Family Pictures (Finally) & an Update

My hubby & me after Easter dinner at my parents

My dad was cracking me up... hubby hates to have his picture taken and I grabbed him back before he could take off!

Look directly at me, honey! Do not make eye contact with the camera!

Oh, the boys' expressions...

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Hello bloggy friends! I'm not sure how many of you I have left since I've left my poor blog to the wayside months ago... There is so much going on and it seems that my blog is very low on the priority list. Well, it's time for an update! I've tried to get onto your blogs- even though I hardly ever comment- just to make sure you're doing well and catch up on your stories & pictures!

We are so glad that it is Spring! I didn't realize how much I missed green grass and blooming flowers. It's nice to have that back- even though in the Midwest you never really know if it'll snow right after a 75 degree day. It's just that unpredictable... Gotta love Ohio.

The boys are doing really well! Homeschooling is a a joy- although I must admit that I'm not quite as focused as I was at the beginning of the school year. My oldest, however, is reading (finally) and doing great in math. Just a couple more months and we will break for the summer...albeit a short break.

I started a running group at the beginning of the year and I'm pleased to announce that we have four new people that have joined and committed to faithfully showing up every single Saturday! This, my friends, is a huge blessing! So, usually there are at least 6 of us training together on the long runs. We've moved to a new training ground and it's awesome! Lots of runners and beautiful landscape & rushing rivers to enjoy during the run. I'm looking forward to the half-marathon coming up in a few weeks. Ahhhhh! Just a few weeks!

The business is also doing great. It takes up just enough time to keep me busy, but not too much to keep me from the priorities of life. I LOVE the people I'm working with and so far everybody has been very pleased with my work! Oh- and I have an intern working with me this Spring! She is a lovely young lady that we met through her family's visit to our church plant. She has a passion for photography and is very good at capturing those wonderful shots! She worked on a bridal modeling shoot a couple of weeks ago with me and will continue to do more! It's a blessing to work with her and to get to know her family as well.

Speaking of the church plant... please keep us in your prayers! We are so filled with joy as the Lord builds His church day by day. We transitioned to Sunday mornings about six weeks ago and are excited to meet visiting families and reach out to the community through evangelism.

Have a wonderful week, friends! I welcome your comments and you can always find me on facebook!

Newborn Pics

It's been such a blessing to continue with my photography business this year. I've made a lot of great friends that started out as clients- the Lord is so good! I had to share these pics from a newborn session I did last weekend. He's only about 7 lbs of pure adorability! :) Enjoy!

Windstorms

We are located in the Midwest and have had some crazy storms popping up the last couple of days. Last night we encountered wind gusts for hours upon hours up to 60+ mph. I took some shots from my back porch with my telephoto lens as the clouds rolled in. My sons were watching with me and my oldest said, "Mommy, I think today is the end of the earth". Truly, it was quite eerie to hear all through the night. Nonetheless, our house is still standing- minus a few shingles.

Love My Boyz

These are some of my favorite shots of my family. Granted, we aren't all in "one" shot and really need to get a combined family photo- but nonetheless... I love these! I am really enjoying b&w photography- hope you do too!

Happy Valentines Day, bloggy friends!

The Creation Museum

My husband's birthday was this week and we decided to do a family trip to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky sponsored by Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis. If you have never been to the museum, I encourage you to go! (But not on a weekend if at all possible... it's super packed and can be a little overwhelming- especially with little ones). We went on Friday for about three hours and then returned on Saturday afternoon to skim through once more and get some pictures.

The museum includes multiple interactive shows, planetarium, dinosaur room, theater, petting zoo, botanical gardens, bookstore and history of creation museum. Over 20 million dollars was spent with state of the art technology working with Hollywood designers and creation scientist to present an amazing truth to our culture! You are taken through the beginning of history in the Garden of Eden; showing how sin entered the world, God's destruction of the earth through the flood, background of archaeology and His amazing redemptive plan through Jesus. It is quite an alternative worldview to much of what we are daily exposed to in secular culture.

The Gingerbread House (aka: Disaster)

Okay; so who said that making a gingerbread house would be easy? For some reason I figured that if I bought that $10 kit- we'd have it made! Apparently...not so much. :) Well, it was fun to do at the cabin anyway!

The Newest Members of our Family...

Well, we finally did it. We took the "plunge"...no pun intended. Meet the newest members of our family; Jack & Jimmy (the boys named them). The boys are so excited to have pets!

This is the year...right?!

I'm scared out of my mind. Towards the end of this year I turn 30 and have decided to make this the 'big one'. As of this spring, I'll have four 1/2 marathons under my belt, one triathlon, and about fifteen shorter charity 5K races. This is the year for the full marathon, right?! Seriously- even writing this post gives me the chills. I want it...I can smell it and taste it... the victory of doing something that for me seems almost impossible.


See, for some reason- my body doesn't do so great when it comes to hydration- or lack thereof. I can't seem to process fluid where it actually hydrates my body at a positive rate. At the end of any race or long run that extends past 10 miles, I turn pretty much blue, go into shock, start throwing up (can't stop until I get either medicated or an IV) and lose all strength for about 12 hours until I finally fall asleep.

I would love advice from any of you fellow runners! I stay as hydrated as possible- wearing the hydro belt and stopping at almost every fluid station; taking fruit, gatorade and other gels to stay hydated...but my body just doesn't seem to respond to it. I'm thinking that I'll probably do a walk/run with the intent to finish before they close the course. That's not asking a lot, right?

