photo editing fun

Some kids are just so photogenic, and so easy to take good photos of! Exhibit Number One: Cash. He's....gosh, I forget. How many months Jame? I know you read this... Anyway, he's a smiley dimply boy and I love this picture of him!
Exhibit Number Two: His older brother Trey. He was singing The B-I-B-L-E for us in his adorable little voice... He also has a dirty face! All boy...

And Exhibit Number 3, Miss Keelin Grace, the woman of the hour. Well, the 2-year-old of the hour, at least! We celebrated her second birthday today and Misty got her to smile for me here, in between bites of Doritos!

5 of the 7 (soon to be 8) Noyes grandchildren. Even though nobody's really looking at the camera here, I think it's a really good shot. They're all kind of doing their own thing...but what else do you expect with 5 kids this young?

Can't wait till I can do this with photos of my own kids!

dum, dum, da dum...

I took a lot of flack for this:

I am not superstitious is any way. However, I am a firm believer in the groom not seeing the bride in the wedding gown before she walks down the aisle. Call it tradition, call it sentimentality, call it what you will. I was determined not to see my fiance on the day of our wedding before the double doors opened and the wedding march began.

However...

What's the harm in a little phone conversation? John and I have always been very 'communicative'...if that's the right term. We talk on the phone all the time. Not necessarily long, drawn-out conversations. That's never really been the case. But he's always been the type to call me a lot just to check in, to let me know what's going on, or to see what's happening with me. So why not on the morning of our wedding?

Our ceremony didn't begin until 5:30pm, so that left a long day of primping and preparing. It was only natural to talk on the phone with John a few times. But if I recall correctly (this was almost 3 years ago) my sisters were adamantly against me talking to him on the day of our wedding. What's the big deal???

Here are a few other pictures from our wedding. I was given these pictures after the wedding, and I'm not sure who took them...so if you took them and you want credit, let me know!! All photos are unedited....that's my next project. :)

John & I with his best man, Sean, and my maid- and matron-of-honor, Christine & Sarah (my sisters)

The guys

The girls

I'm pretty sure this picture was taken by Mike Moriarty...

Aren't I Awesome?

So I just wanted to show off my mad photo editing skills. Ok, I know I'm not that good. Truthfully, I'd only edited 2 photos before the previous photos I posted of Caleb & Zachary. But I thought I'd post the originals so you could see the difference!

Big differences, right? I'm so proud of myself. I'm going to work on pictures of Olivia tomorrow...

Speaking of tomorrow...we're off to the lake! Can't wait to have a few days of sun, waves and relaxation. We'll be coming home each night though, so I'll be checking in. :)

And make sure you check back here next Monday...I'll be starting a weekly blog extravaganza!! It's called Not Me! Monday and it all started with MckMama. I'm excited to join in the fun. I bet you can't wait to see what I'm not gonna do!

I guess that's all. Time for me and Zoe to hit the sack.

Fourth Fun

I spent my 4th of July at a couple parties...and lucky for me these 2 gorgeous boys were at both! Ok, yes, they're my nephews. And yes, I've taken tons of pictures of them in the short time they've been around! But let me just say...I never get bored of taking their pictures, editing their pictures (even though I just started that!) or looking at their pictures! And I really never get bored of spending time with them! I love them to bits, and these pictures are just a little snippet into their spunky, happy personalities!

This is Caleb, 2 and a 1/2 years old. Spitting image of my brother, his Dad.


This is Zachary, 10 and a 1/2 months. Exact replica of his Mama!

photos edited by me using picnik.

daycare etiquette

I've often thought that someday, when I have the time, when I'm not working or anything else, I'd like to write a book. I loved writing when I was little. I used to write shorts stories and the like. Over the past several years my mind has taken a different route...I'd like to write a book about daycare. More specifically, daycare etiquette. A book for parents, from a caregiver's point of view. Names will be changed to protect the guilty, er, innocent.

I would encourage parents to drop and run. Prolonging the goodbye does not make it easier. It's actually the opposite. Take it from me, I've seen how it works!

