Odds and Ends

So I just realized it has been awhile since I have posted. I thought I would catch up before the Christmas photos start rolling in.

Starting with Thanksgiving, we had a fun Thanksgiving, everyone came to Utah and we had dinner at my brothers house. The weather was bad so we didn't know if anyone was going to make it. Luckily, they were all able to get through the storm. I didn't take many pictures just one. Sydnie loves babies and she couldn't get enough of her little cousin Chloe. She loved to hold her any chance she got.

We had our ward Christmas Party last Saturday. The girls all had their turn sitting on Santa's Lap

Kaylee's turn:

Brianne's Turn:

And Sydnies turn:

Sydnie did not want anything to do with Santa. We managed to keep her on his lap long enough to snap this picture.

And last of all I had to add this silly photo. Lu Lu loves to lay in my lap when I am editing photos at the computer. I was busy cleaning the house and doing the dishes, when I turned around and saw Lu Lu sitting here:

I'm not sure if she was just patiently waiting for me to come back so she could sit in my lap or if the computer seemed like a nice warm spot to take a nap. Silly dog.

Sydnie...

Here is a cute little picture I took of her for one of my challenges. By the way I recently updated my photo blog. So click on the link on the sidebar to check it out.


So, I just had to take a minute and write a few things down about my cute little Sydnie. I love this little girl so much. She has been a sweet little addition to our family, she has been such an easy going happy little girl right from the start. She is so easy to love. There isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't make me smile or laugh, what a blessing that is to have in your life! I don't know maybe I am feeling this way about her because I finally got her completely potty trained.

Here are some cute little things she says or does lately(I've already shared these with most of you but I wanted to write them down so I would remember them):

She was sitting and watching a show with me, and it was a little bit cold in our house. She didn't want to share her blanket, so I said, "Sydnie will you go get me a blanket?" She looked at me and replied, "I'm not the mommy". I guess only mommies do things for people. She did end up getting me a blanket, although it was one of her crib blankets, and so small it only covered up my arms. That will teach me to ask a 3 year old for help.

Lately she has figured out that if she can get me to laugh or smile her punishment is a lot less severe. So whenever she knows she has done something wrong, she always starts by saying, "Is it funny mom?" which is almost always going to at least get a half smile out of me. She usually then adds, "I don't need a spanking mom." then adds a very fake laugh. Most of the time she says this before I even know she has done anything wrong. I can't quite decide if she is not being very smart by telling me in before I find out, after all I might not have even known she had done something wrong. Or if she is really smart, by telling me first, and softening the blow by preparing me that I'm about to walk into a disaster.

At any rate she is generous with her hugs and kisses and "I love you's". And she pretty much has me wrapped around her little finger. I love you Sydnie!

Reflections 2010

We were excited when we found out Kaylee won first place in the PTA sponsored art contest. She shared first place with 2 of her best friends Tanna and Abi. All three of their pictures move on to the district level.

The theme this year was called "Together we can". Kaylee painted a picture of her and her friends cleaning up, planting trees and doing things to make our world more beautiful. Even the animals in her picture were helping.

They had all the winners come up and display their work. Here is Kaylee showing off her artwork:

Kaylee got a ribbon a medal and a trophy for her entry. I was a little disappointed by this. I felt they should have spread the awards out among more of the children. Kaylee would have been more than happy with her trophy, she didn't need a ribbon and a medal to go with it. I think they would have been appreciated more by someone else.

Kaylee getting her awards:

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. I have been super busy with getting things ready for my craft show, so it has taken me awhile to post these pictures. The girls looked super cute. I had to take these pictures under our front porch because it was raining. We were a little worried it wouldn't stop for trick or treating. We had to do the trunk or treat inside the church because of the rain. Luckily it stopped just in time to get a little trick or treating in. The girls had fun, Brianne and Sydnie got cold pretty quickly, but Kaylee was tough and stayed out a little longer, she had made plans with her friends to go to a few houses all by themselves. Its hard to think she is getting that old!

Kaylee the Rocker!!!

Brianne the rocker!!! This was as close to a smile as I could get, I guess she was going for the tough look.

And Sydnie our little fairy princess!

Oh I almost forgot, I updated my photoblog. Go check it out, the link is on my sidebar.

Pumpkin Carving

I thought I better break up these Halloween posts, or I would have way too many pictures for one post. We had fun carving pumpkins as a family last night. Shaun really outdid himself this year, but that left me to tackle the other three pumpkins by myself.