So, why would I want to go through all of this KNOWING that it is how it's gonna end really bad? Well, first because I don't want my life to be dictated by fear ( I can do all things..within wisdom...through Christ!). Second, because I like a challenge. And thirdly, because I want to have that bumper sticker that says 26.2. That to me... is priceless.

The Pool Table

This year we went to the Smoky Mountains with my parents for our Christmas holiday. Our cabin was very nicely decorated and we thoroughly enjoyed our time spent there! I really didn't want us all to sit around and watch television through the whole vacation, so we opted for a cabin with a pool table. Little did I know that it would be such a 'hit' with the boys. After two full days of pratice- my five-year old son LITERALLY beat me in a fair game. Now, I'm not a great player, but I'm not bad either. He picked up the game super quick and was loving it. I'm thinking he has a good career in hustling in his future. Just kidding... :)

Grandpa and little brother play a game together.
My oldest prepares to shoot it in!

Love the little tongue hanging out... ha!

"#14; green; corner left pocket...over the back trick-style"

Ahhh, yes...I'm one proud mommy.

A Mountain Run

Merry Christmas belated to all you fellow bloggers! We just arrived home from our Smoky Mountain Christmas extravaganza... So, I thought I would post in parts about different aspects from our trip- as opposed to overwhelming you with 1611 pictures and oodles of paragraphs. ;)

Well, somewhere in my blonde head, I decided that a mountain run would be just the ticket to shed some of those unwanted holiday cookie poundage. As seen above- my husband captured my good intentions of serious 'running' magazine reading. I was feeling inspired and decided to conquer the mountain in the beautiful and rare 71 degree Christmas "summer".

Huh. Well, let's see... I barely got one good mile in, but it sure felt like death. I don't think ankles were created to run on the steep angles that I tried to overcome this week. At one point I was going downhill so fast that I was afraid that if I tried to stop, I'd start to roll like a hedgehog all the way to the bottom.

So, I did it and now I can say that I did it...that's about it. :)

Thanksgiving 4 Miler

My Little Angel

The blogger returns

Wow, it never ceases to amaze me how busy life can get! I'm falling quite behind on the blogging front lately... So, for those friends and family that only find out how we're doing from my writing- I'd better get back to work! :) Hmmmm...where to start?!

Well, the kids are doing well. So far we haven't been ill at all- which is very wierd for us. Usually, we're on virus #12 by this point in the season...so this is a huge blessing. Of course, I'm waiting for the shoe to drop.

Homeschooling is going smoothly- I've backed down to about 1.5 hours a day on most days. We do breakfast and chores right after waking up and then start our Bible time, followed by math, phonics/reading, handwriting and learning games. That's about the extent of our schooltime right now; just the basics! My oldest is not as applied as he could be, but I think that's because Mommy isn't making a huge deal about that right now. When I 'push' for him to excel, he always does.

Little one is getting taller, but the poor child refuses to gain weight! :) He eats like a bird (unlike anyone else in this family) and could take or leave mealtimes. He gets excited to be a part of school time and is learning phonics right alongside of older brother. Hoorah!

My photography business is doing quite well. I did my last outdoor shoot for the season last weekend and brrrrrr was it chilly! I think it was in the high 20's with lots of wind and absolutely no sun. I dressed quite poorly- only a shortsleeve shirt and a fleece. Husband was kind enough to loan me his coat and my son gave me his little toboggan- I must have looked the sight! The client booked a two hour time slot (senior pic) and we were all shaking by the end!

With the demand to continue the business through the cold season, I decided to purchase a great deal of indoor equipment; backdrops, lighting, props, etc. I know we are in the holiday season, but I hope it keeps up this busy even after Christmas! I'm enjoying working with the families and making some extra money as well.

Our church plant is going well. We have stayed around 20-40 people on a weekly basis and are enjoying getting to know new families and the tried and true ones even better. As of the new year, we will finally transition into a full fledged Sunday morning service... I think. Part of the joy of starting something yourself is that you get to 'make the rules'. Please keep us in prayer as we reach out to the unsaved in our community.

One of the mothers from our church is going to run with me this Thanksgiving morning for a 4 miler race for a local charity benefit. I'm slightly nervous, because although I renewed my membership at the local gym, I'm only running indoors right now! We're gonna freeze on Turkey day!

So, our Thanksgiving plans include a ham this year. I've never cooked a turkey and I don't plan to start this year. Is that bad? Can you have a real holiday meal without the turkey? I'll let you know how it goes...

A blessed day to all!

Angelena

Smoky Mountain Christmas

Can I tell you how excited I am? We decided, this year, to do something different for our Christmas holiday! Our family (hubby, the boys and me) and my parents- are going to the Smoky Mountains for Christmas week! Our cabin is pictured above...

Instead of gifts, we opted to put our money toward a relaxing week in the Tennessee mountains... enjoying the hot tub, nature walks, quietness of nature and all around togetherness time! Memories! I'm so excited for the memories! Baking cookies, the smell of the pine cabin, reading the Word with the boys on the wrap-around porch, listening to Nat King Cole in the wee hours of the morning, finding our tree out in the middle of the woods and decorating it with popcorn... ahhh!

Can you smell Christmas? I love this time of year! I can't wait to praise the Lord and celebrate His birth in the beauty of his peaceful creation...