I would tell parents to watch the weather. Don't dress your child in a sweatsuit when it's going to be 80 degrees. On the same note, don't bring 3 changes of clothes (so I can change the child, depending on what the weather does) and then yell at me when I don't choose the right outfit to put on. Layers, people. We all do it.

Don't interrogate us about why we're using so many diapers. Don't be upset when we seem to not be using enough.

Don't come in bright and early and tell me that you were going to keep them home today. Then why didn't you???

Pretend to give a crap about what we did today. Even if you don't really care. We work hard to do fun things with your kids. Read our notes and act like you care!

Unless your child has a doctor's appointment, don't drop them off during nap! If you "just wanted to spend a few extra hours with them," keep them home the whole day! Or pick them up early!

Daycares have a closing time. It's not a suggestion. We've been here working all day. Just because you don't want to hurry home, doesn't mean that we don't want to. Show up before closing time!

Show a little appreciation. Yes, we're getting paid for what we do. It's our job. But everybody who works with kids has bad days, stress and headaches. We're taking care of your most precious possession. It never ceases to amaze me how good I feel when parents voice their appreciation for all our hard work.

I may add more to this later...

after-hours

Last night John needed to pick up some hamburgers and cheese to grill at work today. Hannaford is open 24 hours, and it was almost midnight, so we stopped there. As we walked in, John leaned over and said, "You're sure they're open 24 hours?" I glanced around and saw another shopper, so I affirmed that yes, I was sure they were still open. However, they didn't look it!

Have you ever been to a grocery store at midnight? I had not. Maybe this is a usual occurrence, or maybe it was because it was Independence Day Eve. But the store was in shambles! The freezer aisle was filled with boxes, empty and yet-to-be-emptied. We could hardly make it down the aisle! There was a kid there working like a maniac. I wish I could have heard what was playing on his iPod. There was a guy with a HUGE broom sweeping the aisles. I guess a 24-hour store needs to clean sometime. It was strange though. Some of the lights were out. I don't know if they just try to conserve energy at night when there are less shoppers...??

There were only a couple other patrons that I saw. Right as we were headed to the one-and-only checkout lane, a couple girls came in the door and got right in line in front of us. With no items. I knew that was a bad sign. They wanted smokes. And they couldn't figure out which ones they wanted. And the guy had to go to another lane to get the cigarettes. And once he did get them, the girl decided she wanted 2 packs of that particular brand instead of one. So he had to go back and get more. I was so annoyed. It was probably a good 5 minutes we stood there waiting for them. I don't know why it annoyed me so bad...maybe because it was midnight. Maybe because there was only one lane open. Maybe because the cashier was taking his sweet time. Finally we were able to check out and get out of there.

I can see doing my big grocery shopping at midnight. There's basically no one else in the store. But the one lane thing is annoying...say I have a cart full of groceries being rung out, then someone comes up with 1 or 2 items. I would feel really bad.

Don't know why I'm so concerned with grocery store etiquette today.

Happy 4th of July to all! Enjoy the festivities and stay safe!

Rochester

John and I took a weekend trip to Rochester last week with his parents and sister. We went Friday for John's cousin's graduation party. On Saturday we had breakfast at Denny's. Then John rode along with his cousin Joe who's a paramedic, while the rest of us went to Harbor Fest, shopped at Wegman's and visited a winery. Then we had dinner for my Mother-in-law's birthday and went to a baseball game! On Sunday we headed home. It was a great weekend! Here are some pictures:

Mom & Kristen, on the way to Mike's party

John & I at Aunt Anne-Pat's house


Joe & John, saving the city


John, Dad & Joe, with Joe's paramedic fly car

Mom, Kristen, me & Aunt Anne-Pat

Me, Mom & Kristen at Lake Ontario

John & I at the winery

Triple A Twins team playing Triple A Yankees team

John & I at the game (cell phone picture)

John's parents at the game (cell phone picture)

Fireworks after the game! (both cell phone pictures)