Kaylee getting her pumpkin ready.

Sydnie was a trooper she cleaned out almost all of her pumpkin herself.


Brianne with the pumpkins before we started carving


Kaylee insisted on carving her pumpkin by herself this year. She did a good job, but made her mom really nervous.


Shaun's Creation, it is the terminator. I think he did a great job!

Here are the rest, I helped carve Briannes on the far left, and Sydnies in the middle, Kaylee's is on the far right.

All lit up!!!

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween, can't wait to take pictures of my girls in their costumes, and see all of your pictures!

Brianne...

These photo's were actually taken for a photo contest I am entering this week. I was in a hurry, so I didn't even curl the back of her hair. They ended up turning out so good I might have to get some printed out and framed. Here are a few of my favorites. Go to my photo blog for the other ones I liked, plus the other photos I have been working on this week. http://www.jennhulsphotography.blogspot.com

I love her eyes in this one....

This is my favorite, she moved so it is a little out of focus. I love it anyway.

This is the one I am entering for my contest. The contest is called "Mid Day Sun". We have to take a photo of something or someone in the middle of the day. One of the hardest times to take pictures because of the strong light. I think this one turned out well, and is the best example of all the ones I took, for a mid day sun photograph. It is titled...

"Mid Day Dream"

Another fun weekend in Idaho

We went to Idaho for a couple reasons last weekend. Nancy's little baby Chloe was getting blessed. And then we just lucked out and ended up being able to go to our nephew Layton's baptism. We had a great time visiting family and even got to ride on my brother in law's new Harley. That is all my girls have been talking about since we got home. Shaun took them both on a short ride, and now they want to know, "when daddy is getting a motor cycle?" As if Shaun needed any encouragement. He threatens it all the time. Maybe a dirt bike would be a happy medium. He could take the girls for a ride up in the mountain trials behind our house, and I wouldn't have to worry about him getting killed on the freeway to and from work everyday.

Here is a shot from the Harley.

Here is a shot of the Harley, I was experimenting with some overlay techniques:

Here is a sweet shot of Chloe on her blessing day.

This week I finally managed to get some 3 year old pictures of Sydnie done. I included my two favorites for this blog but to see the rest of the cute ones in full size click on this link and check them out on my photo blog: http://jennhulsphotography.blogspot.com

Killing two birds with one stone

I was going to post a few pictures from my weekend in Idaho, but I included them all in my photo blog and I am too lazy to repost them here. So if you would like to look at my photos for the week follow the link below or click on the side bar link.

http://jennhulsphotography.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Sydnie

Sydnie turned 3 this week. I can't believe my little baby is 3. This means she is not technically a baby anymore and hasn't been for quite some time, but I still find myself calling her my baby. She had a fun birthday and had her very first birthday party. It was just a small party with a few kids from our street, and it was a good thing it was small, 3 year olds have a very short attention span.

We started out by making cupcakes, I let each of the kids put one of the ingredients in, and then everyone had a turn to stir. Here is Sydnie happily taking her turn:

Then we headed out to the bounce house while the cupcakes were baking, luckily it was a short day at school and I let Kaylee and Brianne stay home to be my helpers.

Sydnie going down the slide:

I thought this was a cute one of Sydnie, She has got her balloons ready to put into the bounce house:

Finally the cupcakes were ready to decorate, and thanks to Kaylee and Brianne they did get decorated. Most of the kids were more interested in eating there cupcakes than decorating them. Sydnie was sampling the frosting instead of spreading it:

Next we opened presents. I loved her sweet face in this one, but I didn't love the background so I had to edit it:

Here are all the cute little neighbor kids who came to her party:

Later that night we celebrated her birthday as a family. We already had cupcakes, so we decided to put the candles in some of her other favorite treats.

P.S. I updated my photo blog for anyone interested, jennhulsphotography.blogspot.com

Sydnie first dance classes.

I decided to teach dance again this year mostly because of this cute little girl.....

So far she is loving it!!! If anyone has promise of being a dancer in our family, it is Sydnie. She gets so excited to go to class, and she pays such good attention. She is not one bit shy about trying all the dance steps I show her, as well as adding a few steps of her own for good measure. She definitely is the best dressed little dancer in her class. I have all of Brianne and Kaylee's old costumes and she has had fun wearing them to class. She looked so cute this last Monday, that I had to snap a few shots.

Here is a cute one I cropped to show her tap shoes, she looked so cute in them. I wanted a full length shot but she was pulling such silly faces I decided to crop it. I actually like the effect.

