My little man learned how to drive his Power Wheel over the weekend. Oh you should see it. He is SO proud of himself. Now Daddy wants to get him a big boy one. I think we might wait until spring time for that though.

And here is my Andrew. He looks SO good in this picture. In case you didn't know he has a thyroid disorder. Since he's been medication he has lost about 40 lbs and gotten SO much energy. This picture makes me want to cry tears of joy!!!

Trick Or Treat!

Halloween is fast approaching my house! We can't wait. Last year Alex was Buzz Lightyear, so this year I had to get Maddox a matching Woody costume. So yes, I did buy a costume just for pictures. LOL And I bribed Alex into letting me re-do his Buzz Lightyear pictures.

My little Woody.

Buzz Lightyear

He is 2!

Yes, the baby is 2 already! How in the world did that happen? I was so sad about it the day before he turned 2, but on his actual birthday we had a lot of fun! He is and always will be my baby, only now he gets into a bit more trouble. LOL

These cookie pops were the BEST tasting cookies I have ever had!

That time of year...

The big boys start back to school next week. I went ahead and did their school pictures.


Andrew is going to be in the 7th grade this year. His 13th birthday is in 2 weeks!


Austin is going into the 5th grade. He is 10 years old. This year he is going out for student council.


Alex will be 5 next week! While most of his friends are heading off to kindergarten we are keeping him home for an extra year.




Where is Maddox? Hey, when was the last time you got an almost 2 year old to sit still?!?!?

Pictures

Maddox - 21 months


Alex - 4 years Austin - 10 years


Andrew - 12 years

These pictures are a bit blurry, but I still love them to death!

Alex

What a beautiful day today! When we got home from school I took the boys outside to play in the sprinkler. Here are just a couple of pictures I got of Alex. You can see more on my Flickr.

04-23-2008

Another cute foot

Another cute foot
Originally uploaded by Ashley Hiskes

He's so vain

So now I have that Carly Simon song in my head. And if you don't know what I am talking about you are younger than me & I don't want to hear it. LOL

Imagine my surprise when I found this egg my 9 year old son did. I mean we all did our eggs together, but I didn't see this one. When his 4 year old brother showed me I couldn't stop laughing. And yes, it is true. Austin Rocks!

Brothers

I have faith that my sons will always be the best of friends. At least my older sons will. LOL

They love each other so much. The hardly ever fight and you can see the care they have for each other in their eyes. My oldest is having surgery next month and his brother is so worried about him. Even now he keeps waiting on him hand and foot and telling him that he knows he will be fine. Honestly, I couldn't ask for better sons. I love them all so much!

No POTD today. Strep throat & scarlet fever have kept me a busy Mommy. :-(

Carnation

My take on green today - a St. Patrick's Day carnation.

Then I went on to play with it in PS. The green flower is the one I bought.

It's been a while...

Sorry I haven't been around much. I have been in a bit of a winter slump. Plus, we have had the sickies in our house like CRAZY. Hopefully this will be the first of many, many more post from me. :-)

Here is my take on Green. My two youngest boys in their St Patrick's Day shirts, with my new green seamless paper.

Nice HHCC appreciated!

Alex - 4 years


Maddox - 17 months

POTD - Words - Jan 25, 2008

I finally got my fake flooring together. I LOVE IT! I just wish my little guy would sit still for more than 2 seconds. LOL

Here is my theme picture - he is "reading" words. LOL

Here is my because he's so cute picture. I hate that I cut the toes off.

NICE CC wanted. LOL

POTD - Words - Jan 23, 2008

Here are a few pictures with my new lens. I got the Canon 50mm f/1.8.

The second picture sticks with the theme. And the words are SO true. ;-)

Both pictures are -
ISO 400, SS 1/125, F/1.8

CC wanted, but please be nice. LOL

POTD - Words - Jan 22, 2008

I took all of last week off. Between snow, sick kids, kids being out of school, and me being tired I just didn't make it here LOL. Hopefully things are starting to calm down, but they are calling for ice in the morning. When is the first day of spring?!?! LOL

For the theme of words I took a picture of my phone. (It has words on it! LOL) I LOVE my Blackberry. Not only is it the coolest phone I have ever had, but I love it because of the awesome deal I got on it. It is a $200 phone and I got it for $50. It was a refurbished phone, but it works great for me.

For both pictures -

ISO 400, F-stop f/5.6, SS 1/125

I like this picture best, but I didn't know the screen was so dirty. LOL

So here is try number 2.

POTD - Before & After PS - 1/16

When I picked my son up from pre-school his teacher said to me "Today when we were making Snowmen in class Alex told us that the Snowmen where hats just like Slash." Guess that is what happens when your brother is 5 years older than you. :0)
For those who don't know Slash is from the rock band Guns-N-Roses. My 9 year old plays as him on guitar hero.

1. SOOC

2. retro wash & texture (along w/ curves & USM)

POTD - Before & After PS - 1/15

I love the action that Kristi shared with us yesterday!!! Thanks once agian.

Before -

After -

POTD - Before & After PS - 1/14

Did a Valentines Day shoot with my 15 month old. The only way to get him to sit still was to give him a lollipop. Boy do I miss the days when he would just stay where I put him. LOL Anyway, I looked at Target for the famous $1 heart lollipop but they were out. Thankfully I still had one from Christmas.

Before -

After -

Just did a little play in Curves, USM, and some Lightness and Contrast (I think that is right! LOL)

POTD - Focus Into 2008 - 6

Something I seriously need to focus on is cleaning. Man, I HATE to clean. It seems five minutes after I do it someone comes and messes it all up.

This is what happend when I was playing with custom white balance and forgot when I turned my flash on. I thought it came out pretty cool.

POTD - Focus Into 2008 - 5

I need to focus more time on my son's and less on the computer.

My 4 year old came to me the other night and asked if we could have a tea party. Having no girls around I had to come up with our own tea party set. Let me tell you - it was the best tea party I ever went to!!!

Not a perfect picture I know, but it's the memory that makes it perfect for me :o)

POTD - Focus Into 2008 - 4

My son focused in on his video game.

ISO - 400 F/5.6 SS 1/100

POTD - Focus Into 2008 - 3

I want to focus more on healthy eating and less on junk food.

ISO 100 - F/5 - SS - 200

Flash used

POTD - Focus Into 2008 - 2

I will focus on being a better Mom and not let him eat so much dirt!
Seriously, I was doing the aperture lesson and not paying him as much attention as I should have been and found this dirty face when I was done. I think he got his 1 pound of dirt all in today. :-)

Settings -
ISO - 100, SS 1/100, F/5

POTD - Focus Into 2008

Just my 3rd little guy. LOL We were playing in his room with some wonderful morning sun. I just wish there would have been a bit more. LOL

ISO - 400, SS - 1/100, F/5.6

ISO - 200, SS - 1/100, F/5.6

Both pictures have a bump in curves and a little playing with brightness and contrast.

POTD - White Balance

I did some playing with the white balance settings on my camera. Tomorrow - custom! LOL


ISO - 100, SS - 1/200, F/5.6 - Flash used
White balance - Tungsten


same settings as above, but white balance flash

And as a side note, I can't wait for some spring outside pictures!!!