#11 My Children Will Do it Differently

I have two kids - two girls, to be exact. Alexandra, my oldest, is 6 1/2 and Evanthea is 5. My kids are my inspiration - and not just creatively (they do give me some great ideas!). The fact that they look at the world uncensored amazes me.
We, as adults, are trained to think before we speak (well, some of us are...but that's another post altogether!) - kids aren't. They speak what pops in their minds. Some times it's off the wall, but some times it's really cool!

I actually ask my kids their opinion on things - not that I think they should run my business (although my 5 year old is ready to take over...as soon as she can stay up past 7...), but they give me an honest answer. I ask my husband a question, and his response is generally "I don't know" or "sure"...but my kids - they'll say something's cool and get excited about it...or give me "that" look.
How will they do things differently? I hope they keep this uncensored raw instinct....but learn the fine art of negotiating with manners. I think they'll run their own businesses much more successfully - they already have technology down!
I hope they follow their dreams and do everything they want - even if it hurts them (after all, we learn through our mistakes, right?). I hope they keep their dreams big (Alexandra wants to marry her best friend, be a paleontologist and live in NYC; Evanthea wants to be a dentist and a photographer). I hope they keep reaching for the stars...and I hope a lot of people tell them they can't do anything - because that will push them to can do it!

Optical Illusions

I love that my kids dig art - I really do! I think it's amazing when a 6 and 5 year old get excited about "seeing it" in a picture (painting/drawing/photo)!

Our new topic is optical illusions. Evanthea (my 5 year old) and I poured over photo after photo - she begged me for more after figuring it out. It's no surprise - her favorite artist is Salvadore Dali and she wants to be a photographer (and a dentist...practical idea, if you ask me).

I mentioned to them that I thought it would be cool if we tried to do the Rubin's vase photo with the two of them. They really wanted to try. I explained it would be hard to do - they were willing to sit still to get it right. We came close (photo above) - I still want to try it again when we have time to slick their hair down and get it right...but I believe things happen for a reason - we were destined to do that photo shoot because I got my favorite shot of them as sisters (see next photo)!
And here's just a silly outtake! Evanthea (right) said she can make a better vase by scowling! :)
We're going to try again! Hopefully soon! :)

Piano recital for my babes!

My previous post was a brag about my kids' performances at school. This one is a brag of their performance at their piano recital! (and yes, it all happened on the same weekend)

This year, they each chose Christmas songs: Alexandra played "Away In A Manger" and Evanthea played "Jingle Bells"
Can you tell who's been paying attention to Mommy's posing tips? ;)
While we waited, Evanthea wanted to try some fun reflection shots! A girl after my own heart!
Evanthea exercised her creative right to arranging her own piece...ok, so she forgot to do the repeat...but she turned to everyone and whispered "I'm done". It's a good thing she's got the cute thing working for her! ;)


Alexandra & Evanthea's teacher, Miss Paula, has two very talented daughters - who also performed for the recital.

congratulations to everyone who performed!

Thanks Miss Paula! :)

My kiddos sing their hearts out!

Dave & I are so proud of our girls! At ages 5 & 6, they have this amazing confidence where they can step up in front of a full room and perform! So far, they both have participated in three recitals (this year's will be posted soon!) for piano, Christmas and Spring concerts for school for the past 2 years, and Alexandra has had a reading part during the mass for All Saints' Day.

We're just bursting with pride!! here they are at their school Christmas Concert!







Aidan, Catherine and Luke - their best friends!
We joke that Alexandra and Aidan are going to get married - I'm guessing with this pose that they're ready for their photos! ;)

MDA Telethon

One thing Dave and I are both have strong feelings about while raising our children, it's giving back. We (as a family) enjoy community activities where we can help and we are trying to teach the kids a little compassion goes a long way.

Both of our children, Alexandra and Evanthea, have participated in a Hop A Thon at their preschools and both kids raised the highest amount of money in each of their classes. By being one of the top fundraisers, they both had the opportunity to present a check on behalf of their school, St. Bridget, live on the MDA telethon. Alexandra had her moment last year, this year was Evanthea's chance!

Here's Alexandra reminiscing about last year and her fun places at the Mohegan Sun Casino!
Definitely their favorite part of the day - running around the giant lobby and playing on the cool carpets!
This photo is by far, my favorite shot of the girls! It's their personalities to a t...Evanthea had the idea to set it up!!
Here is Evanthea with her friend, Kevin. Kevin was another one of the highest fundraisers!
An early birthday present, a Disney Cars camera...she was more intrigued by the cameras, camera crew, and working the program than being on it!!
Pride of a big sister!
Fist pop before going on!!
Evanthea reassuring her grandmother that she's ok! :)
Almost time!!
The woman in the background with the red blouse is named Sue. We met her last year when Alexandra presented. What a wonderful woman! This is Sue's 14th year volunteering for the telethon. She was so warm and welcoming and helped both girls relax before they went on TV! Thank you, Sue! And it was wonderful meeting you!
Evanthea LOVES fire fighters and was thrilled to meet a group that presented a check to the MDA as well! She really wanted her photo with them - but didn't want to do it alone!!

Great job, Evanthea & Kevin!

Summer Photo Challenges Part 5 (Diane's last one!)

This is my (Diane) final post on the summer photo challenge! I couldn't resist this one - my kids picked out touchable bubbles from the Mystic Seaport gift shop. I figured it would be fun...I just didn't know how much fun!All of these photos were taken with my Canon 7D and my 15mm Sigma fisheye lens. The previous and next photo were taken with available light only.

Here's Evanthea looking at me through the bubble
Alexandra wanted me to add some light. Quite honestly, I was a little lazy to grab my flashes so I wanted to see what the dreaded on camera pop up flash could do. All of the remaining photos were shot with the pop up flash...not bad for something every photog (present company included) frowns upon!!

Alexandra also likes to push the bend of the fisheye - she likes that "what??" warp! :)
I was trying to teach the girls about perspective. Sort of an abstract concept for a 4 1/2 and a 6 year old...so we played around an got this shot. They get it now!!
Hope you enjoyed my series of interpretations - Jess will get hers up soon! ;)