and nephew. I know some of Sarah's family checks my blog so this is for you!!! I do wish my other nieces and nephews were close by so I could take pictures of them as well. I'll start off with little Will. I am so in love with this picture of him. If y'all could see it big like I do on my computer you would see what I am talking about. His eyes are absolutely stunning in this picture. I did a little ACR magic on this pic....

This is my absolute favorite!
Had to convert to black and white of course...
And a little sepia...

Little Vignette around the edges.

And now Sophie Diana. I tried taking pics of the kids for Sarah & John's Christmas card but didn't have a whole lot of luck getting a good one of them together. I took Sophie outside and although it was a little chilly she was a trooper.

Look at those curls. Precious.

This is my favorite picture of her.

I did two different black and white pictures. Couldn't decide which one I liked better so I put them both in here.

Very subtle difference but there is one!

Favorite Pictures - retouched

I am in love! Jason doesn't need to worry because it's only with a computer program but it is SO awesome. My friend, Kelly, who is an absolutely amazing photographer has mentioned ACR before and I never knew what she was talking about. I decided to Google it (gotta love Google!) and found that I could try it out for 30 days for free. ACR is Adobe Camera Raw - for those of you who don't know what it is. It's an Adobe program that helps you do different things to your pictures. Enhance them I guess you could say. I doctored some of the pictures that I took today of the kids on the beach. I cannot wait to try it some more!!!

In this one I did a Vinette around the edges.

I did the same to this picture although you can't really tell. I thought this was cool.
Absolutely LOVE how this one turned out...

I told him to say "peace." :)

What a handsome boy.

So I'm sure y'all will be seeing a lot more of these kinds of pictures!!!

Location Scouting - Biloxi Beach

A friend of mine in Junior Auxiliary asked if I would take her engagement pictures on the beach. I haven't really taken any here in Gulfport/Biloxi so I thought I'd better practice to make sure I get the right time of day. I took Addie and Zach down there today to see how they would turn out. Zachary was game for posing for me but it was hard getting him to look at the camera. There would be some really fantastic shots of him if he were only looking at the camera! My friend, Kim, knows how to switch out faces so maybe if she tells me how to do it I can get a good one of him looking at me. Addison on the other hand didn't particularly want to pose for me today. She was having too much fun playing on the beach. Can't say I blame her. We never take them down there. Maybe we'll be able to do more of that next summer since she will be older. Anyways, here are some of the better shots....

Tis the Season........

I finally got around to taking pictures of the Christmas decorations I put up this year. Last year I got rid of a lot of stuff because my tastes have changed. Normally I am a creature of habit but when it comes to decorating my tastes change a lot. This year was all about Mesh Rolls. If you don't know what I'm talking about you probably don't live in the South. Of course I don't have any idea if you Northerners decorate with it or not but it's become the big thing down here. Sam's had the best price and the prettiest rolls. I got red and lime green to decorate my house with. I put it on the tree, the mantle and around my front door. I also decided to put it around the doors to the kids rooms just for fun. I'm sure we have Christmas tree farms around here some where but I have no idea where they are. We ended up getting our tree at Sam's this year. It's so much prettier in person all lit up!

Here are a few of my favorite ornaments.
Our entrance way.

Our mantle. I finally had our initials monogrammed on the stockings. Zachary kept asking which one was his.

The front door. It's much prettier in person. I have things tied into the mesh/ribbon.

This is a little Christmas tree by the front door. I don't know if you can tell that or not in this picture! :)

I forgot I put a little mesh in the dining room as well (above the china cabinet).

This is on the island in our kitchen. I don't have a lot of decorations in there yet. Hoping to hit some great sales after Christmas!!

Here is Addie's door. I chose different colors since she is such a little diva. :)

Here is Big Z's room.

I can't believe it's Christmas next week. I wish I could see my family this time of year. Hopefully next year we can make a trip to KS in December. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

Pre-Thanksgiving Pictures

The kids and I actually went to the bay the weekend before Thanksgiving. Jason was out in Texas on business and drove all the way to Gulf Shores on Saturday. It was the last weekend of Snapper fishing and he hadn't been able to go because we had soccer every weekend. Here are a few pictures from that weekend. On Saturday Martin & John went out fishing. Zachary was very anxious for them to get back so he wasn't the only boy. The weather was really nice so the kids played out on the pier.

Zachary is using the hose sprayer as a gun. Typical boy!Addie splashing her brother with water.

Zachary is waiting for Pop & Unlce John to come back from fishing. He thought he'd pass the time by fishing himself.

He sees them! He sees them!

You can see their boat in the background.

Zach is so happy Pop & Uncle John are back!

John with (I think) the biggest King Mackerel they've ever caught.

Martin with two of the big Red Snappers.

I think these fish are so pretty. They are Dolphin Fish...aka Mahi Mahi. This is a small one. The big ones are absolutely beautiful.

On Sunday, Jason FINALLY got to go out Snapper fishing (the very last day). It was super rough out and I think all three guys were happy to be back on dry land. I wish he could have been with John & Martin the day before because they said it was calm and the water was very clear (they even got to see a Sea Turtle....jealous!!). Even though it was rough on Sunday they did catch their limit on Snapper and got some really big ones!!