my baby @ 15.... and Easter

Earlier this week Andrew turned 15 and I had great intentions of posting some new pictures but unfortunately his social life got in the way of my big plans... instead of having his mother take his picture he decided he wanted to hang out with his friends instead... go figure. :) Anyway... this weekend I got the chance to take some new shots of him... here are a few that I really liked. I know I'm a little partial but I really think the camera represents him well.



It's still hard to believe that he's 15. I was blessed with Andrew at a very young age... and I say blessed because I really believe I was blessed with him and meant to have him in my life, regardless of the fact that I was 16 when he came into my life. I completely understand that a teenage pregnancy is not an ideal situation for anyone, but I simply believe that I am who I am because of him, I'm happy with the person that I am today and without him I wouldn't be that person. Even though it wasn't always easy... I wouldn't change one step. I'm proud to call him my son, even if we aren't perfect, we're doing just fine.

here's one of me & my baby too (okay I guess I can't call him baby anymore, but I'm okay with that)

Here are some Easter pictures from today....



my sister & her beautiful family!

we did a little egg hunt at the house


just one more of Ella that I loved! she was saying "cheeeeeese!"

weekend review...

this weekend turned out to be a super-sweet surprise... i got some scrapbooking done on Saturday which is always a good thing in my book :) then on sunday i went to the camden aquarium with my sister & the family. it was a spur of the moment plan, and made for a really nice day. Here's some pictures from our day...

kaleb, andrew & erik petting the sand sharks.


kaleb as the shark... hehehe

miss ella sporting her pigtails out watching the penguins.


kaleb got his face painted like a snake... how cool is that nose paint? I thought it was cool!


Ella got a little flower on her face.


then about 5 minutes into the ride home... (i couldn't manage to get a sharp on of kaleb without using the flash)


well that about sums it up! this week is my final week of the quarter... woohoo!
oh... any andrew turns 15 on wed~ can you believe it?

Random Update...

Not too much going on to report... just caught up in finishing final projects for this quarter at school. I've actually really enjoyed this quarter but I'm totally looking forward to it being over and completing these projects.

I have a few random pictures to share from this weekend. They aren't perfect (i forgot to change my film speed for indoor shots) but I still like them anyway. (nothing a little photoshop can't fix... or at least help.)







man... this girl is so darn cute. and she loves when i take out my camera. she laughs so hard when she sees herself on the little screen... it's really one of the funniest things. needless to say she's getting lots of camera time these days cause Kaleb is totally OVER me taking his picture all the time. Andrew's rather busy with being a teenager and I would probably be cramping his style if I was constantly chasing him around with my camera. (although he is a total sport when I have to shoot stuff for school, so I guess that makes up for him not wanting me to chase him & his friends around.)

well, i guess that's it for now. :)

Photoshop Fun...

Just thought I would share one of the projects I am working on for my Digital Illustration class. It's been a lot of fun to see all the cool stuff you can do in photoshop...



Not sure how well you can see at this size... but all of the "people" in the image are Andrew. Basically I masked him into one photo several times, I altered the sky, changed images (minus the sky and his jeans) to black & white. It's still not perfect but I liked it and it was a lot of fun to create!

In other news... there isn't much going on around here. Just busy with school, working on final projects. Looking forward to a rather low-key weekend! :)

Happy Birthday to my sister!

Today is my sister's birthday... my bestest friend in the world... my consistent influence to be a better me... she's my strength when i am weak, a shoulder when i need to cry, she's an unbelievable Aunt to my son, basically she's EVERYTHING to me! There's not one thing about her that i would change... i love everything about who she is and what she means to me. Sorry, I'm trying to keep this short and not too sappy... sooo lastly i am forever indebted to her for sharing Kaleb & Ella with me.

Happy Birthday Sis! I love you!

quick update...

man, i didn't realize it had been so long since my last post... the time really got away from me.

first i want to wish my mom a happy birthday! "happy birthday mom! hope you have a wonderful day!"

this past weekend i went to Virginia... stopped in Georgetown on Friday and did a little bit of shopping... Kim introduced me to the great, i mean GREAT little store called LUSH! This place has some really good stuff. I picked up some hand lotions and scrubs and a facial cleanser... so yummy!

We took a class with Stacey Julian... it was pretty cool and she was pretty cool too! I love the little album that i made... it's a 6x6 celebration of the sweetest little girl i know! I'll try to post some pictures later. :)

Andrew's basketball team has their first playoff game tomorrow night! Go LV!

Uhm... that's all i got for now.

Spain...

Last night I received my official letter of acceptance to Study Abroad in Madrid, Spain this summer. It hasn't really "sunk" in just yet, but I'm still pretty excited at the thought of being in another country for almost a month! Overall it's kinda bittersweet... I'm totally excited but at the same time I've NEVER been away from Andrew for this long; it's always just been a few days here & there. So that being said I'm a little sad at the thought of being away from him for this length of time but I also feel this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity for me... like i said "bittersweet." Not only am I worried about missing Andrew, but Kaleb & Ella too! I've never been away from them for this long either :)

I can't take credit for the picture above, I found it online today... but this is one of the places we'll be visiting... The Cathedral in Toledo