I decided to post this picture as well. We have been so excited about our grapes this year! We have had so many! Here is a picture of the purple ones. We have at least 4 different varieties. Green are my favorite, the purple ones taste too much like grape jelly to me. It has been fun to be able to just go out and pick a bowl full of fresh grapes this fall, I probably should make some grape juice but most likely I won't. I wish I inherited my moms canning and freezing genes but sadly they are lost on me. So instead I have this picture to remember them by, until next fall.

p.s. I updated my photo blog today as well check it out! I posted a link on my sidebar or you can just click on this one. http://jennhulsphotography.blogspot.com

My 365 Project

So I recently got a bug for photography, and like everything I do, once I start it sort of becomes an obsession until I get it figured out. I have always been interested in photography, but it all seemed too complicated and overwhelming. It seemed easy to put off, because I was busy doing other things. Finally, after talking to a friend, who is also into photography, I decided it was about time to learn how to use my camera that I have had for almost three years now. I have been experimenting with new techniques I have learned and wanted some place to display them. So I spent today designing a new site for my photos. I have heard of other photographers doing a 365 project and thought this would be fun to try. You are suppose to take one picture a day for a whole year. It is a great way to build a portfolio and improve your picture taking skills. So here it is http://jennhulsphotography.blogspot.com/ I hope you will check it out. I really would like to have a whole group of sites like mine linked to each other, so we can share photo's and ideas and knowledge, kind of like a photo club online. Let me know if your interested!!!

Love this girl!!! This is just one of several pictures featured on my new site.

Fall Craft Show

I've been meaning to post these pictures for awhile. The Mini Bazaar actually started its fall show last week, so we are already into the second week of a 6 week show. I thought I better quit putting off posting these pictures. Here is what has been keeping me busy for the last month.

whoops, I didn't realize until I uploaded this picture that the H had been turned funny. Oh well you get the idea.

I thought these would make good baptism gifts. They are cuter than they look in the picture, they have a glass like overlay on the front, kind of like those cute necklaces you see everywhere.

Same thing with these. They also have that glass like overlay on them.

I took some pictures of the Idaho Falls and Salt Lake City Temples and mounted them with a finish that looks like an oil painting. You can't really see it in these pictures, but they turned out really nice. I think I am going to apply the same affect on my next set of family photos. Not only does it make them look better it also protects them as well.

These have been my big sellers. Only a week and I am almost sold out. I applied the same coating as my temple pictures and they turned out better that I even expected. I did quite a few different sayings but only pictured a few.

These turned out fun. I had a lot of fun working with photoshop on these. It allowed me to do some fun lettering with more detail than I can get with vinyl lettering.

Another version. I've got this one hanging on my mantel.

In addition I also did a bunch of flowers for your hair as well as some cute headbands. I didn't take any pictures. But an example is the one on Nancy's baby Chloe's head. I mostly did them for older kids and grown ups but am working on doing an adjustable headband for babies.

Chloe Jackson

Nancy had her baby a few weeks ago, and when I was in Idaho last weekend, I got to practice my photo taking skills on my new niece. I have been trying to learn how to use the manual settings on my camera. I still haven't got them completely figured out, but it really helped make these pictures turn out a lot better than what I have done in the past. I was able to adjust how much light I let into the camera, so even though the lighting wasn't the best, I was still able to take some pretty good pictures. Normally, I would have had to use the flash and I just hate what the flash does to pictures.

Here is the announcement I made for Nancy, with some of the favorite pictures I took.

Obviously, this was one of my two favorites, since it was featured prominently in the announcement. I was excited to finally take a picture that I didn't have to edit the heck out of to make it look decent.

Here is my other favorite. Again not much editing, just a little in the background. I had to make it darker, because the cloth we used to bundle her in was a little see through.

I just loved the composition on this one.


Here is a fun overlay I tried. The picture was cute without the editing, but I thought this technique turned out kind of cool.

This one I decided to crop and put on a background, because it just wouldn't crop the way I wanted it to otherwise.



This one I put a old paper overlay on. Its kind of hard to see the effect with it so small but if you click on it you can see the detail of the effect.


Here is one more editing technique I was experimenting with. I like it, but I like the original better I think.

Here is just one more, I love her face, so sweet, but the lighting wasn't the best. When I cropped it in close it went a little grainy. So I decided to go with the grainy look, and applied the old paper overlay, to make it look like we did it on purpose.